Austin Niemiec has a clear message for mortgage brokers: “We’re more committed to Rocket Pro than we’ve ever been,” he said in his first interview since stepping in to lead the channel in late January. Niemiec’s return to Rocket Pro comes during a period of leadership transition at the third-party originations wing of Rocket Companies […]
Mortgage applications rose 2.8% last week as lower borrowing costs spurred a pickup in refinancing activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Feb. 13. On an unadjusted basis, the index rose 5% compared with the previous week. Refinance applications led the gain, climbing 7% from the […]
Union Home Mortgage (UHM) indicated a strong appetite for mergers and acquisitions by hiring Renee Hildebrand from Guild Mortgage to seek new opportunities, the company announced Tuesday. The move comes a few years after the Strongsville, Ohio–based UHM, led by CEO Bill Cosgrove, acquired Amerifirst Home Mortgage. It also follows two additional acquisitions in 2025 […]
UMortgage is rolling out a flat-fee broker model that waives certain charges for originators who close more than 50 loans per year, part of a broader push to more than quadruple its sales force to 1,000 loan officers by December. Under the structure, LOs earn 275 basis points per loan but pay a $995 flat […]
The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) announced Tuesday that leading reverse lender Mutual of Omaha Mortgage is partnering with the trade group as the exclusive sponsor for a reverse mortgage specialist certification program. According to a press release from the companies, the sponsorship is a “significant milestone in NAMB’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality […]
A January storm that wreaked havoc across much of the U.S. pushed existing home sales down, but a positive inflation report gave housing professionals and consumers a reason to believe that mortgage rate stability isn’t going anywhere. At HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center on Tuesday, rates for 30-year conforming loans averaged 6.26%. That figure is nearly […]
Chicago-based mortgage lender Rate has entered into a partnership to offer mortgage incentives to customers of wealth and savings platform Betterment, the companies announced Tuesday. Under the arrangement, Betterment customers with at least $100,000 in combined investment and cash balances who apply for a mortgage through Rate may qualify for discounted interest rates and closing-cost […]
Fairway Home Mortgage on Tuesday announced a partnership with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) to unveil a new educational credential for NAIFA members. The Certified Home Equity Advisor (CHEA) credential aims to help financial and insurance professionals “responsibly integrate home equity into comprehensive retirement planning,” Fairway explained in a press release. […]
Mortgage lending has a Day 28 problem. Borrowers engage with lenders on Day Zero. Expectations get set. Loan options get discussed. Confidence gets built. Then income finally receives scrutiny on Day 28—deep in underwriting, after time, money, and operational effort have already been spent. The result? Income surprises kill deals. Borrowers wait, frustrated. Lenders scramble […]
Mike Fawaz said Monday that he’s departing Rocket Pro after roughly 15 years with the company and plans to announce his next steps in March. “After nearly 15 years, I have made the thoughtful decision to step away from Rocket,” Fawaz said in a statement given to HousingWire. “After significant reflection, I believe this is […]
Michelle Bowman, the Federal Reserve‘s vice chair for supervision, used a major industry forum to argue that Basel capital rules have helped to drive mortgage lending and servicing away from banks — and that it’s time to reconsider that approach. Addressing the American Bankers Association (ABA)’s 2026 Conference for Community Bankers on Monday, Bowman described […]
Converging forces reshape the industry The real estate market is experiencing a once-in-a-generation disruption, driven by forces that are fundamentally reshaping the role of agents and brokers. Semi-private deal networks, a growing class of small investors, legal and regulatory shifts, and intensifying competition among online portals are creating an unfamiliar landscape High mortgage rates and […]
HousingWire reports on the quarterly earnings of publicly traded mortgage, real estate and homebuilder companies, offering a glimpse into the financial performance of key players in the housing market. As earnings results begin to be released for the fourth quarter of 2025, here’s a rundown of what’s happening at the major lenders, brokerages, builders, listing […]
U.S. mortgage insurer Radian Group Inc. said that president and chief financial officer Sumita Pandit is departing the company effective Thursday, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Radian did not provide details on Pandit’s departure beyond mentioning that “in connection with the involuntary termination of Ms. Pandit’s employment, she will be […]
Mortgage lenders are entering the 2026 spring homebuying season with strengthening business pipelines, fueled by lower mortgage rates, rising refinance incentives and early signs of improving purchase demand. “We’re off to a great start,” Alex Elezaj, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) said in an interview with HousingWire. “Spring […]
Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A., a provider of real estate and mortgage solutions, has appointed Rick Seehausen as president of its Lenders One Cooperative. Founded in 2000, Lenders One is a national alliance of independent mortgage banks, banks and credit unions. Its members collectively originated about $350 billion in mortgages in 2024, ranking it among the […]
Two leading reverse mortgage lenders have reached a settlement in a lawsuit alleging improper advertising practices, according to a court docket reviewed by HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD). The dispute between Longbridge Financial and Mutual of Omaha Mortgage was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in late 2024. Longbridge […]
Mortgage lenders don’t have the luxury of waiting for AI regulations to settle. While states and Washington spar over who sets the rules, lenders remain fully accountable for how artificial intelligence is used in underwriting, servicing, marketing and fraud detection. The question is no longer if AI will be regulated; it’s whether lenders are ready […]
Reverse mortgage professionals struggling with consumer hesitation may find their most effective entry point isn’t home equity, but rather Social Security. That was the message from Thomas Drapala, director of strategic partnerships at the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts (NARSSA), who on Thursday led a webinar hosted by the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders […]
Direct retail endorsements for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) don’t capture the full picture of origination activity in the federally insured reverse mortgage space. Reverse Market Insight (RMI) and HECMWorld are looking to change that. On Thursday, HECMWorld published an RMI dataset of HECM endorsements through brokers and third-party originators (TPOs). The initial report covers […]
National mortgage lender Waterstone Mortgage Corp. announced on Thursday the promotion of four employees to leadership roles at its home office, elevating executives in capital markets, human resources, information security and financial planning. The promotions include Casey Seefeldt to vice president of capital markets, Melissa Wagner to vice president of human resources, Scott Howard to […]
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) are urging Congress to revise proposed increases to fees on U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loans. The idea to raise fees was included in the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2026, also known as H.R. […]
Chief strategy officer Kevin Ryan says Pennymac’s proposed acquisition of Cenlar does not follow the same rationale as recent acquisitions in the mortgage industry. “This deal is not a backdoor way to grow our origination business,” Ryan said in an exclusive interview with HousingWire. “We set a strategic plan two years ago when we said […]
The delinquency rate for mortgages on one- to-four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.26% at the end of 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s National Delinquency Survey released Thursday. The rate was up 27 basis points (bps) from the previous quarter and 28 bps higher than a year earlier. […]
Freddie Mac on Thursday reported full-year 2025 net income of $10.7 billion, down 10% from 2024, on revenues of $23.3 billion, a 3% year-over-year decrease. The company’s provision for credit losses rose to $1.3 billion for the year, compared with $476 million in 2024. Net interest income for full-year 2025 rose 8% from a year […]
AI isn’t the biggest risk to mortgage lending right now. Policy misunderstanding is. While lenders across the country are moving quickly to implement artificial intelligence responsibly, state legislators are moving just as quickly to regulate it. And when policy moves faster than the policymakers’ understanding, unintended consequences follow. As former Cisco CEO John Chambers recently […]
Unison, one of the nation’s leading providers of home equity investments (HEIs), is facing a lawsuit from the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), alleging that Unison deceptively markets its product as a “no-debt” home equity alternative. According to the complaint, Unison’s product functions similarly to a mortgage as homeowners receive an upfront cash advance […]
PennyMac Financial Services Inc. announced Wednesday afternoon that it’s acquiring Cenlar Capital Corp., the country’s second-largest mortgage subservicer. The all-cash transaction includes an upfront purchase price of $172.5 million and up to $85 million of contingent consideration payable over three years. It’s the first mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) deal in the history of Pennymac. Cenlar’s subservicing business […]
President Donald Trump has drawn a firm line on housing policy — he doesn’t want prices to fall, even as affordability concerns dominate voter surveys and construction slows nationwide. “I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes, and they can be assured […]
Texas-based land developer and lender Colony Ridge Land LLC has agreed to pay $68 million to settle allegations of predatory practices against Hispanic borrowers. A portion of the funds will be used to support immigration-related law enforcement. The case dates back to December 2023, when the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial […]
