Recently, the issue of a lender's authority and right to pursue foreclosure on defaulted residential mortgage loans has become a subject of national interest. It is at the heart of the $25 billion settlement agreed to recently between the Federal government, 49 state attorneys general and the nation's five largest loan servicers.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska USA FCU expanded again in Washington with the opening of a new branch in a Safeway supermarket in Edmonds.

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Citigroup Inc. (C) has snatched Freddie Mac executive Anthony Renzi to become the chief operating officer of its North American mortgage business, according to people familiar with the matter.

LAS VEGAS — Troubled Silver State Schools CU said this afternoon it lost another $3.5 million for the first quarter, erasing all of its remaining net worth and leaving it only with the emergency assistance provided by its private deposit insurer ASI.

Ovation Holdings Inc. has agreed to buy most of Royal Palm Bank in Florida from Mercantile Bancorp.

Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) in Maine has struck its first deal in its 125-year history, announcing late Tuesday that it is buying substantially all of the assets and deposits of Border Trust Company in Augusta.

The San Luis Obispo, Calif., bank in five years went from a start-up to the winner in a bidding war between two bank suitors. Picking a good location and keeping its nose clean paid off, CEO Mark Crawford said.

Aided by a decrease in problem loans, improved expense control and robust mortgage-lending activity, Hampton Roads Bancshares narrowed its loss in the first quarter to $7.9 million from $21.4 million in the fourth quarter and $31.6 million the same period last year.

Michael D. Fraizer, chairman and CEO of Genworth Financial, resigned Tuesday afternoon, two weeks after the firm's stock was hammered because of accelerating losses in its Australian mortgage insurance business.

A study released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Board showed that interchange fees are lower, but the savings were not passed on to consumers.

Orrstown Financial Services said Tuesday that shareholders voted in support of management's compensation, though they also voted to eliminate supermajority voting.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated a written agreement with MidSouth Bank after capital levels improved and noncurrent loans decreased at the Murfreesboro, Tenn., company.

Tired of sifting through struggling banks looking for a savior, some aspiring buyers are approaching healthy banks about acquisitions.

Continuing its rapid expansion throughout the Northeast, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) in Pittsfield, Mass., said Tuesday that it has acquired Greenpark Mortgage Corporation of Needham, Mass.

Shares of Premier Financial Bancorp (PFBI) surged to a 52-week high Tuesday after the Huntington, W.Va., four-bank holding company reported a 69% increase in its first-quarter profit.

Flagstar Bancorp (FBC) reported another loss in the first quarter but its chief executive assured investors Tuesday that the Troy, Mich., company will return to profitability this year.

Wells Fargo plans to give its underwriters more control in approving mortgages that it retains in its own portfolio, as the bank tries to add high-quality assets to its balance sheet.

Eagle Bancorp (EGBN) of Bethesda, Md., could raise up to $35 million for general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions and organic growth.

Don't think of this business as residential lending. It's really a low-risk form of asset-based lending.