New York Times, Dec. 28, 2017–Ben Casselman, Jeffery C. MaysPeople studying the new tax law have uncovered internal conflicts and unintended consequences, as well as broad areas of uncertainty the I.R.S., the Treasury Department and, ultimately, the court system will be left to resolve.
Category: Top National News
Odd Parcels: By the Numbers
UExpress, Dec. 29, 2017–Lew SichelmanKenneth Lowman, broker/owner of Luxury Homes of Las Vegas, reports that Sin City’s luxury home market is on pace for its best year in the past decade.
RBS Reaches $125 Million Mortgage Bond Settlement with California
HousingWire, Dec. 27, 2017–Ben LaneCalifornia Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that California reached a $125 million settlement with RBS over mortgage bond issues that took place betwen 2005 and 2007.
U.S. Considers Mortgage Credit Check Shake Up
Financial Times, Dec. 31, 2017–Alistair Gray (subscription)A new fight for a share of the lucrative U.S. credit scoring market has broken out as Washington considers the first big change for about two decades in the way would-be mortgage holders are assessed.
Mortgage Firms Make C-Suite Changes
Mortgage Daily, Dec. 29, 2017–Sam GarciaGary Tillett will retire as CFO of bankrupt Walter Investment Management Corp. in 2018. Taking over the CFO role from Tillett will be 25-year financial executive Jerry Lombardo, who most recently served as treasurer, consumer banking, at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lombardo also spent four years at Ally Financial Inc. and another year at Cerberus Capital Management.
Judge Says PricewaterhouseCoopers Was Negligent In Colonial Bank Failure
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 31, 2017–Michael Rapoport (subscription)PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was negligent in connection with one of the biggest bank failures of the financial crisis, a federal judge has ruled, opening up the Big Four accounting firm to the potential of hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
Reg Relief, GSEs to Dominate Banking Policy on Capitol Hill in ’18
National Mortgage News, Dec. 29, 2017–Ian McKendry (subscription)Congress is likely to pass significant changes to the Dodd-Frank Act early next year and then attempt to overhaul roughly a third of the U.S. economy by restructuring the housing finance system.
Fannie and Freddie Regain Capital Reserves; Withhold Billions from Treasury
HousingWire, Dec. 29, 2017–Ben LaneThanks to the new agreement between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury, each of the GSEs withheld billions from the Treasury to ensure that each has enough capital on hand to “cover other fluctuations in income in the normal course of each Enterprise’s business.”
Hensarling on Short List of CFPB Director Prospects
Dallas Morning News, Dec. 29, 2017–Todd J. GillmanOf the eight Texas congressmen retiring in 2018, Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling is among the ones going out on top. He’s reportedly on a shortlist to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — an opportunity to defang an agency he’s spent years trying to kill off.
Japanese Firm Acquires Major Nationstar Investor
Mortgage Daily, Dec. 28, 2017On Thursday, Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. announced that it has completed the acquisition of Fortress Investment Group LLC.