Mortgage advisory firm Stratmor Group has merged with Teraverde, a mortgage advisory firm and technology solutions provider, in a deal that the companies say will allow them to expand the markets they serve and the depth of services provided. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both firms will operate under the Stratmor brand, […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has launched a new service to handle all the title work for its brokers on refinancings. As a result, brokers no longer need to deal with a title company or settlement agent to close a refi. The top U.S. mortgage lender announced the service on Thursday during an annual meeting with its […]
Across all states, California poses the highest risk of bankruptcy for Americans ages 65 and older, according to a study released by personal finance website Moneywise. The study analyzed 11 factors to determine which states put elderly U.S. citizens at the greatest risk of bankruptcy. It determined each state’s risk of bankruptcy by assigning a […]
Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler sat down with Sridhar Sharma, executive vice president and chief information officer at Mr. Cooper, to talk about how the company is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase productivity while making their customers happier. Sarah Wheeler: You came into the mortgage space about nine years ago after leading […]
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) president and CEO Bob Broeksmit proposed creating a national director to oversee housing policies and address the “regulatory knots” that “sap the country’s economic strength.” This czar, called the “National Housing Policy Director,” would be directly located in the White House, accountable to the President, and able to spot – and […]
Older voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania are poised to make their presence — and preferences — felt in the upcoming fall elections that will determine control of the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Chief on their minds are issues that include Social Security and aging in place. […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday announced that the Biden administration has approved a record $1.1 billion in funding for the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program, and an additional $75 million funding opportunity for the Indian Community Development Block (ICDBG) program to “support housing and community development projects.” The […]
The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) on Wednesday released a plan that it says would “modernize” Ginnie Mae, the government-owned company that manages the securitization of government-sponsored loans. The CHLA argues that Ginnie Mae has not been given sufficient budget authority by the congressional appropriations process despite the value it generates. Its plan takes […]
Mortgage demand ticked up last week as interest rates declined for a second week in a row. Applications increased by 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending May 10, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey. “Treasury yields continued to move lower last week and mortgage rates declined […]
VantageScore has released a pilot of its latest credit-scoring model, VantageScore 4 Plus, for banks, fintechs and government lenders. The new model combines alternate open banking data with traditional credit data, which it claims gives lenders a “substantial predictive lift of up to 10% compared to the industry leading VantageScore 4.0 credit score, which itself […]
This is an excerpt of a HousingWire Research white paper titled: What Everyone Needs to Know about Mortgage Rate Lock-in, by Altos President Mike Simonsen. In the 24 months beginning March 2022, the U.S. housing market saw dramatic changes in affordability as mortgage rates skyrocketed 500 basis points. After an initial rush to get to […]
The most anticipated economic report of the month showed that inflation cooled down a little in April, bringing relief to investors and housing industry professionals. Consumer prices in April were up 3.4% from a year earlier, down from 3.5% in March, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. The reading, […]
Steve Resch, vice president of retirement strategies at leading reverse mortgage industry lender Finance of America, knows a lot about the intersection between the interests of financial planning professionals and reverse mortgage industry members. Financial planners have been, and remain, one of the most sought-after referral partnerships for reverse mortgage professionals to establish ties with. […]
While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) exists to facilitate the needs that Americans have for housing — needs that are challenged by affordability, inventory, mortgage rates and more — recent policies of the Biden administration have hindered affordability by focusing on climate-related housing issues instead of costs. This is according to […]
Atlas VMS, the appraisal and valuation company led by Erik Morin, announced this week the appointment of Joe Pravettone as chief appraiser. The company describes the hire as a “significant addition” to its leadership team. Pravettone began his valuation career roughly 25 years ago, starting as an independent fee appraiser and ultimately working for both […]
As the U.S. reaches its peak homebuying season, mortgage rates continue to ease week over week. HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed the average 30-year fixed rate for conforming loans at 7.45% on Tuesday, below the rate of 7.51% one week ago. At the same time one year ago, the average rate was 6.54%.The 15-year conforming […]
