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Las Vegas ordinance puts lenders in charge of vacancy upkeep - by ANDREW SCOGGIN - Las Vegas City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday that makes lenders responsible for the maintenance of vacant properties in default or foreclosure. The measure, which passed unanimously, would require lenders to inspect properties in pending or actual default and, if vacant, register them with the city for $200. The bank then must pick a property manager, who would perform any required upkeep that includes landscaping, watering and mowing. The name and phone number of the lender or manager must be posted on the property. – Housingwire

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Hope Now servicers modify 79,000 mortgages in October - by ANDREW SCOGGIN – Housingwire

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The 15 Best Housing Markets For The Next Five Years - Mamta Badkar - ... The latest data from Fiserv Case Shiller shows that national home prices are expected to grow at an annualized rate of 3.2% between 2011 and Q2 2016. We combed through Fiserv's data and picked the best housing markets for the next five years. ... - Money Game at Business Insider 

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Consumers Expect Big Rent Hikes in 2012 - ... On average, Americans expect home rental prices to increase by 3.2 percent over the next year,. Some 41 percent said rents will increase next year, 48 percent expect rents to stay the same and only 6 percent expect them to fall. The November numbers showed a slight retreat from October, when 43 expected rents to rise and 47 expected them to stay the same. ... - UPI.com

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New mortgages likely disqualified from QRM - by JUSTIN T. HILLEY - After examining the average down payment a borrower puts on a home to qualify for a mortgage, online lending exchange LendingTree is reporting no state averages at least 20% down. This means that under the qualified residential mortgage initiative, many of the most-recent originated home loans would not qualify for exemption from risk retention. - Housingwire
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(Dodd Frank unintended consequences) Debit-Fee Cap Has Nasty Side Effect - By ROBIN SIDEL - Jason Scherr had a lot on his mind the day after he opened his fifth Think Coffee shop in Manhattan last week. The fan was blowing too hard, the classical music was playing a little too loudly—and he was trying to figure out how to get more customers to pay with cash. A new law that was supposed to reduce costs for merchants that accept debit cards has instead sent Mr. Scherr's monthly processing bills much higher and forced him to reassess the way he does business. - Wall Street Journal

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(cashout stimulus ends) U.S. Mortgage Debt Falls to Five-Year Low as Consumer Wealth Effect Fades - By John Gittelsohn and Kathleen M. Howley - (said) Doug Duncan, chief economist of mortgage-financier Fannie Mae, ... The volume of outstanding home mortgages declined to $9.88 trillion from $9.94 trillion at June 30, according to Federal Reserve data released today. The reading was the lowest since the end of 2006. Mortgage volume peaked at $10.6 trillion in early 2008, the final months of a decade-long borrowing binge. ... – Bloomberg

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The good, the bad, and the ugly of today's US housing market - SoberLook.com - (has chats, 2 positives, 3 negatives)

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Maine Supreme Court refuses to hold GMAC in contempt for robo-signed docs - by KERRI PANCHUK - The Maine Supreme Court refused to overturn a lower court's decision not to hold GMAC in contempt for employees robo-signing foreclosure affidavits. – Housingwire

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MBA: Servicing Fee Won't Cut It; Fannie "Competing" with Purchase of MSRs From B of A - By Paul Muolo - The (MBA) in a new comment letter, strongly urges the government not to change the current GSE servicing compensation model, shooting down a FHFA proposal that would pay loan processors $10 per month for performing loans. ... the trade group complains that FHFA's proposal would be a step of moving “toward more government involvement” in housing finance ... Moreover ... complains that Fannie Mae's recent purchase of $74 billion of MSRs from Bank of America puts the GSE in the position of being a direct competitor of private market servicers. ... - National Mortgage News

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Iowa AG says mortgage settlement should be done by Christmas - Des Moines Register

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(good piece about lack of lower FICO FHA loans) 600: Magic Number for Credit Scores on FHA Loans in 2012 - By Brandon Cornett - Home Buying Institute 
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Estimated Basel III Capital Shortfalls Could Limit US Bank Lending - Standard & Poor’s estimates that rated US banks could fall short by $330 billion to $430 billion of meeting Basel III CET1 capital adequacy minimums of 7% plus systemic buffers under certain conditions. In other words, this estimated shortfall would be met by a reduction in total assets of $4 trillion to $4.8 trillion for rated US banks, or about one-third of the $12.3 trillion in assets of all US banks as of Nov. 23, 2011. - Research Recap

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