Highlands Residential Mortgage has acquired The Equitable Mortgage Corp., giving the Texas-based lender an immediate footprint in central Ohio’s competitive home purchase market. Founded in 1995, Columbus-based Equitable Mortgage has funded more than $6 billion in residential loans over the past three decades, serving borrowers and real estate agents in central Ohio and parts of […]
Class Valuation has introduced a new underwriting and appraisal assurance program designed to streamline mortgage lending workflows and reduce risk tied to property valuations. The product, the Class Valuation Underwriting Engine (CVUE), combines artificial intelligence analysis with human review to deliver appraisals that lenders can accept without conducting their own internal review, according to the […]
Freddie Mac posted a strong start to 2026, reporting $3.6 billion in first-quarter net income as lower mortgage rates boosted refinancing activity and the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) continued to build capital. Its profit rose from $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025. Speaking during the company’s earnings call on Thursday morning, Jim Whitlinger, the […]
Allen Price will quickly correct you if you call home equity investment (HEI) customers “borrowers” or the product a “loan.” “These are not borrowers because they are not borrowing money. This is not a loan but a contract,” said Price, head of sales at BSI Financial Services, which services HEI portfolios for top originators in […]
United Wholesale Mortgage announced Wednesday that independent mortgage brokers working with UWM can now access both FICO and VantageScore credit scoring models for conventional loans, a move aimed at giving brokers more flexibility when evaluating borrowers. In a press release, the Michigan-based lender said brokers using its no-cost credit reports will automatically receive both credit […]
The mortgage industry’s rush toward the adoption and use of artificial intelligence could risk the acceleration of inefficient processes unless lenders first modernize the underlying infrastructure powering loan origination and securitization. That’s according to Figure Technology Solutions CEO Michael Tannenbaum, who spoke to HousingWire President Diego Sanchez at The Gathering in Austin on Wednesday. Tannenbaum […]
Trump administration officials and housing industry leaders are pushing a deregulatory agenda that’s focused on reducing costs, modernizing financial regulations, and strengthening U.S. dominance in energy, artificial intelligence and digital assets, according to a discussion Wednesday at HousingWire’s The Gathering in Austin. Speaking with HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler, Courtenay Dunn, senior director of […]
The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75% on Wednesday, marking its third consecutive pause. With higher inflation fueled by geopolitical tensions and a resilient labor market, the central bank left no room for a rate cut — keeping mortgage rates elevated for the foreseeable future. […]
The pending acquisition of Two Harbors Investment Corp. would allow CrossCountry Intermediate Holdco to build the “perfect mortgage company” in the vision of founder Ron Leonhardt. “It actually allows us to control the borrower experience from start to finish,” Leonhardt said on stage during HousingWire’s The Gathering in Austin on Wednesday. “We are pot committed.” […]
Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the 17th Federal Reserve chair, cleared the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday in a 13-11 vote, moving him closer to confirmation before current Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term expires May 15. Warsh’s advancement came just hours before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) finishes its two-day […]
Castlelake and Redwood Trust have formed a joint venture to purchase up to $8 billion of prime jumbo mortgages, the companies announced Wednesday. Under the partnership, Minneapolis-based asset manager Castlelake will gain programmatic purchasing power for fully documented prime jumbo loans, while California-based Redwood’s Sequoia platform will source, aggregate and perform due diligence on loans […]
Mortgage applications decreased 1.6% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending April 24. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 1% compared with the previous week. The refinance index decreased 4% from the previous week and was 51% higher than the […]
UWM Holding Corp. may not win the bid to acquire Two Harbors Investment Corp., but an unsolicited proposal for the real estate investment trust just forced CrossCountry Intermediate Holdco to raise its offering. Two Harbors announced Tuesday that it amended its merger agreement to increase the all-cash price CrossCountry will pay to $11.30 per share. […]
Mortgage industry executives say the shift to new credit score models and lender choice could raise mortgage delinquencies, reshape pricing grids at the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and ultimately push costs back onto borrowers, even if the costs for scores fall on the front end. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner […]
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner said the agency is rescinding energy-efficiency requirements tied to loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Turner announced the move Tuesday at HousingWire’s The Gathering in Austin. A 2024 rule under the Biden administration had made new […]
