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In Colorado, Prudential Preferred Real Estate of Greater Denver and Prudential Rocky Mountain Realtors of Boulder have joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the new real estate brokerage network operated by HSF Affiliates LLC. Based in Irvine, California, this new network is designed for a new era in residential real estate. It currently currently comprises more than 22,000 agents and more than 600 offices in 26 states.

West Chicago's DuPage National Bank has the dubious honor of being the first FDIC-insured institution to close in 2014. To protect depositors, the agency has entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Republic Bank of Chicago, which has agreed to pay a premium of 1.20 percent to assume all of DuPage National's deposits (estimated at $59.6 million as of Q3 2013) and "essentially all" of its assets.

Interactive Mortgage Advisors (IMA), a firm focused on the valuation and trading of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), has added to its operational network with the opening of a new office in Dallas. With its new expansion, the company hopes to gain a foothold in the Lone Star State, which is home to a large number of originators and servicers.

A 46-year-old Florida builder convicted of bank fraud, money laundering, and identity theft tied to three different banks and Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds was sentenced on January 16 to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay back more than $3.7 million. Lawrence Allen Wright, of Niceville, pleaded guilty to seven charges, among them, conspiracy to commit money laundering and making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution.

Bank of America brought in $3.4 billion in profits last quarter, beating out the previous quarter's $2.5 billion and the previous year's $732 million. The bank says it's entering the new year with one of the strongest balance sheets in its history, largely the result of cost-cutting and declining credit losses. Provisions for credit losses have fallen from $2.2 billion to $336 million over the past year.

A new face has joined Freddie Mac's board of directors. The company named Sara Mathew as its latest addition. Mathew is an executive with global financial and general management experience. She served most recently as CEO of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.

Freddie Mac released a bulletin explaining new servicing requirements regarding foreclosure alternatives and disaster relief, which the GSE said ""should streamline the servicing process."" Among them are changes related to evaluations for borrower contributions in a short sale or DIL, new eligibility criteria for its standard and streamlined modifications, and a new valuation process for foreclosure sale bids.

Claims Recovery Financial Services, LLC (CRFS) named Cecelia M. Raine company president and chief strategist. Raine is responsible for overseeing the company's enterprise support team along with developing the company's overall strategic direction. CRFS has hired 96 new employees since announcing its expansion plans in September.

Potestivo & Associates, P.C. announced the hiring of Nathan Lichtman, as the firm's newest associate attorney. Lichtman has an established presence at the firm, as he has been employed employed as a title coordinator/law clerk at the Rochester Hills office since March 2013.

Effective immediately, Ginnie Mae will release monthly loan-level data for existing, active single-family mortgage-backed securities (MBS), the company announced. The data will include both new issuances and existing loans and pools. The government agency, whose focus is on ensuring liquidity to support mortgage lending, also announced the start of the first phase of an initiative to modernize its securitization platform.