From a smart dog collar that can tell you your pet’s emotional state to toys that automatically move, the pet tech industry is growing, especially during the pandemic when many people staying at home have been adopting dogs and cats. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more on the latest tech devices for pets. Camera: Elizabeth Lee, Sam […]
Summary List Placement A group of senior Democrats are calling for President Joe Biden to support regular direct payments to low-income Americans while the US economy recovers from the pandemic. Insider obtained a copy of the letter that’s being sent to the White House, led by Democrats chairing key economic committees in the Senate. In […]
Summary List Placement A new report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlighted that 11 million American families are at risk of eviction or foreclosure due to financial strain from the coronavirus pandemic. That means that almost 10% of American households are at risk, according to the report. In its analysis of the housing market […]
Fred Bolstad, executive vice president of retail lending at U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, will speak on a panel titled What Mortgage Tech is Solving Now at HousingWire’s Spring Summit on March 4. Bolstad will be joined on the panel by Dave Vermillion, founder and CEO of Mortgage Champions, and Lisa Patterson, chief originations officer at Homepoint. At U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, […]
Summary List Placement Senate Democrats are preparing to advance the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill this week as efforts to push through a $15-per-hour minimum wage with a new tax penalty for large corporations crumbled over the weekend. “The Senate will take up the American Rescue Plan this week,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on […]
After one month of steady declines, servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume rose one basis point last week to 5.23%, according to data released Monday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group pointed to a slowdown in exits coupled with an uptick in requests for last week’s increase. Once again, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac boasted the […]
Summary List Placement In an effort to combat wealth inequality, Democrats on Monday unveiled a bill that would impose a 2% wealth tax on American households with net worths over $50 million. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has long been a proponent of the wealth tax, introduced the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act with Rep. Pramila […]
Summary List Placement Are millennials finally catching up to previous generations? A new report by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College indicates that the answer is yes — at least, in some regards. The report compared findings from the Center’s 2016 generational study and the Federal Reserve’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances. The […]
In this HousingWire Daily episode, HW+ Managing Editor Brena Nath covers the recent COVID-19 forbearance extensions. In February, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it had extended COVID-19 foreclosure and forbearance moratoriums for FHA and USDA loans to June 30, 2021. For the episode, Greg McBride, senior vice president and chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com, joins the […]
Summary List Placement In order to aid essential workers during COVID-19, Democrats introduced a bill on Friday to provide undocumented immigrants who have worked on the frontlines during the pandemic an expedited pathway to citizenship. Led by Sen. Alex Padilla of California, his first bill in Congress — the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act — […]
Summary List Placement A group of House progressives are urging the Biden administration in a new letter to overrule the Senate parliamentarian and keep the $15 per hour minimum wage in the $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. The effort to ramp up pressure on President Joe Biden is made up of 23 progressive lawmakers led by […]
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mark Calabria announced on Monday that he has authorized the disbursement of $1.09 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac‘s affordable housing allocations. This is the largest amount ever disbursed by the government sponsored enterprises, and more than double what was provided the prior year. Of the GSEs’ provided […]
Summary List Placement March is here, along with 10 must-read books from Amazon, including new works from Viet Thanh Nguyen, Walter Isaacson, and Kazuo Ishiguro. This month’s selections cover everything from feminist historical fiction to South America’s illegal gold trade. We broke down all of the recommended books below, with summary descriptions from Amazon’s book […]
Summary List Placement After earmarks were banned in 2011 due to corruption scandals in that late 2000s, the House Appropriations Committee on Friday unveiled its new reforms that accounted for transparency and accountability in community funding. Earmarks, which Democrats have switched to calling community project funding, are congressional provisions that direct funds toward a specific […]
At this point, you’re probably used to seeing Kelsey Ramírez’s name in this spot. As the HousingWire magazine editor, she not only profiled and covered the top leaders and stories in the housing industry, but she also spearheaded the redesign of this magazine, taking the content and creative to a whole new level. For that, […]
