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Fannie Mae will request an infusion of taxpayer money for the first time since 2012 because of an unintended but anticipated side effect of the corporate tax cut signed into law in December, Bloomberg News reported. The mortgage-finance company, which reported fourth-quarter and full-year financial results yesterday, said that it will need to draw $3.7 billion from the U.S. Treasury in March to keep its net worth from going negative. The deficit was driven by a $6.5 billion loss in the fourth quarter, which came as a result of a drop in the value of assets Fannie can use to offset taxes. The assets became less valuable when Congress cut the corporate tax rate, resulting in a $9.9 billion hit.

Nine lenders have been warned by the U.S. that they will be kicked out of a top mortgage program within months unless they find ways to stop costly rapid refinances of veterans’ loans, Bloomberg News reported. The warnings stem from a probe by Ginnie Mae, a government-owned corporation that makes mortgages cheaper by protecting bond investors against homeowner defaults. Ginnie Mae guarantees about $2 trillion in bonds containing loans backed by agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs. Some lenders have boosted their revenue through repeated, unneeded refinancing of veterans’ home loans, according to regulators. That process, called “churning,” lowers prices investors are willing to pay for bonds, effectively raising rates for veterans, first-time home buyers and others whose loans are included in Ginnie Mae-backed securities.

A mortgage dispute between Bank of America Corp. and a California couple that led to a $45 million fine against the bank has ended with a settlement that likely trimmed the amount that the bank paid, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. While the exact amount of the settlement isn’t known, bank officials have implied in court hearings that it tops the $6.1 million portion of the fine that Renee and Erik Sundquist were awarded by a bankruptcy judge in March. Consumer-bankruptcy advocates have said the $45 million fine was the largest originating from an individual bankruptcy case. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein called the bank “brazen” and “heartless” in its treatment of the couple as they tried to save their home. He said in his ruling that the fine was meant to be large enough that it wouldn’t “be laughed off in the boardroom.”

A federal appeals court yesterday upheld the lawfulness of the single-director power structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Obama-era agency undergoing a dramatic shift in focus as Trump-appointed officials take over leadership slots, the National Law Journal reported. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, sitting as a full court, said that the president can only remove the director of the agency for cause, not at will. The mortgage company PHH Corp. had argued the leadership scheme lacked accountability. “Applying binding Supreme Court precedent, we see no constitutional defect in the statute preventing the president from firing the CFPB director without cause. We thus uphold Congress’s choice,” Judge Nina Pillard wrote for the court. “Congress’s decision to provide the CFPB Director a degree of insulation reflects its permissible judgment that civil regulation of consumer financial protection should be kept one step removed from political winds and presidential will. We have no warrant here to invalidate such a time-tested course.” PHH still has a chance to challenge anew the $109 million penalty the agency imposed for alleged misconduct.

A Senate bill to overhaul the U.S. mortgage-finance system would devote billions of dollars to boosting home ownership among lower-income borrowers, according to a recent draft obtained by Bloomberg News. The draft, the result of discussions between Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) gives the clearest view yet into how the senators aim to woo progressive politicians to back their plan for addressing mortgage-giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Support from those Democrats is likely needed to meet the 60-vote threshold for passing major bills in the Senate. Corker and Warner would levy a “market access fee” on new loans. That money would be used to help build affordable-rental housing and make buying homes cheaper for low- and moderate-income borrowers, according to the draft.