Christopher Gallo, once one of the nation’s top mortgage loan officers, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a federal court in New Jersey, according to court filings reviewed by HousingWire. Gallo entered the guilty plea to count one of the indictment — conspiracy to commit bank fraud — on Wednesday in […]
VantageScore 4.0, the credit scoring model that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are transitioning to for agency mortgages, is now integrated into Optimal Blue’s end-to-end capital markets platform, the companies announced Thursday. The integration makes VantageScore 4.0 available across Optimal Blue’s product, pricing and eligibility engine, as well as its mortgage servicing rights (MSR) valuation, […]
Daniel Lewis, founder and managing partner of hedge fund Orange Capital, has joined the board of Better Home & Finance Holding Co., replacing outgoing director David Barse, the company announced this week. The changes took effect July 27. Lewis brings more than 30 years of investment and operating experience, including early-career roles at Citigroup before […]
Artificial intelligence (AI) is making fraud schemes more convincing and increasing the financial risks facing older Americans, according to cybersecurity and consumer protection expert Steven J. J. Weisman. Weisman — an attorney, author and senior lecturer at Bentley University — discussed the growing sophistication of scams during a presentation hosted by Fairway Home Mortgage on […]
Technology platform GoodLeap announced on Thursday the launch of a Visa Signature credit card backed by a home equity line of credit (HELOC), allowing homeowners to finance home improvement projects and everyday purchases while earning cash-back rewards. The GoodLeap Home Visa Signature Card, or GoodLeap Home Card, provides eligible homeowners with access to up to […]
Freddie Mac on Thursday morning reported net income of $3.8 billion in the second quarter, a 61% increase from a year earlier, driven largely by a credit reserve release and higher net interest income. Net income increased from $3.558 billion in the first quarter. Net revenue rose 1% year over year to $5.991 billion. Net […]
PennyMac Financial Services on Wednesday reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $22 million, down 84% from a year earlier and sharply lower than its first-quarter net income of $82.3 million, as higher interest rates reduced mortgage production volume and weighed on profitability. The company’s weaker quarter came in tandem with layoffs by the Westlake Village, […]
Proprietary reverse mortgages, rather than government-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), are driving the reverse mortgage industry’s recent growth, according to an analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data published Wednesday by New View Advisors. Total reverse mortgage volume rose from $6.25 billion in 2023 to $7.51 billion in 2024 and $9.65 billion in […]
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, maintaining a target range of 3.5% to 3.75% for a fifth consecutive meeting. Heading into the meeting, most monetary policy watchers had expected the Fed to stand pat after inflation cooled in June. Still, a minority (about 30%) had penciled in a hike, a […]
New Silver Lending LLC has acquired Mayflower Venture Partners, expanding its presence in New England’s fix-and-flip and construction lending markets, the company announced on Wednesday. Quincy, Massachusetts-based Mayflower is a direct lender focused on loans for single-family and small multifamily properties throughout New England. The firm, founded by Hussien Skaiky, has emphasized fast term sheets, […]
Morgan Stanley mortgage employees say they faced pressure from the firm’s wealth advisers to approve home loans for affluent clients despite underwriting concerns, according to a report published Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal based on internal documents, emails and a whistleblower complaint. Current and former employees reportedly said that some advisers pushed for approvals on owner-occupied mortgages […]
Mortgage applications decreased 6.4% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending July 24. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 6% compared with last week’s data. The refinance index decreased 10% from the previous week and was 2% lower than the […]
Pennymac imposed another round of layoffs ahead of its after-market earnings report on Wednesday, as the mortgage sector navigates a higher-for-longer interest-rate environment. “Pennymac has executed well against a challenging backdrop, even as sustained high interest rates have reduced industry loan volumes and the size of the addressable market,” a company spokesperson said in a […]
Fannie Mae reported $4 billion in net income during the second quarter of 2026, a 7% increase from the prior quarter and a 20% increase from a year earlier, as higher revenue offset an increase in its provision for credit losses. The government-sponsored enterprise said in its Wednesday morning earnings call that net income rose […]
Many couples may be missing out on thousands of dollars in additional retirement savings simply because they are not discussing how they contribute to their workplace retirement plans, according to a new analysis highlighted by a Boston College economist. Geoffrey Sanzenbacher, an economics professor at Boston College and research fellow at the Center for Retirement […]
