Sales of previously occupied homes rose last month after the worst summer for the housing market in more than a decade. And fears over flawed foreclosure documents could keep buyers on the sidelines in the final months of the year.

Sales grew 10 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

Home sales have declined 37.5 percent from their peak annual rate of 7.25 million in September 2005. They have risen from July's rate of 3.84 million, which was the lowest in 15 years.

Most experts expect roughly 5 million homes to be sold through the entire year. That would be in line with last year's totals and just above sales for 2008, the worst since 1997.

Still, sales could fall further if potential lawsuits from former homeowners claiming that banks made errors when seizing their homes make consumers fearful of buying foreclosed properties.

The Federal Reserve on Monday become the latest government regulator to announce it would be looking into whether mortgage companies cut corners on their own procedures when seizing homes.

Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed would look intensively to see if policies, procedures or internal controls led lenders to improperly foreclosure on homeowners. Preliminary results of an in-depth report are expected to be released next month.

Investors suing Washington Mutual Inc., the former owner of the biggest U.S. bank to fail, won certification as a class-action case of their suit alleging shoddy lending practices.

Shareholders who lost money on stock purchased from October 2005 to July 2008 can proceed with claims under a single lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle ruled Tuesday, according to court documents. The judge appointed the New York-based law firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann to lead the plaintiffs' case.

The lawsuit consolidates more than 20 cases filed against Washington Mutual that claim the bank secretly lowered lending standards, artificially inflated home-price appraisals and failed to disclose its deteriorating financial condition when the loans began to fail.

John Wolfe, an attorney representing Washington Mutual defendants, didn't immediately return a voice-mail message seeking comment.

The named plaintiffs in the case include Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada, and four other pension groups, according to court documents.

They seek to represent tens of thousands of shareholders who lost money on three types of preferred stock purchased between October 2005 and July 2008 and certain securities offered by the bank in 2006 and 2007.

The shareholders argued the case should be granted class-action status because their claims are typical of what other investors experienced and are based on common legal issues.

WaMu filed for bankruptcy Sept. 26, 2008, the day after its banking unit was taken over by regulators and sold to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion. Before it failed, Washington Mutual Bank had more than 2,200 branches and $188 billion in deposits.

It's been almost two years since the Federal Reserve set interest rates to the current near-zero levels. The Fed has kept the target range for the federal funds rate (the interest rate at which banks lend to each other) between zero and 0.25 percent since December 2008 and has, since March 2009, repeated its pledge to keep rates low for an "extended period." That's a signal that it doesn't plan on changing its tune any time soon, experts say.

On top of record-low interest rates, the Fed has also pursued a strategy called quantitative easing, which involves buying up government securities like treasuries to push interest rates even lower in hopes of stimulating more lending to spur economic activity. The first round of quantitative easing started in 2008, and many experts believe the Fed will announce plans to begin another asset-buying program (referred to as QE2) in its next rate announcement in November. Here are four reasons why another round of asset purchases could be problematic:

Savers are hurting. The yield on the 10-year treasury note has hovered around 2.5 percent for most of the latter half of 2010. Historically, rates have been much higher. In mid-2007, when economic growth was much more robust and demand for treasuries was much lower, 10-year treasuries were yielding as much as 5 percent. Many older investors depend on the income they receive from their investments in high-quality bonds like treasuries, and faced with paltry treasury yields, many are considering whether they should take on more risk. "It forces people out the risk spectrum in order to get yield, and a lot of people that are forced out the risk spectrum shouldn't be forced out the risk spectrum," says Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. Rates can only move higher, and when they do, investors that have moved farther down the duration scale (a measure of interest-rate sensitivity) will feel the pain. When interest rates rise, the price of bonds falls--and longer duration bonds will be hit harder than others.

Officials in 50 states and the District of Columbia have launched a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

The states' attorneys general and bank regulators will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly.

Alabama initially did not sign on to the investigation. It reversed course after the joint statement was released.

Attorneys general have taken the lead in responding to a nationwide scandal that's called into question the accuracy and legitimacy of documents that lenders relied on to evict people from the homes. Employees of four large lenders have acknowledged in depositions that they signed off on foreclosure documents without reading them.

The allegations raise the possibility that foreclosure proceedings nationwide could be subject to legal challenge. Some foreclosures could be overturned. More than 2.5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since the recession started in December 2007, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

The state officials said they intend to use their investigation to fix the problems that surfaced in the mortgage industry.

The law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been brought on behalf of a class (“Class”) consisting of purchasers of the securities of Duoyuan Printing, Inc. (“Duoyuan Printing” or the “Company”) (NYSE: DYP) pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and prospectus issued in connection with the Company's initial public offering (“IPO”) on November 6, 2009, as well as purchasers of the Company's securities between November 6, 2009 and September 13, 2010, inclusive (the “Class Period”).

If you are a member of the Class, you may move the Court for appointment as lead plaintiff by no later than November 19, 2010. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your share of any recovery in this action will not be affected by your decision of whether to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. You may retain Lieff Cabraser, or other attorneys, as your counsel in this action.

Duoyuan Printing shareholders that wish to learn more about this action and how to seek appointment as lead plaintiff should visit Lieff Cabraser's website at http://www.lieffcabraser.com/cases.php?CaseID=341 or contact attorney Sharon Lee toll free at (800) 541-7358.

Background on Duoyuan Printing Securities Class Litigation

The action, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, was brought against Duoyuan Printing and certain of its officers and directors for violations of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Duoyuan Printing, headquartered in Beijing, China, designs, manufactures and sells offset printing equipment.

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that (1) the authenticity of certain Company expenses relating to advertising and tradeshow costs could not be verified; (2) the Company had improper relationships with certain distributors and vendors; (3) as a result of the foregoing, the Company's financial statements were allegedly materially false and misleading at all relevant times; and (4) Duoyuan Printing lacked adequate internal and financial controls.

On September 13, 2010, Duoyuan Printing disclosed that it dismissed its independent registered public accounting firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd. (“Deloitte”), and was reorganizing its top management in connection with its “desire to resolve open issues and file our 10-K on a timely basis.” The Company also disclosed that its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and four members of its Board of Directors had resigned after the dismissal of Deloitte. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Company revealed that it had refused to grant Deloitte permission to access its original bank statements to complete audit procedures to verify the identity of certain individuals and entities associated with distributors and vendors. On this news, the price of Duoyuan Printing common stock fell $3.60 per share, or more than 54 percent, to close at $2.99 per share on September 13, 2010.

About Lieff Cabraser

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville, is a nationally recognized law firm committed to advancing the rights of investors and promoting corporate responsibility.

Since 2003, the National Law Journal has selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the nation. In compiling the list, the National Law Journal examined recent verdicts and settlements in addition to overall track records. Lieff Cabraser is one of only two plaintiffs' law firms in the United States to receive this honor for the last seven consecutive years.

For more information about Lieff Cabraser and the firm's representation of investors, please visit http://www.lieffcabraser.com.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Source/Contact for Media Inquiries Only:
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
Sharon Lee, 415-956-1000