General World News

Expert describes needs to consider for aging in place

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As a majority of older adults continue to express an overwhelming preference for aging in place in their homes, any decision needs to be made with a full understanding of a particular senior’s needs, capabilities, and access to essential services and people. This was an idea shared by Wayne State University gerontology professor Amanda Leggett […]

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Fewer mortgage complaints filed in Q2: CFPB

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Mortgage-related consumer complaints submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fell between the first and second quarters of this year, according to a review of the CFPB’s consumer complaint database conducted by HousingWire. A total of 5,652 mortgage-related complaints were submitted to the bureau between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2024. That total fell […]

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Mortgage rates stay put ahead of Fed policy announcement

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As Federal Reserve policymakers meet this week amid a high likelihood they’ll keep benchmark interest rates unchanged, the recent downward movement in mortgage rates leveled off. HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center showed that the average 30-year conforming loan rate was at 7.01% on Tuesday. That figure was unchanged from the same time last week. The 15-year […]

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Mr. Cooper to issue $750M in debt following M&A deal with Flagstar

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Mr. Cooper Group has priced the issuance of $750 million in debt to refinance outstanding mortgage servicing rights (MSR) facilities, an announcement that comes only four days after making public its billion-dollar acquisition of Flagstar Bank‘s servicing assets. On Monday, the mortgage lender and servicer said that its debt offering to qualified investors through subsidiary […]

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CoreLogic adds assets, liabilities to its income analysis tool

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Mortgage technology solutions provider CoreLogic on Tuesday announced that its AutomatIQ Borrower tool is expanding to include asset and liabilities analysis capabilities. The company aims to make the product a “one-stop analysis solution for mortgage lending financial institutions,“ it said in its announcements. AutomatIQ Borrower is designed to provide greater integrity and reliability in the […]

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A recap of gen AI use cases at FHFA’s 2024 TechSprint

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There are plenty of challenges for renters and homebuyers this year, especially when it comes to affordability. But technology — particularly leveraging generative AI — can help solve these challenges in new ways. At least, that was the premise of the FHFA’s 2024 TechSprint last week, which focused on innovative housing use cases for gen AI. […]

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Book Bans Are Not Just Bad Policy; They Can Raise Civil Rights Issues

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By: Matt Nosanchuk, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education All students deserve access to learning environments that are inclusive and free from discrimination and that nurture their intellect, wellbeing, and creativity, preparing them for success in school and beyond. Books have been the gateway to […]

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Ancient secrets unearthed in vast Turkish cave city 

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Midyat, Turkey — Through a basement door in southeastern Turkey lies a sprawling underground city — perhaps the country’s largest — which one historian believes dates back to the ninth century before Jesus Christ. Archaeologists stumbled upon the city-under-a-city “almost by chance” after an excavation of house cellars in Midyat, near the Syrian border, led to […]

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Defying downturn, auction houses bid high on Hong Kong

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HONG KONG — Three of the world’s top auction houses are racing to expand in Hong Kong, eager to woo young Asian buyers even as the global art market retreats from pandemic-era highs. In the span of two months, Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams will each see the culmination of yearslong efforts to upgrade their regional headquarters […]

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Puerto Rico bans discrimination against those who wear Afros, other styles

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor on Wednesday signed a law that prohibits discrimination against people wearing Afros, curls, locs, twists, braids and other hairstyles in the racially diverse U.S. territory. The move was celebrated by those who had long demanded explicit protection related to work, housing, education and public services. “It’s a victory […]

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U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Reaches Agreement to Address Antisemitic Harassment in Carmel Unified School District in California

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The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today the resolution of a complaint alleging antisemitic harassment of students at a school in the Carmel Unified School District in California. The district entered into an agreement to ensure its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) […]

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Baron Silverstein on Newrez’s AI journey and the call center question

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Like most of its peers, top-five mortgage lender Newrez is prioritizing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide call center representatives with real-time information on its policies, procedures, and guidelines to improve customers’ experience, according to its president, Baron Silverstein. “From a prioritization perspective, we’re right now, with my management team, focused on customer […]

