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Residential Real Estate Bright Spot in Fed Report

The nation's economy generally expanded modestly from mid-August until the end of September, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book report issued Wednesday. The report, the last Beige Book to be issued prior to Election Day, painted a mixed regional picture, with a leveling off of economic activity in New York and a slowing in the pace of growth in Kansas City. Residential real estate proved to be a bright spot amid an otherwise pedestrian report.

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FHFA Releases Updated Strategic Plan

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released a revised Strategic Plan for the years 2013 through 2017 Tuesday. The plan is a modified version of the plan FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco presented to congress in February. The plan details four major goals for the FHFA over the next few years. The first goal is to ensure ""safe and sound housing government-sponsored enterprises.""

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Wells Fargo Faces Federal Charges of Mortgage Fraud

The U.S. government is suing Wells Fargo over what officials allege constitutes more than 10 years of misconduct as a direct endorsement lender for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The civil fraud suit was filed in federal court Tuesday and alleges Wells Fargo falsely certified the credit and underwriting quality of FHA loans it originated. According to the complaint, thousands of Wells Fargo's FHA-insured mortgages defaulted as a result of deficient underwriting, causing the government agency to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Wells Fargo’s Lobbying Efforts Cost Millions

Wells Fargo has been ramping up its lobbying activities over the past several years. After spending just $620,000 on lobbying in 2002, a decade later the bank's spending is in the millions, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Last year, Wells Fargo spent nearly $8 million on government lobbying. This year, the bank has invested a total of about $3.8 million in lobbying, according to the Center.

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Consumers Firming Up Faith in Recovery: Survey

Consumer optimism about the housing market and homeownership improved substantially in September, Fannie Mae reported. According to the GSE's September 2012 National Housing Survey, upward trends in home prices and downward trends in mortgage rates throughout the summer reinforced positive attitudes about where the market is headed.

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Reports of Foreclosure Rescue Scams on the Rise: FinCEN

In the second quarter of this year, filers submitted 17,476 Mortgage Loan Fraud Suspicious Activity Reports (MLF SARs), marking a 41 percent yearly decrease, according to a report from Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Even though reports of MLF activity made a steep drop and continue to fall year-over-year, reports of foreclosure rescue scams have been increasing. If foreclosures rescue SARs continue at the current pace into the remainder of 2012, the yearly total for foreclosure rescue reports will be significantly higher than 2011.

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Officials Recap Year-Long Effort of Distressed Homeowner Initiative

Federal officials jointly announced Tuesday the results of the Distressed Homeowner Initiative, which is the first nationwide effort focusing on fraud schemes that target struggling homeowners. Led by members of the Mortgage Fraud Working Group of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, the initiative spanned from October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2012. Federal officials revealed the efforts have led to 530 criminal defendants charged in 285 federal criminal indictments or informations filed throughout the U.S.

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Two Data Points Undermine ‘Truther’ Claims

Debating continued two days after Barack Obama and Mitt Romney met in Denver, not between the candidates but over the monthly Employment Situation report showing the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent, the first sub-8.0 percent unemployment rate since January 2009.

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Cityside Director Touts Rental Strategy for Alleviating Foreclosure Effects

Hard-hit markets are aching for stabilization that only occupancy can remedy, Marlene Minemier, director of national portfolio management for Cityside Management Corporation, told colleagues at a recent industry conference. ""It is my belief that the emerging REO rental model is a viable, real-world solution allowing tenancy to be an attractive preservation technique,"" Minemier said as she presented her position during a panel discussion on rentals vs. traditional sales.

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