Scaling from Freelancer to Business Owner

The company's latest funding announcement caps off a year of tailwinds that propelled growth for home equity investment platforms and related lending products. View the full article

A federal court cannot modify a preliminary injunction to compel the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to request funding for the agency, the Department of Justice said. View the full article

A former employee cited a ransomware gang's claim in October that it stole 20 terabytes of sensitive customer information from the industry vendor. View the full article

Overall performance is stable but inflation and unemployment have hurt newer borrowers in some cases, according to Transunion's 2026 consumer credit forecast. View the full article

Sen. Hassan sent letters to corporate owners of manufactured housing communities, looking for answers on affordability and living conditions for their residents. View the full article

November rate locks fell seasonally but hit their strongest level since 2021, led by refis, while lenders shifted more loans to the GSE cash window. View the full article

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors voted Wednesday to reappoint 11 sitting regional Fed presidents, without any dissents. The move precludes any effort the White House might have made to pressure the board to deny reappointments. View the full article

Rising labor and material costs could weigh on final expenses, despite a slower summer for hurricane and tornado claims, according to Verisk. View the full article

The partnership also includes a $50 million equity investment in Finance of America, securing long-term alignment between the companies. View the full article

Confidence among US homebuilders edged up in December as builders continued to deploy sales incentives to motivate buyers. View the full article

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have added billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities and home loans to their balance sheets in recent months, fueling speculation that they're trying to push down lending rates and boost their profitability ahead of a potential public offering. View the full article

After home equity surged in 2023, average gains slowed last year before falling into negative territory over the past 12 months, Cotality said. View the full article

For 2026, the mortgage industry operating environment will improve, while nonbank financial metrics should be within Fitch's rating criteria sensitivities. View the full article

Rohit Chopra is named senior advisor to the Democratic Attorneys General Association's working group on consumer protection and affordability; Flagstar Bank adds additional wealth-planning capabilities to its private banking division; Chime promotes three members of its executive leadership team; and more in this week's banking news roundup. View the full article

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the FHA-insured loan caps for low- and high-cost areas, which are set based on conforming loan limits. View the full article

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said in statements Friday that their dissents from this week's interest rate decision were spurred by inflation concerns and a lack of sufficient economic data. 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

Leading Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., pointing out the as-yet unsatisfied legal requirement for prudential regulators to appear in Congress semiannually. View the full article

Treasury Secretary Bessent said FSOC is readjusting its approach to avoid stifling growth in moves with implications for capital, technology and mortgages. View the full article

ETHZilla partnered with Zippy to bring manufactured home chattel loans on-chain as tokenized real-world assets. View the full article

Approximately 70% of home purchasers do not get more than one quote in the mortgage process, doing so could reduce their rate by 50 basis points, Zillow said. View the full article

This year Point has funded more than $2 billion in home equity investments to more than 20,000 homeowners nationwide. View the full article

With the Federal Reserve decision largely factored in, Jerome Powell's comments on future outlook is more likely to influence the housing market. View the full article

Charlie Scharf has a mostly optimistic take on Wells' consumer banking prospects entering 2026. But he's more downbeat about the company's once-dominant residential mortgage business. View the full article