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An appellate court has ruled against Flagstar Bank in a California case which had been mentioned in connection with a New York escrow interest case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.The ruling in Kivett v. Flagstar was the second against a bank in recent weeks. A Sept. 22 First Circuit ruling sent a similar case against Citizens Bank back to a lower court.What the U.S. Supreme Court said about state vs. federal banking lawIn May 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court essentially punted on making a ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, where the parties argued which takes precedence — the federal National Banking Act or New York law requiring the payment of interest on escrow accounts.That ruling sent Cantero back to the Second Circuit for deeper analysis of the issues at hand. In the first go round on its way up to the high court, the Second Circuit ruled in favor of B of A in dismissing the case.Meanwhile, in its previous rulings, the Ninth Circuit had held in favor of Kivett, creating a conflict in interpretations.What happened with Kivett following the Cantero rulingFollowing the Cantero ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition from Flagstar to vacate the Ninth Circuit decision and remand this case as well. Last August, the Ninth Circuit upheld its original ruling. Flagstar asked for a panel rehiring, which was granted.Industry groups, including the Mortgage Bankers Association and American Bankers Association, filed an amicus brief in support of Flagstar. On the other hand, state regulator organizations, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors wrote in support of the original decision.In an Oct. 2 decision, this court ruled 2-1 to affirm the original district court ruling that the National Banking Act did not preempt California's requirements on payment of interest on escrows.It also vacated and remanded to the district court to modify the class definition date for borrowers covered by the lawsuit and the judgment amount.The Ninth Circuit mentioned a previous ruling in favor of the state's escrow law in another case, Lusnak v. Bank of America. The majority said it did not have the ability to overrule that case in Kivett because the Supreme Court's Cantero ruling did not make that decision irreconcilable with Lusnak.What was the majority's reasoning in ruling against Flagstar?"We do not hold that Lusnak was correctly decided, only that we have no authority to overrule it," wrote Judge Jay Bybee in the majority decision. "Correction in this court, if any is warranted, is only appropriate through our en banc procedures."An en banc hearing involves all of the judges on an appellate court and can be an intervening step before a case goes before the U.S. Supreme Court. Bybee had cited an en banc ruling, Miller v. Gamme, which also set standards on whether a three judge panel can overrule a precedent like Lusnak."Because Cantero did not decide whether the NBA preempts state interest-on-escrow laws, the result is not inconsistent with Lusnak's judgment," Bybee said. "Nor is Cantero's holding — that the Second Circuit erred in applying a categorial test for preemption — inconsistent with Lusnak."What was the minority opinion supporting Flagstar?But the dissenting judge, Ryan Nelson, said Cantero is clearly irreconcilable with Lusnak (and thus Kivett) because the older decision did not apply the comparative analysis spelled out by the U.S. Supreme Court."We are disappointed by the Court's decision," said Bao Nguyen, senior executive vice president, general counsel at Flagstar Bank in a statement. "As Judge Nelson correctly points out, today's decision continues to rely on the flawed logic of the Lusnak case and completely ignores the instructions of the Supreme Court that require lower courts to conduct a nuanced comparative analysis of Supreme Court precedents to determine whether a state law is preempted."Flagstar plans to pursue a further appeal in order to preserve the federal preemption, which Nguyen said is essential to the dual banking system.However, Flagstar is no longer in the mortgage servicing business. In 2024, it sold the portfolio to Mr. Cooper, which on Oct. 1 became a part of Rocket Cos.Why the First Circuit ruled against Citizens BankThe First Circuit case, Conti v. Citizens Bank, involves Rhode Island law. The three-judge panel ruled unanimously to vacate a district court ruling in favor of Citizens to dismiss the case, also citing Cantero.Because the district court ruling was made prior to the U.S. Supreme Court decision "without the benefit of Cantero, incorrectly granted Citizens' motion to dismiss," wrote Judge Seth Aframe.The First Circuit had stayed Conti's appeal while Cantero was being decided. The argument in the Conti case then became: did the lower court apply the Cantero analysis?How Cantero affected the Conti law suit"As Citizens acknowledges, interest-on-escrow laws have been enacted by at least twelve states," Aframe said. "Furthermore, Congress has mandated compliance with state interest-on-escrow laws as to a select set of mortgages under [the Truth in Lending Act]."Citizens had argued that the federal preemption applies when state law dictates the terms of a banking product, but the panel rejected that reasoning.Among the reasons cited by Aframe was that Citizens' proposed test did not follow the relevant legal precedents cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in Cantero.Citizens Bank declined to comment on the First Circuit ruling.

