The Lede

MBA NewsLink recently posed questions to Lionel Urban, founding partner and chairman of board of PCLender LLC, Reno, Nev. 

The commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rate held steady in April, increasing just one basis point to 4.23 percent, reported Trepp, New York.

Fitch Ratings, New York, said early performance indicators for its rated re-performing loan residential mortgage-backed securities transactions is in line with expectations and slightly better than their non-rated counterparts.

Associated Press, May 5, 2016--Gordon, Marcy Mortgage giant Fannie Mae posted net income of $1.1 billion for the first quarter, down from a year ago as declining interest rates reduced the value of the financial instruments it uses to hedge against rate swings.

Bloomberg, May 6, 2016--Molla, Rani On Aug. 31, major market indices will no longer bundle REITs inside of "financials" as an industry classification. Instead, they will reside in a new category called, surprise, surprise, "real estate."

National Mortgage News, May 9, 2016--Sinnock, Bonnie The Making Home Affordable program has been extended and expanded so many times that it's gotten hard to imagine life without it. But its two primary initiatives have served their purpose and the days may be numbered for HAMP and HARP.

HousingWire, May 9, 2016--Lane, Ben The benchmark interest rate set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for standard mortgage modifications will drop to its lowest level ever later this week, as the government-sponsored enterprises adjust their standards to match the market's "historically low" interest rates.

National Mortgage News, May 6, 2016--Passy, Jacob MountainView Servicing Group in Denver said Friday that it is the exclusive advisor for the sale of a bulk mortgage servicing rights portfolio with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae loans. The bulk portfolio carries $4.7 billion of unpaid principal balance.

24/7 Wall Street, May 6, 2016--Ausick, Paul Based on the latest data from CoreLogic's mortgage fraud risk index, mortgage lenders in the Miami metropolitan area face the highest risk for attempts to commit fraud.

Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2016--Kirkham, Chris The average cost for home builders to comply with regulations for new home construction has increased by nearly 30% over the last five years, according to new research from the National Association of Home Builders.

Bloomberg, May 6, 2016--Onaran, Yalman A new accounting rule that will force banks to set aside provisions for bad loans long before they sour could cannibalize profits and eat into capital at U.S. lenders.

Arizona Republic, May 7, 2016--Wiles, Russ Despite a lot of media attention at the time paid to strategic defaulters, they were rare: fewer than 1% of households with the financial means to pay instead chose to walk away.

Associated Press, May 5, 2016 The Montana Supreme Court has upheld $426,000 in damages and attorney's fees awarded to a couple who sued a loan servicing company alleging it violated federal and state laws in repeatedly trying to foreclose on their house.

Bloomberg, May 5, 2016--Barinka, Alex; Basak, Sonali American International Group Inc.'s mortgage insurer, United Guaranty Corp., is seeking to raise about $700 million to $800 million as it sells shares to the public.

HousingWire, May 5, 2016--Gaffney, Jacob For all the calls to reduce the roles Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play in the mortgage finance world, Timothy Mayopoulos shared this point: Private capital is "unwilling to step in" to replace the government-sponsored enterprises as mortgage finance leaders in the secondary market.

MarketWatch, May 5, 2016--Riquier, Andrea Fannie Mae CEO Fannie CEO Tim Mayopoulos called it "not sustainable" to operate without capital just after his company reported a $1.14 billion profit in the first three months of the year, the 17th consecutive quarter of profitability.

Scotsman Guide, May 3, 2016--Whitman, Victor Freddie Mac reported a loss in the first quarter driven by lower interest rates and widening spreads on mortgage securities. Mortgage Bankers Association President David Stevens said Freddie's loss underscored the need for Congress to embark on GSE reform.

Bloomberg, May 4, 2016--Levine, Matt The new rules demystify some of the magic of banking. They force counterparties to examine the trick more closely, and to confront the fact that it covers up but doesn't quite eliminate risk.

HousingWire, May 4, 2016--Swanson, Brena Nationstar Mortgage Holdings' earnings followed in the steps of Freddie Mac and Walter Investment Management Corp. as its earnings took a hit from the first quarter's historically low interest rates.

National Real Estate Investor, May 4, 2016--Mattson-Teig, Beth  Although fundraising remains strong by historical standards, new capital flowing into global private equity real estate funds took a big step back in first quarter.

National Real Estate Investor, May 5, 2016--Smith, Geoff; Thomas, Jay There's no doubt that now is an interesting time in the mortgage market for multifamily assets located in secondary locations, brimming with potential, promise and uncertainty.

National Mortgage News, May 4, 2016--Finkelstein, Brad PHH Corp. lost $30 million in the first quarter of 2016, as the company took a $10 million pretax reduction to the fair market value of its mortgage servicing rights.

National Mortgage News, May 4, 2016--Sinnock, Bonnie Freddie Mac's second quarterly loss in less than a year makes it clear profitability is getting tougher as it shrinks. But it's a concern that must be weighed against more long-term efforts to reduce Freddie's overall credit risk exposure.

American Banker, May 3, 2016--Berry, Kate The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to issue a proposal Thursday that would limit the use of arbitration clauses on millions of financial contracts from cell phones to credit cards to checking accounts.

National Mortgage News, May 3, 2016--Passy, Jacob Walter Investment Management Corp. sank into a deeper $172.7 million net loss during the first quarter, as lower interest rates caused pressure on the company's mortgage servicing rights valuation.

National Mortgage News, May 3, 2016--Finkelstein, Brad United Guaranty's pretax operating income of $163 million benefited from lower mortgage delinquency rates but a decline in refinance originations affected the amount of new insurance written.

HousingWire, May 3, 2016--Murin, Joseph If Ginnie Mae were a privately held or publically traded corporation, it would likely be seeking massive capital investments today in preparation for a new level of growth, says former Ginnie Mae President Joseph Murin.

HousingWire, May 3, 2016--Gaffney, Jacob Right now, unlike in 2009, the mortgage finance world is at its best, says Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton, and can only get better.