Stewart Lender Services (SLS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Title Company, has announced the appointment of Linda St. Clair to the position of VP and strategic account manager. In addition, Robert Reeder has joined Stewart National Title Services as VP of national business development, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Corvus Group, a Washington, D.C.-area firm with nearly $10 billion of real estate assets under management from failed banks, has formed a Troubled Asset Advisory Group (Corvus TAAG). The group, based in Chicago, says it provides specialized staffing and advisory services to companies involved with troubled and distressed commercial real estate and homebuilder/residential development debt.

The appointment of Douglas Moritz as associate VP of multifamily at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) was announced Monday by John A. Courson, president and CEO of the company. ""Doug is a seasoned real estate finance professional whose experience spans more than twenty years in the commercial/multifamily industry,"" Courson said.

Contrary to popular belief, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says financing for new commercial and multifamily mortgages is on the rise. According to a quarterly survey released by MBA Tuesday at its Commercial Real Estate Finance convention in Las Vegas, commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 12 percent higher in the fourth quarter of 2009 than during the same period last year, and 15 percent higher than the third quarter of 2009.

Providence, Rhode Island-based Lincoln Appraisal & Settlement Services, a national appraisal management and settlement services company, announced Tuesday that it has solidified a partnership with Generation Mortgage Company, a national reverse mortgage company headquartered in Atlanta.

Following the recent acquisition of Real Estate Econometrics (REE) by Real Capital Analytics (RCA), a global research firm based in New York City, Dr. Sam Chandan of REE was appointed as chief economist, EVP, and a member of the management committee at RCA, according to an announcement Tuesday by the firm.

U.S. Bancorp announced Monday that its lead bank, Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank N.A., was selected by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to act as administrator and closing agent for the federal government's temporary credit and liquidity program and the new issuance bond program for state and local housing finance agencies (HFAs).

Most large banks have stopped tightening standards on a number of loan types, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve. But the central bank's latest loan officer survey says that while it may not be getting tougher for consumers to borrow, it's not getting any easier yet either because financial institutions have yet to unwind the considerable contraction that has built up over the past two years. Still, the pause in the stiffening might be seen as a hopeful sign for a financing world that's been strained since 2007.

In an effort to bring Web-based tools to homeowners in need of foreclosure prevention assistance, Columbia, Maryland-based IndiSoft and Financial Literacy Solutions (FLS), headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida, have entered into a strategic partnership.

Following a market swing driven by response to the homebuyer tax credit, pending home sales in December have leveled off, according to a report Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In November, the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed during the month, dropped 16.4 percent after surging in preceding months before expiration of the original tax credit. After the credit was extended, the PHSI gained 1 percent in December, and NAR says it's a sign of stabilization.