ROME — Pope Francis continued his recovery from double pneumonia Sunday after doctors reported some positive news: After more than three weeks in the hospital, the 88-year-old pope is responding well to treatment and has shown a “gradual, slight improvement” in recent days. In the early Sunday update, the Vatican said Francis was resting after a […]
ASHBOURNE, ENGLAND — This ancient form of football has a rule forbidding players from murdering each other. Every year, thousands of people descend on a small town in the English countryside to watch a two-day game of mass street football that, to the casual observer, could easily be mistaken for a riot. This is Royal Shrovetide […]
In this week’s episode of the PowerHouse podcast, HousingWire President Diego Sanchez chats with Jason Bressler, chief technology officer at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM). During the conversation, the duo discuss UWM’s recent partnership with Sphere LOS while exploring artificial intelligence and upcoming UWM announcements in 2025. This interview is edited for length and clarity. To […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was appointing Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo to the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In February, weeks after taking office, Trump fired the center’s president, replaced the board of trustees and named himself chairman […]
SRINAGAR, INDIA — Viral social media posts threw cat lovers in Indian-controlled Kashmir into a tizzy. Panic spread and local veterinarians saw a surge in pet owners coming in with their cats — all because of posts that went viral on social media. It began with a warning in January from veterinarians in the disputed Himalayan […]
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO — Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman was in an advanced state of Alzheimer’s and died of heart disease and other factors likely days after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of a rare virus spread by mice, according to autopsy results released Friday in New Mexico. Hackman, 95, Arakawa, 64, and one of their […]
Jet HomeLoans, the mortgage arm of publicly traded homebuilder Dream Finders Homes, has acquired Cherry Creek Mortgage LLC. The deal, which closed on March 4, should provide Jet HomeLoans with greater secondary execution it can use to help homebuyers with affordability, an executive told HousingWire. Cherry Creek’s salesforce was acquired by Guild Mortgage in March […]
A lawsuit over allegedly deceptive and misleading advertising practices between two of the reverse mortgage industry’s leading players saw a new development this week. Mutual of Omaha Mortgage amended its counterclaim that alleges deceptive advertising practices against Longbridge Financial. In a suit originally brought by Longbridge in September 2024, Mutual of Omaha responded in January […]
Older Americans are often targets of financial scams by bad actors, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) wants to see her state’s Legislature address it more directly. Hochul is seeking to mandate specialized training for bank tellers and other banking professionals in New York to identify and stop instances of elder financial abuse before […]
JOHANNESBURG — A new play about anti-apartheid icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela seeks to highlight the struggles of Black women in South Africa who had to wait years for their husbands’ return from exile, prison or faraway work during decades of white minority rule. The play about the late former wife of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first Black […]
JERUSALEM — In the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, about 90,000 Palestinians prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City under tight security by Israeli forces. Thousands made their way from the West Bank into Jerusalem after Israel allowed men over 55 and women over 50 to enter from […]
Rocket Mortgage is shutting down its Canadian operations as the company refocuses on its core U.S. business, with plans to complete the exit by June 27, the Detroit-based lender announced Thursday. The move will reportedly not affect Rocket’s other Canadian ventures, including Lendesk in Vancouver and Rocket Innovation Studio in Windsor, Ontario. “We want to […]
Every Sunday, the voices of a Ukrainian musical ensemble fill a home in a quiet suburb of Washington. For this group, music is much more than just art: It’s an expression of solidarity. Maxim Adams has the story. Camera: Artyom Kokhan details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Reverse mortgage industry performance metrics continued their 2025 softness on the basis of endorsement volume and securities issuance, February data shows. Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements and HECM-backed securities (HMBS) issuance saw declines in February, although the number of endorsements managed to come in higher for the month of February in each of the […]
loanDepot founder and controlling shareholder Anthony Hsieh is returning to an operational role at the California-based mortgage lender and CEO Frank Martell is departing. In an announcement made Thursday, loanDepot said Hsieh, the company’s chairman of the board, has returned as executive chairman of mortgage operations. Martell will step down from his current posts as […]
