President Donald Trump is pressuring Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign following allegations tied to her mortgage transactions, specifically, that Cook potentially committed mortgage fraud by allegedly misrepresented occupancy requirements on loans for properties in Michigan and Georgia. The call for Cook to resign comes shortly after FHFA Director Bill Pulte urged Attorney General […]
Loan quality risks amid ongoing mortgage market challenges are continuing to emerge, according to the newest QC Industry Trends Report from ACES Quality Management, which tracks post-closing quality control data from its platform. The overall critical defect rate in the first quarter of 2025 climbed to 1.31%, ending two straight quarters of improvement and up […]
Having spent decades navigating the ups and downs of the mortgage industry, I’ve learned that challenging market conditions offer two choices: stand still and hope for improvements or go on the offensive and invest in positioning your company for long-term success. Today’s market represents one of those pivotal moments, with recent data indicating slower home […]
Bonus Homes, a real estate technology and investment firm, announced on Tuesday plans to open its headquarters in the Greater Phoenix area after raising $65.5 million in seed funding. A press release from the company said that the seed funding is from Solyco Capital, Redwood Trust, Nextview Ventures, Operate Ventures and Alpaca VC. With the […]
Clifford Rossi speaks from the vantage point of someone who has been inside the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). In different periods during the 1990s and 2000s, he served as a senior financial economist at Fannie Mae and as senior director of single-family risk management at Freddie Mac. Rossi was among the earliest advocates of merging the […]
Housing market dynamics have grown more favorable for buyers and sellers in August, and it’s possible that the fall of 2025 could see even better conditions if mortgage rates return to 6%. But they haven’t approached that level in nearly a year and haven’t been consistently below that threshold since late 2022. Rates have been […]
A Georgia couple lost their longtime family home after a forged deed led to a reverse mortgage they claimed they never signed, according to reporting from WSB-TV. James and Lucretia Klucken said they began receiving notices in 2019 about repayment on a $50,000 reverse mortgage tied to James’ family property. After reviewing the documents, James, […]
With all eyes now firmly focused on the second half of 2025, mortgage servicers throughout the U.S. face an important period for property tax management. More than 60% of all property tax bills are due between July and December, making the second half of the year extremely critical for the mortgage industry. Data from FRED […]
Consumer demand for reverse mortgage products is expected to rise as the population ages more quickly. According to estimates from Business Research Insights, the global market is currently valued at $2 billion and could reach $3.2 billion by 2033. More business is likely to push reverse mortgage companies to grow their employee headcounts. But like […]
RE/MAX Holdings has appointed Vic Lombardo as its president of mortgage services. Lombardo will succeed Ward Morrison to oversee mortgage brokerage franchise brand Motto Mortgage and third-party processing solution wemlo, the company announced on Monday. Lombardo brings more than two decades of experience to the role. He most recently served as chief operating officer of […]
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s Builder Application Survey data for July 2025, released on Monday, shows that mortgage applications for new-home purchases increased 6.8% compared from a year ago. Compared to June 2025, applications increased by 7%. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns. “Purchase activity for new homes strengthened in […]
Digital personal finance company Achieve on Monday announced the Aug. 14 close of a $266 million, AAA-rated securitization backed by newly originated home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). The securitization includes six classes of rated mortgage-backed notes and two classes of unrated notes. The deal is backed by more than 3,300 HELOCs originated by Achieve […]
Florida homebuyers are facing the same affordability challenges that other housing markets are grappling with, but with added regulatory hurdles if they want to buy a condo. The Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals (FAMP), which is hosting its annual convention this week in Orlando, is addressing those challenges head-on, looking to improve the Florida housing market […]
The Social Security system celebrated its 90th birthday this week. In the wake of this milestone, several policy analysts and news outlets offered their thoughts on the program’s past, present and future. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) noted that the safety net program that currently serves some 69 million Americans per month […]
In the debate over whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should merge, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has remained consistent: “We don’t think that would be a good idea,” chief economist Mike Fratantoni said. The trade group supports a stock offering that preserves stability in the secondary mortgage market while advocating for privatization with an […]
