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Zombie Foreclosures Increase 21 Percent Across Nation in Second Quarter of 2021

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But Zombie Foreclosures Still Represent Just One of Every 12,300 Residential Properties; Percentage of Foreclosure Properties Sitting Empty Ticks Down ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database, released its second-quarter 2021 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report showing that 1.4 million (1,409,457) residential properties in the United States are vacant this quarter, representing 1.4 percent of all homes. The report analyzes publicly recorded real estate data collected by ATTOM Data Solutions — including foreclosure status, equity, and owner-occupancy status — matched against monthly updated vacancy data. (See full methodology enclosed below). Vacancy data is available for U.S. residential properties at https://www.attomdata.com/solutions/marketing-lists/. The report reveals that 223,671 properties are in the process of foreclosure in the second quarter of this year, up 27.5 percent from the first quarter of 2021 but still down 13.3 percent from the second quarter of 2020. The number of pre-foreclosure homes or Zombie homes sitting empty (8,078 in the second quarter of 2021) was up both quarterly, by 21 percent, and annually, by 5.6 percent. The portion of pre-foreclosure properties that have been abandoned into zombie status dropped slightly, from 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2021 to 3.6 percent in the second quarter of 2021. Among the nation’s total stock of 99 million residential properties, the portion represented by zombie properties remains miniscule, but has grown slightly in the second quarter of 2021. One of every 12,256 homes in the second quarter sit empty in the foreclosure process, up from one in 14,825 in the first quarter of 2021 and up from one in 12,967 in the second quarter of last year. The count of zombie foreclosures has risen this quarter despite an ongoing federally-imposed moratorium on foreclosures aimed at helping homeowners get through economic troubles stemming from the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. Affecting about 70 percent of home loans in the United States, the moratorium bars lenders from pursuing delinquent homeowners who have government-backed mortgages. It has been in place since last March and is currently in effect until the end of June. Some private lenders also have voluntarily offered mortgage extensions. “The latest numbers show a spike in zombie properties during the second quarter that stands out compared to recent times, especially given the moratorium. It may simply be due to lenders foreclosing on homes that were already abandoned. We are watching that closely to see what it means and whether it’s the start of new trend,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions. “But even with the increase, zombie foreclosures are still just a dot on the housing market radar screen, which is more testimony to how strong the housing market remains. You can still walk around most neighborhoods around the country and literally not find a single empty house going through the takeover process, and that remains very good news for current homeowners, as well as potential homeowners.” Zombie foreclosures up in 33 states A total of 8,078 residential properties facing possible foreclosure have been vacated by their owners nationwide in the second quarter of 2021, up from 6,677 in the first quarter of 2021 and from 7,652 in the second quarter of last year. The number increased, quarter over quarter, in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Among states with at least 100 zombie foreclosures during the second quarter of 2021, some the biggest increases from the first quarter to the second quarter of this year include Maryland (up from 44 to 151), Iowa (up from 43 to 114), North Carolina (up from 68 to 119), South Carolina (up from 79 to 133) and Ohio (up from 633 to 1,033). “We’ve seen this before – government officials who are trying to prevent unnecessary defaults delay foreclosure proceedings for so long that the distressed borrowers simply abandon the property before the foreclosure takes place,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president at RealtyTrac, an ATTOM Data Solutions company. “There are probably two things behind the increase in Zombie foreclosures: First, the fact that most foreclosure starts today are on vacant and abandoned properties; and second, there were also almost 250,000 loans in foreclosure prior to the pandemic, and they’ve been in limbo for over 14 months. Very likely that some of the borrowers in those properties have moved on, but lenders have been prohibited from beginning foreclosure proceedings on those loans.” Highest numbers of zombie properties again in northeastern and midwestern states New York continues to have the highest number of zombie properties in the second quarter of 2021 (2,052), followed by Ohio (1,033), Florida (1,021), Illinois (897) and Pennsylvania (401). States in Midwest and South show biggest decreases in overall vacancy rates Vacancy rates for all residential properties in the U.S. declined slightly to 1.42 percent in the second quarter of 2021, from 1.46 percent in the first quarter of 2021 and 1.52 percent in the second quarter of last year. States with the biggest quarterly decreases in overall vacancy rates are Rhode Island (down from 1.3 percent of all homes in the first quarter of 2021 to 1 percent in the second quarter), Mississippi (down from 2.5 percent to 2.2 percent), Kentucky (down from 1.2 percent to 1.1 percent), South Carolina (down from 1.7 percent to 1.6 percent) and Kansas (down from 2.5 percent to 2.4 percent). Other high-level findings from the second-quarter data: Among 159 metropolitan statistical areas with at least 100,000 residential properties and at least 100 properties facing possible foreclosure, the highest zombie rates in the second quarter of 2021 are in Peoria, IL (14.2 percent of properties in the foreclosure process are vacant); Wichita, KS (14.1 percent); South Bend, IN (12 percent); Youngstown, OH (11.6 percent) and Cleveland, OH (11.5 percent). Aside from Cleveland, the highest zombie-foreclosure rates in major metro areas with at least 500,000 residential properties and at least 100 properties facing foreclosure in the second quarter of 2021 are in Detroit, MI (10.4 percent of properties in the foreclosure process are vacant); Atlanta, GA (9.7 percent); Portland, OR (9.6

