WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama on Thursday chose two old friends with corporate executive experience for top posts on his economic team, naming longtime fundraiser Penny Pritzker as Commerce secretary and adviser Michael Froman as U.S. Trade Representative.

2. Foreclosures Drop 17 Percent - Thursday, April 18, 2013

Regulators and major lenders are still on the hot seat over flawed and sometimes abusive foreclosures that were carried out in recent years.

On Main Street, the ebbs and flows of foreclosure patterns – things like the public notice of a sale and the actual foreclosure transaction – still haven’t returned to a predictable or natural rhythm.

3. Settlement Nets Tennesseans More Than $161 Million - Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Tennessee homeowners have collected more than $161 million in mortgage-related relief as part of a national mortgage settlement.

That’s according to a progress report by the settlement monitor for the $25 billion settlement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers that was announced one year ago this month. The settlement arose from an investigation into mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices.

4. Tennessee Homeowners Get Loan Relief - Monday, February 25, 2013

Thousands of Tennessee homeowners have received more than $161 million in loan relief as part of a landmark multistate settlement with five U.S. banks over foreclosure abuses.

Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper’s office said on Friday that the relief went to about 4,000 homeowners in the state between March 1 and Dec. 31. The announcement came after a report was released last week by an office monitoring the settlement.

5. Filling the Voids - Saturday, February 02, 2013

Last year was a banner year for adaptive reuse projects in Midtown and Downtown.

Developers announced plans for the Sears Crosstown building, Overton Square, Hotel Chisca, James Lee House and old United Warehouse in the South Main Historic Arts District. Construction began on The Pyramid, turning it into a 220,000-square-foot mega-Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World, and Memphis in May moved into its new headquarters at 56 S. Front St., a 14,600-square-foot building that’s on the National Register of Historic Places.

6. Mortgage Settlement Deadline is Friday - Friday, January 18, 2013

The deadline to file a claim under the national mortgage settlement is Friday, Jan. 18.

Approximately 37,000 Tennessee borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2011, may be eligible to receive a payment under the settlement.

7. Bank of America Says Housing has ‘Begun to Turn' - Thursday, October 18, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – For banks, mortgage-making kept profits humming before the financial crisis, then blackened reputations and stamped out earnings when the crisis hit.

Now, the business of mortgage lending is more of a mixed bag.

8. Foreclosure Help Notices Being Mailed in Tennessee - Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Notices are going out in the mail to an estimated 37,000 Tennessee borrowers who may be eligible for payment under a $25 billion national mortgage foreclosure settlement.

Eligible borrowers will be receiving claim forms in the mail this month and Attorney General Bob Cooper of Tennessee urged residents to complete the forms and return them by the Jan. 18 deadline.

9. Tennesseans Receiving Claims Forms in Settlement - Friday, September 28, 2012

NASHVILLE (AP) – The state attorney general's office is mailing claims forms to about 37,000 Tennesseans who may be eligible to receive a portion of a national mortgage foreclosure settlement.

10. MAAR to Hold Forum on Mortgage Settlement - Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Memphis Area Association of Realtors will hold a special member forum June 19, overviewing the implications of the National Mortgage Services Settlement on Realtors, homeowners who might be facing foreclosure, people who were foreclosed upon and those facing short sales.

11. Settlement Brings Milestone in Wells Fargo Case - Monday, June 04, 2012

The announcement that Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to settle a three-year-old lawsuit filed by Memphis and Shelby County governments over the company’s lending practices – with the settlement including certain local lending commitments on Wells’ part – was certainly a denouement in the case.

12. US Sales of Foreclosure Homes Rose in Q1 - Friday, June 01, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Homes in some stage of the foreclosure process saw their share of overall U.S. home sales grow in the first quarter even as sales of bank-owned homes fell.

The increase was driven by a spike in short sales, or homes that sell for less than what the owner owed on their mortgage, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

13. Foreclosures Dip in April - Friday, May 18, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) – National foreclosure trends took a positive turn in April, as the number of homes seized by banks declined and fewer properties entered into the foreclosure process.

14. Tenn. Among States With Foreclosure Spike in Feb. - Friday, March 16, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Foreclosure activity surged last month across about half of the nation's states, as banks tackled a backlog of homes with mortgages that had gone unpaid yet remained in limbo due to delays stemming from foreclosure-abuse claims.

15. House Panel Wants Session With Ex-Countrywide CEO - Thursday, February 16, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – House investigators want to interview Angelo Mozilo, the former Countrywide Financial Corp. chief executive whose VIP program gave discounted mortgages to member of Congress, other government officials and influential people who could help the company.

16. $25B Nationwide Mortgage Deal Goes to States - Tuesday, January 24, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – The nation's five largest mortgage lenders have agreed to overhaul their industry after deceptive foreclosure practices drove homeowners out of their homes, government officials said Monday.

17. BofA in $335M Settlement Over Countrywide Loans - Thursday, December 22, 2011

Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations that its Countrywide unit engaged in a widespread pattern of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers on home loans.

18. Ark. to Get Sliver of Morgan Keegan Settlement - Friday, October 21, 2011

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas investors will receive a sliver of a national settlement reached with an investment firm accused of overstating the value of mortgage investments just as the housing market was collapsing.

19. Contracts to Buy Homes Rose Sharply in May - Thursday, June 30, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose sharply in May. But the influx of spring buyers wasn't enough to signal a rebound in the struggling housing market.

20. From The TDN Blog: First Horizon ‘Needs to Do a Deal’ - Friday, June 17, 2011

If a tree falls in the forest but no one hears it, of course we know it made a sound. Can the same be said when a group of investors and analysts gathered for a bank industry conference talk among themselves about how a certain Memphis banking company needs to hurry up and spend some money acquiring a competitor, even when that bank isn’t presenting anything at the conference?

