CFPB Takes on Marketplace Lenders

HousingWire, Mar. 7, 2016–Wheeler, Sarah
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now accepting consumer complaints about online marketplace lenders, the bureau reported Monday. It also released a consumer bulletin to educate consumers about this type of lending.

Homeowners Expect 2016 Equity Gains

Visalia Times-Delta (Calif.), Mar. 4, 2016–Engle, Jeremy
Nearly half, 46 percent, of all U.S. Homeowners with a mortgage, expect their equity will increase in 2016, even though three out of five (60 percent) report equity in their homes has already increased during the last three years of the housing recovery, according to new research conducted for LoanDepot.

Citigroup Executives Avoid U.S. Charges over Mortgage Bonds

Reuters, Mar. 4, 2016–Raymond, Nate
U.S. authorities have decided not to pursue criminal charges against any Citigroup Inc executives or employees involved in packaging and selling mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, a government report shows.

Richard Jennings, Ex-Goldman Mortgage Loan Head, Dies at 72

Bloomberg, Mar. 4, 2016–Moran, Nancy; Miller, Stephen
Richard Jennings, who founded and led the mortgage-finance group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and went on to start his own real estate investment-banking firm, has died. He was 72.

Jobs Report Could Put April, June Rate Increases in Play

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 4, 2016–Harrison, David
Friday’s jobs report is the latest piece of good economic news for the Federal Reserve and reinforces the notion that the U.S. economy is getting stronger despite turbulence abroad. While that probably isn’t enough to prompt the central bank to raise interest rates this month, it could bolster the case for moving at its meetings in April or June.

Deadline Looms for New Cap on FHA Late Fees

National Mortgage News, Mar. 4, 2016–Sinnock, Bonnie
Lenders and servicers that haven’t complied with the Federal Housing Administration’s lower cap on late fees better do it soon.

Why Won’t Homebuilders Better Serve Millennials?

HousingWire, Mar. 4, 2016–Swanson, Brena
Millennials are slow to enter the housing market, and there’s an extreme shortage of inventory in the housing market, anyway. So which problem gets solved first?

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens as Exports Hit Five-and-a-Half-Year Low

Reuters, Mar. 4, 2016–Mutikani, Lucia
The U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in January as a strong dollar and weak global demand helped to push exports to a more than five-and-a-half-year low, suggesting trade will continue to weigh on economic growth in the first quarter.