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Bill Cosgrove, the CEO of Union Home Mortgage, is the latest mortgage industry player looking to move into sports team ownership.Cosgrove is listed as part of a group headed by another housing industry participant, Dream Finders Homes founder, president and CEO Patrick Zalupski looking to purchase the Tampa Bay Rays, the team confirmed to MLB.com on June 18.Dream Finders is also in the mortgage and title businesses through its ownership of Cherry Creek Mortgage and Alliant National Title.Because of nondisclosure agreements, Cosgrove is unable to comment.In addition to his role at Union Home, Cosgrove is a past chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association.If the deal takes place, he would join Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Mat Ishbia, who bought the Phoenix Suns as well the WNBA's Mercury as mortgage industry names who own sports teams.Bill Foley, who has current and past ties with several mortgage and housing businesses, including Fidelity National Financial and Black Knight, is the owner of the National Hockey League's Las Vegas Golden Knights.A 2024 agreement with both the NBA and WNBA created a partnership between those leagues and UWM's Mortgage Matchup website.Ishbia is also part of a group headed by his brother Justin that have an agreement to acquire the Chicago White Sox.Ironically, the White Sox play in what is now called Rate Field following a sponsorship agreement.Loandepot is also the "official mortgage provider of Major League Baseball" and the sponsor of the Marlins' home field in Miami.Gilbert's team plays in Rocket Arena. The company is also known for its multiple sport sponsorship efforts. It returned to advertising during the Super Bowl this year, highlighted by a live in-stadium sing-along to Country Roads Take Me Home.Pennymac Financial Services is the official mortgage provider for Team USA and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.Past stadium sponsorship deals included Ameriquest (which went out of business in 2007) having the naming rights to what was then the home field for the Texas Rangers. Ameriquest's subsidiary Argent was the primary sponsor for 2004 Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice as well as Danica Patrick early in her open-wheel racing career.But sometimes such sponsorships have gone awry. Equity Prime Mortgage's sports marketing sponsorship efforts on a couple of fronts, have ended up in the legal system.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has bundled the riskiest portions of over a dozen Freddie Mac mortgage bonds tied to small balance apartment loans in what appears to be the first time this sort of debt has been securitized not once but twice.Known as a resecuritization, the deal pools together 18 bonds created by Freddie Mac, each of which is backed by apartment loans of up to $7.5 million, according to offering documents seen by Bloomberg as well as a note from the credit rating firm Morningstar DBRS. The roughly $500 million of mortgage bonds included in the deal are tied to Freddie Mac's Small Balance program, which offers loans of between $1 million and $7.5 million for apartment buildings with five or more residential units, according to an investor presentation. Freddie Mac obtains the underlying loans from a variety of lenders and then bundles them into bonds. In the new deal, the credit investor Axonic Capital contributed all 18 of the underlying mortgage bonds, the offering documents show. It's the first time that this type of Freddie Mac debt has been re-packaged into new bonds and received credit ratings, according to Matt Weinstein, co-chief investment officer at Axonic. "Our motivation was to take advantage of the strong demand for mortgage credit, in particular multifamily debt," Weinstein said in an interview, referring to real estate deals focused on apartment buildings. A spokesperson for JPMorgan declined to comment. While Freddie Mac provides a financial guarantee on the bonds tied to the small balance program, the backing doesn't apply to the riskiest bonds, known as the B-Pieces, which are the first in line to take losses if the underlying loans fail. It's these risky bonds that Axonic contributed to the resecuritization, the offering documents show. Axonic focuses heavily on commercial real estate debt and owns roughly half of all the B-Pieces tied to Freddie Mac's small balance loans, according to Weinstein.  While this deal may be the first time Freddie Mac's small balance loans have been resecuritized and rated, other non-guaranteed loans from the quasi-government lender have been. For example, Bank of America has done similar transactions, this year and last, involving large balance loans, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified discussing sensitive information. A spokesperson for Bank of America declined to comment. Bond managers are eager to sink more dollars into commercial mortgage debt, and particularly the apartment sector, which enjoys strong demand from tenants because of a nationwide shortage of housing. Risk premiums on a variety of commercial mortgage securities have steadily narrowed since the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which sparked fears of a wave of commercial real estate debt sales from regional banks. 

