Origination

A major player in the ongoing Countrywide settlement dropped its suit against the defunct mortgage unit on Monday. According to news services, Walnut Place, otherwise known as Baupost Group, withdrew objections to a proposed $8.5 billion settlement currently under way with Bank of America, which bought Countrywide in 2008. Several reports held that a tentative deal had been reached by institutional investors last year to settle allegations of systematic misrepresentation.

A weakened second quarter may indicate a slowdown in economic activity for the rest of the year, Fannie Mae reported Monday. According to a report from the GSE, its Economic & Strategic Research Group may have been too optimistic in its original 2012 GDP growth projection of 2.2 percent. Its revised growth rate estimate is 2.0 percent. Despite the downgrade in anticipated economic growth, Fannie Mae found a silver lining in the housing market. Year-over-year, home sales increased by 9 percent, and single-family housing starts are nearly 20 percent higher (although still below healthy norms).

Five banks failed Friday, requiring an estimated total of $150 million from the FDIC. Banks failed in Illinois, Kansas, Georgia, and Florida with the greatest expense stemming from a single bank in Illinois. The FDIC estimates the failure of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago will lead to a total cost of $76.9 million. Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, based in Hinsdale, Illinois, has assumed all the deposits of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago as well as $14.2 million in assets, mostly cash.

The CEO of CIsco Systems has listed his luxurious Silicon Valley estate. John Chambers, who also serves as Cisco'S chairman, is selling his 6-acre Los Altos Hills property for $14.8 million. Built in the 90s, the 8,280-square-foot home includes the usual high-end amenities like a swimming pool, jacuzzi, and tennis court.

California-based CoreLogic has struck a deal with the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR). The company recently announced the multiyear agreement, following the group's decision to engage CoreLogic's Matrix platform.

A new report reveals that loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs are disproportionately prevalent in neighborhood's of color. The study, which is the sixth edition of the Paying More for the American Dream series, found that government-backed loans comprised nearly 67 percent of home purchase loans in communities of color. Statistics from the report indicate that borrowers of in neighborhoods of color received government-backed loans approximately twice as often as those in predominantly white areas.

Financial reform advocates have two birthdays to celebrate on Saturday. This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of the watchdog Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the two-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, the sweeping financial reform law that spawned it. Their stories run parallel to each other ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and rightly so. The consumer bureau squeaked past partisan gridlock this time last year, just one year after Democrats, then in the majority of both houses of Congress, cleared Dodd-Frank for the president├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós signature.

Another Countrywide lawsuit has been finalized, with the announcement that Syncora Guarantee Inc. has settled its claims with the company and its affiliates. Syncora, a subsidiary of Syncora Holdings Ltd., received $375 million from Countrywide to conclude its litigation against the company. In exchange for the payout, Syncora has agreed to release all claims against Countrywide and Bank of America. An official release about the lawsuit noted that Syncora's filing stemmed from insured second-liens.

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking has released its most recent quarterly data on enforcement actions taken by the organization. Second-quarter findings show that the department grappled with 92 incidences during the period. The report, which was complied by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking's Bureau of Compliance and Licensing, revealed that 90 of the 92 actions from the the group resulted in orders against companies for statutory violations. Survey statistics also demonstrated that 43 of the 90 orders for violations stemmed from mortgage-related issues.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose 34,000 for the week ended July 14 to 386,000 - the highest level in four weeks - the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 365,000 initial claims. The prior week's total was revised up to 352,000 from the originally reported 350,000. Initial claims had plunged in the week ended July 7 to a four year low as seasonal adjustments ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô used to correct for sharp changes in raw data due to recurring annual phenomena ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô offset annual furloughs of auto workers when plants re-tooled for the new model year.