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Former US diplomat and author Martin Indyk dies at 73

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NORWICH, Conn. — Veteran diplomat Martin S. Indyk, an author and leader at prominent U.S. think tanks who devoted years to finding a path toward peace in the Middle East, died Thursday. He was 73. His wife, Gahl Hodges Burt, confirmed in a phone call that he died from complications of esophageal cancer at the couple’s […]

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HUD, FHA further extend Maui foreclosure moratorium to 2025

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The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Friday published Mortgagee Letter 2024-15, which extends a foreclosure moratorium on the Hawaiian island of Maui through Jan. 1, 2025, for FHA-insured forward mortgages and Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). The moratorium, initially scheduled to expire on May 6 after a previous extension, was pushed into August earlier this […]

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Atlantic Coast Mortgage adopts Nextwave CRM

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Virginia-based Atlantic Coast Mortgage announced this week that residential and wholesale banking software company CRMNow’s mortgage-oriented customer relationship management (CRM) product, Nextwave CRM, will be used by its loan originators across the 30 states it operates in. “Nextwave CRM was the clear choice to drive our customer-centric culture and CRM initiative,” Patrick Collins, chief strategy […]

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Lower’s Craig Montgomery talks growth goals for mortgage originator mentorships

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On a recent episode of the Power House podcast, HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins chatted with Craig Montgomery, chief strategy officer at Lower and former chief production officer at CrossCountry Mortgage. Collins and Montgomery discussed Lower’s plans for growth, its strategic partnerships and how it looks to adopt an originator-first mindset to push the company toward […]

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YouTube star sets Domino installation world record

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YouTube star Lily Hevesh has been mesmerizing viewers with domino creations for 15 years. Last weekend, at the National Building Museum in Washington, she completed her most ambitious project yet: she brought down an installation of 100,000 dominoes and set a world record. Maxim Adams reports. Camera: Dmitry Shakhov, Artem Kohan. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal […]

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Reverse mortgage veteran appointed chair of MISMO working group

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Reverse mortgage industry veteran George Morales has been appointed as the new chairperson of the dedicated reverse mortgage development workgroup (DWG) inside the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization. MISMO is a subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), which signaled its intent for more reverse mortgage involvement late last year. The reverse mortgage workgroup, which […]

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Unveiling New Tools for Educators, School Counselors and Advisors: Enhance College Decision-Making with Our Latest College Scorecard Toolkits

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By: John Garcia, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development The U.S. Department of Education (Department), under the leadership of U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, is committed to ensuring an inclusive and accessible higher education system. As part of that commitment, the Department has developed various tools and […]

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An eye-opening experience: Housing pros react to the global tech outage

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Mortgage and real estate executives attending HousingWire‘s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit in Dallas on Tuesday have already begun to collect some lessons learned from Friday’s global tech outage as the world is still dealing with its consequences.  Different companies were impacted to different degrees by the problem, but executives said it validates their decision to […]

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AARP reveals proposals for national plan on aging

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AARP, the interest group advocating for the wellbeing of older Americans, revealed in a policy paper this month its priorities for a national plan on aging that sufficiently recognizes the changing demographics of the U.S. population, and the trend that will see 20% of all Americans become at least the age of 65 by 2030. […]

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Dunmor promotes two operations leaders

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Real estate lending shop Dunmor has promoted two employees to senior leadership positions. Andy Thienkosol, a veteran in business-purpose lending (BPL), has been named chief operating officer of the California-based lender. Melissa Perez, a former director of operations at First Republic Bank, has joined Dunmor as senior vice president of operations. Thienkosol previously served as […]

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Mortgage income software vendor integrates Fannie Mae income calculator

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Blueprint Solutions, a mortgage technology company that offers income verification tools for the industry, announced this week that it is implementing Fannie Mae’s Income Calculator into its two primary software offerings. This will help the company’s clients to more efficiently access the Fannie Mae tool, the company said. Blueprint offers two variations of mortgage income […]