The Lede

Fannie Mae, Washington, D.C., on Mar. 22 posted Fact Sheet clarifying how to determine eligibility for non-citizen borrowers, including immigrants who participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, known as "Dreamers."

With the spring home buying season showing some signs of promise--but with construction still at depressed levels--several reports suggest many would-be move-up homeowners are turning to remodeling in the short term.

Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., said mortgage delinquencies rose in February, the first increase in that month in 12 years.

ACES Risk Management, Pompano Beach, Fla., said its Critical Defect Rate rose in the third quarter of last year to its second-highest level since the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule went into effect.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday reported Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 41,062 foreclosure prevention actions in the fourth quarter, bringing the total number of foreclosure prevention actions to 4.283 million since September 2008.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's annual Commercial/Multifamily Servicing & Technology Conference takes place May 14-17 at the J.W. Marriott L.A. Live in Los Angeles.

Bloomberg, Mar. 25, 2019--Editorial BoardMortgage servicing was a disaster in the last crisis. It still needs fixing.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 25, 2019--Paul Centopani (subscription)Consumers' desire for a digitized mortgage process and increased data-privacy regulation force lenders into a race to keep up with evolving cybersecurity risks extending beyond their own operations.

HousingWire, Mar. 25, 2019--Caroline BasileA panel of multifamily and commercial real estate experts at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2019 Technology Solutions Conference in Dallas discussed the pros and cons of developing technology versus buying a solution or tool from a vendor.

HousingWire, Mar. 22, 2019--Ben LaneThe lawsuit was filed this week by the state of Pennsylvania, which claims that Bank of America; Barclays Capital; BNP Paribas; Citigroup; Credit Suisse; Deutsche Bank; Deutsche Bank Securities; First Tennessee Bank; FTN Financial Securities; Goldman Sachs; JPMorgan Chase; J.P. Morgan Securities; Merrill Lynch; and UBS Securities conspired to both overcharge and underpay investors on debt bonds issued by Fannie and Freddie between 2009 and 2014.

Bloomberg, Mar. 22, 2019--Christopher MaloneyMortgage securities may perform worse than government bonds in the coming months after the Federal Reserve said it plans to move more of its debt holdings into U.S. Treasuries.

Fox Business, Mar. 21, 2019Dolly Lenz, founder of Dolly Lenz Real Estate, and Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, on the report that jumbo mortgages dropped 12 percent in dollar volume in 2018.

Corporate Real Estate Journal Thomas Kim, MBA Senior Vice President, recently authored a paper for the UK-based Corporate Real Estate Journal on the role of venture capital, startups and technology-based investments in the commercial real estate industry. 

Bloomberg Tax, Mar. 21, 2019The real estate and banking lobbies asked, the White House's regulatory review office listened-and then the administration helped those industries become eligible for a $414.5 billion perk in the 2017 tax law. Pete Mills, the Mortgage Bankers Association's senior vice president of residential policy, said in an emailed statement that the group was "pleased that the final rule reflected changes in the definition of ‘dealing in securities' that were consistent with the recommendations in our formal comments."

National Mortgage News, Mar. 21, 2019--Hannah Lang (subscription)Freddie Mac made it official on Thursday that David Brickman, a 20-year veteran with the mortgage giant, will become CEO effective July 1.

HousingWire, Mar. 20, 2019--Jacob GaffneyLaw firms, mortgage lenders and servicers were just awarded more protection in serving non-judicial foreclosures, according to a recent Supreme Court ruling.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 21, 2019--Ben Eisen, Laura Kusisto (subscription)High-end home buyers are turning cautious, a blow to banks that refocused their mortgage businesses around wealthy borrowers in the years after the financial crisis.

World Property Journal, Mar. 19, 2019--Michael GerrityAccording to the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding quarterly report for 2018, the level of commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding in the U.S. at the end of 2018 was $216 billion (6.8 percent) higher than at the end of 2017.

HousingWire, Mar. 19, 2019--Ben LaneAccording to the OCC, an investigation showed that Citibank did not equally offer certain mortgage discounts to all Citi customers, thereby "adversely" affecting some customers based on their "race, color, national origin, or sex."

National Mortgage News, Mar. 19, 2019--Elina Tarkazikis (subscription)Home equity is sitting above the $15 trillion mark nationwide, according to the Federal Reserve, but interest in more costly forms of debt, such as credit cards or personal loans, has been outpacing that of home equity loans and lines of credit since the financial crisis.