The Lede

Four members of the House introduced a bill last week that would require withdrawal and study of the Federal Housing Finance Agency's proposed rule on Federal Home Loan Bank membership.  

HOPE NOW said foreclosure sales activity reached its lowest level since 2007, while delinquencies fell by nearly half from five years ago. 

SAN DIEGO--Sometimes the biggest threat to your firm's reputation--and its finances--comes from factors that you cannot see. 

SAN DIEGO--The Mortgage Bankers Association projects $905 million in purchase mortgage originations in 2016, a 10 percent increase from 2015.

SAN DIEGO--The American people deserve a better, more responsive mortgage finance system, said White House Senior Policy Advisor Michael Stegman. But, he said, that will not come from recapitalizing and releasing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship.

MISMO seeks qualified nominations for its Standards Governance Committees for two-year terms beginning in January. The nominations deadline is Friday, Oct. 30.

National Mortgage News, Oct. 20, 2015--Berry, Kate Housing finance reform in Congress is stalled, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (often under pressure from their regulator) are forming partnerships, developing new products and finding ways to share risk with the private sector to correct flaws in the housing system.

National Mortgage News, Oct. 26, 2015--Clozel, Lalita Residential mortgage-backed securities servicers are improving their processes despite generally adverse market conditions, Fitch Ratings said.

Wall Street Journal, Oct. 26, 2015--Stynes, Tess DBRS Inc. agreed to pay nearly $6 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission claims that the credit-ratings firm misrepresented how it monitored ratings of complex real-estate securities over a three-year period.

CNBC, Oct. 26, 2015--O'Brien, Sarah Reverse mortgages, once viewed as loans of last resort, are slowly gaining some mainstream respect.

HousingWire, Oct. 19, 2015--Garrison, Trey The government-sponsored enterprises are getting back to their core mission, shaking the idea that a resolution to conservatorship is just around the corner and reshaping their business models to reduce risk to taxpayers while expanding access to credit. That was the message from Timothy Mayopoulos, president and CEO Fannie Mae and Donald Layton, CEO of Freddie Mac.

National Mortgage News, Oct. 19, 2015--Finkelstein, Brad The big game changer in the mortgage industry is the "unquantifiable and increasing regulatory risk," said Tom Sanzone, Black Knight Financial Services' CEO at a press conference Monday at the MBA's Annual Convention in San Diego.

Wall Street Journal, Oct. 20, 2015--Light, Joe Collecting pay stubs for a home-mortgage application has been a time-honored tradition, barring a few ill-fated years running up to the financial crisis. But if changes announced by mortgage-finance company Fannie Mae catch on, that process could go the way of the dodo.

National Mortgage News, Oct. 20, 2015--Finkelstein, Brad Ginnie Mae's limited resources are going to be focused on working with its existing issuers, especially those that are not creating new securities, according to its president, Ted Tozer.

National Mortgage News, Oct. 20, 2015--Collins, Brian Private mortgage insurers are seeking a larger share of the credit risk on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-guaranteed loans.

Green Building Elements, Oct. 25, 2015--Hanley, Stephen Because the PACE loan is included in the taxes on the property, it has priority over the first mortgage in the event of default. "There is a general principle in mortgage banking: first in time, first in line," said Pete Mills, senior vice president with the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association. "Taxing authorities are always a risk of jumping ahead, but that's a far different matter than a private company selling energy improvements being able to jump ahead."

HousingWire, Oct. 21, 2015--Bell, Michael; Liss, Elliot The run up to the Oct. 3 "live" date for TRID could be a case study in client-vendor relations in the mortgage industry.

Mortgage Orb, Oct. 22, 2015--Barnard, Patrick In a speech during the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2015 Annual Convention and Expo in San Diego, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said regulators should perhaps be paying more attention to the impact vendor errors can have on lender's ability to comply with new regulations.

Mortgage Orb, Oct. 21, 2015--Barnard, Patrick I just returned from the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2015 Annual Convention and Expo held in San Diego and I must say this year's conference was the best of the three I've attended.

National Mortgage News, Oct. 22, 2015--Berry, Kate Mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial failed four servicing tests in the second half of 2014 but is "beginning to show progress" in fixing its problems, said Joseph A. Smith Jr., the monitor of the $25 national mortgage settlement.

National Mortgage News, Oct. 22, 2015--Finkelstein, Brad A pair of title insurers expect to suffer from TRID implementation hangover in the fourth quarter as the slowdown in mortgage applications related to implementation will affect them as well.

Mortgage News Daily, Oct. 22, 2015--Swanson, Jann The timing of Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton's column indicates it was intended as a bit of a counterpoint White House officials' remarks at the recent MBA Annual Convention.

Albuquerque Journal (N. Mex.), Oct. 22, 2015--Ponder, Crissinda (Bankrate.com) Mortgage credit availability has increased, meaning that lending standards have somewhat loosened for most of 2015, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Mortgage Credit Availability Index.

National Mortgage News, Oct. 23, 2015--Collins, Brian Legislation would require GAO to study the impact the Federal Housing Finance Agency membership rule would have on the Federal Home Loan Bank System and its members.