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59 » VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM We conduct our business by believing in the following: Commitment Experience Reputation US REO Partners is committed to improving the level of service in the industry by bringing together quality real estate brokers, title companies and attorneys. Servicers, Hedge Funds, Asset Managers and Community leaders across the country know that they can count on us as the Standard of the Industry. Just a few benefits of working with US REO Partners: » Members average 15 - 25 years of comprehensive default experience. » Access to screened, high-performing brokers, title companies, and knowledgeable attorneys in the MSAs. More than 400,000 properties sold by our network and thousands of properties under management. » More than REO, our members regularly manage challenging assets: large repair projects, properties suffering from stigmas, code violations, liens, property management, and well versed in the marketing of luxury assets. » Half of the organization's founders have asset management or servicing experience. Many members are former asset managers. Members are all experienced professionals who make the client's job easier. » A true partner for a win/win model to effectively and efficiently handle the challenges in today's industry. LENDERS FIND NEW STRENGTHS IN SHARED HOUSEHOLDS In recent report from Fannie Mae, it was found that more Americans have been creating shared households in which parents, children, grandparents, or other extended family live together in a home and contribute to rent or mortgage. e release finds that extended income households have particular strengths that can be important to lenders. According to Fannie Mae, these households stay together when faced with hardships or when times get tough and are therefore more likely to continue to pay their mortgage, even when house values decline. is is attributed to their incomes being more consistent because their earnings come from multiple sources. e release states that according to a recent working paper by Fannie Mae economist Walter Scott, it was found that almost 30 percent of households are shared, including with relatives and non- relatives. Additionally, it was found that this arrangement appears to be more prevalent in certain ethnic groups compared to others. For example, about 25 percent of non- Hispanic whites have shared households, compared to 36 percent of Asians, and 44 percent of Hispanic households. One of the causes for this trend noted by the release is the Great Recession, which caused a crunch on housing affordability. is affected not only just purchasing a home, but even going out on one's own and creating a household. Fannie Mae cites the U.S. Census Bureau's estimate of the total number of households formed in the United States as remaining stagnant during 2012 through most of 2014, and then increasing in 2015. ey say that this suggests that it's difficult, particularly for the younger generation of Americans, to find a place to live on their own. e Pew Research Center also announced in May 2016 findings that indicated for the first time since recording the data, they found more Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 were living at home with their parents than the share of those in the same age group living alone or with a partner and their late entry to homeownership is attributed to the fact that they weathered the economic challenges of the recession and its aftermath. Additionally, the release notes that based on data from the 2013 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, 15 percent of mortgage holders are in an extended income household. at figure is higher for Asian households at 18 percent, African American households at 20 percent, Hispanic households at 24 percent, and immigrant households at 20 percent. Scott states, "Mortgage lenders… [should] review their treatment of non- borrower and boarder income," and according to the release, Fannie Mae created the HomeReady mortgage, which takes into account extended-income households in assessing the household's total income in certain situations. According to Anne McCulloch, Fannie Mae's senior vice president for credit and housing access, "[Walt's] research and the HomeReady mortgage are examples of how Fannie Mae focuses on understanding the choices consumers make and building affordable, sustainable mortgages that align with those choices."

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