It’s been just over a week since Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to start preparing for the use of cryptocurrency in single-family mortgages. With limited guidance beyond the FHFA’s directive, mortgage originators and industry experts are working to assess how cryptocurrency could be applied to mortgages. […]
Cornerstone Capital Bank and Tresidio Homes on Thursday announced the launch of Table Rock Mortgage, a joint venture mortgage brokerage. The new Idaho-licensed brokerage will provide mortgage services to local homebuyers “with goals of promoting affordability and streamlining the mortgage process for homebuyers,” according to press release from the companies. “This joint venture brings together […]
The high mortgage rates that have stymied the broader housing market continue to put a lid on reverse mortgage activity too. According to the June report from Reverse Mortgage Insight, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements dropped to 2,244 loans, down 2.3% compared to May and part of a sinking trend that resumed after an […]
Just a week ago, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte issued a directive for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin preparing their businesses for the use of cryptocurrency in single-family mortgages. In response, originators are weighing the potential hurdles for offering crypto-backed loans. Despite crypto’s promise, its extreme volatility poses risks, including […]
Florida-based lender Foundation Mortgage announced on Wednesday the launch of its Stars, Stripes & Submissions Broker Challenge — a limited-time pricing incentive for July that was created to reward brokers for delivering funded loans in June. The promotion offers mortgage brokers the chance to earn exclusive pricing credits on eligible nonqualified mortgages (non-QMs) that are […]
Truv, a provider of direct-to-source income, employment and asset verifications, on Wednesday announced a strategic integration with Tidalwave, an AI-powered mortgage point-of-sale platform. Per a press release from Truv, the integration “embeds Truv’s advanced verification capabilities directly into Tidalwave’s mortgage application flow,” establishing a seamless verification process that reduces preapproval times and improves conversion rates. […]
Lower mortgage rates drove a 2.7% increase in mortgage applications from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 27, 2025. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 13% compared with the previous week. Last week’s results included an adjustment for the […]
President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is headed back to the House for reconciliation after passing the Senate with a tiebreaking vote from Vice President JD Vance. The 1,116-page multitrillion-dollar bill contains some key changes for older Americans, including a senior bonus tax deduction that would offset taxes on Social Security. But the bill also […]
Mortgage rates have eased slightly in the past week, a welcome sign for housing professionals and their clients. With the summer home-buying season in full swing, the question is whether they’re at a low enough level to keep activity flowing through the Labor Day weekend. On Tuesday, data at HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed that […]
Argyle, a service provider automating income and employment verifications, recently announced the availability of verification of assets (VOA) powered by Mastercard’s open finance technology. A release from Argyle says that the expanded offering allows lenders to confirm borrowers’ balances, cash-to-close and cash-flow history alongside income and employment. By combining direct-source banking data from Mastercard’s U.S. […]
Rocket Companies announced on Tuesday the completion of its acquisition of Redfin after Rocket announced in March it agreed to purchase the digital real estate brokerage in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.75 billion in equity. The transaction faced no opposition from antitrust regulators and received approval from Redfin shareholders on June 4. “I’ve used […]
Dark Matter Technologies announced on Tuesday that it has established an integration with the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP), a single portal jointly maintained by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to a release from Dark Matter, the expansion positions the mortgage technology company as an early adopter of the technology required to support the […]
The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) on Monday issued a letter of support for the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA)’s white paper on LO compensation reform. CHLA‘s white paper, released last week, urged Congress to roll back the loan originator compensation rule to focus on its original purpose — a ban on yield […]
Point2Homes analyzed the 75 largest U.S. metro areas and found that renting is now more common among older adults than it was for the same age group 10 years ago. Over the past decade, a growing number of older adults have chosen to forgo the responsibilities of homeownership — like property taxes and maintenance — […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) on Monday announced that Allen Beydoun is taking the reins as the company’s first chief client officer. In his new role, Beydoun will be responsible for “aligning strategic initiatives with client needs, ensuring that the voice of the client remains central to every decision the company makes while elevating the client […]