The Trump administration’s overhaul of federal policy is reshaping compliance operations across the housing sphere. At HousingWire’s 2026 Housing Economic Summit, industry leaders said federal oversight changes — including personnel cuts at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — have not simplified the regulatory landscape. Instead, it has further emphasized the interplay between federal agencies […]
bevri.ai on Wednesday announced the rollout of its new Bevri Point-of-Sale platform, an agentic artificial intelligence-driven system designed to automate parts of the front end of the mortgage process for loan originators. The technology firm recently named Jonathon Haddad as CEO in November. Haddad also serves as the current CEO and chairman of the Association […]
Mortgage applications decreased 0.3% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Feb. 6. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 2% compared with the previous week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased 2% from one week earlier. The unadjusted purchase index […]
Wednesday is National Reverse Mortgage Day, an annual tradition to promote consumer awareness of reverse mortgages and their ability to unlock housing wealth for American seniors. Longbridge Financial, one of the nation’s leading reverse mortgage lenders, is participating in the educational event. The company published information Wednesday about long-standing consumer misconceptions that continue to form […]
Mortgage lending has always been a high-trust profession. Borrowers don’t come to a loan officer looking for a generic answer. They come looking for clarity. What can I afford? What do I qualify for? What’s the smartest path given my income, credit, assets, and timeline? That job has become harder over the past few years, […]
Tommy Noyes has joined Mutual of Omaha Mortgage from Liberty Reverse Mortgage as a national wholesale account executive for Mutual’s reverse mortgage business, the company announced Tuesday. In the role, Noyes will focus on deepening customer relationships and supporting the growth of the company’s third-party channel. Noyes spent 17 years at Liberty, where he became […]
The U.S. housing market may be poised for a historic surge as pent-up demand meets a potentially lower rate environment. As part of an expert panel at HousingWire’s 2026 Housing Economic Summit, MBS Highway founder and CEO Barry Habib said the first move downward in mortgage rates could trigger a rush of buyers who have […]
Optimal Blue reported a sharp increase in refinance activity in January as falling mortgage rates spurred borrowers to act, according to its January 2026 Market Advantage data report released on Tuesday. Total rate-lock volume rose 16% from December and was 36% higher than in January 2025. The increase was driven primarily by rate-and-term refinances, which […]
Property records platform Dono has raised $6.5 million in a seed round to support geographic expansion and broaden its customer base beyond title insurance, the company announced Tuesday. Link Ventures led the round, with participation from lool VC and Alumni Ventures. The investment brings total funding for the Tel Aviv–headquartered Dono — which also operates […]
A shareholder is suing Two Harbors Investment Corp. and members of its board over alleged potential violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 tied to the company’s proposed acquisition by UWM Holdings Corp. Shareholder Michael Koblentz claims that Two Harbors submitted “materially incomplete and misleading” information about the transaction’s financial impact in filings with […]
Mortgage credit availability increased in January as lenders modestly loosened underwriting standards, according to data released Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) rose 1.1% from December to a reading of 105.9, signaling slightly easier access to mortgage credit. The index is benchmarked to 100 in March 2012, […]
Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) said on Tuesday that it has completed the first phase of a broader modernization of its MSP mortgage servicing platform with the launch of an enhanced user experience. The company said the updated user interface is designed to improve navigation and lay the foundation for additional workflow automation and productivity tools […]
Rate and Alianza have entered a multi-year collaboration that names Rate the official mortgage lending partner of Alianza, a grassroots soccer platform serving Latino communities across the United States. The agreement follows a pilot partnership in 2025 and will run through the 2026 and 2027 seasons, a release from Rate confirmed. Activations are planned across […]
A proposal to replace the longstanding tri-merge credit report with a single-file model has reignited debate over borrower costs and systemic risk, placing trade associations on opposing sides. Supporters argue a single pull would encourage more predictive credit data and reduce systemwide costs without materially increasing risk in some cases, noting that mortgage servicing rights […]
NEXA Lending CEO Mike Kortas is in the process of acquiring several shell companies to build joint ventures, he said in an exclusive interview with HousingWire on Monday. “They are for multiple JVs with large teams, agencies, builders and strategic partnerships,” Kortas said without providing details on each transaction, which he said will be announced […]