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Fannie Mae Promotes Malloy Evans to EVP and Head of Single-Family

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Appointment Underscores Fannie Mae’s Commitment to Sustainable Homeownership Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) has appointed Malloy Evans to the position of Executive Vice President and Head of Single-Family, effective immediately. Evans was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer for Fannie Mae’s Single-Family Business, where he managed first-line credit risk from mortgage acquisition through disposition and oversaw the establishment of selling and servicing risk policies and eligibility standards to ensure sustainable lending practices for the loans Fannie Mae acquires. “Malloy brings impressive qualifications and deep knowledge of our Single-Family business and Fannie Mae, from risk management and credit policy to servicing and loss mitigation. He has a mission-first mindset that embodies our corporate values, and a strong commitment to serving homebuyers and lenders while ensuring the continued safety and soundness of the housing finance industry,” said David C. Benson, President, Fannie Mae. As Head of Single-Family, Evans will lead the team responsible for establishing Fannie Mae’s single-family mortgage acquisition standards that help lenders safely originate mortgages, providing liquidity to the single-family mortgage market, and enabling credit to help U.S. homeowners buy, refinance, and rent homes. “For more than a decade, I’ve witnessed Fannie Mae’s Single-Family team consistently prioritize sustainable, affordable homeownership, notably over the past year as we helped homeowners stay in their homes during COVID-19, and most recently with our announcement of a new refinance option to help lower-income families,” said Evans. “I’m proud of our commitment to help people across America gain access to sustainable homeownership, and I look forward to leading our Single-Family Business as we continue building on this progress.” About Fannie MaeFannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of people in America. We partner with lenders to create housing opportunities for families across the country. We are driving positive changes in housing finance to make the home buying process easier, while reducing costs and risk. To learn more, visit: fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog

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Technology Company Obie Launches to Reinvent the Investment Property Insurance Process, Saving Landlords and Real Estate Investors as Much as 30%

