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Popular Bank exits mortgage lending
Puerto Rico-based Popular Bank announced it is exiting home lending, the second institution to make the decision in a little over a month. The company said competitive pressure and the wish to focus on areas with greater revenue potential motivated their exit from the mortgage segment. "As part of our ongoing efforts to improve profitability, we decided to exit the U.S. residential mortgage origination business," said Jorge Garcia, chief financial officer of parent company, Popular Inc., in its third-quarter earnings call on Thursday. "We don't believe, given our funding profile and deposit branches in the U.S., that that's a business that we really want to be in at this time," he added, noting the decision would impact a unspecified number of employees. Popular serves customers in Florida, New Jersey and New York on the U.S. mainland. Along with its decision to cease mortgage originations, the bank also announced it would close four New York metropolitan area branches. The move comes as the company reported net income of $211 million in the most recent quarter across both mainland and Caribbean operations, with mortgage activity in its Puerto Rico business leading to an increase of $129 million in balance. How the mortgage industry is changing under current market conditionsThe costs of mortgage lending under current housing market conditions has resulted in a changed business landscape with a steady stream of mergers and exits as companies re-evaluate their business strategies. Three years after market shifts first drove interest rates to more than double from early 2022 levels, several waves of consolidation have hit the mortgage industry, with the trend continuing well into 2025. Stubbornly sticky rates, compounded by housing affordability obstacles, left many nonbank lenders struggling with profitability and opting to merge. The challenges with offering mortgages, likewise, is driving some depository institutions to leave the segment altogether. Earlier this year, both Ally Financial and WaFd Bank announced they would eliminate mortgage units, followed by Blue Ridge Bankshares a few months later. Popular's exit is the second such departure in a little over a month. In September, New Jersey's Oceanfirst Bank made the same decision to exit but said it would continue offering its customers mortgage options through a new partnership with Embrace Home Loans.On the other end, the merger-and-acquisition trend led Oklahoma's Bank7 to grow its mortgage team in 2025 with the acquisitions of nonbank lender First American Mortgage.
Primelending management cautiously optimistic about 2026
After another money-losing quarter for Primelending, Hilltop Holding's mortgage subsidiary through Plainscapital Bank, company management was cautiously optimistic about the future.In the third quarter, the mortgage business lost $7.2 million on a pretax basis. While it did turn a pretax profit of $3.2 million in the second quarter, in the three prior periods, Primelending lost money, including $8.7 million on pretax basis for the third quarter of 2024.Volume was $2.3 billion, compared with $2.43 billion in the second quarter and $2.31 billion one year earlier. Margins for the third quarter were 234 basis points, compared with 228 basis points three months prior and 224 basis points one year ago. Hilltop management believes revenues and production from the mortgage segment have begun to stabilize, said William Furr, executive vice president and chief financial officer, during the conference call.Why Hilltop's management has mixed views on mortgage"We also feel that it remains important to note the ongoing challenges in mortgage banking provide a combination of higher interest rates, home prices, insurance and taxes remain constrictive to overall market demand," Furr continued. "That said, even in the face of these challenges, we do believe that the overall mortgage market is slowly improving, and we expect that this improvement could continue into 2026."Primelending's management is focused on cost optimization and improving productivity across the middle and back-office functions, as well as growing its client-facing sales team and optimizing pricing, all in support profitable growth in the future, Furr added.Subdued origination volumes in the second quarter persisted into the following three months, a result of the industry-wide slump during the traditionally busy summer season, said Jeremy Ford, Hilltop's chairman, president and CEO on the call."While gain on sale margins did increase on a linked quarter basis, this was more than offset by a decline in origination fees," Ford said. "However, there were positive developments from the quarter as mortgage rates did modestly subside and home inventory saw a further reversion back towards more normalized levels."How the industry forecast affects Primelending's outlookThe latest Mortgage Bankers Association forecast had an estimate of $565 billion of production in the third quarter, up from $515 billion in the second quarter.In the fourth quarter, normally not a strong period, it is predicting $567 billion. This will be followed by $546 billion, $569 billion and $566 billion over the next three quarters, the MBA forecast said."Homebuyers do continue to face affordability challenges, and we expect heightened competition for mortgage origination volume to keep margins and fees under pressure," Hilltop's Ford said. "As we enter the seasonally slower fourth and first quarters of the year, we will continue to focus on reducing fixed expenses, while recruiting talented mortgage originators in order to restore stand-alone profitability at Primelending."At the corporate level, third quarter net income attributable to Hilltop was $45.8 million, compared with $36.1 million for the period ended June 30, while last year it was $29.7 million.
