Scaling from Freelancer to Business Owner

Kind Lending, Class Valuation, also add CFOs, Mortgage Capital Trading boosts artificial intelligence efforts and Acra welcomes an industry veteran. View the full article

Fitch Ratings' outlooks for mortgage and title insurers this year are neutral, as housing deals with affordability challenges and a likely economic downturn. View the full article

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago will be offering more funding and higher per-member limits as part of its 2026 Community Advance program. View the full article

The number of remodeling establishments hit at a record high earlier this decade and now accounts for over 60% of home construction-related businesses. View the full article

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said on CNBC that both sides of the central bank's dual mandate show signs of imbalance, with the labor market appearing more vulnerable. View the full article

First Federal Bank stretched its retail mortgage operations into Louisiana and Mississippi, following its expansion into the Midwest and Arizona in 2023. View the full article

The accusations, relating to the lender's marketing programs, including trips for brokers as things of value, stem from a larger racketeering complaint. View the full article

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods attributes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac portfolio growth for the narrower spreads, but other reasons include lower volatility. View the full article

Marshall is tasked with bringing Sagent's Dara servicing platform implementation up to scale, replacing Geno Paluso, who is vice chairman during the transition. View the full article

The deal comes as technology experts see likely 2026 artificial intelligence breakthroughs in mortgage to come through improved underwriting. View the full article

A shared client base helped lead to introduction of the new integration, with implementation scheduled to come later this year, the companies said. View the full article

Rochester, New York, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, stood atop Realtor.com's list for the second consecutive year, due to their affordability. View the full article

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank has been served grand jury subpoenas and been threatened with criminal indictment, moves he called "pretexts" to influence interest rates through "political pressure or intimidation." View the full article

Housing affordability will improve by 3% next year, according to First American's September Real House Price Index. View the full article

New York developers are transforming struggling office buildings into more than 12,000 new apartments in a bid to help offset the city's worst housing crisis in decades. View the full article

US consumer spending stalled in September, suggesting Americans were already stretched going into the government shutdown in the face of stubborn inflation. View the full article

Federal Reserve watchers expect a board of governors vote in February to reappoint the 12 regional Fed bank presidents — which is typically treated as a formality — to be the next flashpoint in the White House's effort to bring the central bank to heel. View the full article

The National Defense Authorization Act will be voted on by the House without the housing package that passed through the Senate Banking Committee unanimously. View the full article

Refinance retention hit 28% last quarter, the highest percentage in three and a half years, according to ICE Mortgage Technology. View the full article

An attorney for Christopher J. Gallo, who is battling 18 federal charges, said the lender's 18-month delay in pursuing the sign-on bonus makes little sense. 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

The lowest-priced properties purchased by investors typically left them in the red when sold, according to the latest home flipping report from Attom. View the full article

Mortgage activity fell 3.8% from one week prior for the week ending Dec. 12, led by a 4% drop in refinance applications, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. View the full article

Monthly excess spread will confer credit enhancement to the notes, KBRA said, and while it will be released it will not be available as credit enhancement in future payment periods. View the full article

The Massachusetts Democrat requested to see records related to second liens that banks were required to expunge per terms of the 2012 mortgage settlement. View the full article