Executives at Supreme Lending said the mortgage lender added roughly $3 billion in production over the past year through a combination of acquisitions, recruiting and investments in technology while emphasizing a culture-focused approach to growth. Speaking at HousingWire’s The Gathering on Tuesday, founder and CEO Scott Everett and chief growth and marketing officer Sarah Middleton […]
Mortgage rate movement was quiet this week amid ongoing U.S. and Israeli operations in Iran. Mortgage News Daily (MND) reported Monday that 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.32%, up from 6.30% last week. MND’s rate tracking refers to top-tier, 30-year fixed rates for the average lender. In its rate analysis, MND said that the “absence of […]
Newrez delivered a higher first-quarter 2026 profit while holding to a “pricing discipline” strategy amid intense mortgage competition, helping parent company Rithm Capital post stronger results for the period. The multichannel lender and servicer reported pretax operating income of $273.7 million in Q1 2026, up from $249.1 million in Q4 2025, according to filings with […]
Artificial intelligence is poised to reshape mortgage lending operations and consumer engagement while also raising concerns about workforce disruption across the industry, two mortgage executives said during a panel discussion at HousingWire‘s The Gathering in Austin. Speaking at the event on Tuesday morning, Patty Arvielo, CEO and co-founder of New American Funding (NAF), and LaTasha […]
For years, CRM platforms have been positioned as the backbone of productivity for loan originators, agents and sales teams. However, in practice, many have failed to evolve beyond static databases, becoming repositories of stale contacts rather than true systems of execution. As teams scale and pipelines grow, the gaps in maintaining meaningful relationships and operating […]
A rapidly aging U.S. population is accelerating demand for smart home technology that allows older adults to remain in their homes longer. Financing options, including the tapping of home equity, are emerging to help pay for it. Roughly 11,000 Americans turn 65 each day and about one in four U.S. residents is now at least […]
NEXA Lending CEO Mike Kortas is dismissing claims that the company misappropriated trade secrets and confidential customer data after being sued by rival lender loanDepot in federal court. The complaint alleges that NEXA knowingly assisted two former loanDepot employees in taking proprietary information before leaving the company and using it to solicit borrowers. The lawsuit […]
Donald Trump said last week that his administration will examine how banks are treating homeowners affected by the last year’s Los Angeles wildfires, singling out Wells Fargo for criticism after meetings with local officials. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he met with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County supervisor […]
NEXA Lending announced Monday that it has hired Christopher Griffith as the company looks to expand its focus on VA lending and loan officer development. Griffith, who is the owner and founder of Vetted VA, will focus on elevating performance across NEXA’s third-party origination (TPO) channel while advocating for a shift in how lenders approach […]
Ginnie Mae will temporarily exclude loans in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Trial Payment Plans (TPPs) from issuer delinquency calculations, responding to higher reported rates, the corporation announced last week. In 2025, the FHA updated its single-family loss mitigation waterfall and reinstated required TPPs before certain workout options, such as partial claims, can be approved. Under […]
Former Rocket Pro executive Mike Fawaz, who left the company in February, is launching a new broker platform in May, and he’s partnering with a previous archrival: United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM). The new platform, Dearborn, Michigan-based Origna8.com, will provide brokers with technology, marketing, recruiting, leads and lender partnerships under one roof. Former Rocket Pro general […]
When Jesse Allen arrived at Rate in late 2024 to lead its reverse mortgage division, he was immediately tasked with continuing the growth trajectory for the Chicago-based mortgage lending giant. Rate has long been a leading forward mortgage lender, ranking No. 9 nationally in 2025 with $45.6 billion in volume, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. […]
For decades, mortgage lending has been built around a single objective: to make homeownership affordable. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage became the dominant structure because it lowers monthly payments, expands borrower eligibility, and fits cleanly into underwriting frameworks built around debt-to-income ratios. It works—and it worked at scale. But in optimizing for affordability, the industry made […]
With refinance activity constrained and purchase volume under pressure, lenders are being forced to rethink their sustainable growth plans. The answer is becoming clear: home equity. As millions of homeowners remain locked into low mortgage rates, they are turning to second liens and mortgages to access equity without disrupting their primary loan. Tom Davis, Chief […]
Proprietary reverse mortgages have gained a lot of traction over the past year and now account for more industry volume than federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). With the help of loan officers Nathan Guerrero and Jackson Matheson, Tennessee will soon join the list of states to allow private-label reverse mortgages. Guerrero, a reverse […]
