Wisconsin-based Waterstone Mortgage Corp. has promoted Jennifer George to vice president of investor relations and credit policy, the company said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Her industry knowledge, leadership capabilities, and positive attitude make her an ideal fit for her new role,” said Waterstone Mortgage COO Rich Tucker. “Combining her love of research, knowledge of […]
March came in like a lion for the banking industry with a trio of bank failures, including the nation’s 16th largest bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), with assets of $212 billion. The other banks laid to rest in early March were crypto-friendly lenders Silvergate Capital Corp. ($11.4 billion in assets) and Signature Bank ($110 billion in assets). The bank failures set […]
Ravi Patel, a top loan officer and former senior vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate, and his team, have moved to UMortgage, according to a statement issued on Monday. “Winners in this industry want to join our platform because we’re identifying the acute pain points of loan originators of different backgrounds—whether that be […]
Despite affordability challenges, the Hispanic homeownership rate reached 48.6% in 2022, the eighth consecutive year of growth. Latinos added a net total of 349,000 homeowner households last year, which is one of the largest single year gains over the last decade, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) said in its 2022 state […]
Retail lender Guild Mortgage announced the acquisition of Cherry Creek Mortgage, a privately-held Colorado-based lender with 68 branches in 45 states. Cherry Creek will become its own division of Guild, headed by co-founder Jeff May, Guild said on Monday. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Established in 1987, Cherry Creek offers a wide […]
Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week, the biggest bank failure since Washington Mutual in 2008, two other American banks with significant roles in the housing industry were hit by a deposit run. Signature Bank closed its doors on Sunday, the same day First Republic Bank announced fresh access to capital to fund […]
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has named former Fannie Mae CEO and Blend president Tim Mayopoulos as CEO of Silicon Valley Bank N.A., an FDIC-operated “bridge bank” meant to protect all depositors of the now shut-down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). While the FDIC — an independent government agency that insures bank deposits and overseas […]
The comedy-fantasy ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ dominated the Academy Awards Sunday night. The film earned seven Oscar statuettes, including for best picture. Mike O’Sullivan reports the movie’s directors and three of its stars also received Oscars. Produced by Jason Godman details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Rate and affordability pressures continue to challenge purchase lending, driving homebuyers to alternative loan products. The number of rate locks was down in February from the previous month, but dollar volume rose due to a rate environment that favored non-conforming loans including jumbo loans and adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), according to Black Knight’s originations market report. Pipeline […]
Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe, whose darkly poetic novels were built from his childhood memories during Japan’s postwar occupation and from being the parent of a disabled son, has died. He was 88. Oe, who was also an outspoken anti-nuclear and peace activist, died on March 3, his publisher, Kodansha Ltd., said in a statement […]
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” won the prestigious best picture trophy at the Academy Awards on Sunday as Hollywood embraced an offbeat story about a Chinese-American family working out their problems across multiple dimensions. The movie claimed three of the four acting Oscars for star Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Yeoh […]
Last week was wild, and not just for the housing market. We had a 21st-century bank run on Silicon Valley Bank and then the federal government took action over the weekend to stop the contagion. Mortgage rates fell even though the jobs report was stronger than anticipated. The bank failure spooked bond traders who were […]
details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Best supporting actor: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Best supporting actress: Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Best animated feature: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” Documentary feature: “Navalny” Live action short: “An Irish Goodbye” Cinematography: James Friend, “All Quiet on the Western Front” Makeup and hairstyling: “The Whale” Costume design: […]
Oscar weekend belonged to “Scream VI” in theaters, as the horror sequel notched a franchise-best $44.5 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group co-production sailed past expectations, easily surpassing the previous series high of $32 million that “Scream 2” opened with in 1997. The film’s […]
Hollywood is gearing up for the 95th Academy Awards, where “Everything Everywhere All at Once” comes in the lead nominee and the film industry will hope to move past “the slap” of last year’s ceremony. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Oscars, including when they are, where to watch the live show […]
Brent Sass, the defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, withdrew from this year’s race on Saturday, citing concerns for his health. Sass scratched at the Eagle Island checkpoint, a statement from the Iditarod said. Eagle Island is about 966 kilometers into the nearly 1,609-kilometer race. “He didn’t feel he could care for his team […]
When Richard McKinney was getting married last year, friends stepped in to help. Bibi Bahrami cooked Afghan dishes — from rice with carrots and raisins to chicken and beef — for the wedding guests. Her husband officiated the Islamic part of the ceremony. At first glance, nothing seems unusual about that off-camera wedding scene — […]
In the 2022 Elvis film, Tom Hanks’ depiction of Elvis Presley’s real-life former manager, Colonel Tom Parker, is cruel, corrupt, and according to the 2023 Razzie award results, deserving of worst supporting actor and worst screen combo awards. Before celebrating the best films of the season during the Oscar ceremony Sunday, the Razzie Awards called out […]
A film buff from Oklahoma City, Elyssa Mann has scant time to waste, needing to cross just four more movies off her Oscars binge list before Sunday’s Academy Awards broadcast: Two animated films, one for cinematography and another for costume design. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Steve Tornello has just one left — the […]
From “Star Wars” to “Jaws” to “Schindler’s List,” John Williams has written many of the most instantly recognizable scores in cinema history. The 91-year-old is already the oldest person to receive an Oscar nomination for a competitive award, which he earned thanks to his spare yet poignant compositions for Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans.” With 53 […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Friday issued an official request for comment as it conducts a review of Regulation Z’s mortgage loan originator rules. The CFPB is seeking to understand the economic impact the rules have on smaller businesses in the mortgage space. Regulation Z is a broad-based rule that implements the Truth […]
