The Lede

HousingWire, Dec. 27, 2017--Ben LaneCalifornia Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that California reached a $125 million settlement with RBS over mortgage bond issues that took place betwen 2005 and 2007.

Denver Post, Dec. 29, 2017--Danika WorthingtonThe company, which describes itself as a "Christian-based company," announced it updated its insurance policies to cover same-sex spouses as it settled the lawsuit with a former employee.

Mortgage Daily, Dec. 28, 2017On Thursday, Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. announced that it has completed the acquisition of Fortress Investment Group LLC.

Dallas Morning News, Dec. 29, 2017--Todd J. GillmanOf the eight Texas congressmen retiring in 2018, Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling is among the ones going out on top. He's reportedly on a shortlist to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- an opportunity to defang an agency he's spent years trying to kill off.

HousingWire, Dec. 29, 2017--Ben LaneThanks to the new agreement between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury, each of the GSEs withheld billions from the Treasury to ensure that each has enough capital on hand to "cover other fluctuations in income in the normal course of each Enterprise's business."

National Mortgage News, Dec. 29, 2017--Ian McKendry (subscription)Congress is likely to pass significant changes to the Dodd-Frank Act early next year and then attempt to overhaul roughly a third of the U.S. economy by restructuring the housing finance system.

Wall Street Journal, Dec. 31, 2017--Michael Rapoport (subscription)PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was negligent in connection with one of the biggest bank failures of the financial crisis, a federal judge has ruled, opening up the Big Four accounting firm to the potential of hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Mortgage Daily, Dec. 29, 2017--Sam GarciaGary Tillett will retire as CFO of bankrupt Walter Investment Management Corp. in 2018. Taking over the CFO role from Tillett will be 25-year financial executive Jerry Lombardo, who most recently served as treasurer, consumer banking, at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lombardo also spent four years at Ally Financial Inc. and another year at Cerberus Capital Management.

Financial Times, Dec. 31, 2017--Alistair Gray (subscription)A new fight for a share of the lucrative U.S. credit scoring market has broken out as Washington considers the first big change for about two decades in the way would-be mortgage holders are assessed.

National Mortgage News, Dec. 26, 2017--Brian Collins (subscription)"There are lots of fixes that need to be made at HUD," said David Stevens, president and chief executive at the Mortgage Bankers Association "A lot of lenders have left the FHA program due to enforcement risk and the huge cost of servicing defaulted [FHA] mortgages."

UExpress, Dec. 29, 2017--Lew SichelmanKenneth Lowman, broker/owner of Luxury Homes of Las Vegas, reports that Sin City's luxury home market is on pace for its best year in the past decade.

New York Times, Dec. 28, 2017--Ben Casselman, Jeffery C. MaysPeople studying the new tax law have uncovered internal conflicts and unintended consequences, as well as broad areas of uncertainty the I.R.S., the Treasury Department and, ultimately, the court system will be left to resolve.

Washington Post, Dec. 28, 2017--Kathy OrtonAccording to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 3.99 percent with an average 0.5 point. It was 3.94 percent a week ago and 4.32 percent a year ago.

American Banker, Dec. 27, 2017--Kate Berry (subscription)The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday launched a rate spread calculator and validation tool for financial companies reporting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data starting Jan. 1.

Wall Street Journal, Dec. 26, 2017--David Harrison, Jennifer Levitz (subscription)Homeowners across the nation rushed last week to prepay their property taxes for 2018 before the Republican tax law kicks in Jan. 1 and effectively raises the levy on higher-end homes.

HousingWire, Dec. 27, 2017--Mike DetwilerThe author, with Accenture, says disruption is occurring as the customer realizes that traditional lenders aren't the only--or even the best--option for financing their next home.

Wall Street Journal, Dec. 26, 2017--Christina Rexrode (subscription)The jumbo-mortgage market has been a bright spot for the banking industry in recent years. The tax law could take some of the shine off it.

Bloomberg, Dec. 27, 2017--Laura J. KellerBillionaire Dan Gilbert's Quicken Loans Inc. outgrew almost every U.S. mortgage provider by unfurling technology like its online Rocket Mortgage platform faster than big banks. Now closing in on the industry's leader, Wells Fargo & Co., he's picking more fights: Luring top tech talent to Detroit from Silicon Valley giants like Facebook Inc. and Google.

MBA Education offers a two-day workshop, Cybersecurity Fundamentals & NY DFS Requirements, on Tuesday Feb. 6 and Wednesday, Feb. 7 in McLean, Va. (near Washington, D.C.).

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Independent Mortgage Bankers Conference takes place Jan. 22-25 at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, Fla.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Independent Mortgage Bankers Conference takes place Jan. 22-25 at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, Fla.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Independent Mortgage Bankers Conference takes place Jan. 22-25 at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, Fla.