The Connecticut Legislature has approved a bill requiring the agencies that employ home health aides and other professionals to provide more well-rounded training and incident responses to issues like harassment as the state aims to ease the process for aging in place among its older residents. The passage of the law, first reported by regional news publication CTInsider, was prioritized this year by the legislature’s Democratic caucus. It passed in the Connecticut House of Representatives 143-3, and if ratified by the state Senate and signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont (D), the law would “req ..read more

Despite the struggles of its independent mortgage bank counterparties, Fannie Mae delivered $4.3 billion in net income during the first quarter of the year, up from $3.9 billion in the prior quarter, the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) reported Tuesday. The GSE’s net worth grew from $77.4 billion at the end of 2023 to $82 billion as of March 31. Its growth was “primarily drive by a shift to fair value gains and a shift to a benefit for credit losses, partially offset by a decrease in net interest income,” Fannie Mae explained in a statement that accompanied its financial results. “The st ..read more

Approximately 15 million Americans continue to grapple with medical debt on their credit reports, despite reforms implemented by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion in March 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) revealed in a study published Monday. As of June 2023, about 5% of Americans had unpaid medical bills on their credit reports,  down from 14% in March 2022. Older Americans saw the largest improvement, as only 3% of them had medical bills on their credit reports in June 2023, compared to 8.4% in March 2022.  But the effectiveness of the changes made by the t ..read more

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) this week released its fair lending final rule, following up on a proposal made last year in alignment with plans first laid out in 2022 by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The rule “addresses barriers to sustainable housing opportunities for underserved communities by codifying existing FHFA practices in regulation and adding new requirements related to fair lending, fair housing, unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans,” according to the rule’s entry in the Federal Register. Th ..read more

The HousingWire award spotlight series highlights the individuals and organizations that have been recognized through our Editors’ Choice Awards. Nominations for HousingWire’s 2024 Marketing Leaders Leaders award are open now through April 30th, 2024. Click here to nominate someone. In the midst of a higher-for-longer mortgage rate environment that is reshaping the landscape of the mortgage industry, the role of a chief marketing officer (CMO) becomes increasingly pivotal as mortgage companies navigate market fluctuations and changing consumer behaviors. Savvy mar ..read more

New York-based asset manager Rithm Capital delivered a profit in the first quarter of 2024, with a positive performance from multichannel lender Newrez in the servicing and origination segments. Top executives at Rithm said they continue to evaluate taking the mortgage business public.  On Tuesday, Rithm announced a $261.6 million in GAAP net income from January to March, compared to $87.5 million loss in the prior quarter, per Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. Earnings available for distribution reached $233.2 million in Q1 2024, lower than the $247.4 million in Q4 2023 ..read more

Guild Mortgage CEO Terry Schmidt speaks last week at The Gathering by HousingWire in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo credit: AJ Canaria Discussions about the reverse mortgage product category were not difficult to find this past week in Scottsdale, Arizona, during The Gathering by HousingWire, an event that combined both the real estate-focused RealTrends Gathering of Eagles and the mortgage-focused HousingWire Annual into a single event for the first time. While Finance of America Companies (FOA) President Kristen Sieffert was the biggest reverse mortgage industry representative to take the stage ..read more

The attorney general of Michigan has re-released a consumer alert about the reverse mortgage product category during financial literacy month. The action is designed to inform consumers about the potential pros and cons of taking out these loans, according to an announcement issued by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office on Monday. “A reverse mortgage is a type of home equity loan extended, in most cases, to those who are 62 years of age or older,” the announcement stated. “It can be used to make home repairs, pay for medical expenses, or to supplement retirement income. A lender makes monthl ..read more

U.S. homeowners today are armed with a record amount of home equity ? nearly $32 trillion, according to the latest data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Many of these homeowners are locked into historically low interest rates post-pandemic, which means they are unlikely to refinance. Indeed, amid the current high interest rates, they are looking to retain their low rates by staying put in their homes for longer than planned.  This offers originators a unique opportunity to step in and offer financing options — home equity loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) — for homeowners ..read more

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) introduced MSP Digital Experience (MSP DX), a conversational user interface designed to interact with the company’s leading mortgage servicing system, MSP. MSP DX provides servicing professionals with an intuitive, dynamic and conversational approach to working within MSP. The new interface is poised to streamline workflows, enhance efficiencies and simplify the training process for servicing team members. The introduction of MSP DX is particularly significant as ICE launches it with a focus on escrow management, which is traditionally one of the most complex an ..read more