General World News

Japanese Anime ‘The Boy and the Heron’ No.1 at Box Office

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For the first time in Hayao Miyazaki’s decades-spanning career, the 82-year-old Japanese anime master is No. 1 at the North American box office. Miyazaki’s latest enchantment, “The Boy and the Heron,” debuted with $12.8 million, according to studio estimates. “The Boy and the Heron,” the long-awaited animated fantasy from the director of “Spirited Away,” “My […]

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Wells Fargo settles lawsuit with ex-LO over allegedly discriminatory lending practices

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A former mortgage consultant who worked for Wells Fargo and ultimately brought a case against the company in a Southern California court over allegedly being fired for complaining about discriminatory lending practices has settled with the company, according to reporting from Los Angeles-based radio outlet KNX News. Attorneys for both parties jointly filed papers in […]

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Incenter rebrands, changes up leadership 

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Incenter Mortgage Advisors (IMA) has rebranded and changed its leadership to reflect the offering of a broader set of capital markets services.  The company, which helped organize over $2 trillion in mortgage-servicing rights (MSRs), changed its brand name to Incenter Capital Advisors. It will emphasize corporate strategy and capital markets activities in different asset classes, institutions and balance sheet types. […]

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Mortgage rates are (finally) back at 7%

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Mortgage rates continued their downward trajectory this week as the 10-year Treasury yield dropped below 4.2% for the first time since September, according to new data from Freddie Mac. The 30-year, fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.03% for the week ending Dec. 7, according to Freddie Mac‘s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That’s down significantly from last […]

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Pennymac raises $750M in unsecured debt

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California-based Pennymac Financial Services raised $750 million in unsecured debt with qualified institutional investors, 15% more than it initially expected, the company announced Thursday.   Pennymac will use the proceeds of the offering to repay $650 million in debt due in October 2025. The remainder will be used for “other general corporate purposes,” the company said in an […]

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Opinion: To support low-income borrowers, return Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the private sector

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Since the 2008 housing crisis, there have been significant changes that prompted the Treasury to place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under conservatorship. While the conservatorship has allowed for the mortgage market to be restored to its pre-crisis state and strengthened these two government-sponsored entities (GSEs), there are significant downsides to maintaining the status quo […]

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Condo originations ‘streamlined’ through project advisor tool: Freddie Mac

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Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac on Wednesday announced further enhancements to its Condo Project Advisor tool that are designed to “streamline” such loan originations and to offer lenders “greater security” through a new designation, according to an announcement. “This designation, known as ‘project certified’ status for Project Assessment Requests (PAR), confirms that condo properties meet […]

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $5 Billion in Additional Student Debt Relief

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The Biden-Harris Administration announced today the approval of an additional $4.8 billion in student loan debt relief for 80,300 borrowers. These discharges stem from fixes made by the U.S. Department of Education to income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Today’s announcement brings the total approved debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris Administration […]

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Pennymac to issue $650M in unsecured debt

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Pennymac Financial Services is the latest mortgage company to issue debt in a challenging housing market. The California-based company announced on Wednesday it intends to offer a $650 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due in 2029.  “Proceeds from the offering will be used to repay a portion of the Company’s secured term notes due […]

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CHLA voices support for attorney opinion letters to FHFA

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The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) submitted a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) expressing its support for the use of attorney opinion letters (AOLs) on Wednesday. In the letter addressed to FHFA Director Sandra Thompson, the CHLA says that it supports the use of AOLs in lieu of title insurance, “in conjunction […]

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Chinese Authorities Host Food Festivals in Kenya

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As a debate over loans and trade relations with China heats up in Kenya, the Chinese embassy in Nairobi is looking to boost cultural ties with Kenyans by launching food extravaganzas. Victoria Amunga has more from Nairobi. (Camera and Produced by: Jimmy Makhulo) details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: […]

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Russian Artist Explores Migration Caused by War

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The plight of fugitives and refugees has been part of the artist Dima Alekseevs’ work since he left Russia in 2016. He now lives in the U.S. Nina Vishneva visited the artist and has this report narrated by Anna Rice. (Camera: Vladimir Badikov, Elena Matusovsky; Produced by Elena Matusovsky, Anna Rice)   details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: […]

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Here are Wikipedia’s Most Searched Topics in 2023

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Millions around the world turn to Wikipedia when they want to better understand the world around them, and that apparently includes artificial intelligence — the most searched topic on the online encyclopedia in 2023. “ChatGPT is one of the generative AI tools that is trained on Wikipedia data, pulling large amounts of content from Wikipedia […]

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Guild hires Adam O’Daniel as chief marketing officer

