The Lede

Commercial banks continue to add multifamily mortgages to their balance sheets at a strong clip.

Equifax, Atlanta, reported total balance of write-offs year-to-date in March for first mortgages, home equity lines of credit and home equity loans fell to $9.5 billion in the first quarter, a nine-year low and a year-over-year decrease of 22.7 percent.

NEW YORK--Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, said the real estate finance industry must continue its vigilance in ensuring that the secondary mortgage market continues to function efficiently.

NEW YORK--It's a perpetual question these days: is the federal government too involved in the secondary market, and what can be done to attract more private capital?

NEW YORK--Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said the economic tea leaves suggest a "very positive backdrop" for the nation's housing and mortgage markets.

MBA Education's popular Understanding the Mystery of Secondary Marketing Webinars continues with Part II on Tuesday, Mar. 24. 

Huffington Post, May 13, 2016--Grim, Ryan; Blumenthal, Paul Old Washington hands involved say that nothing they've seen before in politics has prepared them for the mercenary campaigns the hedge funds are now waging.

Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2016--Light, Joe Private shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have waged an intense lobbying campaign in an effort to drum up support for releasing the companies from government control and in the process restore some value to their shares.

HousingWire, May 13, 2016--Lane, Ben Ending a legal quagmire that stretched back to 2011, investors are finally set to receive their money from an $8.5 billion settlement involving Bank of America, mortgages originated by its Countrywide unit, and the Bank of New York Mellon, which acted as the trustee for the mortgage bond investors.

Barron's May 14, 2016--Stone, Amey Mortgage real estate investment trusts have enjoyed a stunning three-month run for an obscure, underfollowed corner of finance. They are up 22 percent since mid-February, buoyed by stronger credit markets, a Federal Reserve that seems likely to keep rates lower for longer and a nod from bond king Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital at a recent hedge fund conference.

National Mortgage News, May 13, 2016--Passy, Jacob A subsidiary of Goldman Sachs was the winner for all four pools in Fannie Mae's latest nonperforming loan sale.

Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2016--Light, Joe Hedge funds that have bet hundreds of millions of dollars on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's stock aren't just leaving the fate of their investment to Wall Street. A group of hedge funds, including Paulson & Co. and Perry Capital LLC, is helping to finance a lobbying campaign to lift government controls on what happens with the mortgage giants' profits.

National Mortgage News, May 12, 2016--Passy, Jacob Foreclosures continued to decrease in the first quarter, while delinquencies remained flat from the previous quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Barrons, May 12, 2016--Kahn, Michael  Unlike the rest of the stock market, mortgage REITs did not recover from the financial crisis bear market. But the sector has rallied nicely since January and this week exceeded the March 2009 low.

DS News, May 11, 2016--Honea, Brian Delinquent Notice BHSerious delinquencies on credit cards and auto loans rose in Q1 to levels not seen in the first quarter in the last three years, largely due to the oil slump that impacted the economy in energy-sector states such North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas, according to TransUnion.

Fannie Mae, Washington, D.C., reported its survey of senior mortgage executives said new mortgage disclosure requirements have given larger lenders a more competitive advantage in the mortgage marketplace.

DS News, May 10, 2016--West, Xhevrije Quicken Loans, the largest Federal Housing Administration lender in the country, is standing its ground in a government lawsuit for allegedly knowingly submitting claims  for hundreds of improperly underwritten FHA-insured loans.

HousingWire, May 10, 2016--Lane, Ben Homes in some stage of foreclosure and the number of seriously delinquent mortgages are now at levels not seen since late 2007, according to a new report from CoreLogic.

Housing Wire, May 16, 2016 Mortgage rates are forecasted to hover around the 4% level for about another year as the market awaits future Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a press conference at the MBA Secondary conference in New York City.

National Mortgage News, May 16, 2016--Sinnock, Bonnie The good news for mortgage lenders: Freddie Mac will soon roll out a suite of tools that should speed loan sales to the GSE. The catch: lenders will have to wait a little longer for a related change that will reduce their liability for buying back defective loans from Freddie.

The Urban Institute, May 16, 2016--Goodman, Laurie; Zhu, Jun The authors said two-to-four-unit buildings disproportionately provide housing and income to low-income communities and minority owners and renters and suggests that overcorrection by policymakers caused why obtaining these loans has become more difficult.

Mortgage News Daily, May 16, 2016--Swanson, Jann Despite a mortgage lending environment that is both the most conservative and safest we have ever seen, Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens said on Monday that most lenders feel like the mortgage industry is under attack