The Lede

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said completed foreclosures continued to trend downward, with the nation's foreclosure inventory falling to its lowest rate in nine years.

The MISMO Origination Workgroup has been instrumental in defining new terms and definitions in version 3.4 for the mortgage industry.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer principal reduction to certain seriously delinquent, underwater borrowers who are still struggling in the aftermath of the financial crisis to help them avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.

HOPE NOW reported 97,000 mortgage actions for homeowners in February, while foreclosure actions ticked up slightly.

Fitch Ratings, New York, said the Federal Housing Finance Agency's recently announced Principal Reduction Modification program could moderately raise expenses for servicers handling delinquent Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans, but should not affect rated residential mortgage-backed securities transactions.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference & Expo 2016 returns May 15-18 at the New York Marriott Marquis.  

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Commercial/Multifamily Servicing and Technology Conference takes place May 22-25 at the Sheraton Dallas.  

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference takes place May 1-4 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Convention Center.

MBA Education presents a webinar, Bank-Owned Mortgage Division: What Bankers Need to Know, on Wednesday, Apr. 20 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET.

MBA Education presents its popular Understanding the Mystery of Secondary Marketing Webinars. Part I takes place Tuesday, May 10; Part II takes place Tuesday, Mar. 24. 

The Mortgage Bankers Association's annual Document Custody Workshop takes place Thursday, June 16 at the Hyatt Regency Reston, near Washington, D.C.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Small Balance Lending Summit takes place June 22-23 at the Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel.  

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 13, 2015--Ip, Greg Before breaking up big banks, regulators should consider the costs to customers and the economy.

National Mortgage News, Apr. 18, 2016--Chappelle, Brian Chappelle, founding partner of Potomac Partners, said first-time homebuyers face enough challenges to qualify for a mortgage in today's housing market without having to subsidize the reverse mortgage program.

DSNews, Apr. 18, 2016--Honea, Brian  The controversial principal reduction program announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency last week is expected to moderately increase expenses for mortgage servicers who handle delinquent Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans, but overall the impact of the program on servicers is expected to be minimal, according to a report from Fitch Ratings on Monday.

Morning Consult, Apr. 18, 2016--Rainey, Ryan Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby on Monday requested the Government Accountability Office and Congressional Budget Office look into practices at the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the government-sponsored enterprises it oversees.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Apr. 18, 2016--Belz, Adam  Financial reform has moved in the right direction, but taxpayers will still likely be on the hook for the future failure of one of the nation's largest banks, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis said Monday.

ABC News, Apr. 15, 2016 Freedom Mortgage agreed to pay the U.S. government $113 million to settle allegations that it failed to comply with federal rules.

Banking Exchange, Apr. 15, 2016--Garber, Kate; Iyer, Venkatesh Home equity loans and lines of credit declined on the balance sheets of the nation's largest banks during the fourth quarter of 2015, as pay-downs of equity lines and balances outpaced new originations. "Large banks had been leading providers of HELOCs pre-crisis, so it is not surprising that they are seeing these trends to an even greater extent," said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association.

HousingWire, Apr. 15, 2016--Lane, Ben The National Credit Union Administration announced it reached a $69.8 million settlement with UBS, as the company becomes the latest to settle with the NCUA over losses related to several corporate credit unions' purchases of faulty residential mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis.

National Mortgage News, Apr. 14, 2016--Finkelstein, Brad Total mortgage income at B of A was $433 million, down from $694 million a year ago as the strategy of putting loans on its balance sheet meaning the bank gets less gain-on-sale revenue.

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 14, 2016--Rudegeair, Peter; Glazer, Emily Wells Fargo & Co.'s first-quarter profit fell 5.9% as the nation's third-largest bank by assets said the slump in oil prices continued to punish energy companies and started to hurt some consumers.

HousingWire, Apr. 12, 2016--Lane, Ben According to an article published Tuesday by the New York Times, a series of now-unsealed depositions given in the shareholders' lawsuits show that not only were Fannie and Freddie on track to be profitable for at least 10 years, the government allegedly knew that fact, and more, before choosing to sweep away the GSEs' profits.

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 13, 2016--Light, Joe Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could forgive mortgage principal for thousands of borrowers under a new plan to be rolled out by their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as soon as Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter.

HousingWire, Apr. 13, 2016--Lane, Ben Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., introduced the bill, called H.R. 489 or the Risk Management and Homeowner Stability Act of 2016, earlier this week, along with Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., and Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas. The bill would amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to prohibit the use of guarantee fees as budgetary offsets.

American Banker, Apr. 12, 2016--Clozel, Lalita The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released Tuesday its first risk appetite statement--a set of general guidelines on what level of risk the agency finds acceptable in various domains.

National Mortgage News, Apr. 12, 2016--Finkelstein, Brad Radian Guaranty Inc. has entered into its first ever quota share reinsurance agreement that only covers single-premium private mortgage insurance policies.

National Mortgage News, Apr. 12, 2016--Heltman, John The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau faced hostile questions from two judges during oral arguments before a federal appeals court Tuesday as it sought to argue the constitutionality of its single-director structure in a lawsuit brought by nonbank mortgage lender PHH Corp.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Apr. 12, 2016--Grant, Tim Losing a home to foreclosure has left such a bad taste with some former homeowners that they have lost much of their will and desire to go through the underwriting process to get approved for a new home loan - even though years may have gone by since the foreclosure episode.

Forbes, Apr. 12, 2016--Carlyle, Erin White men are disproportionately benefiting from the mortgage interest tax deduction, while women and minorities are getting left out, a new report by Trulia suggests.

National Mortgage Professional, Apr. 12, 2016 ComplianceEase named former Mortgage Bankers Association David Kittle, CMB, as senior vice president of Government and Industry Relations.