The Lede

The Mortgage Bankers Association and a half-dozen industry trade groups sent a letter to leadership of the House Financial Services and House Armed Services Committees, urging them to support legislation that restores and extends a one-year extension of foreclosure protections for members of the armed services.

HOPE NOW reported its member companies offered nearly 1.5 million foreclosure alternatives in 2015, including 420,000 completed permanent loan modifications.

Thanks to the extended refinance boom, everyone who could have refinanced their mortgages have already done so, right? Think again, says Black Knight Financial Services, Jacksonville, Fla.

Clear Capital, Reno, Nev., said home price appreciation continued fall quarter over quarter, but pointed to lower distressed saturation levels as a harbinger of a stronger spring home market.

Pro Teck Valuation Services, Waltham, Mass., said despite falling home delinquency and foreclosure rates, the stark difference between states that use a judicial foreclosure process and those that minimize court actions continues to show up in recovery rates in those state's cities.

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said distressed sales accounted for just 10 percent of homes sold in the U.S. in December, with real estate owned sales at just 3.4 percent.

RealtyTrac, Irvine, Calif., said nearly 180,000 U.S. single-family homes and condos flipped in 2015, up for the first time in four years and at the highest level since 2007.

Creators Syndicate, Mar. 7, 2016--Woodard, James The mortgage foreclosure rate has dropped to a more normal rate. This was the major point in a report recently issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 2, 2016--Ip, Greg "Too big to fail" is the post-crisis obsession that refuses to go away.

HousingWire, Mar. 3, 2016--Wheeler, Sarah A decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday could have big implications for a Delaware case where plaintiffs are arguing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are Delaware corporations and therefore are subject to state, not federal law.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 3, 2016--Sinnock, Bonnie Ginnie Mae, the agency that insures government loan securitizations could use some more subservicers because it is concerned that so much of its issuance gets outsourced to a small number of players.

Reuters, Mar. 3, 2016 Bank of New York Mellon Corp. must face a lawsuit seeking to hold it liable for causing $1.12 billion (£790.7 million) of investor losses by failing to properly monitor five trusts backed by toxic residential mortgages, a Manhattan federal judge ruled.

American Banker, Mar. 3, 2016--Berry, Kate Oversight of the four largest mortgage servicers' compliance with the national mortgage settlement is officially over, the watchdog overseeing the process said Thursday.

Scotsman Guide, Mar. 3, 2016--Whitman, Victor Delinquency rates on commercial and multifamily mortgages held by the major investor classes generally fell or remained stable in the fourth quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Mar. 5, 2016--Spicuzza, Mary; Spivak, Cary A bill that would strip the City of Milwaukee of its ability to force financial institutions to quickly sell abandoned, foreclosed properties known as zombie homes is headed toward the Senate floor.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 4, 2016--Sinnock, Bonnie Lenders and servicers that haven't complied with the Federal Housing Administration's lower cap on late fees better do it soon.

Reuters, Mar. 4, 2016--Raymond, Nate U.S. authorities have decided not to pursue criminal charges against any Citigroup Inc executives or employees involved in packaging and selling mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, a government report shows.

The Hill, Mar. 2, 2016--Needham, Vicki Housing industry experts are sounding the alarm over the increasingly dire financial situation of the federal mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "I actually believe it's really incumbent on Congress to take this up as an issue, thoughtfully, while we have time," said David Stevens, head of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Visalia Times-Delta (Calif.), Mar. 4, 2016--Engle, Jeremy Nearly half, 46 percent, of all U.S. Homeowners with a mortgage, expect their equity will increase in 2016, even though three out of five (60 percent) report equity in their homes has already increased during the last three years of the housing recovery, according to new research conducted for LoanDepot.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 4, 2016--Peters, Andy Commercial and multifamily mortgage delinquency rates dropped in the fourth quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Huffington Post, Mar. 7, 2016--Lazar, Michael Some lenders are actually competing by offering no-fee reverse mortgage loans these days, and it's not a bad idea for the banks that are involved.

MReport, Mar. 7, 2016--West, Xhevrije Ocwen Chief Compliance Officer Michael Hollerich discusses compliance trends in the mortgage industry and how the nonbank servicer is creating a revitalized culture of compliance.

National Mortgage Professional, Mar. 7, 2016--Clemans, Terry W. When Fannie Mae rolls out the Desktop Underwriter Version 10.0 over the weekend of June 25, the mortgage industry will begin using a powerful new tool that has been in development for more than a decade and already proven in other markets.

DS News, Mar. 7, 2016--Honea, Brian Most of the news regarding housing fundamentals has been positive in the last two years or so. But mortgage delinquencies rose month-over-month in January for the first time since the housing recovery began.

MarketWatch, Mar. 1, 2016--Goldstein, Daniel The housing market in Detroit is so weak that a new program has been created to help home buyers take out two mortgages when buying a home - one for the purchase price and one for renovations.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 1, 2016--Collins, Brian Bankers are still grappling with vendor software problems, longer processing times and delays in mortgage closings as a result of new disclosures that went into effect four months ago, according to a new survey.