General World News

Gender Equity in Focus on International Women’s Day

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Wednesday is International Women’s Day with a theme this year focusing on the need for gender equity.  The annual observance, which dates to 1911 and fights for women’s rights, is a day for people everywhere to celebrate the achievements of women across society.  The United Nations is putting the focus of its International Women’s Day […]

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Cenlar FSB names Michelle DeHart VP of loan operations, escrow

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Cenlar FSB, the second-largest mortgage servicer and largest sub-servicer in the U.S., appointed Michelle DeHart as the vice president of loan operations, escrow, the company announced on Tuesday. “Having managed large-scale servicing operations, we will lean on Michelle’s expertise and are confident that she will deliver the best possible solutions for Cenlar, our clients and […]

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Arts Festival Targets Youth Unemployment

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Young artists everywhere struggle to earn a living but that’s especially true in South Africa, where youth unemployment is more than 43 percent. The International Public Art Festival is trying to help bridge that gap by connecting young artists with companies seeking creative marketing. Vicky Stark reports from Cape Town, South Africa. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com […]

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OptifiNow launches Flex to support multi-channel mortgage teams

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Cloud-based mortgage CRM OptifiNow has launched a version of its CRM platform called OptifiNow Flex, which is designed to support multi-channel mortgage teams. The product aims to unify workflows for wholesale, retail, reverse mortgage, recruiting and more into a single system while also lowering IT costs, OptifiNow said in a statement. OptifiNow’s vice president of […]

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Rocket Mortgage adds special-purpose credit program

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Rocket Mortgage expanded its special-purpose credit program that will offer a $3,000 credit for first-time homebuyers to use toward their downpayment in select cities. The Detroit-headquarterd lender will offer Freddie Mac‘s BorrowSmart Access program for buyers who are purchasing a home in counties across 10 metropolitan areas — Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, El Paso, Houston, McAllen, […]

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CMG acquires Homebridge’s retail assets 

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California-based CMG Mortgage, Inc. struck a deal to acquire the retail division of Homebridge Financial Services, the companies announced on Monday. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  CMG Mortgage, which claims it originated more than $19 billion in 2022, said the M&A deal seeks to increase its footprint on the retail lending […]

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Guaranty Home Mortgage opens new retail branches in Tennessee

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Guaranty Home Mortgage Corporation (GHMC) on Monday announced its expansion with three new licensed retail branches in Tennessee. The new branches are located in Brentwood, Lebanon and Chattanooga. GHMC originates and purchases loans through multiple channels. The expansion is part of the company’s strategy to grow its presence and focus on residential mortgage lending. “This […]

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Former LO sues Celebrity over unpaid salaries in class-action lawsuit

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Illinois-based mortgage lender Celebrity Home Loans and its parent company Celebrity Financial, Inc. are the target of a class-action-seeking lawsuit.  A former employee is suing the companies, alleging they “abruptly terminated hundreds of its employees” without giving legally required 60-day advance notice as required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act).  In addition, plaintiff Michael Blake, […]

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Housing Market Tracker: Inventory drops by 11,000

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The housing market faced some serious obstacles last week as the 10-year yield broke over 4%, mortgage rates rose to over 7%, purchase apps fell again and we are still trying to find the elusive seasonal bottom for housing inventory. Here is a quick rundown of the last week: Purchase application data was down 6% […]

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The housing market faces a three-pronged challenge

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Growing supply shortages are holding housing prices higher, and affordability constraints coupled with elevated rates lock potential sellers in place. Home prices fell in January, pulling back by 0.24% from December to mark the smallest monthly decline in seven months, according to Black Knight‘s mortgage monitor report. The annual home price growth rate fell to […]

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Ohtani, Star-Studded US Eye World Baseball Classic Crown

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The battle to find baseball’s global champions gets under way this week when the pandemic-delayed World Baseball Classic returns after a six-year absence with Shohei Ohtani hoping to inspire Japan to a record third title.     Teams from 20 countries are participating in the fifth edition of the tournament, with the four first round groups hosted […]

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‘Creed III’ Debuts to $58.7 Million

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“Creed III” punched above its weight at the domestic box office in its first weekend in theaters. The MGM release knocked “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” out of first place and far surpassed both industry expectations and the opening weekends of the first two movies in the franchise. Playing in 4,007 locations in North America, […]

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Despite War, Ukrainian Women Continue Knitting for Top Designer Brands

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Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein, Alexandra Alonso Rojas and many others produce their collections with hand-knitted products made by Ukrainian women. It’s been a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, but despite the war, Ukrainian women continue to work. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Vladimir Badikov, Natalia Latukhina. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com

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Alaskan Dogsled Race Begins with Smallest Field Ever

