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FICO is rolling out a credit score simulator for its mortgage banking customers at a time when its near-monopoly use in the industry is being chipped away at.More controversially, the company is rumored to be hiking its prices for generating a score yet again. This is following prior boosts, the first in 2022, when it introduced a tiered pricing structure. In 2023, that program was scrapped and those that benefited from the lower pricing were then hit with a massive increase, while others had a smaller price rise.FICO has no comment at this time regarding any possible increase in price, a spokesperson said.However, Greg Sher, managing director of NFM Lending, posted on LinkedIn a copy of an anonymized email sent out by Experian notifying credit reporting agencies that FICO will be implementing a price increase that the credit bureau will be applying effective Nov. 30.The new offering, FICO Score Mortgage Simulator, looks at the impact to the consumer's credit score generated by its algorithms and various simulated changes to their credit report data, such as reducing credit card balances or deleting a collection account. With that valuable insight, mortgage professionals, such as brokers and lenders, can help potential borrowers gauge how the changes could affect their FICO Scores and show them how different credit decisions could open up more loan options and favorable interest rates.It is the only simulator that uses an actual FICO Score as well as the company's algorithms, said Julie May, vice president and general manager of B2B scores, in an emailed response to questions."The tool was developed by FICO analytic scientists with unmatched knowledge of how FICO Scores work," May said. "It also simulates the most accurate potential FICO Score impacts resulting from simulated changes in credit report data."The simulator uses a credit report that was already pulled as part of the mortgage process, so it does not otherwise impact the consumer's score. The simulator supports online credit bureau reports that have a Classic FICO Score from Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. Users can decide if they want to use the tool on a single bureau report, or on two or even all three, May said.That means it uses FICO 2 for Experian data, FICO 4 for TransUnion and FICO 5 for Equifax."Use of FICO Score 10T in the solution will be coming in a future date," which is to be determined, May said.Xactus, a credit reporting agency, already is a user of this new FICO offering."The FICO Score Mortgage Simulator is an innovative new tool, and we are thrilled to be at the forefront of bringing it to the mortgage market," said Shelley Leonard, Xactus' president, in the FICO press release. "This tool brings a unique opportunity to allow both lenders and consumers to not only have a deeper understanding of FICO Score dynamics but provide a better experience and return for everyone."FICO is not the first company to come out with a scenario simulator. CreditXpert demonstrated its product at the 2023 Digital Mortgage conference.FICO's status as the sole provider of mortgage credit scores for use by the conforming market is changing. At the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention two years ago, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson announced the start of the process to move away from Classic FICO to FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0.Adoption of VantageScore 4.0 has been underway in other portions of the industry. The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York just announced it will accept mortgages underwritten using that model as collateral for advances.Other FHLBanks, notably Chicago and San Francisco, previously announced they are accepting collateral that uses VantageScore 4.0The Department of Veterans Affairs, which does not have a specific credit score requirement, accepts both FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 for mortgages it guarantees.In August, a pair of congressmen from New York City, Ritchie Torres and Gregory Meeks, called on the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York to accept this model."The decision by the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York to recognize VantageScore 4.0 lays a critical foundation for broad base wealth creation in America," Torres said in a press release. "I have constituents who have reliably paid their rent in full and on time for decades, and yet none of their rental history is taken into account by conventional credit scoring."

A top-performing California branch manager claims Movement Mortgage treated her poorly because of gender.Candice Davis, an employee of Movement for almost a decade, alleges she was "consistently shunned" by the mortgage lender despite "generating substantial profits on its behalf," litigation filed in a California federal court shows. She claims the company low-balled her compensation compared to her male counterparts, treated her unfairly and misclassified her as an "exempt" employee, which allowed the lender to deny her things like an earned overtime, meal and rest breaks, and itemized wage statements.When the issue of her misclassification was brought to the attention of Casey Crawford, Movement's CEO, and Laura Bowels, the company's chief financial officer, they allegedly told Davis that she should've "left years ago" if that is her sentiment, and that she could resign now, litigation filed Oct. 11 claims.The loan originator is suing Movement for allegedly violating a number of California employment laws, including the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Golden State's labor code section 1197.5, which prohibits discriminatory pay practices based on sex.Movement Mortgage did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Davis' attorney could not be reached.According to the complaint, one of the main issues was the company's reluctance to change Davis' status as an "exempt" employee. An exempt employee gets a base pay and is not subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.Davis, on the other hand, notes she is paid $2,600 monthly, which is treated as a "draw", and later clawed back from her variable pay. She also receives bonuses and other other pay that correlates with her performance.Her misclassification was allegedly acknowledged by a handful of executives, including the director of finance and the director of branch partnerships, but nothing was done to rectify the situation.Around May 2023, Davis made a formal complaint, asking Movement Mortgage to fix the situation, after which her work environment soured.The branch manager was moved to a new supervisor and excluded from monthly meetings, limiting her ability to know what was happening inside of the company, litigation said. Additionally, her branche's reserve balance was frozen, preventing the manager from giving herself bonuses, something other branch managers do without hindrance."The totality of the foregoing- months of being excluded and ignored in favor of male colleagues, being paid significantly less than her colleagues and other adverse employment actions- have caused plaintiff to suffer significant economic damages as well as severe emotional distress," the complaint said.  As of Oct. 28, Davis is still employed at Movement Mortgage, according to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System.Movement Mortgage, in response, is asking for the California federal court to push the litigation to arbitration. In a petition filed Oct. 18, the mortgage lender wrote that Davis is bound by an enforceable arbitration agreement, "wherein she agreed to arbitrate any employment-related disputes with Movement Mortgage, including the claims in this action."The filing reveals that Davis filed a demand for arbitration with the American Arbitration Association earlier this year, but that efforts to settle the dispute were unsuccessful. Her previous claims solely revolved around wage and hour claims under the California Labor Code, Movement claims."The complaint is significantly different from Plaintiff's arbitration demand as it contains new and different allegations, including claims under the FEHA," the lender's petition said.A status conference for both parties is set for Feb. 24, 2025, documents show.

Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg NEW YORK — Jamie Dimon pushed back forcefully against what he described as an "onslaught" of regulation during a fireside chat Monday at the American Bankers Association's Annual Convention. Dimon spent more than two-thirds of his 30-minute appearance discussing how the banking industry is regulated — not only during the Biden administration, but also dating back to the Obama era. The specific topics included the Basel III endgame capital rules, interchange fee rules established by the so-called Durbin Amendment, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new open banking rule, FDIC insurance reforms and banks' role in advocacy. "Dodd-Frank did a lot of things that were needed," Dimon said, but argued that the 2010 law also did a lot of things that were not needed. "I put a spaghetti chart up once, and looked at all the new agencies and all their overlocking rules. And we can't get mortgages fixed. We can't get Durbin fixed. We can't get millions of things fixed, [and things] need to be fixed. It is an onslaught, and it is unfortunate.""Banks are under such pressure, and a lot of banks — the truth is — are unwilling to fight with regulators because they'll come after you," Dimon said. "It's gross. Time to fight back.""We don't want to get involved in litigation just to make a point, but I think if you're in a knife fight, you better damn well bring a knife, and that's where we are." On the Basel III proposal, which is being revised in the wake of fierce industry pushback, Dimon said: "The devil's in the details, and there's a lot of details." He also said that a lot of the effort to toughen capital standards "isn't justifiable." As banks await finalized Basel III endgame regulations, one key question that has emerged is whether regulators will revise their initial proposal or issue a re-proposal.CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, who sits on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board, said last week that he favors revisions rather than a re-proposal in order to push forward "as quickly as possible." Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said last month that he favored a re-proposal of the rule. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has also said that it favors a new proposal.Dimon said Monday that he, too, prefers a new notice of proposed rulemaking. "I've been told that the FDIC is not going to vote for it. The OCC and the Fed can [issue the notice of proposed rulemaking without the FDIC also signing on]. I would prefer that so at least we get to see and start to comment on it." Dimon said the failure of Silicon Valley Bank last year demonstrated the shortcomings of several key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, including resolution planning and stress testing. Neither of those measures prevented SVB's demise or the ensuing crisis, he said.In response to the spring 2023 banking crisis, the best thing regulators can do is focus on reforming liquidity requirements, Dimon said. He also argued that altering the deposit insurance regime could be beneficial, but warned that the process of doing so could be politically messy."If we open up FDIC insurance, which is possible, the problem with that is … the legislators put more and more stuff in there. It just becomes a Christmas tree of crap," Dimon said. "So, I'm not against it. I'm just worried about that particular thing."Debit interchange fees, which were lowered more than a decade ago via the Durbin Amendment in Dodd-Frank, also came under scrutiny Monday. Dimon pushed back against efforts to lower the existing debit price caps."The whole thing was flawed to start," Dimon said. "And while it was put into Dodd Frank, we don't think the Fed did the numbers right. Now we're going to war with the retailers — the big-box guys — because they've been pushing this year after year after year."JPMorgan estimates that the first implementation of the Durbin Amendment caused five million to 10 million people to become unbanked, Dimon said. He contends that the second go-around will push more Americans out of the banking system. Dimon also argued that the debate between banks and retailers over interchange fees is tainted by what he called "the big lie." He was referring to the costs that retailers absorb when they process cash.Dimon said that processing cash costs small retailers 5%-7%, and can cost big-box stores 1% or 2%, due to costs such as insurance, defalcation, logistics and fraud, and counterfeiting prevention that retailers must incur to actually move cash to a bank."If [merchants] don't like debit or credit, let them take cash," Dimon said. "But to tell us it doesn't cost any money, and they want it for free. … When have you ever had the government [dictating] pricing between two big industries?"Dimon was also critical of the CFPB's open banking rule, which was finalized last week. "Rohit [Chopra] is a very smart guy who has one major flaw — which I told him personally — is that you use your brains to justify what you already think," he said."No one is against open banking," Dimon said. But he argued that the CFPB rule creates risk for both bank customers and the payment systems. "Instead, there should be a clear liability shift included with the sharing of data," Dimon said. "If someone takes all that data and then somehow the money is stolen because of what [the third party] did, they're responsible, not [the bank]. We're going to fight, and we're going to win this one too."Dimon's appearance came two weeks after JPMorgan reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations, thanks to strong revenue growth driven by improved investment banking results and higher net interest income. The bank cautioned, however, against a potential deterioration in credit quality. Other uncertainties remain for the banking industry, which is staring down a looming compression of net interest income in 2025 as the Fed continues to cut interest rates.Dimon said that while the American economy has "been kind of booming" with strong home and stock prices, a solid job market and increased wage growth, he remains concerned about the potential for stubborn inflation. "My concern is inflation, in my view, may not go away so quickly," Dimon said. Huge fiscal spending, the remilitarization of the world, the green economy and the restructuring trade are all inflationary expenses that could cause elevated prices for goods and services to linger."It's only a really big deal if we have stagflation, i.e.: a recession with inflation," he said. "And I would not rule it out. I'm not talking about next year. I'm not making a forecast, but in terms of managing our exposures for all of us, I'd be thinking about that a little bit too."Dimon made little mention Monday of next week's presidential election, though he was asked about it. Dimon, who has not endorsed a candidate, has publicly commended some of former President Donald Trump's policies, though he has reportedly expressed support privately for Vice President Kamala Harris.Kyle Campbell contributed to this report.

Growing turmoil in the bond market and fears of rising U.S. inflation are hitting agency mortgage bonds particularly hard. To investors at Janus Henderson and Columbia Threadneedle Investments, this weakness could present opportunities to buy the securities.Spreads, or risk premiums, on recently produced agency mortgage bonds have widened by about 0.3 percentage point since mid-September to 1.54 percentage points over a blend of Treasury bonds. That's the widest since early July.Bond yields, meanwhile, have been climbing in recent weeks, potentially because of markets' growing perception that Donald Trump could win, Republicans could gain control of both houses of Congress, and government borrowing might surge amid more tax cuts.Mortgage bonds get hit hard when there's growing uncertainty about the direction of rates, because their returns depend so much on it. That path determines how likely homeowners are to refinance their debt and hand back principal to investors early. Uncertainty is high now: an index tracking interest-rate volatility has risen to close to its loftiest level in about a year.Questions about the trajectory of interest rates might fade after the election, said John Kerschner, head of securitized products at Janus Henderson. In the meantime, mortgage-backed securities are relatively cheap, he said."Mortgage bonds looks very attractive versus high-grade credit currently but the timing of the trade is paramount," Kerschner said. "It could be a rocky road for the next few weeks before it pays off."Much depends on how the U.S. elections actually turn out, which at this point is an open question. Former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris are locked in a dead heat. Which parties end up with control of the Congress will determine how likely either president is to enact their policies.The worst outcome for MBS could be a Republican sweep of the presidency and Congress, said Erica Adelberg, a senior mortgage bond strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence."Policies such as tariffs, fiscal stimulus from tax cuts, and as a result, deficits — those are going to be much more dramatic in a Trump presidency," Adelberg, author of a recent note, said. "Because higher volatility may hurt MBS performance, MBS investors should be paying attention."A Democratic sweep of the White House and Congress might also result in a wider deficit, but with MBS spreads having already widened, the impact would probably relatively slight, she said. The fiscal impact of Kamala Harris's policies is about half of the impact of Trump's, according to an analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan and nonprofit group.Some betting markets have been seeing a rising probability of Trump winning, and yields in bond markets climbing in recent weeks may also reflect that possibility. That may be one reason why volatility has risen — in turn pushing out MBS spreads to levels that now look attractive, said Clayton Triick of Angel Oak Capital Advisors."Many investors see the potential of Trump winning the election as rate-volatility inducing, but yields have already been driven higher while rate volatility is back to summer levels on this fear," said Triick. "We view this as majority priced in and see this as a buying opportunity for agency RMBS."Columbia Threadneedle also sees any widening in mortgage-bond spreads as an opportunity to consider adding to positions."Market participants have been unwilling to step in given the uncertainty regarding both the election and the potential path of monetary policy rates," said Jason Callan, head of structured products at the firm. "We would be looking to add on weakness."

Optimal Blue is expanding its artificial intelligence offerings amid new rollouts for its loan officer and investor customers. The capital markets technology provider is boosting its AI Assistant Suite within its Compassedge hedging and trading platform, it announced Monday. A new Position Assistant will summarize for users the biggest changes affecting their hedged mortgage pipeline positions, such as adjustments in securities pricing and loan volume. Compassedge will also have an updated Profitability Assistant that gives capital markets leaders end-of-month analyses, bypassing the need to manually compile daily reports. The updates follow Optimal Blue's July unveiling of three AI-powered assistants.  Optimal Blue CEO Joe Tyrrell.Courtesy of Optimal Blue "These latest enhancements to Compassedge deliver on our AI philosophy to address real-world use cases for lenders," said Joe Tyrrell, CEO of Optimal Blue, in a press release.The firm is also making its Investor Pricing Insight data tool free for clients. It will allow those users to examine their non-qualified mortgage rate sheet pricing to competitors in real-time, and generate price comparison reports on a schedule. Optimal Blue said its investor network makes it the most comprehensive source of non-QM pricing data."With the growing popularity of non-QM tools, there was a clear need for the transparency of pricing data," said Erin Wester, vice president of product management at Optimal Blue, in a press release. The tool comes amid a potentially growing market for non-QM originations, with those locks trending up slightly in September against larger interest rate volatility. Lower rates sent lock-volume at-large up 6% from August to September, including a massive spike in rate-and-term refinance locks, according to Optimal Blue. The company's other release is a new Scenario Optimizer within its product, pricing and eligibility engine that will generate for LOs side-by-side comparisons of loan scenarios. Scenario Optimizer is now available to ICE Encompass users via Encompass Partner Connect, and Optimal Blue said it plans to make the new offering available for other loan origination systems in the coming months. This new offering is just one sign of how Optimal Blue works with ICE Mortgage Technology following the divestiture that resulted from the latter's Black Knight acquisition.

Things aren't perfect in mortgage banking, but the industry has come a long way from where it was in 2023, according to members of a trade group's economic and research team.Interest rates' retreat from year-ago levels has lowered at least one of the affordability hurdle for some homeowners, and new buyer demand remains high, Mike Fratantoni, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association, told attendees at the group's annual conference in Denver."We have 50 million people between 30 and 40 in this country right now on the cusp of prime, first-time homebuying. So they're ready. The demand is there. We've just got to find the way to serve them, given the challenges that they're facing," Fratantoni said.The return to profitability that the average mortgage banker saw in the second quarter persisted into the third, according to early estimates by Marina Walsh, vice president of industry analysis, based on reporting from a limited number of companies.The fourth quarter might be a little more challenging given mortgage rates haven't fallen as much lately, but so long as they remain lower than 2023's and stresses on loan performance don't go too far, next spring could be one of the best homebuying seasons seen in a while."We are in a much better place now than we're where we were a year ago," Walsh said.She anticipated there will be tighter gain on sale margins for loans, making expense reductions necessary, but not to the degree seen in 2023 when the industry cutbacks were ongoing and profitability was more the exception than the rule."I don't think we'll see even fewer mortgage applications, refi or purchase, this year relative to nest year. If anything, we're going to see more," First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming, said in an interview at the conference."I would caveat that and say, 'more' being a very modest amount – more from a very low number. So, if you've recalibrated your staffing to the current capacity, then you're okay, but I think… there is some suspicion that there is excess capacity even still," he said.The MBA is forecasting an industry recovery that starts with $1.8 trillion in mortgage originations for 2024, up slightly from a recently revised $1.4 trillion in 2023. By 2025, projections put the annual number at $2.3 trillion, followed by $2.4 trillion in 2025 and $2.5 trillion the following year.The forecast for originations in units, a figure of interest to operations professionals in the industry, is about 5 million loans for 2024, 6.5 million in 2025, and 6.7 million the two following years, according to Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the MBA."To put it into some perspective, between 2010 and 2019 we were averaging about 7.5 million, so we're still below that," he said.All origination estimates are based on what happens to the 30-year fixed mortgage rates.The MBA currently forecasts it will be at a steady level around 6% for a while, not low enough to expose the many coupons with lower rates to refinancing incentives but marking a relative improvement."It certainly is a whole lot better than the 7% and 8% rates that we had at the peak the last year or two," Fratantoni said.Potential changes in the outlook for interest rates, the election's outcome, rising delinquencies, a decline in mortgage credit offerings, and the impact of rising tax or insurance rates are among the risks that could cause the market's fortunes to depart from their current path.The MBA anticipates that because there's been some weakness in economic indicators globally there's likely to be some upward pressure on the U.S. unemployment rate that's been around 4% but still historically low.Delinquencies, which also have risen a little but are still relatively meager compared to how high they've gotten in crises like the pandemic and Great Recession, tend to be correlated with unemployment.There also have been signs of consumer indebtedness related to other types of financings like auto loans and credit cards increasing, which can be a harbinger of pressure coming to mortgage performance too.That's a risk to servicing as increased distress tends to raise its costs. In 2023, the servicing expense for a nonperforming loan was $1,857, according to the MBA's recent chart of the week. It cost $176 to service a performing loan that year.Policy changes can compound that risk, with many new ones related to loss mitigation still undergoing implementation that takes time and makes it a challenge to apply technology like artificial intelligence in order to introduce efficiencies, Walsh said.Potential shifts in banks' capital treatment for servicing rights that are being re-proposed and a separate measure set to start soon for nondepositories working with Ginnie Mae, also are policy wild cards."Maybe it will change after the election, depending upon the interest in following through on those things," Fleming said. Those could potentially make a difference in how profitable things are in terms of servicing, but I don't think it makes it completely unprofitable."Broader election issues that are risks to the forecast include how either administration handles the deficit, and how that affects the bond market."The odds of a 'red wave' have increased quite considerably, and that would potentially be putting upward pressure on rates," Fratantoni said, noting that the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has projected a Trump tax policy would increase the deficit more than that of Harris.Adding to the deficit means more issuance of Treasury bonds, increasing their supply relative to demand and putting downward pressure on their prices. Rate-indicative bond yields move in opposition to their price, so they would go up in this circumstance.A key question for the forecast when it comes to post-election policy is what, if anything, the next administration does about the shortage of housing inventory relative to demand, a lingering effect of the market contraction that occurred in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis' housing bust.This should target new home creation because existing stock won't help an expanding populace that grows beyond its capacity, Fleming said."We have to solve the policy problems around supply and I don't mean the 'when is the existing homeowner wanting to sell his home again.' I mean literally, the physical stock of homes," said Fleming, noting that while markets have softened, most are still supply constrained.During his conference presentation, Kan said, in the recent available-for-sale unit count did pick up a little in recent months but remains historically low."I think we're starting to see a little bit of loosening," he said.

Big spenders in the housing market are pulling back at a level not seen in a decade.Jumbo mortgage origination volume in the first half of this year was at its lowest level since the same time in 2014, when total volume dipped under $200 billion, according to CoreLogic. That's also a 56% decrease from jumbo activity in 2022, when interest rates last touched 3%. The recent decline was more in line with activity early last year, when jumbo volume was 2% greater in the first half of 2023. CoreLogic blamed the slowdown in bigger home loans on the higher mortgage rates and home prices affecting buyers of all incomes across the market. Among the nation's jumbo borrowers, just 4% have a rate above 7%, the property and data analytics firm reported. The overwhelming majority of consumers with larger mortgages, or 75%, have mortgage rates under 4%. The average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate jumbo loan was 6.73% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. During the short-lived, end-of-summer interest rate dip, jumbo rates according to the MBA's Weekly Application Survey touched down to 6.41%.In July, 21% of all purchase loans were jumbo mortgages, CoreLogic said. That share isn't far from the 18% share reported in May 2020 at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the lowest mark since 2012. The share of jumbo refinances also rose and fell with the interest rate roller coaster in the past few years, but today sits at pre-pandemic levels at around 35% of all conventional refinances.In another troubling sign, the jumbo portion of the MBA's Mortgage Credit Availability Index fell 2.6% in September from the previous month, part of the index's first overall decline since December 2023. Although rates continue to fluctuate, some positive signs from the recent dip have emerged. Pennymac Financial Services, in an earnings conference call last week, reported $1 billion in jumbo locks for the third quarter, compared to a paltry $22 million in the same period a year ago.The Federal Housing Finance Agency's conforming loan limit this year is $766,550. Several mortgage lenders are already offering conforming loan limits for 1-to-4 unit properties up to 5% higher around $803,000, ahead of the government's usual announcement in late November.

Loan originators have been trickling back to Loandepot since the beginning of last year.A total of 115 loan originators have rejoined the mortgage company's retail division since January 2023, John Bianchi, executive vice president of national sales at Loandepot, said in an interview. That number is higher when accounting for those who returned to the shop's direct consumer channel, he added. Bianchi previously mentioned that over 200 employees total have returned to the organization.According to the executive, some originators who returned say the "grass is definitely not greener on the other side." Reasons for their return to the Irvine, California-based lender includes the company's culture and its technological perks, Bianchi claims.Originators have told the executive that Loandepot technology is "about 70% faster compared to other places," which helps to reprice quicker and do scenarios faster.Apart from welcoming back originators, such as Carole Cole, a Louisiana area manager, Loandepot is focused on bringing onboard new recruits and expanding its government-lending prowess.Though the executive wouldn't disclose specific areas where Loandepot is looking to grow, Bianchi stated the company is considering "every opportunity in the marketplace and obviously just trying to make good decisions around those."Loandepot has 1,750 sponsored loan officers, according to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System.Regarding government-lending, 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. Bianchi says Bergjans will work alongside David Smith, the vice president of national VA lending, to grow this segment of the business."We know that there are a lot of veterans in our country that have not used their eligibility," said Bianchi. "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.Mortgage shops such as Better Home & Finance, New American Funding, Union Home Mortgage and others have also publicly announced in recent months their desire to grow LO headcount, even with a lack of origination volume to go around. Much of the hiring was done to bring in immediate volume, but also in anticipation of rate cuts.Though the Fed moved to cut rates by 50 basis points, the results on mortgage lending haven't been as impactful as some stakeholders have hoped for.Bianchi says rates not moving has not impacted the company's growth strategy, which "remains focused on hiring successful purchase producers who align with our company culture."Throughout parts of 2022 and 2023, Loandepot implemented its Vision 2025, a larger restructuring targeting profitability in response to the cooling mortgage market.The success of the initiative has opened up the opportunity for the mortgage shop to refocus its spending on recruiting originators, said Shane Stanton, senior vice president of retail development at Loandepot, in July."[We can expand headcount] in a profitable and responsible way and serve the market where it wants to be served," said Stanton. "For us it's just about serving the consumers better where they want to be served, and increasing our market share as we do that."

Home equity gains continue to be at all-time highs compared to years prior, but they are starting to moderate, a report said.Equity slightly dipped, with 48.3% of mortgaged residential properties considered equity-rich in the third quarter, slightly down from a peak of 49.2% reported in the quarter prior, according to Attom Data Solutions.Third quarter results are still significantly higher compared to the 26.5% level recorded in early 2020.Rob Barber, CEO for Attom, said the findings correlate with a slight cooling of home prices observed in recent months."Homeowner equity typically mirrors home-price trends, and the third quarter of this year followed that pattern," said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM, in a press release. "Despite the flat pattern, home equity keeps providing a significant boost to the economy in the form of financial leverage that tens of millions of households can use to finance major purchases or investments."Barber said he expects to see "small movements up or down over the coming months as the housing market moves into its annual slow season."A similar pattern is emerging with mortgages considered seriously underwater, Attom said. Only 2.5% of mortgaged homes were grouped in this category, a slightly worse outcome than 2.4% recorded in the second quarter.Annual increases in home equity were concentrated in low- and mid-priced markets, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast regions, the data vendor said.In Vermont, homes experienced the largest value spike, with 86.4% considered equity-rich in the third quarter, up from 79.8% a year earlier. West Virginia, Connecticut, and Rhode Island also reported significant increases in value.In contrast, western states saw declines in equity.In Utah, the percentage of equity-rich homes dropped to 52.4%, down from 56.8% the previous year. Arizona properties fell to 50% from 54.3%, and Colorado homes declined from 51.1% to 48%, according to Attom.Regarding underwater properties, a mere one in 40 houses were in this category nationwide. A measure well below the ratio of one in 15 recorded in 2020 by the data vendor.The largest increases year-over-year in the percentage of seriously underwater homes were seen in Kansas, Utah, South Dakota, Missouri and Colorado. These spikes were minimal.Meanwhile, states with the biggest annual improvements were seen in Wyoming, West Virginia, Louisiana and New Jersey.

Onity Group is making another significant effort to restructure its debt. A subsidiary of Onity's PHH Mortgage Corp. has priced $500 million of 9.875% senior notes due 2029, it said this week. The publicly traded company will use proceeds from the sale, along with its own cash, to redeem a series of notes due in the coming years. Net proceeds will be placed in escrow, pending the completion of Onity's sale of a 15% stake in a mortgage servicing rights investment vehicle to Oaktree Capital Management. Onity said the sale of the notes is expected to close Nov. 6. Proceeds from this week's debt offering will redeem PHH Mortgage's 7.875% senior notes due 2026, and all of Onity's outstanding 12.00% and 13.25% senior second lien notes due 2027, it said. Qualified investors will be able to purchase the new notes at 99.556% of their principal amount. The $500 million figure is slightly larger than the $475 million pricing Onity initially announced Monday. Onity had previously pledged to redeem a minimum of $150 million in notes during the fourth quarter.A representative for Onity didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. The move from the company, formerly known as Ocwen Financial Group, is its latest debt reduction effort since it reported a slimmer $11 million profit in the second quarter. Onity a month ago said it sold its interest in the aforementioned MSR vehicle to Oaktree for approximately $49 million.Other recent Onity moves include a reverse mortgage assets securitization in September that provided $46.1 million in liquidity to PHH Mortgage. Another MSR sale then was also anticipated to reduce Onity's MSR debt by $73.4 million, and generate $26.5 million in cash slated to cover corporate debt. In Mid-September, the servicer and originator said it bought out another $23.5 million of PHH notes.A month earlier, Onity purchased servicing with an unpaid principal balance of $3 billion from Waterfall Asset Management, and issued the seller non-convertible cumulative preferred stock with a par value of $51.7 million. "Our ability to take advantage of these attractive business opportunities is a direct result of continued strong and disciplined execution consistent with our strategy, financial objectives, and our commitment to create value for shareholders," said Glen A. Messina, chair, president and CEO of Onity, in a September press release.