National Default Servicing LLC has promoted Ty Reed to the position of VP of client management. In this position Reed, who is based out of NDS’ San Diego office, manages multiple accounts including Wilshire, Fannie Mae, and GMAC.

While it may seem that only bad news is coming out of the financial sector these days, according to the CMPS Institute, a training, examination, and certification program for financial professionals, consumers can actually find ways to benefit from the crisis on Wall Street.

Wachovia has agreed to sell its operations to Wells Fargo in an all-stock transaction for $15.1 billion, reneging on its intent to sell to Citigroup announced earlier this week. Wachovia and Wells Fargo both disclosed this morning that they have signed a definitive agreement for the merger of the two companies in a whole company transaction that will require no financial assistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

After more than a week of debate that triggered palpitating market response, Congress has approved H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA). Within hours of the House’s 262-171 approval this afternoon, President Bush signed the bill into law.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) rolled out the new Hope for Homeowners (H4H) program on October 1. The program was created as part of the larger Economic Recovery Act of 2008 passed by Congress this summer, and is aimed to help struggling borrowers avoid foreclosure by refinancing into more affordable, sustainable, FHA-insured mortgages.

RealtyBid.com, an Alabama-based online home auctioneer, has been tapped to auction more than 2,000 REO properties during the month of October for a single bank client, the company said. Although the bank was not named, RealtyBid’s CEO and president Tony Isbell said this volume of properties is more than three times the typical number of homes auctioned for this bank client during a normal month.

Wilson & Associates PLLC has hired Deanna Dorrough as an attorney for the Foreclosure, Legal and Title Departments in its Little Rock, Arkansas office. A native of Little Rock, Dorrough received her education from Baylor University in Waco, Texas (B.

The U.S. Senate passed the $700 billion financial industry bailout last night by a wide margin, 74-25. Keeping the core of the original plan intact – buying up troubled mortgage assets – the Senate version adds in several new provisions, including a number of tax breaks and credits, temporarily raising the insured deposit limit to $250,000, and allowing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to borrow from the Treasury Department to cover any losses.

Yesterday, DSNews.com reported that Washington Mutual’s CEO of only three weeks, Alan Fishman, would still be receiving a $7.5 million hiring bonus and an $11.6 million cash severance, now that the Seattle-based bank has gone under.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. released its Fall 2008 U.S. Market Risk Index yesterday, which shows increases in foreclosures and unemployment have significantly heightened the risk of future home price declines.