Mortgage lenders deploying artificial intelligence should prepare now for Colorado’s comprehensive AI law that will take effect in February 2026 and rethink how they manage compliance risk. That’s according to Mike Brown, chief product officer at Xactus, and Wendy Lee, managing partner at LOGS Legal Group, who appeared on stage this week at HousingWire‘s AI […]
Several senior executives in Better’s control and finance teams, including chief financial officer Kevin Ryan, have taken additional jobs or left the company as it navigates financial pressures, according to public announcements and updates to social media profiles. In July, Ryan also joined investment bank Houlihan Lokey as a managing director in its capital solutions […]
Fannie Mae has updated its servicing guidelines for temporary interest-rate buydowns, calling for immediate adoption ahead of a Nov. 1 mandate. The changes outline how to apply buydown funds in different workout scenarios, along with updated borrower notification requirements. The guidance, posted to Fannie’s site on Aug. 13 in a bulletin, comes as secondary market […]
loanDepot announced last week that Jeff Walsh has resigned as the president of its LDI Mortgage division. The resignation, confirmed as Walsh’s retirement, will be effective on Sept. 5, 2025, and there is a confirmed transition agreement in place. Walsh had been with loanDepot since November 2012, having serving as chief revenue officer, senior executive […]
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced this week that John Hedlund, vice chairman at ICE Mortgage Technology, has been nominated to serve as MBA’s vice chairman for the 2026 membership year. “John Hedlund brings an impressive combination of decades of leadership as a lender, a devotion to the mortgage industry and MBA engagement, and significant […]
No one likes waiting to get into the home of their dreams. While many prospective homeowners have been biding their time for weeks, months, even years waiting for the market to shift, many challenges aren’t going away — especially the burden of saving thousands of dollars for a down payment. Fortunately, if you’re an independent […]
A small fish in the pond of fintech-focused mortgage companies is trying to race to the front in the artificial intelligence arms race. And it’s not using a typical ChatGPT-style program either. Future Technologies CEO Blake Bianchi announced on Thursday that the company is launching a full-stack, proprietary AI system that promises to automate the […]
In its quest to bring its loan officer count up to 5,000, NEXA Mortgage announced Thursday that it has brought on Eric Mitchell to assist with its goal. Mitchell will serve as a “key hire” recruiting partner for NEXA, newly appointed chief operating officer Jason duPont said in an interview with HousingWire. “We have [an […]
Fannie Mae on Thursday published the results of its latest Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey. The report details lender experiences with eMortgage technology, including challenges to date, adoption plans and business priorities for 2025. The survey found that while most lenders (75%) are familiar with eNotes, only 22% currently use them. The top challenges cited to […]
Artificial intelligence may be known for its speed, but in mortgage servicing, the real opportunity is in reshaping decades-long relationships with homeowners, according to Leslie Peeler, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Cenlar FSB. Speaking at HousingWire’s AI Summit on Tuesday, Peeler told the audience how her time at IBM shaped her view […]
There were a total of 36,128 properties across the country with foreclosure filings in July 2025, up 11% from the prior month and up 13% from a year ago. That’s according to ATTOM‘s July 2025 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, released on Thursday. The report includes properties with default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions. “July’s […]
Texas-based Finance of America (FOA), one of the nation’s leading reverse mortgage lenders, announced Thursday that it is offering a dual listing of its common stock on NYSE Texas. The newly launched equities exchange is headquartered in Dallas and FOA will be among the handful of founding members. Finance of America will continue to trade […]
Dozens of former employees are suing Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte, Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar and the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) for defamation, alleging they were wrongfully linked to fraud after being fired in April over donations made through a charitable program. The two lawsuits — filed Monday in Virginia’s Fairfax County […]
Shawn Malhotra, the first chief technology officer in the history of Rocket Companies, says it’s pursuing an ambitious plan — to rewrite its entire operating system, from home search through mortgage servicing, on a foundation of artificial intelligence. The transformation will happen while Rocket integrates real estate brokerage Redfin and mortgage servicer Mr. Cooper Group, […]
Servicers have known the loss mitigation waterfalls enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic were eventually going to change. But a recent acceleration of the new governance has left the industry with only six months to make critical adjustments to loss mitigation workflows. When the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a Mortgagee Letter […]