21. Mueller Reports Boost In Net Income - Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Memphis-based Mueller Industries Inc. Tuesday reported first quarter 2011 net income of $40.6 million, more than $6 million more than the same quarter of 2010.

22. Republicans Say New Consumer Bureau Too Powerful - Thursday, March 17, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Republicans said Wednesday that a new government agency designed to protect consumers from problems with mortgages, credit cards and other lenders has too much power. They also criticized it for participating in a federal-state effort to force mortgage servicers to change the way they foreclose on troubled homeowners.

23. Bank of America to Pay Borrowers $108 Million - Tuesday, June 08, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bank of America will pay $108 million to settle federal charges that Countrywide Financial Corp., which it acquired nearly two years ago, collected outsized fees from borrowers facing foreclosure.

24. Mortgage Brokers Association Spent $425K Lobbying in Q4 - Tuesday, March 30, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Association of Mortgage Brokers spent $425,000 in the fourth quarter to lobby the federal government on housing and other issues, according to a disclosure report.

25. Attorneys Unite Against Social Ills - Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Two Memphis lawyers who have claimed the scalps of predatory lenders and slipshod property owners are combining their efforts in a new law practice.

Begun by Memphis Area Legal Services director of advocacy Webb Brewer and private attorney Steve Barlow, Brewer & Barlow PLC is built around the partners’ mutual interest in what they call “social justice” legal issues. The new practice will focus on everything from the rights of tenants to untangling borrowers from the trap of predatory lending.

26. Tips for Borrowers Dealing with Loan Servicers - Thursday, August 06, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - Having trouble paying your mortgage? To find out if you qualify for a loan modification, you'll have to work with a loan servicer – the company that collects your mortgage payments.

27. Senate Dems Squabble Over Which Homeowners to Help - Monday, March 16, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - Disagreement among Senate Democrats over how many struggling homeowners should qualify for court-ordered mortgage relief has stalled a key part of President Barack Obama's foreclosure prevention plan on Capitol Hill.

28. State Reaches Settlement With Countrywide - Monday, January 26, 2009

An estimated 6,900 borrowers in Tennessee who were saddled with risky and high-cost home loan products may be eligible for relief as part of a settlement the Tennessee Attorney General’s office has reached with Countrywide Home Loans and Countrywide Financial Corp.

29. Fannie, Freddie Spent Millions On Lobbying - Friday, July 18, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) – For years, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tenaciously worked to nurture, and then protect, their financial empires by invoking the political sacred cow of homeownership and fielding an army of lobbyists, power brokers and political contributors.

30. Breaking Point - Thursday, January 17, 2008

Over the last few months, the finishing touches have been put on a settlement agreement covering a series of companion lawsuits that Memphis Area Legal Services recently brought against defendants including appraisers, brokers, closing agents and others.

31. Consumers Eligible for $2.7MIn Predatory Lending Suit - Tuesday, July 17, 2007
     Hundreds of Tennessee consumers are eligible for a share of $2.7 million in restitution from Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and its affiliates as part of a national settlement of a predatory lending lawsuit against the companie

32. First Horizon's Fourth QuarterEarnings Drop Nearly 28 Percent - Friday, January 19, 2007
     First Horizon National Corp.'s fourth quarter earnings decreased almost 28 percent to $76.5 million, compared to $105.9 million for fourth quarter 2005.
          Net

33. Earnings Drop Imminent At First Horizon National Corp. - Thursday, August 31, 2006
     Officials at First Horizon National Corp. expect mortgage banking earnings to be affected unfavorably this quarter by deterioration in the current mortgage environment and the settlement of a $21 million class action law

34. First Mercantile Taps Maness to Handle National Accounts - Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Philip E. Maness has been appointed director of national accounts and executive vice president of First Mercantile in Cordova. He began his career with First Mercantile in 1984, serving most recently as strategic planning officer.

35. Archived Article: Daily Digest - Friday, October 03, 2003
CRYE-LEIKE EXPANDING HOT SPRINGS

HUD Settles Case

With National Lender

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has reached a settlement agreement with Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp., a national mortgage lender. HUD had alle...

36. Archived Article: Real Review - Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Housing market on track for second-best year

Housing market on track for second-best year
A firming economy and a continuation of historically low mortgage interest rates mean 2003 is likely to be the second-best year on record for the housi...

37. Archived Article: Real Briefs - Tuesday, January 22, 2002
Denver-based Apartment Investment and Management Co Denver-based Apartment Investment and Management Co., one the nations largest property management firms, recently reached the broadest lead disclosure settlement to date with the U.S. Environmental...

38. Archived Article: Real Briefs - Tuesday, March 09, 1999
ResortQuest adopts shareholder rights ResortQuest International Inc. announced it has adopted a shareholder rights plan to protect shareholder interests from unfair takeover tactics. Officials said they are unaware of any current hostile effort to a...

39. Archived Article: Real Fcs (nar) Lj - Tuesday, January 19, 1999
By LAURIE JOHNSON Housing legislation agenda 99 The National Association of Realtors 1999 legislative agenda will focus on preserving property rights and the mortgage interest deduction, simplifying the home buying process and protecting online real...

40. Archived Article: 1st Qrt Home Starts Lj - Thursday, April 16, 1998
By LAURIE JOHNSON Home starts increase during first quarter Low interest rates and a strong economy have fueled sales By LAURIE JOHNSON The Daily News Shelby County housing starts increased 51 percent during the first quarter of 1998, with 1,028 sin...