The Lede

Philadephia Inquirer, May 4, 2018--Caitlin McCabeDana Wade, the acting Federal Housing Administration commissioner, minced few words in testimony last month before a U.S. House of Representatives committee. The FHA, the federal housing agency that insures mortgages made to first-time and lower-income buyers, has seen "certain trends and indicators of potential defaults," Wade said.

National Mortgage News, May 4, 2018--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Nondepository origination firms employed 337,200 workers in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's down from 339,500 jobs from February, revised BLS estimates show. In March 2017, there were 331,500 full-time workers in the nonbank mortgage industry.

National Mortgage News, May 4, 2018--Brian Fitzpatrick (subscription)The author, CEO of LoanLogics, says lenders just don't have the luxury of going back in time to fix bad loans after they've already closed. Nor can they simply hope that their loan origination systems or staff caught every problem. Today's loans must be done right the first time. The game has changed, and lenders it need to play differently before it's too late.

Bloomberg, May 4, 2018--Gillian TanNew York's iconic Plaza Hotel is about to change hands. Its buyers are Shahal Khan, founder of Dubai-based family office White City Ventures, and Kamran Hakim, of New York landlord Hakim Organization. They agreed to pay $600 million for the hotel, at the southeast corner of Central Park, in a deal that is set to be completed on June 25.

Reuters, May 4, 2018--Lucia MutikaniU.S. job growth increased less than expected in April and the unemployment rate dropped to near a 17-1/2-year low of 3.9 percent as some out-of-work Americans left the labor force.

CBNC, May 5, 2018--Helen ZhaoMortgages tailored to doctors have grown more popular in the last few years, according to the lenders who offer them. Bank of America said it has seen the dollar volume of physician mortgages it issued between 2008 and 2017 increase ninefold because of greater awareness from consumers.

Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 4, 2018--Michelle JarboeKlein started Safeguard in 1990 and was its chief executive until 2010, when he handed the reins to Alan Jaffa, his son-in-law. The company works for banks, securing and maintaining homes that are in the foreclosure process or that have been taken back by lenders.

National Mortgage News, May 4, 2018--Brad Finkelstein (subscription)An increase in title orders opened helped Fidelity National Financial improve its first-quarter net income by 59% over the same period last year.

HousingWire, May 4, 2018--Ben LaneThe bank announced Friday afternoon that it reached a new settlement over its sales practices and will pay $480 million to a group of shareholders who accused the bank of making "certain misstatements and omissions" in the company's disclosures about its sales practices.

Mortgage Daily, May 4, 2018A barometer of prospective mortgage production, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily, climbed more than a 10th during the seven-day period that finished on May 4 from one week earlier.

UExpress, May 4, 2018--Lew SichelmanIt's a good bet that your next home will have at least two bathrooms, and perhaps more. Of all the new houses built in 2016, only a scant 3 percent had 1-1/2 baths or fewer, according to the latest figures from the Census Bureau. Even the number of new places with 2-1/2 baths or fewer fell in 2016.