The FHFA stated in its first quarter refinance report that more than 31,000 borrowers nationwide refinanced through HARP in Q1, bringing the total number of borrowers who have refinanced through HARP up to more than 3.3 million since it was introduced in 2009 as part of the Making Home Affordable program.

CoreLogic's April 2015 National Foreclosure Report released this week found that four metropolitan areas accounted for 10 percent of the nation's completed foreclosures for the 12-month period ending April 30, 2015. In addition, about 45 percent of the completed foreclosures during that same period occurred in five states.

A slight decrease in the quits rate down to 1.9 percent (2.7 million quits) in April suggests that workers may be looking to better their situations, which could push wage growth in the coming months – a factor economists say will be a key driver in homeownership growth and new household formation.

Overall, from 2010 to 2030, UI estimates there will be four million more renters than homeowners while the homeownership rate falls from 65.1 percent down to 61.3 percent during that 20-year period. In that time, 22 million new households will need homes to rent or buy; UI estimates that 13 million of those will rent while nine million will buy.

Default servicing firm Potestivo & Associates, headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and full-service offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois, has announced the hiring of two new associate attorneys, Nicholas J. Tatro and Caitlin Cipri, according to an announcement ...

"Despite a slow and steady improvement in most housing market fundamentals, too many families remain in default of their mortgage obligations," said Anand Nallathambi, President and CEO of CoreLogic. "The percent of homeowners with a mortgage that have missed three or more monthly payments or are in foreclosure proceedings dropped to 3.6 percent in our April data. While well below the record peak of nearly 9 percent and the lowest in more than seven years, it remains about double the pre-2007 rate."

Since being founded in 2007, Irvine, California-based Auction.com has sold more than 165,000 residential and commercial properties totaling more than $30 million. The company has been growing steadily in the last eight years; in 2014 alone, more than 49,000 properties were sold through Auction.com's platform.

The purpose of Thursday's hearing, titled "The Future of Housing in America: The Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development," is "to examine HUD and its programs," according to a memorandum from the Committee.

One of the steps Freddie Mac lists for borrowers to take in order to avoid being the victim of a scam is, first and foremost, calling your servicer. The borrower's servicer is the only one who can modify the mortgage or finalize a loss mitigation plan – anyone other than the servicer who professes the ability to do so is a scammer, especially if they require the payment of an upfront fee.

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 Ron Deutsch of Maryland-based Cohn, Goldberg & Deutsch.