The mortgage industry's top trade group issued two new enhancements to help establish consistency across the loan boarding process as well as in communications surrounding artificial intelligence. The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization released its new loan boarding dataset, which provides a consistent data baseline to ease the path for newly originated mortgage loans to be transferred to servicing platforms. Use of the dataset is encouraged to avoid problems that appear both during loan setup and the servicing transfer as a result of missing or incomplete information. "Establishing a common dataset at the point of loan boarding is a major step forward in improving servicing data exchange across the industry," said MISMO Acting President Rick Hill in a press release. "The loan boarding data segment will help ensure more accurate, consistent information is exchanged, creating benefits for servicers and a better overall experience for borrowers."The dataset will help reduce loan activation time and minimize costs coming from data errors when loans are transferred, MISMO said. It also should enable clear communication between originators, servicers and subservicers and eliminate the need to create multiple custom boarding files. Created by MISMO's servicing transfer development workgroup, the dataset was developed with input coming from across the mortgage industry, including the participation of the government-sponsored enterprises.MISMO, which operates as a unit within the Mortgage Bankers Association, is also asking servicers to compare its dataset against their own existing specifications to identify current gaps. Any identified gaps should be reported to MISMO in order to help it improve the loan boarding guidelines.The arrival of new recommended AI terminologyMISMO's loan boarding dataset arrives just a few days after the organization also officially released its artificial intelligence glossary, which it describes as "a resource designed to establish a shared vocabulary for AI across mortgage finance."The group initially published a draft version in July and opened up the glossary for industry comment prior to its finalization and launch earlier this week.   "By creating a common vocabulary, the AI glossary provides the foundation for consistency and clarity, helping lenders, servicers, regulators and technology providers better collaborate and innovate responsibly," Hill said. The glossary is the first of many initiatives MISMO plans to introduce to support AI adoption within the mortgage industry through guidance and suggested best practices. Mortgage industry partners can put forward new terms for future inclusion and contribute other recommendations to ensure the glossary remains up to date, MISMO advised."As AI technology continues to evolve, new concepts, methodologies and terminologies emerge. This resource will be regularly updated to reflect the latest advancements and is available for the entire industry to use," Hill previously said at the time of the draft release. Among terms included in the initial glossary are big data, natural language processing and responsible artificial intelligence.

Key insight: Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson described a delicate balancing act, supporting moderate rate cuts to protect jobs while keeping long-term inflation under control.Supporting data: GDP growth slowed to 1.6% in the first half of 2025, and tariffs are nudging prices higher as long-term expectations remain anchored.Forward look: Jefferson emphasized durable inflation expectations and a flexible approach under the revised Fed framework.PHILADELPHIA — Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson Friday said slowing economic growth and a cooling labor market are raising downside risks to employment, while tariffs are nudging inflation higher.Jefferson's remarks, delivered to a crowd at the Drexel Economic Forum, expressed his ongoing concern with rising prices related to tariffs. However, he characterized the tariff-driven effects as largely one-off, and expects inflation from those tariffs to run its course this year. "Short-term inflation expectations have come down from the peaks reached in the second quarter, and most measures of longer-term inflation expectations have been largely stable, suggesting that the American people understand our commitment to returning inflation to our 2% target," Jefferson said. "As such, I expect the disinflation process to resume after this year and inflation to return to the 2% target in the coming years."Jefferson's speech is emblematic of a tricky balancing act that Fed officials have been grappling with all year: The labor market is softening, but inflation remains above target, creating risks to the economy from either lowering or raising rates. He signaled support for modest rate cuts to protect jobs while keeping a close eye on long-term price stability, as evidenced by his vote for a 25 basis point reduction at the last FOMC meeting. "This change moved our policy rate closer to a more neutral stance while maintaining a balanced approach to promoting our dual-mandate objectives," Jefferson said, adding he is open to further easing if the labor market weakens, but not at the expense of unmooring inflation expectations.He noted that economic growth has slowed somewhat this year. GDP grew at 