In May, the GSE's gross mortgage portfolio shrank at a compound annualized rate of 25.9 percent, from $405.1 billion down to $395.1 billion. It was the first time since before the conservatorship began in September 2008 that the value of the gross mortgage portfolio dipped below $4 billion.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), the Academic Experts in Financial Regulation (AEFR), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce all filed briefs backing the New York-based global insurance provider's attempt to remove the SIFI tag.

According to the OCC, compliance risks remain high as banks are preparing to comply with new mortgage lending requirements, particularly those in the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule. The rule is scheduled to be implemented on August 1, but the CFPB has proposed the effective date to be pushed back to October 3.

Default servicing law firm Shapiro & Ingle, with offices in Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee, has announced the addition of four new attorneys – William Harris, Megan Hawn Gilbert, Candace Turner, and Erin Roberts – to the firm.

Smith reported that Green Tree had completed eight corrective action plans (CAPs) to address root causes of fails that had previously been uncovered, and that he found no evidence of any failures during the "cure period," which is the amount of time in which the servicer has a chance to fix the issues.

Vacancy rates among single-family rental securitizations remained relatively flat month-over-month despite a general trend of a rising number of lease expirations, according to data reported by Morningstar Credit Ratings in its June 2015 Single-Family Research: Performance Summary Covering All Morningstar Rated Securitizations released Monday.

Counsel's Corner is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with default servicing attorneys around the country about the most pressing issues facing the default servicing industry. This installment features Michael Woods, Supervising Attorney of the Foreclosure and Loss Mitigation Departments for Potestivo & Associates in the Detroit area.

May's NMRI stood at 12.33 percent, which was an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the prior three-month average and a jump of 0.7 percentage points from May 2014, according to AEI. The composite risk index reached a series high, as did the index for Veterans Affairs-backed loans, while the share of high-risk loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) increased.

Technology and outsourcing solutions firm assure360 has announced that Tracy Wierzelewski has been named the company's VP of shared services, according to the company's Chief Operations Officer, Adam Hansen.

According to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey for May 2015 released earlier this week, the majority of mortgage lenders (61 percent) believe that the economy is on the right track, while 29 percent said they believed it was on the wrong track.