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The second half-century for the world’s most famous sled dog race is getting off to a rough start.  Only 33 mushers will participate in the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, the smallest field ever to take their dog teams nearly 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) over Alaska’s unforgiving wilderness. This […]

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Oscar-Nominated Film Reminiscent of Women’s Struggle in Iran

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“The Red Suitcase,” a short film by Iranian-born filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad, will compete for an Oscar at the Academy Awards on March 12. The director and his star tell VOA’s Mike O’Sullivan that the film looks at a young woman’s struggle to determine her own future. Camera: Mike O’Sullivan. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this […]

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Title revenue declines by 19% in 2022

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Title industry revenue dropped 19% year over year in 2022, according to data released Thursday by Fitch Ratings. This 19% decline is on a GAAP basis for the Fitch Ratings title universe, which includes Fidelity National Financial, First American, Old Republic and Stewart. According to the Fitch report, the decline in revenue was driven by […]

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New Chamber Discovered in a Great Pyramid

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Scientists in Egypt have discovered a 9-meter hidden corridor near the main entrance of one of the Great Pyramids of Giza. The discovery was made as part of the Scan Project that uses noninvasive technology to look into Egypt’s ancient and mysterious structures without causing any harm. The discovery was found within the Great Pyramid […]

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Aurora extends the Better.com merger deadline once again

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Blank-check firm Aurora Acquisition Corp. extended the deadline to complete its merger with struggling digital mortgage lender Better.com for the third time. The deadline for the merger is now September. The decision was made during Aurora’s shareholder’s meeting held on February 24, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed on Thursday.  “Aurora […]

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The 7% mortgage is back with a vengeance

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Mortgage rates are surging again due to sustained economic growth and continued inflation, eclipsing 7% on Thursday. And it could be a while before they tick back down, economists say. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage on Thursday, March 2 touched 7.10%, up 16 basis points from 6.94 on Wednesday. The most recent survey by Freddie Mac […]

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How non-QM lender A&D Mortgage grew origination volume in 2022

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When the entire mortgage industry saw volume drop by more than half in 2022, nearly every lender emerged with battle scars. Rising rates caused refinances to dry up, production plummeted, and pink slips were issued to employees. Non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) wholesale lender A&D Mortgage, however, saw origination volume increase by more than 31% to $3.2 […]

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Truework platform adds automation feature to Encompass

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Income verification platform Truework has added its automated service ordering feature to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Mortgage Technology’’s loan origination system Encompass. The integration is now built on the latest Encompass Partner Connect application programming interface (API) platform and is available through ICE Mortgage Technology, Truework said Wednesday. “The automation eliminates the tedious data submissions traditionally […]

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Polly adds Total Expert to its API integration roster

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San Francisco-based SaaS technology provider Polly on Monday announced its API integration with Total Expert, a customer engagement platform purpose-built for financial institutions. Through this API integration, users can populate MLS and non-MLS rate flyers in a short period of time using “real-time, scenario-specific mortgage offers” delivered through Polly’s cloud-native Product and Pricing Engine (PPE), […]

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Agency MBS market is facing a supply-side threat

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Issuance of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) is projected to contract significantly over the next two years in the face of a housing-market contraction, but the actual supply of MBS available for purchase in the private market is expected to swell to record levels over that period. That’s the takeaway from a recent market report by the Amherst Group, […]

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Opteon expands its direct-to-consumer appraisal offerings

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Opteon, a Scottsdale-based appraisal, valuation, advisory, and property services provider, has expanded its direct-to-consumer business model nationwide, the company announced on Wednesday. The goal of the expansion is to provide homeowners and buyers, along with real estate, legal, and tax professionals, the option to order an appraisal directly through Opteon’s services, according to a statement […]

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Fannie Mae: Appraisals are no longer the default option

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Fannie Mae updated its Selling Guide on Wednesday to include more options for property valuations, saying that they are “moving away from implying that an appraisal is a default requirement.” Those options include value acceptance (formerly appraisal waivers), value acceptance plus property data and hybrid appraisals. “We are on a journey of continuous improvement to […]

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Higher mortgage rates dim hope for a busy spring housing market 

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Higher mortgage rates have zapped mortgage demand, as buyers are having second thoughts about purchasing homes.  Mortgage applications for home purchases dropped 6% for the week ending February 24 from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Mortgage demand was also 44% lower than the same week a year ago, […]

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UWM reports financial loss in Q4 but expects margins to rise in Q1

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The financials are all red for the top U.S. mortgage lenders for the fourth quarter of 2022. United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) reported on Wednesday morning an unprofitable quarter, the day after Rocket Companies disclosed its most significant quarterly loss in company history to the market.   UWM, the top U.S. wholesale lender, maintained flat gain-on-sale margins relatively in the fourth […]