While REO sales still had the largest share of all-cash home sales in December 2014, both the share of cash sales that are REO sales and the share of REO sales that are cash sales were down month-over-month, according to data released by CoreLogic on Monday.

Consumers were more optimistic toward the economy than they've been at any point in the last five years, according to Fannie Mae's February 2015 National Housing Survey released Monday. The percentage of respondents who said they believe the economy is on the right track increased by 3 percentage points since January's survey up to 47 percent, an all-time high since the survey began nearly five years ago.

Lewisville, Texas-based title insurance and escrow services provider Title365 Company has announced the appointment of Aaron Fain to VP, Mid-Markets Originations Division Manager.

Foreclosure starts reached their highest level in a year in January, but foreclosure completions are falling faster than the seriously delinquent loan rate – resulting in an across the board increase in foreclosure pipeline ratios, according to Black Knight Financial Services' January 2015 Mortgage Monitor released Monday.

Representative Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, expressed the need for more oversight and accountability from the Federal Reserve during a full committee hearing earlier this week.

While several strategies have reportedly emerged to help small CLO managers who may be having trouble complying with the new risk retention rule, which was finalized in October 2014, but how effective these strategies are in achieving that goal remains uncertain, according to an announcement from Fitch Ratings.

The Republicans' effort to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continued on Friday with the introduction of a comprehensive reform package by U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin).

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped down to 5.5 percent in February, its lowest figure since May 2008, as 295,000 jobs were added, according to the February 2015 Employment Situation released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.

Thursday's ruling by the appeals court reversed a decision made by a New York State Supreme Court judge in January 2014 that Bank of America did not have to repurchase the faulty loans because the trustee, Bank of New York-Mellon, did not evaluate them properly.

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 Keith Werwas, Assistant VP and Managing Attorney for Potestivo & Associates.