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As consumer advocates and mortgage lenders take to the streets fighting the implementation on the Qualified Residential Mortgage Rule. Potential home buyers were polled to see what they think about coming up with 20 percent for a home. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling shows no improvement on the ability for potential homeowners to raise 20 percent for a down payment from 2010 to 2011.

Freddie Mac is at it again offering another round of the multifamily mortgage-backed securities known as K Certificates. The company expects to offer approximately $538 million in K Certificates (K-AIV Certificates), which are backed by 19 multifamily properties owned by affiliates of Apartment Investment & Management Co. The K Certificates are expected to price this week and settle on or around June 9.

Three is not a crowd at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia who is promoting three employees. [IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK] The Philadelphia Fed promoted Constance H. Wallgren to vice president and chief examinations officer in the bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós supervision, regulation and credit (SRC) department.

Indiana governor Mitch Daniels is looking to protect Indiana homeowners. Governor Daniels is signing HB 1541 to restrict private transfer fees or Wall Street Home Resale Fees. The new law, sponsored by Indiana State Representative Mike Speedy, places a ban on these fees, which could take away from one├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós home equity, lower home resale values and provide more obstacles to the home buying process.

At the recent conference held by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, implementation issues surrounding the Dodd-Frank Act were prominent, with Wayne Abernathy, executive vice president of the American Bankers Association, telling attendees that numerous delays in deploying the provisions of the bill are likely to continue. Abernathy stated that regulators have already extended 30 out of 30 deadlines for implementation, in several areas such as risk-retention rules, GSE dissolution, and loan officer compensation.

Lender reaction at the recent 47th annual Chicago Federal Reserve Conference was largely negative on the current proposal to alter the selection process for members of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee. The new system would allow Congress to choose members of the committee instead of continuing to use regional Fed officials selected by the private sector to determine committee membership. The bill introduced last week, is viewed as an attempt to move power away from the regional Fed system and the private sector.

As the Dodd-Frank Act moves slowly to implementation, banking officials speaking at the recent Chicago Federal Reserve Bank's annual conference pointed to the need for continued monitoring of financial services markets to mitigate the risk of future economic crisis. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called for regulators to focus on two key types of risk: gaps in regulatory coverage and risks that vary with the economy, such as the buildup of lending leverage.

Home values plummeted more in the first quarter of this year than they have in any quarter since 2008, according to Zillow's first quarter Real Estate Market Report. The Zillow Home Value Index fell 3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 and declined 8.2 percent year-over-year to $169,600. Home values have fallen 29.5 percent since they peaked in June 2006.

FICO, the decision management technology and makers of the ubiquitous credit scores announced the net income for its fiscal second quarter is down 40 percent to $7.7 million, or $0.19 per share due to an $8.1 million after-tax restructuring charge for workforce and facility reductions.

As of May 1, code enforcement officials and field service providers for the mortgage servicing industry will have a new tool at their disposal to facilitate and streamline communication.