The 2014 Five Star Conference and Expo will feature an important industry event hosted by Brian Montgomery, former FHA commissioner and current chairman of the Collingwood Group, a Washington, D.C. based mortgage lending business advisory firm. “We are fortunate to have such a recognized national figure in housing, lead this important and necessary discussion on the direction of the mortgage servicing industry,” said Ed Delgado, president and CEO of the Five Star Institute.

The nationwide annual rate of the sale of residential properties, which include single family homes, condominiums, and town homes, declined by 3 percent month-over-month and 12 percent year-over-year in July, according to RealtyTrac's July 2014 U.S Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report released on August 29

Minimal employment growth and weak demographics in Pennsylvania have economists convinced that the state's housing market is not quite on the road to recovery, according to a special commentary released by Wells Fargo Economics Group on August 26.

Though the economy in Colorado is among the best of any state in the country, the housing market recovery in the state has been slow, according to a special commentary released by Wells Fargo Economics Group. The commentary indicates that there is cause to believe the outlook for the housing market in Colorado is bright, however.

Foreclosure activity was down all over the nation in July, particularly in the area of foreclosure inventory – homes that are in any stage of the foreclosure process – where there was a 34.4 percent drop from July 2013, according to CoreLogic's July 2014 National Foreclosure Report released on August 28.

The nation's leading online real estate marketplace, Auction.com, has announced that Mindy Heppberger has been named the company's new executive vice president and chief legal officer.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced on August 25 the passing of two new rules – one that prohibits lenders from charging interest on FHA-insured mortgages that are paid in full and one that requires lenders to give borrowers earlier access to information regarding FHA-insured ARMs.

Swiss-based bank Credit Suisse and New Jersey-based insurance company Prudential agreed on a $460 million settlement over a lawsuit filed by Prudential alleging that the bank had sold fraudulent residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).

A report filed last week by the Office of Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) states that GSEs Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae ignored "red flags" with regards to a mortgage fraud scheme perpetrated by lenders Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker and Colonial Bank, which resulted in billions of dollars in losses for the GSEs.

Michigan-based real estate finance and credit law firm Potestivo and Associates announced earlier this month that Erica Julian has been promoted to be the firm's new foreclosure manager.