The Dealmaker: 4/12/2017

Lenders tighten the spigots on mall landlords. “The retail malaise hasn’t stopped… landlords from getting loans — it’s just getting harder…. Lenders now grill landlords… about tenants’ creditworthiness and exposure to competition from neighboring developments and e-commerce. On top of that, borrowers may have to pay higher interest rates…” As one industry heavyweight notes in this WSJ report: “There is a sea change in attitudes over the last eight months… Everyone is more cautious.” http://bit.ly/2o6mRdhAttorney General Jeff Sessions launches tougher border plan during Arizona stop. “Sessions outlined the series of changes… while touring the Arizona-Mexico border in Nogales…” KTAR’s report does not mention whether AG Sessions purchased any Chiclets while down there, but it does offer a bullet-point breakdown of his “more aggressive approach to immigration prosecution” which, the report says, is “starting immediately.” http://bit.ly/2oYmgiy

New White House drug czar has quite an idea for where to put nonviolent drug users; could be hard on marijuana states. “Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) will be President Trump’s drug czar, according to a report from CBS News. Marino’s congressional voting record is that of a hard-liner on marijuana issues, and he recently said that he’d like to put nonviolent drug offenders in some sort of ‘hospital-slash-prison.’” Read more about this half-baked idea from Rep. Marino in The Washington Post. http://bit.ly/2p6nCb2 

Ducey vows no more school voucher expansion measures for now. “Gov. Doug Ducey Tuesday said lifting an enrollment cap that will be imposed as a school voucher program expands is ‘not even a consideration.’” KEY QUOTE from Ducey spokesman Daniel Scarpinato, on whether the governor is “committed to keeping the cap in place”: “You’re talking about a hypothetical in a hypothetical Legislature in a hypothetical future.” (Not quite Churchill’s “…riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” or even Seinfeld’s “mystery wrapped in a Twinkie,” but it’s in the ballpark. A really, really HUGE ballpark.) More at Arizona Capitol Times. http://bit.ly/2op9bMm

WAR BONDS? – With Russia, N. Korea threats, mortgage rates hit new 2017 lows. “Bond markets… benefited… after headlines broke regarding North Korea’s nuclear threats… Russia’s potential involvement with Syrian gas attacks and the French election added to the… gains. As bonds gain ground, prices rise and rates move lower.” If the world hasn’t been blown to bits, tap to Mortgage News Daily for “Loan Originator Perspective,” “Best-Execution Rates” and “Ongoing Lock/Float Considerations.” http://bit.ly/2p6Hg6r