Contracts, Invoices & Legal

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday defended cuts to the Community Development Financial Institution Fund in the president's 2027 budget, telling the Senate Appropriations Committee that the program had pursued a "partisan wish list." View the full article

The 30-year fixed is still over 20 basis points higher than its February bottom, but fell 7 basis points this past week on Iran peace hopes, Freddie Mac said. View the full article

Foreclosure auctions available jumped on both a quarterly and yearly basis, but the sales rate did not move in tandem, according to a new report. View the full article

Top mortgage originators ranked 175-101 share their client retention strategies, from face-to-face meetings to AI and CRM tools, as the industry eyes a 2026 purchase market shift. View the full article

Even as they continue to press for additional changes, banks get some wins from the revised Basel capital framework and a ballpark estimate of their capital outlook for the next few years. View the full article

Credibly will bring its SMB loans and revenue-based financing products to Figure's Democratized Prime platform, Figure said in a press release. View the full article

Rocket Cos. fell just $200 million short of United Wholesale Mortgage in Q1, as servicing recapture from its massive MSR portfolio fueled $44.7B in closed loan volume. View the full article

Rate-and-term refinances dropped sharply in the short run but the overall number's comparison to a year ago is a different story, according to Optimal Blue. View the full article

Rocket Mortgage pointed to United Wholesale Mortgage's refinance promotions and comments by Mat Ishbia to induce brokers to breach non-solicitation agreements. View the full article

Delinquencies among recent FHA originations are showing up alongside a notable volume of subordinate liens carried by the borrowers. View the full article

Lenders at the MBA conference say non-agency is more than just non-QM — and those still treating it as a niche product are falling behind as it becomes a core part of the business. View the full article

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will add loan-level buydown data to MBS this spring, giving investors clearer insight into prepayment risk tied to temporary rate incentives. View the full article

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., moved to consider the housing package next week, but it's not clear what version of the bill senators will be voting on as the House, Senate and White House are still negotiating priorities. View the full article

Rocket Mortgage and Compass launched a three-year Redfin listing partnership, expanding access to 500,000+ homes, with executives saying they see no RESPA compliance issues. 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

A federal appeals court ruled mortgages in REMIC trusts may qualify as ERISA plan assets, reviving fiduciary duty claims against Onity in a case brought by a union pension fund. View the full article

A federal judge granted the interview request for a brokerage accused of violating the megalender's restriction on selling loans to wholesale competitors. View the full article

Lawsuits and probes are ramping up, and some courts have broadened the lending law's statute of limitations, said Bradley Partner Jonathan Kolodziej. View the full article

Jay Plum, head of consumer lending at Fifth Third Bank, says artificial intelligence is fundamentally shifting relationships between banks and their third-party software vendors, allowing banks to do things on their own that they would previously rely on vendors to do for them, like identify risky loans and prepare for exams. View the full article

LoanDepot will integrate Figure's proprietary credit and loan underwriting engine into its own proprietary mello technology platform and point of sale system. View the full article