Contracts, Invoices & Legal

The contract rate on a 30-year mortgage increased 14 basis points to 6.57% in the week ended March 27, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday. View the full article

Nearly 18 million homeowners in the 100 largest U.S. metros paid HOA or condo fees in 2024, with 2.6 million paying $500 or more monthly, according to a new LendingTree report. View the full article

HECM endorsements rose 16% in March to 2,117 loans, but monthly volumes remain near their slowest pace since last summer as proprietary reverse products quietly steal market share. View the full article

A Washington court denied a plaintiff request, pointing to past Supreme Court rulings that showed a compelling interest for the state's SPCP. 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

Company veteran Austin Niemiec is running the wholesale arm after the departures of Fawaz, a prominent broker advocate, and general manager Dan Sogorka. View the full article

Large and mega investors accounted for 5.8% of all single family-home purchases in December, up from 4.8% at the same time last year, according to Cotality. View the full article

Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh has several paths toward reducing the central bank's $6.6 trillion balance sheet but the process will be costly and lengthy, Wall Street strategists say. View the full article

Some observers say changes to MSR risk-weighting would have limited near-term impact and are unlikely to prompt banks to rush back. View the full article

The agencies' representatives weighed in on the insurance fund's capital ratio and evolving policies at the Mortgage Bankers Association's servicing conference. View the full article

Residential lending remains steady in select cities as resilient housing markets, strong employment, limited supply, and migration trends shape borrower demand. 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

Nearly 14% of homes that went under contract last month were cancelled, up from 13.1% last year and the highest January share in records, according to Redfin. 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

While originators are not the primary focus of the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act going into effect on March 5, the way they do business is going to change. View the full article

The bill, offered by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Todd Young, R-Ind., would allow Federal Home Loan Bank members to establish tax-exempt community infrastructure development bonds. View the full article

This year 40 companies had what it takes to land on the Best Mortgage Companies to Work For list. View the full article

An appellate court denied the bank's argument targeting the state's Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act and ordered it to pay the defendant's legal fees. View the full article

The Supreme Court's decision seems to set limits on Pres. The President's power, even if he wasn't inclined to hold on to the GSEs to control mortgage rates, BTIG said. View the full article

The announcement drove a large increase in Better's stock price, but UWM, Rocket and Pennymac all saw any gains earlier in the day more than dissipate. View the full article

The average annual premium is projected to increase 4% to about $3,057 this year, after jumping 12% in 2025, according to Insurify, an online insurance comparison site. View the full article

The contract rate on a 30-year mortgage rose 11 basis points to 6.30% in the week ended March 13 following a similar advance at the week before, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday. View the full article

The delay in its shareholder meeting to approve the sale to UWM Holdings could put Two Harbors back in play, but will it get the same price from another buyer? View the full article

Two top housing platforms disagree on the best week to list in 2026, but both agree a rare window for sellers is opening this spring. View the full article