The Lede

HOPE NOW reported nearly 100,000 mortgage assistance actions for homeowners in November, saying foreclosure alternatives outnumbered completed foreclosure sales by a four-to-one margin.

FHA yesterday announced it will cut insurance rates for multifamily mortgages, designed to stimulate production and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing.

RealtyTrac, Irvine, Calif., reported 6.4 million U.S. properties in negative equity at the end of 2015, representing 11.5 percent of all properties with a mortgage, a drop of 616,000 from a year ago.

Falling delinquencies and slowing special servicing loan transfers year-over-year contributed to improved performance metrics for commercial mortgage-backed securities, but leverage now approaches the pre-crisis peak, analysts said.

ORLANDO--11 percent, or $183.3 billion out of $1.7 trillion in outstanding commercial and multifamily mortgages held by non-bank lenders and investors, will mature in 2016, a 51 percent increase from $121.0 billion that matured in 2015, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

Equifax, Atlanta, said first mortgage originations for subprime borrowers (consumers with an Equifax Risk Score of 620 or below) showed steady growth from January to October 2015, with more than 312,000 new mortgages originated, totaling $50.7 billion.

Nationl Mortgage Professional, Jan. 29, 2016 MISMO announced updates to its residential standards in support of multiple regulatory and industry reporting requirements. Changes to the standards support the CFPB Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rule, the GSE Uniform Loan Application Dataset and Know Before You Owe or the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures regulations.

HousingWire, Jan. 29, 2016--Lane, Ben MERSCORP Holdings announced Friday that it secured another victory in a state's highest court, as the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld MERS' mortgage assignment rights.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 29, 2016--Finkelstein, Brad United Guaranty's spinoff from American International Group will result in changes to its capital structure that could shake up the competitive landscape in the private mortgage insurance market.

HousingWire, Jan. 29, 2016--Lane, Ben In another signal that the default mortgage business is shrinking, Walter Investment Management Corp. announced Friday that it acquired "certain assets" of Residential Credit Solutions,a Ft. Worth, Texas-based mortgage servicing company, specializes in servicing delinquent or default loans and so-called "credit-sensitive" residential mortgage loans, where the borrower is at high risk for default.

HousingWire, Jan. 28, 2016--Swanson, Brena The Federal Housing Administration announced a new plan to reduce multifamily insurance rates in order to encourage capital financing of affordable and energy-efficient apartments. Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, said the reduction represents a "significant element to expand the availability of affordable and workforce rental housing in America."

HousingWire, Jan. 28, 2016--Finlay, Robert The author, founding partner of Wright, Finlay & Zak, said a new Nevada law aimed at curbing controversy over a 2014 court ruling on homeowner association "super liens" is a right step, but practical application of the law could be challenging.

MortgageOrb.com, Jan. 27, 2016--Barnard, Patrick It's been almost four months since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rules took effect on Oct. 3, and although it would be sensationalist to say that the complex set of rules has devastated the mortgage industry, as some predicted it would, there is solid evidence, at this point, that the rules are delaying closings, slowing originations and increasing the average cost per loan for mortgage lenders.

The Economic Times (India), Jan. 28, 2016--Mendonca, Jochelle Business process outsourcing company FirstSource said it acquired US-based mortgage service provider ISGN's BPO business, as it looks to expand into higher-margin services.

The Huffington Post, Jan. 27, 2016--Lazar, Michael HUD is requesting approval to collect information of consumers who have participated, as mandated by law, in the Home equity Conversion Mortgage counseling sessions.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 26, 2016--Scism, Leslie; Beilfuss, Lisa American International Group Inc. will sell its broker-dealer network, conduct an initial public offering of its mortgage-insurance unit and more aggressively cut costs, Chief Executive Peter Hancock said in a strategy update Tuesday, as pressure from investor Carl Icahn grows.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 26, 2016--Godfrey, Hans The mortgage industry can better manage disparate regulatory requirements with a comprehensive approach that streamlines compliance.

Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 27, 2016--William, Mark The last time Huntington Bancshares made a big acquisition, the bank got stuck with $1.5 billion in toxic subprime loans that blew up during the recession and help pushed the bank's stock down to a dollar. This time, Huntington says its acquisition of Akron-based FirstMerit Bank is different.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 1, 2016--Grind, Kirsten Wall Street wants to bring back the "low-doc" loan. These mortgages, which are given to borrowers that can't fully document their income, helped fuel a tidal wave of defaults during the housing crisis and subsequently fell out of favor.

National Mortgage News, Feb. 1, 2016--Collins, Brian Key Democratic lawmakers are urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development to tighten its program for selling nonperforming guaranteed loans to ensure servicers have exhausted all loss mitigation options before the loans are sold to private investors.