The Lede

HousingWire, June 1, 2017HousingWire magazine named Mortgage Bankers Association Associate Director Ashley Gunn a 2017 Rising Star.

MarketWatch, June 1, 2017--Andrea RiquierThe benchmark rate for home loans remained in free fall in the most recent week after lackluster economic data implied the Federal Reserve may be slower to raise interest rates than it expects, mortgage provider Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Bloomberg Markets, June 1, 2017--Light, Joe; Basak, Sonali Paulson & Co. and Blackstone Group LP are among investors backing a proposal that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be recapitalized and released from U.S. control without legislation. MBA President David Stevens said his group doesn't believe Moelis's proposal would sufficiently reform the market.

HousingWire, June 1, 2017--Hoffman, Debbie; Oguz, Matt Blockchain has morphed into a technology tool that can be utilized across industries in a variety of capacities, including in mortgage lending.

National Real Estate Investor, June 1, 2017--Diana Bell This year the commercial real estate sector has seen an increase in flight-to-quality strategies, a widened bid-sell gap and uncertainty related to the effects of monetary policy. It appears the industry may be coming to terms with a slowing market.

Reuters, June 1, 2017The Federal Reserve bought $4.1 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities in the week from May. 25 to May. 31, compared with $5.2 billion purchased the previous week, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Thursday.

Mortgage Daily, June 1, 2017Monthly securitizations of single-family loans backed by the agencies moved up from a month earlier but retreated compared to a year earlier.

Mortgage Daily, June 1, 2017"This proposal is clearly self-serving and designed to confuse unsuspecting, innocent taxpayers into supporting a plan that is intended to line the pockets of hedge funds who invested in Fannie and Freddie," MBA President and Chief Executive Officer David Stevens said.

Mortgage Daily, June 1, 2017After less than four years as an independent, publicly traded company, Stonegate Mortgage Corp. has, itself, been acquired.

HousingWire, June 1, 2017--Brena SwansonTo make it so homebuyers put 0% down but still have equity, Movement Mortgage said it will provide grants up to 3% of a home's sales price, thus creating 97% conventional financing.

HousingWire, June 1, 2017--Brena SwansonWells Fargo Home Lending named Liz Bryant as head of the company's retail sales organization, effectively immediately. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo also announced Greg Gwizdz, Drew Collins and Sandy Streator are no longer with the company.

National Mortgage News, June 1, 2017--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Guild Mortgage in San Diego has launched a 1%-down loan program to court millennial borrowers, who tend to lack down-payment resources and have higher debt-to-income ratios.

New in today's issue of MBA Insights: Lori Brewer of LBA Ware, Macon, Ga., says despite the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 2014 changes to loan originator compensation requirements under the Truth in Lending Act, there is still tremendous flexibility in how lenders can legally compensate their LOs.