The Lede

HousingWire, May 25, 2016--Lane, Ben A yearlong independent investigation initiated by Wells Fargo, the deals' master servicer, found no evidence of the litany of accusations made by Gibbs & Bruns on behalf of the investors, Ocwen is off the hook.

CNBC, May 25, 2015--Olick, Diana Applications are now nearly 24 percent higher than one year ago, according to a weekly survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

MortgageOrb.com, May 25, 2016--Caley, Nora Marketplace lending is growing so quickly that it has a trade association, warnings from federal agencies and some confusion as to what these lenders are.

Reuters, May 25, 2016--Lambert, Lisa The U.S. Comptroller of the Currency fined Wells Fargo Bank $70 million on Wednesday over mortgage servicing but said it was ending business restrictions it had placed on the bank.

New Republic, May 25, 2016--Dayen, David Americans still want to see some measure of justice for the misconduct that precipitated the financial crisis. But Monday's decision by an appeals court to throw out a $1.27 billion civil penalty against Bank of America will surely generate some despair. So few cases have even been attempted that when a successful one gets reversed, it can raise questions about whether there were any good ones to make in the first place.

Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2016--Brown, Ken If current trends persist through the end of the year, U.S. households will owe as much as they did at the peak of borrowing in 2008.

Reuters, May 25, 2016--Dunsmuir, Lindsay; Schneider, Howard Nearly half of American families say they would struggle to pay for emergency expenses and those with a high school degree or less are most likely to say their well-being has declined, according to a Federal Reserve survey released on Wednesday.

Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2016--Light, Joe; Andriotis, Annamaira Wells Fargo & Co. is rolling out a new mortgage for borrowers making minimal down payments, an offering that could allow the bank to step back significantly from a controversial Federal Housing Administration program. "There's clearly a disincentive to use the FHA for first-time home buyers in the way it's been done in the past," said David Stevens, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

National Mortgage News, May 25, 2016--Collins, Brian The head of the Federal Housing Administration has informed lenders that loans receiving down payment assistance can continue to benefit from government insurance, despite past questions over the legality of certain assistance programs. Pete Mills, senior vice president for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said Golding's memo to lenders was "a very positive development."

Huffington Post, May 25, 2016--Birk, Chris The historic VA loan program hit a major milestone this month, backing its 22 millionth home loan, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. This $0 down loan program has surged since the housing crisis.

National Mortgage Professional, May 25, 2016--Hall, Phil The Mortgage Bankers Association's Opens Doors Foundation, a non-profit organization that offers mortgage and rent payments to financially-strapped families with critically ill or injured children, is expanding its operations to California via new partnerships with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto and Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

National Mortgage News, May 26, 2016--Sinnock, Bonnie When a consumer refinances or pays off her house in preparation for moving, you might expect her to reduce other debts to help get the new mortgage application approved. But the average prime-credit mortgage borrower doesn't do this, according to a new report from TransUnion based on so-called trended credit data.

Washington Post, May 26, 2016--Lerner, Michele A new mobile loan estimate comparison tool, known as "Rate My Rate," was recently introduced by eLEND, a division of American Financial Resources. Borrowers can use the tool to compare a Loan Estimate from one lender with offers from other lenders on the eLEND platform.

Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2016--Eaglesham, Jean; Das, Anupreeta Proceedings against individual bank employees are rare, and authorities have had difficulty winning cases.

HousingWire, May 26, 2016--Swanson, Brena The monitor of the Chase RMBS Settlement, Joseph Smith, officially credited Chase with providing $3,887,777,119 of consumer relief to 165,191 borrowers. This brings the bank close to its required $4 billion in credited consumer relief by Dec. 31, 2017.

HousingWire, May 25, 2016--Lane, Ben Caliber Home Loans, an Irving, Texas-based residential mortgage origination and servicing company, announced Wednesday that it plans to acquire First Priority Financial, a regional residential mortgage lender with branches and originators serving California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Iowa.