1.6% in the first half of 2025, down from 2.4% last year, with weaker consumer spending the main hindrance. The remarks come at a time when the government is shuttered, which has postponed the release of critical economic data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not release its September jobs report Friday after the agency was shut down with the rest of the federal government after funding expired on Sept. 30. The agency said its last update was Oct. 1 and will resume only once the government reopens.Vice Chair Jefferson said that the delay in data was not a major concern, given he makes his decisions based on the collective economic data available. Jefferson also discussed the Fed's revised Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy, emphasizing that the framework maintains much continuity with past frameworks while updating language in certain areas. Jefferson said the Fed updated its long-term policy framework to match today's economy, moving away from the low-interest-rate worries that shaped the post-financial crisis period. The Fed will now use a flexible approach to inflation as a guiding principle."At the time of the FOMC's previous framework review, during 2019 and 2020, policymakers were considering an economy that had for many years demonstrated low growth, low inflation, and a very flat Phillips curve — meaning that inflation was not very responsive to slack in the economy," he said. "The overarching concern for central bankers at that time was how to operate when short-term interest rates are near the [effective lower bound]. Today, of course, we are operating in a very different environment, at least in part brought on by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Key Insight: Payroll firm ADP showed that employers lost 32,000 jobs in September, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not release its scheduled jobs report Friday because of the federal government shutdown.Forward look: The Fed cut rates by 25 basis points in September as a "risk management" move. The absence of a key economic indicator complicates the Federal Reserve's outlook and has fueled calls from lawmakers to reopen the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Expert quote: "But let's be clear: the jobs data scheduled to come out this Friday has undoubtedly been collected and the President must release it." — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not release its September jobs report Friday after the agency was shut down with the rest of the federal government when funding expired on Sept. 30. The agency said its last update was October 1 and will resume only once the government reopens.The shutdown comes as the labor market appears to be softening. ADP recently reported that employers lost 32,000 jobs in September. The report also revised August's figures down sharply, from 54,000 jobs added to a net loss of 3,000. ADP's numbers showed job growth slowing across industries even alongside 4.5% annual pay gains.The BLS reported sluggish growth in August in last month's report, when the economy added just 22,000 jobs and unemployment ticked up to 4.3%. Those results raised expectations the Federal Reserve might continue to cut interest rates at its meeting later this month after lowering rates by 25 basis points during last month's meeting.The lack of a reliable September jobs report drew criticism from Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren D-Mass., who called on President Donald Trump to release the September report, which she said has already been collected and processed. "Donald Trump's economic agenda is inflicting massive pain on our economy and to add to the economic uncertainty, he's shut down the government rather than save health care for millions of Americans. But let's be clear: the jobs data scheduled to come out this Friday has undoubtedly been collected and the President must release it," Warren said. "Without it, the Federal Reserve will not have the full picture it needs to make decisions this month about interest rates that will impact every family across the country." The government shutdown is hobbling other critical federal functions as well. Mortgage approvals in flood-prone areas have been stalled with federal flood insurance on pause. Small Business Administration and Community Development Financial Institution lending programs are also frozen, which restricts credit to small businesses and low-income borrowers. Although financial regulators like the Fed and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. remain funded, the blackout of official statistics leaves lenders and policymakers flying with less visibility.That lack of data also clouds the Fed's own calculus for monetary decisions. The agency's Federal Open Market Committee cut interest rates by 25 basis points in September, lowering the federal funds rate in its first reduction since December. Officials described the move as a risk management cut, with the goal of offsetting labor market weakness, even with inflation still running somewhat above its 2% target rate.Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid argued that policy should stay "slightly restrictive" to keep inflation in check, while Vice Chair Philip Jefferson warned that tariffs and immigration limits are clouding the outlook and pressuring both sides of the Fed's mandate.

