Ohio homeowners sue national title company

Two Ohio homeowners are suing Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. for allegedly failing to give them a title insurance discount when they refinanced their home, and are seeking to have their suit certified for class-action status.

Jerry and Dianne Randleman of New London, Ohio, are suing Fidelity National Title Insurance in U.S. District Court in Toledo, Ohio.  more...

HUD extends foreclosure moratorium for FHA-insured home loans

The Housing and Urban Development Department today announced it has directed all FHA-approved lenders to extend a moratorium on foreclosures of FHA-insured mortgages another 120 days.

The previous moratorium on foreclosures was in effect through Feb.  more...

Industry figures question board's role in Fannie Mae problems

Last Thursday, a long-awaited 2,652-page report on Fannie Mae spearheaded by former New Hampshire Sen.  more...

Foxtons forges advertising agreement with CitiMortgage

Foxtons, a London-based real estate company that has discount real estate operations in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, announced today that the company has formed an advertising agreement with CitiMortgage.

The agreement will provide information about CitiMortgage's products and services to Foxtons clients and prospective clients, and give them access to CitiMortgage services such as pre-approvals and on-time closing guarantees of $1,500 toward closing costs, according  more...

New-home inventory grows

Inventory of new homes for sale continued to build up in January, reaching a supply of 5.2 months at the January sales rate, the U.S.  more...

Real estate journalism confab set for April

The National Association of Real Estate Editors invites real estate, housing and design writers, editors and authors to join more than 250 journalists, broadcasters, bloggers and other real estate communicators to its 40th annual conference in Charlotte, N.C., April 26-29.

The conference early bird registration rate starting a $119 for full registration expires tomorrow. Media can register online at www.naree.org or by U.S.  more...

Ex-realty agent gets 6 years in prison for real estate scheme

A former Orange County, Calif., real estate agent has been sentenced to almost six years in prison for his role in a real estate scheme to sell illegally converted condominiums to home buyers, media reports said.

Phil Benson, 73 of Hayden, Idaho, also was ordered to pay nearly $680,000 in restitution to Stewart Title, which insured the condominium sales, according to an AP report.

In the scheme, Benson tried to avoid a 1984 city law requiring apartment owners to modify properties and pay a $7,000 conversion fee before the units could be sold, according to the AP.  more...

Freddie Mac shaves its portfolio

Freddie Mac said Friday its retained portfolio shrank in January for the first time in three months, contracting at an annualized rate of 9.9 percent to $704.2 billion.

The contraction followed a 29.9 percent gain in December, reports said.

The company bought $12.4 billion for its retained portfolio in January, down from December's $36.2 billion, it said in its monthly volume summary.

Alan Greenspan, then-chairman of the Federal Reserve, last year told the House Financial Services Committee he sees "no rea  more...

Real estate sales surge in Wisconsin

Sales of existing homes in Wisconsin for 2005 totaled an estimated 123,000 units, up 5.3 percent from 2004 levels based on the seasonally adjusted quarterly estimates of the National Association of Realtors.  more...

Overnight real estate rates come down

Long-term mortgage interest rates were lower Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.57 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average slipped to 5.78 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate dipped to 5.44 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 4.62 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 4.53 percent.

Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states.  more...