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Loandepot and home builder partner Smith Douglas Homes launched Ridgeland Mortgage, the companies announced Monday.This is the eighth partnership with a home builder that Loandepot is adding to its growing portfolio of joint ventures. Loandepot is looking to further expand this part of its business "with the right business partners," said Dan Peña, executive vice president of national joint ventures at Loandepot.The formation of Ridgeland Mortgage will expand the mortgage lender's market presence to several Southern states, including North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and Alabama, where Smith Douglas Homes develops properties.The hope is to grab more purchase business opportunities."Our new joint venture helps both companies make the American dream of home ownership possible for more families while providing Smith Douglas Homes with access to an unparalleled lending platform that will deliver an exceptional customer experience," said Peña, in a press release Monday.In a previous interview, Peña explained that in a joint venture Loandepot manages the mortgage company for the builder."The entity has loan officers, production people and leadership, and then there's a servicing agreement with Loandepot. We provide all the mortgage services: processing, underwriting, closing, funding and warehouse management. We do everything, and we charge the joint venture a fee," he said. Various structures can be used to partner with builders, the most typical being a 50/50 joint venture."If a builder is giving me a bigger split, they're probably getting the money somewhere else anyway, whether it's in price, margin or whatever. So we just tend to be very transparent with it, and say, 'Hey, it's 50/50," Peña said earlier in February.Loandepot's longest standing JV is with home builder Meritage dubbed MTH Mortgage, established more than 20 years ago, the executive added Monday.Smith Douglas Homes has a significant presence in the Southeast and is ranked as the 36th largest new home builder, according to a press release."Our partnership with Loandepot allows us to focus on what we do best — delivering incredible value to our customers with high quality homes at an affordable price point — while leveraging Loandepot's mortgage lending expertise to provide a smooth and seamless home loan process," said Greg Bennett, CEO of Smith Douglas Homes.Loandepot is exploring several other avenues to grab purchase business apart from JV partnerships.For example, Loandepot, already a top VA lender, is looking to further grow out its lending operation targeting veterans.In September, Loandepot brought on board Bryan Bergjans, a VA vet and former Caliber Home Loans executive, as its national director of military growth and strategy. "We know that there are a lot of veterans in our country that have not used their eligibility," said John Bianchi, executive vice president of national sales at Loandepot. "Our focus is to grow VA volume and eligibility through education."LoanDepot is leveraging social media platforms like Meta to host webinars aimed at veterans interested in purchasing homes or renovating properties, Bianchi added.

If you recall, Chase took over troubled First Republic Bank back in May 2023.Prior to First Republic going under, they were the leading jumbo home loan lender in the 
United States.They catered to very wealthy homeowners and businesspeople. And it was ironically their ultra-low rate mortgages that eventually took them down.Today, Chase is the top jumbo loan lender in the nation, with production of more than $8 billion in the first half of 2024, per Inside Mortgage Finance.Like First Republic, they too are wooing high-net worth individuals with special mortgage rate discounts.Up to 1% Off Mortgage Rates If You Bring Money to the BankIn 2023, Chase was the third largest mortgage originator in the country, per HMDA data. And the largest depository issuer of home loans.They were only beaten out by two nonbanks, United Wholesale Mortgage and Rocket Mortgage.Their acquisition of troubled First Republic has only made them bigger, and put an even stronger emphasis on jumbo loan lending at the bank.In essence, they are carrying on some of the same principles, though likely with added guardrails to avoid the same fate.One of those practices is offering mortgage rate discounts to their wealthiest customers, namely those willing to park lots of money at the bank.The NYC-based bank’s so-called “Relationship Pricing Program” offers mortgage rate discounts ranging from 0.125% and 1% based on new and existing balances at the bank.These apply whether you’re buying a home or refinancing an existing mortgage.As seen in the chart, those who can muster $37,500 in new money or investments can receive a 0.125% rate discount.While that’s nothing big, customers who are able to bring in $300,000 in new money or investments can get a full 1.00% discount on their interest rate.For example, if the offered mortgage rate were 6.5%, they could give you a rate of 5.5%. And that could be hard to beat by outside lenders.On a large loan amount, we’re talking about some significant savings.Using a $1,500,000 loan amount, the difference would be roughly $965 per month. Or $11,580 annually.They also offer a rate discount of up to 0.25% for existing balances at the bank (0.125% for $500k-$999k, 0.25% for $1M+).How the Relationship Pricing Program WorksTo receive the interest rate discount, new money must be deposited in the customer’s Chase account at least 10 calendar days prior to the scheduled mortgage closing date.Note that certain accounts don’t qualify, including business, deferred compensation, student, custodial, 529b college savings, donor-advised funds, select retirement accounts, and non-vested RSUs.So make sure the new funds will actually count toward the discount.Customers will be underwritten via the actual note rate before the discount, per Inside Mortgage Finance.In other words, it doesn’t appear that you can qualify at the lower rate, assuming you needed to.And