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Emerging InsurTech innovator Obie unveiled its new insurance offering, specifically targeting landlords and investment property owners. Obie’s instant quote platform for landlords, the first of its kind, delivers the coverage these small businesses need through a dramatically improved, data-rich process. The company’s innovative technology and approach means Obie’s policyholders can save up to 25-30% off their existing insurance premiums. Obie’s property and casualty insurance are now available in all 50 states. Additionally, Obie disclosed that it has raised $10.7 million in Series A funding to fuel rapid growth. The round was led by global investment firm Battery Ventures, with General Partner Michael Brown joining Obie’s board of directors. Thomvest Ventures (the investment management firm of the Thomson family) also joined the round, in addition to previous investors Funders Club, MetaProp, and Second Century Ventures. Funding comes as Obie has secured insurance for over $3 billion in property over the past year. “The number of small, hobbyist landlords and property investors is growing at an impressive rate, yet nothing exists in this space to provide them with the quality insurance coverage they need to safeguard their investments,” said Brown. “When we saw what the Obie team had built, we were immediately struck by how their technology didn’t just slap a band-aid on traditional approaches to insurance coverage; it brings intelligence and simplicity to the process to match each policy application to the ideal carrier for respective risk factors. This results in a win for all parties.” Better Options for Rapidly Growing Market Segment Obie was created to provide a simple, affordable, and transparent insurance experience for clients and their investment properties, with a particular focus on the 11 million small-to-medium size apartment landlords who own single family rentals and/or larger apartment buildings. Based on their work in real-estate private equity and insurance, Obie co-founders Aaron and Ryan Letzeiser recognized that despite being the largest class of real estate investors in the U.S, this group is significantly underserved. They are too small for larger brokerage houses, while the smaller, independent insurance agencies are generalists with only limited carrier partners that specialize in this type of risk. As a result, landlords get bad pricing and limited coverage, after enduring a lengthy and antiquated application process. Obie remedies this by offering a consumer-friendly approach that matches the expectations of the digital world. The company replaces an opaque, email-based insurance acquisition process, where landlords are forced to fill out PDFs and spreadsheets before waiting more than a week to even receive a quote, with a short online questionnaire. Landlords and property investors then can get the coverage that fits their specific needs in less than five minutes. “The impact of insurance premiums on real estate investors’ bottom line and the overall value of the asset is significant, yet the process of securing proper coverage has always been a bit of a black hole,” said Obie Co-Founder and COO Aaron Letzeiser. “Obie changes this. We built technology that makes securing insurance the least of a landlord’s worries. Now purchasing insurance is quick, easy, and extremely cost efficient, and with Battery’s support we can scale even faster to meet the needs of this growing market.” Leveraging Technology to Reinvent Insurance When landlords and property investors come to Obie, the platform walks them through a short series of questions and provides an instant quote that, once accepted, can be immediately underwritten. Obie is able to do this by extracting a few key data points from client responses, which its technology then enriches with dozens of public and privately available data points to eliminate the constant back-and-forth that normally occurs between a real-estate investor and an insurance agent. Obie’s platform analyzes over 50 novel and unique underwriting data points, which include things like the proximity of the landlord to the property, as this is often a great indicator of proactive and preventative maintenance as well as attentiveness to tenant issues. Once Obie runs its analysis, the platform uses a proprietary algorithm to match an application to carriers based on the risk-appetite profiles that carriers have at any given point in time. For example, this could include things like writing properties in hurricane zones or excluding those that do not want to write any policies this quarter for properties built before 1980. By targeting carriers accordingly, Obie is able to deliver the right level of coverage for a dramatically lower cost than other brokerages, which is particularly important for landlords who have been hit by rent uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I had been using the same brokerage for years, but by managing my portfolio on Obie, I was able to easily request new quotes that saved me more than I ever would have expected on my existing premium– something my old brokerage wasn’t able to do,” said Doug Hirsh, an Obie customer. “That kind of instant savings substantially increases IRR and cash-on-cash returns. Using Obie has been a no-brainer. I couldn’t be happier with the entire experience and level of coverage.” To use Obie to make sure that you’re covered and your investment is protected, go to www.obierisk.com. About Obie Obie is on a mission to provide a simple, affordable, and transparent experience for clients and their investment properties. Its technology guarantees industry-best rates for the property and casualty plans that are right for clients, ensuring that they, and their investments, are protected. Obie is now available to landlords and property investors in all 50 states. Learn more at www.obierisk.com.

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Realogy Accelerates RealSure(SM) Expansion to Meet Consumer Demand; Six New U.S. Markets Launched

