The Lede

Washington Post, Dec. 15, 2016--Orton, Kathy Home loan rates are loosely tied to long-term bond yields, which have been on an upward march.

Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 15, 2016--Bundrick, Hal M. Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, expects a steady climb in the federal funds rate. "What happened in the past month, we were looking to occur over the next year," he says. "I think we've seen the big move already."

HousingWire, Dec. 15, 2016--Swanson, Brena The metric failed tests whether SunTrust properly collected default-related fees from borrowers. Those fees include property preservation fees, valuation fees and attorneys' fees.

Wall Street Journal, Dec. 15, 2016--Tracy, Ryan The Federal Reserve on Thursday adopted a bailout-prevention rule that will force big banks to issue substantial amounts of new long-term debt-one of the finishing touches to its new regulatory regime for big firms.

National Mortgage News, Dec. 15, 2016--Button, Keith Wells Fargo's disclosure documents notifying borrowers of pending adjustable-rate mortgage resets are defective because they do not include information for a single point of contact at the bank, a lawsuit filed in California claims.

HousingWire, Dec. 15, 2016--Ramirez, Kelsey Home builders saw a significant boost in confidence after President-elect Donald Trump won the election, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

Bloomberg Businessweek, Dec. 15, 2016--Berfield, Susan; Marritz, Ilya; Reitmeyer, John Chris Christie once called American Dream "the ugliest damn building in New Jersey." Will it ever open?

Bloomberg, Dec. 15, 2016--Surane, Jennifer; Scully, Matt It's been less than 24 hours since the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and already bank customers are paying more for loans, including home-equity loans.

Reuters, Dec. 15, 2016--Mutikani, Lucia Rising rents lifted underlying U.S. inflation in November, pointing to a steady build-up of price pressures in the economy that could support more interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve next year.

CBS News, Dec. 15, 2016--Leefeldt, Ed Now that the Fed has announced an interest rate hike, it's likely to have little or no impact on those in the business of buying and selling homes.

Newsday (N.Y.), Dec. 15, 2016--Schwartz, David M. Real estate professionals urged Suffolk County lawmakers Thursday to block a new $300 county fee on mortgage recordings that they said would drive residents off Long Island and hit seniors and first-time home buyers hardest.

National Mortgage News, Dec. 15, 2016--Collins, Brian A regulatory 2017 scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac calls on the firms to transfer a significant portion of credit risk to third-party private investors on at least 90% of unpaid principal balance of newly acquired single-family mortgages.

Mortgage Daily, Dec. 15, 2016 Just a month after surging to a three-year high, refinances of government-sponsored enterprise loans fell -- with federally funded transactions falling to a record low.

Mortgage Daily, Dec. 15, 2016 MBA says 30-basis-point increase in expected interest rates has led to a small reduction in projected first-quarter mortgage production.

Held in Conjunction with MBA National Servicing Conference & Expo

Four Days of Networking, Relationship-Building, Dealmaking

The Mortgage Action Alliance, the grassroots advocacy arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has opened the voting period for election of three at-large seats on its 2017 Steering Committee through close of business today.

MBA has created the Commercial/Multifamily Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Awards. Recipients will be recognized at the MBA Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo, taking place Feb. 19-22 in San Diego. Nomination deadline is Friday, Jan. 13.