Scaling from Freelancer to Business Owner

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees — most of whom are on administrative leave — were asked in an email to list what they accomplished last week. National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 335 said workers should list all the tasks they were told not to perform. View the full article

Mortgage rates declined by one basis point this week, not enough to change the equation to bring consumers back into the housing market, Freddie Mac said. View the full article

Calabria left the free-market think tank Cato Institute and is said to be at the Office of Management and Budget, reviewing multiple agencies. View the full article

Parent company Remax is reporting growing momentum in Wemlo, its technology unit that offers processing automation for loan brokers, which hiked prices last year. View the full article

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, now led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, agreed to temporarily halt enforcement and litigation over its medical debt rule Thursday, handing the banking industry an immediate reprieve. View the full article

While Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is continuing to try and save the agency she helped create, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who benefited from crypto spending in his primary race, is a new ally. View the full article

The real estate company's latest move leverages artificial intelligence to optimize and simplify the entire home-buying journey for consumers. View the full article

The financial services unit also made a categorization change that revised comparisons to prior periods and will be working with its REIT affiliate in new ways. View the full article

With proposed tariffs on homebuilding materials working looming and a cloudy forecast for mortgage rates, young homebuyers are facing increased volatility. View the full article

Ice storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes occur more frequently than hurricanes and earthquakes and those insurance claims can stack substantially. View the full article

Consumers seeking jumbo home loans last week encountered the same 7.02% average contract interest rate as 30-year confirming loan borrowers. View the full article

The Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards, a fintech group co-founded by Sima Gandhi, is publishing guidelines for how banks and others can assess them. View the full article

Mortgage 1 Inc., founded in 1994, says customers and regulators have mistakenly contacted it instead of Mortgage One Funding, which changed its name in 2021. View the full article

Mortgage lenders still need to monetize mortgage servicing rights quickly amid the sluggish housing market, representing more opportunities for the firm. View the full article

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expects the U.S. housing market to quickly pick up steam after recent indicators came in below forecasts. View the full article

New residential construction decreased 9.8% to an annualized pace of 1.37 million last month, slipping after a nearly 16% surge in December, according to government data released Wednesday. View the full article

While companies can use a variety of incentive programs and bonuses, businesses with staff longevity frequently rely on a more personal touch. View the full article

Other issues have overshadowed closing costs of late but they're still a homeownership hurdle. Part five of five in a series: Automation and expenses View the full article

Consumers expect prices will climb at an annual rate of 3.5% over the next five to 10 years, according to the final February reading from the University of Michigan. View the full article

In a positive sign for the economy, headline inflation slowed in February. But the reading alone likely is not enough to break the Federal Open Market Committee out of its wait-and-see mode. View the full article

The program Better Forever rewards returning mortgage customers by discounting the fee charged on their future refinance or purchase loans. View the full article

Investment properties are the primary properties backing the collateral pool, at 80.3%, while second homes account for 19.7% of the pool. View the full article

Between the estimated damages in Los Angeles and rising home insurance prices, policyholders are left wondering how the market will fare in 2025. View the full article

Check out the 36 companies that made our list of the Best Mortgage Companies to Work For. View the full article

When a house is lost, so is much of the collateral on the mortgage. Here's how both lenders and homeowners can bounce back. View the full article