Scaling from Freelancer to Business Owner

Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought ordered bureau employees to "stand down" and perform no work, effective immediately. View the full article

Consumer and employees groups are seeking a restraining order against CFPB acting Director Russell Vought, arguing that he was unlawfully installed and has "no power to direct" the bureau. View the full article

Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought said all diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies "will cease immediately," adding that employees may be investigated if they go against the order. View the full article

Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought also directed that future guidance not use the words "shall," "must," "required" or "requirement" to direct parties outside the federal government, except when restating clear legal mandates. View the full article

Russell Vought, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new acting director, ordered staff to stop all work and closed the agency's headquarters for a week. View the full article

The Top 50 Firm is acquiring a firm based in the northwest suburbs of Chicago that specializes in real estate clients. View the full article

Offices, apartment buildings and retail locations in Los Angeles face a tangle of difficulties as the smoke clears from January's wildfires. High on the list is inadequate insurance, a common problem in California. View the full article

Rising insurance costs are leading providers and condo associations to consider changes to policies that would make some loans ineligible for GSE sale. 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

Lenders increased offerings in jumbo and non-QM segments as the industry focuses on customers with strong credit, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. View the full article

Issuances fell in January for residential and multifamily segments, as concerns over available workers and future tariffs came to the fore. View the full article

The new name Cotality, along with its latest tag line, reflects its role in serving and uniting the entire property ecosystem, company executives said. View the full article

The company, which became a depository in 2022, will be offering affordable housing products and initiatives in 45 states and the District of Columbia. 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

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

Federal regulators' plan to rescind reforms to the anti-redlining Community Reinvestment Act implementation rules disappoints community advocates, but gives banks clarity by reverting to longstanding CRA rules. View the full article

Cross 2025-H3 has moderate leverage, according to KBRA, with a weighted average (WA) loan-to-value ratio of 72.3%, and a debt-to-income ratio of 33.5%. View the full article

The deal comes as Blend also introduces a new division dedicated specifically at serving independent mortgage banks, rolling out features with Crosscountry. View the full article

Figure Technologies is adding a Bitcoin option to its home equity line of credit, while Milo has done $65 million of crypto mortgages since 2021. View the full article

Pacific Residential Mortgage discovered the ransomware incident just weeks after the successful completion of its merger with an Ohio-based lender. View the full article

The banking sector has stabilized significantly since the spring of 2023, but elevated interest rates have created lingering issues on bank balance sheets. View the full article