Investors don't need the official government jobs report to see that the labor market has shifted into a lower gear.Even without the marquee data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — which won't be published on Friday due to the government shutdown — a number of private-sector indicators out in recent days pointed to sluggish hiring, limited layoffs, modest pay gains and easing demand for workers in September. READ MORE: Agencies issue shutdown-related guidance for lendersThe figures largely align with the low-hire, low-fire conditions seen before the government data went dark. Assuming that holds through the end of the month, it could very well be enough to spur another interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve — as investors expect. "We can get an impressionistic sense of what the labor market is doing without the jobs report," said Michael Feroli, chief US economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. "With everything we see, I think they can feel OK cutting later this month."Here's a snapshot of the latest figures on the labor market:HiringWith the jobs report absent, ADP Research data on private-sector employment was the highest-profile release on the labor market this week. While economists are typically quick to cast doubt on ADP's data as it hasn't always aligned with the government's count, the latest tally was muddied by a statistical adjustment that made the figures more difficult to interpret.ADP reported payrolls at US companies dropped by 32,000 in September after a revised 3,000 decline a month earlier. While that may overstate the weakness in the labor market, ADP said it didn't alter the recent hiring trend, and job creation continued to lose momentum across most sectors.Private firms like ADP aren't necessarily trying to position themselves as leading indicators of BLS payrolls, but investors judge them in part by how closely they match up. Revelio Labs, which draws from over 100 million US job profiles that mirror the national workforce and cover two-thirds of all employed individuals, reported employers added about 60,000 jobs last month.READ MORE: Mortgage firms add staff as rate cuts look likelyEconomists don't forecast Revelio's number, but they do for the government's measure, which has a median estimate of 53,000 jobs added. The workforce intelligence firm said its model predicts the BLS metric would have reported 38,000 new jobs in September."Taken together, the evidence points to a labor market that is still expanding but at stall speed," Revelio said in its report. "For now, the labor market looks steady but fragile."Meantime, employment at manufacturers has contracted in all but three months since the start of 2023, according to the Institute for Supply Management. Its gauge among service providers is due later Friday."Fundamentals like restrictive policy rates, tariff costs weighing on margins, government funding and job cuts, and softer demand due to slowing immigration would imply even further pullback in hiring this year," Citigroup Inc. economist Veronica Clark said in a note.Data from Homebase, which provides workforce management software to smaller businesses, suggest a "decent gain" of around 150,000 in September payrolls, Bloomberg Economics said in a note Thursday.Job OpeningsJob openings peaked in 2022 and steadily declined since then until stabilizing in the past year. The BLS put out its latest metric on Tuesday before the shutdown, which showed vacancies were little changed in August while hiring was subdued, suggesting gradually ebbing demand for workers.While government data is held with the highest regard, the job openings survey is often criticized for its low response rate and sometimes sizable revisions. A separate index by job-posting site Indeed, which is reported on a daily basis, showed openings were little changed in August and fell more markedly in September."The job market has been frozen for close to a year now and it appears to be getting worse for job seekers," Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said in a note to clients. "Americans feel stuck in this economy."Sentiment metrics show as much — the New York Fed's outlook for job seekers hit a record low in August, while consumers surveyed by The Conference Board were similarly pessimistic about job prospects in September. Employee confidence, as measured by the recruiting-site Glassdoor, rebounded modestly last month, but is still well below its 2022 peak.Unemployment, LayoffsThe good thing about the current labor market is that tepid hiring hasn't yet translated to more firing. The national unemployment rate was expected to hold at 4.3% last month, an increase from the start of the year but still historically low.The Chicago Fed's real-time jobless rate forecast, which relies in part on BLS data, produced a similar number. While touting the metric, the institution's president, Austan Goolsbee, said Wednesday "it's problematic" for policymakers to not have official statistics during the shutdown.Employers announced fewer job cuts while dialing back hiring plans as well to the weakest for any September since 2011, according to data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.Wage GrowthMeantime, wage growth continues to chug along, and BLS data show it's been outpacing inflation on average since mid-2023, but recently by not as much. ADP's report showed a continued easing in pay gains for workers who changed jobs, while it was little changed for those who stayed put.Revelio's figures painted a bleaker wage picture. The firm's data showed salaries from new job postings declined 0.3% in September from the prior month, contracting for the first time since March.

