The forbearance rate held steady in November, but there are signs of deterioration in the portfolios of servicers. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Monday that the total number of loans in forbearance remained at 0.70% of the servicers’ total portfolio volume in November. There were 350,000 U.S. homeowners in forbearance plans as of November 30, up […]
Rocket Companies, the parent company of what was once the largest mortgage originator in the country, capitalized on the all-time low mortgage rates during the pandemic years, racking up record profits through an enormous amount of refinances. Last year, it originated $351 billion in total volume — with more than double the refi volume of […]
Philadelphia-based UMortgage struck a deal to acquire Dallas-based NXT Mortgage, the companies confirmed to HousingWire. UMortgage is bringing NXT’s assets, technology, and people in-house, including its founder and president, Tyler Hodgson. After the transaction is complete, which is expected to happen within the next two weeks, NXT will be part of UMortgage, adopting its business […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued clarification on Thursday regarding the extent in which employees in single-family housing transactions are allowed to play dual roles — and how much they are allowed to be compensated from a single FHA-insured transaction. The clarification, issued in a Mortgagee Letter by FHA Commissioner Julia Gordon, notes that participants who […]
For most real estate industry professionals, title insurance needs no introduction. A trusted product, title insurance has been used to protect real estate transactions and property rights for over a century. However, most Americans don’t learn about title insurance until they buy their first home and amid the often stressful, frenetic activity of the closing […]
The Draper, Utah-headquartered lender Academy Mortgage Corporation has agreed to pay $38.5 million to settle allegations that it improperly originated and underwrote mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The Department of Justice‘s settlement announcement on Wednesday resolves a lawsuit filed by former Academy Mortgage underwriter Gwen Thrower in the Northern District of California […]
After the booming volume of the last two years, this year has been more difficult than many expected. Production has dropped significantly, and many lender shops are focused on recruiting more loan officers to help make up the difference. “As a company, we’ve had to really right-size our teams to make sure that we’re keeping […]
The Federal Reserve’s decision to slow the pace of interest rate hikes this week pushed mortgage rates lower — and it happened in spite of the central bank reiterating that it would continue to tighten its grip on the economy next year. These lower rates are encouraging news for the industry, which saw rates climb […]
On the heels of the central bank’s announcement to raise the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.25%-4.50% on Wednesday, most economists and industry experts were on the same page about the housing outlook and which direction mortgage rates would be headed. Growing concerns of a recession, led by the Federal Reserve’s continued […]
Nexbank, a privately held state-chartered bank in Texas and a subsidiary of NexBank Capital, Inc., promoted Brian Ralston to executive vice president and chief mortgage banking officer. In his new position, Ralston will lead the mortgage banking division’s strategies and oversee origination and servicing operations of the wholesale, non-delegated and delegated correspondent channels, and warehouse […]
After inflation slowed more rapidly than expected in November, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday to 4.25%-4.50%, a smaller interest rate hike than the 75 bps per meeting the Fed policymakers have stuck to since June. This slowdown is good news for the housing industry as it […]
Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO), the organization tasked with developing standards for the mortgage finance industry, appointed vice president of operations Jan Davis as its acting president. Davis has served as the VP of operations and associate vice president of industry standards at MISMO and MBA for more than a decade. She previously held […]
Let’s face it, mortgage sales is not for the weak. It takes tenacity, thick skin and a hustle-hard mentality. As an introvert, when I first started in the operations side of the mortgage world I dreaded the weekly pipeline calls with the sales manager I supported. They were abrasive, fast-talking and expected the world of […]
Pamela Hughes Patenaude, former Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, joined the National Housing Conference board of governors. She is also the co-chair of NHC’s National Advisory Council. “Pam’s broad range of leadership experience in housing policy, real estate, and disaster recovery will make a significant contribution to our work,” said Steve O’Connor, chair […]
On Tuesday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data came in cooler than expected, and the bond market loved it, driving mortgage rates lower. Where do we go from here? Headline inflation is still very elevated historically, but the trend can be our friend over the next 12 months. I say this because the most significant […]
