we seek to maximize the fair value of the distressed mortgage loans that we acquired using means that are appropriate for the particular loan , including both proprietary and nonproprietary loan modification programs , special servicing and other initiatives focused on avoiding foreclosure , when possible . when we are unable to effect a cure for a mortgage loan delinquency , our objective is timely acquisition and or liquidation of the property securing the mortgage loan through the use , in part , of short sales and deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure programs . we may elect to hold certain real estate acquired in settlement of loans ( “ reo ” ) as income-producing properties for extended periods as a means of maximizing our returns on such properties . in addition to individual loan and property resolutions , we consider bulk sale opportunities from our existing distressed portfolio investments . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we completed bulk sales totaling $ 483.8 million in fair value of distressed mortgage loans . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we did not acquire distressed mortgage loans and we received proceeds from liquidation , payoffs , paydowns and sales from our portfolio of distressed mortgage loans and reo totaling $ 947.7 million . we also participate in other mortgage-related activities , including : acquisition of reit-eligible mortgage-backed or mortgage-related securities . we held mbs with fair values totaling $ 865.1 million at december 31 , 2016. acquisition of ess relating to msrs held by pfsi . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we did not purchase any ess from pfsi . pursuant to a recapture agreement with pls we received ess with fair value totaling $ 6.6 million . we sold $ 59.0 million of ess relating to freddie mac and fannie mae msrs back to pls . we held ess with a fair value totaling $ 288.7 million at december 31 , 2016. acquisition of small balance ( typically under $ 10 million ) commercial real estate loans . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we acquired $ 18.1 million in fair value of small balance commercial real estate loans . at december 31 , 2016 , we held $ 9.0 million at fair value of such mortgage loans . 46 to the extent that we transfer correspondent production loans into private label securitizations , retention of a portion of the securities created in the securitization transaction . our private label securitization is accounted for as a financing arrangement . sales of securities included in the securitization are treated as issuances of debt . our board of trustees has authorized a repurchase program under which we may repurchase up to $ 200 million of our outstanding common shares . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we repurchased approximately 7.4 million common shares at a cost of $ 98.4 million . we have repurchased a cumulative total of 8.4 million common shares at a cost of $ 114.7 million under the program . the repurchased common shares were canceled upon settlement of the repurchase transactions and returned to the authorized but unissued share pool . we believe that we qualify to be taxed as a reit and as such will not be subject to federal income tax on that portion of our income that is distributed to shareholders as long as we meet applicable reit asset , income and share ownership tests . if we fail to qualify as a reit , and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions , our profits will be subject to income taxes and we may be precluded from qualifying as a reit for the four tax years following the year we lose our reit qualification . a portion of our activities , including our correspondent production business , is conducted in our trs , which is subject to corporate federal and state income taxes . accordingly , we have made a provision for income taxes with respect to the operations of our trs . we expect that the effective rate for the provision for income taxes may be volatile in future periods . our goal is to manage the business to take full advantage of the tax benefits afforded to us as a reit . observations on current market conditions our business is affected by macroeconomic conditions in the united states , including economic growth , unemployment rates , the residential housing market and interest rate levels and expectations . the u.s. economy continues to grow , albeit at a modest pace , as reflected in recent economic data . during 2016 , u.s. real gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 1.9 % , compared to 2.4 % for 2015. the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7 % at december 31 , 2016 , 5.0 % at december 31 , 2015 and 5.6 % at december 31 , 2014. delinquency rates on residential real estate loans remain somewhat elevated compared to historical rates , but have been steadily declining . as reported by the federal reserve bank , during the third quarter of 2016 , the delinquency rate on residential real estate loans held by commercial banks was 4.3 % , a reduction from 5.2 % during the fourth quarter of 2015. residential real estate activity remains strong . the seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing home sales for december 2016 was 1.5 % higher than for december 2015 , and the national median existing home price for all housing types was $ 233,500 , a 3.8 % increase from december 2015 ( source : national association of realtors® ) . on a national level , foreclosure filings during 2016 decreased by 14 % , as compared to 2015. however , foreclosure activity is expected to remain above historical average levels through 2017 and beyond . story_separator_special_tag if the fair value of impaired msrs subsequently increases , we recognize the increase in fair value in current period income and , through a reduction in the valuation allowance , adjust the carrying value of the msrs to a level not in excess of amortized cost . when evaluating msrs for impairment , we stratify the assets by predominant risk characteristic including loan type ( fixed-rate or adjustable-rate ) and note interest rate . we stratify fixed-rate mortgage loans into note interest rate pools of 50 basis points for note interest rates between 3.0 % and 4.5 % and a single pool for note interest rates below 3 % . we evaluate adjustable-rate mortgage loans with initial interest rates of 4.5 % or less in a single pool . we periodically review the various impairment strata to determine whether the fair value of the impaired msrs in a given stratum is likely to recover . when we conclude that recovery of the fair value is unlikely in the foreseeable future , a write-down of the cost of the msrs for that stratum to its estimated recoverable value is charged to the valuation allowance . amortization and impairment of msrs accounted for using the amortization method are included in current period income as a component of net mortgage loan servicing fees . msrs accounted for at fair value we include changes in fair value of msrs accounted for at fair value in current period income as a component of net mortgage loan servicing fees . 