Loan Resolution Corporation (LRC), a pre-foreclosure asset manager based in Scottsdale, Arizona, recently announced that it has successfully completed its Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) Type II certification, the widely recognized auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

In an announcement Thursday, Allonhill, a Denver-based third-party review firm specializing in mortgage due diligence and credit risk management, said it has formally released a complete securitization solution for issuer and underwriters of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).

Investment funds capitalized by private equity firms and the U.S. Treasury have bought $3.4 billion in so-called toxic mortgage bonds under the administration's Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP). A report released by the Treasury Friday details the first concrete progress made under the program since it was announced nearly a year ago. Eighty-seven percent of the PPIP portfolio holdings are private residential mortgage-backed securities. Thirteen percent are backed by commercial real estate assets.

According to a recent report by DebtX, a full-service loan sale advisor based in Boston, the aggregate value of DebtX-priced commercial real estate (CRE) loans that collateralized commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) dropped to 75.9 percent as of December 31, 2009, falling 1.8 percent from November 30, 2009.

According to Freddie Mac’s quarterly Refinance Report, 33 percent of borrowers who refinanced their loan in the fourth quarter of 2009 lowered their principal balance. This was the highest cash-in share recorded since the GSE began tracking the characteristics of refinance transactions in 1985.

The First American Corporation said Thursday that, in preparation for the separation of its Financial Services and Information Solutions businesses into two separate publicly traded companies, the firm has named Craig J. Barberio director of investor relations for the Financial Services group and David Bigelow VP of investor relations for the Information Solutions group. The company has also promoted Mark E. Seaton to the position of VP of finance for First American's Financial Services group

Freddie Mac and 13 national and local nonprofit organizations have launched a pilot effort aimed at convincing discouraged delinquent borrowers to pursue mortgage workouts to save their homes from foreclosure. Freddie Mac has set up new Borrower Help Centers in Chicago, Phoenix, San Bernardino, and Washington, D.C. to provide mortgage counseling to delinquent Freddie Mac borrowers. The company is also launching a separate national phone campaign to reach distressed borrowers across the nation.

Raymond A. Redlingshafer was recently named senior managing director of Clayton Holdings, LLC, a provider of customized risk analysis, loss mitigation, operational solutions, and staffing services to the mortgage industry, according to an announcement Thursday by the Shelton, Connecticut-based company.

Pro Teck Valuation Services, a real estate valuation and risk solutions provider based in Waltham, Massachusetts, announced its endorsement of the Title/Appraisal Vendor Management Association's (TAVMA) Standards of Good Practice in Appraisal Management.

Marking the first year-over-year increase since 2004, single-family home sales in Rhode Island jumped nearly 12 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, according to The Warren Group, a Boston-based provider of real estate data in New England. With a total of 7,669 single-family home transactions recorded in 2009, sales were up 11.9 percent from 2008.