A former CrossCountry Mortgage employee accused her immediate superior at a branch in Georgia of sexual harassment and said the mortgage company retaliated against her after she lodged complaints with the human resources department and federal authorities. Christina Nielsen, a former processor, claims that during her employment at CrossCountry, Alpharetta branch manager Steven Bocca subjected […]
SimpleNexus, a homeownership platform developer for loan officers, borrowers, real estate agents, and settlement agents, announced this week a new integration with Empower, the loan origination system (LOS) from Black Knight. This bidirectional integration, available to financial institutions, including independent mortgage banks nationwide, enables real-time sharing of loan application data, milestone updates, and documents. “We […]
Can you pay my bills? That seems to be what Sweden is asking Beyoncé after the star came to town. When the singer launched her global tour last month in Stockholm, tens of thousands of fans from around the world swarmed the Swedish capital. But it’s not all fun and games for the host of […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will look for ways to streamline and simplify mortgage servicing rules in the months ahead following public comment on how to reduce risks for borrowers having trouble with their mortgage payments, according to a blog post from CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. Chopra noted in the post the importance of […]
After a slight decline this week, mortgage rates are expected to stay at their current elevated levels for a while in reaction to the Federal Reserve‘s (Fed) decision to pause its tightening monetary policy in June. In turn, mortgage origination volumes will remain under pressure for the remainder of the year. The Freddie Mac’s Primary […]
The Federal Reserve‘s (Fed) interest rate hike pause will give the housing industry a cautious sigh of relief, but observers are already nervous that the rate-induced pain train won’t come to a complete stop for a while longer and volatility will remain. The Fed’s updated economic projections showed that central bankers forecast that inflation could […]
About 60% of mortgage industry professionals in the U.S. are living paycheck to paycheck, an issue caused primarily by inflation, high interest rates and fewer deals, according to a study released this week by payroll technology company Everee. “The survey of 314 U.S.-based professionals in the mortgage industry with commission-based roles also found that over […]
The Federal Reserve (Fed) maintained the federal funds rate in the 5% to 5.25% range on Wednesday, following 10 consecutive hikes that brought rates to a level never seen since 2007. The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) has decided to pause its rate hikes in June after data that pointed to cooling inflation and the […]
TransUnion announced on Wednesday that it has entered into a commercial agreement with Truework, an income and employment (VOIE) services verification provider, in order to provide comprehensive income verification coverage. Together, Transunion and Truework will offer verifiers an accurate and up-to-date view of consumers’ income and credit data, enabling better insights and more efficient decision-making, […]
From cleaning cow sheds to hitting fastballs, Dennis Kasumba, an 18-year-old catcher from Uganda, is turning his American baseball dream into reality. VOA’s Arzouma Kompaore, caught up with Kasumba in Frederick, Maryland and has this story. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Two straight weeks of mortgage rate declines helped spur consumer demand, according to the latest figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association. For the week that ended June 9, mortgage applications climbed 7.2% from the prior week. It can partly be explained by the 30-year fixed rate decreasing to 6.77% during roughly the same period. “Mortgage […]
Pride Month in the United States includes a parade in Los Angeles that is one of the world’s largest LGBTQ+ events. This year’s celebrations come amid protests over school curricula and consumer boycotts of businesses marketing to LGBTQ+ customers. Genia Dulot has our story from Los Angeles. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this […]
Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who in prose both dense and brittle took readers from the southern Appalachians to the desert Southwest in such novels as The Road, Blood Meridian and All the Pretty Horses, died Tuesday. He was 89. McCarthy died of natural causes in Santa Fe, New Mexico, publisher Alfred A. Knopf […]
The first quarter of 2023 proved a tough market for everyone in the housing industry, including institutional buyers of single-family rental (SFR) properties, but there are signs the second quarter of this year has been far more buoyant for these so-called “Wall Street” players. One clue to that resurgence is a $1.5 billion deal inked recently by Pretium […]
