The Lede

HOPE NOW reported its members provided homeowners with 117,000 mortgage assistance actions to homeowners in April, including loan modifications, short sales, deeds in lieu and workout plans.

Risk of Class A multifamily overbuilding is rising in some submarkets, reported Fitch Ratings, New York.

Black Knight Financial Services, Jacksonville, Fla., said improvement in the nation's foreclosure inventory, which has been consistent for some time now, appears to be picking up speed.

Experian, New York, said first mortgage default rates fell to 0.63 percent in May, down by six basis points from April.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday reported Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 49,573 foreclosure prevention actions in the first quarter, bringing the total number of foreclosure prevention actions to nearly 3.7 million since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008.

National Mortgage News, June 24, 2016--Collins, Brian Ginnie Mae surpassed Freddie Mac in total outstanding mortgage securities backed by single-family loans for the first time, according to researchers at the Urban Institute.

National Mortgage News, June 27, 2016--Passy, Jacob Fitch Ratings and Clayton Holdings have launched an initiative to review residential mortgage-backed securities deal agents as part of the ratings agency's RMBS master criteria.

National Mortgage Professional, June 27, 2016--Hall, Phil Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is planning to introduce the Preventing Abandoned Foreclosures and Preserving Communities Act of 2016, which is designed to address the issue of so-called zombie foreclosures.

Boston.com, June 27, 2016--Van Voorhis, Scott It's true but a bit counterintuitive. Banks will give you a better interest rate if you buy a more expensive and presumably bigger home.

National Mortgage News, June 23, 2016--Passy, Jacob Ocwen Financial Corp. agreed to a $30 million settlement in two lawsuits alleging that the West Palm Beach, Fla.-based company violated the False Claims Act. The company will not admit any liability or wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

National Real Estate Investor, Jun 23, 2016--Mitchell,  Donna Commercial real estate professionals have been wondering how the market would deal with the wave of commercial mortgage debt maturing in the next year and a half, particularly at a time when lending standards are considerably more conservative than they were 10 years ago.

Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2016--Tracy, Ryan; Borak, Donna The largest U.S. banks have significantly bolstered their defenses against an economic downturn, and could continue lending even during a deep recession, the Federal Reserve said.

Associated Press, June 23, 2016 The law signed Thursday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatens banks with civil penalties up to $500 a day for failing to maintain residential properties once they're aware of vacancies.

Huffington Post, June 26, 2016--Lazar, Michael May marked a new, big month for HECM reverse mortgage securities, or HECM mortgage-backed securities. According to the most recent reports, $857 million in new pools were created during May alone, says a New View Advisors report.

Housing Wire, June 22, 2016--Lane, BenThe fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders to guarantee mortgage loans actually serve as a tax on consumers and prevent more potential borrowers from becoming actual borrowers, a coalition of the nation's largest housing groups including the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

New York Times, June 26, 2016--Goldstein, Matthew; Abrams, Rachel; Protess, Ben When the housing crisis sent the American economy to the brink of disaster in 2008, millions of people lost their homes. The banking system had failed homeowners and their families. New investors soon swept in--mainly private equity firms--promising to do better. But some of these new investors are repeating the mistakes that banks committed throughout the housing crisis.

Bloomberg, June 21, 2016--Nasiripour, Shahien A small Boston bank is betting it can attract tens of thousands of millennials by giving them a chance to pay off their student loans a few months early, rather than offering more common incentives such as interest on their deposits or airline miles for their purchases.

National Mortgage News, June 21, 2016--Birdsell, Jeff Lenders who do not offer the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage option to qualified borrowers when it aligns with their financial objectives are not just missing out on a good business opportunity--they're falling short on their responsibility to borrowers.

Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2016--Fung, EstherThe real-estate investment trust industry, which has gotten high marks in recent years for adopting compensation programs that investors like, has suffered a bit of slippage in 2016.

HousingWire, June 21, 2016--Lane, Ben Freddie Mac announced Tuesday that it agreed to sell more than $700 million in delinquent loans off of its books to a series of private investors, with one familiar buyer snapping up much of the offering.

HousingWire, June 21, 2016--Lane, Ben Last week, Fannie Mae unexpectedly announced a delay to the latest update to its Desktop Underwriter program. On Tuesday, it announced the implementation of Desktop Underwriter Version 10.0 is now scheduled for the week of Sept. 24.

Bloomberg, June 22, 2016--Light, JoePresident Obama's former point man on housing-finance reform Michael Stegman is taking a job with a think tank that has sought to play a major role in shaping rules for a world without mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--at least in their current form.

Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2016--Hayashi, Yuka The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it found "numerous" mortgage servicers, essentially middlemen between lenders and borrowers, in violation of its 2014 rules requiring them to maintain accurate records.