Mortgage servicing software provider Sagent announced on Wednesday that it has extended its software partnership with Freedom Mortgage for another five years, the latest in a string of deals it has struck with some of America’s largest mortgage servicers. Freedom, the largest FHA and VA lender in America, will continue to use Sagent’s cloud-based technologies, […]
Fathom Holdings Inc., the M&A-hungry parent of cloud-based real estate brokerage Fathom Realty, achieved supercharged growth in 2021. But it still has a bit of work to do to turn a profit, not that executives seem to be in a rush. In its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, the company revealed a $12.5 million GAAP […]
Mortgage applications jumped 8.5% for the week ending March 4, as mortgage rates dropped for the first time in three months as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Wednesday. Borrowers’ demand for mortgages increased across the board. The MBA‘s seasonally adjusted refi index rose 8.5% from the […]
Pink slips will arrive for 3,000 employees of Better.com, the mortgage lender that received a mountain of bad press three months ago when its CEO, Vishal Garg, fired 900 workers via Zoom and chastised their work ethic to remaining employees. The new round of layoffs reaches 35% of Better.com’s staff and hits workers in the […]
Lenders One Cooperative announced on Monday that it has struck a deal to lease retail space in Walmart stores to sell mortgage products and services. The cooperative inked a deal for space at three Walmart locations, but said there are “many more opportunities to come.” Lenders One will be selling purchase, refinance and home equity products […]
Illinois-based title insurance underwriter Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund (ATG) has entered into an agreement to merge with mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate. ATG president and CEO Peter Birnbaum announced the plans for the merger in early January in an email to ATG agents and shareholders. The transaction is still subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, but […]
Illinois-based title insurance underwriter Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund (ATG) has entered into an agreement to merge with mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate. ATG president and CEO Peter Birnbaum announced the plans for the merger in early January in an email to ATG agents and shareholders. The transaction is still subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, but […]
California-based nonbank lender Carrington Mortgage Services has invested in boosting the growth of its wholesale channel, with the latest announcements including a new loan processing technology and plans to increase the sales team. The attention to broker shops comes at a moment in the mortgage industry when the retail channel is losing origination volume, particularly […]
Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the United States Of America created 678,000 jobs in February. We also had 92,000 in positive revisions, and this report was a beat of estimates coming off a strong January report as well. The U.S unemployment rate stands at 3.8%, and we are getting closer and closer to […]
Last week, mortgage investment firm Ellington Financial (NYSE: EFC) announced that it had reached a deal to acquireleading reverse mortgage lender Longbridge Financial, in a deal valued at roughly $75 million for a 49.6% stake. Since EFC had already maintained a stake in Longbridge, the deal will basically serve to close the remaining gap in ownership […]
Fannie Mae this week completed its first credit insurance risk transfer (CIRT) deal of the year as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to share mortgage risk with the private sector. The deal transferred millions of dollars of credit risk to a group of 22 private insurers and reinsurers. That credit risk is tied to […]
Over the past few years, digital transformation has increasingly changed the way property and real estate transactions occur. A vertical which has seen a strong digital push is mortgages, with consumers, lenders and other agents increasingly using online tools and services to apply for and process home sales. Nora Apsel, Morty co-founder and CEO One […]
MSR ” data-image-caption=”” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”778″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png?w=1024″ alt=”HW+ money house balance” class=”wp-image-330483″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png?resize=150,97 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png?resize=300,195 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png?resize=768,498 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png?resize=1024,664 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-money-house-balance.png?resize=600,389 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”> Despite the global turmoil sparked by Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine and the volatility in interest rates that has followed, the mortgage servicing rights (MSR) market […]
As all participants in the mortgage industry know, securitization is a critical tool for making loans to homeowners at affordable rates. The process of bundling loans and separating risks makes available fixed-rate mortgages that are fully prepayable at borrowing costs well below other forms of debt. To say that securitization is critical to American homeownership […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs is giving borrowers impacted by the pandemic an additional fifteen months to get loan payment relief. The new deadline for home retention options is now July 1, 2023, according to a circular published by the department on Monday. The options were initially set to expire April 1, 2022. The reason […]
The average 30-year-fixed rate mortgage declined to 3.76% for the week ending March 3, down from 3.89% in the previous week, amid the geopolitical tensions caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to the latest Freddie Mac PMMS Mortgage Survey. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.02%. The PMMS report is focused on conventional, conforming, […]
Despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Federal Reserve Chair Pro Tempore Jerome Powell plans to raise rates by 25 basis points this month. The first rate increase is expected in a little less than two weeks, coinciding with the March Federal Open Markets Committee meeting, scheduled for March 15 and 16. President Joe Biden also […]
It’s official: the mortgage industry has entered a purchase era, with refinance applications declining below 50% of the mix for the first time since June 2019, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Wednesday. Mortgage applications decreased 0.7% for the week ending Feb. 25, as mortgage rates reached 4.15%. Compared to the same week one […]
In January I received a text message from Dave Savage, CEO of Mortgage Coach. “Hey Clayton …” and a link. News just broke that private equity investor LLR Partners announced strategic investments in two mortgage technology companies — Mortgage Coach and Sales Boomerang (click here for article). LLR is not a newcomer to mortgage technology […]
Despite a 1.6% drop in U.S.-based agent count and a net loss of $15.6 million in 2021, RE/MAX Holding Inc., executives were positive about the Denver-based franchisor’s performance during the firm’s fourth quarter earnings call with investors on Thursday, thanks to RE/MAX’s organic revenue growth. During 2021, RE/MAX generated $329.7 million in total revenue, up […]
UWM’s headquarters in Pontiac, Michigan. ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”737″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png?w=1024″ alt=”HW-UWM” class=”wp-image-324074″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png?resize=150,92 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png?resize=300,184 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png?resize=768,472 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png?resize=1024,629 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HW-UWM.png?resize=600,369 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>UWM’s headquarters in Pontiac, Michigan. United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the nation’s largest wholesale lender, posted another record for production in 2021, but lower margins and declines in fair […]
California-based mortgage lender WinnPointe Corporation, doing business as Interactive Mortgage, has started a reduction in its workforce of around 180 employees, after suffering more than $1 million dollars in losses. The company announced that, in the last 12 months, it laid off 128 employees, including underwriters, loan officers, processors, administrative and funders. However, pink slips […]
Nonbank mortgage lender and servicer Ocwen Financial Corporation improved its performance in 2021, despite a deterioration in its earnings during the last three months of the year. The company reported on Friday a $18 million profit in 2021. Ocwen posted a net loss of $40 million in 2020. For the full year, the company’s servicing portfolio grew […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced on Thursday the launch of a new portal for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Single Family Mortgage Asset Recovery Technology (SMART) system. The streamlined SMART portal allows borrowers and servicers to request payoff amounts in real time for FHA partial claims or subordination checklists, which are used […]
Rocket Companies CEO Jay Farner ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”713″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?w=1024″ alt=”Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW” class=”wp-image-281600″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=150,89 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=300,178 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=768,456 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=1024,608 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=600,357 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Rocket Companies CEO Jay Farner No mortgage lender in America capitalized on the pandemic-driven refi boom better than Rocket Mortgage. The Detroit-based company, with a ready-built infrastructure […]
Stocks fell Thursday as Russian troops launched a full-scale attack in Ukraine, and at least in the short-term, the turmoil could lower mortgage rates in the U.S. During large-scale disruptions, investors often flee to safer options, such as U.S. Treasury notes, bonds and mortgage-backed securities. All things being equal, that dynamic tends to put downward […]
Despite a 1.6% drop in U.S.-based agent count and a net loss of $15.6 million in 2021, RE/MAX Holding Inc., executives were positive about the Denver-based franchisor’s performance during the firm’s fourth quarter earnings call with investors on Thursday, thanks to RE/MAX’s organic revenue growth. During 2021, RE/MAX generated $329.7 million in total revenue, up […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is working to expand the COVID-19 loss mitigation program to include the option of a 40-year loan modification with a partial claim, an acknowledgement that some borrowers exiting forbearance are still facing financial challenges. Julienne Joseph, deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Single-Family Housing for FHA at the U.S. […]
Willie Newman ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”706″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?w=1024″ alt=”HW+ Willie Newman” class=”wp-image-329916″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=150,88 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=300,177 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=768,452 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=1024,602 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=600,353 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Home Point Capital CEO Willie Newman Home Point Capital, the parent company of wholesale lender Homepoint, turned a $19.3 million profit in the fourth quarter, a sequential decline […]
