The Lede

It's 2018. Is this the year the mortgage industry finally bridges the Digital Divide? According to J.D. Power, Westlake Village, Calif., the answer is, not quite but it's getting there.

More than 207,000 U.S. single-family homes and condos flipped in 2017, the highest level since 2006, said ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif.

MBA Education and the MBA Compliance Essentials program present a new four-part webinar series on Home Mortgage Disclosure Act issues beginning Wednesday, Mar. 28 with 2018 Issues & Considerations.

HousingWire, Mar, 9, 2018--Tom MillonFor years, fans of non-QM loans have been claiming that this year is the year the market will take off. It's happening once again this year, and it's difficult to separate the reality from the hype.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 9, 2018Dozens of positions in the Lone Star State have been eliminated by Wells Fargo & Co. The affected employees work in mortgage servicing.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 8, 2018--Kate Berry (subscription)The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule gives mortgage servicers a temporary exemption, for a single statement period, from certain timing requirements in sending periodic statements to borrowers entering and exiting bankruptcy. The rule is a technical revision to the CFPB's 2016 mortgage servicing rule.

HousingWire, Mar. 8, 2018--Ben LaneMortgage servicers are about to have "more latitude" when it comes to dealing with borrowers entering or exiting bankruptcy, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday.

Bloomberg, Mar. 8, 2018--Tiffany KaryLehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy estate will pay $2.38 billion to compensate for its role in the previous decade's mortgage crisis, a federal judge decided, far less than the $11.4 billion some hedge funds had sought.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 8, 2018A delinquent borrower has paid for a billboard in Wilmington, North Carolina, in his effort to avoid a foreclosure on his delinquent loan with SunTrust Mortgage Inc.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 7, 2018--Kate Berry (subscription)If acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney has his way, his agency would effectively become a backup regulator, ceding authority over virtually every firm for which it has jurisdiction to other state and federal authorities.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 7, 2018--Brad Finkelstein (subscription)The success of the government-sponsored enterprises' credit risk transfer programs shows that they can be the basis for housing finance reform. But there are still steps that can be taken to maximize secondary market liquidity and broaden the investor bases, according to a paper co-written by Annaly Capital Management and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Bloomberg, Mar. 7, 2018--Erik Larson, Greg FarrellRoyal Bank of Scotland Group Plc agreed to pay $500 million to settle New York's probe into its marketing of toxic mortgage-backed securities that triggered the financial crisis, moving the government-owned lender a step closer to resolving a series of costly U.S. investigations.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 6, 2018The offering from HUD is for 650 notes that have an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $136 million.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 6, 2018--Brian Collins (subscription)In passing President Trump's tax cut bill, Congress approved a new program that allows investors to defer paying taxes on capital gains if they invest in "Opportunity Zones."

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 6, 2018Improvements to requirements at Radian Guaranty Inc. include lower mortgage insurance premiums and the insuring of three- and four-unit residential loans.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 12, 2018--Brad Finkelstein (subscription)With the exception of the troubled retail sector, delinquency rates across property types supporting commercial mortgage-backed securities were mostly flat to declining in February compared with January, Fitch Ratings said.

HousingWire, Mar. 12, 2018Flagstar Bank announced Monday it closed on the purchase of the mortgage warehouse loan portfolio from Santander Bank, which included $1.7 billion in mortgage warehouse loan commitments.

Bloomberg, Mar. 12, 2018--Noah BuhayarThe Canyon Industrial Portfolio includes 146 warehouses and distribution centers concentrated in and around Chicago, Dallas, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and South and Central Florida, according to a statement from Blackstone on Monday.