The Lede

Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., said seriously past-due loans fell to pre-recession levels as October mortgage delinquencies fell by nearly 18 percent from a year ago, while foreclosure starts saw an uptick.

The Mortgage Bankers Association and 30 industry trade groups sent a letter to Senate leaders urging approval of Michael Bright as Ginnie Mae President.

The Mortgage Bankers Association and 30 industry trade groups sent a letter to Senate leaders urging approval of Michael Bright as Ginnie Mae President.

The Mortgage Bankers Association and 30 industry trade groups sent a letter to Senate leaders urging approval of Michael Bright as Ginnie Mae President.

The Mortgage Bankers Association and 16 other real estate organizations urged Congress to support the bipartisan Invest in America Act (H.R. 6726) recently introduced by Kenny Marchant, R-Texas, and Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 26, 2018--Hannah Lang (subscription)A risk-based capital plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is only theoretical as long as the two mortgage giants remain under government control. But the Federal Housing Finance Agency proposal requiring the government-sponsored enterprises to prepare for future crises still elicits strong opinions. (MBA mention)

HousingWire, Nov. 26, 2018--Ben LaneAltisource plans to discontinue its "Buy-Renovate-Lease-Sell" business, which focuses on buying, renovating, leasing and selling single-family homes to real estate investors.

Bloomberg, Nov. 26, 2018--Christopher MaloneyIn terms of excess return versus Treasuries, the performance of mortgage securities since September provided fixed-income investors little to brag about over the holiday dinner table. All of this begs the question--have mortgages cheapened enough for a turnaround?

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 25, 2018--Ben Eisen, Christina Rexrode (subscription)More than 80% of borrowers who refinanced in the third quarter chose the "cash out" option, withdrawing $14.6 billion in equity out of their homes, according to government-sponsored mortgage corporation Freddie Mac. That is the highest share of cash-out refis since 2007.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 25, 2018--Rachel Witkowski, Kate Berry (subscription)Bank regulators have not come out with a formal plan for updating the Community Reinvestment Act, but a preliminary list of questions about the reform effort issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has produced a treasure trove of public feedback to guide their deliberations.

Orange County Register, Nov. 24, 2018--Jeff LazersonThis week Freddie Mac gave the go-ahead to unlimited sweat equity to count toward your down payment and closing costs through its enhanced Home Possible Mortgage program.

HousingWire, Nov. 20, 2018--Ben LaneTitle insurance companies in 12 of the nation's largest markets will now have to provide federal authorities with substantial details on all real estate deals of $300,000 or more if the buyer is paying all cash. The requirement comes at the hands of the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

National Real Estate Investor, Nov. 20, 2018--Bendix AndersonMultifamily borrowers will have to do a lot more in 2019 to get the lower interest rates offered by Fannie May and Freddie Mac's popular "green" lending programs.

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 20, 2018--Ben Eisen, Cezary Podkul (subscription)A decade after the housing crisis, new risk takers invest in nonperforming loans--often written off by banks--and push the borrowers to start paying on them again.

National Mortgage Professional, Nov. 20, 2018--Phil HallThe default rate on first mortgages remained unchanged at 0.63 percent from September to October, according to data from the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

American Banker, Nov. 20, 2018--Rachel Witkowski (subscription)The plan would create a community bank leverage ratio for institutions with less than $10 billion of assets which smaller banks could comply with in lieu of more complicated Basel risk-based capital standards. Under the proposal, the ratio was set at 9% of tangible equity to total assets.