MEXICO CITY — On a Sunday afternoon in Mexico City’s Roma neighborhood, Rosa María Espinosa joins nearly 80 men under a park pavilion to play poleana, a board game requiring mental dexterity that was born in the city’s prisons nearly a century ago. Espinosa blows smoke rings with her cigarette and laughs with the others. Today […]
LONDON — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her family said on social media Saturday. She was 73. Hussey died on Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a statement posted to her Instagram account said. Hussey was 15 when director […]
Reverse mortgage business — and mortgage business generally — is not where people want it to be. That was a repeated idea shared by a group of reverse mortgage professionals when asked to assess what they see as the biggest industry challenges of the year. With Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) volume declining on an […]
David Neylan, president and chief operating officer at retail lender Guild Mortgage, expects the landscape to remain challenging for mortgage companies in 2025. But Neylan plans to capitalize on these challenges. “I know there’s some forecasts for rates to drop, but it’s not as much as everybody had been hoping or anticipating. And this ‘higher-for-longer’ […]
The reverse mortgage industry has had an eventful year, and the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) stands ready for yet another year of change according to Steve Irwin, its president. With political changes on the horizon, debate about some core Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program attributes and work to be done, Irwin sat […]
Mortgage servicers have spent the past couple of years watching as federal housing agencies adopted various strategies to help borrowers who entered forbearance due to the COVID-19 pandemic but struggled to exit due to rising interest rates. Now they have a request for the incoming Trump administration — standardization and simplification of loss-mitigation frameworks. Servicers […]
ROME — Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special “Holy Door” for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the Vatican said was the first such action by a Catholic pontiff. Speaking to hundreds of inmates, guards and staff at the Rebibbia prison on […]
The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online in nine languages, from […]
Washington — The bald eagle, a symbol of the power and strength of the United States for more than 240 years, earned an overdue honor Tuesday: It officially became the country’s national bird. President Joe Biden signed into law legislation sent to him by Congress that amends the United States Code to correct what had long […]
NEW DELHI — Shyam Benegal, a renowned Indian filmmaker known for pioneering a cinema movement that tackled social issues in the 1970s, has died after chronic kidney disease. He was 90. His contribution to cinema was recognized as a director, editor and screenwriter. He came into the limelight with films — Ankur (1974), Nishant (1975), Manthan […]
For 92 years, the Hollywood Christmas Parade has featured celebrities and performers. This year, the parade includes the Divas and Drummers of Compton, a nonprofit working to give inner city kids an opportunity to learn performing arts. Genia Dulot reports from Los Angeles. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: […]
Singer and actress Sofia Carson closes 2024 with her first action film role and a duet of the holiday classic “White Christmas” with Andrea Bocelli. Carson reflected on her bicultural roots and humanitarian work to VOA’s Veronica Villafane. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Efficiency and accuracy are paramount for homeowners, agencies, and servicers in today’s fast-paced real estate environment. When all parties operate from a unified information source, the process becomes quicker, simpler, and more effective. CoreLogic understands that like no other. By partnering with a highly-regarded vendor, organizations can foster strong relationships with agency collectors and gain […]
The trigger leads bill has become a 2025 priority for the mortgage industry after failing to pass the House of Representatives last week, despite Senate approval. Mortgage trade groups, however, remain optimistic about the bill’s prospects in the 119th Congress. “It would still have to get through the House [this year], which is technically possible […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a lawsuit Monday accusing Rocket Homes of orchestrating a kickback scheme to funnel business to its sister companies, Rocket Mortgage and Amrock. The Jason Mitchell Group is also implicated in the alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). According to the CFPB, between 2019 and […]
A coalition of six organizations representing mortgage companies and borrowers has sent a letter to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), urging the extension of the current loss-mitigation waterfall to February 2026 while updates to the agency’s servicing handbook are discussed and implemented. In late November, the FHA proposed updates to its permanent loss-mitigation options based […]
Over the past year, members of the reverse mortgage industry have been making a more concerted effort to connect with their counterparts in the forward mortgage space. The efforts have not gone unnoticed as more forward mortgage companies — particularly in an elevated rate environment — have started to see value in the possible addition […]
Natural disasters drove mortgage delinquencies in November to their highest level in three years, according to a report by ICE. Industry experts advise closely monitoring the trend but note that the share of borrowers missing payments remains low compared to the long-term average. Concerns are mainly concentrated in the government portfolio, particularly the Federal Housing […]
The magic of Christmas is lighting up New York City, and nowhere is it more dazzling than in Dyker Heights, a neighborhood famous for its extravagant holiday displays. VOA’s Aron Ranen takes us to this festive wonderland. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
TAIPEI — A Chinese war plane goes missing near Taiwan. China sends swarms of military boats and planes for a blockade as Taiwan goes on a war footing. Panic ensues on the streets of Taipei. The premise of “Zero Day,” a new Taiwan TV drama envisioning a Chinese invasion, is a topic that has for years […]
Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900. For some rabbis, the intersection of the two religious holidays provides an auspicious occasion for interfaith engagement. “This can be a profound opportunity for learning and collaboration and togetherness,” said Rabbi Josh Stanton, a vice […]
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — Capitol buildings are almost always an imposing presence. As the seat of government, they tend to be elegant and stately — and frequently capped by a dome. Visitors to Pennsylvania ‘s Capitol are drawn to its priceless artwork, polished marble and intricate carvings, but hidden behind the doors of some of its most […]
As another turbulent year ends, New Yorkers are finding an outlet for their emotions in an unusual place — a subway station wall. A public art project called Subway Therapy invites people to share their thoughts and feelings via colorful sticky notes, creating a collage of hopes, frustrations and reflections. Nina Vishneva has the story, […]
