Contracts, Invoices & Legal

Three US senators opened an inquiry into insurance ratings firm Demotech and whether its assessments may be exposing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to growing risks tied to climate-driven insurer failures. View the full article

A Massachusetts borrower sued the servicer last year after she was surprised with a $200,000 mortgage bill, after 16 years of not receiving statements. View the full article

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint portal has been flooded in recent years, but corporate debt collectors, industry attorneys and consumer advocates question whether the bureau's efforts to reduce the volume will help consumers as much as it helps the firms they're complaining about. View the full article

Falling rates spurred a refi surge that pushed defect rates to 1.79% in Q3, driven by income and compliance documentation gaps as lenders ran lean, per Aces Quality Management. View the full article

The national median payment applied for by purchase applicants rose from $2,025 in December to $2,070 last month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. View the full article

While overall delinquencies eased in January, foreclosure starts jumped to their highest point since early 2020, signaling growing strain among late-stage borrowers despite steady mortgage performance. View the full article

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization is nearing completion on the first of a three-phase Veterans Affairs loan guarantee modernization effort. View the full article

Several mortgage wholesale and partnership channel announcements came out coincidentally following loanDepot's return to the broker channel. View the full article

Radian Group was looking to sell the aggregator, along with its title and real estate units, following a business model pivot related to the Inigo buy. View the full article

CEO Vishal Garg said he expects his firm's brokering loans for Credit Karma to make the consumer platform the largest originator in the country. View the full article

A White House executive order issued Friday afternoon directing regulators to ease Dodd-Frank compliance burdens comes as a bipartisan housing bill advances on Capitol Hill. View the full article

Pending sales of US existing homes unexpectedly rose in February for the first time in three months as buyers took advantage of lower mortgage rates and slower price growth. View the full article

The private investment firm Oksenholt Capital Management holds over 1 million shares of the government-sponsored enterprises' stock, but said that's a small portion of its total portfolio. View the full article

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's single-family updates include some roof coverage options somewhat similar to what's used in one of their other divisions. View the full article

Overlooked controls and fragmented oversight leave mortgage lenders exposed to enforcement, litigation, and reputational damage. Learn how to close the gaps. View the full article

The Long Island-based lender is one of five nonbanks since January to have disclosed a prior hack, with the extent of those incidents remaining unknown. View the full article

What was once a bipartisan and broadly popular housing bill has been weighed down with a pair of provisions that banks can't support. Even with those headwinds, the bill is more likely than not to pass, but not without drawn-out negotiations between the House and Senate. View the full article

The effective tax rate, measuring taxes relative to home prices, also increased to its highest mark in five years, according to Attom's analysis. View the full article

Loanstream allegedly made over 272,000 calls to over 53,000 unique numbers on the Do Not Call registry over a 10-month period, according to a case filing. View the full article

Treasurys posted solid gains Friday as oil futures dropped $15 a barrel, while the S&P 500 logged its 10th straight day of higher highs, according to the head of correspondent business development at AD Mortgage. View the full article

Over half of all second-home inventory in the U.S. is concentrated in just eight states, with Florida leading the pack, according to analysis by NAHB. View the full article

More than 21% of reverse mortgage clients entered counseling with a deficit in their monthly budget last year, almost double the 12.2% of clients in 2024. View the full article

Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor encouraged the real estate industry to reconsider advice received from DEI experts. View the full article

Newrez expects significant expense reductions from AI partnerships with HomeVision and Valon, as executives rule out mergers and a Rithm spinoff amid strong Q1 earnings. View the full article

The company revised the deal after consulting with Ginnie Mae and reported lower earnings due to rate volatility, refinancing and FHA delinquencies. View the full article