The Lede
News and Trends
MBA Servicing NewsLink Resumes Jan. 3
MBA Servicing NewsLink will not publish on Tuesday, Dec. 27 because of the Christmas holidays.
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CoreLogic: 30,000 Foreclosures in October; Inventory Down 32%
CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., reported 30,000 completed foreclosures by lenders and servicer in October, down by 25 percent from a year ago and down by 75 percent from the Sept. 2010 peak.
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FHFA Issues Final Rule on GSE Duty to Serve Underserved Markets
The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday issued a final rule to implement Duty to Serve provisions mandated by the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act and the SAFE Act.
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ATTOM: November Foreclosure Filings Down 18%
ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., said 86,561 U.S. properties were in foreclosure activity in November, down 18 percent from October and down 17 percent from a year ago.
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Zillow: Improvement, but 11% of Homeowners Still Underwater
Zillow Inc., Seattle, said rising home values are freeing homeowners from negative equity, allowing them to re-enter the market, but 11 percent of homeowners remain upside-down, or underwater, on their property.
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Fitch: ‘Ample Due Diligence in Place’ for U.S. RMBS
Fitch Ratings, New York, said "strong due diligence is firmly in place" for most post-crisis U. S. residential mortgage-backed securities.
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MBA News
MBA Education Compliance Essentials TRID Q/A Jan. 11
Latest News, Guidance on 'Know Before You Owe'
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Top National News
FHFA Continues to Push Fannie, Freddie on Credit-Risk Sharing
National Mortgage News, Dec. 15, 2016--Collins, Brian
A regulatory 2017 scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac calls on the firms to transfer a significant portion of credit risk to third-party private investors on at least 90% of unpaid principal balance of newly acquired single-family mortgages.
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Mortgage Interest Deduction May End for 2nd Homes
SFGate, Dec. 19, 2016--Egelko, Bob
Bay Area lawmakers are proposing to raise $300 million for low-cost housing in California by eliminating the state tax deduction for mortgage interest on second homes, a proposal that will test the strength of Democrats' newly won two-thirds legislative majority.
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Tarp Fraud Charges Leveled Against Execs of Failed Fla. Bank
National Mortgage News, Dec. 19, 2016--Kellard, Joseph
Two former executives of the failed GulfSouth Private Bank in Destin, Fla., and another man have been indicted on federal charges of defrauding the Troubled Asset Relief Program of $7.5 million.
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Mortgage Delinquency Levels Are on the Right Path, Is it Enough?
DS News, Dec. 19, 2016--Baer, Kendall
The Urban Institute December Housing Chartbook brought some welcome news for mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates.
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How this ‘Villian’ of the Housing Market Crash Could be Right for You Now
CNBC, Dec. 19, 2016--Olick, Diana
ARMs are still around, and they can be the right product for a lot of borrowers. They can, in fact, be very low risk.
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Tom Perkins’s Penthouse in Sinking Millennium Tower Sells
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 16, 2016--Taylor, Candace
Buyer Craig Ramsey said he paid a 'very reasonable' $13 million for the unit in the San Francisco building, which has been beset by reports that it is sinking and tilting.
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PHH to Shutter N.Y. Office, Lay Off 80
National Mortgage News, Dec. 16, 2016--Passy, Jacob
PHH Corp. plans to close a Buffalo, N.Y.-area office next year, which will result in the layoff of 80 employees, extending the staff reductions already taken in 2016.
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There’s a Big Fight Brewing Over the Mortgage-Interest Tax Deduction
The Fiscal Times, Dec. 16, 2016--Scotti, Ciro
A tax-reform proposal by House Republicans that would make the mortgage-interest deduction moot for most Americans is starting to set off alarm bells across the housing, lending and real estate industries.
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How Not to Build a Supermall: $5 Billion, 5 Governors, 3 Developers, and 15 Years
Bloomberg Businessweek, Dec. 15, 2016--Berfield, Susan; Marritz, Ilya; Reitmeyer, John
Chris Christie once called American Dream "the ugliest damn building in New Jersey." Will it ever open?
