Mortgage trade groups have commended the moves taken by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to address a spike in loan buybacks — the latest being a new electronic notification made available by Fannie Mae. But advocates also say more is needed to improve the loan repurchase process. On Feb. 24, Fannie […]
Thomas Cangemi is stepping down as president and CEO of New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) following the company’s disclosure of internal control deficiencies and a goodwill impairment of $2.4 billion. Alessandro DiNello, appointed executive chairman of the board on Feb. 6, will replace Cangemi, effective immediately. DiNello was the president and CEO of Flagstar Bancorp, a bank recently […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on Thursday that the transition to new credit score requirements is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2025, a decision commended by the mortgage industry. That’s when the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will acquire single-family loans based on the FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 credit models, replacing the Classic FICO […]
Top 10 U.S. mortgage lender Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. sustained a cyber attack in early December due to vulnerabilities in a vendor system, the company told the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. On Dec. 4, the company’s information security team “received notification that an unauthorized user had successfully accessed a third-party system utilized by […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) ended 2023 as the top U.S. mortgage company, with more than $108 billion in home loans produced in the period, a record purchase volume and increased margins. It was not enough to make its parent company UWM Holdings Corp. financially profitable, which the company attributed to mortgage servicing rights (MSR) markdowns. […]
Real estate investment trust Rithm Capital, the parent of multichannel lender Newrez, has agreed to issue a one-year loan, purchase common stock and become the external manager of its peer Great Ajax Corp. New York-based Rithm Capital engaged in acquisitions last year to become a global asset manager focused on real estate. This year, it […]
Mortgage servicers, regulators and economists are closely watching the delinquency rates for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans following a spike in the fourth quarter of 2023. Industry experts say that although there’s a correlation between unemployment and delinquency rates, some homeownership costs — including insurance — have increased significantly over the past two or three […]
Recent cyberattacks at mortgage companies have put the industry in alert mode, executives at top lenders, servicers, tech vendors and investors told HousingWire. Mr. Cooper Group, loanDepot, First American and Fidelity National Financial Inc., parent of servicer LoanCare, have temporarily shut down their systems to contain cyberattacks that exposed their customers’ data. Executives don’t have […]
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs is still moving forward with its servicing purchase program, despite a hearing in the U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs last week raising uncertainties about its future. “We’re still moving forward; we’re still working to get our program out for veterans. We do believe that it can save up […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday issued a mortgagee letter that implements the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) payment supplement partial claim. The new loss-mitigation alternative resulted from the FHA’s acknowledgment that its toolkit wasn’t enough to support struggling borrowers as mortgage rates surged. Since March 2020, lenders and servicers have […]
Warburg Pincus-backed fintech Sagent launched on Wednesday its new servicing software platform called Dara, which has a single real-time database and user experience across the entire core, consumer and default servicing life cycle, according to the company. It’s the first launch for Sagent under the leadership of recently appointed CEO Geno Paluso, a retired U.S. Navy captain who […]
Reston, Virginia-based Ardley Technologies announced on Tuesday the launching of its white-label automated underwriting engine called Autopilot, which the company states will enable lenders to create instant, conditional loan approvals for qualified borrowers. “The main thing about Autopilot is the speed with which we can offer a decision to a borrower,” Nate Den Herder, founder and CEO […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has accused California-based brokerage and correspondent lender Mortgage Solutions FCS, dba Client Direct Mortgage, of breaching its early payoff (EPO) provision and its owner, Ramon Walker, of trademark infringement. UWM filed a lawsuit in a U.S. district court in Michigan on Wednesday. The legal battle follows the creation of a Facebook […]
Better.com announced Thursday that it’s launching fully digital U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) loans through its Tinman platform. The product, which has no minimum down payment requirement, is expected to reach about 10% of the lender’s portfolio in 2024. “We’ve been working toward launching a VA product for the past two years,” Vishal Garg, founder and CEO […]
Fintech Sagent has hired Geno Paluso, a retired U.S. Navy captain serving as the vice president of business development for multinational firm BAE Systems, as its new CEO. Effective Monday, Paluso succeeded Dan Sogorka, who will remain with the company as an adviser before transitioning to a new opportunity, the company announced Tuesday. Paluso is transitioning from BAE […]
A group of investors led by Colorado-based fund manager Proprietary Capital has completed the acquisition of multichannel lender American Financial Resources (AFR), the parties announced on Monday. The financials of the deal were not disclosed. Corey Dubnoff, who founded AFR in 1997, will remain as chief administrative officer, and Tim Yanoti will stay on as chief financial officer. In addition, Rob […]
Mr. Cooper Group was profitable in 2023, a year marked by its acquisition of Home Point Capital and Roosevelt Management Co., along with the fallout from a cyberattack. Mr. Cooper’s strong performance was mainly due to its servicing business, which benefited from a higher interest rate environment. During a call with analysts on Friday morning, company executives addressed some […]
Minnesota-based real estate investment trust Two Harbors has hired industry veteran Kyle Kilpatrick to lead its newly created mortgage originations division, which is part of the company’s strategy to retain borrowers from its servicing portfolio when interest rates drop. “He has experience building direct-to-consumer channel products and businesses from scratch,” Bill Greenberg, president and CEO […]
Less than a year after coming to the rescue of Signature Bank during the market turmoil of March 2023, New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) faces a confidence crisis due to its exposure to commercial real estate loans. The stress is leading to the bank to seek the sale of some of its assets to improve its capital position, executives […]
New York-based Rithm Capital posted a profit in 2023, a year marked by several acquisitions that turned the company into a leading global asset manager. In the mortgage space, the parent of multichannel lender Newrez earned most of its profits from the servicing business. Lower interest rates, however, reduced the value of mortgage servicing rights (MSR) in the […]