51 a shift in the market for msrs or a change in our manager 's assessment of an input to the valuation of msrs can have a significant effect on the fair value of msrs and in our income for the period . we believe the most significant “ level 3 ” fair value inputs to the valuation of msrs are the pricing spread ( discount rate ) , prepayment speed and annual per-loan cost of servicing . following is a summary of the effect on fair value of various changes to these key inputs that our manager uses in making its fair value estimates as of december 31 , 2016 : replace_table_token_9_th the preceding asset analyses hold constant all of the inputs other than the input that is being changed to show an estimate of the effect on fair value of a change in a specific input . we expect that in a market shock event , multiple inputs would be affected and the effects of these changes may compound or counteract each other . furthermore , certain of our msrs are accounted for using the amortization method and are carried at the lower of amortized cost or fair value . such assets ' carrying value may not be immediately affected as a result of a change in input values depending on the carrying value ( carrying value is the amortized cost reduced by the applicable valuation allowance ) of the msr asset before the change in input occurs and whether the input change causes our estimate of fair value to change to a level below the amortized cost of those msrs . therefore the preceding analyses are not projections of the effects of a shock event or a change in our manager 's estimate of an input and should not be relied upon as earnings projections . critical accounting policies not tied to fair value liability for representations and warranties we record a provision for losses relating to our representations and warranties as part of our mortgage loan sale transactions , which are generally to the agencies . the method we use to estimate the liability for representations and warranties is a function of the representations and warranties made to such investors and considers a combination of factors , including , but not limited to , estimated future default and mortgage loan repurchase rates , the potential severity of loss in the event of default and the probability of reimbursement by the mortgage originator who sold the mortgage loan to us . we establish a liability at the time we sell the mortgage loans to the investors and periodically update our liability estimate . the level of the liability for representations and warranties is difficult to estimate and requires considerable judgment . the level of mortgage loan repurchase losses is dependent on economic factors , investor behavior , and other external conditions that may change over the lives of the underlying mortgage loans . our estimate of the liability for representations and warranties is developed by our manager 's credit administration staff . the liability estimate is reviewed and approved by our manager 's senior management credit committee which includes its chief executive , credit , portfolio risk , mortgage operations , and mortgage banking officers . as economic fundamentals change , as investor and agency evaluations of their loss mitigation strategies ( including claims under representations and warranties ) change and as the mortgage market and general economic conditions affect our correspondent sellers , the level of repurchase activity and ensuing losses will change and such changes may be material to us . as a result of these changes , we have adjusted , and may in the future be required to adjust , the estimate of our liability for representations and warranties . such adjustments may be material to our financial condition and net income . consolidation-securitizations we enter into various types of on- and off-balance sheet transactions with special purpose entities ( “ spes ” ) , which are trusts that are established for a limited purpose . generally , spes are formed in connection with securitization transactions . in a securitization transaction , we transfer mortgage loans on our balance sheet to an spe , which then issues to investors various forms of interests in those assets . in a securitization transaction , we typically receive cash and or interests in an spe in exchange for the assets we

cash flows our cash flows for the years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 are summarized below : replace_table_token_54_th our cash flows resulted in a net decrease in cash of $ 23.6 million during 2016 , as discussed below . operating activities cash used by operating activities totaled $ 621.5 million during 2016 , as compared to cash used by operating activities of $ 863.2 million and $ 366.0 million during 2015 and 2014 , respectively . the decreased use of cash in our operating activities from 2015 to 2016 is primarily due to slower growth of our inventory of mortgage loans acquired for sale at december 31 , 2016 as compared to december 31 , 2015. likewise , the increased use of cash in our operating activities during 2015 as compared to 2014 is due to faster growth in our inventory of mortgage loans held for sale during 2015 as compared to 2014. investing activities net cash provided by our investing activities was $ 194.0 million during 2016 , as compared to cash provided by investing activities of $ 11.5 million during 2015. the increase in cash flows from investing activities reflects proceeds from sales and repayments on our investments , which exceeded our investments primarily consisting of crt agreements and mbs during 2016 , as compared to 2015. we realized cash inflows from repayments of mbs , sales and repayments of mortgage loans , repayment of ess , sales of reo and distributions from crt agreements totaling $ 1.3 billion .