The mortgage industry has undergone massive downsizing after experiencing banner years during the pandemic. Shant Banosian, EVP at Guaranteed Rate and a top producing loan officer who eclipsed $1 billion in mortgage production in each of the last three years, said he also cut his team size by half while focusing on growing market share. […]
Inflation slowed more rapidly than expected in November, increasing the likelihood of the Federal Reserve slowing down the pace of interest rate hikes. It is very good news for the housing market, which has suffered greatly from the affects of rate hikes over the last nine months. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in November […]
Figure Acquisition Corp. I, a blank check company affiliated with fintech Figure Technologies, plans to merge with a warehouse lender and bank holding company to potentially bring blockchain technology to the financial institution. The special purpose acquisition company announced Friday that it signed a non-binding letter of intent with the privately held $3-5 billion asset […]
Mortgage rates were on a declining trend in November despite the Federal Reserve‘s efforts to tame inflation — but lower rates haven’t been enough to convince home buyers to lock in their mortgages rates in this volatile market. Rate lock dollar volume was down 21.5% month over month in November, remaining at the lowest level […]
There are reasons California-based Pennymac may want to forget 2022. The mortgage lender’s overall origination volume dropped 54% from January to September compared to the same period in 2021, according to data from Inside Mortgage Finance. The company has cut hundreds of jobs across layoffs in March, May, July and October, underscoring the immense challenges […]
With only three weeks until 2023 arrives, housing industry executives are adjusting their operations to face what is expected to be another challenging year. The Federal Reserve will continue its fight to tame inflation — with its seventh consecutive interest rate hike expected from its December 13 and 14 meeting — despite looming concerns of […]
Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank has decided to close the wholesale mortgage businesses it inherited in the acquisition of California-based MUFG Union Bank, the company confirmed on Friday. “This is a business that U.S. Bank exited a few years ago to focus on customer relationships in core lending categories,” a spokesperson for U.S. Bank wrote in a statement to HousingWire. […]
Margin compression, higher mortgage rates, and a purchase-focused market are dictating more sales process control among loan officers and fewer layers of bureaucracy in retail lenders. This change will create a disruption from the cookie-cutter, non-personalized model, Brian Covey, former vice president of regional production at loanDepot, who took on an executive vice president position […]
The HousingWire award spotlight series highlights the individuals and organizations that have been recognized through our Editors’ Choice Awards. Nominations for HousingWire’s TECH100 award are open now through Friday, December 23, 2022. Click here to nominate your organization. As the housing market continues to throw curveballs, easy access to reliable real estate data has become a linchpin for housing […]
Former California mortgage broker Alex Ashod Dadourian was sentenced to five years and four months in prison for a loan fraud scheme in which Dadourian forged mortgage approval documents totaling more than $8 million to earn commissions for himself. Dadourian, a licensed mortgage loan broker with Success Funding in Northridge, took out 17 mortgage loans […]
After returning from the Thanksgiving holiday, the roughly 575 staffers at Reverse Mortgage Funding assembled nervously on two separate Microsoft Teams meetings. On the first virtual meeting, 472 employees received the bad news that many expected: they were being terminated. The hundred or so workers on the other Teams meeting were given marching orders: keep […]
Mortgage rates continued the downward trend this week amid signs that the U.S. economy is cooling down due to the tightening monetary policy. The recent declines, however, have not been enough to convince borrowers to take out a home loan. “This week, labor cost data provided a ray of hope as it showed that hourly […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stated on Tuesday that it will be lenient when enforcing changes made in the 2020 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Final Rule on the closed-end loan reporting threshold. On September 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order vacating the 2020 HMDA Final Rule, changing […]
Since the weaker CPI data was released in November, bond yields and mortgage rates have been heading lower. The question then was: What would lower mortgage rates do to this data? Now, with five weeks of data in front of us, we can say they have stabilized the market. Purchase application data came out on […]
Stock car racing team Jesse Iwuji Motorsports (JIM) this week filed a lawsuit against Atlanta-based mortgage lender Equity Prime Mortgage (EPM) for allegedly failing to make more than $4 million in sponsorship payments after the company received a margin call from its investors. JIM was founded in 2021 by NFL Hall of Fame running back […]
