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The Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District, otherwise known as the Beige Book, will be released this Wednesday. The book, released eight times a year, summarizes anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through Bank and Branch director reports and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. Find this and a preview of what is to come in the Week Ahead.

With nearly 40,000 American veterans homeless, the nation is finally starting to take notice. From new bills and big housing projects to events across the nation, parties from all over are taking at aim at veteran homelessness. The Five Star Institute’s upcoming Military Heroes Keys for Life event is just one such effort.

Fannie Mae announced that it secured commitments for a front-end Credit Insurance Risk Transfer (CIRT) transaction. The risk transfer will have been committed prior to Fannie Mae’s acquisition of the covered loans, so the insurance coverage will be effective as soon as loans are acquired. This will begin in the 2017 second-quarter deliveries and is expected to be filled over the course of nine months.

Meritage Homes has partnered with Operation Homefront to continue providing mortgage-free, energy-efficient homes to military families. The companies will work with the Homes on the Homefront program to provide a new home in Dallas, Texas. This is the fifth year the two companies will be working together, having helped 600 families since 2012.

Asurity Technologies, an enterprise formed to provide the financial services industry with RegTech solutions, announced its formation as an entity bringing together Treliant Solutions, LLC, Risk Management Solutions, Inc., and Mortgage Resources Group, LLC into an integrated compliance platform. According ...

Black Knight Financial Services launched its Municipal Lien Search solution Wednesday to help uncover property debts and reduce risk associated with liens not included on property reports or outside of the scope of title insurance coverage. County debts; code and force violations; waste, water, and sewer are examples of these liens. Undiscovered and unrecorded municipal liens become the ...

There are few more concrete examples of supply-and-demand economics in action than the housing market. A new report looking at April numbers shows a spike in demand and a corresponding spike in median prices. The B-side, of course, is that while demand rises, inventory shrinks, fueling the current sellers’ market.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Request for Input (RFI) Thursday for problems qualified Limited English Proficiency (LEP) borrowers face during the mortgage lifecycle. Per FHFA’s 2017 Scorecard for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Common Securitization Solutions, the GSEs must identify major challenges for LEP borrowers in accessing mortgage credit, analyzing potential solutions, and developing a multiyear plan appropriate for the Enterprises to support improved access. By better understanding the experience of LEP borrowers and those that serve them, the FHFA can successfully expand their statutory mandate.

Thursday, a fast-track foreclosure law expediting the foreclosure process was signed by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. With the intent to reduce community blight, this bill was signed in the footsteps of a similar bill in Ohio. Industry experts provide commentary on the impact this bill may have, including being the push for other states to move forward with their own fast track foreclosure bills.

The FHFA’s Q1 House Price Index Report was released Wednesday showing house prices up for the 23rd time in a row. Additionally, they were also up for the 21st time in a row year-over-year. Though this seems positive, Q1’s rate of growth nationally was minimal compared to the quarterly growth rates in years past.