Pacific Union's CEO, Mark A. McLaughlin, was named as the recipient of the 2013 RISMedia Real Estate Leadership Award, a national award recognizing members of the real estate community who embrace innovation and blaze new trails. McLaughlin has served as a leader in the real estate industry for more than 20 years, holding key management roles with Jones Lang LaSalle and Colliers International earlier in his career.

[ca_audio url_mp3='http://blogtalk.vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/5/659/show_5659991.mp3' css_class='codeart-google-mp3-player' autoplay='false' download='false' html5='false']Crowd-funding is the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. PRIMARQ is a capital market system that uses equity ...

The University of Michigan's preliminary Index of Consumer Sentiment report shows a drop in confidence for November--and Capital Economics' Amna Asaf is at a loss to explain why. The index fell from 73.2 to a two-year low of 72.0 in the first November report. With the economy in a relatively healthier position compared to last month, Asaf--an economist for the macroeconomics research firm--says the decline is something of a surprise.

While home prices have risen 14 percent nationally since their trough a few years ago, Fitch Ratings points out that loss severities on residential mortgage-backed securities have only 5 percent over the past year. The slow rate of improvement is primarily the result of prolonged liquidation timelines which hit an all-time high in the third quarter. Currently, 32 percent of seriously delinquent homeowners have not made a payment in more than four years.

When it comes to next year's regulatory obstacles, CEOs and senior executives from the mortgage industry's biggest players agree on one thing: Education will be key to keeping business going smoothly. In a panel at the 2013 Realtors Conference and Expo, high-level names from Quicken Loans, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America discussed the qualified mortgage (QM) guidelines, which go into effect in January 2014.

In an effort to mitigate potential losses incurred by a questionable pool of single-family loans, Freddie Mac announced Tuesday that it has obtained an insurance policy underwritten by Arch Reinsurance Ltd. The policy will cover up to $77.4 million of credit losses for a portion of the credit risk associated with a pool of single-family loans funded in the third quarter of 2012. The move is in line with the GSE's goal of sharing credit risk with the private market.

Safeguard Properties LLC filed on Tuesday a motion to dismiss a complaint brought against the company by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who has charged Safeguard with illegally evicting homeowners before their foreclosures were finalized.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has investigated Castle & Cooke Mortgage, LLC, and on Thursday, announced a proposed consent order in its enforcement action. Castle & Cooke allegedly steered consumers into mortgages that were unnecessarily costly, and paid loan officers illegal quarterly bonuses based on the interest rate of the loans they offered to borrowers.

In Florida, Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (FNF), a provider of title insurance and mortgage and diversified services, announced that company president Raymond R. Quirk will be taking over as CEO effective December 7. Quirk will replace George P. P. Scanlon, who is transitioning out of that role.

Over the past few years, lenders and underwriters revamped their standards to reduce risk, but Equifax says there's one challenge many lenders still have difficulty combating--undisclosed debt. In a recent white paper, the credit bureau published results of its research into undisclosed debt and its recommendation for how to deal with this difficult hazard. Ultimately, Equifax said, ""The results are somewhat surprising and disturbing.""