Industry analysts say they expect loan volume to remain depressed for at least the next two quarters due to elevated mortgage rates, meaning it will be a long winter for loan originators. ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”700″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg?w=1024″ alt=”snowy scene” class=”wp-image-372249″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg?resize=150,88 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg?resize=300,175 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg?resize=768,448 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg?resize=1024,597 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/snowy-scene.jpg?resize=600,350 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) […]
Fannie Mae announced on Tuesday that it will make changes to its automated underwriting system in order to expand mortgage loan eligibility and simplify the loan process for underserved borrowers without credit scores. The enhancements are slated to roll out in mid-December and will include an update to borrower eligibility criteria to align with Fannie […]
Calyx has developed a new third-party origination (TPO) functionality for Path Software called Path TPO, the company announced Tuesday. The new capability, which is cloud-based, can be accessed through and integrates with a client’s existing Path platform. In a release, the company said clients can use the capability to easily enter the TPO market and […]
To get into an agent’s circle, an LO has to see problems before they manifest they need to communicate whether the news is good, bad or ugly, agents said. Becca Summers does not typically include Wells Fargo on the lender recommendation list she gives to clients. However, when mortgage rates started rising in the spring, […]
Startup Pylon raised $8.5 million in its seed round to build a mortgage-as-a-service platform for fintechs, banks and retail banks. Conversion Capital led the funding with participation from Fifth Wall, Peter Thiel, QED Investors, Montage Ventures, and Village Global as well as Ramp, Blend, Zillow, SoFi and Figure, the company announced. Headquartered and founded by […]
Brian Covey, a high-profile vice president at loanDepot, is leaving the company after five years to join Revolution Mortgage, another direct-to-consumer retail mortgage lender which was founded in 2018. Covey, who announced the change Monday via a LinkedIn post, joined loanDepot in 2018 and led the sales teams in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, recruiting […]
Early this month, California fintech Achieve announced the closing of its first AAA-rated securitization backed by $175 million in home equity lines of credit. The securitization — which is the process of bundling mortgages into a pool and selling shares of the pool as bonds — consists of three classes of rated notes, which are […]
I have been part of the mortgage banking industry since 1983 — 39 years to date through different housing markets. And while my more recent roles were more senior in stature, my mind tends to think like I did when I was a top loan originator in Denver back in the very beginning. In fact, […]
Home price corrections exposed a growing pocket of equity risk concentrated among purchase mortgages originated in 2022, Black Knight said in its latest mortgage monitor report. Of all homes purchased with a mortgage in 2022, 8% are now at least marginally underwater. Of the 450,000 underwater borrowers at the end of the third quarter, nearly […]
The entire economic landscape, including mortgage rates, has changed this week, starting with the Fed’s talking points on Wednesday. The honey badger labor market is still going strong as we got another solid jobs report Friday, which pushed bond yields higher at first. However, the way the day ended showed that change is coming. We […]
Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach announced an API integration between Mortgage Coach and SaaS technology provider Polly on Thursday. Real-time data from Polly’s cloud-native Product and Pricing Engine (PPE) will feed into Mortgage Coach Total Cost Analysis (TCA) presentations through this integration, providing home loan comparisons for borrowers. “Now, lenders can merge the benefits of […]
San Diego, California-headquartered lender Guild Mortgage is staying true to its words of having an appetite for acquisitions. The company announced on Thursday it has acquired the Wisconsin-based lender Inlanta Mortgage to increase its purchase loans portfolio and its market penetration in the MidWest. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Mary Ann […]
Wisconsin lender Inlanta Mortgage announced plans to shut down next year after laying off 62 employees. Inlanta was planning to expand in the summer, but the company failed to stay afloat amid worsening market conditions. “Due to the dramatic and unanticipated drop in mortgage product demand, business circumstances have dictated that Inlanta Mortgage’s assets be […]
The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said during a Wednesday afternoon speech at the Brookings institute that monetary policy affects the economy and inflation with uncertain lags, and the full effects of the ongoing tightening have yet to be felt. The mortgage market, however, tells a different story. So far, the market has quickly reflected […]
Maleesa Smith IF YOU’RE LISTENING to the objectively smart voices in the industry, I hope by now you’ve heard the refrains of “win in any market,” “lean into the chaos” and “growth mindset.” If you haven’t, I urge you to do a quick audit of everyone you follow. (Quick plug: My team is producing content […]