AP - Mortgage applications continued to rise last week, as low interest rates allowed borrowers to refinance their home loans at the lowest rates in decades.

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Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications rose last week, as demand for home purchase loans jumped even as interest rates edged up from recent record lows, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

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Reuters - A powerful U.S. lawmaker said on Monday he is preparing a broad package of legislation that would promote stability in the mortgage market by limiting future subprime lending, and would also take on executive compensation and limit systemic risk.

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AP - Federal and state officials are cracking down on mortgage modification scams, accusing “criminal actors” of preying on desperate borrowers caught up in the nation’s housing crisis.

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McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — In an effort to protect consumers who seek federal help to stay in their homes, the Obama administration on Monday announced a major crackdown on scams that target cash-strapped homeowners facing foreclosure.

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Reuters - Fraudsters are using the publicity around foreclosure-prevention plans to lure desperate homeowners into costly scams, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday.

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BusinessWeek Online - Silicon Valley once thought it could replace the old-fashioned Realtor, touring would-be buyers around town in a well-worn Mercedes, with online agents working remotely for cut-rate commissions. It hasn’t worked out that way.

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BusinessWeek Online - Dongguan, China - Business had been good, even great. But by early 2008, the lighting manufacturer realized his factory in China was heading for failure. The collapse of the U.S. housing market had devastated demand for his lamps and fixtures sold at American retailers. Costs kept rising in Dongguan, the southern city where he had expanded his operations. So the 43-year-old boss quietly slipped out of China, leaving behind $100,000 to cover the final month’s rent and salary for his 400-plus workers. Suppliers were left unpaid.

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