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash flows our cash flows for the years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 are summarized below : replace_table_token_54_th our cash flows resulted in a net decrease in cash of $ 23.6 million during 2016 , as discussed below . operating activities cash used by operating activities totaled $ 621.5 million during 2016 , as compared to cash used by operating activities of $ 863.2 million and $ 366.0 million during 2015 and 2014 , respectively . the decreased use of cash in our operating activities from 2015 to 2016 is primarily due to slower growth of our inventory of mortgage loans acquired for sale at december 31 , 2016 as compared to december 31 , 2015. likewise , the increased use of cash in our operating activities during 2015 as compared to 2014 is due to faster growth in our inventory of mortgage loans held for sale during 2015 as compared to 2014. investing activities net cash provided by our investing activities was $ 194.0 million during 2016 , as compared to cash provided by investing activities of $ 11.5 million during 2015. the increase in cash flows from investing activities reflects proceeds from sales and repayments on our investments , which exceeded our investments primarily consisting of crt agreements and mbs during 2016 , as compared to 2015. we realized cash inflows from repayments of mbs , sales and repayments of mortgage loans , repayment of ess , sales of reo and distributions from crt agreements totaling $ 1.3 billion .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : we seek to maximize the fair value of the distressed mortgage loans that we acquired using means that are appropriate for the particular loan , including both proprietary and nonproprietary loan modification programs , special servicing and other initiatives focused on avoiding foreclosure , when possible . when we are unable to effect a cure for a mortgage loan delinquency , our objective is timely acquisition and or liquidation of the property securing the mortgage loan through the use , in part , of short sales and deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure programs . we may elect to hold certain real estate acquired in settlement of loans ( “ reo ” ) as income-producing properties for extended periods as a means of maximizing our returns on such properties . in addition to individual loan and property resolutions , we consider bulk sale opportunities from our existing distressed portfolio investments . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we completed bulk sales totaling $ 483.8 million in fair value of distressed mortgage loans . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we did not acquire distressed mortgage loans and we received proceeds from liquidation , payoffs , paydowns and sales from our portfolio of distressed mortgage loans and reo totaling $ 947.7 million . we also participate in other mortgage-related activities , including : acquisition of reit-eligible mortgage-backed or mortgage-related securities . we held mbs with fair values totaling $ 865.1 million at december 31 , 2016. acquisition of ess relating to msrs held by pfsi . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we did not purchase any ess from pfsi . pursuant to a recapture agreement with pls we received ess with fair value totaling $ 6.6 million . we sold $ 59.0 million of ess relating to freddie mac and fannie mae msrs back to pls . we held ess with a fair value totaling $ 288.7 million at december 31 , 2016. acquisition of small balance ( typically under $ 10 million ) commercial real estate loans . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we acquired $ 18.1 million in fair value of small balance commercial real estate loans . at december 31 , 2016 , we held $ 9.0 million at fair value of such mortgage loans . 46 to the extent that we transfer correspondent production loans into private label securitizations , retention of a portion of the securities created in the securitization transaction . our private label securitization is accounted for as a financing arrangement . sales of securities included in the securitization are treated as issuances of debt . our board of trustees has authorized a repurchase program under which we may repurchase up to $ 200 million of our outstanding common shares . during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , we repurchased approximately 7.4 million common shares at a cost of $ 98.4 million . we have repurchased a cumulative total of 8.4 million common shares at a cost of $ 114.7 million under the program . the repurchased common shares were canceled upon settlement of the repurchase transactions and returned to the authorized but unissued share pool . we believe that we qualify to be taxed as a reit and as such will not be subject to federal income tax on that portion of our income that is distributed to shareholders as long as we meet applicable reit asset , income and share ownership tests . if we fail to qualify as a reit , and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions , our profits will be subject to income taxes and we may be precluded from qualifying as a reit for the four tax years following the year we lose our reit qualification . a portion of our activities , including our correspondent production business , is conducted in our trs , which is subject to corporate federal and state income taxes . accordingly , we have made a provision for income taxes with respect to the operations of our trs . we expect that the effective rate for the provision for income taxes may be volatile in future periods . our goal is to manage the business to take full advantage of the tax benefits afforded to us as a reit . observations on current market conditions our business is affected by macroeconomic conditions in the united states , including economic growth , unemployment rates , the residential housing market and interest rate levels and expectations . the u.s. economy continues to grow , albeit at a modest pace , as reflected in recent economic data . during 2016 , u.s. real gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 1.9 % , compared to 2.4 % for 2015. the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7 % at december 31 , 2016 , 5.0 % at december 31 , 2015 and 5.6 % at december 31 , 2014. delinquency rates on residential real estate loans remain somewhat elevated compared to historical rates , but have been steadily declining . as reported by the federal reserve bank , during the third quarter of 