General World News

NEXA to give 100% of commission split to loan officers 

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NEXA Mortgage, the largest mortgage brokerage firm in the U.S., will pay its loan officers 100% of the commission splits “without any per-file fees or other hidden fees,” according to co-founder and CEO Mike Kortas.  NEXA usually pays loan officers 220 basis points (bps) out of 275 bps on most loans. However, moving forward, it […]

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Chopra says he is ‘open to’ reviewing the LO comp rule

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Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is aware that some loan officers are taking creative — and, as detailed in a recent HousingWire investigation, often illegal — approaches to winning business. And he would be willing to reexamine the decade-old rule that prohibits LOs from misclassifying lead sources to lower their […]

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PennyMac announces proposed private offering of $650M in senior notes

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California-based multichannel lender and servicer PennyMac Financial Services announced on Monday a proposed private offering of a $650 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes that the company says it will pay back with interest by 2030. The notes will “be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on an unsecured senior basis” by the company’s existing businesses, […]

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HUD publishes several changes to reverse mortgage handbook section

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday published a new version of its Single Family Housing Handbook 4000.1, which includes numerous updates to its guidance for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program overseen by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). “Today’s update clarifies instructions, adds new guidance, and incorporates previously published […]

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Proof welcomes Pennsylvania notaries into its Notarize Network

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Proof, the remote online notarization (RON) platform formerly known as Notarize, has welcomed Pennsylvania notaries into its Notarize Network, the company announced earlier this month.  Previously, Pennsylvania’s notaries could access Proof’s platform via its in-house notary capabilities for enterprises and notary-sourced transactions. With this expansion, Pennsylvania notaries now join their counterparts from Florida, Nevada, Texas […]

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Former FHFA exec Jason Cave says FSOC report is a ‘tall order’ for states

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A recently released report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that identifies vulnerabilities at nonbank mortgage servicers and makes some recommendations to avoid systemic risk is a ”tall order” for state regulators but isn’t only a ”wishful list,” according to Jason Cave, senior consultant at Patomak Global Partners.  Cave spent nearly three decades in […]

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California Disneyland character, parade performers vote to join labor union

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Anaheim, California — Disneyland performers who help bring Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and other beloved characters to life at the Southern California resort chose to unionize following a three-day vote culminating Saturday. The Actors’ Equity Association labor union said in a statement Saturday that cast members for the parades and characters departments at Disney’s theme parks near […]

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New listings data falls for third week in a row 

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New listings data has been moving lower over the last few weeks. I usually wouldn’t care too much about this as its a data line that can be volatile week to week but now it’s been three weeks. The moves haven’t been significant and our weekly pending contracts data picked up this week. But, we […]

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Film director Rasoulof fled Iran on foot, newspaper says

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London — Film director Mohammad Rasoulof made an “exhausting and extremely dangerous” walk across a mountainous borderland to avoid being jailed in Iran on national security charges, he told The Guardian newspaper.  Rasoulof said Monday he had fled Iran after a court sentenced him to eight years in jail, of which five were due to be […]

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Mexico City taco stand earns Michelin star

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MEXICO CITY — Newly minted Michelin-starred chef Arturo Rivera Martínez stood over an insanely hot grill Wednesday at the first Mexican taco stand ever to get a coveted star from the French dining guide and did exactly the same thing he’s been doing for 20 years: searing meat. Though Michelin representatives came by Wednesday to present […]

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Vatican moves to adapt to hoaxes, Internet

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VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Friday overhauled its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena that have marked church history, putting the brakes on making definitive declarations unless the event is obviously fabricated. The Vatican’s doctrine office revised norms first issued in 1978, arguing that they […]

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Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies

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new york — Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains such asd the chauvinist boss in “9 to 5” and the nasty TV director in “Tootsie,” has died. He was 92.  Coleman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, his daughter, Quincy Coleman, said in a statement to The Associated Press. […]

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Chase Home Lending increases its closing guarantee

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Chase Home Lending, the consumer and commercial banking arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., has raised its closing guarantee from $5,000 to $20,000 until July 27, 2024, the bank announced on Thursday.  The guarantee means that the bank promises an on-time closing on or before the contract closing date, or it will pay the homebuyer $20,000. […]

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Jonathan Scarpati joins NRMLA board of directors