Better Home & Finance Holding Co., the parent of digital lender Better, strongly improved its mortgage production and revenues in the first three months of 2024. But expenses continued to increase and the company remained unprofitable during the period. Better posted a net loss of $51.5 million from January to March, up from a loss […]
It’s an election year, and housing affordability appears to be a big concern for voters. So, it’s not surprising to see the administration and members of Congress announcing big ticket legislative initiatives to boost homeownership – like a 1st time homebuyer tax credit and the Neighborhood Investment Act to fix up older homes. The Community […]
FinLocker, the St. Louis-based developer of a leading white-label financial fitness and homeownership platform, announced the closure of a $17 million Series B funding round on Tuesday. The investment from Radian Group and existing shareholders will enable FinLocker to introduce a suite of new features and tools designed to optimize the homebuying and homeownership experience. […]
In 2023, home purchases slowed across the board due to low levels of inventory, high mortgage rates and soaring home prices. Simultaneously, the appetite for second homes also diminished substantially. Nationwide, 90,772 mortgages for second homes were originated in 2023, down 40% from a year earlier and down 65% from the height of the post-pandemic […]
The former reverse mortgage team from Norcom Mortgage in Avon, Connecticut — which elected not to move to CMG Financial following its acquisition of Norcom last month — has selected Texas-based Supreme Lending as its new home, with John Luddy serving as SVP of reverse lending. After engaging in conversations with multiple lenders following the […]
Chicago-based mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate rolled out the second wave of its Community Engagement Initiative, the company announced on Monday. Launched in 2023, the program aims to improve funded loan volumes in underserved communities nationwide. “Traditional lending practices have overlooked Black and Latino communities, as well as low to moderate-income areas,” Camilo Escalante, executive director […]
Residential sale-leaseback platform EasyKnock has acquired the assets of home equity investment firm HomePace, the company exclusively told HousingWire on Monday. Goodwin Procter, a global law firm, acted as legal adviser for the deal, but further terms were not disclosed. HomePace, founded in 2020, specializes in helping homeowners access their equity through home equity agreements. […]
A recently published report by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) identified vulnerabilities at nonbank mortgage servicers that pose risks to financial stability. It recommended increased regulation and initiatives to improve these companies’ liquidity during moments of stress, but mortgage trade groups have different reactions to the proposals. The attention on nonbank mortgage companies have increased since their […]
Title firm Mother Lode Holding Co., a subsidiary of big four firm First American Financial, announced Monday that it has acquired Wisconsin Title Service Co. Inc. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to Mother Lode Holding Co., the acquisition includes Wisconsin Title Service Co.’s sister company, Wisconsin Title Closing Service Inc., as […]
Mortgage rates and the bond market have fallen a bit recently and the spreads betweenthe 10-year yield and 30-year mortgage rate have improved over last year’s levels. In the past two years, demand has always picked up whenever mortgage rates have moved lower with some duration. Even last week, purchase apps grew week to week. […]
Holding company Better Home & Finance hired Chad Smith to be the president and chief operating officer of its mortgage business, it announced on Friday. Kevin Ryan, who previously held the position of president, will continue serving the company as chief financial officer. Before joining Better, industry veteran Smith was the CEO of Mission Loans from December 2020 to May […]
In March, we explored the difference between Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) “expected rates” and “note rates” and why most reverse mortgages depend on these two interest rates. In April, we specifically focused on expected rates. We showed that when expected rates increase and round up to the next 1/8% (0.125%), the principal available to […]
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill into law this week that changes certain requirements for the state’s reverse mortgage borrowers, a move that the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) says could save money on closing costs. The new law, House Bill (HB) 7073, changes the way the state’s “documentary stamp tax” can […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Freedom Mortgage were handed minor setbacks by the presiding and magistrate judges, respectively, in a case that the regulator brought in widespread violations in its 2020 submission of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. The development was first reported by National Mortgage News. The original case was filed […]
Kiavi, one of the nation’s largest private lenders for residential real estate investors, closed a $300 million unrated securitization of residential transition loans (RTLs), the company announced on Friday. The loans bundled in the securitization were mostly investment property loans used for fix-and-flip transactions. This securitization marked Kiavi’s 17th such transaction and elevated the company’s […]
