The Lede

MISMO, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, invites mortgage industry participants to collaborate in a new effort to create a more trustworthy, verifiable process that provides assurance that loan documents and associated data are consistent, reliable and unaltered.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released its fourth quarter Foreclosure Prevention Report, showing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 67,569 foreclosure prevention actions in the fourth quarter, bringing the total number of homeowners helped to 4.040 million since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008.

The House Financial Services Committee this week approved eight bills, including several of interest to members of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., said delinquencies related to last summer's hurricane persist well into this year, although foreclosures continue to fall and mortgage prepays hit a four-year low.

Commercial mortgage-backed securities liquidation volume fell in February to the lowest level in nine months, reported Trepp, New York.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 26, 2018HUD reached a settlement with reverse mortgage lender MetLife Home Loans LLC, which allowed someone to sign loan documents even though he didn't have the authority to do so.

American Banker, Mar. 26, 2018--Michael E. Reyen (subscription)Elements of blockchain technology appear to be the next step in what has been an evolution from a wet ink, paper-based system to an online, paperless (or at least paper-light) system that has already been moving toward e-filing, electronic signatures and electronic access to scanned documents.

Reuters, Mar. 26, 2018--Andrew ChungThe U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a defeat to former American International Group Inc. CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, refusing to hear an appeal he led arguing that the federal government illegally bailed out the insurer during the 2008 financial crisis at the expense of shareholders.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 26, 2018--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)A proposed regulatory change could jump-start more bank interest in mortgage servicing rights this year. The capital simplification proposal, which increases the percentage of Tier 1 capital that can be made up of MSRs to 25% from 10%, would reduce the pressure on banks to sell MSRs.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 27, 2018--Lalita Clozel (subscription)Jelena McWilliams, the top lawyer at Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp, is set to succeed Obama-appointee Martin Gruenberg as head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as early as April.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 26, 2018--Christina Rexrode (subscription)Refinancings make up a smaller portion of the mortgage business than at any time in the past two decades, posing a challenge for lenders who already fear higher interest rates and climbing house prices could eventually depress purchase activity.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 23, 2018--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)A new settlement with Massachusetts resolves all outstanding administrative actions against Ocwen Financial Corp. by a group of 30 states, but two states' legal actions against the servicer remain outstanding.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 23, 2018--Emily Glazer (subscription)Wells Fargo told employees earlier this week that four of its top risk-management executives are retiring and laid out a reorganization to manage risk, according to employees and an internal memo.

Mortgage News Daily, Mar. 23, 2018--Jann SwaonsonPer-loan profits of independent mortgage banks fell dramatically in the fourth quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 22, 2018To fund planned technology investments in the Federal Housing Administration, HUD Secretary Ben Carson proposed a new fee.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 22, 2018Economists at Freddie Mac raised the outlook for refinances and lowered expected purchase financing for this year, dragging down the overall forecast.

Washington Post, Mar. 22, 2018--Michele LernerA recent "Retirement and Mortgages" survey by American Financing, a national mortgage banker, found 44 percent of Americans age 60 to 70 have a mortgage when they retire, with as many as 17 percent saying they may never pay it off.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 22, 2018--Kate Berry (subscription)The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking comment on whether it should change any regulations it inherited from other federal agencies.

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.

GlobeSt.com, Mar. 21, 2018--Betsy Kim The public market is saying something bad is going to happen to private real estate pricing.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 21, 2018--Kate Berry (subscription)The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau handled 84,500 debt collection complaints in 2017 and consumers viewed or downloaded information 838,255 times from the agency's web site last year on how to negotiate a settlement with a debt collector.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 21, 2018--Brian Collins (subscription)The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., would reverse a 2016 rule by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that had expelled captive insurance companies from FHLB membership.

Associated Press, Mar. 21, 2018Financial services firm UBS has agreed to pay $230 million to New York state in a legal settlement stemming from the firm's handling of mortgage-based securities in the lead up to the 2008 financial crisis.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.