Market watchers have their eyes peeled for word from Washington that officials will relax the rules of a government refinancing program to allow underwater homeowners with GSE-backed loans to take out new mortgages with lower interest rates. President Obama promised just over a month ago that a new and improved Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) would soon be unveiled, but lawmakers are growing impatient. A bipartisan group of senators has sent letters to the heads of four federal agencies calling for ""immediate"" action.

Associates Closing & Title has been presented the Award of Excellence from First American Title Insurance Company. The award was given based on exemplary turn-around time, high number of files closed, and handling title curative matters. Associates Closing & Title has been offering its real estate services to the state of Arkansas since 1991, and to the state of Tennessee since 1995.

The number of loans held in commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) resolved by special servicers in 2010 was more than four times the amount in 2009, according to Fitch's CMBS loss study released Wednesday. The company says special servicers have been increasingly successful selling properties and working with borrowers for discounted loan payoffs. However, despite this positive movement, Fitch remains uncertain what next year will bring amid current economic uncertainty.

Continental REO (CREO) recently named Chrystal Streicher to fill its newly-created lead auction specialist position. Streicher has nine years of industry experience, including more than four years with CREO. Streicher began her career at Netco as a title examiner, working her way up to title supervisor in just three years. She then served as a closing assistant for Southern Title Services in Nashville, Tennessee.

Florida-based eMASON, Inc., developer of the Clarifire business process automation software for the financial services industry, has unveiled the Clarifire Community. The Clarifire Community portal allows borrowers, servicers, investors, title agents, real estate agents, regulators, and other mortgage industry players to come together via a single platform to synchronize activities relating to mortgage loans, while ensuring compliance with federal regulations such as single point of contact and borrower communications.

The United States Supreme Court has denied a writ of certiorari in a case involving MERS, refusing to reconsider a California court ruling, which upheld MERS' right to initiate foreclosures. The Supreme Court of the State of California previously refused to review the initial decision, leading San Diego foreclosure attorney Ehud Gersten to elevate his client's case to the U.S. Supreme Court. ""It is disappointing,"" Gersten told DSNews.com, adding that a Supreme Court ruling would have ended state-by-state discrepancies in MERS cases.

Richard M. Leibert, partner at Hunt Leibert & Jacobson, P.C. has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of mortgage banking foreclosure law. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a peer-review survey in which more than 39,000 attorneys cast almost 3.1 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted two former bank executives of the now-defunct United Commercial Bank for using fraudulent accounting maneuvers to misrepresent loan losses to federal agencies as the bank took money from taxpayers through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed separate civil charges accusing the same two executives and the former CEO of misleading investors about the bank's mounting loan losses, to the tune of $65 million.

New foreclosure actions in states along the country's West Coast returned to levels in line with prior months during September, according to ForeclosureRadar. The leveling off in September follows a surge in foreclosure starts during the month of August in the western states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. ForeclosureRadar continues to see strong investor interest on the courthouse steps, with purchases by third parties at or near peak levels in four of the five states.

Code Violation Services (CVS) announced Tuesday a new technology platform built to address obstacles presented when homeowner association (HOA) obligations are not satisfied on a property. The new HOA Plus technology will help investors, lenders, servicers, asset managers, and title and closing companies avoid fines and delays due to unmet HOA requirements. While CVS is not the first to offer an HOA database, its database is unique in that it helps match HOAs with specific addresses.