RealtyTrac today released data which showed the smallest year-over-year increase in foreclosure activity since January 2006.

Former title agent Anthony Capuozzo, 39, of Concord Township, Ohio, has pled guilty to conspiracy charges in connection with his role in a large northeast Ohio mortgage fraud ring that allegedly defrauded lenders out of millions, according the the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Micah John Beaumia, 30, of Alexandria Minnesota, has been sentenced to three yeas in prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme.  Beaumia had been convicted on one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering last year.

In a statement released earlier this week, the newly formed New York Taxpayers for Economic Justice, Inc. fleshed out its case against pending title insurance legislation in New York.

The American Land Title Association has launched its latest member benefit program, The Member Conferencing Program from InterCall.

Title insurance and escrow services provider Advantage Title has introduced its new GFEz RESPA-compliant online rate calculator that delivers quotes for title premiums, endorsement, payoff, and recording fees, transfer taxes and other title and closing related fees for lender and real estate customers nationwide.

Responding to recent comments by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott about how title insurance protects homeowners, American Land Title Association President Mark Winter applauded the attorney general for “recognizing the value title insurance provides to consumers.”

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed SB 186, the Natural Heritage Conservation Act, into law on Monday.  The act allows the state to purchase conservation easements from private property owners to permanently prohibit development and undesired land use.

As legislators respond to concerns about global warming, scientists and engineers have been working on ways to keep carbon emissions out of the atmosphere.  One method to reduce emissions is to bury carbon dioxide emissions underground.  But do property owners have any say in the matter?

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 26, 2010.

A recent report by a la mode, inc., a leading provider of appraisal-related technology and services to the mortgage industry via its online Mercury Network vendor management platform, recently released new analysis of independent appraisal fees.

Genworth Financial, a publicly traded global financial security company with more than $100 billion in assets and a presence in more than 25 countries, has recently joined Lincoln Appraisal & Settlement Services as their newest client. 

Opponents of active legislation in New York to create a state-run "public option" to compete with private title insurance have formed a group, the New York Taxpayers for Economic Justice.  The new group is planning to launch a state wide grass roots program to inform the public regarding the its views on the proposal's negative impact on taxpayers, jobs, and real estate transactions.

A 41-year-old Minnesota title company owner was sentenced today in federal court for using money deposited on behalf of clients into the company escrow for his own personal uses.

An Illinois grand jury has indicted Kirby Sean McKee with seven counts of embezzlement in connection with McKee's alleged misappropriation of funds from escrow accounts and other sources at a title company he owned and operated.

Eminent domain actions aren't without financial risk to governments.  One Florida agency has found this out the hard way.

Hearings scheduled to begin today will be held by the Financial Services Committee to discuss what future Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have, if any.  U.S. Representative Barney Frank has stated that Fannie and Freddie should be "abolished" and a new system rebuilt from scratch.  Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors has suggested an entirely different course of action.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, today announced the launch of PreventLoanScams.org.

There is now capability for ordering property title searches via the iPhone and mobile devices. AFX Title last month released a free iPhone app which allows users to place orders for various title search and abstract products. Users can select basic deed searches or full title reports with lien and document copies. No prior account is required, and titles can be ordered individually for any property nationwide.

David Wehrs, Sr., a title company owner in Annapolis, Maryland, pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors and financial institutions of more than $2.3 million.  Wehrs used a Ponzi scheme to fraudulently induce investors to fund his day trading habit, and then eventually used funds from escrow accounts and earnest money to cover up the scheme.

Dave Bing, elected mayor of the Detroit in 2009, has proposed an effort to drastically reform land use to "shrink" his troubled city.  Bing, 66, a popular former basketball player who was an all-star for the Detroit Pistons and later created and grew a small business into a $40 million per year supplier to the auto industry, faces a task far beyond anything he has faced on the basketball court or in the business world.