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Dunmor, Newfi augment partnership with minority equity investment

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Business-purpose residential mortgage lender Dunmor announced Thursday that it has received a minority equity investment from Newfi Lending, a nonagency mortgage lender owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management. According to Dunmor, the investment is an extension of an original partnership initiated in June 2024. “Our team has created a remarkable platform and brand, […]

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Mortgage insurer credit ratings shouldn’t be harmed by recent natural disasters

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Fitch Ratings reported this week that recent natural disasters that have damaged thousands of homes and businesses — including the Southern California wildfires and hurricanes Milton and Helene in the Southeast — are not expected to heavily impact paid claims experience or credit ratings for mortgage insurers. The ratings agency said in commentary released Thursday […]

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The Mortgage Collaborative hires Jodi Hall as CEO and president

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The Mortgage Collaborative (TMC), a member network comprised of independent mortgage banks, federally insured banks, credit unions and mortgage service providers, on Friday announced its appointment of Jodi Hall as CEO and president. Hall, who has nearly 30 years of mortgage industry experience, is the founder of DandaRoad Consulting, a firm that specializes in advising […]

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Young rodeo riders compete in mutton bustin’

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In the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado, the National Western Stock Show hosts nearly 30 professional rodeo events. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns takes us to a stock show competition for younger riders. And sheep. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com

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VOA Mandarin: Chinese actor Hu Ge enters politics

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Hu Ge, a Chinese actor who is well-known in China for dramas including Flowers, was recently confirmed to serve as the deputy director of the Central Propaganda Committee of the China Democratic League. He was invited to Taiwan in June 2024 to participate in a film exchange activity. Click here for the full story in […]

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‘Emilia Perez’ tops Oscar nominations in fire-hit Hollywood

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LOS ANGELES — Transgender cartel musical “Emilia Perez” topped this year’s Oscar nominations, earning 13 nods in an announcement on Thursday postponed by the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. French director Jacques Audiard’s Mexico-set musical, released by Netflix, shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language movie. It was followed by epic immigrant […]

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Here’s the real story behind loan officer decline

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What if the story of declining loan officer numbers is just that — a story? If you’ve been around the mortgage industry awhile, you’ve surely heard of a sharp decline in licensed loan officer (LOs) numbers. Some reference a 50% drop in the LO population. Worse yet, other believe that license renewals are down 60%. […]

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Longbridge lowers minimum home value for Platinum products

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Reverse mortgage lender and servicer Longbridge Financial, which offers both Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) loans as well as proprietary reverse mortgage products, announced that it has lowered the minimum home value for its fixed-rate proprietary products. Previously, the proprietary product line — which Longbridge calls “Platinum” — had its minimum […]

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Distressed homeowners have a new path to avoid foreclosure

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Online real estate marketplace Auction.com announced Wednesday that it is launching SmartSale, a technology-powered option to foreclosure that lets distressed homeowners list and sell their property. SmartSale allows homeowners to sell their homes through direct offers from buyers or an auction process. For those who are struggling to repay their mortgages, the process aims to […]

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Struggling homeowners often don’t understand escrow

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Mortgage escrow accounts are an important, yet widely misunderstood asset in the housing market. Although 80% of mortgage holders have escrow accounts, only 60% fully understand them, up from 52% in early 2024. And those who don’t understand are paying dearly. That finding comes from a survey released Tuesday by tax and flood services provider […]

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Mortgage applications mostly flat from last week

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Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Jan. 17 show mortgage applications increased 0.1% from a week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis. On an unadjusted basis, applications increased by 3% compared with the previous week. The refinance index decreased 3% from the previous week and was […]

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MBA teams with Cleveland State University on mortgage banking education program

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s education division, MBA Education, recently launched its Mortgage Banking Bound (MBB) program at Cleveland State University. The program, which is led by adjunct professor Debbie Hoffman — a visiting assistant professor at the Cleveland State University College of Law — offers a three-credit undergraduate course on residential mortgage origination and […]

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The FICS advantage: Leveraging automation for smarter mortgage servicing in 2025

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After years of high interest rates, and price spikes, mortgage lenders are optimistic heading into 2025. Fannie Mae predicts a 28% increase in mortgage originations to $2.1 trillion. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) also predicts that total origination volume will increase by 28.5% to $2.3 trillion. Alongside that, Fitch expects mortgage servicing rights (MSR) amortization […]

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Starry Sundance fest moves ahead in wake of LA fires

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Los Angeles — The U.S. film industry’s first big gathering since fires devastated Los Angeles will begin Thursday at the Sundance festival, where highlights include a glitzy new Jennifer Lopez musical and a dark Benedict Cumberbatch drama. Hollywood’s annual pilgrimage to the Rocky Mountains to premiere the coming year’s most-anticipated indie films is taking place in […]

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Capitulation: Why buyers and sellers are ready to move

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Inaction is easy. It’s quiet; unwritten; immune from critique. It sits undone; confidently static. But if buyers and sellers were compelled to transcribe their inaction, it would read like a sociopath’s diary entry: “We could have watched you grow up, but your grandpa and me weren’t willing to give up our 2.875% rate to move […]

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Reverse mortgage servicing safeguard might help LA borrowers

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A notice implemented into the reverse mortgage servicing process that is designed to flag potential foreclosures if they are in a federally declared disaster area could prove to be beneficial for any borrowers currently impacted by the Los Angeles-area wildfires, according to a servicing industry expert. Colorado fire and Ed Sharp After a reverse mortgage […]

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FHA updates loss-mitigation waterfall in new mortgage servicing guidance

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The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) this week published Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2025-06, which codifies “updates to FHA’s permanent loss mitigation options based on learnings from its temporary COVID-19 policies and feedback received on the draft policies” from a proposal published this past November. Published on Thursday, the letter extends existing COVID-19 recovery options to February […]

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Outsourcing for efficiency: How SitusAMC is enhancing primary market origination with third-party resources

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In a changing real estate market, mortgage lenders face increasing demand. If high mortgage rates and increased liquidity management aren’t challenging, then regulatory changes, operation inefficiencies, and economic uncertainty are enough. With high mortgage rates and stagnated origination, many financiers are focusing on mitigating risk and boosting efficiency. This occurs while they manage the heavy […]

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Foreclosure activity subsided in 2024. Is it a sign of housing market stability?

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Attom‘s year-end 2024 foreclosure report revealed that 322,103 properties in the U.S. had some type of foreclosure filing — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — last year. The data solutions company also reported that in fourth-quarter 2024, one in every 1,671 properties had a foreclosure filing. Attom also noted that foreclosure filings were […]

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Trump to nominate Bill Pulte as FHFA director

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Bill Pulte, a private equity professional, philanthropist and grandson of the late homebuilding icon William Pulte, will be Donald Trump‘s nominee to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), according to reports from multiple outlets on Thursday. Trump confirmed the nomination on his Truth Social account. “I am pleased to announce that Bill Pulte will […]

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FCC warns of mortgage relief scam impersonating 400 lenders

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week warned consumers in all 50 states that fraudsters are posing as mortgage lenders by calling homeowners and asking them to pony up on payments. The scam, dubbed “Green Mirage,” involves callers contacting homeowners who oftentimes “have previously sought relief from their actual mortgage lender and may expect to […]

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Mortgage applications up 33.3% from holiday week

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With an adjustment for the New Year’s holiday, mortgage applications increased 33.3% from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey, released today. This week’s reading, for the week ending Jan. 10, 2025, is a stark difference from last week’s applications, which reflected a seasonal lull following Christmas. While […]