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Industry veteran Adam O’Daniel is transitioning to Guild Mortgage as senior vice president and chief marketing officer, a newly created role, after about two years at Open Mortgage, the company announced on Tuesday.  “We’re going to expand Guild’s brand presence nationally, deliver best-in-class marketing tools, technology and support for our sales teams, and infuse a culture of creativity and collaboration […]

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Black Knight awarded $155M in trade secrets theft lawsuit against Pennymac

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An arbitrator conclusion issued last week caps a four-year legal battle over allegations of trade secret theft involving two of the biggest companies in the housing industry, Black Knight Servicing Technologies and PennyMac Financial Services.  In a 2019 lawsuit, Black Knight accused Pennymac of copying its mortgage servicing platform, MSP, to create its Servicing Systems Environment (SSE) platform.  […]

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How technology can help mortgage lenders combat repurchase risk

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When individual mortgages are originated by lenders like banks or credit unions, they maybundle groups of these mortgages together into financial vehicles called mortgage-backedsecurities (MBS) that are then sold to investors on a secondary market. This allows investors to gain exposure and returns from the mortgage market, while the lenders gain immediate capital to issue […]

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Netherlands Returns Colonial-Era Artefacts to Sri Lanka

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The Netherlands returned six artefacts including a cannon, a ceremonial sword and two guns taken from Sri Lanka more than 250 years ago on Tuesday, as part of efforts by the former colonial power to redress historical wrongs, officials said. Sri Lanka asked the Netherlands to return the artefacts after the Dutch government approved the […]

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FirstHome IQ now has 60 ambassadors boosting financial literacy

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FirstHome IQ, a nonprofit focused on homeownership and financial literacy education, has expanded its ambassador program and now has 60 mortgage and real estate professionals who donate a portion of every loan to further this mission. The nonprofit, founded by industry leaders Kristin Messerli, Dave Savage and Todd Bookspan, launched the beta version of its ambassador program in […]

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Freddie Mac announces standardized mortgage documents for DPA programs

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Freddie Mac rolled out standardized subordinate lien documents for subordinate mortgages offered by down payment assistance (DPA) providers to facilitate easier and greater use of DPA program Historically, subordinate-lien documents for various DPA programs have been housing finance agency (HFA)-specific and worded differently, leaving room for confusion when interpreting terms and payment plans.  “Saving for […]

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Biden-Harris Administration Prepares for Third Student Debt Relief Negotiation Session

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The Biden-Harris Administration today took another step in its continued efforts to provide financial relief to significant numbers of student loan borrowers with the release of an updated copy of proposed regulatory text. The proposals build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions to date to provide student loan borrowers with much-needed breathing room. Already the Administration […]

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Floify launches lending platform for mortgage brokers

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Digital mortgage automation solution provider Floify launched a lending platform for mortgage brokers built on the foundation of the Floify point-of-sale (POS) platform.  Florfy Broker Edition is designed to provide an intuitive loan management portal for borrowers and make managing loans simpler at an accessible price point while boosting operational efficiency, the company said.  The […]

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How homebuyers stand to lose from the commission lawsuits: AIME

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We’re writing today to address the unintended consequences that may result from the real estate agent commission dilemma stemming from recent lawsuits. As leaders of a non-profit, the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME), we advocate for over 65,000 wholesale mortgage brokers and homebuyers nationwide. There are multiple lawsuits challenging the prevailing structure of real […]

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Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Tops Box Office With $21 Million Debut

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Beyoncé ruled the box office this weekend. Her concert picture, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” opened in first place with $21 million in North American ticket sales, according to estimates from AMC Theatres Sunday. The post-Thanksgiving, early December box office is notoriously slow, but “Renaissance” defied the odds. Not accounting for inflation, it’s the first […]

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CFPB’s Chopra addresses mortgage trigger leads, servicing rules in Senate hearing

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra has made the rounds this week on Capitol Hill, providing testimony to Congress in their semi-annual reviews of the CFPB. On Thursday, Chopra took questions from members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, including one on the controversial topic of mortgage trigger […]

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Introducing the 2023 HousingWire Tech Trendsetters!

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As the housing market continues to undergo a seismic shift, technology leaders like this year’s Tech Trendsetters stand as beacons, guiding the industry toward a future where innovation is not an option but an imperative for success. From cutting-edge fintech solutions to revolutionary proptech platforms, these leaders have demonstrated the ability to harness technology in […]

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U.S. Department of Education Announces Winners of the $1 Million Future Finder Challenge to Support Adult Learners

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The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced today that Gladeo, a minority- and women-owned public benefit corporation based in Los Angeles, California, has been selected as the grand-prize winner of the Future Finder Challenge, a $1 million challenge to reimagine career navigation for adult learners. Workbay, a woman-owned business based in Franklin, Tennessee, has been selected as the […]