Scaling from Freelancer to Business Owner

Wall Street is weighing in on the possible fate of home loan giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, after a fleeting suggestion by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week that the government's stakes could eventually become part of the proposed US sovereign wealth fund. View the full article

The government conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wasn't meant to last forever, but releasing the companies is complicated and should involve a diffident Congress, housing policy experts said during a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta housing panel. View the full article

A federal judge in Maryland ruled against the City of Baltimore's attempt to block cuts to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau program funding on procedural grounds. View the full article

A Maryland judge temporarily halted mass layoffs of probationary employees at multiple agencies, citing legal violations and harm to states' ability to respond to unemployment needs. View the full article

The Connecticut bank said its newly minted president, Steven Sugarman, successfully led a private placement and signed a long-term employment agreement that makes him a potential CEO. David Lowery, current chief executive of Patriot, plans to step down in April. View the full article

Effective March 18, the department is retracting eligibility for non-citizens, it announced. View the full article

Large mortgage companies are targeting mergers and acquisitions as well as home equity lending in their 2025 business plans, Boston Consulting Group said. View the full article

The private market is increasingly testing credit metrics aimed at growing originations without adding risk as a larger effort to this end has slowed. View the full article

New residential construction increased 11.2% to an annualized rate of 1.5 million in February, according to government data released Tuesday. View the full article

The top five banks had a combined unpaid principal balance of more than $26 billion at the end of Q4 2024. View the full article

The Fed's wait-and-see approach on what will happen to the U.S. economy, while not directly impacting mortgages, will likely keep those rates elevated. View the full article

The institution has been downsizing its portfolio to address deposit runoff as it has shed fintech exposures and worked to gain release from a consent order. View the full article

Over 100,000 loans for first-time home buyers have been pooled and securitized in issuances this year, the guarantor of government-backed loans said. View the full article

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has rehired more than 100 fire employees, but the union claims dozens of employees have not been reinstated in violation of a federal court order. View the full article

Sales of so-called social bonds, which direct proceeds to areas like health, housing and education, jumped about 130% to $657 billion globally last year, and continued at a similar pace in the first quarter. View the full article

Rocket said the Redfin deal is part of a purchase mortgage strategy, but originating and retaining residential mortgages in portfolio is the real endgame writes the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors. View the full article

An ex-Biden administration official suggested potential challenges in identifying lands that have access to both employment opportunities and infrastructure. View the full article

The San Francisco bank announced Monday that it has shed its fifth regulatory order this year — this one related to loss mitigation practices in its home lending business. View the full article

After the Federal Reserve moved to slow the pace of quantitative tightening, the Fed chair floated the idea of continuing to allow mortgage-backed securities to roll off its books even after the central bank has met its monetary policy objectives in reducing its balance sheet. View the full article

The age of homes, moving preferences and weather risks are all playing a role in the direction of growth prospects for the remodel and renovation industry. View the full article

Kind Lending has big plans to grow its retail channel and is signaling this by putting industry veteran Tammy Richards in charge of the operations. View the full article