Mortgage lenders are increasingly formalizing or expanding their homebuilder divisions as they look to capture a larger share of the purchase lending pie, even as broader housing activity remains uneven. CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) launched a dedicated builder division in March, positioning it as a way to deepen relationships with homebuilders while gearing products for new-home […]
The HousingWire Mortgage Rankings launched this week to give the housing industry a standardized, transaction-based view of origination activity across the country. The rankings are powered by InGenius data and they’re built on recorded mortgage transactions, not submissions or self-reported numbers. That matters because most industry “top producer” lists are based on submissions, self-reported volume […]
When UWM Holdings Corp. lost its bid last week to acquire Two Harbors Investment Corp. (TWO), upstaged by an offer from rival CrossCountry Intermediate HoldCo, analysts were not entirely surprised. “It was such a wild turn of events,” said Eric Hagen, an analyst at BTIG. “But we were not surprised that it broke up.” The […]
Detroit-based Rocket Companies this week moved to dismiss a lawsuit alleging violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), arguing that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury, relied on claims beyond the one-year statute of limitations and did not sufficiently plead unjust enrichment. The class-action suit, filed in late January, alleges that homebuyers who began […]
Dark Matter Technologies has launched Ask Aiva, a conversational AI-powered assistant embedded in its Empower loan origination system (LOS). The technology lets mortgage lenders query their origination environment in plain language and receive instant answers that can be traced to trusted sources, the company announced recently. Available now to Empower clients and debuting at Dark […]
REVERSE plus announced Tuesday that it has integrated proprietary reverse mortgage programs from Smartfi Home Loans into its ANALYZER Pro platform, giving loan officers and brokers the ability to model both proprietary and federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) scenarios in a single system. REVERSE plus, a software-as-a-service provider of reverse mortgage scenario modeling […]
Opendoor has agreed to acquire the closing and escrow operations of Doma Holdings, a move that would extend the iBuyer’s reach into refinance closings and deeper into title automation, the companies announced on Tuesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is paired with a three-way […]
The cost of credit scores used in mortgage lending has climbed sharply in recent years, with lenders now paying an average of more than $500 per loan, according to a new analysis from the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA). The report, released Tuesday as an update to the group’s 2024 white paper on mortgage […]
Mortgage applications decreased 10.4% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending March 27. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 10% compared with the previous week. The refinance index decreased 17% from the previous week and was 33% higher than the […]
The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would make it easier for retirement plan sponsors to include alternative investments — such as private equity, private credit, real estate and cryptocurrency — in workers’ 401(k) plans while reducing regulatory burdens and the threat of lawsuits. The rule aims to carry out goals that […]
Mortgage rates continued to rise this week, placing more strain on a 2026 spring housing market that was expected to be robust but is now fighting an uphill battle against a slowing economy. Mortgage News Daily reported Monday that 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.55%. That was up 6 basis points from a week earlier but […]
A new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA), MBA’s 501(c)(3) trust fund that supports independent research on housing finance and policy, found that while pandemic-era forbearance helped most borrowers avoid foreclosure, the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) became a critical backstop for more vulnerable homeowners who needed help […]
HousingWire on Tuesday announced the launch of the HousingWire Mortgage Rankings, a new performance intelligence product designed to provide a clear, data-driven view of mortgage origination activity across the U.S. The rankings benchmark mortgage originators based on observed production, offering a standardized view of performance across geographies, loan types and channels. Historically, the mortgage industry […]
Policy uncertainty is pushing older Americans to delay retirement, shift to conservative investments and boost their emergency savings, according to a new survey. The findings published last week by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College show 21% of respondents who’ve yet to retire are postponing retirement while 33% are moving to safer portfolios. […]
Citywide Home Mortgage, an affiliate of top-10 U.S. mortgage lender Rate, has promoted Robert Coomer to chief growth officer, tasking the veteran executive with accelerating the lender’s national expansion and branch partnership model. Coomer joined Citywide in April 2024 as executive vice president and director of sales strategy and growth, according to a company press […]
