Among the ongoing court cases surrounding the right of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems' (MERS) to foreclose homes, one case out of California has been elevated to the Supreme Court. A San Diego foreclosure attorney filed a petition with the Supreme Court last week asking for a review of a California appellate court's decision that affirmed MERS' right to foreclose. This is the first case to be elevated to the Supreme Court, according to the attorney for the homeowner.

In its August 2011 Budget and Economic Outlook update, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts the government will spend $35 billion less on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2011 than in 2010. The CBO estimates it will spend $5 billion on the GSEs in 2011 after having spent $40 billion last year. The CBO says the decrease is mostly due to lower projections in losses for the GSEs in upcoming years. This updated 2011 estimate is $6 billion lower than the CBO's previous estimate.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has announced the removal of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman from an executive panel of state officials working with servicers on a settlement for alleged improper foreclosure practices. Miller, who is head of the committee, says the state of New York has actively worked to undermine the very same multi-state group it had been working very closely with over the previous nine months. He called Schneiderman's actions ""unacceptable.""

After recently establishing a partnership with Fannie Mae to offer Fannie Mae Short Sale Assistance Desk (SSAD) training for real estate professionals, the Five Star Institute has just announced a second partnership with Wingspan Portfolio Advisors. Wingspan will promote Five Star's beginning and advanced short sale courses within its extensive network of real estate professionals - the Wingspan Real Estate Network (WREN). Conversely, Five Star will promote WREN to agents who sign up for its short sale and SSAD training.

American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (AHMSI) is pursuing legal action against Lender Processing Services (LPS) and affiliate DOCX to recover millions of dollars in losses the servicer allegedly incurred from improper documentation related to more than 30,000 mortgages and services preformed between April 2008 and November 2009. For its part, LPS said it was ""surprised"" by AHMSI's action and is prepared to vigorously defend itself against the allegations.

Fannie Mae expects overall economic growth to decline, taking the housing market with it on its downward trend. The company bases these predictions on declining business and consumer confidence in addition to weak job growth. The GSE said in the August edition of its regular economic and mortgage market analysis report that ""recovery has clearly lost momentum."" Macro economic factors are driving the mindset of consumers, according to Fannie Mae, and housing is being impacted.

In the month of June, U.S. commercial real estate prices rose 0.9 percent, according to the latest Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices released Monday. June is the second consecutive month of price gains. The ratings agency says the increase represents a firming up of the market bottom, but turmoil in the capital markets and a drop-off in secondary market lending may delay realization of any significant near-term pricing gains. Sales of distressed properties accounted for 29 percent of June's volume.

New York, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Delaware attorneys general continue to voice opposition to a blanket settlement with the nation's top servicers, but HUD and the Justice Department are taking steps to persuade at least one of them to comply. Officials from both agencies are specifically asking New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to abandon his objections and approve the settlement. He's reportedly holding out to ensure he can pursue his own legal actions related to the securitization side of the business.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) released a notice outlining new guidelines for trial payment plans for FHA loss mitigation actions. The new rules go into effect October 1. When offering permanent modifications or partial claims, servicers must implement trial payment plans for any borrowers who have missed at least two payments in the past year; have failed a HAMP trial payment plan; have a net surplus income of less than 20 percent of their total net income; or whose mortgage was originated fewer than 14 months ago.

A report from Capital Economics states that housing values overall are undervalued by 20 percent, but Zillow says many metro price-to-income ratios are still above their historic averages. The current price-to-income ratio for the U.S. is 3.3 to 14 percent above the historical average, according to new research from Zillow. The company says more often than not, home values eventually come back in line with incomes. The most extreme over-corrections in home values have occurred in Detroit; Las Vegas; and Manchester, New Hampshire.