New York — In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” debuted with $62 million in ticket sales […]
In this week’s episode of the Power House podcast, HousingWire President Diego Sanchez sits down for a tantalizing conversation with Frank Martell, the president and CEO of loanDepot, to discuss the company’s profitability in the third quarter of 2024 and its Project North Star growth plan for 2025. This conversation has been edited for length […]
The group behind a proposed breakaway European football competition is back. They have a new name for their tournament, too, calling it the Unify League this time. The latest idea for an elite competition for the biggest teams in Europe is being put forward by Madrid-based A22 Sports Management, which is seeking to change the […]
OAKLAND, Calif. — Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, who shattered stolen base records and redefined baseball’s leadoff position, has died. He was 65. Henderson died on Friday. The Athletics said Saturday they were “shocked and heartbroken by his passing,” but did not specify a cause of death. Known as baseball’s “Man of Steal,” Henderson had a […]
Rhiannon Giddens is a Grammy- and Pulitzer-winning musical artist whose latest project tells the story of the U.S. transcontinental railroad — a story told through the eyes of its builders, including African American, Chinese, Japanese, Irish and Native American workers. It’s called “American Railroad,” and Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: […]
When Pope Francis left the Vatican earlier this month for his traditional Christmastime outing downtown, he acknowledged what many Romans have been complaining about for months: That his big plans for a Holy Year had turned their city into a giant construction pit, with traffic-clogging roadworks tearing up major thoroughfares, scaffolding covering prized monuments and […]
In a recent episode of the HousingWire Daily podcast, Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler sits down with Bill Emerson, president of Rocket Companies, to discuss its recent lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the principle of appraisal independence for lenders. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) this week announced a new final rule establishing affordable housing goals for the loan purchases of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2025 through 2027. The goals, originally proposed in August, are largely unchanged from the initial draft. They are designed to “support equitable housing access […]
At the beginning of 2024, mortgage technology company LoanPASS was announced as a technology partner for reverse mortgage lender Smartfi Home Loans. The lender chose LoanPASS to provide its software-as-a-service (SaaS) product and pricing engine in its reverse lending operations. This partnership has become a fruitful one, according to Bill Mitchell, chief revenue officer at […]
The National Building Museum has unveiled a new exhibition featuring over 2,500 rare artifacts. It’s called “Visible Vault: Open Collections’ and offers a glimpse into the history of architecture and construction. Maxim Adams has the story. Camera: Sergii Dogotar details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
The state of leadership in the mortgage industry When people say, “There’s no such thing as a perfect company,” are they really acknowledging an inherent flaw — or are they feeling the void left by inadequate leadership? This is especially evident in the mortgage industry, where “leadership” is a term often thrown around but rarely understood […]
After initially entering the mortgage business in 2003 following a career change from accounting, Rick Rodriguez was reading a book about mortgages that included a chapter on the reverse mortgage product. He remembered thinking the chapter was intriguing and flagged it in his mind so he could look into the product further. After asking his […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Thursday announced that it has awarded $225 million to 17 groups across 26 states as part of its Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program that was launched earlier this year. The $225 million was initially announced by the White House in February. […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Thursday announced that it initiated 43,459 foreclosure prevention actions in the third quarter of 2024, bringing the total number of homeowners helped to more than 7 million since the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) entered conservatorship in 2008. But the number of foreclosure starts spiked by 27% to 22,025 during […]
Planet Home Lending announced Thursday that it has hired Candice McNaught as senior vice president of business development and strategic initiatives for its distributed retail channel. McNaught, a 2023 HousingWire Woman of Influence, brings more than 16 years of experience to the role. She formerly held posts at Supreme Lending and NFM Lending. In her […]
What drives the secondary market and mortgage industry’s top innovators? This series unveils the personal and professional moments shaping Polly’s executive team and their vision for a better mortgage future. Dive into the lives of Polly’s executive team in this 4 episode docuseries. Inspired by ESPN’s 30 for 30, these four short episodes explore the […]
Ginnie Mae this week released its fiscal year 2024 financial report, which describes how the company has aimed to provide liquidity to the mortgage industry, accessibility to affordable housing and value to U.S. taxpayers. As housing advocates continue to call for the company to receive full funding from Congress, the company also highlighted the work […]
CreditXpert, a leading mortgage technology company, announced on Wednesday the launch date for its new credit optimization platform. The company will replace its What-if Simulator and Wayfinder tools with the new platform on Dec. 31. CreditXpert seeks to take a different approach when addressing homebuyer credit profiles. Instead of focusing on credit repair, the company […]
Government-owned company Ginnie Mae, which oversees the secondary mortgage market and provides a guarantee for a large segment of home loans, released a fiscal year 2024 financial report this week that shows positive results. “During FY24, Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities (MBS) program supported 1.2 million households nationwide — including servicemembers, veterans, and first-time homebuyers — […]
In a widely anticipated move, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (bps), bringing the target range to 4.25% to 4.5%. This marks the third consecutive reduction by the Fed following a 50-bps cut in September and a 25-bps cut in November, cumulatively reducing rates by 100 bps […]
The Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear TikTok’s challenge to a law that could ban the popular social media app in the U.S. The move expedites the case to be heard at a special session on Jan. 10, shortly before the law is set to go into effect on Jan. 19. The news comes […]
The Senate on Tuesday approved the trigger leads bill, which limits the use of “abusive“ digital marketing tools to reach potential borrowers. Mortgage trade groups commended the passage of the bipartisan legislation known as the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (S. 3502). The bill has been sent to the House of Representatives, which has two days […]