Calque, a company that partners with lenders to offer non-contingent mortgages to homebuyers, has appointed Dan Mugge as its chief operating officer. Mugge, a mortgage industry veteran with more than two decades in technology and business management, will lead the company’s push to secure high-profile mortgage lending partners to offer Calque’s products. “What I love […]
Lack of inventory is an issue builders and mortgage loan originators alike are dealing with across the nation. It’s also what keeps Andrew Marquis, regional vice president at CrossCountry Mortgage and Scotsman Guide’s seventh top LO, up at night, especially as he sees more buyers entering the market. A recent combination of lower property value […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced on Monday changes to its loss mitigation options for borrowers struggling to pay their mortgages. The announcement follows the Biden administration’s decision to set an end date for the COVID-19 pandemic national emergency declaration. Meanwhile, the FHA-Home Affordable Modification (FHA-HAMP) options were temporarily suspended to simplify loss mitigation options, […]
Scott Miller, a former mortgage loan originator at Sprout Mortgage, knew the clock was ticking when the non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) lender abruptly closed doors in July 2022. The decision left more than 400 employees without a job, and Miller had two urgent tasks — to find a lender that would close his clients’ loans in […]
New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYCB) confirmed it’s closing 69% of the retail home lending offices outside of its branches after acquiring Michigan-based Flagstar Bank. “We made the strategic decision shortly after the transaction closed to swiftly restructure the business, which occurred in January,” Thomas Cangem, NYCB president and CEO, said in a statement. “Going […]
Cindy Williams, who played Shirley opposite Penny Marshall’s Laverne on the popular sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” has died, her family said Monday. Williams died Wednesday in Los Angeles at age 75 after a brief illness, her children, Zak and Emily Hudson, said in a statement released through family spokeswoman Liza Cranis. “The passing of our […]
Cenlar FSB, the second-largest mortgage servicer and largest sub-servicer in the U.S., has appointed D. James ‘Jim’ Daras as its CEO and president. Daras’ professional career spans more than four decades in the banking and mortgage banking industry. His specializations include risk management, banking and corporate finance functions, bank restructuring, company start-ups and venture capital […]
A group of 11 former employees are accusing AmeriSave Mortgage Corp. in a new lawsuit of failing to pay the wages, bonuses and commissions that were agreed to when they were hired by the company. The group also alleges that the company conducted a defamatory campaign against them after their layoffs in July 2022. According […]
Ukraine official said Russian presence at Games would constitute giving the country ‘a platform to promote genocide’ details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
We are off and going now, as seasonality has kicked into full gear with the purchase application data. And, so far, it’s been a good start to the year. Here’s the housing market rundown for the last week: Purchase application data showed positive weekly growth again — and the bounce from the bottom is more […]
Barrett Strong, one of Motown’s founding artists and most gifted songwriters who sang lead on the company’s breakthrough single “Money (That’s What I Want)” and later collaborated with Norman Whitfield on such classics as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “War” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” has died. He was 81. His death was […]
“Avatar: The Way of Water” claimed the No. 1 spot on the domestic box office charts for the seventh weekend in a row with an additional $15.7 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. It was a quiet weekend overall, notable mostly for the Hindi language blockbuster “Pathaan” that broke into the top five and […]
Screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard, who skillfully adapted stories of historical Black figures in “Remember the Titans” starring Denzel Washington, “Ali” with Will Smith and “Harriet” with Cynthia Erivo, has died. He was 70. Howard died Friday at his home in Miami after a brief illness, according to a statement from publicist Jeff Sanderson. Howard was […]
The warm glow of Svalbard Kirke’s lights gleams on the snow-covered mountain slope from where the church stands like a beacon over this remote Norwegian Arctic village, cloaked in the polar night’s constant darkness. A century after it was founded to minister to the coal miners who settled Longyearbyen, the Lutheran house of faith is […]
Screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard, who skillfully adapted stories of historical Black figures in “Remember the Titans” starring Denzel Washington, “Ali” with Will Smith and “Harriet” with Cynthia Erivo, has died. He was 70. Howard died Friday at his home in Miami after a brief illness, according to a statement from publicist Jeff Sanderson. Howard was […]
