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Brian McKinney, formerly the CEO of Benchmark Mortgage (a dba of Ark-La-Tex Financial Services), has joined PrimeLending in a newly created executive position. McKinney, who’s been CEO of Benchmark since 2016, will serve as executive vice president for growth and strategic development at PrimeLending. He’s tasked with exploring new revenue opportunities and driving company growth. […]

In the third quarter of 2024, Bank of America (BofA) saw a decline in mortgage production, despite a drop in interest rates that benefited competitors like Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Citi.  BofA announced on Tuesday that it posted $5.3 billion in first-lien mortgage volume from July to September, a 7% decline from the $5.7 […]

West Palm Beach, Florida-based Onity Group has struck a deal to acquire all assets of Mortgage Asset Management (MAM), which are estimated at a net value of $55 million, the company announced on Friday. The parties entered into an agreement on Oct. 9. The deal includes Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) and mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) […]

Fannie Mae on Tuesday announced enhancements to its Expanded Housing Choice (EHC) initiative, opening it up to all jurisdictions without source-of-income protections. The government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) said the Housing Choice Voucher program, which launched in 2022, assists very low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities in being able to afford stable and quality housing in […]

CoreLogic’s risk index rose 8.3% in the past year, driven by more cases of identity and transaction fraud New data shows that cases of fraud among mortgage applicants is on the rise — an eye-raising trend as demand from borrowers remains relatively quiet. The CoreLogic Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index jumped by 8.3% year over […]

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday a $6.5 million agreement with Citadel Federal Credit Union to settle allegations of lending discrimination in certain neighborhoods of Philadelphia with majority Black and Hispanic populations. This is the DOJ’s first redlining settlement involving a credit union. The sector includes 4,600 financial institutions across America, which […]

Mortgage business has increased recently for Wells Fargo head Charlie Scharf, left, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, but will it last? JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are starting to feel the effects of the Federal Reserve’s 50-basis-point rate cut in September on their mortgage businesses. On Friday, both banks reported an uptick in home […]

Mortgage solutions provider Floify is now going to go toe-to-toe with Equifax‘s oft-maligned workplace verification provider The Work Number, which has been criticized by mortgage lenders and regulators for years of cost increases. Floify is the first point-of-sale system (POS) to introduce a native electronic verification of income and employment service, Sofia Rossato, the president […]

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Julia Gordon and David Berenbaum, deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Housing Counseling at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), described a need for more reverse mortgage comprehension during an interview at this year’s National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Annual Meeting and Expo in San […]

What do you get when you combine home renovation specialists with a lender that can provide funds in short order? The new partnership between HouseAmp and Renovation Sells. The technology companies will tether their respective services with the goal of streamlining the process of getting a home ready for sale. The Renovation Sells platform focuses […]

Ongoing supply and affordability challenges in the housing market have frustrated many homeowners who have looked to trade up or relocate for various reasons. In response, some consumers have turned to renovation projects to meet their needs. According to survey data released this week by St. Louis-based Clever Real Estate, 63% of homeowners would rather […]

Agents and LOs are grasping with heavily damaged housing markets in the Southeast. ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.jpg?w=1024″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button” src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.jpg?w=1024″ alt=”housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.” class=”wp-image-486254″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.jpg 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Agents and LOs are grappling with heavily damaged housing markets in the Southeast. Housing markets in the Southeast are reeling from […]

Real estate data provider CoreLogic is unveiling a new artificial intelligence-powered property and location intelligence platform. The California-based company is launching the Araya platform, according to an announcement on Tuesday. Through Araya, CoreLogic will give customers access to the data and analytics of nearly all U.S. properties on one platform. The platform is intended for […]

Similar to past experiences, Hurricane Helene may lead to 5% of mortgage borrowers in affected areas becoming delinquent but eventually self-curing over the next 12 months, according to a Bank of America (BofA) analysis. The hurricane, which made landfall in Florida in late September, also impacted parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. […]

If there was any doubt that the Federal Reserve’s half-point interest rate cut was the right move, those doubts are fading, and there’s reason to support another cut in the coming months. That’s because the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September fell by 0.1 percentage points compared to August and […]

“Rules of the Game,” a popular interactive session from past annual meetings of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), returned in 2024 to the San Diego event that took place at the end of September. Hosted by reverse mortgage educators Dan Hultquist and Jim McMinn, the pair aimed to once again point out how […]