Mortgage rates continued to climb this week and are now approaching 7% for locked loans across all borrower credit profiles. But home purchase and refinance demand hasn’t fallen steeply despite the increased affordability pressures. On Tuesday, HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center showed that rates for 30-year conforming loans averaged 6.94%, up 9 basis points from one […]
Mortgage lender Equity Prime Mortgage (EPM) announced on Tuesday that it has appointed mortgage industry veteran David Abrahamson as its chief risk officer. Abrahamson previously worked at EPM from 2010 to 2020, a period during which the lender said it expanded from a “primarily retail, refinance-focused organization” into a broader mortgage company with a growing […]
Proprietary reverse mortgages continued to gain market share in 2025, fueled by rapid growth in originations and larger loan balances, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. The analysis, released Monday as MBA’s Chart of the Week, comes as more older Americans are choosing to age in […]
The cost to service mortgages is rising for reasons that extend beyond a recent increase in borrower delinquencies. That’s according to Erik Eggers, chief revenue officer at Rocktop Technologies, who said that regulatory requirements and industry consolidation are fundamentally changing the economics of mortgage servicing. Speaking with HousingWire, Eggers said that servicing costs have traditionally […]
A federal judge has granted Fannie Mae’s motion to compel arbitration and dismiss a lawsuit brought by 44 former employees who allege they were fired in a discriminatory manner tied to the company’s charitable giving program. In a memorandum opinion issued Friday, Judge Randolph D. Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of […]
Consulting firm Milliman has acquired Blue Water mortgage servicing rights (MSR) valuation and hedging services from Apex Analytics Corp., adding another platform less than a year after buying MorVest Capital to expand its capabilities in the space. The transaction, announced Monday, folds Blue Water’s hedge analytics, trading platform and quantitative team into Milliman’s mortgage solutions […]
While the reverse mortgage industry has historically relied on specialized originators to drive volume, wholesale lender SmartFi Home Loans is looking elsewhere to expand the market. The company’s growth strategy hinges on “growing the pie” by equipping traditional, forward-centric loan officers with the tools and education needed to seamlessly offer reverse mortgages to their clients. “I hear […]
Homeownership really starts at closing, yet that’s often where the relationship between borrowers and lenders ends. As affordability pressures continue to reshape the housing market, borrower engagement needs to shift from periodic marketing to creating continuous value throughout the homeowner journey. To address this evolution, Made Card is taking a different approach. The fintech has […]
Recently, the foreclosure data showed a 21% year-over-year gain, and the floodgates of doom porn were flung wide open, with people marketing an impending home-price crash because they say so many Americans are struggling and it’s about to get worse. The hucksters of America are back at it again, and it went mainstream, too. Andrew […]
New mortgage default activity remained stable in June, with new defaults among Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers falling 15% from a year earlier, marking the largest annual decline in more than four years. That’s according to Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) latest First Look Mortgage Performance report, which observed that overall mortgage performance remained strong during the […]
Account executives are in a unique position in the mortgage industry. On any given day, they’re helping originators navigate complex borrower scenarios, troubleshoot loan challenges, identify new opportunities and stay informed about product trends. Because they work with dozens of loan officers across different markets, they have a front-row seat to the strategies that are […]
Something significant is already reshaping mortgage lending and servicing, and the data is beginning to bring into focus what many lending professionals have been experiencing firsthand. A recent nationwide survey of lending professionals across banking, mortgage lending and fintech reveals an industry that overwhelmingly understands the need to modernize its mortgage origination, servicing and compliance […]
AARP is urging Congress to reject a proposal that would create a fast-track process for developing and considering legislation aimed at strengthening Social Security’s long-term finances. The Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone — PROMISE — Act, introduced July 14 by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and six other senators, […]
With CrossCountry Mortgage’s deal to acquire Two Harbors Investment Corp. one step closer to the finish line after securing shareholder approval, the focus is shifting to what may be the next major challenge: integrating the businesses. Industry experts pointed out the complex task of bringing a large servicing portfolio in-house, but analysts expressed confidence in […]
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Brian Johnson, faced sharp questioning from Democratic senators Thursday over the future of the agency and whether he would resist political pressure in enforcement decisions. Johnson, a former CFPB deputy director who now works for Capital One, appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, […]