NY Attorney General James pleads not guilty to US charges
New York Attorney General Letitia James pleaded not guilty on Friday to criminal charges that she committed bank fraud and made false statements to a lender when she bought a house in Norfolk, Virginia, five years ago.James is contesting charges brought earlier this month by a prosecutor whom President Donald Trump abruptly installed after her predecessor resigned under pressure. When asked if she understood the charges and her rights, James said, "Yes Judge."US District Judge Jamar Walker, who is overseeing the case, set a Jan. 26 trial date. James was released on her own recognizance.READ MORE: Feds accuse Trump adversary Letitia James of loan fraudThe New York attorney general, who won a contentious civil fraud trial against Trump and his family company in 2024, is one of several high-profile individuals charged in recent weeks by the Justice Department, after Trump demanded legal action against some of his biggest perceived political enemies."We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility," Trump said in a Sept. 20 message to Attorney General Pam Bondi that was posted on social media. "JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!"Within a week of Trump's post, Lindsey Halligan, the new interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, who is accused of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. Halligan, who was installed in the position by Trump and is one of his former personal attorneys, then secured charges against James on Oct. 9."This is not about me," James told supporters outside the courthouse Friday. "This is about all of us. It is about a justice system that has been weaponized. A justice system which has been used as a tool of revenge against those who simply did their job and stood up for the rule of law."In a court filing Friday, James moved to dismiss the charges against her, saying Halligan's appointment was improper and that she had no authority to bring the indictment. Comey has made a similar claim. Judge Walker said he'd allow James' motion to be combined with Comey's, which is set for a hearing Nov. 13.READ MORE: Trump says Fannie Mae suspects Schiff of mortgage fraudLast week, the US attorney for Maryland indicted John Bolton, a former Trump national security adviser who has become a fierce critic of the president. Bolton is accused of mishandling classified information. Comey and Bolton have pleaded not guilty. The US Justice Department's probe into James stemmed from claims by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that she may have committed mortgage fraud based on the residence status she listed on loan applications.The indictment alleges that to get favorable mortgage terms, James falsely represented that a Norfolk property she bought in 2020 would be used as a secondary residence. Prosecutors claim that James actually used it as an investment property that she rented to a family, and didn't intend to occupy it.James has been a frequent target of criticism by Trump, particularly after she filed a civil fraud case against him in state court in 2022, two years before he won a second term as president. Trump, his real estate company and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, who were also sued, lost at a trial that resulted in a total penalty of $464 million. In August, a New York appeals court struck down the fine as unconstitutionally "excessive," but upheld the judge's finding that Trump and the other defendants were liable for fraud. Both sides have appealed, escalating the case to the state's highest court.Trump TargetTrump has made his disdain for James known for years, particularly in recent months. In a Sept. 20 post on social media, the president blasted James alongside Comey and US Senator Adam Schiff of California. "What about Comey, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, Leticia??? They're all guilty as hell," Trump said in the post. In an Oct. 4 post on Truth Social, Trump called James "scum" and a "Complete and Total Disaster" who should be removed from office. And during the trial of her fraud case against him, Trump frequently called her "racist" without explanation.James continues to be a thorn in Trump's side in her role as New York attorney general. She has led or joined in dozens of lawsuits by Democratic-led states challenging Trump's policies, from his global tariffs to his effort to restrict automatic "birthright" citizenship. "I will not be deterred," James told supporters Friday. "I will do my job each and every day. And that's why I'm headed back to New York because there's work to be done."Just last week James won a lawsuit forcing the Trump administration to restore nearly $34 million in federal counter-terrorism funding for New York City's subway authority, which she accused the government of trying to strip away to punish the state.
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