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Looming risk for mortgage credit and MBS investors from “Lender Choice”

Looming risk for mortgage credit and MBS investors from “Lender Choice”

Contributors, Credit Score, HWmember, Mortgage, Opinion, Origination /

Since 1996 when Freddie Mac introduced the industry to the first automated underwriting system (AUS) for GSE-eligible mortgages, a borrower’s credit score has served as one of the most important predictors of mortgage delinquency.  For many years thereafter, FICO score was the sole provider of scores to both GSEs’ AUS scorecards.  The arrival of VantageScore […]

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MBA’s Broeksmit says credit bureau trade group “gaslit” mortgage industry

Bob Broeksmit, Credit Score, HWmember, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mortgage Bankers Association, Origination /

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Bob Broeksmit took the stage at the trade group’s IMB26 Conference in Florida to say that its members and he himself have “just been gaslit by the trade association that represents the credit bureaus.” The MBA has proposed that lenders submit a single-bureau credit pull for loans sold

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Austin Niemiec to lead Rocket Pro as Dan Sogorka departs

HWmember, LendingLife, Mortgage, Origination, Rocket Companies, Rocket Mortgage, Team Leaders /

Austin Niemiec will take the helm of Rocket Pro following the departure of Dan Sogorka, according to people familiar with the transition who spoke to HousingWire. Niemiec will retain his title as chief revenue officer of Rocket Mortgage but will focus exclusively on the broker and correspondent channel through Rocket Pro. He will report to

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Mortgage defects stabilize as lenders face quality control issues

ACES Quality Management, Artificial Intelligence, HWmember, LendingLife, Loan buybacks, Mortgage, Origination, quality control, Technology, Underwriting /

Mortgage lenders are seeing loan defects stabilize after several volatile years, but shifts in interest rates and loan volumes continue to expose weaknesses in quality control (QC), according to ACES Quality Management CEO Trevor Gauthier and chief operating officer Phil McCall. In an interview with HousingWire, Gauthier and McCall highlighted staffing cuts, refinance surges and

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PennyMac reports Q4 profit of $107M as origination growth offsets MSR runoff

Earnings, HWmember, Mortgage, Mortgage Servicing, Origination, PennyMac /

PennyMac Financial Services reported its full-year and fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Thursday, telling investors and analysts that higher mortgage production helped offset pressure on servicing income from increased prepayment activity. The California-based company posted a solid quarter and a strong 2025, but its growth in loan production is doing the heavy lifting. Servicing profitability is

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Paul Fiore on making HighTechLending a bigger mortgage player

HighTechLending, Home Equity, HWmember, Mortgage, Origination, Reverse, Reverse Mortgage Daily, Team Leaders /

Paul Fiore enjoys taking on new challenges, something he’s done before during a lengthy stint at American Advisors Group (AAG) and pit stops at Finance of America and Smartfi Home Loans. Fiore’s reverse mortgage industry journey took another turn recently after he joined California-headquartered HighTechLending (HTL) as its vice president of sales and branch production.

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CHLA: IMBs drive majority of single-family mortgages in 2025

Community Home Lenders of America, FHA, Ginnie Mae, HWmember, IMBs, Mortgage, Origination, Urban Institute /

The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) on Thursday released its 2025 report on independent mortgage banks (IMBs), highlighting these companies as the “dominant” force in mortgage lending as they originated 84.1% of all U.S. single-family mortgages last year. CHLA cited data from the Urban Institute, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Ginnie Mae in

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Rocket CFO touts ‘all-weather’ model as mortgage market improves

Fitch Ratings, HWmember, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mr. Cooper Group, Origination, Redfin, Rocket Companies, Rocket Mortgage /

Brian Brown, chief financial officer and treasurer for Rocket Companies, expects continued improvement in the mortgage market in 2026, building on momentum that emerged in the second half of 2025. “If you look at the mortgage forecasts, it depends on which one you choose, but they’re up anywhere from 8% to 25% based on the

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AmeriTrust hires Shea Pallante as it preps for correspondent lending launch

Correspondent Lending, HWmember, Lenders, LendingLife, Mortgage, Non-QM, Origination, Team Leaders, Wholesale Lending /

AmeriTrust Mortgage Corp. has appointed Shea Pallante as chief revenue officer as the lender pursues a growth strategy that includes expanding into nondelegated correspondent channels and more than doubling its monthly origination volume. A mortgage industry veteran, Pallante joins AmeriTrust from non-QM wholesale lender Brokers First Funding. He previously served as president of now-defunct non-QM

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Mortgage pros warn credit card rate cap could backfire on homebuyers

Credit, Credit Score, Homebuyers, HWmember, Interest rates, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mortgage Credit Availability, Origination, Underwriting /

In the mortgage industry, the initial reaction to President Donald Trump’s proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10% has been concern that the policy could ultimately backfire on would-be homebuyers. The cap might seem beneficial on paper, but the long-term consequences, including reduced credit availability, could outweigh the benefits, mortgage professionals told HousingWire. 

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