By late spring of 2020, the loan pipeline at Princeton Mortgage was full. And CEO Rich Weidel’s staff was absolutely slammed. He needed to scale up — and quickly — to manage record origination volume. Like most other lenders, Princeton, which operates in retail, wholesale and correspondent channels, fell back on the familiar strategy of […]
Here are the winners in key categories for the 78th Golden Globe Awards, which were handed out on Sunday. “Nomadland” boosted its Oscars momentum by taking home the prizes for best drama film and best director for Chloe Zhao. On the comedy side, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” was named best musical or comedy film, and Sacha Baron […]
Drama “Nomadland” and satire “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” won movie honors at the Golden Globes on Sunday in a mostly virtual bicoastal ceremony that was marked by impassioned calls for more diversity and the dominance of Netflix. “Nomadland,” a moving drama about van dwellers in recession-hit America from Searchlight Pictures, also took the best director prize for Chinese-born Chloe Zhao. It made Zhao only […]
Summary List Placement Senior Democrats are abandoning their backdoor $15 minimum wage proposal, leaving a wage hike in doubt as they scramble to enact a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan within two weeks. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) were in the midst of drafting a plan to levy a 5% tax on the […]
Black British actors Daniel Kaluuya and John Boyega, and animated movie “Soul,” were among the early winners at Sunday’s virtual Golden Globes ceremony, which took place under a cloud following a furor over diversity. Kaluuya won best supporting actor for his role as Black Panther activist Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah.” “This […]
Summary List Placement Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has indicated that a wealth tax is off the table, but she is looking at other potentially significant measures. In an interview with The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin, Yellen said she wasn’t planning a wealth tax like Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposal because it’s “something that has very […]
Summary List Placement Applying to a private preschool in a highly competitive area like New York City can be an exhaustive process that often includes lengthy applications, “playdate” interviews, and a lot of networking. Consultants who’ve spent years helping the wealthy and elite land their kids a coveted spot have told Insider that parents frequently […]
When drained of glamour, what’s left of the Golden Globes? That’s one of the biggest questions heading into the 78th annual awards on Sunday night. The show, postponed two months from its usual early-January perch, will have little of what makes the Globes one of the frothiest and glitziest events of the year. Due to […]
There’s a new player in the social media webspace: it’s called Clubhouse. But unlike other social media platforms this one isn’t open to just anyone. Mariia Prus looked into why the platform got so popular so fast. Camera: Oleksii Osyka details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Officials at the Pompeii archaeological site in Italy announced Saturday the discovery of an intact ceremonial chariot, one of several important discoveries made in the same area outside the park near Naples following an investigation into an illegal dig. The chariot, with its iron elements, bronze decorations and mineralized wooden remains, was found in the […]
Summary List Placement The Treasury market has made it clear: the Federal Reserve is a downer. Optimism toward the US economic recovery flourished over the past week. Daily COVID-19 case counts fell further from their January peak. Vaccinations continued across the country, hinting the pandemic could fade in just a few months. Economic data beat […]
A federal judge on Friday approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without the permission of its users. U.S. District Judge James Donato approved the deal in a class-action lawsuit that was filed in Illinois in 2015. Nearly 1.6 million Facebook users […]
Summary List Placement House Democrats approved President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion emergency spending package in a 219-212 vote early on Saturday morning, sending the legislation to the Senate as lawmakers rushed to head off the expiration of enhanced unemployment insurance in mid-March. The stimulus plan cleared the chamber with Republicans unified in their resistance. Two […]
Thasunda Brown Duckett With the hire, TIAA is now the first Fortune 500 company to have TIAA Bank has tapped JPMorgan Chase‘s head of consumer banking, Thasunda Brown Duckett, to succeed longtime president and CEO, Roger Ferguson, Jr. Thasunda Brown Duckett With the hire, TIAA is now the first Fortune 500 company to have two Black […]
HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami joins the HousingWire Daily podcast to talk about why low mortgage rates need to end. During the interview, HW+ Managing Editor Brena Nath interviews Mohtashami on his most recent article, “We need higher mortgage rates to cool the housing market.” In his opinion piece, Mohtashami states, “For 2021, we need to […]