Dallas-based Comerica Bank has decided to “organically exit” the mortgage banker finance business following the tumult in the banking industry that threatened the nation’s top warehouse lenders. The process of exiting the space, which is expected to be largely complete by year-end, is a “strategic action” to enhance Comerica’s core business focus, according to a bank’s presentation […]
A young actress drags a suitcase despondently up a tree-shaded street, as a crew shoots a scene in a film about director Norris Wong’s unachieved dream of becoming a Cantopop lyricist. The movie “The Lyricist Wannabe” is the latest from Wong and part of an unprecedented trend in Hong Kong’s moviemaking history — the growth […]
Inflation was running over 9% last year and the headline inflation growth rate has cooled off a lot recently. Does this mean the Federal Reserve will pivot soon to prevent a recession? I don’t believe they will, but the growth rate of headline inflation falling is good enough for them to pause rate hikes tomorrow. […]
Mortgage credit availability dropped in May, a consequence of a tougher mortgage landscape that has resulted in lender consolidation as well as high rates and limited inventory that has stretched consumer budgets. The monthly Mortgage Credit Availability Index fell by 3.1% to 96.5 last month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. A decline of the […]
Add Guild Mortgage to the list of lenders offering down payment assistance programs in order to court more buyers at a time when mortgage rates remain elevated. The California-based lender rolled out a 1% down payment advantage program this week that allows customers to buy a home with a minimum down payment of 1% of […]
A “final Beatles record”, created with the help of artificial intelligence, will be released later this year, Paul McCartney told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Tuesday. “It was a demo that John (Lennon) had, and that we worked on, and we just finished it up,” said McCartney, who turns 81 next week. The […]
Skyscrapers, bridges and other landmarks in South Korea’s capital will be lit up in purple Monday as the country begins celebrating the 10th anniversary of K-pop band BTS, whose global popularity is a source of national pride. The lights will provide the backdrop for various social media-driven events marking the 2013 debut of the seven-member […]
In accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Fannie Mae has released a new version of its 2022 Stress Test Disclosure, which reflects two hypothetical economic scenarios, including a “severely adverse” scenario. The report was initially released in August 2022, but Fannie Mae announced in November that it had made a […]
The new Modern Art gallery at the Denver Art Museum includes two painters from Ghana. VOA’s Scott Stearns gives us a look. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
HomeZada, a cloud-based platform for digital home management, announced on Monday that it has added Zada, an AI chat assistant, to the suite of apps on its platform. The goal of Zada Home AI Assistant is to assist with the challenges homeowners face when trying to finding answers on remodeling projects, product comparisons, and maintenance […]
The housing market, which is facing challenges with mortgage rates, affordability, prices and inventory, hasn’t been this purchase-dominant in decades, according to Black Knight’s originations market monitor report. Today, nearly nine out of every 10 mortgages originated is a purchase loan, the report notes. Last month, purchase locks accounted for 88% of the market mix, […]
Best musical: “Kimberly Akimbo” Best play: “Leopoldstadt” Best revival of a musical: “Parade” Best revival of a play: “Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog” Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical: Victoria Clark, “Kimberly Akimbo” Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play: Sean Hayes, “Good Night, Oscar” Best […]
After seeing disappointing inventory growth two weeks ago, which I chalked up to the Memorial Day holiday, I was hoping for a big push in active listings last week, but that didn’t happen. And, the recent uptick in mortgage rates to almost 7% slowed purchase application data again. Here’s a quick rundown of the last […]
It was Miles Morales and the Spider-Verse versus the “Transformers” at the box office this weekend and the bots came out on top. “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the seventh entry in the series, took the No. 1 spot in its first weekend in North American theaters with $60.5 million according to studio estimates Sunday. […]
In the heart of Maryland, the Frederick Keys baseball team introduced its newest player last week, one unlike any other the team has seen in its 35-year history. Dennis Kasumba, 18-year-old catcher. From Uganda. Kasuma recently turned what seemed like an impossible dream into a reality, making the leap from the rough fields of his […]
Home prices aren’t crashing, despite what the housing bubble boys are saying. In fact, home prices have firmed up higher recently. The housing bubble boys are a crew that from 2012 to 2019 screamed housing crash every year. They went all in during COVID-19 in 2020, doubled down in 2021 as the forbearance crash bros […]