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Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), the largest full-service residential real estate services company in the United States, and Home Partners of America, a leading residential real estate investment and management company, announced the accelerated expansion of real estate cash offer program RealSure. Launching in six new U.S. markets today, including Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and San Diego and well as Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, RealSure is now available to home sellers in 21 major U.S. markets. More than 30,000 real estate agents across Realogy’s Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate, CENTURY 21®, Coldwell Banker®, Corcoran®, ERA®, and Sotheby’s International Realty® brands have access to RealSure as a tool to help clients who have a qualified property sell and buy their home. According to the National Association of REALTORS®’s recent REALTORS® Confidence Index, homes are typically selling within a record low average of 17 days, which has buyer competition intensifying with an average of five offers on every home sold. “Low housing supply, combined with strong homebuyer demand, makes it more important than ever for consumers to have access to tools that increase their chances of successfully selling their current home and give them competitive confidence when buying a new home,” said Kristin Aerts, vice president of consumer programs for Realogy. “Accelerating the pace of our expansion strategy for RealSure enables our affiliated agents to offer even more consumers the benefits they need now, with faster results. We look forward to growing within our existing 21 markets and delivering even more updates to RealSure in the near future.” The RealSure SolutionRealSure is designed to address the two questions consumers most often have when selling their home in today’s competitive market: What is the best price I can sell for? Should I wait to look for my next home until my current home sells to strengthen my position to buy? Combined with the expert guidance of a real estate agent affiliated with one of Realogy’s well-known brands, RealSure offers solutions with its two defining features: RealSure Sell, bringing RealSure home sellers the certainty of a 45-day cash offer while they work with a trusted real estate agent to market their home for an even better offer to maximize the value of their current home; and RealSure Buy, where the choice is up to the RealSure home sellers. Whether they accept the RealSure Cash Offer or a third-party offer, RealSure Buy’s features position RealSure sellers to enhance their ability to purchase and move into a new home they love with ease including: Assured Close: Extend RealSure’s 45-day cash offer up to an additional 45 days, giving RealSure sellers the flexibility they need to close on a third party offer while having peace of mind if that deal falls through, they still have the RealSure Cash Offer available to keep them on track to sell their home and purchase a new one; and   Flex Stay: RealSure sellers can stay in their current home for up to 30 days after closing their sale to RealSure while they prepare to move into their next home. “Now more than ever, people are looking for flexibility and control when going through the home selling and buying process, and we are excited to continue bringing RealSure to markets that need the solution the program provides,” said Tracey Jeter, vice president of sales and business development for Home Partners of America. “With the certainty that comes with a cash offer, RealSure offers the opportunity to work with a trusted real estate agent to weigh all of their options based on what works best for them.” RealSure is currently available in the cities of and metropolitan areas surrounding Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and San Diego as well as Sacramento, California; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Ft. Myers, Sarasota, Tampa, and Orlando, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; and Austin, Texas. For more information on RealSure, please visit www.RealSure.com.  About Realogy Holdings Corp. Realogy (NYSE: RLGY) is moving the real estate industry to what’s next. As the leading and most integrated provider of U.S. residential real estate services encompassing franchise, brokerage, relocation, and title and settlement businesses as well as a mortgage joint venture, Realogy supported approximately 1.4 million home transactions in 2020. The company’s diverse brand portfolio includes some of the most recognized names in real estate: Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate, CENTURY 21®, Coldwell Banker®, Coldwell Banker Commercial®, Corcoran®, ERA®, and Sotheby’s International Realty®. Using innovative technology, data and marketing products, high-quality lead generation programs, and best-in-class learning and support services, Realogy fuels the productivity of its approximately 191,700 independent sales agents in the U.S. and more than 135,000 independent sales agents in 117 other countries and territories, helping them build stronger businesses and best serve today’s consumers. Recognized for ten consecutive years as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, Realogy has also been designated a Great Place to Work three years in a row and is one of LinkedIn’s 2021 Top Companies in the U.S.  About Home Partners of AmericaChicago-based Home Partners of America, Inc.  is a private owner and operator of high-quality single-family retail homes dedicated to making living in a single-family home accessible for more people.  Through their innovative Lease Purchase Program, Home Partners has provided access to single family housing for more than 19,000 households across the country. Home Partners is a dynamic leader in today’s single-family housing market providing home seekers, sellers, and their agents with a range of integrated financial options that limit their risk and help them move forward.

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Black Knight’s First Look: Mortgage Delinquencies Decline Another 7% in April

