The Lede

National Mortgage Professional, Mar. 20, 2018--Phil HallCommercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding reached $3.18 trillion at the end of 2017, a 6.7 percent increase from the $200.3 billion level reached one year earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 20, 2018--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)The new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements have been in place since the beginning of the year, but lenders are still adjusting to how they work in practice.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 20, 2018The Mortgage Bankers Association said refinance volume is projected to fall from $128 billion in the first quarter to $110 billion the following three-month period. MBA previously had second-quarter refinance production at $105 billion.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 20, 2018--Andrew Ackerman (subscription)Senators are pressing House lawmakers not to jeopardize what they see as their best opportunity to ease postcrisis financial regulations, urging them to quickly pass bipartisan Senate legislation without making changes.

Bloomberg, Mar. 20, 2018--Joe LightHousing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said he wasn't trying to mislead the public when an agency spokesman initially denied that he and his family were involved in a controversial decision to buy a $31,000 dining room set for his office.

Reuters, Mar. 20, 2018--Susan Cornwell, Richard CowanU.S. lawmakers sought to reach agreement on Tuesday on a massive government spending bill that Congress hopes to pass by Friday, with immigration issues such as President Donald Trump's border wall a stumbling block in the negotiations.

MarketWatch, Mar. 20, 2018--Caroline BaumThree or four interest rate increases? That is the burning question on everyone's mind as the Federal Reserve meets this week for the first time under the stewardship of new Chairman Jerome Powell.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 20, 2018Monthly residential production picked up at the Federal Housing Administration, with reverse mortgage endorsements spiking. Single-family delinquency was down, and commercial mortgage endorsements jumped.

HousingWire, Mar. 20, 2018--Kelsey RamirezBrokers in general thrive in purchase markets, UWM President and CEO Mat Ishbia said. He pointed out that brokers typically do less refinances, and therefore the decrease in refi shares will be less likely to affect them.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 20, 2018--Kate Berry (subscription)Critics of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have long pinned their hopes on converting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's leadership structure from a single director to a five-member commission. But with the recently passed Senate regulatory relief bill excluding such a measure, and that bill's fate resting in the hands of moderate Democrats opposed to changes in the CFPB's structure, such a measure is now dead on arrival.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 20, 2018--Brian Collins (subscription)HUD's efforts with the Justice Department to address lenders' fears of being sued under the False Claims Act are having a positive impact, Secretary Ben Carson said Tuesday.

HousingWire, Mar. 20, 2018--Sarah WheelerPresident Donald Trump has made eliminating regulations a top priority of his administration and has tried to limit the reach of one of the chief mortgage regulators--the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But lenders who interpret that to mean they can relax their compliance efforts are sadly mistaken, according to analysts at the Ellie Mae Encompass conference in Las Vegas.

Bloomberg, Mar. 21, 2018--Noah Buhayar"Starter homes have become scarcer, pricier, smaller, older and more likely in need of some TLC" than they were six years ago, the real estate website Trulia reported Wednesday after analyzing housing stock across the country.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 20, 2018--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities backed by Home Equity Conversion Mortgages totaled $1.47 billion during February, up from $869 million the previous month and up from $713 million a year ago.

MBA Education and MISMO present the next webinar in its eMortgage series, eDocuments & Smart Docs, this Thursday, Mar. 22 from noon-1:30 p.m. ET.