L Summary List Placement House Democrats were on course to vote on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package later on Friday as lawmakers rushed to rescue a key progressive priority from being left out of the legislation. The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Thursday evening that the $15 minimum wage should be removed from the […]
Lisa Patterson, chief originations officer at Homepoint, will speak on a panel titled Operational Strategies in the Current Market at HousingWire’s Spring Summit on March 4. Patterson will be joined on the panel by Dave Vermillion, founder and CEO of Mortgage Champions, and Fred Bolstad, executive vice president of retail lending at U.S. Bank Home Mortgage. Patterson […]
In Mississippi, single women on average paid 3.47% on a 30-year, conventional fixed-rate mortgage in 2019. But single men on average paid 3.37%, according to the latest HMDA data available. Over the lifespan of the mortgage, the single woman in this instance will have roughly $7,000 more in mortgage payments than the single man. Patrick […]
Summary List Placement As passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus approaches, the federal agency that is focused on housing is urging Congress to pass its measures for struggling homeowners. The US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, expressed support on Thursday for the package’s funding for emergency rental assistance and homelessness […]
Summary List Placement The US economy’s rebound from the coronavirus slump could fuel some of the strongest growth in recent memory, John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said. With the pandemic’s winter resurgence fading, economists are looking ahead and gauging how fresh stimulus, falling case counts, and continued vaccination will […]
Summary List Placement Economists from the University of Chicago, University of Notre Dame, and Zhejiang University found that American poverty rates dropped when the most recent stimulus payments and unemployment benefits were enacted. From December 2020 to January 2021, the poverty rate fell from 11.8% to 11.5%, in contrast with an increase from 9.3% last […]
Summary List Placement Bitcoin’s surge shows that lawmakers should view its technology more seriously, Mohamed El-Erian wrote in an op-ed. Adoption by major players indicates the potential of a growing migration away from traditional money, he said. “Too many officials are inclined to look at the cryptocurrency in a rather narrow way. They shouldn’t.” Sign […]
With internet access increasing in many emerging democracies, use of social media is changing the ways that candidates and voters interact. It’s also changing how the non-profit U.S.-based Carter Center assesses elections. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, monitoring online disinformation and threats to prevent political violence is a new front in the center’s democracy initiatives […]
Summary List Placement Sen. Bernie Sanders said Democrats would try to devise a backdoor to implement a $15 minimum wage after a pay hike was struck from the $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Thursday evening — a major setback for progressives. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough ruled that a $15 minimum wage violated the strict guidelines […]
U.S. lawmakers launched an investigation this week into the December 2020 SolarWinds hack that included a breach of many private and U.S. government computer systems. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, tech leaders are telling lawmakers the full scope of the breach is still not known. Camera: Adam Greenbaum Produced by: Katherine Gypson […]
U.S. lawmakers launched an investigation this week into the December 2020 SolarWinds hack that included a breach of many private and U.S. government computer systems. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, tech leaders are telling lawmakers the full scope of the breach is still not known. Camera: Adam Greenbaum Produced by: Katherine Gypson […]
Summary List Placement The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Thursday evening that a $15 minimum wage provision cannot stay in the President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, according to a Senate Democratic aide familiar with the decision. The parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, said the provision’s effect on the federal budget was “merely incidental,” the aide said. […]
A former U.S. Olympics gymnastics coach with ties to disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar died by suicide Thursday after being charged with two dozen crimes, including forms of human trafficking, Michigan’s attorney general said. The announcement from Attorney General Dana Nessel came about three hours after a news conference where Nessel announced that John Geddert was […]
ByteDance has agreed to a $92 million class-action settlement over data privacy claims from some U.S. TikTok users, according to documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Illinois. ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns the short video app that has more than 100 million U.S. users, agreed to the settlement after more than a […]
Rocket Companies, the parent company of Rocket Mortgage, cleared another $2.48 billion in profits during the fourth quarter, giving the nation’s biggest mortgage lender a total of $9.5 billion in profits for 2020. Rocket originated $107.2 billion in mortgages, with net rate lock volume of $96 billion in the fourth quarter, the company disclosed in […]