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Wells Fargo Sued Over Missing Info in ARM Reset Notices
National Mortgage News, Dec. 15, 2016--Button, Keith
Wells Fargo's disclosure documents notifying borrowers of pending adjustable-rate mortgage resets are defective because they do not include information for a single point of contact at the bank, a lawsuit filed in California claims.
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Credit Suisse Must Face New York Mortgage Suit, Court Says
Bloomberg, Dec. 13, 2016--Dolmetsch, Chris
Credit Suisse Group AG must face New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's $10 billion lawsuit accusing the bank of fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
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Federal Reserve Adopts Bailout-Prevention Rule Without Major Changes
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 15, 2016--Tracy, Ryan
The Federal Reserve on Thursday adopted a bailout-prevention rule that will force big banks to issue substantial amounts of new long-term debt-one of the finishing touches to its new regulatory regime for big firms.
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GSE Refinances Fall, Slowest HARP Month on Record
Mortgage Daily, Dec. 15, 2016
Just a month after surging to a three-year high, refinances of government-sponsored enterprise loans fell -- with federally funded transactions falling to a record low.
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SunTrust Fails One National Mortgage Settlement Test in First Quarter
HousingWire, Dec. 15, 2016--Swanson, Brena
The metric failed tests whether SunTrust properly collected default-related fees from borrowers. Those fees include property preservation fees, valuation fees and attorneys' fees.
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TransUnion Forecasts Credit Delinquencies Will Decrease in 2017
HousingWire, Dec. 14, 2016--Ramirez, Kelsey
While mortgage delinquencies are going down, mortgage debt levels are expected to increase by nearly $4,000 from $194,875 in the fourth quarter this year to $198,435 at the end of 2017.
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Lenders Fear Congress May Neuter Mortgage Interest Deduction
National Mortgage News, Dec. 14, 2016--Collins, Brian
With Republican control of Congress secure and the White House soon to be in GOP hands, lawmakers are optimistic they can pass a bill that lowers tax rates and reduces a number of deductions. That includes the mortgage interest deduction.
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‘Flex Mod’ to Replace HAMP at Fannie and Freddie
National Mortgage News, Dec. 14, 2016--Passy, Jacob
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will replace the expiring Home Affordable Mortgage Program with a new loss mitigation option called the Flex Modification. The Mortgage Bankers Association had proposed a successor to HAMP called "One Mod" in September based on the work of a task force with representatives from 20 member companies.
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Monthly Ginnie Mae MBS Issuance Dips
Mortgage Daily, Dec. 13, 2016
Monthly operational data indicate that there were $1.7506 trillion in outstanding Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities as of Nov. 30.
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SoFi’s Debut Prime Jumbo RMBS Is Big Play on Silicon Valley
National Mortgage News, Dec. 13, 2016--Fest, Glenn
SoFi Lending Corp.'s securitization of its student loan refis for high net worth individuals is now a model for its recent expansion into super prime jumbo mortgages.
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Here’s How a Fed Rate Hike Will Impact Mortgage Payments in 12 Major US Cities
Business Insider, Dec. 13, 2016--Perumal, Prashanth
Zillow calculated how a rate hike this week would affect mortgage payments in 12 major U.S. metros by comparing payments for a mortgage with a 4.0 percent rate to one with a 4.25 percent rate.
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Trump Team Narrows List for Next FHA Commissioner
National Mortgage News, Dec. 16, 2016--Collins, Brian
According to sources familiar with the situation, the Trump team is weighing Edward Brady, an Illinois home builder, and Debra Still, president and chief executive of Pulte Mortgage and a former chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, as FHA commissioner.
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Defaulted Mortgage Liquidation Timelines Improve
Mortgage Daily, Dec. 13, 2016
The amount of time it takes to liquidate a securitized defaulted mortgage appears to have peaked, and the timeline is starting to decline.
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