Waters calls on FTC to review ICE’s $13B Black Knight deal

Powerful House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters wants regulators to closely scrutinize the proposed $13 billion purchase of Black Knight by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). In a letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week, the California Democrat raised concerns about the merger, which would make ICE the

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Stewart fined millions by NY AG for no-poaching agreements

Houston, Texas-based title firm Stewart, the smallest of the Big Four title insurance companies, has come under fire from New York Attorney General Letitia James for business practices that “hurt worker and limit their earning potential,” according to an announcement on Thursday. An investigation by James’s office found that Stewart

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Mortgage rates are falling. How low can they go in 2023?

Mortgage industry executives, analysts and economists have started to place their bets on where mortgage rates will settle in 2023 amid the Federal Reserve’s tightening monetary policy and the fears of an economic recession. Spoiler alert: don’t expect much, if any, relief for borrowers in the short term.  It’s true

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Opinion: Putting the housing market into perspective

2022 has been filled with discussions on homeownership affordability challenges for good reason. The challenges buyers face today are significant: higher interest rates, higher home prices, historically low inventory, increasing costs for labor and materials and supply chain challenges. On the surface, these factors might make the outlook for the

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loanDepot notches partial win in scrap with CrossCountry

loanDepot registered a partial win against CrossCountry in a trade secret and employment-separation dispute.  The California-based mortgage lender sued its rival in April 2022 claiming that six former employees — Steve Schneider, Cindy Smolin, Samantha Siegel, Fernanda Baske, Bob Bowman, and John Noyes — left the company to join CrossCountry after accessing, downloading

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Have we found the bottom in existing home sales?

On Wednesday, existing home sales collapsed near the lows we saw during COVID-19 and back in 2007 when the housing bubble burst. In addition, this is the fourth straight month of inventory declining, while days on the market are growing! Confused by this? I hear you; let’s dive deeper into

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UHM acquires Amerifirst, strengthening its presence in five states

Ohio-based Union Home Mortgage (UHM) struck a deal to acquire Michigan-based Amerifirst Home Mortgage, the companies confirmed on Wednesday.     Founded in 1970, UHM is a full-service retail, wholesale and consumer-direct independent mortgage banking company. The lender originated $4.68 billion in mortgage loans over the last 12 months, according to the mortgage tech

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Figure’s plan to buy a mortgage bank via SPAC is dead

Figure Acquisition Corp. I, a blank check company affiliated with fintech Figure Technologies that planned to merge with a mortgage bank, will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Figure’s plan to go public through a SPAC has been scrapped with the NYSE’s decision. The NYSE notified Figure on

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Record mortgage rates killed existing home sales in November

Existing home sales slid for the 10th consecutive month in November, as homebuyer demand continued to cool. The seasonally adjusted sales rate for existing homes fell 7.7% month over month in November to a rate of 4.09 million, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released Wednesday. On a

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