LendingLife

Rocket lays off 2% of workforce after closing Redfin acquisition

Detroit-based Rocket Companies confirmed a company-wide layoff on Friday, just weeks after completing its $1.75 billion all-stock acquisition of real estate brokerage Redfin. The cuts affected roughly 2% of the firm’s workforce. “Following the Redfin acquisition, we carefully reviewed our combined structure, identified overlapping roles and made the difficult decision to streamline teams,” a spokesperson […]

Rocket lays off 2% of workforce after closing Redfin acquisition Read More »

MMI unveils conversational AI for mortgage loan officers

Mortgage technology company Mobility Market Intelligence (MMI) announced on Monday its launch of ChatMMI, which claims to be the industry’s first conversational artificial intelligence interface built specifically for lenders, recruiters and other mortgage professionals. The tool allows MMI users to skip dashboards and spreadsheets to directly ask questions via a chat function. The company said

MMI unveils conversational AI for mortgage loan officers Read More »

Which is better for mortgage — FICO or VantageScore?

VantageScore and FICO have escalated their rivalry in the mortgage space following the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) decision to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase loans underwritten with VantageScore 4.0 as an alternative to the Classic FICO score.  Both companies published analyses this week from their data scientists. Naturally, each claims their score more

Which is better for mortgage — FICO or VantageScore? Read More »

VantageScore 4.0 is coming. But much work needs to be done

In the days following the announcement that VantageScore 4.0 was suddenly in play for conventional mortgages, FinLocker‘s Brian Vieaux had to burst some bubbles. Most of the 15 to 20 loan officers he spoke to were ecstatic about being able to use the new credit scoring model. Millions of new prospective borrowers could be scored

VantageScore 4.0 is coming. But much work needs to be done Read More »

Federal regulators scrap 2023 CRA rule

Three federal banking regulators announced on Wednesday the rescission of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) final rule issued in October 2023. The decision made by the governing boards of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) will result in the agencies reinstating

Federal regulators scrap 2023 CRA rule Read More »

NAF reports data breach in California

New American Funding (NAF), a top-25 U.S. mortgage lender, notified the California attorney general last week of a data breach involving one of its vendors, which potentially compromises customers’ personal information.  NAF on June 6 discovered “suspicious activity associated with information provided to one of our vendors that provided notary systems, Mobile Notary Zone,” according to

NAF reports data breach in California Read More »

After the Bayview deal, what’s the refi strategy for Guild Mortgage?

Bayview Asset Management’s $1.3 billion deal to acquire Guild Holding Co., the parent of Guild Mortgage, has left loan officers wondering how the traditionally purchase-focused lender would integrate refinance capabilities to leverage the $770 billion servicing portfolio of soon-to-be sister company Lakeview Loan Servicing, the nation’s second-largest mortgage servicer. Guild LOs, who spoke with HousingWire

After the Bayview deal, what’s the refi strategy for Guild Mortgage? Read More »

OCC drops disparate impact enforcement

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced Monday that it will no longer enforce disparate impact analysis in fair lending risk assessments, following a directive from the White House issued three months ago. “Consistent with EO 14281, the OCC supervisory process for fair lending compliance no longer includes examining for disparate impact

OCC drops disparate impact enforcement Read More »

‘Dating the rate’ misled borrowers. Now they’re financially strained

“Marry the house, date the rate” is a phrase that was popularized during the post-pandemic era of rising mortgage rates. Lenders urged borrowers to focus on finding a house they were head over heels with and worry about their interest rate down the line. Borrowers who were accustomed to rates hovering near 3% didn’t realize

‘Dating the rate’ misled borrowers. Now they’re financially strained Read More »

Bilt raises $250M to expand into mortgages, with backing from UWM

Bilt, which operates a loyalty program and credit card that converts rent payments into points, has secured a $250 million funding round led by General Catalyst and GID, with participation from United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the nation’s largest mortgage lender. The funding brings Bilt’s valuation to $10.75 billion and will fuel expansion across the broader

Bilt raises $250M to expand into mortgages, with backing from UWM Read More »