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Loan application defects were unchanged for July compared with June, the first time in eight months there has not been an increase, according to First American Financial Corp.

Kidder Matthews, the top commercial real estate firm on the West Coast, is being sued by a former employee who alleges its brokers engaged in a scheme to defraud property owners and that higher ups knew about it and did nothing.

The average home value backing the loans is $117,000, well below the average $150,000 of other recent RPL securitizations, according to Fitch Ratings.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will adjust their risk-sharing deals so that they can accommodate high loan-to-value loans refinanced under the programs replacing the Home Affordable Refinance Program.

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Aug. 25.

A Collier County, Fla., man was arrested last week after he forged signatures to obtain mortgage loans totaling $180,000, state investigators said.

Laurance H. Freed, a Chicago developer, has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $825,000 in fines and restitution in connection with a double-pledging scheme.

Reporting requirements for title insurers and agents have been expanded to cover more types of high-end real estate transactions, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said.

While the national foreclosure crisis no longer commands much attention, a seven-year-old lawsuit tied to the foreclosure of a Centerville, Ohio, home continues to wind its way through the federal court system.

Quaint Oak Bank has acquired Premier Choice Real Estate, which specializes in selling bank-owned properties.