TransUnion has expanded its partnership with Truework to provide mortgage lenders with broader access to income and employment verification data. The collaboration integrates Truework’s verification system into TransUnion’s advanced programming interface (API), allowing lenders to verify borrower income and employment through multiple methods. The mortgage addition follows similar integrations for rental screening and auto lending. […]
As Los Angeles residents continue to pick up the pieces following January’s devastating wildfires, an additional reprieve is coming from federal housing agencies. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Thursday announced that a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions for people impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles County will be extended for another 90 days. […]
Union Home Mortgage (UHM) is suing nine former employees on claims they breached several agreements, including non-compete agreements. The Feb. 17 complaint, which is filed at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, explains that eight managers and one loan officer, based on the East Coast, all transitioned to American Pacific […]
Volatile mortgage loan volume and profits in today’s real estate market are causing lenders to seek out ways to reduce expenses. Most understand that fee cures are a cost of doing business. But, their recurring rate and effect on profit margins remain largely unmeasured due to a lack of published data. ICE Mortgage Technology conducted […]
LOS ANGELES — The day after her house burned down, Lara Ganz sent a group message to the youth theater troupe she runs: They would not let the Los Angeles firestorm stop their upcoming show. “So many of our castmates have lost everything,” wrote Ganz, the director of youth theater at a beloved playhouse in the […]
As the Trump administration continues to impose cuts to staff and offices across the federal government, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program — which handles the vast majority of reverse mortgage business in the U.S. — could be impacted. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development […]
The newest weekly mortgage applications survey data, released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) included the lowest mortgage rates in months, which created a stir in the number of applications. According to the MBA, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) share of the market dipped to 6.42%, while refinance activity posted its fastest pace since […]
Leading mortgage technology provider Uplist recently announced a new integration with fellow tech firm Polly. This move grants loan officers access to real-time insights that are designed to improve borrower assistance and engagement. Loan officers on the Uplist platform can now leverage Polly’s product and pricing engine (PPE) to more easily pursue refinance opportunities. LOs […]
PennyMac Financial Services, one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders and servicers, on Wednesday announced a partnership that will give the company a high level of visibility during the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. California-based Pennymac will be the official mortgage supporter of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams at the 2028 Olympics. In […]
Mortgage applications increased 20.4% from one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis as buyers pounced on lower rates, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Feb. 28, 2025. On an unadjusted basis, applications increased 22% compared with the previous week. The refinance index increased […]
A World Economic Forum report says it will take roughly 130 years for the world to reach full gender parity, in which women and men contribute equally to all dimensions of life. In Colorado, Svitlana Prystynska has the story of two women making inroads. (Videographer: Svitlana Prystynska, Video editor: Oksana Babenkova) details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal […]
During last month’s Super Bowl broadcast, Rocket Companies unveiled its “Own the Dream” campaign, which the company describes as a means of redefining homeownership as a pathway to generational wealth rather than just a transaction. The company’s ambitious commercial — which featured John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — was only the first part […]
Shant Banosian, ranked the No. 1 loan originator in the country by volume for at least five years, is assuming the role of president at Rate Mortgage, the company announced Tuesday. Victor Ciardelli will remain the CEO of Rate Companies. Rate, formerly known as Guaranteed Rate before a rebrand in 2024, ranked as No. 8 […]
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and postseason Tuesday night. James surpassed the mark with a 3-pointer early in the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans. James got to 49,999 points Sunday night when […]
Top five reverse mortgage lender Finance of America (FOA) announced on Tuesday the hiring of two new executive leaders to modernize the company’s digital and customer experience strategies. The hires are designed to bolster the company’s efforts to “accelerate its strategy of redefining the reverse mortgage market through digital transformation,” with a particular emphasis on […]