note that funds that settle in a customer’s deposit and/or investment accounts 14 calendar days or more prior to the completion of a mortgage application aren’t eligible for the new money discount.It’s also possible to receive a post-close rate discount if funds are received and settled within 30 days of loan closing.But it might be lower than discounts available prior to closing, and the customer must sign a rate change modification.These customers will also not receive a refund of any interest already paid prior to the rate change taking effect.And while new and existing balance discounts can be combined, the total rate discount can’t exceed 1%.Lastly, for adjustable-rate mortgages, the rate discount will apply during the initial rate period only.For example, the first five years on a 5/6 ARM, or first seven years on a 7/6 ARM.Good Deal or Not?As with any of these types of deals, you need to compare what you could receive elsewhere.I always look at the all-in cost of the mortgage. That includes both closing costs and the interest rate received.A discount means nothing if another bank or lender can offer a lower mortgage rate with fewer closing costs.For example, 1% off a rate of 7% is 6%. If another lender can give me 5.875%, who cares if it’s 1% off?And how much do I need to pay to get that interest rate? Points, origination fees, etc.?So take the time to compare offers, and also consider how much your money is expected to earn while parked in a Chase account.There’s opportunity cost to consider here as well, which can cloud the comparison when expected returns aren’t guaranteed.But if Chase is blowing the competition out of the water, then it might be a no-brainer and further reason to use them versus another mortgage company. Before creating this site, I worked as an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My hands-on experience in the early 2000s inspired me to begin writing about mortgages 18 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on Twitter for hot takes.Latest posts by Colin Robertson (see all)

Treasury yields fell sharply and the dollar weakened as investors pared bets on Republican Donald Trump prevailing in Tuesday's U.S. election.The yield on 10-year Treasuries dropped as much as 12 basis points to 4.26% in U.S. trading after a new poll suggested traders were underestimating the prospect of a win for Democrat Kamala Harris. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slid as much as 0.7%, while the Mexican peso — which has suffered from Trump's talk of tariffs — was one of the biggest gainers among major currencies. Bitcoin, which has climbed on Trump's support of cryptocurrencies, slipped.The moves signal a widespread re-evaluation of so-called Trump trades after polling data cast doubt on that result. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll showed Harris with a 3 percentage-point lead in the state over Trump, and could be a bellwether for how Harris performs in nearby Wisconsin — one of seven swing states. Still, an NBC News poll released Sunday showed the race remains deadlocked."As we move closer to the U.S. election there is less confidence that Trump will win the election," said Lee Hardman, a senior currency analyst at MUFG. "A Trump win and Red Sweep would be the most bullish outcome for the US dollar, while a Harris win with a divided Congress could see the US dollar quickly giving back last month's strong gains."A red sweep refers to Republicans winning not only the presidency, but also both houses of Congress.In recent weeks, investors have been betting on a Trump win, positioning for his low-tax and high-tariff policies to boost both growth and inflation. Those bets helped boost the dollar gauge to a four-month high last week and sent yields on 30-year Treasuries to their highest level since July, creating a steeper yield curve.Monday's activity in U.S. interest rates, by contrast, included traders exiting Treasury option trades that targeted higher longer-dated yields and a steeper curve."Into tomorrow's event, markets will continue to lighten up on the profitable Trump trade of October — firmer U.S. dollar and higher yields and a steeper Treasury curve — and de-risk where they can to allow themselves to react in the early morning of Wednesday," said Jordan Rochester, head of macro strategy in EMEA for Mizuho. Meanwhile, emerging-market investors had been bracing for the fallout of a potential Trump victory, as his plans to enact tariffs would weaken their exports and demand for their currencies. The Mexican peso, one of the most vulnerable to the threat of tariffs, rose as much as 1.6% against the greenback on Monday. And the onshore yuan gained as much as 0.6%, the most since early August.The latest polls also impacted betting platforms like PredictIt. On that, a Trump win was seen as around a coin-toss, down from 60% last week."Markets are pricing in a higher chance of a Harris win now," said Carol Kong, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "That means the scope for dollar strength is now higher in the event of a Trump win."That said, the U.S. election is far from the only risk that traders must navigate this week.Traders have been whipped around by changing expectations for interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, with markets seeing a roughly 8% chance that the Fed keeps monetary policy steady when it meets Thursday. Just a few weeks ago, traders were debating whether the central bank might again cut rates by a half-point at either its November or December meeting.Bond markets will also have to contend with a trio of Treasury auctions this week — including a sale of three-year notes Monday and the big quarterly 10-year and 30-year new issues on Tuesday and Wednesday. And yields have already moved significantly higher."Part of what we are seeing is just a reversal of the price action that we had on Friday," Fredrik Repton, a senior portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman said on Bloomberg TV. "It's not only the US election, there are so many other things going on this week."