With mortgage rates still in the upper-mid 6% range, borrowers who received mortgages in May 2023 paid an average of $2,331 a month, up 20% from a year prior. That’s according to the latest origination data from mortgage tech firm Candor Technology. Per data from Candor’s underwriting engine, the average buyer in May 2023 received […]
The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) declared its support this week for a bill introduced by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives that would reinstate the Loan Level Price Adjustment (LLPA) structure that was in place prior to May 1, 2023. Lawmakers proposed similar legislation in April. However, it was more limited in […]
Homebuyers these days are facing much higher costs of ownership compared to a year ago, pushing most to the sidelines. Mortgage rates and home prices are high and inventory is paltry, resulting in a largely frozen housing market. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they are waiting for mortgage rates to drop before entering the market, according […]
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today that the Val Verde Unified School District in California has entered into a resolution agreement to ensure the district’s compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 when responding to notice of sexual harassment of its students by other students […]
Home equity levels have been on the decline over the last year, new data shows. Homeowners with mortgage loans saw their home equity levels decline by an average of 0.7% between the Q1 2022 and Q1 2023, the first decline recorded since early 2012, according to CoreLogic’s Homeowner Equity Report (HER). Homes with mortgages account […]
It’s been a brutal 15-month period for the housing market since the Federal Reserve began escalating its benchmark interest rate in March 2022 to combat rising inflation. Since then, the Fed has bumped rates 10 times, effectively putting the brakes on what had been a hot housing market. As the June 13-14 meeting of the central bank’s Federal […]
Today, the U.S. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: Website of U.S. Department of Education
A 10 basis point decline in mortgage rates last week wasn’t enough to spur consumer demand for mortgages, according to the latest figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association. For the week that ended June 2, mortgage applications fell 1.4% from the prior week. That was despite mortgage rates dropping to 6.81% from 6.91% during roughly […]
High home prices and mortgage rates are continuing to constrain affordability in housing markets nationwide. As a result, consumers’ perceptions on home buying and selling have further diverged. Fannie Mae‘s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) — which tracks the housing market and consumer confidence with selling or buying a home — declined by 1.2 points […]
After the recent extraordinary show of force defending changes to LLPAs by federal regulators and their friends, the forest through the trees risk remains in focus to me. One of the great concerns I have, as both a former regulator and the former head of a major industry trade association, is the downside risk of […]
The acquisition of Roostify by CoreLogic aims to streamline the user experience in the mortgage application process. By incorporating Roostify’s mortgage application software into CoreLogic’s suite of products, clients can benefit from an end-to-end integrated workflow to the loan origination process. This integration will simplify the application process, reducing manual tasks and providing real-time updates […]
Vietnam’s booming food scene was awarded its first-ever Michelin stars Tuesday, with four restaurants selected by the prestigious dining guide. Three eateries in Hanoi — Gia, Tam Vi and Hibana by Koki — and one in Ho Chi Minh City — Anan Saigon — were each awarded one Michelin star. Although there were no stars […]
Rocket Mortgage is looking to hire local loan officers at a time when mortgage rates are high and the industry remains heavily reliant on the purchase market. The Michigan lender, which racked up record profits with its call center model during the pandemic due to a large number of refis, said hiring local LOs isn’t […]
Sprout Mortgage and its ex-workers are close to settling several lawsuits over unpaid wages following the abrupt closure of the non-QM lender 11 months ago. A judge has yet to approve the deal. On June 1, attorneys representing the former employees filed a notice of motion for preliminary settlement approval in a federal district court in […]
Cenlar FSB, the second-largest mortgage servicer and largest subservicer in the U.S., announced on Tuesday the promotion of two leaders in its wholesale bank division. Keith Austin has been promoted to director of asset management and valuation services. With over 25 years of experience in portfolio management, he brings to the role an extensive expertise in default […]