Financial services firm Argyle has integrated its direct-source income, employment and asset verification tools into Vesta’s loan origination system, the companies announced Monday. The move aims to give mortgage lenders embedded access to real-time payroll and banking data inside the LOS. The integration allows lenders using Vesta to order, view and refresh Argyle verifications from […]
California-based mortgage lender loanDepot has partnered with Betenbough Companies to launch Olive Branch Home Loans, a new mortgage company that will serve homebuyers across West Texas, the companies announced Monday. The strategic partnership is the first to launch under loanDepot’s expanded partnership channel, which is designed to give homebuilders and their affiliates a white-label or […]
Shain Urwin sees a more balanced relationship emerging between reverse mortgage lenders and brokers under new industry agreements — but he says they’re not enough to solve a deeper structural problem. In recent years, lenders like Mutual of Omaha Mortgage and Longbridge Financial have launched programs designed to protect the loan pipelines of broker partners, […]
Lenders have made meaningful progress in modernizing the closing process. eSignatures, hybrid eClosings, and remote online notarization have reduced friction at the signing table and improved the borrower experience where it is most visible. That focus has paid off; digital closings move faster, require fewer manual corrections, and are easier to manage at scale than […]
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill into effect earlier this week that bans noncompete agreements across the state. The move marks a significant shift in employment law that will take effect on June 30, 2027. The measure prohibits contracts that restrict workers from joining or starting competing businesses after leaving a job. Noncompete agreements […]
A Florida appeals court has ruled that funds available but not yet withdrawn from a reverse mortgage line of credit are protected under the state’s homestead exemption and cannot be garnished. The March 25 decision by the Fourth District Court of Appeal found that a creditor could not force a homeowner to access unused funds […]
NEXA Lending announced Friday that it’s developing a new initiative aimed at allowing loan originators to participate in recurring income tied to the long-term performance of the loans they originate. The initiative, described as a “servicing-aligned income model,” is expected to begin rolling out as early as July 2026, the company said. The program centers […]
Two Harbors Investment Corp. (TWO) has terminated its merger agreement with UWM Holdings Corp. and instead agreed to be acquired by rival CrossCountry Intermediate HoldCo in an all-cash deal valued at $10.80 per share. It remains unclear whether UWM will challenge the merger in court. The revised offer from CrossCountry values the company at approximately […]
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte is again targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James, this time filing criminal referrals with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over alleged insurance fraud. The referrals were sent to two U.S. attorneys — Jason Reding Quinones of the Southern District of Florida and Andrew Boutros of […]
With the Social Security trust fund less than seven years from insolvency — at which point a 24% across-the-board benefit cut could be triggered — a new proposal suggests capping annual payouts for the nation’s wealthiest retirees. A white paper released by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget advocates for a “six-figure limit” that […]
Homebuyer affordability improved modestly in February as the national median payment applied for by purchase applicants fell to $2,061, down from $2,070 in January, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI). PAPI tracks how new monthly mortgage payments change over time relative to income, using data from MBA’s weekly applications […]
Better Home & Finance Holding Co., the parent of digital lender Better.com, and Coinbase have launched a token-backed product that allows qualified borrowers to pledge Bitcoin or USDC as collateral for a conforming mortgage down payment, without selling their digital assets. The product, announced Thursday, is originated and serviced by Better, with Coinbase providing digital […]
On Wednesday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac adopted extensive changes to their requirements for approvals of condominium projects that are eligible for their loan purchase. The changes created more flexibility and affordability with respect to replacement cost and deductible requirements for condo insurance– but took a step backward by ending authority for what are called […]
Better Home & Finance Holding Co. announced Wednesday that it has appointed Hugh Frater, a founding partner of BlackRock and former CEO of Fannie Mae, to its board of directors as the company leans further into its Tinman AI mortgage platform. Frater, whose role became effective March 23, brings experience spanning mortgage-backed securities (MBS), agency […]
A former US Mortgage Corp. employee has filed a class-action complaint against the company following a data breach that occurred in May 2025, claiming that the incident could have been avoided if not for the company’s negligence. Richard Bernich, who brought the suit individually and on behalf of a proposed class of all individuals in […]
