Pam Patenaude Named Deputy HUD Secretary

National Mortgage Professional, Apr. 28, 2017–Phil HallPatenaude is president of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for America’s Families. The Mortgage Bankers Association issued a statement in support.

12 Cities Still Grappling with High Foreclosures

National Mortgage News, Apr. 28, 2017–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)National foreclosure activity is at an 11-year low. There were more than 83,000 foreclosure filings nationwide in March, down 77% from a record 367,000 in September 2010. But some cities have yet to fully recover.

Wells’ Borrowing Boost Sparks Concentration Fears for Home Loan Banks

National Mortgage News, Apr. 28, 2017–Brian Collins (subscription)Wells Fargo Bank has dramatically increased its borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, more than doubling the San Francisco institution’s level of advances and accounting for the majority share of borrowings at the government-sponsored enterprise.

Ellie Mae Revenue Jumps 25% in First Quarter 2017

HousingWire, Apr. 28, 2017–Brena SwansonEllie Mae powered through industry declines in mortgage volumes and recorded a strong boost in revenue for the first quarter.

New Yorkers Flock to Booming Sun Belt as Trek South Resumes

Bloomberg, Apr. 28, 2017–Steve MatthewsNearly 600,000 Americans moved from the Midwest and Northeast to the Sun Belt states last year, the most since 2005, according to the Brookings Institution.

Laws to Fast-Track Vacant Home Foreclosures Slowly Gaining Traction

National Mortgage News, Apr. 28, 2017–Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Years after the worst of the housing crisis, states still dealing with high foreclosure activity are weighing laws to speed the process on vacant or abandoned properties.

Alas, the Mortgage Interest Deduction Cannot be Pried Away

Washington Post Writers Group, Apr. 30, 2017–George WillThe deductibility of mortgage interest payments, by which the government will forgo collecting nearly $1 trillion in the next decade, is treated as a categorical imperative graven on the heart of humanity by the finger of God because it is a pleasure enjoyed primarily by the wealthy.

Property Insurers Hit By Worst First Quarter in 20 Years

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 30, 2017–Leslie Scism (subscription)Hail, tornadoes and an ice storm turned the first three months of 2017 into the most expensive first quarter in more than 20 years for U.S. insurers.