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Texas Capital Bank followed through with its planned appeal of a federal district court ruling in a lawsuit with Ginnie Mae over Home Equity Conversion Mortgage assets, according to a new filing.TCB filed a brief notice this week that it has moved the fight against the government corporation to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas' Northern District previously dismissed the case with prejudice, preventing its return to his court.The bank has said the previous decision could have a "chilling effect" on the industry's interest in working with Ginnie Mae given allegations it did not follow through on a promise regarding $28 million in collateral assets from the bankrupt Reverse Mortgage Funding.READ MORE: Ginnie Mae beats Texas Capital Bank's HECM lawsuitKacsmaryk, a 2019 Trump appointee, dismissed the bank's case on the grounds that TCB couldn't legally prove its claims that Ginnie violated the Administrative Procedures Act or that the guarantor's actions involved intentional interference with contractual relations.Ginnie Mae's power to extinguish liens and seize collateral did not differentiate between the initial participation in the loan, which gets securitized separately at the outset from the "tails" or subsequent draws, according to Kacsmaryk's reading of the applicable statute.The bank had argued that Ginnie, which is also known as the Government National Mortgage Association, violated one of the requirements that must be met for it to extinguish liens "in any mortgage or mortgages constituting the trust or pool" given the tails' distinction.READ MORE: Ginnie Mae fights efforts to bring APA into Texas Capital suitKacsmaryk ruled that "the statute stipulates that the relevant unit is a 'mortgage or mortgages'" and that "the HECM Loan — no matter its divisions — is one single mortgage.""The Court interprets GNMA's extinguishment power to extend to such mortgages and declines to divvy up those mortgages into smaller units if Congress did not," he added in his opinion and order.He also ruled against making a distinction based on the separation between tails and initial participations in securitization because "even if only a portion of an HECM loan is in a pool, that HECM loan is one of the mortgages constituting that pool.""Congress did not write 'participations constituting the trust or pool.' It also did not write 'parts of mortgages constituting the trust or pool.' It wrote 'mortgages constituting the trust or pool,'" Kacsmaryk said.The judge furthermore asserted that tortious interference could not be claimed because the plaintiff would need to prove Ginnie had "neither just cause nor legal excuse.""TCB admits 'the existence of a 'just cause' or 'legal excuse' turns entirely on whether Ginnie Mae had statutory authority," Kacsmaryk said, noting that "GNMA had that authority here."The depository's claim to the tails goes back to bankruptcy court-approved debtor-in-possession financing it provided to Reverse Mortgage Funding. Ginnie Mae agreed to the financing secured by the tails on the condition that the funding did not impact its rights as a guarantor.The financing was initially obtained during a period when Ginnie initially withheld extinguishment of Reverse Mortgage Funding's rights to HECMs on the condition that the company met certain requirements, something it ultimately failed to do.

A Redfin stockholder is ringing the alarm regarding the imminent closing of Rocket Companies' $1.75 billion acquisition of the real estate brokerage, filing a suit that claims that certain information was not disclosed to investors.Plaintiff Jason Morano alleges that Redfin submitted "materially incomplete and misleading" filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission in order to persuade Redfin stockholders to approve the merger.The issue with the SEC filing, claims Morano, is that it is "materially deficient" because it does not explicitly outline the fact that Redfin's financial advisor Goldman Sachs is also affiliated with Rocket Companies.READ MORE: 3 ways Rocket's Redfin deal could reshape homebuyingThe litigation filed in Seattle on May 9 names a number of defendants including Redfin, Rocket Companies and Glenn Kelman, the real estate brokerage's CEO and accuses the parties of breaching their fiduciary duties of care and disclosure under Delaware Law.The proxy filed with the SEC "vaguely discloses without any detail that Goldman Sachs Investment Banking has an existing relationship with Rocket," the suit said, but "it is unclear the extent to which Goldman Sachs has received and continues to receive compensation from Rocket for lending services while simultaneously being compensated to serve as Redfin's financial advisor."Morano's suit outlines that Goldman Sachs