Data and information management

Radian Group has acquired Five Bridges Advisors, further cementing the new focus of its mortgage and title services business.

Radian and Essent will make their "black box" mortgage insurance pricing methods live on Jan. 21, leaving MGIC as the only company yet to announce its adoption.

Fintechs must be held to the same standards as regulated financial institutions, a letter from the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions stated that used Zillow's entrance into the mortgage business as an example.

Private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners has purchased mortgage and property information provider Attom Data Solutions from Renovo Capital and Rosewood Private Investments.

A new marketing tool lets consumers start the mortgage prequalification process by sending a text message, providing would-be borrowers with credit and loan program details and offering lenders a low-cost source of leads.

With its bolstered fundraising cache, the Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee should hold an increased influence over the industry's policy and regulation issues in the coming year.

Maria Vullo is stepping down as head of New York's banking and insurance regulator after three years in which she created a national model for cybersecurity regulations at banks and fought back against federal attempts to chip away at payday-lending rules.

Plaid, which moves consumer data between financial institutions and fintechs, could expand overseas as part of a broad growth plan, according to a venture investor.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee concluded that last year’s massive data breach at Equifax was fully preventable, but stopped short of recommending new laws aimed at averting future hacks. Democrats called the final report a “missed opportunity.”

Wire fraud is considered a consumer and title agent issue, but the millions of dollars it's diverting from home purchase transactions make it an issue mortgage lenders need to address, too.