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The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) this week announced that Jonathan Scarpati, senior vice president of wholesale production at Finance of America (FOA), has joined its board of directors for the remainder of the 2024 term. Scarpati is a 20-year reverse mortgage industry veteran, having joined Senior Lending Network in 2003 as vice president […]

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Mortgage advisory firms Stratmor Group, Teraverde merge

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Mortgage advisory firm Stratmor Group has merged with Teraverde, a mortgage advisory firm and technology solutions provider, in a deal that the companies say will allow them to expand the markets they serve and the depth of services provided. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both firms will operate under the Stratmor brand, […]

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Mr. Cooper’s CIO on deploying AI for the biggest wins

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Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler sat down with Sridhar Sharma, executive vice president and chief information officer at Mr. Cooper, to talk about how the company is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase productivity while making their customers happier. Sarah Wheeler: You came into the mortgage space about nine years ago after leading […]

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Bob Broeksmit proposes housing czar to address ‘regulatory knots’

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Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) president and CEO Bob Broeksmit proposed creating a national director to oversee housing policies and address the “regulatory knots” that “sap the country’s economic strength.” This czar, called the “National Housing Policy Director,” would be directly located in the White House, accountable to the President, and able to spot – and […]

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HUD announces $1.1B to fund tribal housing and community development

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday announced that the Biden administration has approved a record $1.1 billion in funding for the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program, and an additional $75 million funding opportunity for the Indian Community Development Block (ICDBG) program to “support housing and community development projects.” The […]

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CHLA: Here’s how to modernize ‘short-changed’ Ginnie Mae

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The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) on Wednesday released a plan that it says would “modernize” Ginnie Mae, the government-owned company that manages the securitization of government-sponsored loans. The CHLA argues that Ginnie Mae has not been given sufficient budget authority by the congressional appropriations process despite the value it generates. Its plan takes […]

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VantageScore releases new credit-scoring model

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VantageScore has released a pilot of its latest credit-scoring model, VantageScore 4 Plus, for banks, fintechs and government lenders. The new model combines alternate open banking data with traditional credit data, which it claims gives lenders a “substantial predictive lift of up to 10% compared to the industry leading VantageScore 4.0 credit score, which itself […]

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The mortgage rate lock-in didn’t start in 2022

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This is an excerpt of a HousingWire Research white paper titled: What Everyone Needs to Know about Mortgage Rate Lock-in, by Altos President Mike Simonsen. In the 24 months beginning March 2022, the U.S. housing market saw dramatic changes in affordability as mortgage rates skyrocketed 500 basis points. After an initial rush to get to […]

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Biden-Harris Administration Allows Borrowers More Time to Consolidate Loans to Get Credit for Progress Toward Loan Forgiveness Programs

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The Biden-Harris Administration today announced an update on the timing of the payment count adjustment. This administrative fix ensures borrowers get proper credit for progress borrowers made toward income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). The payment count adjustment is now anticipated to be fully implemented in September 2024. At that time, […]

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Old Hollywood glamour sizzles at National Portrait Gallery exhibit

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He captured the most famous faces in 1930s and early ’40s cinema — Garbo, Crawford, Bogart and Gable. Now the work of George Hurrell, one of Hollywood’s greatest portrait photographers, is on display at Washington’s National Portrait Gallery. For VOA News, Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story. Videographer: Hakim Shammo; Video editor: Cristina Caicedo Smit […]

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Inflation eases for the first time in three months

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The most anticipated economic report of the month showed that inflation cooled down a little in April, bringing relief to investors and housing industry professionals. Consumer prices in April were up 3.4% from a year earlier, down from 3.5% in March, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. The reading, […]

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Iranian director Rasoulof urges film world to support colleagues

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cannes, france — Film director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has secretly fled Iran for an undisclosed location in Europe, urged the world film community on Tuesday to provide “strong support” to his colleagues. Rasoulof, who was sentenced to jail on national security charges, and whose latest movie will compete at this month’s Cannes film festival, said he […]

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Steve Resch talks about financial planner relationships for reverse lenders

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Steve Resch, vice president of retirement strategies at leading reverse mortgage industry lender Finance of America, knows a lot about the intersection between the interests of financial planning professionals and reverse mortgage industry members. Financial planners have been, and remain, one of the most sought-after referral partnerships for reverse mortgage professionals to establish ties with. […]