President Donald Trump is weighing slashing "thousands" of federal jobs ahead of a meeting with his budget director, Russell Vought, as the White House looks to ratchet up pressure on Democrats to end a government shutdown that has entered its second day."It's likely going to be in the thousands," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday, saying that the "entire team at the White House" was working to identify possible cuts.READ MORE: Agencies issue shutdown-related guidance for lenders"We're going to look at agencies that don't align with the administration's values, that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar," she added.Leavitt's comments came after Trump on social media earlier Thursday said he planned to meet with Vought to "determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent."Republicans have sought to use the threat of permanent cuts to the federal bureaucracy to encourage Democrats to vote to reopen the government, and the White House has said firings could happen imminently. But some budget experts have argued that spending money to conduct permanent layoffs during a shutdown is illegal.READ MORE: Shutdown tests lenders' plans to keep loans movingHouse Speaker Mike Johnson met with Trump at the White House on Thursday. He earlier defended Trump's threat, saying that the president has the power to fire workers and cut spending during a shutdown. He pinned blame for the lapse in appropriations on Democrats. "If they keep the government closed it will get more and more painful," Johnson told reporters. The White House, he added, is "going to look to the administration's priorities and make sure they are funded." Vought has begun withholding spending for New York City transit projects and clean energy programs in states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.It's not yet clear what the scale of the federal downsizing could be, but Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, predicted there could be sizable cuts."Do I think Russ Vought wants to shrink government in a dramatic way? Absolutely. He's pretty clear about that," Capito told CNBC Thursday.The White House's moves to pull back funding and dismiss federal workers aims to put pressure on Democrats to vote to re-open the government. The hardball tactics go well beyond what is common in a shutdown, where typically many federal workers are furloughed and then receive back pay once the government is funded.The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 750,000 employees will be furloughed during the shutdown at a cost of $400 million per day in lost compensation.Political PosturingTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Democrats of negotiating in bad faith over government funding."The Democrats want to negotiate like terrorists," Bessent told CNBC Thursday, adding that Republicans are seeking a "clean" extension of government funding. Democrats are seeking to include health care subsidies in that spending bill.Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, told CBS that Democrats have been "begging" Republicans to negotiate but so far there have been "zero" talks because the GOP hasn't engaged.A Washington Post poll found that more voters blame Trump and Republicans for the government shutdown than they do Democrats — by a 17-point margin. Independents overwhelmingly side with Democrats on the question, but Democrats are also more united: Only 67% of Republicans blame Democrats for the shutdown, while 87% of Democrats blame Republicans.Neither the House nor Senate are scheduled to vote on Thursday, in observance of the Yom Kippur holiday. The Senate is slated to return on Friday, but Senate Republican leader John Thune said the chamber is "unlikely" to hold votes over the weekend. The House won't return to Washington until Tuesday.Representative Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican, said that he expects the impasse to continue into early next week, at least."I think it probably goes into next week, could be longer. It's really up to Chuck Schumer," Donalds said in an interview on Fox Business Thursday, referring to the Senate Democratic leader.Democrats are pushing for an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year. Republicans say they want to fund the government first before engaging in any negotiations on that issue."None of these shutdowns, whether they were Republican or Democratic inspired, have ever achieved their objective," Representative Tom Cole, the Oklahoma Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, told Fox Business. "It's a really dumb thing to do."

Annaly has formed a new partnership with Pennymac, adding another major publicly-traded nonbank mortgage company as one of its subservicers.The real-estate investment trust, which also has a subservicing partnership with Rocket Cos., will be tied in with a master purchase agreement in which Annaly will buy certain assets from Pennymac.The purchase agreement relates to a portfolio Pennymac is selling to the REIT investor and will manage as a subservicer in a partnership that will help the nonbank grow a new business line while providing a customer relationship focus Annaly values, according to a joint press release."We stand to benefit from Pennymac's strong recapture capabilities," said David Finkelstein, Annaly's CEO and co-chief investment officer.The sale of MSRs also is in line with plans Pennymac has to reconfigure the composition of its portfolio."This sale continues our efforts to drive the concentration of our MSR portfolio toward higher-rate loans with significant recapture potential and is a prime example of our active capital management activities," said David Spector, Pennymac's chairman and CEO.Pricing trends nonbank mortgage execs see in subservicingAdvances in automation and industry consolidation have driven competition in subservicing and brought down costs this year, Finkelstein said during his company's second-quarter earnings call."We think there's going to be a lot of differentiation in servicing and we've partnered with the ones who are making these investments," he said during the July call. "They provide great service and what we provide them is we help them with their scale. But also we're a capital and liquidity provider when there's a need to move MSR off balance-sheet."Spector said in a more recent appearance at an investor conference that while there has been fierce competition in subservicing he sees potential opportunities opening up.Subservicing has seen "rational pricing returning to the sector," Spector said during a presentation at Barclays' Global Financial Services Conference last month.He also said at that time that "owners of servicing who've been buying it as a financial asset" have been among Pennymac's prospects for subservicing clients.Why subservicing could be more dynamic heading into 2026"I would expect our subservicing business to grow over the next 12 months and really be able to step in where others may be looking to step out," Spector added.Spector said during Pennymac's July earnings call that he anticipated more subservicing changes in the second half of the year and possibly into 2026 as players re-evaluate the space."I think over the next 6 to 12 months, you'll see more servicing moving amongst subservicers. So we're just positioning ourselves to be one of those subservicers to capitalize on the opportunity," he said.One industry giant, United Wholesale Mortgage, ended a subservicing contract it had with Mr. Cooper earlier this year because of that company's plans for its recently-closed merger with a chief competitor to UWM, Rocket. CEO Mat Ishia said during his company's earnings call in August that UWM was on track to bring subservicing entirely in-house by early 2026. At the time, the company was continuing to incur subservicing costs because it had moved the former Rocket business to a single player. 

