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Obama Nominates New FHFA Leader

President Obama announced Wednesday his nomination of Rep. Mel Watt (D-North Carolina) to serve as FHFA's director, a role played by Edward DeMarco since he was appointed acting director in August 2009. Watt has represented his district for more than 20 years. In his time as a congressman, Watt has made it part of his mission to put a spotlight on predatory lending practices and to ensure access to mortgages for low-income borrowers. ""He's helped protect consumers from the kind of reckless risk-taking that led to the financial crisis in the first place,"" Obama said in his personnel announcement.

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FOMC Raps Obama, Congress as It Continues MBS Purchase Program

With a swipe at both the President and Congress and concerns about ""downside risks"" to the economy, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted 11-1 Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged and to continue its program of purchasing agency mortgage backed securities and longer term Treasury securities. The FOMC explained the actions should ""maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative."" Kansas City Fed President Esther George, cast the lone negative vote.

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Pew: Impact of Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Varies Geographically

As debate continues to swirl around the future of the mortgage interest tax deduction, Pew Charitable Trusts released a study revealing the geographic impact of the tax deduction. With 37 percent of all filers claiming the mortgage interest tax deduction, Maryland had the highest claim rate in the country, according to data from 2010. The lowest claim rate occurred in West Virginia and North Dakota, where 15 percent of filers claimed the deduction.

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Oklahoma Judge Dismisses Recording Fee Suit

An Oklahoma State District judge dismissed a class action recording fee suit filed on behalf of Cleveland County and ruled in favor of MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. The Cleveland County Board of County Commissioners filed the suit, which asked for defendants to record mortgage assignments (both past and present) and pay associated fees.

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Fannie Mae Releases Credit Performance Data for Over 18M Mortgages

Fannie Mae made available loan-level credit performance data for single-family mortgages delivered to the GSE from January 1, 2000 to March 31, 2012. The release of the new data marks a step toward greater transparency. Through the data, investors can model the credit performance of Fannie Mae loans and analyze potential risk sharing transactions. In a statement, FHFA applauded Fannie Mae's release, explaining it ""represents an important step toward returning private capital to the mortgage market.""

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Homeownership Rate Drops to 18-Year Low

The number of households owning homes fell 698,000 to 74,511,000 in the first quarter, the first decline in almost two years, according to a Census Bureau report Tuesday. At the same time, the nation's homeownership rate fell to 65 percent (seasonally adjusted), the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 1995. The Census data paints a grim picture for the home sales market, which has already been struggling against mortgage restrictions and weak inventory.

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Bank Failure Tally Rises to 10 After Two Weekend Closings

This year's bank failure tally rose to double digits over the weekend with the collapse of two more federally insured institutions. FDIC announced the closing of Parkway Bank in Lenoir, North Carolina, and Douglas County Bank in Douglasville, Georgia, bringing the total number of bank closings this year to 10. While this year has been slower in terms of bank failures, April has seen the pace pick up, with more than half of the year's closings occurring this month alone.

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More than 220K Foreclosure Review Checks Scheduled for May 3

The checks for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley borrowers covered under the foreclosure review settlement should be mailed out Friday, May 3, the Federal Reserve announced Monday. The next batch of payments will go out to more than 220,000 borrowers who had a mortgage in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 and 2010 that was serviced by one of the former subsidiaries, Litton Loan Servicing LP or Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc. The checks for the borrowers are valued at $247 million.

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New Jersey Plan to Rebuild After Sandy Receives $1.83B

New Jersey received approval and funding totaling $1.83 billion for its disaster recovery plan that will help homeowners and businesses rebuild after Hurricane Sandy, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced in a release Monday. The funds were from the department's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. The plan provides more than $1 billion for housing programs.

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