The Lede

Since fourth quarter 2012, New Jersey, New York and Florida have had the highest percentage of loans in foreclosure in the nation, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Delinquency Survey. All three states primarily use a judicial foreclosure process. 

Student loan debt could be having an even greater impact on homeownership decisions for first-time home buyers, according to a new study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.  

Consumer credit default rates rose by five basis points in October, the Standard & Poor's/Experian Credit Default Indices reported yesterday. 

National Mortgage News, Nov. 23, 2015--Passy, Jacob FHA celebrated that its insurance fund had a capital ratio of nearly 2.1% in the recently concluded fiscal year; it was the first time the ratio had surpassed the congressionally mandated 2% level since 2008. MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, said policymakers should look into the role of reverse mortgages in the fund's value swing.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 23, 2015--Ornstein, Stephen In spite of impediments created by Dodd-Frank, and the unusually low interest rates that have characterized the residential loans markets in the past several years, credit demand, especially among nonprime borrowers, will swing the pendulum in favor of a more robust lending environment and will likely entail amendments to the existing Dodd-Frank regime.

MarketWatch, Nov. 23, 2015--Goldstein, Steve The percentage of homeowners who owe more than their home is worth stands at 8.7 percent, down from 21 percent at the end of 2011. But the percentage of homeowners who believe they are underwater is 27 percent.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 20, 2015--Collins, Brian The financial performance of the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance fund is expected to steadily improve over the next few years despite rising mortgage rates.

New York Times, Nov. 20, 2015--Prevost, Lisa For all the talk about the so-called millennial generation - often defined as those between ages 18 and 34 - being slow to move toward homeownership, some young adults are, surprisingly, drawn to real estate as an investment opportunity.

HousingWire, Nov. 20, 2015--Lane, Ben Despite being overwhelmingly defeated in the House of Representatives, the Senate is still considering a controversial spending mechanism that would see the fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to guarantee loans go to pay for new roads.

Bloomberg, Nov. 19, 2015--Boesler, Matthew Accelerating increases in auto loan debt and mortgage credit helped propel total borrowings of U.S. households to the highest level in more than five years, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Thursday.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 19, 2015--Kilgore, Austin From single-point-of-contact requirements to the need for better self-service options, servicers surveyed by National Mortgage News are taking a much-needed hard look at the full range of customer touch-points that they operate.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 19, 2015--Bisbey, Allison Fannie Mae transferred the credit risk on a $12 billion pool of mortgages to reinsurers.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 18, 2015--Witkowski, Rachel In one instance, a single complaint in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's database was counted as 35 different ones while in another, a complaint against a payday lender was filed against an unrelated bank. Current and former officials say that's par for the course, leading to inflated complaint numbers and inaccurate data.

Associated Press, Nov. 18, 2015 Wells Fargo is moving mortgage servicing operations from Charlotte to Fort Mill, South Carolina.

New York Times, Nov. 18, 2015--Thomas Jr., Landon Robert F. Dall, an investment banker and a pioneer of the mortgage bond market on Wall Street, died on Sunday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. He was 81.

National Mortgage Professional, Nov. 17, 2015--Hall, Phil The National Delinquency Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association found the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one- to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.99 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the third quarter, which is the lowest level since first quarter 2007.

Reuters, Nov. 17, 2015--Aubin, Dena A federal judge ruled that Bank of America and Nationstar must face breach-of-contract claims for allegedly reneging on promised loan modifications to hundreds of Pennsylvania borrowers whose mortgages they serviced.

DS News, Nov. 17, 2015--Honea, Brian Borrower outreach events include HUD-approved housing counselors and mortgage servicers in order to give distressed borrowers a face-to-face meeting to work out a solution such as a permanent loan modification that will allow borrowers to remain in their homes.