Contracts, Invoices & Legal

The four major underwriters had an increase in first quarter open orders versus the end of 2025 in spite of data showing the number of units produced declined. View the full article

Mortgage groups want GSEs to buy MBS to lower rates, but the Chairman of Whalen Global Advisors writes that the plan is risky, unnecessary, and poorly timed. View the full article

The new monthly reporting rule lists improved accuracy and timeliness of MBS payments among its goals, with implementation planned for February 2026. View the full article

New Jersey-based OceanFirst Financial slid in its planned $579 million acquisition of Flushing Financial just before the end of the year. The private equity firm Warburg Pincus is also participating in the transaction. View the full article

The Senate allowed the nomination of a permanent director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to lapse, giving acting Director Russell Vought more time to lead the agency on a temporary basis. View the full article

The bank did $16 billion of originations during the final three months of 2025, with the quarter-to-quarter increase beating industry-wide growth forecasts. View the full article

A mortgage insurance premium deduction in Maine would come after the reintroduction of a similar federal policy, which took effect with the 2026 tax year. View the full article

DRMT 2026-INV1, is backed by a pool of 1,153 non-prime investment property mortgages, which have a moderate leverage levels of an original, combined loan-to-value (CLTV) ratio of 69.9%. View the full article

The company formerly known as Ocwen confirmed that a deferred tax asset valuation helped boost net income to common shareholders despite servicing challenges. 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 lawsuit accuses Veterans United of deceptively suggesting it's part of the Department of Veterans Affairs and steering clients to more costly loans. View the full article

The sector has specialized data that experts can help with and may mitigate cyclical risk, but costs and customers are considerations, an industry veteran says. View the full article

Some mortgage companies are taking advantage of a loan-interest deduction that was designed to benefit community banks, a Washington State legislator alleged. View the full article

Total consumer debt in the United States hit $18.2 trillion by the end of last year, with $12.8 trillion attributed to first mortgages, according to Equifax. View the full article

New limits on trigger leads push originators toward first-party data, past customers and referral networks as they rethink how to reach borrowers. View the full article

Lendwise filed a complaint against Priority Financial Network, claiming it falsely reported to partners that Lendwise organized an "Amended Returns Scheme." View the full article

San Francisco-based Anthropic is challenging a decision by the department and other federal agencies like the Federal Housing Finance Agency to shift their AI work to other providers. 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