News

A New York judge granted Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman the right to intervene in litigation over Bank of America's proposed $8.5 billion settlement with mortgage-bond investors, according to a Wednesday statement from the Office of the Attorney General.

As of Wednesday, Fannie Mae has blanket delegation of authority on behalf of all servicers from United Guaranty Corporation, the GSE announced. Servicers can now apply Fannie Mae's guidelines and process a pre-foreclosure sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure in connection with Fannie Mae-owned or guaranteed loans without obtaining approval from UGC.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 377,000 for the week ended June 2, from the prior week's upwardly revised 389,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected the report would be show 379,000 initial claims. The drop in claims was the first in five weeks.

As recent data provide reasons to be both positive and worried about the economy, restrained optimism seems to be the phrase to describe how the public should respond to current economic indicators. Wednesday's release of the Beige Book revealed economic outlooks remain positive, but contacts were slightly more guarded in their optimism, while the Obama administration's Housing Scorecard relayed a similar sentiment. The scorecard provides an overview of the state of the market based on reports published within the public and private sectors.

The Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight continues to evolve as the monitor, a widely respected banking and housing finance chief, takes on new help from accounting and legal firms. Joseph A. Smith, Jr., onetime Federal Housing Finance Agency director-nominee, now responsible for overseeing servicer compliance under the $25 billion settlement, revealed Monday that BDO USA, LLP, would serve as the Raleigh, North Carolina-based office's eyes and ears. He spoke with MReport about the firm Wednesday.

The June 6 edition of HVF's ""Lessons from the Data"" showed that rent-to-value ratios, also called rental yields, tend to be highest in areas with elastic markets, such as Las Vegas. In areas of the city where the ease of adding new housing keeps home prices low, rental yields in certain neighborhoods climbed to 14 percent or higher. On the other hand, areas with restrained housing markets (like many neighborhoods in the New York metro) see yields lower than 2 percent.

The economy expanded at a modest to moderate pace from early April to the end of May, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday in its periodic Beige Book. The assessment reflected a weakening from the report in April when the expansion was characterized as moderate. Economic outlooks, according to the report, ""remain positive, but contacts were slightly more guarded in their optimism."" Activity in the New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco districts was described as moderate, while the Richmond, St. Louis, and Minneapolis districts noted modest growth.

The survey, released Wednesday, revealed that more than 83 percent of 2009-2010 homebuyers believe owning a home is still an integral part of the American Dream. Furthermore, 88.7 percent of respondents said they were happy with their purchases, citing a multitude of reasons such as the ""stability of owning [their] own property,"" the relief of ""getting away from renting,"" and ""having a yard and a real 'neighborhood feel,'"" to name a few.

Purchasing foreclosures also means discounts, but with the markdown is the price of repairs. According to RealtyTrac, foreclosures or REOs sold at an average discount of 27 percent compared to non-distressed properties in the first quarter of 2012. Through an FHA 203(k) loan, potential buyers who want to purchase a discounted foreclosure but don't have cash for the repairs may find a way to receive financing.

Capsilon announced Wednesday that the company has been issued a patent for specific Capsilon systems and methods for intelligent paperless document management.