In findings announced Thursday by Freddie Mac, an overwhelming majority of borrowers refinancing in the third quarter of 2009 chose fixed-rate loans, with many choosing this over their original adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM).

Home prices are continuing to fall, and many metropolitan areas are seeing price reductions three times greater than the national average.

There are thousands of homeowners in the United States facing foreclosure, but 1,576 of these homeowners received assistance through workshops offered by HOPE NOW.

In a recent opinion finding filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Realcomp II, a realtors's group based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, was charged with violating federal law by restricting the ability of member real estate agents to offer consumers lower-priced alternatives of traditional real estate services.

Robert J. Hopp and Associates, LLC, a default law firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado, recently announced that it has hired Ines Olevic-Saleh as an associate attorney in the firm's Las Vegas office.

Quality Claims Management Corp. (QCMC) announced Friday that Robert Hopson has been selected as its new VP of strategic initiatives.

Fitch Solutions reported this week that its pricing index for subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) originated in 2004 fell by 16.7 percent in November compared to just one month earlier.

Mortgage interest rates continue to drop. Rates for all types of loan products are now well below the 5 percent mark and those for long-term mortgages are now the lowest they've been in over a month, Freddie Mac reported Thursday

The average time required to approve and close a loan has increased in 2009 compared with 2008, fueling a decline in overall customer satisfaction with primary mortgage lenders, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

It's no longer just a proposal the FDIC decided Thursday to implement a new payment structure for banks that requires them to prepay three years of insurance premiums. The agency also signaled that it is putting together new rules that would provide ""safe harbor"" protection for loans bundled in securities, essentially putting these assets out of the FDIC's reach if the selling institution goes under.