Friday Harbor, an AI-powered mortgage origination platform, said Wednesday that national retail lender Waterstone Mortgage has implemented its pre-underwriting technology to improve loan file quality and expand underwriting capacity across the company’s nationwide retail channel. Waterstone Mortgage, which said it has more than 200 loan officers operating in 48 states, deployed Friday Harbor’s platform to […]
The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) announced Tuesday that it has published two new title and settlement data standards in candidate recommendation status: the ALTA Title Policy Dataset and the ALTA Settlement Statement Dataset. Developed in partnership with the American Land Title Association (ALTA), the datasets map ALTA’s widely used title and settlement forms […]
A group of employees at Summit Funding, most of them in back-office roles, are being laid off but may receive job offers from CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) as part of the companies’ pending M&A deal, according to filings with California authorities. Cleveland-based CCM agreed last week to acquire Sacramento-based Summit Funding, a move that expands its […]
Independent mortgage brokers working with United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) now have access to a new tool that allows borrowers to earn rewards on their mortgage payments, the company announced on Wednesday. The program, called “Built-In Rewards,” is being rolled out as UWM brings loan servicing in-house. UWM-closed loans will also be serviced by UWM and […]
Mortgage applications decreased 10.5% from one week earlier as high oil prices are keeping Treasury yields inflated, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending March 20, 2026. On an unadjusted basis, MBA’s index decreased 10% compared with the previous week. “The threat of higher-for-longer oil […]
Most mortgage companies have gotten very good at recruiting. You can measure recruiting. You can count heads. You can show momentum on a spreadsheet and call it growth. Development is harder to quantify. It takes time, structure, and discipline, especially when the market is moving and everyone is tempted to chase short-term volume. But if […]
The California Mortgage Bankers Association (CMBA) testified on March 20 before the California Assembly Banking & Finance Committee during an oversight hearing on California Assembly Bill 238, which focuses on the effectiveness of mortgage forbearance and the broader challenges facing homeowners affected by the state’s January 2025 wildfires. AB 238 provides up to one year […]
Washington state’s Covenant Homeownership Program is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over potential violations of the Fair Housing Act. HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) notified the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, which administers the program, of the probe on Tuesday. The investigation comes days […]
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has opened an investigation into Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO)’s pricing practices in the mortgage industry and is urging Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson to do the same. FICO dominates the credit scoring market for mortgage lenders, largely due to decades of exclusive acceptance for loans sold to Fannie […]
More than 43.5 million U.S. properties are at moderate or greater risk from hail damage, representing about $17.84 trillion in reconstruction cost value, according to Cotality’s 2026 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report released Tuesday. The report finds that hailstorms are emerging as one of the most financially destructive natural hazards for the housing market, with […]
As tax day approaches, 70% of Americans say they are concerned about taxes on their income in retirement, up from 66% last quarter, according to the Q1 2026 Quarterly Market Perceptions Study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement, part of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. The study, which was conducted […]
Incentives have always driven mortgage lending. Loan officers originate loans. Lenders compete for production. Borrowers search for the lowest available rate. Regulators work to ensure fairness across the process. Over time, these competing forces produced a complex economic architecture designed to keep loan production flowing through an already intricate financial system. For decades, that architecture […]
The Trump administration on Friday issued a “comprehensive national legislative framework” regarding artificial intelligence (AI) policy, aimed at boosting U.S. innovation while protecting consumers, children and national security. The proposal outlines six broad priorities aimed at positioning the U.S. as a global leader in AI while building public trust in the rapidly evolving technology. The […]
Kentucky-based Stockton Mortgage fired back against two former employees’ claims that the company accessed their personal email accounts multiple times in 2025 and used the messages in separate litigation. Two former loan officers, Christopher Hoehn and Ashley Hoehn, filed a complaint last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The […]
Detroit-based Rocket Companies is offering voluntary separation packages to some employees as part of its consolidation following last year’s acquisitions of Mr. Cooper Group and Redfin. “Rocket, Mr. Cooper and Redfin share a vision of a stronger, more connected homeownership platform built for long-term strength,” a Rocket spokesperson said. “As integration has progressed, we identified […]