According to the GSE's monthly summary, its gross mortgage balance fell with a decrease in sales and purchases. The 13.8 percent shrinkage rate was greater than March's 7.3 percent and the highest since January, when it was 14.3 percent. The negative growth rate year-to-date in April was 10.3 percent.These falling values led to shrinkage in Fannie Mae's Book of Business, with an annualized rate decrease of 8 percent for April. This was a marked fall from March's positive 9.3 percent growth and brings the year-to-date rate growth to negative 0.3 percent.

The number of loans refinanced through HARP in the first quarter of 2012 was nearly double the number of refinances in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) March 2012 Refinance Report. The report showed that 180,185 loans were refinanced through HARP during the year's first quarter, nearly twice the 93,190 refinances in the previous quarter. The month of March alone saw 79,470 loans refinanced with HARP, and nearly one in seven loan refinances in the quarter were done through program. The FHFA attributed most of this increase to the launch of HARP 2.0, an enhanced version of the program that eliminated loan-to-value (LTV) ceilings for borrowers.

Attorney General Kamala Harris' Homeowner Bill of Rights continues to work through the California Legislature as two more bills pass, the Office of the Attorney General announced Thursday. AB 2610 and SB 1473 will require buyers of foreclosed homes to allow tenants at least 90 days before starting eviction proceedings. Under the bills, if the tenant has a fixed-term lease, the new owner must honor it unless they can demonstrate that certain exceptions apply. The bills are intended to correct incongruities within California law and between state and federal law.

Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), announced Thursday the appointment of Wanda I. DeLeo as Deputy Director leading the newly created Office of Strategic Initiatives. DeLeo has served in several leadership roles at FHFA, including her most recent stint as Deputy Director for the agency's Division of Examination Programs and Support.

DocuTech Corp. announced Wednesday that the company has signed 41 new clients, including a Top 25 lender, since the beginning of December 2011. leading loan origination software systems.

California attorney general Kamala Harris announced Wednesday that the state Assembly and Senate each passed components of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights designed to protect homeowners from scams. One of the passed bills, AB 1763/SB 1474, allows the use of special grand juries to prosecute financial crimes that occur across multiple jurisdictions. Under current California law, crimes involving fraud victims across the state require separate grand juries and separate charges filed in each county where the crime was committed.

The incentive comes as an extension of Freddie Mac's First Look Initiative, a program designed to stabilize communities and support housing recovery. The initiative offers owner-occupants, second purchasers, and neighborhood stabilization non-profits a chance to purchase HomeSteps homes for a brief period after listing with no competition from investors.

NetDirector announced Wednesday that Manley Deas Kochalski, L.L.C. (MDK) has joined the cloud data exchange provider's network. According to a release from NetDirector, MDK has already completed the initial phase of interface deployment to automate data feeds with their client default servicing platforms.

As debate continues over California Attorney General Kamala Harris' Homeowner Bill of Rights, members of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation are questioning involvement by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). A letter issued from the delegation Wednesday criticized another letter sent to the California State Legislative Conference Committee from FHFA general counsel Alfred Pollard on May 11.

In accordance with an agreement made with Memphis and Shelby County, Wells Fargo announced Tuesday it is investing $7.5 million into the area as part of new recovery efforts. Under the agreement, Wells Fargo will provide $4.5 million in grants for mortgage down payment and home renovation assistance. The agreement comes after months of negotiations and dismisses a lawsuit filed by Memphis and Shelby County against the bank at the end of 2009. The city and county alleged that Wells Fargo was engaging in discriminatory and deceptive lending practices and had violated the Fair Housing Act.