Tahir Hamut Izgil witnessed firsthand, China’s repressive treatment of the Uyghur ethnic minority group and experienced how society changed over time in Xinjiang, an autonomous region in northwest China. His memoir, published this year has gained attention by readers and recognition by two prominent U.S. publications this week, while China describes accusations of repression as […]
New York-based Rithm Capital, the parent company of Newrez, announced on Friday it completed the acquisition of Sculptor Capital Management for $719.8 million. The deal was made public four months ago and created a dispute among investors to take the firm, leading Rithm to increase its price by 14% compared to the original bid. The transaction also created legal battles […]
Leaders of the union representing Hollywood actors announced a tentative deal recently with film and television studios to end a strike that started in July. It includes pay raises, streaming bonuses for actors, and the industry’s first protections against the use of artificial intelligence. From Los Angeles, Genia Dulot has our story. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com […]
As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued efforts to take aggressive action to address the alarming nationwide rise in reports of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and other forms of discrimination and harassment on college campuses and in K-12 schools since the October 7 Israel-Hamas conflict, today the U.S. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from […]
Freddie Mac will launch a new fee-based repurchase alternative pilot program for performing loans in 2024, designed to improve the quality of performing loans through a potential replacement of its current repurchase policy for defective performing loans. “The pilot will use a fee-based structure that is more efficient, transparent and rewards lenders that deliver high-quality […]
Mortgage demand for new homes jumped in October as the inventory for existing homes remained depleted. Mortgage applications for new-home purchases rose 39.7% in October on a year-over-year basis and were up 6% from the previous month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey for October. “Home builders have been able to […]
Mortgage rates fell this week as the October inflation report drove down the yield on the 10-year Treasury. On Thursday, investors priced in a 99.7% chance that the Fed will hold interest rates steady in December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. The 30-year, fixed mortgage averaged at 7.44% as of Nov. 16, according […]
HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler sat down with Jason Bressler, CTO at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) to talk about how the lender is developing a smart, innovative IT team by giving them a safety net to fail. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Sarah Wheeler: UWM develops all their software in-house. […]
Thank you and welcome, everyone! I want to start with a story that illustrates why we’re here today. It’s the story of a young undocumented student who came from Mexico City to Texas. At the time, she didn’t speak a word of English. And I think many of us here know how challenging that can […]
As part of its Raise the Bar: Create Pathways for Global Engagement, the Biden-Harris Administration today launched “Being Bilingual is a Superpower,” an initiative by the U.S. Department of Education (Department) to promote multilingual education and bolster high-quality language programs and a diverse multilingual educator workforce across the country. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this […]
Marvel Comics’ first Muslim superhero is making her big-screen debut in “The Marvels” movie. From Los Angeles, Genia Dulot brings us the story of the teenage Ms. Marvel. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Stavvy, a fintech firm specializing in digital and remote collaboration for lending and real estate companies, acquired SigniaDocuments, a technology suite from Texas-based lender Evolve Mortgage Services. Terms of the deal were not announced. Stavvy will acquire assets, including eClosing tools, eNote and eVault services, eRegistry capabilities for agency and non-agency loans and SigniaDocuments’ SMART […]
Michigan-based United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) wants to court more brokers by offering no-cost appraisals on 1-0 temporary rate buydowns amid fierce competition in the industry. The wholesale lender will cover up to $600 of the appraisal cost on all conventional and government-backed home loans until March 31 when a broker uses UWM’s 1-0 temporary rate […]
Detroit-headquartered lender Rocket Mortgage faces a class-action lawsuit for making repeated, unsolicited telephone calls, violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). According to the suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on Tuesday, Kellie Deits – a resident of Arizona — received a call from a Rocket Mortgage representative in […]
Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank, the 28th largest U.S. mortgage lender, has decided to close its wholesale channel, which produced over $1 billion in volume in the first half of this year. “After careful consideration, Citizens has made the difficult decision today to discontinue originations in the mortgage wholesale channel,” Chace Gundlach, senior vice president and […]