In a market where every deal counts, manual income verification is the silent killer of commissions. You know the scenario: the borrower is solid, the property appraises and everything looks good—until income verification turns into a bottleneck. Suddenly, you’re chasing paystubs, waiting on HR reps who don’t call back and explaining delays to a frustrated […]
In an era where technology often threatens to overshadow human roles, Better Mortgage is charting a different course. By developing in-house AI tools designed to complement rather than replace human expertise, the company is enhancing the mortgage experience for both borrowers and loan officers. Already, its AI Loan Agent, Betsy, handles over 125,000 customer interactions […]
It’s been a strange season for the housing market, caught somewhere between post-pandemic exhaustion and pre-election caution. And yet, in the quiet shuffles of financial markets and whispered policy pivots in Washington, signs are emerging that something may be stirring beneath the surface. Just last week, mortgage rates unexpectedly improved by as much as 0.25%, […]
Welcome back to Tech Pulse — HousingWire‘s weekly series rounding up the latest in technology — including tools, integrations and trends that impact mortgage and real estate. Here’s what happened this week: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac jointly create U.S. Financial Technology Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have launched U.S. Financial Technology LLC to replace Common Securitization Solutions. The […]
As part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to cut regulatory burdens, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Friday announced the rescission of 12 policies related to appraisal protocols, underwriter employment, flood risk management and other areas. Scott Turner, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which oversees the FHA, […]
Young Americans are deciding to have fewer children than previous generations — or none at all — and it’s causing the overall population to age. New population estimates published this week by the U.S. Census Bureau put the trend in blunt terms, as the number of people in older age brackets are increasing rapidly, while […]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped to prevent 60,592 foreclosures through various actions in the first quarter of 2025. Since being placed under federal conservatorship in September 2008, they’ve completed more than 7.1 million foreclosure prevention actions. That’s according to the newest Foreclosure Prevention, Refinance and Federal Property Manager’s Report released Thursday by the Federal […]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Thursday announced the creation of U.S. Financial Technology LLC (U.S. Fin Tech) to take over their jointly shared legacy company, Common Securitization Solutions (CSS). U.S. Fin Tech’s name “better reflects its critical role in providing advanced, innovative technology, and business solutions for the Enterprises,” according to the announcement. It […]
In a social post on X on Thursday, FHFA Director Bill Pulte said a fired Freddie Mac employee who was arrested in March for threatening to blow up the Freddie Mac building in McLean, Virginia has continued to contact him. It’s Pulte’s first public statement on the incident since the woman’s arrest. Pulte posted: “Recently, […]
Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler recently sat down with Joe Trapani, chief technology officer at Moder, to talk about how he approaches problem solving with tech, the shininess of gen AI and why it’s probably smart to keep humans in the loop for some tasks. Moder was recognized as a 2025 HousingWire Tech100 winner. This […]
The appraisal industry shed no tears when the Trump administration sought to undo the Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) Interagency Taskforce, the federal effort to investigate racial bias in appraisals implemented by former President Joe Biden. But that doesn’t mean appraisers have seen the end of federal regulation and litigation around appraisals, or the […]
Analysts, economists and mortgage professionals are coining this quarter’s activity as one of the most “calm” periods for mortgage rates in recent memory. It follows nearly three years of borrowers being sidelined by higher rates or “stuck” in loans with historically low rates. BTIG analysts said Wednesday that despite Treasury volatility in April, mortgage rates […]
In May, Longbridge Financial debuted Platinum Preserve, a new proprietary reverse mortgage product that aims to help borrowers preserve home equity for their heirs. RMD spoke to Longbridge co-founder Melissa Macerato about the product’s origins, how industry pros have received it thus far, and how it differs from other Platinum line products. The interview with Macerato, the […]
Cotality released its National Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index for the first quarter of 2025, revealing that fraud risk is up 7.3% year over year while dropping slightly from the last three months of 2024 The largest year-over-year increase in Q1 2025, according to Cotality, was in the transaction risk category, which rose 4.6%. This […]
Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California — the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee — along with with fellow Democrats Al Green, Sylvia Garcia and Ayanna Pressley, on Thursday announced the reintroduction of the Downpayment Toward Equity Act. The bill would provide $100 billion in direct assistance to help first-time, first-generation homebuyers purchase their […]
