It will take 46 months to clear the market's supply of distressed homes, or the shadow inventory, according to estimates from Standard & Poor's Rating Services based on first-quarter 2012 data. While national residential mortgage liquidation rates appeared stable over the first three months of this year, these rates varied widely between local markets. Regional variations in how quickly servicers can clear the backlog of nonperforming loans are primarily due to differences in foreclosure procedures. S&P says its months-to-clear estimate in judicial states is almost 2.5x as long as non-judicial states.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that its board of directors has selected Donald H. Layton to serve as the company's new CEO. Layton will join the GSE on May 21, and will also have a seat on the board of directors. In October 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that Charles E. Haldeman, Jr. had informed Freddie Mac's board of his desire to step down within the year. Haldeman served as the GSE's CEO since August 2009. Layton has had a long career in the private banking and financial services sectors. He worked for nearly 30 years at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors and more recently, served as chairman and CEO of E*Trade Financial.

Fannie Mae said Wednesday that it brought in $2.7 billion dollars in net income during the first quarter of this year, and for the first time since it was seized by the government in September of 2008, the company does not need a draw of taxpayer funds from Treasury to get out of the red. Fannie Mae says its improving numbers can be traced to lower credit-related expenses as the decline in home prices slowed and the company shed some of its REO holdings.

Bank of America began mailing out more than 200,000 letters this week targeting borrowers thought to be eligible for principal-reducing modifications under terms of the settlement reached with the federal government and 49 state attorneys general. To be eligible, a homeowner must owe more on the mortgage than the property is worth today and must have been at least 60 days behind on payments on January 31, 2012. BofA estimates average monthly savings of 30 percent for qualifying customers.

IL Group, a provider of customized lender placed insurance products and services headquartered in Gulf Shores, Alabama, has counted Chicago-based Fay Financial as a client for three years. The company announced last week that Fay Financial will continue to leverage IL Group for customized lender-placed and forced-placed insurance products and services to streamline workflow, improve efficiencies, and maintain regulatory compliance. IL Group also announced the launch of a new company website to better reflect its strategic vision and support anticipated growth.

The government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) continues to add borrowers to its roster each month, but the pace has slowed. Data released Friday by Treasury and HUD shows the number of permanent HAMP mods granted during the month of March was down 10 percent from the month before and down 45 percent from March 2011. While HAMP activity has slowed, other government-assisted foreclosure alternatives in the form of short sales and deeds-in-lieu have held fairly steady.

Freddie Mac reported net income of $577 million for the first quarter of 2012. That combined with $1.21 billion in unrealized gains on securities investments resulted in comprehensive income of $1.79 billion. The GSE's finances didn't sit in the black for very long, however. After a $1.8 billion dividend payment to its primary shareholder, the U.S. Treasury, Freddie's net worth was a deficit of $18 million. Looking at the GSE's loss mitigation numbers, short sales almost equaled the number of loan modifications during the first quarter.

The Arizona capital of Phoenix was one of the hardest hit markets by the housing crisis, with home values plunging nearly 60 percent from 2006 through mid-2011 and foreclosure filings soaring. One analyst says it wasn't too long ago that Phoenix was considered ground zero of the housing market's collapse, but now, it's on a path to recovery that's considerably outpaced other distressed markets. So what's going on in the Valley of the Sun that's strong enough to lift the nation's sixth most populous city from the depths of the downturn?

After just over two years as executive vice president over the single-family mortgage business at Freddie Mac, Anthony Renzi is stepping down. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, Renzi submitted his resignation on April 24 and will officially depart from the organization on May 11. Renzi was responsible for managing and minimizing losses on Freddie Mac's nearly two trillion-dollar single-family guaranteed portfolio, which included overseeing the company's loss mitigation activities.

Studies indicate the foreclosure crisis and its community-debilitating aftereffects are having a disproportionate impact on minorities and minority-owned real estate businesses. The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), the oldest African American trade group of real estate professionals in the country, has positioned itself alongside members of Congress, minority businesses, and granting agencies like the Salvation Army to face this challenge head-on. NAREB is hosting the State of Housing in Black America Issues Forum (SHIBA) on Wednesday, May 2, in Washington, D.C., with special appearances by Reps. Elijah Cummings and Eleanor Holmes Norton.