Low inventory coupled with rising mortgage rates and home prices are leading prospective buyers to consider using ""aggressive"" tactics such as overbidding to obtain a home, according to recent survey from Trulia. In order to secure the desired home, 25 percent of prospective buyers in the survey said they were willing to bid 1 to 5 percent above the seller's asking prices. When it came to overbidding, younger buyers (aged 18 to 34) are more likely to use the strategy. The survey also examined top worries and found rising mortgage rates weighed on the minds of 41 percent of potential buyers.

Wells Fargo Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co., will exit from its eight mortgage joint ventures in mortgage lending due to ""the current regulatory and market environment,"" the company announced Thursday. The wind down, which will take place over the next 12 to 18 months, will impact about 300 mortgage workers.

According to a new report from Kroll Factual Data, the potential for loan application fraud increased slightly in the first quarter of this year--though some regions saw possible fraud rise 30 percent or higher. The first quarter experienced a 1.06 percent increase throughout the country between the first quarter of 2013 and the fourth quarter of 2012. Despite the relatively small national increase, ""large increases in certain metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) coupled with seesawing data from quarter-to-quarter point to a disconcerting state of unpredictability in certain locations,"" Kroll said.

Sentinel Field Services, Inc. (SFS) selected Phil Johnsen to lead the company as CEO. Johnsen comes to SFS with extensive mortgage industry experience combined with a technology background.

Housing markets across the country continue to show improvement. The list of fully recovered housing markets across the country stood at 16 as of the end of May, up from 14 in the prior month, according to a report from Homes.com.

The Department of Labor reported Thursday that advance initial unemployment figures for the week ending July 20 totaled 343,000, an increase of 7,000 over the previous week's revised tally. The four-week moving average for first-time claims was 345,250, a decline of 1,250 from the prior week.

The number of borrowers who refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) fell 20 percent month-over-month in May, data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) revealed. The GSEs refinanced 84,648 borrowers through HARP in May, down from 106,910 in April. Since HARP's 2009 inception, the program has refinanced over 2.6 million loans.

A private-sector coalition that aims to hire 100,000 U.S. military veterans by 2020 has moved quickly toward its goal. 100,000 Jobs Mission announced 77,612 veterans have found employment as of the second quarter of this year due to efforts from the companies involved.

Mortgage rates backed down for the second consecutive week, according to reports from Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed-rate average at 4.31 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending July 25, down from last week's 4.37 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.49 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.39 percent (0.8 point), down from 3.41 percent last week.

Gerner & Kearns Co., L.P.A. announced Matthew Taulbee joined as associate attorney for the firm's default practice group.