Scaling from Freelancer to Business Owner

On a year-over-year basis, Waterstone's mortgage business was able to grow pretax profits to $1.3 million in the third quarter, compared with $144,000 in 2024. 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

In the megabank's latest sign of progress with regulators, it said that a 7-year-old CFPB order has been terminated. View the full article

Mortgage borrowers filed a third amended class action complaint against the bank over modification issues from 2010 to 2015. View the full article

The Federal Reserve Board lifted two enforcement actions against the megabank dating back to 2011. But the Fed's seven-year-old asset cap remains in effect. View the full article

The bank exited the $1.95-trillion asset cap last year, but it had remained subject to the rest of the eight-year-old order. View the full article

In April 2025, the bank admitted that it may have made a mistake in denying the plaintiff forbearance. View the full article

Saul Van Beurden, Wells Fargo's consumer banking CEO and former head of technology, will lead the way on harnessing artificial intelligence. View the full article

The MBA disclosed the year-end rankings of income-producing mortgage servicers at its yearly conference for this part of the industry. 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 San Francisco-based banking giant reported a 9% annual jump in quarterly profits. It also made official its appointment of CEO Charlie Scharf as chairman. View the full article

Former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh is a relatively known quantity to financial markets, but his embrace of President The President's agenda and the White House's own contentious relationship with the central bank make it hard to know with certainty where — or even whether — he will lead the Fed. View the full article

The first government shutdown since 2019 will slow flood insurance originations and new Small Business Administration loans, though self-funded banking regulators will continue operating as usual. View the full article

Banks scored well in the tax bill out of Ways and Means this week, with wins on S Corps and rural lending, but have so far lost out on credit union taxes and additional burdens on payments competitors. View the full article

The billionaire and legacy government-sponsored enterprise investor says there is a quick interim fix and they should eventually leave conservatorship. View the full article

The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment's February drop is looking like a precursor for what might be a difficult 2025 Spring homebuying season. View the full article

From changing the boards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to nixing DEI programs, the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Pulte era has been busy. View the full article

Publicly traded lenders, including UWM, Rocket Mortgage and Guild Mortgage, saw personnel expenses increase significantly throughout last year. View the full article

The rate impact has been real, but the capital implications do little to change all the "moving parts" in plans for the government-sponsored enterprises. View the full article

Big-picture plans for the government-sponsored enterprises get the spotlight, but other issues may affect the industry more directly. Part 1 of a series. View the full article

While ending mandated consumer rights, lenders can still ask for a reconsideration of value on FHA loans; plus, fair lending laws still apply in these cases. View the full article

FHFA director Pulte called these programs inappropriate for regulated entities, which are in government conservatorship, but said others are still able to offer them. View the full article

COO Joseph Gormley weighed in on cuts at the securitization guarantor and efforts to improve the industry's efficiencies and the government's. View the full article