provided Rocket and other lenders with access to a $1.15 billion revolving credit facility dated July 2, 2024. At the end of last year, Rocket had no outstanding balance on the revolver, but was likely still required to pay commitment fees for undrawn amounts."To enable Redfin stockholders to contextualize the potential conflict posed by Goldman Sachs' concurrent lending relationship with Rocket, the proxy must disclose the nature of the relationship (i.e., the Revolver), the amount committed by Goldman Sachs to Rocket under the Revolver, and the total aggregate amount paid by Rocket to Goldman Sachs under the Revolver (including interest and fees) during the two years prior to March 9, 2025," the complaint reads.READ MORE: What the Rocket-Mr. Cooper deal means for mortgage lendersAdditionally, the plaintiff points out that the proxy filing includes Goldman Sachs' opinion outlining that the number of shares Redfin stockholders would get in the deal is fair from a financial standpoint. Morano's suit questions whether that's actually the case, pointing out that the filing "fails to disclose key inputs to a discounted cash flow analysis ("DCF Analysis")."Goldman Sachs holds 2.51% of Redfin's stock (3,208,427 shares) and 0.27% of Rocket's stock (404,009 shares), litigation claims, though this too is not disclosed in the proxy filing, litigation reads.The plaintiff is asking for the Seattle federal court to postpone the Redfin shareholder vote, scheduled for June 4, 2025, unless and until the company disseminates supplemental information curing the alleged omissions in the proxy filing.Rocket Companies and Redfin did not immediately respond to inquiries.If and when the merger is approved, it will be one of the most notable transactions to emerge in 2025.The transaction is expected to add notable traffic to Rocket's offerings and buoy its purchase originations. While Rocket has historically dominated the refinance market, its recent moves including this acquisition, are aimed at growing its business further.The Detroit-based lender estimates the merger will generate more than $200 million in run-rate synergies by 2027. After fully integrating Redfin into its network, Rocket expects to generate over $60 million in revenue by combining its financing services with Redfin's real estate business.

Mortgage lender Paramount Residential Mortgage Group (PRMG) has launched a co-branded credit card with fintech company Mesa.The Mesa Homeowners Card is noteworthy because it allows cardholders to earn points on their monthly mortgage payments.No other credit card companies allow you to make a mortgage payment, let alone earn points for doing so.That’s the biggest draw of this new card, but the way it works is rather unorthodox so pay attention.In addition, you need to spend at least $1,000 on the card outside the mortgage each month to actually earn the points.PRMG’s Mesa Homeowners Card Rewards You for Paying the MortgageFrom what I can see, this new PRMG co-branded Mesa Homeowners Card is no different than the default version.The press release simply states “PRMG clients will have access to an exclusive, customized version of the Mesa Homeowners Card.”Perhaps that just means having the PRMG logo on the front of the card?Other than that, it says it features all the same benefits of Mesa’s flagship card, and upon reading through the terms and conditions I couldn’t find anything unique here.That aside, this card works like the standard version in that it rewards you for making mortgage payments each month.But instead of actually paying the mortgage with a credit card, you link your bank account with the Mesa app to verify the existence of your mortgage account.And most importantly, the mortgage amount you enter during the card application process determines your eligible rewards.So be sure to enter the highest mortgage payment you make (only one mortgage is eligible assuming you have multiple mortgages).From there, there’s no need to pay your mortgage with the Mesa Homeowners Card. And for that matter, you can’t anyway!PRMG Credit Card Perks for HomeownersBut as long as you spend $1,000 elsewhere each month using the card, you’ll earn one Mesa Point per $1 on your monthly mortgage payment, up to 100,000 points annually.For example, if you have a monthly mortgage payment of $3,000 and enter it into the application, then spend at least $1,000 via the card, you’ll earn 3,000 Mesa points.Do this for all 12 months of the year and you’ll earn 36,000 points just for the mortgage, plus the points for the other spending.Speaking of, the card earns 3X Mesa Points on home improvement, decor, maintenance, utilities, and daycare.And 2X on everyday purchases, including groceries, gas, EV charging, etc., along with one point on other spend. So it’s a decent card earnings category-wise, all with no annual fee.However, they have limited redemption options right now, so other cards might still be a better fit.Wait to Apply After Your Mortgage Closes!The PRMG co-branded version of the Mesa Homeowners Card is now available to all qualified PRMG clients.But one funny thing in the press release is they do tell prospective customers to wait to apply for the card after closing on their home purchase when working with a PRMG loan officer.Why? Because it’s a no-no to apply for new credit during the home loan process as it can jeopardize your application.The last thing you’d want is to get denied a mortgage because you tried to open a credit card before your loan funded.This is good advice from PRMG and really applies to any other credit card or new line of credit during the mortgage process. Just wait to avoid any unwanted surprises!For the record, PRMG is a mid-sized mortgage lender that does most of its business in the states of California and Oregon.Perhaps other mortgage lenders will also open co-branded Mesa credit cards in the future as well? 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 19 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on X for hot takes.Latest posts by Colin Robertson (see all)

US corporations with over a trillion in assets snapped up an unprecedented amount of short-term Treasuries when President Donald Trump announced a 90-day delay for most of his "Liberation Day" tariffs, according to Clearwater Analytics.Data tracked by the investment analytics firm of more than 800 primarily non-financial US-based companies show the buying was part of a broader move, as these firms have extended the duration of cash holdings and safe securities over the past 18 months. On April 9, the day that Trump said it was "a great time to buy" stocks, treasurers boosted their holdings further by purchasing about $5 billion of Treasuries that mature in one to three years, the Clearwater data show.READ MORE: Most economists expect rate cuts after July"Over the last year or so we've been seeing a duration bent to longer maturities," said Matthew Vegari, head of research at Clearwater. "These type of corporate investors are taking advantage when yields are rising and buying. Overall, they have been shedding money market funds." The firm's clients pulled about $31 billion out of money market funds in April, the data show.Most of the maturity extension comes as corporate treasurers seek to lock in higher yields ahead of and during the Federal Reserve's cutting cycle. On a total return basis, the Treasury market hasn't fared well this month, with yields moving higher in the wake of the US trade truce with China that was announced on Monday. Even though stocks have surged, two-year Treasury yields remain slightly higher, hovering at just over 4% as the outlook for Fed cuts erodes.READ MORE: CPI inflation continues to trend down despite tariff rollout"For these firms, owning these securities doesn't really give them too much duration risk because even if the bonds get pummeled, they're just going to hold to maturity anyway," Vegari said.Swaps traders are pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts by the Fed this year, with several major Wall Street banks this week pushing back to December when they expect to see the first move. "The appeal of cash has certainly gone back up because the market is pricing in fewer cuts," Vegari said. The question now is whether corporates continue to purchase slightly further out on the curve, he said. "I don't think they know the answer to that yet — it's likely to be really a 'wait and see' for them."

Bloomberg News A federal judge granted the Financial Technology Association the right to intervene in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's open banking rule, allowing the fintech industry to defend a rule on consumer financial data rights that the Trump administration refused to uphold.  On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Danny Reeves said the FTA has a substantial legal interest in the rule because its members, including fintechs and data aggregators, would be adversely affected if the rule were vacated. Penny Lee, president and CEO of the FTA, said the court's order "gives the fintech industry a seat at the table to defend Americans' financial data rights, ensuring that the big banks cannot dictate the future of open banking." The open banking rule, also known as 1033 for its section in the Dodd-Frank Act, was first initiated in 2016 and was finalized last year by former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. The CFPB was immediately sued by the Bank Policy Institute, the Kentucky Bankers Association and Forcht Bank, a $1.6 billion-asset bank in Lexington, Kentucky. The bankers alleged the CFPB exceeded its authority, arguing that Congress never intended for banks to be compelled to share consumers' data with fintechs or other third parties. When the Trump administration took over the CFPB in February, it asked for all recently finalized rules to be stayed. Then, in an unusual move, acting CFPB Director Russell Vought sided with BPI and the banks that had sued the bureau. Throughout, the FTA repeatedly sought to intervene in the case. The court held a hearing on May 5. Neither the CFPB nor BPI objected to FTA's motion to intervene. "While it is still uncertain whether the CFPB will defend the rule in issue, it seems that, at the minimum, the FTA's interests are likely not protected by the current parties," Reeves wrote in a three-page order of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The judge noted that members of the FTA "operate business models premised on consumers being able to access and securely share their financial data."Under 1033, financial firms would have to provide their customers access to data on checking accounts, prepaid cards, credit cards, digital wallets and payment apps. Banks are concerned that the rule giving consumer bank account data to third-party financial technology firms will expose banks to greater liability and require costly oversight of fintechs, with no chance to recoup their costs.The rule could radically reshape consumer finance and impact banks by allowing fintechs to better compete with financial institutions. The fight over changes to 1033 is just beginning anew. "If big tech companies want to make the case for why their self-interest should take precedence over protecting consumers, we welcome that challenge," said Paige Pidano Paridon, an executive vice president at BPI. "We are confident in the merits of our case and will continue to take all necessary actions to protect consumer financial data against misuse." The FTA claims the rule creates what it called "a higher bar for safety and security" across the financial services ecosystem by encouraging the widespread adoption of APIs to facilitate data-sharing. The open banking rule also banned most secondary uses of data.Bankers are concerned that fintechs will use venture capital funding to subsidize lower rates on loans and other products to steal customers from big banks. Fintechs promise a wide range of financial benefits to low- and moderate-income consumers that bankers say may or may not be real. Plaintiffs have until May 30 to file a brief in the case and the FTA and CFPB will have 30 days to respond. 

A pool of 1,248 mortgage loans on a range of investment residential properties, including single-family homes, condominiums and multi-unit properties, will secure $345.8 million in mortgage-backed securities through the Ellington Financial Mortgage Trust 2025-INV2 transaction.The deal, EFMT 2025-INV2, offers notes through about nine tranches of class A, M and B notes, with X and R tranches that represent excess cashflow and residual pieces, according to S&P Global Ratings, which assessed the deal.The senior, class A notes will be repaid on a pro rata basis, while the mezzanine and subordinate notes will be repaid sequentially. Credit enhancement on the A1 notes represent 36.8% of the note balance, while enhancement on the A2 and A3 notes totals 27.5% and 14.8% of the note balance, respectively.Barclays is the structuring lead on the deal, while Bank of America and Mizuho Securities are participating as joint leads, according to Finsight.The entire pool of loans, which finance 1,314 properties, is exempt from Ability to Repay rules. Also, almost all the loans in the pool, 92.6%, were underwritten using debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) guidelines, S&P said.But the details tell a much stronger credit story. The loans have an average balance of $277,074, S&P said. On a weighted average (WA) basis, the loans have an original cumulative loan-to-value of 69.7%, and borrowers had a debt-to-income ratio of 32.3%.The deal managers sourced the loans in the pool from various originators, S&P said. RCN Capital, Oaktree Funding and United Wholesale Mortgage are among the originators that account for more than 10% of the collateral pool. RCN Capital represents the largest share, with 22.78% of the pool.Class A notes gain credit protection from subordination, which shuts the class M and lower notes out from any principal payments until the class A notes are retired, S&P said. Also, the transaction will benefit from excess monthly collections, to cover any interest shortfalls. Extra cashflow will also pay principal on cumulative realized losses in the classes up to date in the deal, the rating agency said.S&P assigned AAA to the A1 notes; AA- and A- to the A2 and A3 notes, respectively. The rating agency assigned BBB-, BB- and B- to the M1, B1 and B2 tranches, respectively.

Mortgage shoppers submitted 1.1% more applications for the week ending May 9 than they did at the end of April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group's Refinance Index also fell 0.4%, as volatility driven by economic uncertainty appears to fade. Consumers watched rates for all but 15-year fixed-rate and jumbo mortgages rise, led by the average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs rising two basis points to 6.86%. Rates stabilized last week on small market movements in reaction to the Federal Open Market Committee's inaction, said Mike Fratantoni, senior vice president and chief economist at the MBA. "The news for the week was the growth in purchase applications, up 2.3 percent and almost 18 percent higher than last year's pace," said Fratantoni in a press release. Refinance activity is also 44% higher than the same time a year ago, when the average 30-year FRM sat around 7.08%. Additionally, government-sponsored purchase loan application volume was up 40% from the year ago period.The overall activity suggests the traditionally busier homebuying season is chugging along, although some other data points to a muted pace. Optimal Blue recently found lock activity for April rising from both the month and year ago periods, but purchase locks lagging on an annual basis, despite lower rates. Government-backed lendingSimilar to another Optimal Blue finding, borrowers are migrating toward Federal Housing Administration-backed loans, with those mortgages making up an increasing 17.4% of total applications. The average 30-year FHA rate however rose 3 basis points last week to 6.59%.The share of Department of Veterans Affairs-insured loan applications also ticked up a basis point to 13.4%. Among the MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, the seasonally-adjusted VA Refinance Index however was the lone government index to fall backwards.Government-backed adjustable-rate mortgage applications climbed, although their 7.4% share of all home loan applications was down weekly. The rate for 5/1 ARMs grew the most this week, from 5.97% last week to 6.09%.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson.Bloomberg News The Federal Reserve's second-in-command is looking for solid evidence of the impact of tariffs before throwing his support behind changing interest rates.In a Wednesday morning speech, Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said the central bank's current monetary policy stance gives it the flexibility needed to respond to either a resurgence in inflation or a sharp dropoff in economic activity. But until either outcome manifests, he's happy to stand pat."With respect to the path of the policy rate going forward, I will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks," Jefferson said. "Various measures of consumer and business sentiment have declined sharply this year, and I will be watching very carefully for signs of weakening economic activity in hard data."With his comments, delivered at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Annual Conference of Second District Directors and Advisors, Jefferson became the latest Fed official to endorse a wait-and-see approach to policy. Fed Chair Jerome Powell endorsed this approach after last week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.Jefferson added that economic data from recent weeks has not given a clear signal about where things are heading. He pointed to the most reading on gross domestic product, which showed a 0.3% contraction during the first quarter, as being particularly misleading."That change, however, overstates the deceleration in activity," he said. "A surge in imports apparently ahead of anticipated changes to trade policy did not seem to be reflected fully in inventory or spending data."Similar nuances in recent inflation readings also make it hard to decipher the degree to which trade restrictions are impacting the real economy. While overall inflation readings have continued toward the Fed's 2% target, specific price categories have trended in different directions, Jefferson said, noting that while housing services have been coming down steadily, recent months have shown a slight uptick in core goods inflation."If the increases in tariffs announced so far are sustained, they are likely to interrupt progress on disinflation and generate at least a temporary rise in inflation," he said. "Whether tariffs create persistent upward pressure on inflation will depend on how trade policy is implemented, the pass-through to consumer prices, the reaction of supply chains, and the performance of the economy."The most recent Consumer Price Index report showed annualized inflation continued to fall in April, coming in at 2.3% for headline inflation, down from 2.4% in March, indicating that the sweeping tariffs implemented on April 2 did not lead to an immediate jump in prices. Core CPI, which factors out food and energy prices, was 2.8% last month.While the Fed awaits a clearer indication of where the economy is headed, Jefferson said it has one key metric in its favor: consumer expectations. Despite an uptick in near-term inflation expectations in various measures, he said longer-term expectations have remained anchored to the Fed's 2% target."Short-term inflation expectations have increased in both survey- and market-based measures, but I think it is notable that most measures of longer-run inflation expectations have been largely stable, suggesting that the American people understand the Federal Reserve's commitment to return inflation to our 2% target," he said.

The former headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with signage removed.Catherine Leffert The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has dismissed or withdrawn more than half of its pending enforcement cases as the Trump administration clears the docket of work it inherited from the Biden era. Since February, acting CFPB Director Russell Vought has dismissed 17 lawsuits and three civil investigative demands — 20 cases out of a total of 38 pending enforcement actions. Of those 20 dismissals or withdrawals, 18 were brought by former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.While there appears to be no clear pattern among the dismissed cases — aside from their dating from the prior administration — some lawyers said the CFPB appeared to favor banks and payday lenders. The reversals also are inconsistent with the CFPB's priorities under Vought that were outlined in a memo last month by Mark Paoletta, the bureau's chief legal officer."The dismissal of litigation muzzles the CFPB," said Jared Tully, partner and practice group vice chair at Frost Brown Todd. "The obvious immediate implication is that banks will have to deal with fewer enforcement actions, which should allow banks to focus on banking, but it will not alleviate the need for banks to comply with regulations — even with the muzzle, the CFPB still has teeth."Many of the lawsuits were filed last year in the waning days of the Biden administration. Vought and Paoletta delivered a major victory to three large banks — JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America — which were sued by Chopra in late December for failing to protect consumers from fraud perpetrated on Zelle, the bank-owned digital payments network run by Early Warning Services. In addition the CFPB also dropped separate lawsuits against Comerica Bank and Capital One. "It's like Chopra launched a thousand ships only to have this hurricane come through and wipe out half of the fleet," said a partner in a law firm that regularly practices before the bureau, who requested anonymity to protect their clients. "I don't think anyone expected the extent and speed of the dismissals so far."It can take years for federal regulators to construct and file an enforcement case. It's not uncommon for an investigation to be closed without any filing of an administrative or federal court proceeding. CFPB enforcement attorneys, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said the cases should have been permitted to continue to their rightful end:  whether the CFPB wins, the defendant wins or the court dismisses them. If a federal complaint is not grounded in law or fact, the legal system will bring it to a close, the attorneys said.The Paoletta memo of the CFPB's new priorities stated that going after consumer abuses in the mortgage industry would be a top priority. Yet Vought, who had to sign off on all the lawsuits, dismissed those against two mortgage lenders: Rocket Homes, which was alleged to have provided kickbacks to real estate brokers; and Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, which was accused of risky lending practices in loans for manufactured homes. Vanderbilt is a unit of Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Clayton Homes.Chopra had sued Rocket in December and Vanderbilt in January in the rush of cases filed before the Trump administration took over. Dropping so many lawsuits and investigations is a stunning reversal with no historical comparison, lawyers said. Some criticized Chopra for filing so many cases in the last two months of his tenure before he was fired by President Trump in February."There's no doubt that many of these cases should never have been brought," the lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said. "So it's no surprise that new leadership is dismissing some of them." The Trump administration has tried to dismantle the CFPB and fire 90% of its employees, but its efforts have been thwarted by a federal court that has twice prohibited Vought from issuing mass layoffs, known as reductions in force. Several attorneys said that Paoletta's memo of priorities was written primarily for the legal battle with the bureau's union rather than as an earnest expression of the bureau's new direction. The National Treasury Employees Union sued Vought in February to halt mass firings. Paoletta said in the memo that the CFPB will focus going forward on fraud perpetrated against consumers. Yet, in one example that CFPB enforcement attorneys called egregious, the bureau in March dismissed a lawsuit filed last year against Acima Holdings and its founder and CEO Aaron Allred. Under Chopra, the CFPB had alleged that Acima disguised credit agreements as "leases" to circumvent the Truth in Lending Act and allegedly used deceptive marketing to lock consumers into high-cost financing arrangements. Christine Chen Zinner, senior policy counsel at the nonprofit Consumer Financial Justice, said the CFPB is sending a signal to bad actors that they can get away with ripping off vulnerable and low-income consumers. The lawsuits that were dropped against Capital One, Early Warning Services, TransUnion and Vanderbilt, she said, send a signal to companies that the CFPB will not take action against large companies. At the same time, Zinner pointed to another dismissed lawsuit against Heights Finance Holding, a high-cost installment lender that operates mostly in Southern states, as an example of bad actors "facing no accountability.""Dropping cases like this against Heights Finance, where a predatory lender was picking the pockets of working class people, signals that it's okay to pick on the little guy," Zinner said. The bureau has also had some major wins.Last week, a federal judge ordered a now-defunct debt relief provider, FDATR Inc. and its owners, to pay roughly $43 million in restitution for deceiving student borrowers. That lawsuit was filed in the first Trump administration under former CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger. In addition, last year, the CFPB and the Massachusetts Attorney General obtained a $50 million judgment against Commonwealth Equity Group, known as Key Credit Repair, for making false claims about its ability to improve credit scores and requesting upfront payments. The company was shuttered permanently. The CFPB also continues to litigate against MoneyLion, a so-called challenger bank that the bureau alleged had violated the Military Lending Act by charging service members interest rates and fees that collectively exceed the law's 36% interest rate cap. MoneyLion has said the CFPB's allegations are false and has defended itself against them since the case was filed in 2022.The CFPB's memo states that defending service members is a priority for the Trump administration. But Zinner noted that the bureau has been referring to military personnel as "servicemen," and has not used the term "servicemembers," which includes women."They're basically saying they will only protect servicemen — not women," she said. "It's not a coincidence that they've changed the language and it's part of the broader pattern of concern about word choices and what they're choosing to focus on. They're walking everything back."More dismissals are expected. On Thursday, the CFPB dismissed a lawsuit against Google Payment and on Friday dismissed another suit against PayPal. Both cases were supervisory actions, rather than enforcement actions, and the main point of contention was the CFPB's authority to supervise the tech companies. The bureau sought to put Google Payment under supervision due to concerns about how they handled user reports of payment errors and fraud on their platform, even though the Google Payment app had been discontinued. Similarly, the lawsuit against PayPal involved the CFPB's attempt to regulate digital wallets and payments apps through "proactive examinations."

April's increase in rate lock activity does lend some support to the optimistic views on Spring's market, according to Optimal Blue.Its Market Volume Index, a measurement of rate lock activity, was at 109 for April. This was up from 105 in March, a gain of 3.2%, and 103 for April 2024, 5.9% higher.This follows the release of March's pending home sales index from the National Association of Realtors showing its biggest gain since December 2023. It also supports anecdotal comments on open title orders for April that the four largest players made during their first quarter earnings call.But the data for purchase locks tells an interesting tale. While those were up 7.5% compared with one month ago, versus April 2024, they were down by 5%.Refinancings edge lower compared with MarchRefinance volume, for both rate-and-term and cash-out varieties, on the other hand, were lower than in March, likely because of the volatile rate environment following the April 2 tariff announcements. But both were up compared with one year ago, the Optimal Blue Market Advantage Report said.Refis, for any purpose, made up 21% of April's volume, down from 25% in March. Rate-and-term locks were down 15.4% versus the prior month, but up 172.9% compared with April 2024.Meanwhile, cash-out locks were 3.2% lower versus March but up 34.5% over a year ago.Optimal Blue's own mortgage rate data found the 30-year conforming fixed moving during the first 10 days of April between 6.48% and 6.98%, ending the month near the middle of that range at 6.71%.What product the rate shift is driving borrowers toThe product type that benefitted most from the rate roller coaster were Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages, whose market share rose 57 basis points from March to 20.2%."Last month's report showed early signs of spring homebuyer activity, and April confirms the season is underway with a solid increase in purchase locks," said Brennan O'Connell, director of data solutions at Optimal Blue, in a press release. "We also saw a shift toward FHA loans, often used by first-time or credit-challenged buyers, and away from non-conforming products, possibly reflecting investor caution in response to broader economic uncertainty."Rates for FHA loans ended the month at 6.44%, while jumbo loans were at 6.84%, the Optimal Blue data noted.Conforming mortgages made up 51% of all locks, almost even with the prior month, while nonconforming mortgages saw their share fall to 16.4%, a decline of 46 basis points. But when compared to one year ago, the conforming share was 583 basis points lower and the nonconforming was 270 basis points higher.How loan product mix changes compared with MarchSeparately, the Mortgage Bankers Association's Mortgage Credit Availability Index, which measures product offerings, was unchanged in April from March at 102.9. The main components, conventional and jumbo, also did not change month-to-month.However, the jumbo subindex was 0.1% lower than March, and the conforming was 0.2% higher."Overall levels of credit supply remain tight but have generally grown since 2023, as lenders continue to offer cash-out refinance loan programs as well as jumbo and non-QM loans," Joel Kan, the MBA's deputy chief economist, said in a press release. "Lenders remain positioned for potential refinance opportunities as mortgage rates continue to fluctuate."