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Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Treasury Releases Guidance for Making Home Affordable Short Sales Amidst the high-profile news Monday about the administration's push to make more loan modifications permanent, the Treasury also laid out finalized guidelines for short sales. The administration is urging servicers to use short sales as an alternative to foreclosure for those homeowners that don't qualify for a reworked mortgage under the Home Affordable Modification Program. To entice servicers, Treasury will pay out $1,000 for each successful short sale. Pending Home Sales Hit Highest Mark in More than 3 Years: NAR The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Tuesday that its index of home sales contracts is up yet again, representing the ninth straight month that pending sales have recorded a rise - the longest run of increases since NAR began tracking sales agreements back in 2001. Perhaps even more noteworthy is that the latest reading is the highest on record since March 2006 and is nearly 32 percent above October 2008. The rise from a year ago is the biggest annual increase ever posted for NAR's pending sales index. Default Rate for Bank-Held Commercial Mortgages Increases: Real Estate Econometrics In the most recent report by New York-based Real Estate Econometrics (reeconometrics), the property research firm updated its projections, predicting the default rate for bank-held commercial mortgages will rise to 4.0 percent by the end of 2009 and will peak in 2011. Already defaults on commercial real estate mortgages held by depository institutions has hit a 16-year high. Lend America Loses FHA Approval, Defaulted by Ginnie Mae Ideal Mortgage Bankers (Ideal), doing business as Lend America and Lending Key, lost approval from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Monday after being faulted for poor underwriting and false certifications. The action, which will take effect immediately, prevents Ideal from originating or underwriting new FHA-insured mortgages and from participating in the FHA single family insurance program. You are receving this email because you opted in at our website dsnews.com or attended a Five Star Conference. Unsubscribe roballey.434-974-5586@blogger.com from this list. Corporate Office: DS News 1909 Woodall Rodgers Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75201 Add us to your address book Washington Bureau: 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20004 Copyright (C) 2009 DS News All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile QUICK LINKS DSNews.com DS News' Red Book DS News' Black Book 2009 Five Star Conference DARE