Freddie Mac, one of the nation’s largest government-sponsored enterprises, reported fourth quarter 2006 losses of $480 million on Friday due to the impact of interest-rate movements during the period.

A new reality show is letting viewers across America experience the hectic lives of real estate agents as they walk home buyers through the confusing process of purchasing home foreclosures, single-family homes, and high-end luxury properties.

Broker Matt Levitte with ProRealty Inc. in Greeley, Colorado, recently found himself in a bit of a pickle when the pipes inside one of his real-estate owned properies broke and flooded the house. Unfortunately, Matt did not discover the flood until weeks later.

The old philosophy out of bad comes good is coming to life for many companies specializing in loss mitigation and strategic lending. In the past week, several businesses issued press releases announcing new strategies designed to find the upside of the current subprime crises.

Mortgage Insurance Co.:http://www.pmigroup.com, a provider of residential mortgage insurance to mortgage lenders, capital market participants and investors, announced today the promotion of Eric Pearson to Assistant Vice President of Software Development and Enterprise Architecture.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., a provider of residential mortgage insurance to mortgage lenders, capital market participants and investors, announced today the appointment of Jesse Rivera to Vice President of Marketing and Primary Products.

Federal regulators spent Thursday on the defense as the Senate Banking Committee discussed the failure of the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Office of the Comptroller to regulate changes in the mortgage lending market that eventually led to a subprime fallout.

An attorney specializing in mortgage lending and litigation believes subprime lenders may soon be facing a series of lawsuits from disappointed borrowers. I think borrowers will look for any avenue they can to avoid bankruptcy or foreclosure, and some will choose litigation as a way to keep their house and credit in tact, said Andrew Stutzman, mortgage and lending litigation chair at Philadelphia-based Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, LLP.

Twinsburg, Ohio-based Reimer, Lorber & Arnovitz Co. law firm hired Nicole Alling as director of business development and marketing. Nicole, who has more than 10 years of experience in marketing and 5 years in default servicing, previously served as the marketing manager for Safeguard Properties.

Santa Monica, California-based Fremont General Corp. announced it will be selling $4 billion in subprime residential real estate loans, according to a press statement issued on Wednesday. Fremont General — the parent-company of Fremont Investment & Loan — said it already has approximately $950 million in cash from the first sale installment under the agreement with the remaining sales under the agreement expected to be completed over the next several weeks.