Paid-off Home Loans Decline Over Last Quarter

from Colorado Springs Business Journal | by Marija B. Vader | February 20, 2014

The number of home loans paid off in Colorado was down 28.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the fourth quarter of 2013, but comparing the full year of 2013 to 2012, the total was up 13 percent.

According to a report released Wednesday by the Colorado Division of Housing, public trustees in Colorado released a total of 62,312 deeds of trust during the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to 86,816 released during the fourth quarter of 2012.

To read the rest of the story click here.

Too Many MLSs?

from REALTOR Mag | by Meg White | January 2014 

Data standardization remains a challenge across various listing platforms, causing some to call for MLS consolidation.

The strain between brokers and agents was evident when the subject of the number of MLSs across the country was discussed at the MLS Forum at the 2013 REALTORS® Conference & Expo last November.

Sales associates are frustrated because they have to pay membership fees to more than one organization, and brokers often have difficulty coordinating data between disparate sources. Some brokers at the forum said they have members of two different associations in the same real estate office or listings that are directly across the street from each other appearing in two separate MLSs.

To read more find the full story here.

8 States With the Most Mortgage Fraud Cases

from REALTOR Mag | February 11, 2014 |

Overall, suspicious activity in lending is down, but mortgage fraud remains particularly problematic in cerain areas across the country, according to the LexisNexis 15th annual Mortgage Fraud Report (PDF). The report highlighted the worst states for mortgage fraud, based on the highest number of investigations in 2012. 

To see the states at the top of the list click here.