Most retail lenders are desperately seeking high producing loan originators to make up for the losses that occurred in 2022. The majority of lenders easily lost half of the volume last year that they originated in 2021, and LOs who have their own databases to tap into are highly sought after. California-based retail lender JVM […]
Top-producing loan officer Dave Medina and his team at the Temecula, California-based branch have left Fairway Independent Mortgage to join Movement Mortgage. The move, which marks the start of Movement’s branch partnership strategy, comes four months after the South Carolina-based lender hired two top executives away from Fairway. “In the 20 years that I’ve been […]
The rapidly cooling housing market in 2022 was not kind to Big Four title insurer Old Republic. While the century-old firm, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023, did generate net income for both the fourth quarter of 2022 as well as for the year as a whole, it was down substantially last year. […]
Pending home sales ended 2022 on a positive note. After six consecutive months of declines, the Pending Home Sales Index rose 2.5% month over month in December to a reading of 76.9, according to data released Friday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). “This recent low point in home sales activity is likely over,” Lawrence […]
What is happening with homebuilders and the new home sales sector as we head into the spring housing market? We have had some conflicting data points recently. On the one hand, cancelation rates have been rising. On the other hand, mortgage rates have gone down more than 1% since Oct. 20, 2022. The builders’ stock […]
Two months after receiving the Federal Reserve’s approval to merge with New York Community Bank, Michigan-based Flagstar Bank is reducing its footprint in the retail channel and laying off hundreds of staffers, according to laid off employees. “I just got news this morning that the company is scrapping retail outside of where the bank footprint […]
California-based lender American Pacific Mortgage (APM) announced an asset purchase agreement with retail lender Lend Smart Mortgage on Thursday in its latest move to drum up production across the country. APM bought assets that include about 25 branches from the Minnesota retail lender Lend Smart. APM also acquired a database of referral partners as well […]
Black Knight recently added the Collections solutions to its suite of solutions as a way for servicers to keep customers in their homes during periods of financial hardship. The Collections solutions are geared toward helping to prevent foreclosure and late-stage default by making qualified assistance options timelier and more accessible to both homeowners and servicers, […]
An excavation team in Egypt has unearthed an ancient tomb containing a mummy believed to be 4,300 years old. It is among dozens of artifacts recently discovered. After a year-long excavation, renowned archaeologist Zahi Hawass announced the findings at Gisr al-Mudir, also known as the Great Enclosure, one of the oldest known stone structures in […]
Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the resolution of an investigation into whether Troy University in Alabama responded to a student’s requests for pregnancy-related adjustments during the 2020-21 school year in a manner that complied with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received […]
Affordability has improved in the mortgage market since December, thanks to declines in mortgage rates and a slowdown in home price appreciation. Here’s a spoiler: Industry experts believe this trend will continue for months, signaling that a good spring is ahead. “It’s been the rise in prices [and] interest rates that have constrained affordability,” Doug […]
New home sales increased in December — a sign that new residential sales have continued to rebound in recent months. Last month, new home sales increased by 2.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 616,000, according to data published by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). But […]
Loan quality and audit services company QC Ally appointed Nicole Booth as its chief executive officer and Melissa Peregord as its new chief growth officer. Booth served as the company’s chief marketing officer prior to this announcement. She joined the company last July. “I’ve spent the past seven months diving head-first into understanding the importance […]
The literary world of Indian-administered Kashmir is mourning the death of a beloved poet and champion of the Kashmiri language, which he is largely credited with rescuing from obscurity. Abdur Rehman Rahi, an acclaimed writer and professor of literature who died earlier this month at age 97, is being hailed as a living testament to […]
Lloyd Morrisett, the co-creator of the beloved children’s education TV series Sesame Street, which uses empathy and fuzzy monsters like Abby Cadabby, Elmo and Cookie Monster to charm and teach generations around the world, has died. He was 93. Morrisett’s death was announced Monday by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit he helped establish under the name […]
