ERA sends real estate listings to Google Base

ERA Real Estate has begun providing all of its residential property listings nationwide to Google Base, a site where people can bulk upload real estate and other kinds of listings that will show up in Google search results.

The latest news follows a growing trend of real estate brokerages and franchise operations arranging to display listings at online search services such as Google, Trulia and Oodle.  more...

Chase cutting 460 jobs in collections

JP Morgan Chase & Co. is closing its collection offices in Cleveland and Milwaukee and consolidating the work in Dallas, Phoenix and Columbus, Ohio.

Chase will cut 290 employees working in mortgage and home-equity loan collections in Cleveland, and 170 people in Milwaukee, said company spokeswoman Mary Kay Bean.

Bean said Chase may hire additional employees to handle the collections workload in Dallas and Phoenix, but that significant hiring is not expected in Columbus.  more...

Former L.A. prosecutor pleads guilty in fraud schemes

A former Los Angeles County prosecutor pleaded guilty to six felony charges related to two real estate fraud schemes, officials announced last week.

In 2002, Julie Marie Sergojan, 50, engineered a series of frauds so she could purchase a $500,000 home in Westlake Village, Calif., according to the Ventura County District Attorney's office. Her first fraud was an identity theft and forgery scam that she carried out while working as an L.A. County deputy district attorney.  more...

National program assists low-, moderate-income home buyers

A national campaign that seeks to bring home ownership within reach for low-income and moderate-income families has generated more than $5.39 billion in new mortgage lending from Jan. 1, 2003, to March 31, 2006, and has assisted about 40,300 families.

Since 1993 the campaign has assisted more than 100,000 families become homeowners, according to an announcement by NeighborWorks America, which supports a national network of about 4,500 communities.

About 150 NeighborWorks organizations in 46 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are participating in the campaign.  more...

Minneapolis landlord settles lead-paint probe, will pay fine

A Minneapolis landlord accused of failing to inform tenants that their homes might contain potentially dangerous levels of lead has settled an investigation by three federal agencies, agreeing to clean up any hazards and pay a civil fine, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday.

Steven J.  more...

Overnight real estate rates stall

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly flat Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield held at 4.96 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average stayed at 6.14 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate dipped to 5.83 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 5.4 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 5.04 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...

Mortgage cash-outs at levels not seen since 1990

With interest rates on home equity loans rising, more people are turning to cash-out refinancing to pay for home improvements, business investments or to consolidate debts, Freddie Mac economists report.

Some 88 percent of Freddie Mac-owned loans refinanced in the second quarter of 2006 resulted in new mortgages with loan amounts at least 5 percent higher than the original mortgage balances.  more...