Everyone knows high mortgage rates have been a total drag lately, especially for prospective home buyers facing extremely high asking prices.But what if I told you that nearly half of those who purchased a home recently still got an interest rate below 5%?Sounds pretty unlikely, given the fact that the 30-year fixed is back over 7%, and never went lower than 6% for the duration of 2024.However, that didn’t stop 45% of “mortgage buyers” (non-cash buyers) from obtaining a sub-5% mortgage rate, per a new survey from Zillow.As for how, the most common reason cited was special financing offered by the seller or home builder.Special Mortgage Rates from Home BuildersOne of the most common ways to get a below-market mortgage rate has been via the home builders.They often operate in-house mortgage companies to ensure their customers make it to the finish line.And thanks to a financing tool call “forward commitments,” they’re able to offer super low mortgage rates to the customers who use their captive lender.Those commitments involve buying low mortgage rates in bulk, ahead of time, and then deploying the low rates to customers who buy properties in select communities.While some only offer temporary rate buydowns, lately many have offered permanent rate buydowns for the full 30-year loan term.This probably sounds pretty sweet, but keep in mind you need to buy a newly-built home to get your hands on a special rate.Some have argued that the discount is built into a higher sales price, so proceed with caution.Also read my piece on using the home builder’s mortgage lender for more on that.For the record, individual home sellers can offer sales concessions that can be used to buy down the mortgage rate too.And together with builder buydowns, that was the most commonly cited reason for a low rate at 35%.Another 26% said their offer was contingent on a rate buydown from the seller/builder. So more than half of the low rates came from these arrangements alone.Buying Points to Lower Your RateThe third most common reason a recent home buyer was able to get a low mortgage rate was due to paying discount points (at 23%).If you have the available funds, it’s always an option to buy down your rate by paying some money upfront.This is a form of prepaid interest where you pay today for savings tomorrow. The key though is keeping the loan long enough to experience the savings.The problem with this is if mortgage rates happen to go even lower before the breakeven point (when the points become profitable), it disincentivizes a rate and term refinance.Or if you happen to sell the property too soon, same thing. In contrast, temporary buydowns don’t result in lost funds.If you sell/refinance soon after a temp buydown, the leftover funds are typically applied to the outstanding loan balance.Long story short, there’s risk when buying points in that you’ll leave money on the table.The same could be said of temporary buydowns in that mortgage rates might not be lower when the rate reverts to the higher note rate.A lot of folks have bought the house and dated the rate, assuming the mortgage rates would come down. So far they haven’t.Got a Mortgage from a Friend or Family MemberAnother 23% of buyers said they got a low rate because they borrowed from a friend or family member.This is pretty surprising to me seeing that it’s such a large share of the population. I can’t imagine that many home buyers getting special financing from mom and dad or someone else.But per Zillow’s study, this is what the numbers indicate. For me, it’s pretty rare to use intrafamily financing, but it definitely is a thing, especially with rates so much higher today.An example would be your parents offering to finance your home purchase with a special low rate from the Bank of Mom and Dad, perhaps at a cool 3.99%!If you’re so lucky, great. But for most this sadly isn’t a reality.Another common reason folks got a sub-5% mortgage rate was by refinancing after they bought the home.They must have nailed the timing (and paid points) because rates never officially went below 6% this year.Lastly, sub-5% mortgage rates were associated with adjustable-rate mortgages, homebuyer assistance, and shorter loans terms, such as the 15-year fixed.Of course, if it’s not a 30-year fixed, sub-5% doesn’t have quite the same meaning or value.Still, it’s impressive to see that nearly half of home buyers got creative and found a way to overcome the mortgage rate hurdle.Problem is there’s still the high home price to contend with, and little way around that at the moment.The Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2024 study involved 18,500 successful home buyers and was fielded between March and September 2024. Before creating this site, I worked as an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My hands-on experience in the early 2000s inspired me to begin writing about mortgages 18 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on Twitter for hot takes.Latest posts by Colin Robertson (see all)

Among the latest investors in Flueid, a verification of title technology company is a venture capital fund created by Rocket Cos. founder Dan Gilbert.The company has just added $8.3 million in capital in what Crunchbase called a venture round. The lead investor is LiveOak Ventures.Besides the Gilbert-founded Detroit Venture Partners, the other participants are Commerce Partners and Acquiline Technology Growth; the latter two companies were previous investors in Flueid.Over eight rounds, Flueid has raised a total of $57.4 million, Crunchbase said.A property's title is normally checked by the originator or servicer days into the process, Peter Bowman, Flueid's CEO, said in a press release."Improving understanding and visibility into title risks earlier in the process is critical, as it will foster greater integration and connectivity between mortgage originators and title providers and deliver a more streamlined experience," Bowman said in a press release. "With this funding and the collaboration of our investment partners, we're confident we can establish VOT as a standard verification service across all transactions."LiveOak Ventures specializes in investing in Texas-based companies; Flueid is headquartered in Austin."The centerpiece of our investment strategy is to back founders and teams that are exceptionally strong in their respective domains and disrupting large industries with their novel solutions," said Krishna Srinivasan, co-founder of LiveOak Ventures. "Our investment in Flueid exemplifies this strategy and, in particular, continues our rich tradition of backing technology leaders in the real estate industry."Detroit Venture Partners allows its portfolio companies to