The Phoenix arena home to Mat Ishbia's basketball teams will promote United Wholesale Mortgage's broker search website for the foreseeable future. The Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and UWM Thursday announced a 10-year, $115 million naming rights partnership for the city's arena to be known as the Mortgage Matchup Center, after UWM's mortgagematchup.com site. Ishbia, president and CEO of UWM, purchased the NBA and WNBA teams in 2023, while mortgagematchup.com was launched in 2018 under its former name, findamortgagebroker.com. "Arizona is one of the strongest markets for mortgage brokers and we see a fantastic opportunity through Mortgage Matchup to help consumers better understand the value of having an expert advising them through this process," said Ishbia in a press release Thursday. While Ishbia's Player 15 group operates the venue, the city of Phoenix owns the arena, and city Mayor Kate Gallego lauded the announcement in a statement. Thursday's move expands UWM's partnership with the professional basketball leagues after they announced a multiyear advertising deal last May. Why the arena wasn't named after UWMSome of the 30 NBA teams play in arenas named after financial institutions — including the Rocket Arena, where the Dan Gilbert-owned Cleveland Cavaliers play. UWM didn't seek to name the Phoenix arena after itself because it's a business-to-business company, UWM Chief Marketing Officer Sarah DeCiantis told National Mortgage News. "We really do everything that we can to highlight mortgage brokers, because at the end of the day, that is who the consumer needs to know," she said. The venue, formerly known as the Footprint Center after a technology firm, is scheduled to host the 2026 NCAA Women's FInal Four, the 2027 NBA All Star Game, and this year's WNBA Finals, beginning with Game 1 between the Mercury and the Las Vegas Aces Friday night. DeCiantis highlighted the growth of the professional basketball leagues, particularly the WNBA, which has recorded rising attendance and viewership in the past few years. "You become a household name, and that's something that then people remember," said DeCiantis. The naming deal promoting Mortgage Matchup comes two days after the second-largest wholesale lender, Rocket Pro, announced the brokernearme.com search portal. When asked about the competitor, DeCiantis said she wasn't aware of the new site. UWM is the industry's largest originator and recorded $39.7 billion in volume in the second quarter, its best reporting period in nearly four years. 