Chicago-based mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate launched a new program this week that will provide up to $8,000 in assistance to potential first-time homebuyers from underserved communities. The initiative, called the Special Purpose Credit Program, aims to help homebuyers with down payments, deposit minimums, and move-in repair and maintenance costs. “This program helps tear down these […]
Real estate valuation technology company Clear Capital has conducted a new round of layoffs as part of a company restructuring plan. The firm announced on Wednesday that it was eliminating about 24% of its workforce, or over 250 jobs, as it “folds up” departments and consolidates teams amid a tough housing market. Per the firm, […]
As mortgage rates continue to decline, Chad Earnest’s mantra with his referral partners in 2023 is “no buyer left behind.” The Montgomery, Texas-based area manager, who moved from AmeriSave Mortgage Corporation to Cardinal Financial Company in November, launched in mid-2022 a platform to help their referral partners succeed. He makes co-marketing investments and helps partners with their databases by […]
Embattled digital lender Better.com launched a program that will allow customers to apply for a mortgage, get pre-approved, lock their rate and receive a mortgage commitment letter within 24 hours. The official rollout of the program, dubbed “One Day Mortgage,” comes after Better.com launched it in beta to a small segment of its customers in […]
About 25 people from loanDepot’s top producing team have joined boutique lender Revolution Mortgage to reunite with their former team lead. Roughly half of the team led by Stacy Chevalier, former area manager covering parts of the states in Washington and Idaho at loanDepot, made the transition as of Tuesday, Chevalier said in an interview […]
Days after India blocked a BBC documentary that examines Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role during 2002 anti-Muslim riots and banned people from sharing it online, authorities are scrambling to halt screenings of the film at colleges and universities and restrict clips of it on social media. Critics decry the move by as an assault on […]
Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis said during an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops […]
To root out racial bias in the U.S. appraisal system, some experts say there’s no point in nibbling at the edges. Instead, they suggest tearing the system down and starting fresh. “I think not many people understand how this byzantine system works,” Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director, said Tuesday. Chopra spoke […]
United Wholesale Mortgage‘s (UWM) aggressive moves to gain an edge on the competition tend to provoke controversy. The ‘ultimatum’ it imposed two years ago effectively prohibited broker partners from also doing business with two of UWM’s rivals. It quickly prompted antitrust lawsuits. The lender’s price reduction by 50 to 100 basis points across all its […]
In a major address, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona laid out his vision for the direction the agency will follow in 2023 to promote academic excellence, improve learning conditions, and prepare our students for a world where global engagement is critical to our nation’s standing. In his address Secretary Cardona remarked that “Raise the […]
Rocket Companies eliminated about 50 positions last week amid the industry rightsizing with layoffs in the higher-rate environment. “As is common practice in all companies, Rocket regularly looks at the priorities of the business and what roles are needed to achieve those goals,” Aaran Emerson, a Rocket spokesperson, said in a statement. The eliminated positions […]
Thank you to everyone, here and on the livestream, for joining us today for an important conversation on what it will take to Raise the Bar in education – and Lead the World – in three key areas: academic excellence, boldly improving learning conditions, and preparing our students for a world of global competitiveness. Achieving […]
The multiverse-skipping sci-fi indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led nominations to the 95th Academy Awards as Hollywood heaped honors on big-screen spectacles like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” a year after a streaming service won best picture for the first time. Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan’s “Everything Everywhere All […]
California lender New American Funding has partnered with EasyKnock, a New York startup that buys homes and rents them back to sellers, allowing clients to access their home equity through non-traditional means. About a quarter of American homeowners are unable to access the equity in their homes because of strict lending standards, and EasyKnock said […]
Real estate technology company Doma Holdings, Inc. partnered with digital payment software-as-a-service platform paymints.io, the company announced last week. Title and closing firms use paymints.io to allow homebuyers deposit their earnest money digitally and directly from their checking account. The aim of the partnership is to reduce the risk of wire fraud by adding paymints.io […]