leverage its relationship with the more than 90 companies within the Rock Family of Companies, including Rocket, its website said."We believe Flueid's vision for VOT will be transformational within the mortgage space," said Jared Stasik, partner at Detroit Venture Partners. "They've been able to do something no one else has — use innovative technology to fuel a fast and efficient title process and make insights from that process available to anyone."In August, Flueid launched a product aimed at the home purchase business. Besides claiming to optimize the title search and exam process, it made title insights available to real estate salespeople as early as when the listing agreement was entered into."For purchases, our goal with VOT is to arm both title providers and real estate agents with a tool to provide consumers with a better, more certain home purchase experience," Bowman said in the August release. "Now, title providers not only have the data-driven advantages of VOT for their workflow, but they can demonstrate to real estate agents the value of understanding and proactively tackling title issues upfront."Another recent technology development in this area is from Indecomm, which expanded its BotGenius portfolio to accelerate and simplify title and appraisal review processes by removing the manual steps involved in examining the documents involved in both areas."Loan set-up and processing operations are burdened by highly manual, repetitive real estate document reviews," said Narayan Bharadwaj, senior vice president of automation. "Powered by our Intelligent Data Extractor, we unlock data from documents and use that data to automate complex and manual mortgage operations."Once the information is gathered from the document, it is compared with what is in the loan origination system or other source data.The Indecomm bot afterwards prioritizes the data and creates conditions in the LOS for the user to act on.Meanwhile, Snapdocs is introducing new artificial intelligence-powered functionality it claims will be taking on those manual, error-prone processes.That includes CD Balancing, which compares the closing disclosures for differences in fees and puts the correct amount in the lender's system of record.Other additions include funding quality control, post-closing quality control and trailing document management."Mortgage closings are expensive, error prone, and time-intensive due to the fragmentation of the multiple people, processes, and technologies involved," said Michael Sachdev, Snapdocs CEO, in a press release.Sachdev cited a survey of over 2,000 mortgage borrowers whose loans closed between January 2022 and this past June that claimed 60% of respondents experienced frustration during their closing."Lending and settlement teams are at the center of this challenge, burdened with manual coordination and stare-and-compare tasks," Sachdev said. "We are on a mission to automate these critical interactions to make the closing stress-free for mortgage professionals and a celebratory experience for borrowers." Snapdocs is also introducing a new brand identity by updating its logo, to reflect this latest initiative."Our new visual identity embodies our focus on connecting the mortgage industry and simplifying the closing experience for both borrowers and the teams serving them," said Kat Benenati, vice president of product and marketing. "We continue to embrace the color orange — symbolizing optimism, warmth, and confidence — while our updated logo represents our innovative, integrated solutions that encourage seamless collaboration for all mortgage participants."

The age of a typical homebuyer jumped to an all-time high of 56 in the U.S., with many young people locked out of the housing market while older owners tap their accumulated home equity for cash purchases or to make large down payments, according to a report.The share of first-time home buyers shrunk to 24%, the lowest in data going back to 1981, according the National Association of Realtors' 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. The median age of a first-time buyer also reached a record of 38 — about a decade older than in the 1980s.High prices and borrowing costs have created a bifurcated housing market, in which an increasing share of sales come from repeat buyers and richer households. In just two years, the median income of a first-time buyer has increased by $26,000 to $97,000.The NAR report, tracking transactions between July 2023 and June 2024, also shows a big jump in the share of single-women first-time buyers from a year earlier. Older BuyersBuyers of all types are getting older. First-time buyers are now typically three years older than last year and five years older than in 2019. Meanwhile the typical repeat buyer is 61. They also tend to earn more than people who purchase their first house.First-Time BuyersBefore the Great Recession, first-time home buyers held roughly a 40% share of the market. With affordability gauges hovering near record lows, that share has slumped in the past year. Underscoring the struggles prospective buyers are facing, about a quarter of first-time buyers used loans or gifts from friends or family to help make a down payment and an all-time high 7% relied on inheritances.Single WomenAbout a fifth of homes were purchased by single women, compared with 8% by single men. Empty NestersAn increasing share of homeowners are either childless or empty nesters, with 73% of all buyers having no child under 18 at home this year, up from 70% last year. Conversely, the share of buyers with school-age children is at a historic low. The data once again underscore that people who can afford a house today are more likely to be older and already homeowners.DistanceThe median distance between new homes and previous residences was 20 miles in 2023 and 2024, up from 15 miles before that pandemic. In 2022, when work-from-home appeared to become a permanent fixture of the workplace, people moved 50 miles to their new homes. Staying PutBefore the Great Recession of 2008-2009, people stayed in their home for an average of about six years. Today, owners are holding onto their home for about 10 years. They've typically locked in low mortgage rates and are sitting on higher home equity, making them reluctant to move unless they have to.Among the primary reasons to sell a house were being closer to friends or family, finding a bigger place or after a life change such as a divorce or having a child, according to the report.White BuyersBuyers are increasingly White. Overall, 83% of buyers were White, up from 81% last year. About 7% of recent buyers identified as Black, 6% as Hispanic, 4% as Asian, and 3% as some other ethnicity.