Xactus has become the first technology partner to introduce the FICO Score Mortgage Simulator, a new tool designed to help lenders and borrowers understand how credit decisions impact mortgage eligibility. The simulator, developed by FICO, is the only mortgage industry tool that uses FICO scores and FICO score algorithms. It is now available through verification […]
NEW YORK — The Pritzker Prize, dubbed the “Nobel” for architecture, was awarded Tuesday to China’s Liu Jiakun, who was recognized for designs that celebrate “everyday lives.” “In a global context where architecture is struggling to find adequate responses to fast evolving social and environmental challenges, Liu Jiakun has provided convincing answers that also celebrate the […]
March figures to be a crucial month for gauging consumer interest in the 2025 housing market. The pace of home sales remains near a 30-year low point as home prices and mortgage rates keep potential borrowers in wait-and-see mode. But mortgage rates have posted an unusually large decline in the past week. On Tuesday, HousingWire’s […]
Over the last two months with economic uncertainty, the bond market has responded and the yield for the 10-year treasury has declined by 60 basis points from 4.8% to 4.2%. The 30-year fixed mortgage has followed suit, recently falling as low as 6.75%, the lowest level since mid-December. It’s quite obvious that stubbornly high mortgage […]
A bill that would seek to bolster the disclosures that reverse mortgage lenders make to potential clients in an effort to broaden their understanding of the product inside New York state is getting pushback from industry advocates. They argue that adding to and duplicating the currently required federal and state disclosures about the product run […]
Union Home Mortgage (UHM) on Monday announced its acquisition of Nations Reliable Lending, aka NRL Mortgage. The acquisition of Houston-based NRL will strengthen UHM’s book of business in Texas and southwest Ohio in particular. “Our company lives by the mantra of ‘Promises Kept,’ which not only includes promises to our customers, but to our employee […]
Annual property insurance costs for mortgaged single-family homes rose by a record $276 (or 14%) to $2,290 in 2024, per the latest Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Mortgage Monitor Report released Monday. The report also said that average premiums are now up 61% over the past five years. Locations that saw the largest percentage increases in 2024 […]
Bank7 is expanding its mortgage reach in Oklahoma. The community bank has completed its acquisition of First American Mortgage, Inc., a small mortgage lender and brokerage based in the suburbs of Oklahoma City. Yukon-based First American Mortgage, Inc. founded in 1993 by its president and owner Dale Bogle, has done about $41 million in origination […]
Introduction As part of our ongoing discussion on the concept of movement in the mortgage industry, it is readily apparent that the failure of mortgage companies to pivot or tweak their business models to satisfy changing market and other conditions has resulted in consolidation based on liquidity, buyback, financial and other concerns. Regardless of whether […]
LOS ANGELES — Adrien Brody took home his second leading man Oscar for “The Brutalist,” Mikey Madison took home the best actress statuette and “Anora” was crowned best picture on its way to five awards Sunday. Kieran Culkin won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his work on “A Real Pain” and Zoe Saldaña won […]
LOS ANGELES — “Captain America: Brave New World” kept falling but still hovered above all others at a weak weekend box office. The latest Disney-Marvel offering brought in another $15 million according to studio estimates Sunday, when most of Hollywood’s attention was on the Oscars. The Anthony Mackie-led “Captain America: Brave New World” opened strong at […]
LOS ANGELES — The Academy Awards, the highest honors in the film business, take place on Sunday with no clear frontrunner among “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Conclave” and other movies contending for the prestigious best picture prize. Timothee Chalamet and Demi Moore are vying for their first Oscars at the red-carpet ceremony in Hollywood. The show will […]
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is in a stable condition as he fights double pneumonia in hospital for the 17th day, and is resting having had a peaceful night, the Vatican said on Sunday. The Vatican said on Saturday evening that the 88-year-old pontiff’s condition had stabilized, following an “isolated” breathing crisis a day earlier. “The […]
berlin — Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street and the sourdough starter craze — a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the reluctant star of a children’s television program that accidentally became equally popular with adults. A cult classic in Germany, Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread) […]
LONDON — Singer Charli XCX, whose album Brat inspired a cultural phenomenon last summer, was the big winner at the BRIT Awards, Britain’s pop music honors, in London on Saturday, picking up five prizes. Brat, which inspired fans to film themselves dancing to its tracks and whose lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential […]