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Angus Mordant/Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase reported net interest income that slightly missed analyst estimates, a sign the benefit of higher interest rates may be waning amid pressure to pay out more to depositors.The firm earned $23.1 billion in NII in the first three months of 2024, up 11% from a year earlier, according to a statement Friday. It still expects to earn about $90 billion from the key revenue source this year but lifted its guidance excluding the markets business to about $89 billion. Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum said the lower expected markets-related NII would be "bottom-line neutral."The bank's NII haul ended a streak of seven quarters where it posted record levels of the metric. JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon cited deposit margin compression — tightening of profits between what the bank earns on loans and pays out on deposits — and lower deposit balances in the consumer business for the sequential decline."Looking ahead, we expect normalization to continue for both NII and credit costs," Dimon said. Shares of JPMorgan, up 14.9% this year through Thursday, were down almost 5% at 10:30 a.m. in New York. The results and outlook for revenue from lending bucked the forecasts of some analysts who'd been hoping for more."We'd expected the NII trend and commentary to steal the show for a minute and think the most bullish JPM fans were hoping for a bigger upside guide than we got," Evercore ISI analyst Glenn Schorr wrote in a note Friday. "As Jamie has been telling us, the beat & raise party had to end at some point." Adjusted expenses, meanwhile, could come in at about $91 billion for the year, higher than predicted earlier. Costs for the first quarter were up 13%, driven by higher compensation and a $725 million charge for an additional Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. assessment tied to a pair of bank failures last year. Friday's results come as investors seek to assess the Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory, particularly after an inflation reading Wednesday came in higher than expected. Dimon has been warning for months that inflation could be stickier than markets predict and wrote in his annual shareholder letter on Monday that his firm is prepared for interest rates ranging from 2% to 8% "or even more."On Friday, the CEO said the plethora of uncertainties including war, geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures loom even as some economic indicators remain favorable. "We do not know how these factors will play out, but we must prepare the firm for a wide range of potential environments to ensure that we can consistently be there for clients," Dimon said.Wells Fargo also missed estimates for net interest income when it reported results on Friday while Citigroup beat expectations with its first-quarter NII haul. Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley's earnings are scheduled for next week. JPMorgan also reported a surprise $72 million net reserve release, while analysts had predicted a $556 million build. Investment banking revenue came in at $2 billion, above analyst expectations. Markets revenue fell 5%, less than expected with both equity and fixed-income trading beating estimates.

As April's tax deadline nears, so does the risk of disruptions in U.S. funding markets, according to Wall Street analysts.That's because, broadly speaking, the annual rush to pay Uncle Sam tends to suck hundreds of billions of dollars from the banking system. With Americans expected to owe more than usual this year due to higher incomes and a booming stock market, bank reserves could potentially fall below a key level many speculate is critical to funding-market stability.For some, it's rekindling memories of 2019, when a sudden increase in corporate tax payments along with a slug of bond issuance and other factors prompted demand for liquidity to suddenly surge, causing overnight lending markets to go haywire and forcing the Federal Reserve to intervene. While nobody's predicting turmoil on that scale, the potential for ructions shouldn't be ignored either, market watchers say."The most important thing to watch out for is how close we're actually getting to the lowest comfortable level of reserves," said Teresa Ho, head of short-term interest-rates strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co. "This time we're seeing liquidity being withdrawn from the system. It's a slightly different dynamic than month- and quarter-end, but still has the potential to be disruptive."Bank reserves, cash that institutions park at the Fed to meet unexpected demands, stand at $3.62 trillion, and with Wall Street forecasting potential tax-related outflows nearing at least $400 billion, reserves could slide close to the comfortable level generally seen in the low $3 trillion level. Meanwhile, money-market fund assets dropped as the tax deadline nears. Assets parked by individuals in government funds — which invest primarily in securities like Treasury bills, repurchase agreements and agency debt — fell by about $10.3 billion, almost double the outflows seen in the week before tax day in 2022.In short-term funding markets, the first place any tax-related stresses are likely to appear is in a rising Secured Overnight Financing Rate — a key benchmark tied to day-to-day needs of the financial system — as investors scramble for cash and liquidity dries up, according to Ho. Volumes in the federal funds market should also be watched for a pickup in borrowing activity, she said. SOFR hit peaks at the end of November and December amid a confluence of events including banks paring back lending for regulatory purposes. So far, cumulative tax receipts for individuals through March are $44 billion higher than the same time last year, according to strategists at Societe Generale, led by Subadra Rajappa, who predict a stronger April this year than in 2023 when it was $381 billion, but not as strong as 2022.  Two years ago, the Treasury collected nearly $600 billion in tax revenues due to an exuberant stock market and a powerful economic recovery, and $446 billion left the banks, according to government and Fed figures. Those payments are deposited in the Treasury General Account, or TGA, which operates like the government's checking account at the central bank. The Fed keeps tabs on this side of the balance sheet because as TGA rises, reserves fall. Back in 2022, the effect on funding markets was negligible because the Fed had yet to start unwinding its balance sheet, a process known as quantitative tightening. Even after the tax-related decline in reserves, institutions still had about $3.32 trillion parked at the central bank and roughly $1.8 trillion stashed at the overnight reverse repo facility, or RRP, a barometer of excess liquidity in the financial system.While reserves are higher now, there's concern that this month's tax-related drain will pull the total down to the lowest comfortable level around $3 trillion to $3.1 trillion, according to a New York Fed survey of primary dealers.  Factor in RRP levels tumbling by three-fourths over the past two years, and market watchers are on alert for a potential liquidity squeeze and even the Fed is debating when to slow its balance-sheet unwind to avert another 2019 event sent overnight funding costs skyrocketing. Chair Jerome Powell said last month policymakers were planning on tapering QT fairly soon. Meanwhile, minutes of the March 19-20 gathering released Wednesday showed policymakers favored QT easing "sooner than later" to avoid market stress, and with declines in RRP use seen slowing, any future balance-sheet runoff will likely see a shift to more losses in bank reserves, "potentially at a rapid pace." "The Fed is really scared by the ghost of 2019," said John Velis, a foreign-exchange and macro strategist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp., who estimated the drawdown in reserves of around $500 billion if payments behave more like 2022. "They're generally afraid that if 2019 happens again in some form or another, they're going to wind up reversing QT and expanding the balance sheet."In September 2019, bank reserves were already scarce when the combination of increased government borrowing and a corporate tax payment exacerbated a shortage, driving a five-fold surge in a key lending rate.Fast forward, and fears of such ructions this time around appear unfounded, according to some market watchers.More robust tax receipts mean the Treasury could issue less short-dated debt. With diminished supply, excess cash in the front-end of the market could wend its way into the Fed's RRP facility as a liquidity backstop, according to Bank of America Corp. strategists including Mark Cabana and Katie Craig, who anticipate funding markets will likely stay well-behaved. For BNY Mellon's Velis, it's wait and see. Risks remain with individuals dipping even more than usual into their bank accounts to cover the tax bill as they avoid taking cash from other vehicles that yield well above 5%. There's also the large pool of California taxpayers, who had extensions for natural disasters last year, now facing the April deadline. "If we see repo rates spike in the middle of the month then you'll know there's a problem," Velis said. "There's a nontrivial chance and that's enough to be aware of."

Rocket Cos. Chief Information Officer Brian Woodring is leaving the No. 2 mortgage lender to pursue other opportunities, a company spokesperson confirmed."He has been an integral part of the senior leadership team — contributing to our technology, innovation and the growth of our [artificial intelligence] systems," the spokesperson said in a statement. "Rocket is well into its search for the next world-class technology leader to continue the momentum of AI-fueled homeownership."Woodring's departure was first reported by HousingWire."Brian will be missed, and we wish him well in the next chapter of his career," the Rocket spokesperson said.Woodring joined Rocket in November 2017 as its chief technology officer, his LinkedIn profile stated. As CIO, he was responsible for leading Rocket Technology, it continued.His last day at Rocket is April 19, he said in a message."Rocket is a wonderful company with the best team in the industry," Woodring added. "The work we have done with technology and AI will change the homeownership forever, and I am extremely optimistic about Rocket's future."In November, Woodring spoke with National Mortgage News about Rocket's testing of an AI chat interface in the Pathfinder search engine used by loan officers, mortgage brokers and underwriters to deal with questions that come up during the origination process.Earlier this week, the company unveiled Rocket Logic, an AI initiative it plans to keep building out this year, which uses machine learning to pull important information from borrower documents during the underwriting process.Before joining Rocket, Woodring was CIO at Albertelli Law Firm and a managing partner at The Phoenix Team consulting firm.In 2005, he joined Lender Processing Services, which was spun off from a Fidelity National Financial-related company in 2008. In 2012 he moved to another FNF-related company, ServiceLink, which in turn, along with a reacquired LPS, was placed into the then newly created Black Knight Financial Services in 2014, where Woodring stayed until June 2015.The change in Rocket's executive suite is happening as the conflict with United Wholesale Mortgage is ratcheting up following a controversial article from Hunterbrook Media, whose affiliate is long on Rocket's stock and short on UWM's.

The 2024 countdown of the National Mortgage News Top Producers list concludes with the 50 loan officers with the highest dollar volume.Even with a drop in overall annual volume in 2023 to the lowest level in recent memory, the originators in our Top Producers rankings found ways to keep their personal activity robust.They did so as interest rates rose and stayed high throughout the year, reducing refinance activity. Purchase volume was affected by the inventory shortage, as well as higher home prices keeping buyers out of the market.The listing of loan officers ranked 201 to 300 can be found here, those ranked 101 to 200 here, and those ranked 51 to 100 here.This year marks the 26th anniversary of the Top Producers program, the successor to the listings which first appeared in Broker magazine, as well as Mortgage Originator Magazine, which Arizent owns the content rights to. The rankings are open to mortgage originators who work at depository, nonbank and mortgage brokerage firms in the United States.Information submitted about 2023 loan production was used to compile this year's Top Producer Rankings. Loan officers who submitted data for the survey represent the entire spectrum of the origination business, from banks and credit unions to mortgage bankers and mortgage brokerages, and their titles range from loan officer all the way to company president.Submissions were made by the participants or their representatives. The information was verified to the best of our ability but we don't claim the veracity of the data. Some entries might have been removed at our discretion for submission errors.National Mortgage News would like to thank everyone who participated in the survey. Stay tuned for more information from this year's questionnaire. Rank Name Company Dollar volume Number of loans 50 Greg Mullan George Mason Mortgage $59,775,354 123 49 Lauren Stamper Highlands Residential Mortgage $59,828,213 139 48 Michael David Waterstone Mortgage $60,162,731 232 47 Kyle Gillespie Proper Rate $60,896,187 147 46 Rose Pinto CMG Home Loans $61,012,877 202 45 Joseph Bigelman John Adams Mortgage $61,440,696 201 44 Jordan Beall Jet Home Loans $65,199,008 156 43 Carlo Colantonio CMG Home Loans $65,321,504 219 42 Drew Boland Proper Rate $65,558,498 147 41 Jason Pike Waterstone Mortgage $65,631,858 177 40 Ralph G Tancredi Sr. Manasquan Bank $66,823,035 92 39 Samuel Stowers Jet Home Loans $67,740,131 113 38 John Sperling Visio FInancial Services $69,084,168 239 37 Ali Ghaziani Bay Equity Home Loans $69,358,973 114 36 Russell Nash George Mason Mortgage $70,910,919 217 35 Rachelle Coffey Homeowners Financial Group $73,338,751 200 34 Ryan Pierce Bay Equity Home Loans $73,397,216 206 33 Josh Moody Synergy One Lending $76,603,914 267 32 Ivan Pastor Interlinc $77,546,045 241 31 Indu Kapoor Guaranteed Rate $77,731,945 170 30 Billy Winfree Steadfast Mortgage $77,874,616 157 29 Mike Rafii Bay Equity Home Loans $78,860,966 127 28 Jimmy Alexander SWBC Mortgage $82,291,378 261 27 April Janas Bay Equity Home Loans $83,672,455 181 26 Scott Stinson FBC Mortgage $87,718,312 264 25 Shelby Weston MLD Mortgage - The Money Store $90,274,519 348 24 Mona Edick Bay Equity Home Loans $91,677,574 263 23 Joe Dunn George Mason Mortgage $93,930,572 236 22 Mark Fisher UNMB Home Loans $101,088,061 219 21 Chris Murphy M2 Lending Solutions $102,692,578 208 20 Ashley McKenzie-Sharpe Highland's Residential Mortgage $108,000,000 492 19 Austin Lampson Homeowners Financial Group $108,476,978 129 18 Philip Crescenzo Nation One Mortgage $112,905,722 347 17 Ray Shanahan TowneBank Mortgage $113,682,707 274 16 Michael Borodinsky Caliber Home Loans/Newrez $120,220,000 326 15 Stephanie Dombrowski Ent Credit Union $122,707,692 212 14 Karen Chiu CrossCountry Mortgage $125,193,152 305 13 Niket Patankar Predian Financial Services $128,345,005 302 12 Paul Volpe Nova Home Loans $131,760,045 427 11 Matt Adler Lake Michigan Credit Union $139,809,736 366 10 Neil Kantor Bay Equity Home Loans $140,283,147 303 9 Anand Ilangovan Ensure Home Loans $140,497,430 320 8 Phil Nguyen Bay Equity Home Loans $157,866,890 340 7 Jeremy Engle Vero Mortgage/Golden Empire Mortgage $159,595,313 470 6 Ellen Schuler Cornerstone Home Lending $162,056,771 328 5 Lance Johnson Regions Mortgage $170,110,476 241 4 Tammy Saul Federal Hill Mortgage $185,563,501 519 3 Michael Fuller Constructive Capital $201,000,000 535 2 Brian Minkow CMG Home Loans $227,591,280 265 1 Michael Rodriguez Platinum Capital Mortgage $702,380,355 1123

CMG Mortgage is purchasing Norcom Mortgage's retail division for an undisclosed amount.Phil DeFronzo, founder of Connecticut-based Norcom Mortgage, confirmed the news, noting the company made the "strategic decision to focus on [its] wholesale channel TPO GO."No other details were made available. Norcom, a family-owned company founded in 1989 is licensed to operate in at least 30 states and has almost 200 sponsored loan officers, according to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System.CMG Financial did not immediately respond to a request for comment.In the past year, CMG has been actively beefing up its lender headcount byway of hefty acquisitions and individual hires.Most recently, it announced an expansion into the Pacific Northwest through the hiring of two top originators: Danny Meier and Chris Siegfried, both from Academy Mortgage. A few months prior, CMG acquired the origination team of Shamrock Home Loans, pushing the lender's footprint into Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, in early 2023, CMG bought Homebridge Financial Services' retail origination business for an undisclosed amount. The deal was slated to bring in more than 180 retail branches nationwide. At the time, the San Ramon, California-based CMG claimed it originated more than $19 billion in 2022.CMG currently has 1,813 sponsored loan officers, according to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System, and is licensed to operate in all 50 states including the District of Columbia.The acquisition of Norcom comes during a rough patch for the mortgage industry, where origination volume remains meager and interest rates continue to be elevated. Industry stakeholders predicted that further industry consolidation will follow.

Representative Andy Barr, a Republican from Kentucky and chairman of the House Financial Services Financial Institutions subcommittee, said in a letter alongside Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pursuing a rulemaking on forced arbitration could violate the Congressional Review Act. Zach Gibson/Bloomberg WASHINGTON — Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., plan to press the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on what the two Republican lawmakers call "influence campaigns" targeting the bureau's forced arbitration rulemaking, and said that the CFPB pursuing it further would be an "affront to Congress." Barr, who is chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, and Tillis, a longtime member of the Senate Banking Committee, said that a future rulemaking might violate the Congressional Review Act, which Congress invoked when it passed a resolution eliminating the prior iteration of the arbitration rule. The letter is the latest iteration in a brewing battle between bankers, other trade groups and consumer advocates. The letter was shared with American Banker. "Congress clearly restricted the CFPB's authority to limit use of arbitration when it rejected the agency's prior anti-arbitration rule under the Congressional Review Act," the lawmakers said in their letter to the CFPB, which will be sent on Friday. "As you know, the CRA provides that a rule may not be issued in "substantially the same form" as the disapproved rule unless specifically authorized by a subsequent law." At issue is a series of rulemakings by the CFPB relating to forced arbitration. A CFPB proposal in January last year would create a nonbank public registry of non-negotiable form contracts that the bureau says "mislead consumers into believing the terms or conditions are legally enforceable." While the first arbitration rules would have eliminated mandatory arbitration clauses in a number of financial contracts, which included cell phones, credit cards and checking accounts, the current proposal specifically would address nonbanks that are supervised by the CFPB. A group of consumer advocates have urged the CFPB to go further. In September, the CFPB posted a rulemaking petition from Public Citizen, National Consumer Law Center, Americans for Financial Reform, Better Markets and others, urging the bureau to require "meaningful" customer consent regarding arbitration to resolve financial product consumer disputes. They argue in their petition that doing so would not contradict the CRA resolution, and is well within the CFPB's statutory authority. "Here, the rule proposed by this petition would not be in 'substantially the same form' as the 2017 rule," the groups said in their petition. "The CFPB's 2017 arbitration rule prohibited class action bans in arbitration clauses and required reporting of certain arbitral records. By contrast, the rule proposed in this petition would not prohibit, or even address, class-action bans. Rather, it would give consumers the right to make the choice about dispute resolution after a dispute arises, thereby ensuring that consumers can make informed, meaningful choices at the most relevant time." A long list of financial law professors also wrote to the bureau, arguing that the rulemaking would not violate the CRA resolution. The previous rule "addressed only class action waivers within the world of forced arbitration clauses," the law professors said, and "providers were also required to inform consumers about the prohibition on class action waivers." The petition, meanwhile, does not address class action waivers, and would cover individual actions that would not have been addressed in the overturned rule, they said. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led a large group of Democratic lawmakers in December in a letter to Chopra urging him to pursue a rulemaking addressing forced arbitration, and citing the petition. Barr and Tillis, however, say that the potential rule is not different enough from the overturned one, and wouldn't satisfy the CRA requirement that any rule overturned by the CRA "may not be reissued in substantially the same form." "Congress overturned the prior CFPB rule because it would have effectively invalidated virtually every existing pre-dispute arbitration agreement and because it failed to adequately consider the lack of relief that class actions provide to consumers when compared to far better outcomes provided by arbitration," Barr and Tillis said. The new rulemaking, as spelled out in the petition, "would accomplish that very same result directly by invalidating all pre-dispute arbitration agreements in substantially the same form as in the prior rule that the CRA invalidated," they said. "Instituting a proceeding to adopt such a rule would be an affront to Congress, and a clear violation of the CRA, and a blatant disregard of fundamental separation-of-powers principles," the pair wrote. 

The brouhaha over real estate commissions and who pays them has generation much discussion in housing finance, but a significant number of recent consumers don't know some of the basics regarding those fees, a Redfin survey found.Approximately 28% of respondents to a February survey that bought a home in the past year and used an agent said they had no idea how much money that person was paid.Another 35% said they had some idea while 37% claimed they knew the exact amount of their agent's compensation.Commissions have been in the news because of the Sitzer/Burnett settlements and more recently, a federal appeals court ruling allowing the Department of Justice to withdraw from its own settlement with the National Association of Realtors and reopen its investigation.Under the system in place prior to those settlements, the sellers typically were responsible for paying both agents. As part of the process, the seller usually had a candid conversation with their representative before entering into an agreement, said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin's chief economist."Buyers would benefit from doing the same," Fairweather said in a press release. "People feel awkward talking about money, but it's important to understand what your agent is charging and have a discussion about whether you will need to ask the seller to cover your agent's fee as part of your offer negotiation or pay for it out of pocket."Half of the respondents said they had some idea of how the commission they paid was determined, with one-third stating they knew exactly and 17% having no concept of this.While 19% had no idea who paid their agent, 39% did know and 43% had some insight.Commissions range average 5.49%, with the split being 2.83% for the seller side and 2.66% for the buyer rep, a Clever Real Estate survey of affiliated agents found.However, most people think the typical commission on a residential home sale is 6%, split evenly between the two agents.When it comes to that 3% buyer's representative compensation, 36% of those planning to sell their home in the next year and 37% of those looking to buy over that time frame said that amount is just right.Among sellers, 14% believe it is too high and 25% called it a little high. The buyers' response was 13% and 22% respectively.On the other hand, 14% of the potential sellers and 17% of likely buyers called it a little low, while 12% and 10% of each group thought it seemed very low.The survey was conducted for Redfin by Qualtrics, with the full sample of nearly 3,000 homeowners and renters. These responses were pulled from subsets that met the criteria of the questions.

Mortgage rates rose 6 basis points this week as the 10-year Treasury zoomed back to levels last seen in November because of a hotter than expected inflation report, Freddie Mac found.The 30-year fixed rate mortgage was at 6.88% for April 11, up from 6.82% one week earlier and from 6.27% at this point last year, the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey found.At the same time, the 15-year FRM gained 10 basis points, to 6.16% from 6.06% on April 4 and 5.54% a year ago.The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, one component in mortgage pricing, hit a high of 4.59% on Thursday morning, after closing Tuesday at 4.37%. On April 4, the 10-year closed at 4.31% with a high of 4.38% on the day."Mortgage rates have been drifting higher for most of the year due to sustained inflation and the reevaluation of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, in a press release. "While newly released inflation data from March continues to show a trend of very little movement, the financial market's reaction paints a far different economic picture."The annual rate of inflation has been in the 3.1% to 3.7% range since June 2023, with the latest report at 3.5%. But this time, the markets reacted negatively to the news, Khater continued."It's clear that while the trend in inflation data has been close to flat for nearly a year, the narrative is much less clear and resembles the unrealized expectations of a recession from a year ago," Khater said.As of late morning on April 11, Zillow's rate tracker was at 6.81%, up 4 basis points from Wednesday and 28 basis points from the previous week's average of 6.63%.Information from Lender Price at 11:40 a.m. on Thursday now appearing on the National Mortgage News website put the average for the 30-year at 7.067%.Because of Wednesday's Consumer Price Index report, some observers are now forecasting one single short-term rate cut by the Federal Open Market Committee this year. Those actions spill over into investors' pricing of 10-year Treasurys.Last Friday's Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which was also better than observers projected, added to the FOMC's angst, said Nigel Green of foreign exchange trader DeVere. Policymakers will take a step back and observe things before they decide to pivot to making short-term rate reductions."As such, we expect the Fed will delay a rate cut until the third quarter of this year," Green said. "Then, we believe there will be a pause in order to assess the impact on the world's largest economy of the cut."That means in his view, the Fed is likely to next act in January 2025.Xander Snyder, a senior economist at First American Financial, also thinks the Fed will not cut rates at its June meeting because of the CPI report."This data does not contain the economic justification the Fed needs to begin rate cuts anytime soon," Snyder said. "After all, why cut rates if there is some indication of inflation reaccelerating?"Even though disinflation looks to be in a holding pattern, it's likely just a bump on the road, said Orphe Divounguy, senior macroeconomist at Zillow Home Loans."The recent rise in energy prices is likely to ease. Although prices for transportation services – car maintenance and insurance – rose in March, the uptick was likely temporary," he said in a Wednesday night statement. "New and used car prices actually fell last month. Housing inflation has also continued to move lower."

Figure Technology Solutions, an umbrella company for Figure Lending LLC, is opening the door for retail and wholesale lenders to begin using its DART system, a lien and eNote registry service, it announced Thursday. This pushes the company into direct competition with an already existing mortgage electronic registration system known as MERS owned by ICE Mortgage Technology.DART, or Digital Asset Registration Technologies, can be used to originate, pledge and sell HELOC loans, Figure said. The company promised other lending products will soon be available to partners.FTS claims the platform, which runs on blockchain technology, is a "streamlined and markedly efficient alternative to manual assignments and conventional loan tracking databases."  California-based Synergy One Lending is the first retail lender to jump on board and register loans using this technology, Figure said."Offering DART to our partners represents a transformative opportunity in the mortgage industry, helping to usher in an era of digitization and expedited transactional processing," saidJackie Frommer, president of Figure Technology Solutions, in a press release Thursday. "We believe that expanding the use of DART technology through our partners will not only increase safeguards and transparency, but also foster a faster and more efficient process that benefits all stakeholders."Figure Technologies in March 2022 used the DART system to register its own loans and then sold them to asset management giant Apollo through the Provenance Blockchain marketplace, a public blockchain that Figure helped create."Blockchain can provide enhanced protections and transparency in the ownership process for consumers and real-time settlement for investors, replacing trust with truth to create a faster, more efficient process for everyone," a Figure executive said at the time commenting on the transaction.In the midst of building out its technology offerings for the mortgage industry, FTS is also pushing to go public.It has submitted a "draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), relating to the proposed initial public offering of its equity securities," the company announced March 27. This form is required for registering companies that want to be listed on a national exchange.Thus far, no determination has been made regarding the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the IPO. The listing is subject to market conditions as well as the completion of the SEC's review process, the company said.Figure Technologies announced it was shifting its lending arm under a stand-alone company, which would function independently just one week prior.Companies tapped to take FTS public include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc, a Bloomberg report pointed out. Valuation of the company will likely range between $2 billion to $3 billion.

A measure of success with loss-mitigation efforts appears in the drop of recently completed foreclosures, but at the same time, the length of processing times is shortening, despite assistance provided to avoid such an outcome. The number of lender-completed foreclosures totaled 10,052 in the first quarter this year, representing an approximately 20% decrease from 12 months earlier, according to a new report by data analytics provider Attom. However, on a quarterly basis, repossessed real-estate owned properties rose by 7%. The falling numbers come after the introduction of various servicing waterfall programs intended to keep distressed borrowers in their homes during the pandemic. Servicers are also more frequently turning to payment deferrals rather than relying on loan modifications, which was largely the previous norm.But even with such programs that give borrowers a longer period to become current before reaching the repossession stage, the amount of time to complete a foreclosure decreased by 20% compared to a year ago to 736 days, maintaining the same downward direction since 2020. Overall foreclosure trends point to a "market in transition, with slight increases in filings and starts, alongside a notable decrease in REO properties," according to Attom CEO Rob Barber. "While foreclosures remain relatively stable, we're closely monitoring these trends. Homeowners continue to hold significant equity, contributing to a persistently hot housing market," he said in a press release. Government-sponsored enterprises, federal agencies and services continue to work on developing successor programs for Covid-related borrower assistance that have led to improving foreclosure numbers amid a rising interest-rate environment. Following the Federal Housing Administration's decision to offer a partial-claim option earlier this year, the Department of Veterans Affairs rolled out details of a new loan payment program to prevent foreclosures among its borrowers But trouble with servicers, particularly when it came to understanding and navigating the loan modification process, ranked as the top pain point among mortgage borrower complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year, showing a degree of confusion still troubling homeowners.   The states with the most REOs in the first quarter were Michigan, California and Pennsylvania at 1,049, 845 and 838, respectively, Attom's report found.Meanwhile it only took 123 days — the shortest length of time in the country — to complete foreclosure in Montana, followed by Virginia at 152 and Texas at 163.On the other end of the spectrum, foreclosures on average, took the longest amount of time at 2,641 days in Louisiana. In Hawaii and New York, completions occurred after 2,031 and 1,958 days.Properties with any type of foreclosure filing in the U.S., from starts to completions, totaled 95,349 in the first three months of this year, inching down 0.4% from the same period of 2023, but up 2.6% from three months earlier. The number came out to a rate of one in every 1,478 housing units.  New foreclosure starts in the first quarter came out to 67,657, rising 4% annually and 2% quarterly. But many homeowners have managed to avoid reaching the final stages of the process due in part to the high amount of home equity accrued, mortgage analysts have noted.