The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.89% for the week ending Feb. 24, down three basis points from the prior week, according to Freddie Mac‘s latest mortgage survey. “Even with this week’s decline, mortgage rates have increased more than a full percent over the last six months,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Overall […]
Mortgage applications decreased 13.1% for the week ending Feb. 18 to the lowest level since December 2019, as mortgage rates eclipsed the 4% mark. The Mortgage Bankers Association‘s seasonally adjusted refi index fell 15.6% from the previous week, bringing its share of total applications to almost equal the purchases share at 50%. Meanwhile, the purchase […]
Servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume continued to drop in January, but some borrowers exiting plans are still facing financial challenges. The total number of loans in forbearance decreased by 11 basis points, from 1.41% in December to 1.30% in January, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). In total, about 650,000 homeowners were in forbearance plans as of January 31. […]
Nonbank mortgage servicer Ocwen agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit regarding alleged phone conversations recorded without clients’ consent. Plaintiff Gregory Franklin filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in 2018. He claimed that the company violated California’s Invasion of Privacy Act by recording outgoing […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) now has a Senate-confirmed inspector general, a corporate compliance expert who hails from the private sector. Brian Tomney, who the Senate confirmed by voice vote Thursday evening, most recently led the office of corporate investigations at Capital One. In that role he oversaw a team of researchers to investigate […]
Mortgage applications for new homes stalled in January, dipping by 12.5% year-over-year, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey published this week. The trade group noted that the survey results showed the slowest annual pace since July 2021. However, from December 2021 to January, purchase applications grew, with a 10% month-over-month gain recorded by MBA’s […]
Anthony Hsieh, the CEO and founder of loanDepot, has the tricky task of trying to convince analysts and investors that the mortgage lender will gain market share and remain profitable in arguably the most competitive mortgage market ever. To demonstrate that he genuinely believes loanDepot will prevail, loanDepot’s founder and largest shareholder is putting his […]
Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, Fairway Wholesale Lending and the American Warrior Initiative (AWI) wrapped up last year by granting 16 service dogs to 16 veterans in a timespan of less than one hour. The presentations were part of the American Warrior Initiative’s mission to bridge the military-civilian divide by bringing awareness to civilians all over […]
Potential homebuyers seeking Freddie Mac-backed mortgages will no longer have to hunt for paper pay stubs to verify their income. Freddie Mac announced on Wednesday that it will roll out an automated process that allows mortgage lenders to assess a prospective homebuyer’s direct deposit income. Freddie Mac claims this would reduce the paper documentation burden […]
The performance of loan pools backing private-label securitization deals has continued to improve across most measurement metrics through the end of January after hitting a low point in mid-2020 at the height of the pandemic. The most recent RMBS Credit Indices report from the Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) shows that loan pools supporting outstanding […]
The Federal Housing Administration announced this week that lenders have an additional year before they must submit appraisals through the FHA Catalyst: EAD Module. Per a mortgagee letter published on Tuesday, the deadline to onboard for lenders has been moved to March 14, 2023. The previous deadline, announced in mid- 2021, was March 14, 2022. […]
The mortgage servicing rights market took off like a rocket in January and it has continued to accelerate into the stratosphere in February, according to industry experts who follow the MSR market closely. About $180 billion in residential bulk MSR assets were brought to market just in the month of January, “and February will be […]
In today’s competitive real estate market, an increasing number of real estate investors are turning to private money lenders to help them close deals faster, enhance property valuations, and increase their returns. The problem with private money lenders is that good ones are hard to come by. Let’s look at what private money lenders do […]
Mortgage applications decreased 5.4% for the week ending Feb. 11, reflecting what the mortgage market looks like when rates eclipse 4% for the first time since 2019. The Mortgage Bankers Association‘s seasonally adjusted refi index fell 8.9% from the previous week, bringing its share of total applications to the lowest level in 19 months. Meanwhile, the purchase index dropped […]
Danny Yen, who masterminded a fraudulent continuing education scheme involving hundreds of loan officers, has agreed to settle with state financial regulators for $75,000. In a settlement with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), Maryland’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation and the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, Danny Yen, the […]
Fannie Mae reported its overall net income increased in 2021 to $22.2 billion, an increase of $10.4 billion compared to 2020, largely due to the growth of its single-family business. Net revenue increased $4.6 billion to $29.9 billion in 2021, mostly driven by higher guaranty fee income, including that generated by the 50 basis point […]