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— The number of past-due mortgages improved again in April, as the national delinquency rate fell to 4.66% from 5.02% in March — New delinquencies rose 23% from March’s record lows, but are down 33% from April 2019, while more than 400,000 (14% of) homeowners past-due on their mortgages became current on payments — Serious delinquencies (loans 90 or more days past due but not yet in foreclosure) saw strong improvement as well, falling by 151,000 for the month — Nearly 1.8 million first-lien mortgages remain seriously delinquent, 1.3 million more than there were heading into the pandemic — Both foreclosure starts and active foreclosure inventory hit new record lows once again in April as both moratoriums and borrower forbearance plan participation continue to limit activity — Mortgage prepayments fell nearly 23% in April to their lowest level since May 2020, reflecting the impact on refinance activity of interest rate spikes earlier this year — Black Knight’s April Originations Market Monitor report also showed that rate locks have fallen further over the past month, suggesting prepay volumes will likely be muted in the months to come Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE: BKI) reports the following “first look” at April 2021 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market.   Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 4.66%Month-over-month change: -7.11%Year-over-year change: -27.68% Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 0.29%Month-over-month change: -6.29%Year-over-year change: -28.67% Total U.S. foreclosure starts: 3,700          Month-over-month change:  -26.00%Year-over-year change: -50.00% Monthly prepayment rate (SMM): 2.58%Month-over-month change: -22.79%Year-over-year change: 10.77% Foreclosure sales as % of 90+: 0.14%Month-over-month change: -9.82%Year-over-year change: 26.99% Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 2,500,000Month-over-month change: -172,000Year-over-year change: -900,000 Number of properties that are 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 1,768,000Month-over-month change: -151,000Year-over-year change: 1,306,000 Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 153,000Month-over-month change: -9,000Year-over-year change: -58,000 Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure: 2,653,000Month-over-month change: -181,000Year-over-year change: -959,000 Top 5 States by Non-Current* PercentageMississippi:                         8.24%Louisiana:                           7.86%Hawaii:                                7.29%Oklahoma:                          6.55%Maryland:                            6.52%                                                    Bottom 5 States by Non-Current* PercentageMontana:                             3.16%Washington:                        3.03%Utah:                                   2.99%Colorado:                            2.97%Idaho:                                  2.47% Top 5 States by 90+ Days Delinquent PercentageMississippi:                         5.35%Louisiana:                           5.15%Nevada:                              4.80%Hawaii:                                4.76%Maryland:                            4.56%                                                                                    Top 5 States by 6-Month Improvement in Non-Current* PercentageUtah:                                    -33.20%Maine:                                  -30.92%Rhode Island:                      -30.79%South Dakota:                     -30.47%Colorado:                            -30.03%                                                                                Top 5 States by 6-Month Deterioration in Non-Current* PercentageDistrict of Columbia:          -18.16%Oklahoma:                         -21.30%Minnesota:                         -21.66%Maryland:                           -22.39%Nebraska:                          -23.46%                                                                                                *Non-current totals combine foreclosures and delinquencies as a percent of active loans in that state. Notes:1) Totals are extrapolated based on Black Knight’s loan-level database of mortgage assets.2) All whole numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand, except foreclosure starts, which are rounded to the nearest hundred. For a more detailed view of this month’s “first look” data, please visit the Black Knight newsroom. The company will provide a more in-depth review of this data in its monthly Mortgage Monitor report, which includes an analysis of data supplemented by detailed charts and graphs that reflect trend and point-in-time observations. The Mortgage Monitor report will be available online at https://www.blackknightinc.com/data-reports/ by June. 7, 2021. For more information about gaining access to Black Knight’s loan-level database, please send an email to Mortgage.Monitor@bkfs.com. About Black KnightBlack Knight, Inc. (NYSE: BKI) is an award-winning software, data and analytics company that drives innovation in the mortgage lending and servicing and real estate industries, as well as the capital and secondary markets. Businesses leverage our robust, integrated solutions across the entire homeownership life cycle to help retain existing customers, gain new customers, mitigate risk and operate more effectively. Our clients rely on our proven, comprehensive, scalable products and our unwavering commitment to delivering superior client support to achieve their strategic goals and better serve their customers. For more information on Black Knight, please visit www.blackknightinc.com.

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SingleSource Property Solutions Expands Title License into Alabama and New Mexico

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SingleSource, a provider of title and settlement, valuation, real estate-owned (REO) asset management, field services, and document management services, has expanded its title agency licenses into the states of Alabama and New Mexico. The company is approved to issue title insurance throughout the state of Alabama and has Title Plant access in 13 New Mexico counties that comprise approximately 80% of the population. “We are proud to stay true to our plans of continuous innovation and growth, despite the challenges the industry has faced over the past year,” says Ed Austin, SingleSource COO. “We look forward to expanding into additional western states to continue improving our service to our customers.” SingleSource is a licensed title insurance agent in most areas of the U.S. The company is directly authorized and licensed to provide title insurance in 37 states and the District of Columbia. SingleSource ensures its ability to provide clients with complete business solutions and works directly with a preferred network of licensed agents through workshare agreements to process title insurance orders in states in which the company is not licensed. Due to increased demand for its services, SingleSource is in the process of becoming licensed in additional Western states and in U.S. territories. About SingleSource SingleSource provides title and settlement, valuation, REO asset management, property preservation, and document management services. The company manages a network of independent real estate agents, brokers, appraisers, property preservation field contractors, closing agents, title abstractors, and attorneys nationwide and in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. SingleSource clients include loan servicing and origination organizations, banks, credit unions, investment banks, and hedge funds. The company was established in 2000 and is headquartered in Canonsburg, PA, near Pittsburgh. For more information, contact Marialice Skabardonis at 866-620-7577, x1166, or mskabardonis@singlesourceproperty.com or visit www.singlesourceproperty.com

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