U.S. sales fall for the third consecutive month to the lowest rate since 1999, pushing down stocks and fueling fears of a 'double dip' in the housing market.

The end of a popular government stimulus program drove home sales in July to their lowest levels in more than a decade, fueling fresh concerns about the economic recovery.

Mitchell Roth agrees to pay $1 million in restitution to homeowners from whom he collected fees plus $125,000 in penalties, the California attorney general's office says.

Former Los Angeles attorney Mitchell Roth has agreed to settle charges that he allegedly collected fees from 2,000 debt-entrenched homeowners with promises of foreclosure relief, but only filed "frivolous and phony" lawsuits, according to the California attorney general's office.

Homeowners whose loan payments were reduced in 2009 are falling back into default less often than those who got modifications in 2008.

BOSTON — Homeowners who had mortgages modified recently are faring better than those who did so earlier in the housing crisis, according to a report released Tuesday, possibly debunking predictions of a huge wave of defaults to come.

Mortgage lenders must now pay the difference if a loan's closing costs come in higher than they estimated, which means no more lowballing to lure customers.

Facing new penalties if they lowball estimates of upfront mortgage costs, lenders and brokers appear to be coming clean about how much borrowers will pay.

A federal agency is moving to prohibit "private transfer fees" on all mortgages funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But its proposed ban may extend to transfer fees routinely collected by community associations across the country — potentially forcing some of them to raise assessments.

Here are some real estate-related tidbits from the legal file:

The Spanish Colonial-style DeWenter Mansion retains vestiges of its heyday as a center of the Southern California citrus industry.

Ann Thompson still marvels at the sliver of ranchland she has lived on for the last eight years. "I fell in love with the house," she says of the Spanish Colonial-style home known as the DeWenter Mansion that sits in the quiet foothills of La Verne. "For my husband, it was the property."

Candice Bergen, Roger Moore also were previous owners of the Beverly Hills Post Office hacienda.

Even for Los Angeles, it's an impressive cast. Roger Moore owned the Beverly Hills Post Office Spanish hacienda in the '80s and '90s, then Candice Bergen bought it, and now the new owner is Cameron Diaz.

Under the main Obama administration program to ease foreclosures, fewer than 37,000 homeowners received permanently lowered mortgage payments in July. Modification cancellations are up.

Just as the housing market recovery has stalled, so has the Obama administration's main program to ease home foreclosures.

Squeezing out amateurs, private equity funds and wealthy individuals are buying distressed properties at public auctions, refurbishing them and selling them for quick profits.

Hoping there are big profits to be made in the aftermath of California's housing collapse, professional investors are flocking to the business of buying foreclosed homes at distressed prices.

Funds dry up, and many projects are left in limbo, after regulators and lenders raise alarms over terms of the Property Assessed Clean Energy program.

A popular program that allows homeowners to tap low-interest government financing to install energy-efficient solar panels, windows and insulation has stalled, leaving tens of thousands of green improvement projects across the country in limbo.

Southern California sees a 21.4% drop in home sales from 2009 but tax credits skew the figures.

Southland home sales fell dramatically in July as federal tax credits for buyers expired, yet the median home price declined only slightly from June.

Study says new housing construction contributed $13.8 billion to the California economy in 2009, down from $67.7 billion in 2005. Employment fell to 77,000 last year from 487,000 jobs in 2005 — a drop of 84%.

The housing bust has cost California plenty.

The change is among several announced by the Fed, which has been criticized for failing to rein in high-risk lending during the housing boom.

The Federal Reserve on Monday approved a rule banning lenders from paying bonuses to mortgage brokers and loan officers who get borrowers to agree to a higher interest rate than they need to pay.

With new owners and funding, the development is changing to apartments and will include a triangular arrangement of five-, six- and seven-story buildings and space for shops on the ground floor.

A stalled condominium development in Hollywood that became a symbol of the real estate market's collapse is back under construction after work on it was idled by bankruptcy for more than a year.

Architect and interior designer John Saladino spent four years and 'millions and millions' of dollars reconstructing and restoring the late-1920s structure and surrounding gardens.

Internationally renowned architect and interior designer John Saladino says that when he first visited this property in 1985, he was "possessed and smitten" but, with a large house in Connecticut, unable to consider buying.

In the growing practice of 'virtual staging,' photographs of homes on real estate websites are altered to make them look more attractive. But some people feel duped when they see the real thing.

Reporting from Washington

A grand manor in Hancock Park

The folks at Esteemed Lending Services are out to teach people a lesson.

Question: I am a condominium owner. Our homeowners association is being sued by a former gardener who claims her firing was an act of sex discrimination. What are the ramifications of this lawsuit for me? Will an insurance policy cover me for any financial loss? I also suspect there may be a political battle going on involving the present board, a former board member and the property management company regarding this problem. Who is liable for damages?