As part of a major move to combat foreclosure fraud, California's top attorney yesterday issued an order to crack down on unregistered foreclosure consultants and loan modifiers making empty promises.

Florida-based Ocwen Financial's loan servicing arm has inked a deal with mortgage giant Freddie Mac to service nonperforming single-family mortgages.

Last week's release of July's employment report showed a slight improvement in the declining labor market, with the smallest job loss since August 2008.

Denver-based National Default Servicing, LLC (NDS), an established provider of default- and servicing-related solutions for the real estate industry, announced Thursday the integration of its mortgage service operations under a new parent name, The National Groups.

Think of it as Craigslist, only for loans.

Real property and title research firm RedVision announced Tuesday that it has hired Marianne DeAngelis as director of the company's Integrated Services Group.

In a clear sign that more distressed homeowners are seeking help to save their homes, Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Atlanta has reported that its foreclosure prevention counseling sessions more than doubled in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period last year.

Florida-based Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) announced Tuesday that it has acquired Verification Bureau, Inc., a developer of fraud prevention and Web-based verification solutions.

In the next five years, growth will be listless and another recession will be likely, one prominent Harvard economist told Reuters.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Mountain Funding LLC, an investor in distressed real estate debt portfolios, has absorbed the 14 senior executives of GMAC-ResCap's REO asset management group.