The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) is proposing that the U.S. Congress scale back the loan originator compensation rule to its original intent: prohibiting yield spread premiums, an abusive practice from the 2008 financial crisis in which lenders paid brokers more to steer borrowers into higher-rate loans. The proposal comes as the Consumer Financial […]
Rocket Close and Rocket Pro have taken a major step forward by integrating the two platforms into a single, more efficient platform, designed to simplify the closing process and enhance the broker experience. Under the leadership of Matt Brown — Rocket’s Executive Vice President, Sales and Revenue Strategy, with a background in tech, finance, and […]
During a second straight day of testimony on Capitol Hill, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is reviewing the Basel III rules (also known as the “Basel Endgame”), which would significantly increase bank capital requirements and could impact the mortgage industry, if implemented. Powell’s statement comes as the Fed prepares to vote […]
Innovation in housing often comes down to one thing: execution. While companies continue to invest in technology, automation and consumer tools, realizing the full value of those investments remains a challenge. In honor of the 2025 nomination period for HousingWire Insiders, we asked past honorees where they see the most opportunity for improvement in the […]
New York-based Ocrulus, which offers mortgage document automation technology to speed credit decisions, announced Wednesday that it has hired Nadia Aziz as its general manager of mortgage. The company said in a press release that mortgage is its fastest-growing business segment. Ocrulus has expanded its mortgage footprint over the past 18 months by adding new […]
Kevin Wall, the co-president of First American Title, has left the company unexpectedly, according to a report from Inside Mortgage Finance. The departure was confirmed on Wednesday by a spokesperson for parent company First American Financial Corp., although no reason was given for his exit. Wall had been with the title underwriter for more than […]
Compass, the nation’s largest real estate brokerage by sales volume, is looking to better serve senior citizens. With that intention, the firm recently introduced Compass Plus, a division that aims to “bridge the gap between older adults and essential real estate and adjacent services such as home health, move management, and estate planning.” The division […]
Amid what analysts and economists have described as one of the most ‘calm’ periods for mortgage rates in recent memory, mortgage applications increased 1.1% for the week ending June 20, according to Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data released on Wednesday. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 10% compared with the previous week. “The combination […]
Lenders, take note. June is National Homeownership Month, and if you’re still treating down payment assistance (DPA) like some fringe program, you’re about to get left behind. The housing market isn’t just shifting—it’s being dismantled and rebuilt in real time. Younger buyers are bypassing the legacy playbooks. They’re digitally native, financially savvy, and actively searching […]
Soaring prices and increasingly strained affordability have made things difficult for prospective buyers shopping for their first home. But for households that own their home already, rising prices have been a wealth bonanza. That’s evident in data from the annual State of the Nation’s Housing Report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), […]
Williston Financial Group (WFG) announced the release of a new digital tool through subsidiary Volly that aims to enhance collaboration between mortgage loan officers and real estate agents. The new feature, known as Volly Network Connections, is part of the company’s broader marketing suite and offers loan officers real-time notifications about partner real estate listings. […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) cut short a five-year agreement with Bank of America over the bank’s alleged submissions of false mortgage data. The agreement was supposed to be in place through at least November 2028. In a filing made public Monday, the CFPB said the bank “fulfilled the obligations” of the agreement signed in November 2023, […]
Cenlar FSB, the second-largest U.S. subservicer, will close its facility in O’Fallon, Missouri, resulting in the termination of 93 employees, according to documents sent to state officials. The layoffs will affect a range of roles, including 13 loss mitigation advocates, 11 MSP collections professionals and ten customer assistance specialists. Staff across all levels — including […]
Rocket Mortgage, the home lending arm of Rocket Companies, announced Tuesday it will now offer bridge loans, a short-term financing option that helps homeowners tap into their equity while selling their current property. These loans are designed to help buyers cover down payments or closing costs on a new home before finalizing the sale of […]
Traditional QC risks are declining, but lenders now face mounting exposures in fraud, insurance gaps and compliance volatility. The mortgage industry’s quality control risk landscape is shifting dramatically. Traditional defect categories such as income and employment and credit are seeing historic declines, while once-marginal issues like insurance gaps and fraud are now taking center stage. […]