The Lede

CNBC, Jan. 16, 2019--Diana OlickMortgage application volume rose 13.5 percent last week, compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 2019--Andrew Ackerman (subscription)New House Financial Services Committee Chairman Maxine Waters plans to investigate White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney over his previous role as the Trump administration's temporary head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 16, 2019--Hannah Lang (subscription)The Federal Housing Finance Agency will no longer defend the constitutionality of its single-director leadership structure in court, according to a new case filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Texas.

HousingWire, Jan. 16, 2019--Jessica GureinMore than 300 employees working for mortgage servicer Seterus in Durham, North Carolina, will be out of a job come March. The news, revealed by a local CBS affiliate, comes just days after Mr. Cooper Group announced it had purchased Seterus from IBM.

Reuters, Jan. 16, 2019--Imani Moise, Siddarth CavaleBank of America Corp's quarterly profit topped analyst estimates on Wednesday as a growing loan book helped it ride out year-end market turbulence, sending the lender's shares up more then 5 percent.

American Banker, Jan. 16, 2019--John Adams (subscription)Fiserv will acquire First Data in an all-stock deal with a value of about $22 billion that will combine two of the financial services industry's largest technology and processing companies. Fiserv shareholders will own almost 58%t of the combined company, with First Data's shareholders holding the rest.

Mortgage Media, Jan. 16, 2019Rick Arvielo, New American Funding CEO, talked with Mortgage Media's SA Ibrahim at SocialSurvey's Create WOW Summit about the company's growth, and discussed how New American might step up to the next level.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 2019--Josh Mitchell, Laura Kusisto (subscription)The Federal Reserve has linked rising student debt to a drop in homeownership among young Americans and the flight of college graduates from rural areas, two big shifts that have helped reshape the U.S. economy.

Reuters, Jan. 17, 2019--Pete Schroeder, Suzanne Barlyn, Michelle PriceThe U.S. government shutdown over President Donald Trump's call for Congress to fund a wall he promised to build on the U.S.- Mexican border is threatening another campaign pledge to make rules easier to navigate for banks and corporations.

National Real Estate Investor, Jan. 16, 2019--Beth Mattson-TeigThe federal government shutdown that is now rapidly approaching the one-month mark is creating both direct and indirect ripple effects on the commercial and residential real estate sectors.