A group of homeowners filed a class action lawsuit against the largest homebuilding company in the United States and its mortgage lending subsidiary over money they lost in an alleged deceptive mortgage scheme.D.R. Horton and DHI Mortgage targeted prospective homebuyers with affordable monthly payment plans, but the company low-balled the true costs and excluded most of the required property taxes, according to the lawsuit."The lawsuit alleges that D.R. Horton and DHI Mortgage were running a 'monthly payment suppression scheme' to mislead first-time homebuyers into thinking their total monthly housing costs would fit their budgets," said Jennifer Wagner, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, in a press release Wednesday. "They preyed on people's faith in the American Dream of homeownership to lure them into unaffordable, deceptive deals." Many buyers didn't know their payments would be up to nearly $1,000 higher each month until after they had closed on their homes and their loans were sold to a new mortgage servicer, the plaintiffs said.  "The lawsuit claims that the home builder and its mortgage company were working together from their initial sales pitch to deceive buyers into closing on homes and mortgages by presenting artificially low monthly payments, leading to payment shock," said Jeffrey Newsome, attorney at Varnell & Warwick, which represents the group of homeowners with Varnell & Warwick, P.A. and the NCLC.One of the five plaintiffs, Frankie Santiago, was promised a monthly payment of just over $2,100 for a home in Lake County, Florida, and thus chose D.R. Horton and its subsidiary, which ranked 12th in total originations in 2023, because the monthly payment was lower than homes with a similar sales price. It wasn't until almost a year later that Santiago found out he would have to pay roughly $1,000 more per month, as the new servicer conducted an escrow analysis that included all of the property taxes and the money he now had to cover for back taxes.The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, seeks to stop the companies from tricking future homebuyers and recoup all money the homeowners lost. Homeowners may be entitled to three times their out-of-pocket losses under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)."Our goal in bringing this class action lawsuit is to recover damages for the many people around the country who've been cheated and to prevent future homeowners from being lured into this predatory scheme," said Kristen Simplicio, partner at Clarkson Law Firm. 

A mixed picture emerged in mortgage rates one day after the start of the U.S. government shutdown, while a release of new jobs data raises concerns about the nation's economic picture. Ten-year Treasury yields, whose movements typically influence the direction of mortgage rates, sat at 4.08% as of Thursday afternoon, tumbling 11 basis points from its close one week ago. The average 30-year mortgage rate, though, moved in different directions over the same time period, according to various industry trackers. Treasurys saw much of their backslide occur after early Tuesday, when they opened at 4.15%, and maintained its decline into today. While the downward momentum picked up on the same day the U.S. government shutdown, a report from payroll processor ADP showing a loss of 32,000 private-sector jobs last month likely played a bigger role in investor activity that drove yields downward, analysts said.   While yields were down, "surprisingly, the mortgage market showed little reaction to the ADP employment report," said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow Home Loans in a statement published on Wednesday. Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the average 30-year rate at 6.34% on Thursday, Oct 2. The average increased 4 basis points from a week earlier when it came in at 6.34%. During the same week in 2024, the 30-year average stood at 6.12%.The 15-year fixed rate likewise climbed up 6 basis points week over week to an average of 5.55%. The average increased from 5.49% seven days earlier and finished 30 basis points higher from year-ago levels. On the other hand, Zillow's platform showed the 30-year fixed average at 6.51% on Thursday, which represented an 8 basis point drop from 6.59% reported a week ago. The average rate rose, though, by 3 basis points between Wednesday and Thursday. The 30-year fixed rate according to Lender Price data on the National Mortgage News website was 6.44% as of Thursday, flat on a week-over-week basis. What role the government shutdown could play in rate movementsA variety of factors account for why recent mortgage rate movements might appear muted despite elevated political and economic volatility. While the Federal Reserve slashed its funds rate at its September governors meeting, some forward-looking investors had priced in a larger reduction and were left "disappointed" the central bank's decision did not align with expectations, Ng said. Rates subsequently jumped, with Freddie Mac's survey showing the 30-year average higher for the second week in a row. The same similar forward-looking sentiment also means investors had factored in the effects of a government shutdown, which many expected to occur. "I wouldn't necessarily say that traders were trading into the shutdown. I think they would have already made those bets in the last week," said Foundation CEO Marc Halpern. If the shutdown extends longer than expected, mortgage rate movements will become difficult to predict, according to Chelsea Wagner, executive vice president of revenue at Lower."When we have uncertainty, it's going to cause volatility. Depending on how long this lasts, I think we can expect some volatility to come in the market. But if we step back in the next couple of days or a week, I think things will remain pretty steady," she said. For potential home buyers, the market holds some opportunity under current conditions, with the current week's 30-year rate still well below its average over the past year, according to Freddie Mac.  "The last few months have brought lower rates and as indicated by the recently reported increase in pending home sales, homebuyers are feeling more confident to get into the market," said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater. "Although affordability remains challenging, buyers currently have greater negotiating power than in previous years. Homes are staying on the market longer, giving potential buyers additional time to evaluate their choices," Ng concurred. However, she also raised a note of caution. "Buyers, however, shouldn't assume these conditions will last indefinitely. New listings reached a historic low in August, driven by hesitant sellers amid sluggish demand."