What a week this has been for the housing market, from the fireworks of Fed Chair Jay Powell’s Congressional testimony to an attempt to break over a critical line on the 10-year yield. Then Friday we got solid jobs and labor force growth data and the surprising failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Let’s look at […]
Despite the housing market cool down, homeowners with mortgages, which accounts for roughly 63% of all properties, gained $1 trillion in equity between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a report released Thursday by CoreLogic. On average, U.S. homeowners with mortgages gained $14,300 in equity, a jump of […]
This week, the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) released a special report entitled “The Ubiquity of IMB Regulation.” This report is important to independent mortgage banks (like Atlantic Bay Mortgage) that are increasingly dominating mortgage markets and leading the market in serving minority and underserved borrowers. Unfortunately, the growth of IMBs over the last […]
California-based lender Guild Mortgage posted a higher profit in 2022 thanks to its increased purchase mortgage market share — and now has its eyes set on acquiring other lenders. Guild, the purchase-focused lender with a distributed retail model, posted a net income of $328 million in 2022 despite posting a loss of $15 million in […]
Stubborn inflation and high interest rates continue to wreak havoc on the mortgage-origination market, but there is one asset class in the housing market that is arguably flourishing in these hard times – home equity. Along with the solid base of home equity that now exists — a byproduct of the rapid home-price appreciation in recent […]
An exhibition of Ukrainian traditional clothing and unique art pieces opened in Los Angeles to support Ukrainian artists. The goals are twofold, help the artists but also help children in Ukraine. Khrystyna Shvchenko has the story. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Mushers and their dogs in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race face plenty of variables in the Alaska wilderness. An unexpected one this year has been heat that is taking a toll in a sport better suited for temperatures well below zero. Jason Mackey said a thermometer hanging from the back of his sled hit […]
Robert Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted in the killing of his wife, died Thursday at age 89. A statement released on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin, said Blake died from heart disease, surrounded by family at home in Los […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday sued to block the proposed $13 billion merger between Intercontinental Exchange Inc. and rival mortgage software firm Black Knight. The federal agency said the merger would give ICE and Black Knight a significant position in the market for loan origination software, which it could use to push customers […]
Black Knight, Inc. on Thursday announced that mortgage loan sub-servicing provider LoanCare will implement the Black Knight Loss Mitigation solution to support homeowners in need of mortgage payment assistance programs. LoanCare, which services loans for banks, credit unions, independent mortgage companies and portfolio investors, also renewed its contract for Black Knight’s mortgage service software MSP, […]
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sent a clear message during his U.S. Senate speech on Tuesday morning: Fed officials are likely to deliver higher rate hikes than previously expected to combat persistent inflation. “As I mentioned, the latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates […]
Like most of its publicly traded peers, Home Point Capital, the parent company of wholesale lender Homepoint, shrank in 2022 to adapt to a shrinking mortgage market. But its cost-cutting initiatives were not enough to return the lender to profitability. The possibility of Home Point being sold isn’t out of the realm of possibility, the company’s […]
The Biden-Harris Administration today released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2024. The budget details a blueprint to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out, lower costs for families, protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and reduce the deficit by ensuring the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share – all […]
The security crisis in Burkina Faso has impacted every aspect of society, including its film industry. The 28th edition of the Pan-African Film & TV Festival of Ouagadougou, or FESPACO, which ended earlier this month [March 4], reflected this difficult situation both on and off screen. Reporters Yacouba Ouedraogo and Thierry Kaore have this story, […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Wednesday released a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights report that profiles “unlawful junk fees uncovered in deposit accounts and in multiple loan servicing markets,” including among mortgage servicers. “For years, junk fees have been creeping across the economy,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “Our report describes a […]
Ohio-headquartered Park National Bank will pay $9 million under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve allegations that it discriminated against Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Columbus area. The complaint, filed in federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio last month, alleged that Park […]
It’s Women’s History Month, and this year’s national theme—Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories—honors women of all ages and backgrounds who shape and share the story of America, while expanding our understanding of the human condition and strengthening our connections with each other and our world. Over generations and now, every day, women are removing […]
As the housing market cooled further during the fourth quarter of 2022, homebuilders also continued to pull back on single-family construction. In Q4 2022, the year over year growth rate for single family construction fell across all geographic areas, according to the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) Home Builder’s Geography Index published Tuesday. The […]
California’s desert is drawing artists from Bangladesh and from Mexico to the Coachella Valley for an unusual exhibition called Desert X. For VOA, Genia Dulot went to see. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
Six former employees are suing New Jersey-based Family First Funding, LLC and its three co-founders in a class-action-seeking lawsuit claiming the lender failed to pay them overtime. The plaintiffs worked as processors at the company in different periods from May 2018 through January 2023. The regular workday, according to them, was supposed to follow business office hours […]
It is no secret that the housing market is suffering from an ongoing inventory drought. Existing housing inventory fell by 11,021 homes week over week for the week ending March 6, according to data from Altos Research. While many are hoping new build inventory can at least slightly ameliorate this situation, an analysis from Realtor.com, […]
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 […]
When entrepreneur Sana Bhatt decided to set up a studio, she hardly knew if people would appreciate her efforts to revive traditional music on the Indian side of Kashmir. Prior to the launch of the studio, the 24-year-old approached many local artists to sing songs on a set that that appeared similar to that of […]