Industry professionals expect the reverse mortgage market to remain challenging throughout the second half of 2026 as elevated mortgage rates and affordability pressures continue to limit how much equity older homeowners can access. Shain Urwin, the national reverse mortgage director for C2 Financial and a board member of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), […]
Artificial intelligence startup Flair Labs says a recent deployment with West Capital Lending demonstrates how AI voice agents can help mortgage lenders capitalize on leads that might otherwise go untouched. Flair, a two-year-old Y Combinator–backed company, builds digital voice assistants that work on behalf of lenders, servicers and brokers. The technology sits on top of […]
A ransomware group posts a lender’s name on a dark web leak site. Terabytes of loan files, Social Security numbers, bank account details, employee records. The clock the public sees starts there. The clock that matters started weeks or months earlier, the day the intrusion was detected. And in the gap between those two moments, […]
When rates surged and the mortgage market shifted almost overnight, lenders were forced into difficult decisions. Growth plans changed. Costs were reassessed. Teams had to adapt quickly to a different operating reality. At Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group, that moment reinforced a simple truth: While market conditions are outside your control, organizational alignment is not. In […]
National mortgage lender HighTechLending has rolled out major enhancements to its EquitySelect product line, expanding borrower eligibility, raising maximum loan-to-value ratios and widening access to low-payment qualification options for home equity loans. The changes, announced Wednesday, are effective immediately through HighTechLending’s wholesale channel. The move comes as homeowners hold near-record levels of tappable home equity […]
South Carolina- based Movement Mortgage has launched a national Diverse Lending Support Team and an in-house Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) mortgage product to serve more Spanish-speaking homebuyers. The Diverse Lending Support Team (DLST) is a dedicated bilingual group that supports loan officers working with Spanish-speaking borrowers, the company said in its announcement. “Language should […]
Mortgage applications increased 1.9% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending July 17, 2026. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 2% compared with last week’s data. The refinance index decreased 2% from the previous week and was 7% higher than […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is proposing a new structure, called Reinstatement Advance Payment (RAP), that would change how servicers document and service partial claims and payment supplements. Under the draft, attributed to Joseph M. Gormley, who is performing the delegable duties of the assistant secretary for housing–federal housing commissioner, the FHA would test a […]
Equifax will keep its $1 VantageScore 4.0 price in place through the end of 2027 as it pushes mortgage lenders to adopt the alternative credit score model, CEO Mark Begor told investors. The initiative was first launched in March, when the company also continued to offer free VantageScore 4.0 credit scores to mortgage, automotive, card and […]
HomeAdvantage has partnered with Valley First Credit Union to offer a real estate rewards program and cash-back incentives to the California credit union’s 80,000 members, the companies announced on Monday. Under the agreement, Valley First members will gain access to the HomeAdvantage Real Estate Rewards Program, which pairs homebuyers and sellers with a network of […]
As millions of homeowners remain locked into low mortgage rates, lenders are introducing new home equity products designed to help borrowers access accumulated equity without refinancing their first mortgages. This week, Gershman Mortgage and Truss Financial Group announced separate home equity offerings aimed at different borrower segments but built around the same premise: allowing homeowners […]
The pandemic wrought financial havoc across the economy, but its impact on the housing market was significantly reduced due to a whole-of-government response that enabled millions of families to stay in their homes. The rapid deployment of forbearance, the ability to pause mortgage payments and a slew of new options to modify distressed mortgages provided […]
Artificial intelligence has introduced hundreds of tools to the mortgage industry, but many lenders are still struggling with rising costs, fragmented workflows and inconsistent productivity. According to Siddhartha Agarwal, CEO of JazzX AI, the next phase of AI adoption isn’t about adding another application. It’s about creating an intelligence layer that works across existing mortgage […]
AD Mortgage has launched a public policy initiative aimed at increasing its engagement with federal and state policymakers on housing finance issues, beginning with recommendations to the Federal Housing Finance Agency regarding condominium financing. The initiative has already taken off running. In a July 1 policy letter addressed to Bill Pulte, director of the FHFA, […]
NEXA Lending CEO Mike Kortas said he has reached a global settlement with former business partner Mat Grella, ending a years-long legal battle over the ownership and control of the brokerage and several related entities. The agreement, reached in mediation and finalized on Monday, resolves “every single one” of the lawsuits between the two NEXA […]