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) today released new state-by-state data and details showing that the simplified, streamlined, and redesigned 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form will help 610,000 new students from low-income backgrounds receive Federal Pell Grants. The new FAFSA form will also help 1.5 million more students receive the maximum […]
Both purchase and refinance applications increased to their highest weekly pace in five weeks after mortgage rates logged the largest decline in a year. Total home loan applications increased 2.8% for the week ending Nov. 10 compared to the previous week, according to weekly data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The 30-year, fixed mortgage […]
Total mortgage delinquencies rose slightly in the third quarter of 2023 as the job market cools and inflation puts more pressure on homeowners. However, delinquency rates are still well below historical averages, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Delinquent home loans on one- to four-unit properties rose to 3.62% of all […]
Fannie Mae announced a slew of leadership changes following the expected retirement of two senior executives. President David Benson will step down from his position in early to mid-2024 after 21 years at the company. Benson served in a wide range of roles, including interim CEO, chief financial officer, executive vice president (EVP) of capital markets […]
Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported an average net loss of $1,015 on each loan they originated in the third quarter of 2023. That’s nearly double the reported loss of $534 per loan in the previous quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The average pre-tax production loss was […]
Government sponsored-enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will each have a $70 billion cap for multifamily loan purchases in 2024, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Tuesday. The combined $140 billion volume considers the given market condition. Still, it can increase if necessary, as the FHFA will continue to monitor the multifamily mortgage market, it says in a recently published fact sheet. […]
Better Home & Finance Holding, the parent of digital lender Better.com, delivered a massive loss in the third quarter of 2023, its first earnings report since it became public in late August. Executives at the company told analysts that more cost-cutting initiatives are needed in a shrinking market to reach profitability. Better reported a GAAP net […]
Designers in the Western U.S. state of Colorado are mixing modern fashion with cultural textiles from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Tibet. VOA’s Scott Stearns has our story. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
In May 2023, President Biden announced the historic U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. This whole-of-government approach represents the most comprehensive and ambitious U.S. government effort to counter antisemitism in American history. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: Website of U.S. Department of Education
Big Four title firm Old Republic is selling its mortgage insurance business to Arch Capital Group Ltd., according to an announcement on Monday. As part of the $140 million transaction, Arch will acquire all of the capital stock of Old Republic’s wholly owned subsidiary RMIC Companies Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiaries that together comprise Old […]
The automated phone systems and website of lender and servicer Mr. Cooper are running again following a cybersecurity incident that forced the company to lock down certain technology systems. On Oct. 31, the company suffered a cyberattack that disrupted loan payments. Mr. Cooper restarted servicing operations on Nov. 4 by taking customer calls and payments, […]
In the world of mortgage lending, there’s an all-too-common sentiment that echoes through the industry: “My loan origination system (LOS) sucks.” Regardless of the specific LOS in use, this feeling seems pervasive among lenders, and the dissatisfaction stems from lenders’ desire to deliver more digitally driven, bespoke borrower experiences. In reality, the LOS is not […]
Since 2008’s “Iron Man,” the Marvel machine has been one of the most unstoppable forces in box-office history. Now, though, that aura of invincibility is showing signs of wear and tear. The superhero factory hit a new low with the weekend launch of “The Marvels,” which opened with just $47 million, according to studio estimates […]
Millions of Indians celebrated Diwali on Sunday with a new Guinness World Record number of bright earthen oil lamps as concerns about air pollution soared in the South Asian country. Across the country, dazzling multicolored lights decked homes and streets as devotees celebrated the annual Hindu festival of light symbolizing the victory of light over […]
