Two former employees of Direct Mortgage Corp. have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the company and its chief executive of fraud, breach of contract and failing to pay wages, including overtime and commissions. Brooks Kelly and Jason Harris filed the complaint Feb. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah against Direct […]
RenoFi, an end-to-end financing platform built exclusively for home renovations, announced Tuesday that it closed a $22 million Series B funding round led by Fifth Wall and participation from Progressive Insurance and other new investors. In addition to their financial backing, Fifth Wall and Progressive Insurance join RenoFi as strategic partners, a move the company […]
HMDA reporting season has just wrapped as financial institutions were required to submit detailed data from the previous calendar year’s mortgage applications and loans to their regulators by March 2nd. But for compliance professionals at community banks, the work doesn’t stop there. HMDA reporting has become less about “checking the box” and more about defending […]
Experian is imposing another price increase on credit reports sold to mortgage lenders — an unusual move at this time of year, according to resellers who spoke with HousingWire. “I have never seen a price increase after a price increase in January,” said one reseller executive, who requested anonymity to avoid potential retaliation. “It comes […]
The U.S. stands on the brink of an unprecedented wave of small-business ownership transitions as millions of baby boomers retire — creating both economic risk and a rare opportunity for wealth building across communities, according to a new report from the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility. By 2035, about 6 million small and medium-sized businesses […]
Fairway Home Mortgage announced Monday that Holly Mattson has been promoted to co-president of recruiting, where she will oversee the company’s efforts to onboard mortgage producers. Mattson will work alongside David Lazowski, president of recruiting and growth at Fairway. “Holly brings a passion and energy to this role that will help us usher in the […]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac added a combined $12.5 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to their retained portfolios in January, a volume that BTIG analyst Eric Hagen described as “lower than expected” but still effective in helping to drive down mortgage rates. During a Jan. 21 speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, […]
Editor’s note: Welcome to the second installment of the Monday Morning Q&A from HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD). Each Monday morning, the RMD newsletter will feature an in-depth interview with a reverse mortgage industry figure on a wide range of topics including loan origination and servicing, product development and technology. Loren Riddick, national director of […]
Private lending has matured. What was once a fragmented, relationship-driven corner of real estate finance has evolved into an increasingly institutional, multi-state industry with sophisticated counterparties, warehouse lines, and capital partners. Yet one critical area still receives far less attention than it deserves: mortgage licensing and compliance. For private lenders, particularly those making business-purpose residential […]
Just months after loanDepot co-founder Alex Madonna was named to a new role to focus on emerging technology, artificial intelligence and modern sales structures, it was announced that he’s departing the company. Madonna, who was most recently loanDepot’s executive vice president of direct lending and spent 16 years at the company, confirmed the news in […]
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) has added Capital One to its Executive Council for Housing Affordability, a group of private-sector leaders focused on expanding access to affordable housing. Gina Metrakas, vice president and head of federal advocacy at Capital One, will represent the company on the council. Metrakas previously held senior leadership roles at the […]
AD Mortgage, a provider of non-QM and residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), announced on Friday the successful launch of a $602.7 securitization deal, its largest to date. The transaction, which follows the company’s first deal of the year, a $567.42 million transaction, marks AD’s 30th securitization of AD-originated collateral and the 21st to receive ratings from […]
Improving a credit score could save homebuyers tens of thousands of dollars in mortgage interest, according to a new nationwide study from AD Mortgage, released on Thursday. The analysis, Credit Score vs. Mortgage Cost: How Long It Takes to Improve and How Much It Can Save, State by State, shows that even modest gains in […]
NewDay USA announced Friday that it has appointed former Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Brian D. Montgomery as vice chairman of the company’s advisory board, effective immediately. Montgomery is the only individual to serve as FHA commissioner twice, across three presidential administrations: George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. He also served as deputy […]
I have built an entire company on being able to relationship. Yes, I said it like that on purpose. According to Google, a relationship is “the way in which two or more concepts, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.” And while the industry is currently obsessed with AI ( I mean […]
Rocket Pro, the wholesale lending arm of Rocket Mortgage, announced a partnership with Compass to offer additional credits to brokers. It also unveiled a new loan origination system during its Ignite26 event on Thursday. Under a new program called Pro Purchase Power, brokers will receive 40 basis points when working with a Compass buyer’s agent, […]
California-based lender HomeXpress Mortgage Corp. announced Thursday that it has launched on the ARIVE platform, allowing approved brokers to access HomeXpress products and pricing on ARIVE’s loan origination system. HomeXpress is wholesale lender that specializes in nonqualified mortgages (non-QMs) and loans for real estate investors. The company said in a press release that the integration […]
Better.com is using artificial intelligence to handle tens of thousands of mortgage calls each month, cutting costs and speeding service for borrowers, according to a new case study from ElevenLabs, an AI audio company. The company’s generative AI loan agent, Betsy, powered by ElevenLabs Agents, managed nearly 100,000 borrower calls per month in 2025 and […]
Salem, Oregon-based Willamette Valley Bank is exiting the residential mortgage lending business, citing intense competition and a prolonged high interest rate environment. The bank announced Thursday that its mortgage operations will cease on March 31. President and CEO Ryan Dempster said the residential mortgage industry has undergone significant changes in recent years, including the rise […]
For over a decade, mortgage technology has pursued one overarching goal: speed. Faster applications. Faster disclosures. Faster underwriting. Faster closings. Loan origination systems (LOS) have evolved. APIs replaced fax machines. Automation compressed timelines from weeks to days—or even hours. On the surface, the industry appears transformed. Yet despite these gains, persistent challenges remain: high origination […]
The idea of “lender choice”, or the insinuation that mortgage lenders will choose the credit score that allows them to originate more mortgages, relies on the myth of adverse selection. This concept assumes a level of discretion and disorder that simply does not reflect how the current (or future) mortgage market operates. The false underlying premise […]
President Donald Trump highlighted taxes, inflation and trade in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, but he made only a passing reference to housing, leaving affordability largely unaddressed to the chagrin of housing professionals. Housing professionals had expected a larger discussion on mortgage rates, homeownership initiatives and the policies introduced since Trump […]
Addy AI, a loan officer workflow platform, announced this week a partnership with ICE Mortgage Technology to integrate with the Encompass loan origination system. The integration, which aims to help loan officers spend less time reading PDFs, chasing documents and interpreting findings, is designed to address delays that often occur in the middle of the […]
Advancements in health care mean that Americans are living longer than ever. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that U.S. residents born in 2024 have an average life expectancy of 79, an increase of more than six months compared to 2023. While a longer life span is positive news, it also means […]
Dark Matter Technologies on Wednesday introduced a new feature that allows mortgage lenders to securely deploy AI agents within its Empower loan origination system using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The tool is designed to help lenders reduce manual work and access information faster while remaining compliant with industry rules. Traditional loan origination systems require […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) closed $163.4 billion in mortgages in 2025, up 17% from 2024, as lower rates fueled a refinancing rebound. The company also invested heavily to strengthen its servicing platform, including its pending acquisition of Two Harbors and a strategic investment in Bilt. Despite higher volume, net income declined to $244 million in […]
Mortgage applications increased 0.4% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Feb. 20. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 2% compared with the previous week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased 5% from one week earlier. The unadjusted purchase index […]
So, you finally discovered ChatGPT, Claude or whatever shiny AI toy your nephew told you about. Congrats! You’re officially part of the future of marketing! Ok. Not really. Not the way you’re doing it. Here’s a scene being played out way too often lately. Someone types “write me a LinkedIn post about title insurance” into […]
Cypress, California-based LenderMac Holdco LLC has agreed to acquire Direct Mortgage Corp. in a move aimed at expanding its geographic footprint and building a multichannel mortgage platform, the companies announced Tuesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “This acquisition represents an important step in our long-term growth strategy,” Kenneth Jo, CEO of LenderMAC, […]
AI-powered mortgage underwriting platform Friday Harbor announced Tuesday the launch of a new set of tools called Income and Asset Sandbox, which are designed to help loan officers structure income and asset decisions earlier in the origination process. The tools allow lending teams to test how different income streams, assets and supporting documents affect a […]
The Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a nonpartisan watchdog group, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The group alleges the FHFA failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that sought access to a report prepared by FHFA Director Bill Pulte about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. CfA submitted […]
The Trump administration is exploring options to create a retirement savings plan for workers who don’t have access to an employer-sponsored account. The move would not require action by Congress, people familiar with the discussions told news website Semafor on Tuesday. President Donald Trump is considering mentioning the concept in his State of the Union […]
Better Home & Finance Holding Company, the parent of Better.com, has struck a deal with crypto-focused venture capital firm Framework Ventures to unlock up to $500 million in credit by integrating the lender into the Sky stablecoin ecosystem. The transaction creates a bridge between decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional housing finance, signaling that crypto-native capital […]
iBuyer Opendoor is rolling out a new mortgage product to a limited group of users, marking a return to home financing. CEO Kaz Nejatian told analysts during the company’s earnings call on Thursday that the product was developed internally in less than 10 weeks. “Early in January, we took four engineers aside, and we asked […]
Leadership at C2 Financial is looking to reclaim a top wholesale ranking by strengthening its infrastructure, leveraging artificial intelligence, recruiting and mentoring the next generation of loan officers, and expanding from 42 states to nationwide coverage. In 2021, C2 was ranked No. 1 on Inman’s top 10 list of independent mortgage brokers to gain market share, which used […]
Nearly two months after three federal housing agencies wrapped up an extended public comment period about the future of two federal reverse mortgage programs, industry stakeholders are waiting to learn what they’ll do next. In October, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Ginnie Mae announced a […]
Virginia-based mortgage lender City Lending Inc. is winding down operations as regulatory burdens and ongoing industry consolidation weigh on independent mortgage banks, according to founder and CEO Jorge Campodonico. The lender originated approximately $232 million in mortgages over the past 12 months — most of it through Federal Housing Administration (FHA), conventional and purchase loans […]
Chicago-based mortgage lender Rate announced Monday that it has launched RateFi, a product aimed at borrowers who hold cryptocurrency, allowing them to qualify for a mortgage without liquidating their digital assets. The product is designed to bridge digital assets and traditional home financing. Available this month, the program enables qualified borrowers to use verified cryptocurrency […]
Editor’s note: Welcome to the first installment of the Monday Morning Q&A from HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD). Each Monday morning, the RMD newsletter will feature an in-depth interview with a reverse mortgage industry figure on a wide range of topics including loan origination and servicing, product development and technology. Dan Hultquist has no shortage […]
Zillow is seeking to have the consolidated Taylor-Armstrong Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) lawsuit dismissed. The real estate giant filed its motion to dismiss in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Friday. The lawsuit, which was consolidated in early December, began in mid-September, when plaintiff Alucard Taylor filed his initial complaint. Taylor alleged that […]
Eight trade groups representing lenders are urging federal regulators to revise bank capital rules by adopting a more tailored risk weight for mortgages held on balance sheets and by significantly cutting the capital charge applied to mortgage servicing rights (MSRs). In a letter sent Friday to the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the […]
Kiavi, a digital nonbank lender for residential real estate investors, announced Thursday that it closed a $350 million rated securitization of residential transition loans (RTLs). The transaction marks Kiavi’s sixth rated securitization and 24th deal under its LHOME shelf, bringing its total offered notes to more than $6.8 billion since inception, the company said. The […]
A study by Andrew Davidson & Co. found meaningful credit score discrepancies among the three major bureaus — a key data point for those arguing in favor of maintaining the tri-merge standard rather than shifting to a bi-merge or single-report model. According to the paper, released Friday, 35% of the 245 million scored consumers in […]
New York City-based Saluda Grade, an alternative investment firm with a concentration in asset-based finance, announced Thursday that Patrick Lo is joining the company as its co-chief investment officer. Lo has more than 20 years of experience in alternative credit and asset-based investing. He will work with Timothy Carr in the newly created co-CIO role […]
Women who are 50 and older are feeling the pinch of rising costs and economic uncertainty, even as they enjoy time with their family and hobbies, according to a new AARP survey. The research, part of AARP’s “She’s the Difference” series, highlights financial concerns that weigh heavily on older women — particularly when it comes […]