Loan Safe Solutions - "New York Tackles Reckless Subprime Lending…Will California Be Next?" (6-26-08)

"New York is the latest to pass a tough law with stronger protections to put an end to many of the abuses that led to today’s foreclosure crisis. This action came on the heels of new laws in Connecticut and Maryland, and Michigan is actively considering a robust bill, too. Approximately a dozen states, including Ohio, Minnesota, and North Carolina last year, have taken the lead in passing common-sense protections consumers should have had all along."

NAR - "May Existing-Home Sales Show Modest Gain" (6-26-08)

"Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 1 of 4.99 million units in May from a level of 4.89 million in April, but are 15.9 percent below the 5.93 million-unit pace in May 2007."

Bloomberg - "Lennar Reports Loss, Says Home Market Not at Bottom" (6-26-08)

"Lennar Corp., the second-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported its fifth straight quarterly loss and said the housing market has yet to see the worst of the slump. The shares fell 8.4 percent after Miami-based Lennar reported a fiscal second-quarter net loss of $121 million, or 76 cents a share. Analysts projected a loss of 68 cents. Revenue fell 61 percent to $1.1 billion."

Bloomberg - "SEC Inquiries Stemming From Subprime Crisis Surge" (6-26-08)

"The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's docket of probes stemming from the subprime- mortgage crisis has grown at least 40 percent since January amid mounting investor losses and the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos., a person familiar with the agency's caseload said."

Bloomberg - "Commercial-Mortgage Bond Sales May Reach 12-Year Low" (6-26-08)

"Commercial-mortgage backed securities offerings dropped to $12.2 billion in the first half of the year, from about $137 billion in the same period of 2007, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analysts at the firm, Moody's Investors Service and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc cut their forecasts. JPMorgan predicts sales will fall to $20 billion this year from the record $237 billion in 2007 and the lowest since 1996."

Bloomberg - "Subprime-Mortgage Defaults Rise Less Than Some Forecasts in May" (6-26-08)

"Subprime-mortgage defaults last month rose less than some forecasts as some categories of delinquency rates improved, according to data on the debt underlying the benchmark Markit ABX derivatives indexes."

Bloomberg - "Genworth Financial Is `Comfortable' With 2008 Earnings Forecast" (6-26-08)

"The Richmond-Virginia-based company, whose shares have fallen 46 percent in the past year, forecasts a 2008 operating profit range of $2.25 to $2.65 a share. Fraizer last week reorganized management so that its U.S. mortgage-insurance unit reports to him directly, and announced the chief investment officer was leaving the company. The three insurers in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index that declined more than Genworth in the past year all replaced their CEOs."

Realty Times - "Assessing Your Readiness to Invest in Foreclosures" (6-26-08)

"Not everyone is cut out to invest in foreclosures. Some people would rather watch TV, invest in stocks and bonds, spend time with family members, or hang out with their friends. Others have a low risk tolerance and can't convince themselves to borrow money."

Orange County Register - "REITs? Forget it." (6-26-08)

"Who came up with the bright idea of creating a company that buys a bunch of home loans and then pays out nearly all the income it gets to shareholders? What if the loans go bad? What if interest rates rise? Paying at least 90 percent of earnings as dividends, a requirement of any real estate investment trust, means there’s little money left over for a rainy day."

Orange County Register - "Aliso Viejo is top city for property tax cuts" (6-26-08)

"Orange County Tax Assessor’s Office says Aliso Viejo leads Orange County cities in the percentage of its homes that had their property tax assessments reduced for the coming fiscal year"