The Lede

HousingWire, Jan. 22, 2016--Swanson, Brena As concerns over falling oil prices start to plague housing, the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest chart of the week examined the 2015 trend in employment in several states reliant on oil production to help put in perspective the potential impact to the housing market.

Mortgage Professional America, Jan. 22, 2016--da Rosa, Justin With many markets rebounding and the housing crisis in the rear-view mirror--yet not yet far behind us--many are calling for that recovery to continue into 2016.

Daily Press (Newport News, Va.), Jan. 22, 2016--Fain, Travis Virginia settled a lawsuit against nearly a dozen of the country's biggest banks, which it accused of defrauding Virginia's employee retirement fund with mortgage-backed securities. The settlement totals about $63 million, Attorney General Mark Herring announced Friday.

National Mortgage Professional, Jan. 22, 2016--Hall, Phil The latest wave of housing market data is pointing to an alignment of positive developments regarding home sales, loan closing times, rent spikes and foreclosure levels.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 22, 2016--Collins, Brian The Federal Housing Finance Agency may face legislation or a lawsuit in the near future as it tries to force captive insurance companies to exit the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

Bloomberg, Jan. 22, 2016--Clark, Patrick After a three-year period of rapid growth, rents are likely to flatten in 2016, according to a new report.

Reuters, Jan. 22, 2016--Mutikani, Lucia U.S. home resales rebounded strongly in December from a 19-month low and prices surged, indicating the housing market recovery remained intact despite signs of a sharp deceleration in economic growth in recent months.

Creaters Syndicate Inc., Jan. 23, 2016--Woodard, Jim Many homeowners and prospective buyers have been dreading the day when mortgage rates rise above 4 percent. That dream rate may be long gone.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 24, 2016--Hayashi, Yuka Four years after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's creation, debate still rages over its authority.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 22, 2016--Fletcher, Laurence A record amount of money flowed into U.K. commercial property in 2015. For the year, investment totaled £64.3 billion ($91.1 billion), up 4% on the previous year, according to data from property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton.

New York Times, Jan. 22, 2016--Cohan, William D. These days, the "too big to fail" banks have less competition than ever, they get their raw material - cash from depositors - nearly free and they have never had more ways to make vast amounts of money.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 25, 2016--Scism, Leslie American International Group Inc. plans to offer shares of its mortgage-insurance unit to the public while retaining a large majority position.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 25, 2016--Ip, Greg Not long ago, this week's Federal Reserve meeting looked like a nonevent. Having begun to raise rates in December, the central bank was expected to stand pat while signaling more hikes later on. Now, after several bone-jarring weeks, many investors hope the Fed is having second thoughts.