Mortgages

Specialized Loan Servicing allegedly charged borrowers $7.50 for processing mortgage payments made by phone. Most servicers, including Newrez, have axed this fee.

The 13 largest homeowners insurance underwriters denied almost half of their climate-related claims last year, adding to property owner and mortgage servicer woes.

New single-family home sales decreased 4.7% last month to an annualized rate of 716,000 after rising at the fastest pace since early 2022, government data showed Wednesday.

"A slight upward turn reflects a modest improvement in housing affordability, primarily because mortgage rates descended to 6.5% in August," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a prepared statement.

Affordability improved for a fourth straight month, but questions remain about whether recent trends will bring a significant number of buyers into the housing market.

Mortgage bankers feared a proposal related to lenders' access to a major secondary market and related reporting was too harsh. They're eyeing a redraft closely.

Mortgage rates being at a two-year low has not moved potential buyers off the sidelines, Freddie Mac says, but Redfin says demand for home tours is up.

CV3 Financial Services, started by long-time business purpose lending executive William Tessar, just celebrated one year in business and topping the $1 billion mark.

The changes will help servicers expedite submission of necessary forms needed in credit reporting disputes.

The state, with the support of its Realtors, will be mandating that real estate salespeople have a contract with the home seekers they are representing.

Purchase activity trudged along during what lenders describe as a traditional end-of-summer slump.

Servicers have been concerned about prepayments and delinquencies picking up in a lower rate environment, and both have been notably higher in the short term.

James B. Nutter & Co., after its legal victory over the Justice Department in July, agreed to a $2.4 million False Claims Act settlement over poorly underwritten reverse mortgages.

While real estate agents have softened their opinions on the National Association of Realtors commission settlement, almost two-thirds remained opposed, a Clever RE survey found.

Awareness of disaster risk has increased in the public and private sectors, and it appears to be prompting more interest in home improvements in particular.

A letter from several U.S. senators asked Director Sandra Thompson to follow the lead of her counterparts at other government-housing departments with similar rules already in place.

Home-price gains in the U.S. slowed in July as still-high mortgage rates kept would-be buyers on the sidelines while inventory piled up.

After persisting for as long as two years in the U.S., the so-called inversion in yield curves — an unusual situation where rates on short-term debt exceed those of their longer-term counterparts — is unwinding in many parts of the world. 

Residential markets are set to gain momentum again with prices rising over the next few quarters as rising rents in cities support demand, according to Holzhey. 

The Dallas-based nonbank lender has toned down its mortgage servicing rights activity amid numerous legal battles over alleged violations, but stands to gain much with $1.4 billion Flagstar deal.