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. The November election will determine a new presidency, the makeup in Congress and in turn, mortgage, real estate and housing policies. Vice President Harris has pushed two major housing proposals, including building 3 million homes in a four-year period. Development would be spurred by, among other means, a tax incentive for home builders who sell their units to first-time homebuyers. The Harris-Walz ticket also pledges a $40 billion "innovation fund" for local governments to cut red tape in affordable housing development.The other major Harris pitch is $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. The campaign said the assistance would aid over 4 million first-time home buyers over a four-year period. Harris also supports Democrat-backed legislation to curb tax benefits for investors who acquire 50 or more single-family rental homes. Bill Killmer, senior vice president for legislative and political affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said the MBA has received outreach from Capitol Hill voices who want to beef up Harris' proposals."This is a marathon, not a sprint, so I don't think anybody should be counting on immediate relief," Killmer told National Mortgage News' Andrew Martinez. "It took us years to get into this supply deficit for all the reasons that's happened, and it'll take long-time, consistent, incremental efforts to get us out of it."Former President Trump hasn't commented on GSE reform, but his former associates said exiting conservatorship would be a priority. Mark Calabria, who was Federal Housing Finance Agency director under Trump, says privatization could be achieved in 2026 or 2027 under GOP rule.The GOP ticket has called for more executive influence with the Federal Reserve regarding interest rates. Analysts explained it would be difficult for Trump to force his way into such decisions, and pointed out the president already holds some sway via Board of Governors appointments. Executive influence on interest rates could also have spillover effects on the broader economy, experts said.Read more: Republican bill would put housing agencies on shorter leash The Federal Reserve and its policies have been a hot button issue for the mortgage industry.As was long awaited, the Fed moved to cut rates in September by 50 basis points. And though it did not cause as much of a refinance wave as some may have hoped, it did fuel further hope of another rate cut to follow.In a survey conducted by Arizent, the parent company of National Mortgage News, the majority (53%) of mortgage professionals said the cut will not have any bearing on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Closely behind is 43% of respondents who think the cut benefits Harris' chance of being elected, while only 7% say it's an advantage to Trump in the elections.Mortgage professionals weighed in on the political influence held over the Fed. Fully 79% of respondents say the Fed takes political considerations into account when setting monetary policy, while only 15% don't agree.Opinions differ on how the Fed's autonomy will be impacted by a new administration.Forty-three percent of those surveyed said that the Fed, which operates independently from the executive branch, will be curtailed under a Trump presidency. Meanwhile, about 50% said the Fed's independence won't change at all if the election is won by Harris in November.Read more: Election season, economic power drive latest interest rate volatility Read more about how the election will impact the mortgage industry. Survey reveals mortgage professionals' thoughts on electionAs the election approaches, mortgage professionals are clearly leaning towards one candidate over the other in terms of which could best help their industry.The majority of respondents to a survey by Arizent, the parent company of National Mortgage News, said they were unhappy with the current political climate. Out of 98 respondents — including those that work in the mortgage world in the capacity of executives, management to staff — 92% said they are dissatisfied with the current political climate and only 7% said they are satisfied. Additionally, the majority, 58% of those surveyed, say the shift of the Democratic candidate from President Biden to Harris did not change expectations for how a Democratic White House would affect the mortgage industry.Read more: Mortgage professionals sound off on elections, Federal Reserve  lazyllama - stock.adobe.com How real estate could change post electionThe upcoming election has implications for several game-changing policies that could affect companies that lend on income-producing properties and housing.As of October 21, the presidential race and the composition of Congress were still largely a toss-up, meaning outcomes where power could be divided between the parties are possible, causing the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council to engage in projections for a range of election scenarios that could create a need for compromise. The council plans to update its analysis over time.Read more to find out what's at stake for key policies in different scenarios, based on comments from David McCarthy, managing director, chief lobbyist and head of legislative affairs at the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, and an analysis he co-authored with Sairah Burki, managing director and head of regulatory affairs, and James Montfort, manager of government relations. An Oct. 7 Cook Political report informed the original study.Read more: What different election scenarios mean for real estate  witsarut - stock.adobe.com All about the mortgage industry's spending on lobbying in 2024Mortgage-industry participants — including influential trade groups, insurance companies and lenders — spent $6.7 million on lobbying this year, a decrease from $12 million in 2022. The 2024 figures are based on Federal Election Commission data released on Sept. 22, 2024.The Mortgage Bankers Association, the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Home Loan Bank, Housing Policy Council, and Pennymac were the top spenders on advocacy this year.Mortgage lenders and servicers including United Wholesale Mortgage, NewDay USA, Mr. Cooper, Veterans United Home Loans and Freedom Mortgage also funded advocacy efforts this year. Among these companies, Pennymac, Veterans United Home Loans and NewDay USA were the top spenders on lobbying, doling out $290,000, $220,000 and $220,000, respectively. Two years prior, Veterans United and NewDay spent $460,000 and $600,000 in lobbying efforts.Read more: Here's how much the mortgage industry spent on lobbying in 2024  Everything to know about the 2024 election as a mortgage professionalPresidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have offered their unique visions on how to relieve the strains on the nation's housing market. While analysts have questioned the viability of each candidate's proposals, industry veterans are pleased with their focus this election cycle."The unfortunate reality is we've got a crisis, so that's why it's being discussed," Bill Killmer, senior vice president for legislative and political affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association, told National Mortgage News' Andrew Martinez. "But we're pretty happy that policymakers in Congress and both of the major party candidates running for president are talking about housing."Vice President Harris is proposing an ambitious construction goal and more assistance for first-time homebuyers. Former President Trump has called for greater influence on interest rates and freeing up federal lands for home construction, while conservatives mull larger goals for his second term. A consequential tax debate next year also weighs on the battle for Congress.Read more: The mortgage professional's guide for the 2024 election Business survey reveals how real estate investors plan to voteThe majority of real estate investors forecasted a Kamala Harris victory in November, with the vice president grabbing a 51.4% share, according to a new quarterly business sentiment survey from RCN Capital and CJ Patrick Co. Another 40.5% backed former President Donald Trump. The remainder favored Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate who has since withdrawn from the race.In expressing their views on who might create the better business environment for investors, Harris, again, came out on top among 47.2% of the segment, compared to 39.2% for former President Trump."It could be that investors are optimistic about the Harris campaign's initiatives focused on strengthening the housing market overall, and believe that those policies might benefit investors, tenants and homebuyers alike," CJ Patrick CEO Rick Sharga said in a press release.Read more: How real estate investors plan to vote in the U.S. election  VP debate brings discussion on housingMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, disagreed on the root causes of the high cost of housing in the vice presidential debate on October 1. Walz repeatedly pressed the idea that housing should be seen as more than a commodity. "A house is more than just an asset," he said. Vance repeatedly pinned economic issues, such as inflation, on the policies of the Biden administration and on Harris' role within that administration."If she wants to enact all of these policies to make housing more affordable, I invite her to use the office that the American people already gave her, not sit around and campaign and do nothing while Americans find the American dream of homeownership completely unaffordable," the senator said.Read more: 'A house is more than just an asset': Walz and Vance clash in VP debate  Bangkok, Thailand - October 3, 2015 : Water flood village in Don Mueang district. Problem with the drainage system.pongmoji - stock.adobe.com FHFA report could lead to flood insurance complianceAn inspector general audit found the Federal Housing Finance Agency's flood insurance oversight for influential government-related mortgage investors was effective but not applied regularly enough and lacked some formal procedures, and that could have implications for how the next administration handles the issue of flood insuranceThe government watchdog's report could bring more constant scrutiny to the many depository and nonbank lenders and servicers that work with the enterprises because private mortgage firms ultimately are responsible for flood insurance compliance, an area bank regulators have been watching closely too. "Examination procedures were inconsistent for assessing enterprises' oversight of seller/servicers' compliance with flood insurance requirements," the Office of Inspector General said in a report on the FHFA's Department of Enterprise Regulation released Thursday.Read more: Will FHFA IG's report lead to a flood insurance crackdown? 

