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» general deputy assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity. "We are thrilled to see Wells Fargo's renewed efforts and leadership in this area. Many neighborhoods all across the country have been seriously damaged by REO homes left un-attended. This partnership will help to get some of those neighborhoods back on their feet," added Shanna L. Smith, president and CEO of the NFHA. NFHA filed similar complaints against Bank of America and U.S. Bank last year. Rels Title Rebranded as DataQuick Title DataQuick announced the full integration and rebranding of Rels Title to DataQuick Title. The title company was acquired by DataQuick in September of last year. "The transition of Rels Title to DataQuick Title signifies the fulfillment of our promise for consistency and stability," said John Walsh, president of DataQuick. DataQuick Title now has licenses in 36 states and the District of Columbia, with local title offices in 11 states. According to DataQuick, the integration also allows for access to the parent company's national property database of more than 125 million properties and more than 267 million property transactions. "The unique combination of local title expertise and advanced real estate information solutions strengthens every DataQuick Title office," said Leslie Foster, president of DataQuick Title. "It creates a solid foundation for innovation that will drive improved operational performance—something that our local branches and our national operations centers can leverage to better serve our customers and the market overall." San Diego-based DataQuick also offers credit solutions, property data and analytics, decisioning software, flood compliance services, property research, valuation solutions, and licensed appraisals. Firm Highlights Foreclosure Trends, Institutional Investor Activity in California Among California homeowners encountering foreclosure, those with higher loan amounts tend to hold on to their homes longer than those with lower loan amounts, according to PropertyRadar, formerly known as ForeclosureRadar. The firm determined a difference in foreclosure timelines of 270 days between loans of less than $417,000 and loans of more than $550,000. This appears to be a relatively recent anomaly, according to PropertyRadar's findings. In January 2009, foreclosure timelines in California for all loan amounts were relatively equal. "Perhaps the difference lies in the fact that more affluent homeowners have the means to tap into resources to help delay foreclosure, or that larger loans on expensive homes are more complex and take longer to disentangle," PropertyRadar stated in its report, covering foreclosure activity through the month of April. On average overall, foreclosures in California take 306 days to complete, according to PropertyRadar's study. Foreclosure starts increased 13.9 percent over the month of April in California and were up 108 percent since the start of the year. However, PropertyRadar reasons this increase "simply reflects a return to a longerterm trend that was interrupted by the implementation of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, which went into effect January 1." Perhaps more telling is the fact that foreclosure filings, which include both notices of default and notices of trustee sale, declined 45.8 percent from January to April, according to PropertyRadar. Contributing to this decline is "the potpourri of government debtrelief programs" and a decrease in mortgage defaults, the company explained. Activity from institutional investors looms large in California, evidenced by cash sales. According to PropertyRadar, from 2001 to 2007, cash sales represented between 6.2 percent and 8.4 percent of total sales in the Golden State. As prices plummeted with the market crash in 2008, cash sales grew to represent 15.9 percent of total sales, eventually reaching 29.2 percent in 2012. As of April 2013, cash sales represented 29.3 percent of California home sales. PropertyRadar decided to study the investors playing such a large role in the state's housing market are and their purchase patterns. The company tracked purchases of single-family homes and condominiums in quantities of more than 10 from a liability corporation (LLC) or limited partnership (LP). Interestingly, the firm reported LLC and LP purchases represented only 5.1 percent of activity in 2012 and 4.5 percent in 2013. However, upon closer examination, PropertyRadar found institutional investor activity was mainly concentrated in certain counties. VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM For example, in Solano County, LLC and LP purchase activity accounted for 16.1 percent of sales in 2012 and 21.5 percent of sales in 2013. Sacramento County's LLC and LP activity was the second highest, at 11 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively. Other counties in the top five were Kern, San Bernardino, and Riverside, where activity from LLCs and LPs ranged from 10.5 percent to 13 percent. According to the firm, the Blackstone Group was the largest institutional investor active in 2012 and 2013. Other firms among this year's top purchasers included Colony Financial, Waypoint Real Estate Group, Wedgewood Enterprises Corporation. Sean O'Toole, founder and CEO of PropertyRadar, explained that while rising prices help underwater homeowners, they reduce potential returns for investors in the market for rental properties—a development that could be another hurdle for sales growth. Collateral Risk Solutions Introduces Appraisal Audit Service Collateral Risk Solutions, Inc., a San Diego-based valuation due diligence firm, launched a new Appraisal Audit Service (AAS) to help lenders and appraisal management companies (AMCs) adapt to new regulations that require them to perform post-closing appraisal audits. CEO Joel Meredith says the service was designed to relieve lenders and AMCs of the challenges that come with managing internal audits on their own while outsourcing individual reviews. "Our Appraisal Audit Service is primarily performed by our own staff of specially trained appraisal auditors," Meredith said. "This allows us to maximize efficiency, which, in turn, results in tremendous cost savings to our clients." Meredith also notes that included in the service is a compilation of performance data from each appraisal to help clients assess the strengths and weaknesses of the sample selected and identify problematic trends or areas in need of improvement. With AAS, appraisals are reviewed to ensure compliance with the industry's Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). In addition, an analysis of overall performance with proprietary scoring and a complete summary of findings and observations are provided to clients. 69

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