OneTrust Home Loans filed a lawsuit this week challenging the long-promoted neutrality of mortgage coaching programs, alleging the services were used by a rival to gain a competitive edge. The California-based lender is suing former loan officer Broch Lassig, mortgage coach Richard Ruby, and Ruby’s company, The Core Training, accusing them of misusing confidential business […]
The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits could rise to 2.7% in 2026, up from this year’s 2.5%, according to estimates from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). The COLA is based on the average Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) for July, August and September, compared with the same […]
Mesa, a membership platform built for homeowners, announced on Wednesday a funding round of $24 million in debt and equity from partners in the housing, lending and home improvement space, bringing its total raised to over $33 million to date. Lowe’s and Paramount Residential Mortgage Group (PRMG) participated in the round, as well as Trinity […]
Keynova Group announced on Wednesday the results of its 2025 Mortgage-Home Equity Scorecard, a consumer experience benchmark that evaluates the top 12 U.S.-based mortgage and home equity lenders. Bank of America and PNC tied for first place in the annual Scorecard. The Scorecard, syndicated since 2005, reviews the digital capabilities and user experience at 12 […]
Mortgage applications continued to rise last week, up 10.9% from one week earlier. That’s according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending August 8, 2025. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 10% compared with the previous week. The refinance index continued to rise, increasing 23% […]
Mortgage lending has shifted into an experience economy. Interest rates dominate conversations, yet only 29% of borrowers who complete a rate-and-term refinance stay with their current servicer, according to ICE Mortgage Technology’s July 2024 Mortgage Monitor report. Borrowers remember how they were treated long after they close their loan and that statistic signals a gap […]
Longtime U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) executive and mortgage professional John Bell III announced on LinkedIn that he’s leaving his role as executive director of the VA’s Loan Guaranty Service (LGY). Bell’s post on Monday touted his key accomplishments at the VA, such as increasing its mortgage market share from less than 1% to […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) chief technology officer Jason Bressler delivered a blunt message to mortgage professionals while on stage Tuesday at HousingWire’s AI Summit. The doom and gloom of high interest rates and industry consolidation aren’t going away soon, he said — but the practical use of artificial intelligence could give brokers a competitive edge. Lenders, […]
Mortgage rates — which have stayed remarkably consistent for much of 2025 — dipped to a new low point for the year last week, reaching 6.57%, according to Mortgage Daily News. The following day, HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center reported the 30-year conforming fixed rate at 6.86%. This week, HousingWire’s data revealed that the 30-year fixed […]
NEXA Mortgage and Tidalwave announced a strategic partnership Tuesday at HousingWire’s AI Summit that will give NEXA’s 3,200 brokers access to Tidalwave’s agentic AI technology platform. Tidalwave’s SOLO platform offers comprehensive mortgage automation capabilities including intelligent lead qualification, automated document processing, real-time underwriting support, multilingual client communication, hallucination-free AI communication through patent-pending mortgage contextualization technology […]
July 2025 saw a 3% month-over-month (MoM) drop in overall rate lock volume, led by a nearly 5% drop in purchase activity as affordability remained strained. That’s according to Optimal Blue‘s July 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, released on Tuesday. The report found that mortgage rates rose in July across all loan types, with […]
In mortgage lending, there’s no shortage of conversation around interest rates and closing costs. But beneath that surface-level focus lies a missed opportunity—one that could dramatically improve the financial well-being of millions of homeowners. It’s the opportunity to help borrowers optimize their blended debt rate and strategically reduce their total mortgage cost over time. Most […]
Outdated mobile homes that were built before the implementation of modern construction and safety standards in the 1970s can still be found across the country. Seniors living on fixed incomes often own these homes and don’t have a practical solution for replacing them. That’s where Bill Smith comes in. For the past decade, Smith — […]
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is reportedly considering three more candidates for the next Federal Reserve chair: Vice Chairs Michelle Bowman and Philip Jefferson, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan. However, other candidates will be interviewed in the coming weeks, Bloomberg reported based on talks with two administration officials. Potential candidates include President Donald Trump’s economic advisor […]
Non-QM lender Acra Lending announced on Monday the appointment of Shawn Stone as chief executive officer. Stone succeeds Keith Lind, who transitions to Chairman of the Board. Stone, who brings over 25 years of executive experience in financial services to the role, most recently was CEO and board member at LendingPoint, an Atlanta-based online loan […]