The Lede

The Real Deal Los Angeles, Apr. 15, 2016--Mashayekhi, Rey  Real estate investor Sam Zell sais the U.S. economy is "doing pretty well," but said the cycle "in the ninth inning."

ABC News, Apr. 15, 2016 Freedom Mortgage agreed to pay the U.S. government $113 million to settle allegations that it failed to comply with federal rules.

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 15, 2016--Saunders, Laura Legitimate businesses are putting pressure on the electronic tax system in other ways. The Mortgage Bankers Association, for example, wants borrowers to have faster ways to get tax-return information to lenders, and MBA Vice President Rick Hill says some members would be willing to pay more to speed things up. The group is sponsoring the $21,000 in prizes in the IRS's contest to design online taxpayer accounts, which could help in this effort.

MarketWatch, Apr. 15, 2016--Riquier, Andrea Nearly eight years after the subprime bubble burst, dragging the U.S. economy and much of the global financial system down with it, America's big banks want you to know that all that dirty business is behind them.

24/7 Wall Street, Apr. 15, 2016--Ogg, Jon C. Fannie Mae has released its April 2016 Economic & Housing Outlook, which sees little change for 2016, despite a slow first-quarter scenario. That may sound good on the surface, but there remains some additional concern over the key housing component for the economy.

Worcester Telegram (Mass.), Apr. 15, 2016--Harney, Kenneth R. For years it was widely considered a massive, government-sanctioned rip-off of home mortgage borrowers. Then it was banned by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And now it's the subject of class-action suits that accuse four large banks of illegally collecting millions of dollars in excess mortgage interest payments from their customers.

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 15, 2016--Rexrode, Christina; Redegeair, Peter Citigroup Inc. executives said Friday they were disappointed in the bank's 27% drop in first-quarter profit. Investors felt otherwise.

National Mortgage News, Apr. 15, 2016--Collins, Brian HUD is continuing to reject calls to slash the annual premium for the Federal Housing Administration despite a renewed push by the National Association of Realtors. But some predict the FHA may eventually cave in.

Reuters, Apr. 15, 2016--Mutikani, Lucia U.S. industrial production fell more than expected in March as manufacturing output dropped by the most in a year and mining maintained its downward trend, the latest indication that economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter.

Banking Exchange, Apr. 15, 2016--Garber, Kate; Iyer, Venkatesh Home equity loans and lines of credit declined on the balance sheets of the nation's largest banks during the fourth quarter of 2015, as pay-downs of equity lines and balances outpaced new originations. "Large banks had been leading providers of HELOCs pre-crisis, so it is not surprising that they are seeing these trends to an even greater extent," said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association.

New York Post, Apr. 16, 2016--Curan, Catherine Non-bank servicers are taking a page from their predecessors' playbooks. Sources say that many of the same old problems the National Mortgage Settlement partially sought to address are back with the nonbank servicers, including long delays in reviewing loan modifications and wrongful denials of loan modification requests.

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 15, 2016--Beckerman, Josh McGraw Hill Financial Inc. has agreed to sell J.D. Power, known for its ratings on auto makers and other industries, for $1.1 billion to investment firm XIO Group.

HousingWire, Apr. 15, 2016--Lane, Ben The National Credit Union Administration announced it reached a $69.8 million settlement with UBS, as the company becomes the latest to settle with the NCUA over losses related to several corporate credit unions' purchases of faulty residential mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis.

HousingWire, Apr. 15, 2016--Gaffney, Jacob Fannie Mae is moving forward with plans to reduce its office space across the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

MarketWatch, Apr. 16, 2016--Goldstein, Daniel That sound you hear may be some air finally escaping from the inflated San Francisco real estate market.

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 17, 2016--Lahart, Justin Conditions are right for the housing market to finally shift into higher gear. The Mortgage Bankers Association last week said its index of mortgage applications for purchasing a home was up 24% from a year earlier.

MBA Education presents a Webinar, Recent Developments in HECM/Reverse Mortgage Lending Webinar, on Monday, Apr. 18 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET.