NYT: After Foreclosure, a Focus on Title Insurance
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/m3Ty
What would happen if scores of people who had lost their homes to foreclosure somehow persuaded a judge to overturn the proceedings? Could they somehow win back the rights to their homes, free and clear of any mortgage?

NYT: Bank of America Halts Foreclosure Sales
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/m3VQ
The plan swept states with some of the highest foreclosure levels, including California, Nevada and Arizona, into a swelling crisis over lenders’ flawed paperwork that had been mostly confined to 23 other states [including Kentucky] that require judicial review of foreclosures.

Obama to veto bill that could speed foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/c7Q4GL
As slipshod bookkeeping by some big mortgage lenders continued to rattle the housing market on Thursday, another major lender indicated it would suspend sales of foreclosed homes and White House officials said President Obama would not sign a bill that critics suggested could facilitate foreclosure fraud.

Feds hold mortgage fraud summit in Fresno
For more: http://bit.ly/bvNZVh
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Tony West says the most common fraud right now involves loan modifications. "That is the typical loan modification scam people who are asked to pay an upfront fee and then never hear from them again and before they know it their home his foreclosed." West said.

Flawed foreclosure documents thwart home sales
For more: http://nyti.ms/dxLUlo
Major mortgage lenders say they are reviewing their operations after disclosures that employees signed documents without determining the accuracy of the material, as is required by law. Those reviews are throwing into limbo hundreds of thousands of foreclosures and pending home sales, analysts estimate, though the lenders and Fannie Mae have been mostly silent about precise numbers and other specifics.

PNC Said to Be Latest Lender to Suspend Foreclosed Sales
For more: http://nyti.ms/9ZuXPI
PNC is alerting title insurance companies that it is postponing the closings effective immediately, according to the insurer who received the memo.

Foreclosure halts not likely to significantly impact title insurers
More from Morningstar: http://bit.ly/agfP1N
Recent reports that certain large national lenders have brought their foreclosure proceedings to a halt have cast a shadow on the title insurance industry. We conclude that although the title insurers may not emerge completely unscathed, the chance of a major hit is extremely remote.

Senator demands lenders reveal foreclosure errors
For more: http://bit.ly/9FDAfU
A key lawmaker is demanding more than 100 mortgage companies determine whether foreclosure documents they approved contain errors, and reveal their findings.

Foreclosure mess could last for years
For more: http://bit.ly/cg9N5D
A lawsuit filed in federal court in Louisville on behalf of all Kentucky homeowners claims that MERS was part of a conspiracy to create false promissory notes, affidavits, and mortgage assignments to be used in mortgage foreclosures.

Payment to end Wells Fargo inquiry into risky option loans
For more: http://nyti.ms/aazK27
Wells Fargo & Company is paying $24 million to end an investigation by eight states into whether lenders acquired by the bank made risky mortgages to consumers without disclosing their perils.

Mortgage help for Kentucky's unemployed
For more: http://exm.nr/bcoueu
Gov. Steve Beshear, along with Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) Chief Executive Officer Richard L. McQuady, announced last week that Kentucky will receive additional funding from the U.S. Treasury Department to help unemployed and underemployed homeowners pay their mortgages as they seek work. Kentucky originally expected to receive $55.6 million, but received notification Friday that that state will receive an additional $93.3 million for a total of $148.9 million.

Kentucky homeowners file racketeering case against Ally and Citigroup
For more: http://bit.ly/a27EmC
Homeowners in Kentucky have filed a lawsuit against Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc., alleging that the two have conspired with Reston, Virginia-based Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. in falsely foreclosing on loans.

Foreclosure Furor Rises; Many Call for a Freeze
http://nyti.ms/awtq5h
The uproar over bad conduct by mortgage lenders intensified Tuesday, as lawmakers in Washington requested a federal investigation and the attorney general in Texas joined a chorus of state law enforcement figures calling for freezes on all foreclosures.

Flawed Paperwork Aggravates a Foreclosure Crisis
For more: http://nyti.ms/dyaKB2
Judges may dismiss the foreclosures altogether, barring lenders from refiling and awarding the home to the borrower. That would create a loss for the lender or investor holding the note underlying the property. Almost certainly, lawyers say, lawsuits on behalf of borrowers will multiply.

NYT Opinion: On the Foreclosure Front
http://nyti.ms/bAJa1T
Now we learn that foreclosures, the end of the mortgage pipeline, have also been handled with a disregard for rules and standards. There is a pattern here — one that lawmakers and policy makers must change.

NYT: Company Stops Insuring Titles in Chase Foreclosures
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mBri
The company, Old Republic National Title Insurance, told its agents Friday that it would not write policies on foreclosed Chase properties until “the objectionable issues have been resolved,” according to a memorandum sent out by the firm’s underwriting department.