SoFi Technologies this week unveiled a new fully digital home equity line of credit (HELOC) experience, expanding its push into mortgages as more homeowners choose to tap equity rather than move. The company said the new HELOC offering will allow members to access home equity through an end-to-end digital process within the SoFi platform, with […]
Newrez originated roughly $10 million in mortgages scored with VantageScore 4.0 that Freddie Mac has now securitized, the company announced Friday. The move is part of a pilot that helped federal housing agencies greenlight wider use of modern credit scores. Newrez, a top-five mortgage lender and servicer, said that its “loan delivery limited engagement” with […]
The lock-in effect is persisting as mortgage rates stay above 6%, leading homeowners to increasingly opt to stay put and invest in renovations rather than move, according to a new survey from Citizens Financial Group. The survey points to a growing “stay and upgrade” trend, with 44% of homeowners saying that renovating their current home […]
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday dropped its investigation into the Federal Reserve regarding Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony on the central bank’s headquarters renovation. The decision could ease the path for Kevin Warsh‘s confirmation as Powell’s successor. Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced that she’s closing the investigation and […]
I started in mortgages in 2007 for a brokerage office in Salem, Oregon. Within my first year and a half, I was one of the top-producing loan officers in the office. At the same time, the world around me was coming apart. I didn’t realize at the time that the industry I had just joined […]
Sixty-four percent of Americans say they feel confident they have enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement — down from last year — according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)’s 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey. The 36th annual survey, conducted online in January, is jointly produced by EBRI and Greenwald Research. Worker confidence fell to […]
For a hundred years, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has moved mortgage policy in Washington. Last Wednesday, it brought 50 loan officers with it. Loan officers are going to Washington. For a hundred years, that sentence had not been true. For a hundred years, the MBA has been the mortgage industry’s voice in Washington. An […]
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is advancing multiple pieces of legislation designed to strengthen retirement savings options for millions of unpaid family caregivers. Two companion bills introduced in the House and Senate would modify retirement account rules to better reflect the realities caregivers face. Under one proposal, the Improving Retirement Security for Family Caregivers Act, […]
FSBO.com on Wednesday announced the launch of a new loan officer portal designed to integrate mortgage professionals earlier into the for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) home selling process, as the company looks to create a more structured and collaborative transaction model. The platform allows loan officers to assist sellers with listing creation, marketing and buyer screening, while also […]
Federal agencies on Wednesday took steps to bring newer credit scoring models into the mortgage underwriting process, marking a significant shift in how borrower risk is evaluated. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner announced the adoption of FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in the […]
Asset manager Castlelake has acquired a majority ownership stake in Resfin Partners, the parent company of mortgage correspondent business Eastview and lender to residential real estate investor Lendmarq, the firm announced on Wednesday. Over a multiyear relationship, Castlelake has acquired more than 4,000 senior structured loans from Eastview and Lendmarq, representing more than $2 billion […]
The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) has formed a partnership with the Chenoa Fund, a down payment assistance program, to help mortgage brokers better serve first-time and underserved homebuyers who struggle with upfront homebuying costs, the organizations announced on Wednesday. Through the collaboration, NAMB members will gain enhanced access to Chenoa Fund programs, tools […]
Planet Financial Group — the parent company of Planet Home Lending — has launched a refreshed brand identity and logo designed to unify its growing platform across origination, servicing, subservicing, asset management and affiliated services. The Meriden, Connecticut-based specialty finance firm said its rebrand as Planet, announced Wednesday, reflects how the business already operates today, […]
In November 2025, Equifax published a statement making the case that FICO is the villain in the mortgage credit cost story. It was just one more shot across the bow from the 3Bs at FICO; a battle we’ve been watching play out in real time for years. The numbers don’t lie: FICO’s per-score price has […]
Shareholder Michael Koblentz filed another lawsuit against Two Harbors Investment Corp. and its board of directors, alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act tied to the company’s pending acquisition by CrossCountry Intermediate Holdco (CCM). Koblentz previously filed a similar suit targeting Two Harbors’ original merger agreement with UWM Holdings Corp. (UWMC), which was closed after […]