News

Concerned homeowners continue to flood the HOPE Hotline—a national loss mitigation hotline designed to help homeowners mitigate the risk of foreclosure and a key part of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF).

Tampa, Florida-based ProVest, a provider of foreclosure services, has named Jim Ward president. Ward, who previously held the position of vice president of operations, will be responsible for business development, as well as information technology and operations.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told reporters Wednesday that he remains confident the underlying U.S. economy is healthy and that all its troubles are largely contained, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

Tampa, Florida-based Mortgage Contracting Services, a property preservation and inspection services provider, has added Gae E. Craig and Borda Jones to its management team. Craig and Jones will serve in the roles of vice president of human resources and marketing manager, respectively.

HSBC Finance, the U.S.-based arm of London-based HSBC Holdings Plc, says HSBC Finance reported net losses for the first three months of 2007 as well as an upswing in delinquencies within its mortgage services unit.

Santa Ana, California-based Data Tree, LLC, a provider of recorded land documents and a part of The First American Corp., announced the release of DocEdge.com™ this week. The company describes DocEdge.

Suzanne Whang, HGTV television host of House Hunters and home-buying author, has parterned with the Mortgage Bankers Association to promote the trade group’s Home Loan Learning Center next month during National Homeownership Month.

Washington, D.C.-based The Appraisal Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the professional development of the appraisal profession, is accepting applications for vacancies on its Board of Trustees, the Appraiser Qualifications Board, and the Appraisal Standards Board.

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has issued a report defending the organization’s latest research on the subject of predatory lending and foreclosures in the subprime market. The CRL report was designed specifically to address questions raised by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).