Real Estate News – August 25-26, 2011

The White House is considering a housing proposal that would allow millions of home owners with government-backed mortgages to refinance into lower interest rates (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/pOsi0H

About $16 million is sitting in a Cook County court fund, just waiting for the rightful owners — namely home and business owners who lost their property to foreclosure, officials said Thursday (via suntimes.com): http://bit.ly/n8L08p

The Indiana attorney general’s office is suing two companies it says preyed on residents trying to save their homes from foreclosure (via Businessweek.com): http://buswk.co/qbD0Nr

‘MERS morass’ is hanging up negotiations on foreclosure settlement (via WashingtonPost.com): http://wapo.st/nSzwn5

Banks are agreeing to more short sale transactions, and short sales are taking less time to sell, which is helping to clear large inventories of distressed properties more efficiently, says James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO, in releasing new housing data this week (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/nJ8Pcz