2016 , the delinquency rate on residential real estate loans held by commercial banks was 4.3 % , a reduction from 5.2 % during the fourth quarter of 2015. residential real estate activity remains strong . the seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing home sales for december 2016 was 1.5 % higher than for december 2015 , and the national median existing home price for all housing types was $ 233,500 , a 3.8 % increase from december 2015 ( source : national association of realtors® ) . on a national level , foreclosure filings during 2016 decreased by 14 % , as compared to 2015. however , foreclosure activity is expected to remain above historical average levels through 2017 and beyond . story_separator_special_tag if the fair value of impaired msrs subsequently increases , we recognize the increase in fair value in current period income and , through a reduction in the valuation allowance , adjust the carrying value of the msrs to a level not in excess of amortized cost . when evaluating msrs for impairment , we stratify the assets by predominant risk characteristic including loan type ( fixed-rate or adjustable-rate ) and note interest rate . we stratify fixed-rate mortgage loans into note interest rate pools of 50 basis points for note interest rates between 3.0 % and 4.5 % and a single pool for note interest rates below 3 % . we evaluate adjustable-rate mortgage loans with initial interest rates of 4.5 % or less in a single pool . we periodically review the various impairment strata to determine whether the fair value of the impaired msrs in a given stratum is likely to recover . when we conclude that recovery of the fair value is unlikely in the foreseeable future , a write-down of the cost of the msrs for that stratum to its estimated recoverable value is charged to the valuation allowance . amortization and impairment of msrs accounted for using the amortization method are included in current period income as a component of net mortgage loan servicing fees . msrs accounted for at fair value we include changes in fair value of msrs accounted for at fair value in current period income as a component of net mortgage loan servicing fees . 51 a shift in the market for msrs or a change in our manager 's assessment of an input to the valuation of msrs can have a significant effect on the fair value of msrs and in our income for the period . we believe the most significant “ level 3 ” fair value inputs to the valuation of msrs are the pricing spread ( discount rate ) , prepayment speed and annual per-loan cost of servicing . following is a summary of the effect on fair value of various changes to these key inputs that our manager uses in making its fair value estimates as of december 31 , 2016 : replace_table_token_9_th the preceding asset analyses hold constant all of the inputs other than the input that is being changed to show an estimate of the effect on fair value of a change in a specific input . we expect that in a market shock event , multiple inputs would be affected and the effects of these changes may compound or counteract each other . furthermore , certain of our msrs are accounted for using the amortization method and are carried at the lower of amortized cost or fair value . such assets ' carrying value may not be immediately affected as a result of a change in input values depending on the carrying value ( carrying value is the amortized cost reduced by the applicable valuation allowance ) of the msr asset before the change in input occurs and whether the input change causes our estimate of fair value to change to a level below the amortized cost of those msrs . therefore the preceding analyses are not projections of the effects of a shock event or a change in our manager 's estimate of an input and should not be relied upon as earnings projections . critical accounting policies not tied to fair value liability for representations and warranties we record a provision for losses relating to our representations and warranties as part of our mortgage loan sale transactions , which are generally to the agencies . the method we use to estimate the liability for representations and warranties is a function of the representations and warranties made to such investors and considers a combination of factors , including , but not limited to , estimated future default and mortgage loan repurchase rates , the potential severity of loss in the event of default and the probability of reimbursement by the mortgage originator who sold the mortgage loan to us . we establish a liability at the time we sell the mortgage loans to the investors and periodically update our liability estimate . the level of the liability for representations and warranties is difficult to estimate and requires considerable judgment . the level of mortgage loan repurchase losses is dependent on economic factors , investor behavior , and other external conditions that may change over the lives of the underlying mortgage loans . our estimate of the liability for representations and warranties is developed by our manager 's credit administration staff . the liability estimate is reviewed and approved by our manager 's senior management credit committee which includes its chief executive , credit , portfolio risk , mortgage operations , and mortgage banking officers . as economic fundamentals change , as investor and agency evaluations of their loss mitigation strategies ( including claims under representations and warranties ) change and as the mortgage market and general economic conditions affect our correspondent sellers , the level of repurchase activity and ensuing losses will change and such changes may be material to us . as a result of these changes , we have adjusted , and may in the future be required to adjust , the estimate of our liability for representations and warranties . such adjustments may be material to our financial condition and net income . consolidation-securitizations we enter into various types of on- and off-balance sheet transactions with special purpose entities ( “ spes ” ) , which are trusts that are established for a limited purpose . generally , spes are formed in connection with securitization transactions . in a securitization transaction , we transfer mortgage loans on our balance sheet to an spe , which then issues to investors various forms of interests in those assets . in a securitization transaction , we typically receive cash and or interests in an spe in exchange for the assets we