Home affordability is at a near 50-year low for Americans, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. This is a result of a confluence of factors including low housing supply, high home prices and a challenging mortgage rate environment for homebuyers, according to Foyer CEO Landy Liu.Foyer is a startup in New York that offers a savings plan for first-time homebuyers. It's one of several fintechs trying to help struggling consumers buy their first home. Another, Divvy Homes, offers a rent-to-own model — people rent a home owned by Divvy, and a portion of each month's rent goes toward a down payment on a mortgage. Esusu reports rent payments to credit bureaus to help renters establish credit. Tomu Mortgage says its mortgages have lower fees and interest rates than traditional banks.Not to be outdone, some banks and mortgage providers are also trying to give first-time homebuyers a break. Southern Bancorp, a Community Development Financial Institution based in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, is launching an initiative to make $500 million worth of mortgages to low- and moderate-income borrowers in rural and minority communities, CEO Darrin Williams said in an American Banker podcast that will air Wednesday."Construction costs have risen, housing supply is shrinking in many urban, underserved communities," Williams said. "When you have a shrinking supply, prices go up, so that clearly is part of the problem. There are a number of things that have exacerbated the [lack of] opportunity for people to buy a home. And those are things that we work on every day to try to make that dream of ownership possible for families." Why buying a home is so hard"I've been at a number of industry conferences, and I'm talking to friends of mine who are in the business and everybody has a story about their kids or their niece or their nephew or their grandkids that are struggling to buy a home for the first time," said Joel Bruckenstein, president of consultancy Technology Tools for Today. "The cost of homes obviously has gone up faster than a lot of people's ability to earn money. If you've got student debt and your credit rating is not so good and you've got a car loan and student debt to pay, it's really, really hard." Another factor is that many people lack the basic understanding of how finance works, leading them to pay far too much in interest charges, especially on credit cards, he said. "They're just not managing their finances correctly," he said. Bruckenstein says the homebuying market is made up of three distinct kinds of potential buyers. The first are those who have little money and are renting, homeless or living out of their car and need serious financial help. "The banks are not going to be able to address that, software can't address that," he said. "They basically need charity, such as Habitat for Humanity." Other kinds of potential homebuyers are people with good jobs — emergency room nurses, military members, teachers and the like — who need some financial assistance, such as down payment assistance, he said. "That's the demographic that I think is exciting because I think they can be helped," Bruckenstein said. The third segment is people who have no problem buying a home.Rising housing costs and mortgage rates and dwindling affordable options mean renters, immigrants and minority groups find it harder to break into the homeowner market than ever, said Esusu co-founder and co-CEO Wemimo Abbey.What fintechs are doingAt Tomo Mortgage in Stamford, Connecticut, CEO Greg Schwartz says the answer to home affordability is to make mortgages themselves more digital and less expensive."Misleading mortgage rate information and excessive fees for things like processing cost new homebuyers upward of $36 billion last year alone," Schwartz said.Tomo Mortgage uses AI to automate the homebuying process to become faster, more accurate, more honest and less expensive, he said. "First-time buyers can save roughly $5,200 on the purchase of their first house," Schwartz said. "For many people, that's cutting the cost to close in half." New York-based Esusu reports renters' on-time payments to credit bureaus, to help them build credit. "In the U.S., 45 million people either have no credit or possess insufficient credit profiles, directly impacting their ability to qualify for mortgages with fair terms," said co-CEO Abbey. "This credit gap leaves many hardworking renters unable to build the financial track record needed for homeownership."Esusu has collaborated with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to report consumers' on-time rent payments to bureaus in such a way that they are considered in mortgage approval decisions (late or missed payments are not reported). Esusu has done this for a half a million renters, Abbey said."Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's recognition of the significance of including rental payment history data in mortgage underwriting signifies a shift toward a more holistic and inclusive approach to assessing creditworthiness and access to homebuying," Abbey said. Esusu has created more than 100,000 new credit scores, boosted existing scores by an average of 36 points, and unlocked nearly $21.9 billion in new credit tradelines, including 33,000 mortgage loans, he said.Foyer offers financial guidance and first-time homebuyer savings accounts to help people save enough for a down payment. It is currently helping more than 10,000 first-time homebuyers move toward homeownership and dozens are becoming homebuyers, Liu said. The app helps younger would-be homebuyers gain confidence through personalized guidance, hombuying education and financial products. We're investing heavily into our app, which is providing members personalized recommendations to help them save more for their first homes through discounts on real estate services, down payment assistance recommendations and by creating better savings habits." One startup Bruckenstein knows of that is still in stealth mode is developing financial planning software strictly for helping first-time homebuyers figure out how to buy a home. It will analyze a potential borrower's current cash flow and determine what steps that person would need to take to qualify for a mortgage in the future. For instance, a person who is maxing out their 401(k) contribution may be better off contributing to the 401(k) up to the match and put the rest of that money in a homebuying fund. "What none of these guys will tell you when you go on a website is whether you'll actually qualify for a mortgage," said Bruckenstein. "There's a million reasons why you might not qualify." The startup will also help people raise their credit scores, which will help them qualify for credit more readily and get a lower mortgage rate and less expensive insurance.There's room for all these approaches and more, said Kelley Halpin, co-founder of Mesa, which provides a rewards program for homeowners. Mesa recently exited stealth mode with $9.2 million in seed funding from several venture capital firms and $2 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. "My co-founder Peyton Hayslette and I saw how consumers receive incentives and loyalty rewards for everyday purchases like coffee, airline tickets and hotel stays. But the one thing you spend the most on — your home and all that comes with it? No one rewards that spend," said Halpin when the startup was announced. "Our vision for homeowner membership is to give you value back for every dollar you spend on your home."Homeowner members get 1% of their loan value in rewards points at closing (so $5,000 of value on a $500,000 loan). The Mesa Homeowners card offers rewards on monthly mortgage payments, as well as everyday spending like gas, groceries, HOA fees, utilities, repairs, and home goods and services. Mesa Points can be redeemed at partner brands."I think all those things are needed," said Southern Bancorp's Williams on the podcast. "I think they are helping."

