The Lede

Home purchasing activity among investors is on the rise, said CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., with small investors picking up the slack.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., said annual gains in homeowner spending on improvements are expected to moderate across more than half of the nation's largest metropolitan areas in 2019.

Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., said mortgage delinquencies fell for the third straight month in May as prepayment activity doubled over the past four months.

Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2019--Ben Eisen (subscription)Cerberus Capital Management LP is bringing back a type of mortgage bond that went extinct during the financial crisis. A unit of the private-equity firm issued bonds Friday backed entirely by home-equity lines of credit.

New York Times, June 25, 2019--Matthew Goldstein, Robert GebeloffSeventy-four nursing homes with mortgages insured against default by the agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, are among 478 homes identified this month by two United States senators as having "serious deficiencies."

American Banker, June 21, 2019--John Heltman (subscription)Despite facing tougher scenarios, the 18 banks undergoing the Fed's stress testing program this year easily passed the first examination, known as the Dodd-Frank Act Stress test, posting similar capital losses as in previous years.

HousingWire, June 21, 2019--Ben LaneAfter nearly six months of being restricted from participating in some of Ginnie Mae's mortgage bond programs as part of the agency's crackdown on lenders for Department of Veterans Affairs loan churning, loanDepot is back in the game.

National Mortgage News, June 21, 2019--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Although the performance of the government-sponsored enterprises' single-family loans continues to improve, the deeply delinquent totals remain significant in states with court-processed foreclosures.

American Banker, June 21, 2019--Andy Peters (subscription)Since Congress and President Trump killed a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule banning mandatory arbitration, many banks have reintroduced the practice. Unless customers contact their bank to opt out of arbitration, they cannot dispute issues through a lawsuit. Consumer advocacy groups have criticized arbitration as unfair to consumers.

HousingWire, June 20, 2019--Jessica GuerinThe merged enterprise will rebrand as SitusAMC and offer services and tech services to commercial and residential real estate firms.

Bloomberg, June 19, 2019--Christopher MaloneyThough June speeds should come in flat or even slightly lower due to a reduced day count compared to May, the August report should show prepayments to be about 20% higher than current levels, according to a recent report by JPMorgan MBS strategists.

National Mortgage News, June 19, 2019--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Since becoming Federal Housing Finance Agency director, Mark Calabria has sent ever clearer signals that the White House is prepared to take unilateral action that would at least start Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back on the path to private-sector ownership.

Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2019--Ben Eisen, Nicole Friedman (subscription)Mortgage giants hope to help low- and middle-class Americans buy homes but programs' narrow reach and consumer bias impede progress.

National Mortgage News, June 19, 2019--Kate Berry (subscription)Ginnie Mae has hired Eric Blankenstein, a former political appointee at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who sparked controversy over writings more than a decade ago in which he used a racial slur, sources said.

American Banker, June 18, 2019--Hannah Lang (subscription)Today the FHFA's Office of Fair Lending Oversight is still somewhat under the radar. It has five employees, technically falls within the agency's Division of Supervision and has left some observers unclear about its mission. But the new office has offered hope to consumer advocates who were alarmed at efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and HUD to cut back on fair-lending enforcement.

National Mortgage News, June 18, 2019--Jon Prior (subscription)The bipartisan proposal aims to renew banks' interest in low-income housing tax credits and bring more lower-priced homes to markets that badly need them.

National Mortgage News, June 18, 2019--Kate Berry (subscription)CitiMortgage has agreed to pay $7.8 million to more than 94,000 California homeowners for allegedly failing to pay 2% interest on escrow impound accounts, the state's financial regulator said.

HousingWire, June 18, 2019--Jessica GuerinNew Residential Investment has agreed to purchase the stock and assets of Ditech's forward mortgage originations and servicing business, while Mortgage Assets Management will acquire the stock and assets of Ditech's reverse mortgage business, Reverse Mortgage Solutions.