Miami Lawsuit Against Mortgage Lenders Survives Supreme Court Review

Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2017–Brent Kendall, Jess Bravin (subscription)The Supreme Court handed a partial victory to the city of Miami Monday, ruling it was authorized to bring ambitious lawsuits alleging Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. engaged in financial-crisis era discriminatory lending that led to urban blight and falling property values.

Trump Says He’s Considering Moves to Break Up Wall Street Banks

Bloomberg, May 1, 2017–Jennifer Jacobs, Margaret TalevPresident Donald Trump said he is actively considering breaking up giant Wall Street banks, giving a push to efforts to revive a Depression-era law separating consumer lending and investment banking.

Nearly $1 Billion in FDIC Losses from Bank Failure

Mortgage Daily, May 1, 2017–Sam GarciaLast week’s failure of a bank in New Orleans is likely to cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. nearly $1 billion. More credit unions than banks have failed so far this year.

Weekly Mortgage Market Index Down On Refis

Mortgage Daily, May 1, 2017New mortgage refinance activity tumbled this past week, dragging down overall home-lending activity. Government lending business, though, held up, according to the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily and OpenClose.

New Mortgage Wholesaler Emerges

Mortgage Daily, May 1, 2017Cardinal Financial Company LP announced that it recently launched a new third-party origination channel.

Consensus from MBA Secondary: The Time for GSE Reform is Now

HousingWire, May 1, 2017–Kelsey RamirezThe Federal Housing Finance Agency gave an update on the state of the lending market at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Secondary conference in New York City, including its view that the credit box still holds room for expansion and its view on GSE reform.

MBA’s Stevens Slams Calls to ‘Recap and Release’ GSEs

National Mortgage News, May 1, 2017–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens is confident that housing finance reform will move forward under the Trump administration, but criticized calls to simply let the government-sponsored enterprises recapitalize and be returned to shareholders without additional reforms.

Interest Rates, Falling Production and Policy Weigh on Mortgage Industry

HousingWire, May 1, 2017–Christopher WhalenWhen asked about the most pressing issues facing the US mortgage industry, participants at the Mortgage Bankers Association Secondary Market Conference refer to a familiar worry list. Chief among them is the aggressive action from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which one large seller servicer says has changed its approach to the mortgage industry not at all since the election of Donald Trump.