“Creole isn’t about a specific skin tone or country, it’s about a culture,” said Mona Lisa Saloy, author of the poetry collection Black Creole Chronicles. “It’s food, it’s music, it’s architecture, it’s style and it’s traditions,” she told VOA. “There are millions of Creole people in countries across the world and, still, we are […]
Total housing inventory growth has been slow in 2023, but with rising mortgage rates over the last few months, inventory has grown a bit faster than average. The question now is: Have we hit the seasonal peak in inventory for 2023? The housing inventory growth rate has decelerated for three weeks, and we were barely positive […]
Pope Francis on Saturday forcibly removed from office the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and some of his priorities. A one-line statement from the Vatican said Francis had “relieved” Bishop Joseph Strickland of the pastoral governance of Tyler and appointed the […]
Board members from Hollywood’s actors union voted Friday to approve the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months, with the union’s leadership touting the gains made in weeks of methodical negotiations. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists’ executive director and chief negotiator, announced at a Friday […]
The Beatles returned to the top of the U.K. music charts Friday with the record-breaking track “Now And Then,” making history as the act with the longest gap between its first and last No. 1 single. Billed as the last Beatles song, “Now And Then” features the voice of the late John Lennon and was […]
Mortgage rates this week saw the biggest one-week decline in a year and potential homebuyers waiting for rates to drop responded, said Josh Mettle, division president and co-creator of NEO Home Loans. “I think we were up right around 15% increase in the number of initial mortgage applications. That doesn’t take into consideration the number […]
With soaring home prices and mortgage rates putting a damper on the market for new home loans and refinancing options, it’s a challenging time for homebuyers and lenders alike. But it’s not all grim news. While the current climate may be causing existing-home sales and inventory to fall, it’s driving renewed interest in home equity […]
CoreLogic announced on Thursday the launch of “ScanToSketch,” an augmented reality (AR)-based property measuring and sketching tool to create home appraisal reports. Developed using CoreLogic’s appraisal software brand “a la mode,” the tool has been used to complete roughly 20,000 property sketches. So far, its data has been featured in over 12,000 appraisal reports, according […]
The Biden-Harris Administration is fully committed to supporting student loan borrowers as they navigate return to repayment and fixing problems in the student loan system. To further the goal of protecting borrowers nationwide, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking steps to hold student loan servicers accountable for meeting their obligations to students, borrowers, and taxpayers when […]
A total of 2,256 homebuyer assistance programs are available in the U.S. housing market after 54 programs were added in the third quarter, according to Down Payment Resource (DPR), a homebuyer assistance program data and solutions firm. Among the available homebuyer assistance programs were 295 that allow borrowers to lower their interest rates by paying […]
As 10-year Treasury yields tumbled, the average 30-year fixed mortgage fell 26 basis points in the week ending Nov. 9, the largest one-week decrease since last November. The 30-year, fixed mortgage averaged 7.5% as of Nov. 9, according to Freddie Mac‘s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That’s down significantly from last week’s 7.76% and up from […]
New York-based digital lender Better Home & Finance Holding Company has partnered with information technology consulting company Infosys on a mortgage-as-a-service platform. The integrated end-to-end digital mortgage white-labeled platform aims to cut origination costs and helps partners limit operational volatility in the current interest rate environment, Better said Thursday in announcing the launch. “Better’s mortgage […]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac jointly announced this week that they have entered a new critical edit phase for their Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) as of Nov. 6, informing lenders that they must address quality issues for “fatal data points” before delivering loans to either of the government-sponsored enterprises. The UCD is a reference file […]
details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: Website of U.S. Department of Education
An exhibition featuring the work of Simone Leigh — one of America’s most influential contemporary female artists — is now on display at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington. Leigh, known for her focus on feminism, gender equality and racial justice, became the first Black artist in history to represent the U.S. at the Venice Biennale in 2022, where she was awarded the coveted Golden Lion. […]
One of Pablo Picasso’s masterpieces, Woman with a Watch, was sold at auction Wednesday night for $139.3 million by Sotheby’s in New York, the second-highest price ever achieved for the artist. In a jam-packed room at the venerable auction house, it only took a few minutes of telephone bidding for the 1932 painting depicting one […]