Sam Valverde, formerly the principal executive vice president of government-owned corporation Ginnie Mae, was named as its acting president as of May 6, according to an announcement issued by the organization this week. Sam Valverde, acting president of Ginnie Mae. ” data-image-caption=” Sam Valverde ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/samvalverde_ginniemae.jpg?w=240″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/samvalverde_ginniemae.jpg?w=819″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/samvalverde_ginniemae.jpg?w=819″ alt=”Sam Valverde, acting president of Ginnie Mae.” […]
Guild Holdings Company, parent company of Guild Mortgage, recorded a 6% increase in mortgage originations and much higher revenue levels in the first quarter of 2024 than in 2023. Net income saw substantial improvements as the company continues to pursue an active acquisition strategy, according to an earnings report for Q1 released on Thursday. “I […]
Rocket Companies, the parent company of Rocket Mortgage, hired its first chief technology officer this week, bringing former Thomson Reuters and Intel executive Shawn Malhotra into the fold. The hire is Rocket’s latest move to bolster its already robust investment in artificial intelligence. Varun Krishna, Rocket Companies CEO, sat down with HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins […]
UWM Holdings Corp., the parent of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2024 despite higher rates, a lack of inventory and a decline in the fair value of its mortgage servicing rights (MSRs). The quarter’s positive performance was supported by increased origination volumes at improved margins and servicing sales, which resulted […]
A former top executive at Better.com has voluntarily dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit filed about two years ago against the company and its leadership, including founder Vishal Garg, that accuses the defendants of violating labor and securities laws when pursuing the firm’s goal to go public. Attorneys for Sarah Pierce — Better’s former executive vice president for customer […]
Fannie Mae announced on Wednesday the availability of a new web-based option for its income calculator tool, which is designed to “help mortgage professionals serve the growing number of mortgage applicants in the U.S. who are self-employed and don’t have traditional sources of income,” according to the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE). The new option for the […]
U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who recently submitted a series of questions to Ginnie Mae about its management of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)-backed Securities (HMBS) program following the collapse of Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF), clinched the Republican nomination for governor of Indiana on Tuesday night, according to The Associated Press and The Washington […]
Because of an apparent error made by staff at ICE Mortgage Technology‘s Surefire customer relationship management (CRM) platform, more than 600,000 emails and texts were sent without permission to real estate agents, business partners and past clients of loan officers around the country. These messages, part of Surefire’s weekly “Markets in a Minute” deployment, mistakenly […]
Mortgage demand ticked up last week as interest rates decreased following the news of a slowing job market. Applications increased by 2.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending May 3, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey. “Treasury rates and mortgage rates fell last week on the news of a […]
As the August implementation deadline for the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement approaches, the window of time is shrinking for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to revise its policies governing the fees that veterans cannot currently pay when using their VA loan benefit. […]
loanDepot delivered another financial loss in the first quarter of 2024, during which the mortgage lender dealt with the impacts of a cyberattack that brought down its systems. The California-based lender recorded a non-GAAP adjusted net loss of $38 million from January to March, compared to a $26.6 million loss in the previous quarter and a $59 million […]
Carrington Mortgage Services (CMS) hired Steven Winokur to serve as vice president of marketing for third-party originations (TPO), the company announced Tuesday. In this new role, Winokur will work to increase the company’s emphasis on diverse forms of nonqualified mortgage (non-QM) educational resources.Prior to joining CMS, Winokur served as chief marketing officer at Angel Oak […]
Finance of America Companies (FOA), which controls the outgoing brands Finance of America Reverse (FAR) and American Advisors Group (AAG), recorded a net loss under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of $16 million in Q1 2024 and an adjusted net loss of $7 million for the quarter, according to a recently released earnings report. Total […]
Mortgage capital markets tech firm Polly announced on Tuesday that it has launched “Polly/AI,” which integrates artificial intelligence (AI) technology into the newest version of its product and pricing engine (PPE) and includes a “co-pilot” for loan officers that will “process, interpret, and recommend a range of outcome-driven results.” The PPE system is native to […]