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84 ILLINOIS AACER: Bankruptcy Filings Reverse Upward Course Bankruptcy filings nationwide reversed their course in April after increasing over-the- month in both February and March, totaling 70,457 for April—a decline of nearly 8,000 from March (about 10 percent), according to April 2016 AACER bankruptcy data reported by Epiq Systems. After totaling 52,552 in January, bankruptcy filings spiked by 23 percent in February and another 21 percent in March up to 78,332 before April's decline of 10 percent. April's total of 70,457 filings is also approximately a 10 percent decline year-over-year (from April 2015's total of 77,949). ere have been 266,050 bankruptcy filings nationwide in the first four months of 2016, a decline of about 6 percent over-the-year from April 2015's year-to-date total of 283,587. e total number of filings for the first four months of 2014 was 320,002. April 2016's average number of flings per day was a slight decline from March (3,355 com- pared to 3,406) but there were two fewer filing days in April than there were in March (21 compared to 23). Year-to-date in 2016 as of the end of April, bankruptcy filings have averaged 3,205 per day over a period of 83 filing days. California was the state with the most filings for the first four months of 2016 with 24,550. Illinois was second with 19,148, followed by Florida (15,579). Georgia was fourth (15,131), and Ohio was fifth with 12,529. e state with the fewest bankruptcy filings in for the first three months of 2016 was Alaska with 125. Tennessee and Alabama continued to rank first and second among states in bank- ruptcy filings per capita for April with 5.66 and 5.39 for every 10,000 people, respectively. ose numbers represented slight declines from March's total of 5.70 and 5.45, respectively. e national average of filings per capita in April 2016 increased slightly over-the-month from 2.51 to 2.56. e national average is up by more than a half a percentage point since Janu- ary (2.02). Epiq Systems is a leading global provider of technology-enabled solutions for electronic discovery, bankruptcy and class action admin- istration. Top legal professionals depend on us for deep subject-matter expertise and years of firsthand experience working on many of the American in Q1, with consumer banking's net income jumping by 22 percent up to $1.8 billion as positive operating leverage was created by higher revenue from increased customer activity combined with lower expenses. e bank's sales and trading revenue were down by 16 percent in Q1, however. Bank of America's Legacy Assets and Servicing revenue was down by $235 million, from $914 million down to $669 million due to a decline in net interest income on lower loan balances and a drop in non-interest income. e bank's mortgage banking income declined due to lower servicing fees and mortgage servicing rights net of hedge results. e factors causing the decline were partially offset by gains on certain loan sales, according to the earnings statement. e number of residential loans serviced by Bank of America that were 60-plus days delinquent declined over-the-year by 42 percent, down to 88,000, during Q1. "is quarter, we benefited from good consumer and commercial banking activity," said Brian Moynihan, CEO. "Our business segments earned $4.5 billion, up 16 percent from the year-ago quarter. is was partially offset by valuation adjustments from lower long-term in- terest rates and annual compensation expenses. Despite volatile markets, our Global Markets business produced solid earnings. As always, we are focused on loan and deposit growth and managing expenses. By doing that, we con- tinue to improve on what we do best: helping consumers live their financial lives and helping businesses grow and employ more people." INDIANA StreetLinks Lender Solutions Hires VP of Operations and Quality Control StreetLinks Lender Solutions, a unit of Assurant Mortgage Solutions, recently hired Charles Szabo as VP of Operations and Qual- ity Control. Szabo's focus is to lead the StreetLinks' Quality Control Operations department, which emphasizes superior quality and service across StreetLinks' wide range of valuation products and services. Szabo joined StreetLinks in 2015 as VP of Quality Control and Operations after working extensively in the real estate industry for more than 20 years. Prior to joining StreetLinks, Szabo served as the Chief Appraiser at USAA largest, most high-profile and complex client engagements. Epiq Systems, Inc. has locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. IOWA Bank of America Settles with FHLBank of Des Moines Bank of America announced this week that it has settled four mortgage-related complaints with a Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank), the bank stated in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). e company disclosed in the SEC filing that Bank of America and e FHLBank of Seattle (which merged with FHLBank of Des Moines last year) settled these claims for $190 million, "substantially all of which was previ- ously accrued." A spokesperson for Bank of America and the FHLBank of Des Moines did not immedi- ately respond to a comment request at the time of publication for this article. In June 2015, e FHLBank of Des Moines announced in a press release that it will merge with the FHLBank of Seattle. More details concerning this new combination will be included in a related Form 8-K that FHLBank of Des Moines will file with the SEC. "e paperwork has been formally approved and signed and the merger of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle is now official," said Melvin L. Watt, FHFA director. "As the regulator of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, FHFA views this voluntary merger as consistent with safety and soundness and with the mission of the System to support home mortgage lending and community investment." is voluntary merger will constitute the first in the 80-year history of the FHLBank system, the cooperative said. e merger closed on May 31, 2015; the two Banks now operate as one. It was a tough first quarter for Bank of America, as the bank experienced a year-over- year decline of 13 percent in net income down to $2.7 billion, or earnings per diluted share of $0.21, according to the bank's Q1 earnings statement. e bank's net income was also down by $0.6 billion over-the-quarter from Q 4's net income of $3.3 billion, according to Bank of America. Consumer performed well for Bank of

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