The home insurance marketplace has been facing a reckoning. The challenges that higher costs place on carriers, regulators, lenders and consumers has been well documented this year, and the acceleration of extreme weather events has only made things worse.  The arrival of Hurricane Helene late last month threatens to exacerbate the situation in the states […]

After reaching their highest level since July 2022, mortgage applications have declined for two straight weeks, counteracting some recent positive signs for a still-sputtering housing industry. According to weekly data released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), applications shrank 5.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending Oct. 4. This included a […]

In a recent episode of “The Loan Officer Podcast,“ hosts Dustin Owen and John Coleman sit down to expose common mortgage industry myths that can impact everyone from the media to recruiters and branch managers. To start the episode, Owen dives into media misconceptions concerning the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts and their impacts on […]

Mr. Cooper Group has made some changes to its technology leadership, led by the promotion of Sridhar Sharma to the roles of executive vice president and chief innovation and digital officer, the company announced on Wednesday.  Sharma has been the company’s chief information officer for the past decade, leading the development of Pyro AI, the […]

Mortgage tech firm Candor Technology has expanded its Loan Engineering System (LES) to include Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. The company now fully automates underwriting decisions for FHA loans — minus collateral – and also offers a warranty on income calculations and cleared conditions for funded FHA loans. “There is no other automated underwriting technology […]

Ginnie Mae has taken a far more active role in the reverse mortgage industry over the past two years, stemming from the failure of a major industry lender that threatened liquidity for other major players in the space. The government-owned company has long overseen the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)-backed Securities (HMBS) program, through which […]

A panel of experts with the Yale School of Medicine this week offered tips for aging in place, giving service to both physical health while addressing the social and emotional well-being of older people who seek to stay in their homes as they get older. Research from multiple sources has shown that older people have […]

After a lengthy decline precipitated by lower inflation, a cooling labor market and hints of a Federal Reserve policy change, mortgage rates appear to have bottomed out for now. According to HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center, the average 30-year conforming fixed rate dropped to 6.23% on Sept. 27. That was the lowest figure of the year, […]

Despite 2024 being a challenging year for sales volume, the reverse mortgage industry is still encouraged by the engagement of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on matters related to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program, as well as attention to back-end loan issues from Ginnie Mae. This feedback came from a panel discussion of […]

Despite additional challenges that may come with caring for an older person afflicted with dementia, both patients and their caregivers would prefer to age in place within the home of the patient. Both parties cite a desire to preserve the patient’s independence, and to avoid both concerning stories of congregate care facilities and the guilt […]

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Monday announced the launch of a new initiative involving 12 other corporate stakeholders. The entities will seek to find potential solutions for closing the racial homeownership gap. The new initiative comes in the form of a group called the “CONVERGENCE Collaborative,” which is a “coordinated effort to identify and […]

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has announced two promotions within its leadership team. The trade group named Wendy Penn as vice president of affordable housing initiatives and Amber Lawrence as vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Penn and Lawrence join 12 other women on MBA’s executive leadership team. The association praised both executives […]

Consumer confidence toward purchasing a home increased in September to its highest level in more than two years due to the expectation of lower mortgage rates, according to Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI).   But that’s only an early sign that the market is shifting. Due to the expectation of rising home prices in […]

We are seeing tremendous transformation within the loss mitigation space. Remedies for distressed borrowers previously limited to bankruptcy relief have seen significant expansion through the creation of FHFA, Dodd-Frank, and the CFPB. Hardships have been expanded to include weather disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, we have seen an extension and expansion of loss […]

Dan Hanson of loanDepot speaks during a panel discussion at the HousingWire IMB Summit in Dallas on Oct. 1. (Photo courtesy of Willie & Kim Photography) Mortgage industry leaders expect more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2025, fueled by declining interest rates and renewed market confidence after two years of what they describe as “modest […]

In the modern mortgage landscape, quality control (QC) stands as a critical pillar supporting the industry’s integrity and stability. As market conditions fluctuate and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, lenders must adopt a comprehensive approach to QC that goes beyond compliance checkboxes. Consolidated Analytics’ Ed Gerding offers recommended strategies and best practices to elevate lenders’ QC programs […]