Both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Townstone Financial claimed victory in the contentious anti-redlining lawsuit as the mortgage lender agreed to pay a $105,000 penalty to settle the case.The money will go into the CFPB Victim Relief Fund."This case should never have been brought," said Steve Simpson, director of separation of powers litigation at the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented Townstone free of charge."Unfortunately, the federal government possesses vast resources and the power to destroy lives and livelihoods, so settling is often the best approach for anyone facing a lawsuit of this kind," Simpson continued in a statement.A week ago, both sides wrote the court stating they were in negotiations to settle the complaint.The agreement also dismisses the charges against Townstone President and CEO Barry Sturner, whose comments on a Chicago-area radio program allegedly disparaging Black people was the genesis of the CFPB complaint."My family and I are relieved to finally put this nightmare behind us," Sturner said in the statement. "The last six years have taken a toll on all of us.""Townstone neither admits nor denies the allegations in the Amended Complaint, except as specified in this Order," the settlement agreement stated. "For purposes of this Order, Townstone admits the facts necessary to establish the Court's jurisdiction over it and over the subject matter of this action."In February 2023, Townestone received an initial victory in the case as Judge Franklin U. Valderrama of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that the CFPB's suit was invalid because the Equal Credit Opportunity Act applies only to actual home loan applicants, not to potential applicants.  But that decision was overturned by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in July, which ruled that ECOA did apply to prospective customers."The CFPB's lawsuit against Townstone Financial included a major appellate court victory that makes clear that people are protected from illegal redlining even before they submit their application," said Director Rohit Chopra in a statement. "The CFPB will continue to prosecute those who engage in modern-day redlining."But the PLF threw down the gauntlet, declaring that the CFPB will continue to exceed its authority and it will fight back, looking to end federal agency overreach.The Townstone agreement follows other recent settlements, including with Fairway Independent Mortgage for $10 million and OceanFirst Bank for $15 million.

United Wholesale Mortgage is taking actions to fully stop or at least weaken the racketeering suit lodged against it six months prior.The litigation, in part spurred by an explosive report by Hunterbrook Media,accuses the wholesale lender of orchestrating a scheme in coordination with brokers to cheat borrowers "out of billions of dollars in excess fees and costs."UWM filed two motions in mid-October, one to fully dismiss the case and another for the Michigan federal court to strike the class allegations even if the court is "not inclined to dismiss the amended complaint in its entirety," the lender wrote Oct. 15.In its motion to throw out the case, the wholesale lender argues the suit is an iteration of previous arguments pegged against it by The Okavage Group and America's Moneyline. Both brokerages challenged UWM's All-In initiative, which prevented brokers from doing business with Rocket Mortgage and Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation.The putative class action "is a transparent attempt to revive legal theories that two courts have already rejected and smear United Wholesale Mortgage's reputation for the benefit of speculators," the lender's motion to dismiss read.UWM asserts that the plaintiff's claims are moot for several reasons, including that their arguments are prohibited by the terms of their mortgage agreements and that the RICO claims are insufficient due to a lack of specific facts."The lawsuit is just as baseless as the others," UWM added. "The court should putan end to this coordinated effort to tarnish UWM's reputation, grant Defendants'Motion, and dismiss this action without further leave to amend."Regarding striking class certification, the megalender argues that state laws differ and plaintiffs who reside in four states, California, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee, cannot seek to certify classes and pursue claims under laws of other states where they have not lived or suffered injury.An attorney representing the plaintiffs could not immediately be reached Friday.The original complaint, lodged by law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, relies heavily on the assertion that UWM's ultimatum has contributed to borrowers being deprived of cheaper loan options because brokers cannot freely shop around. UWM is being accused of violating a number of state consumer protection laws, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and racketeering, among other allegations.The Michigan federal court is expected to reply to UWM's motions by Dec. 12, 2024, legal filings show.