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» January was also sunny for the townhouse-condo market. According to Florida Realtors, a total of 6,670 units sold statewide, up 2 percent compared with January 2012. Pending sales for townhouse-condos increased 17 percent. The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties was $112,000, up 18 percent year-over-year. According to Florida Realtors' data, January marked the 13th straight month that statewide median sales prices rose on a yearover-year basis for both single-family homes and townhouse-condo units. The group also reported that the inventory for single-family homes stood at a 5.6-month supply in January. "This can encourage other potential sellers to come forward, thus easing the market's inventory crunch," Tuccillo noted. "But, despite the progress of Florida's housing market, it's still being held back by the difficulty consumers have in accessing credit." LPS Settles Federal Mortgage Fraud Inquiry for $35M, Releases 'It's Listed!' Alerts Florida-based Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), agreed to pay $35 million to resolve criminal fraud violations involving fraudulently signed and notarized mortgage documents, the Justice Department announced. LPS entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. Through the settlement, LPS announced it will pay $20 million to the United States Marshals Service and $15 million to Treasury. The agreement also requires the company to meet a series of other conditions. The department stated LPS has already taken a number of remedial actions to address the misconduct at DocX, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPS, and has wound down all the subsidiary's operations and re-executed and re-filed mortgage assignments as necessary. The settlement follows guilty pleas from Lorraine Brown, the former CEO/president of DocX. In November, Brown pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in federal court in Florida and entered a plea deal in Missouri. Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette also brought charges against Brown and recently announced the former CEO pled guilty to racketeering. The Justice Department statement explained that over a six-year period ending in 2009, employees of DocX falsified signatures on mortgage-related documents. Brown and others at DocX were accused of directing authorized signers to allow unauthorized staff to sign and have documents notarized in order to increase profits. The announcement follows a $127 million multistate settlement in January to resolve "robo-signing" allegations. In a statement, Hugh Harris, LPS president and CEO, said, "[t]he conclusion of the Justice Department's inquiry is another positive step for LPS." "Coupled with recent settlements with multiple state attorneys general, as well as other litigation, LPS has effectively dealt with its legacy issues related to past business practices and is squarely focused on delivering leading technology-driven solutions to enable the mortgage industry to meet its new requirements," Harris added. The company also introduced It's Listed! Alerts as a way to let servicers know when properties in their portfolios show up on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). It's Listed! Alerts can be used by servicers to retain customers and speed up short sales, LPS explained. "Servicers benefit when they have early notification of when their customers put their properties on the market," said Rob Walker, managing director for the LPS Applied Analytics division. "It's Listed! Alerts is an early notification system that gives servicers the opportunity to help expedite short sales by identifying delinquent borrowers in their portfolio who have listed their properties. The solution can also help servicers retain their customers by giving their lending departments a heads-up when current borrowers have listed their properties." Through its exclusive relationship with Realtors Property Resource (RPR), It's Listed! Alerts will match properties from servicers' portfolios with listing price information available in the RPR system. In addition, RPR can notify the listing agent when a servicer seeks more information about a property. It's Listed! Alerts expands the capabilities of LPS' Lien Alert solution, which helps servicers better manage portfolio risk with instant notifications about key property-related activities such as foreclosure/default activity and involuntary liens and judgments. VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM Walter Investment to Acquire Ally's Lending Business Walter Investment Management Corp. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ally Bank's business lending operations, the company announced in February. The transaction was expected to close on February 28, though terms were not disclosed. Upon completion of the transaction, Walter expected it would employ approximately 300 of Ally's correspondent and wholesale lending employees. "This transaction brings to Walter Investment a team of knowledgeable, experienced employees with which to pursue correspondent lending opportunities, using the outstanding capabilities resident in the recently acquired ResCap originations platform," said Mark O'Brien, chairman and CEO of Florida-based Walter Investment. "We look forward to working with this team as we execute on our strategic plans for the originations business." The deal represents a major step in Ally's ongoing move away from the mortgage business. The bank announced last year its intent to "explore strategic alternatives" for its agency mortgage servicing rights and its business lending operations. "We are pleased to be transferring business lending to a well-respected, strategic buyer like Walter, who values the high quality of our people, platform, and relationships and is committed to building its origination capabilities," said Ally Bank president and CEO Barbara Yastine. "This is a positive outcome for our 300 business lending employees and enables Ally Bank to direct more resources toward our priorities of growing our leading direct banking franchise, as well as supporting Ally's auto finance operation." As previously announced, Ally Bank will continue to originate "a modest level" of jumbo and conventional conforming home mortgages for its own portfolio through a group of correspondent lenders. MCS Announces Expansion of Mobile Toolset Mortgage Contracting Services, LLC (MCS), announced in February the addition of new tools to its mobile offering. The expanded toolset will provide vendors with several mobile field service applications that 87

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