Florida enacted legislation this week that will provide various forms of relief for condominium unit owners and community associations from the financial impact of regulations introduced after the 2021 building collapse in Surfside.Governor Ron DeSantis signed new laws on Monday and noted the legislation came from feedback provided by condo residents and communities in the state. The bills were signed one day before the fourth anniversary of the Surfside disaster, which killed 98 residents in the 12-story Champlain Towers South complex.   "We've heard the concerns of condo owners throughout Florida, and we are delivering reforms that will provide financial relief and flexibility, strengthen oversight for condo associations and empower unit owners," the governor said. The new legislation took into account the effect of rapidly rising costs on residents and owners, while continuing to emphasize the need for accountability and safety on the part of condo management.READ MORE: Lenders get a better view of condo blacklist but want moreWhat led to new condo laws being introducedSome of the changes will provide immediate relief from sudden increases in fee assessments charged when older buildings underwent inspections mandated after the Surfside disasters. Officials also required structural studies that would spell out required reserve funding levels to address any potential structural liabilities.   A new law will extend by one year the required completion date of said studies, which initially led to the ramp-up in assessment costs. It also will put into place a two-year pause in reserve fund contributions to allow building owners to prioritize more critical repairs found during inspections. "Clearly, one of the things we were looking at was affordability. People need to be able to afford to live in these units," DeSantis said at the bill-signing event in Clearwater. Condo associations will also see alternative options to reach reserve-funding requirements, including through loans and lines of credit, as well as additional time to meet those levels for items with useful life left. Reserve funding also figures prominently in requirements introduced by federal regulators in the years since the Surfside disaster. Government-sponsored enterprises quickly increased the level of reserve funds condominium complexes needed in order to remain compliant with selling guidelines. The challenge facing property managers to meet the mandated levels stands as a leading factor that disqualifies units in their developments from the most common type of mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Other provisions in the Florida legislation open up access to records and reporting to unit owners. The new law will make it easier for owners to access community association records and see how finances are managed.Residents will also see more opportunities to participate in board meetings through videoconferencing and electronic voting. Rules will also require vendors bidding for contracts to disclose any conflicts of interest with the condo association. Condo boards and residents will also gain powers to suspend contracts when work processes do not adhere to state laws. Mandated data sharing between local jurisdictions and the state should offer clearer guidance toward measuring compliance with building safety requirements.

Adobe Stock With government regulation of the consumer financial services industry on the wane, can self-regulation help fill the void?Earlier this month, the nonprofit Financial Health Network released a set of standards for checking accounts and credit cards that it hopes will be adopted voluntarily by banks, credit unions and fintechs.The FinHealth standards, which focus on enabling consumers to better manage their own spending, are only the first step in an effort to develop a playbook aimed at improving customers' financial health. The group hopes to eventually develop benchmarks for savings accounts and other types of lending products."Our vision is really to create a library of standards that address the most important financial products and services that help people spend, save, borrow and plan," Jennifer Tescher, the Financial Health Network's founder and CEO, told American Banker.The standards for credit cards and checking accounts were developed in collaboration with industry leaders. They don't call for major product overhauls. Instead, they might be characterized as recommending a series of consumer-friendly tweaks.For example: Credit card issuers would give cardholders the ability to choose the due date for their monthly payments, and they would only offer a credit line increase when the customer requests one.Checking account providers would expedite the availability of funds on certain deposits. They would also expand eligibility for fee waivers, perhaps by offering them to customers who make a minimum number of debit-card purchases each month.The standards also include: offering spending controls; providing high-quality budgeting tools; making information fully available in Spanish; and ensuring that customers can finish key tasks over the phone for free.At the end of the summer, the Financial Health Network plans to release an assessment that looks at how well large U.S. banks, credit unions and fintechs are performing against its standards.Some of the recommended products and tools are currently available in the marketplace. But Tescher indicated that adoption by financial institutions is currently fairly low. "I think what I would say is that, across the board, there is tremendous room for improvement," she said.Still, as part of the Financial Health Network's initial assessment, the Chicago-based nonprofit organization does not plan to identify individual financial institutions publicly by name."Our goal — or our belief — is that through the longstanding relationships that we've built with companies and organizations, that we will have seeded the ground," Tescher said. "And as we continue to socialize and put out more standards for different kinds of products, we'll see whether we need to create other mechanisms for driving adoption."For now, the Financial Health Network is challenging financial institutions to identify — by the end of year — one specific standard that they will work to adopt. Financial Health Network founder and CEO Jennifer Tescher "First, we're encouraging companies to do a self-assessment," Teacher said. "And it's not terribly complicated to do. These are discrete products we're talking about, and our standards are very particular."The Financial Health Network's standards were not designed to act as a substitute for government regulation. In fact, the group started developing them about a year ago — prior to the November election that brought a wave of deregulation to Washington, D.C. The goal is to complement existing consumer protections.But Tescher argues that self-regulatory standards can help financial providers combat low levels of trust among consumers. She points to the Edelman Trust Barometer, which recently found that 62% of all U.S. respondents believe that business leaders actively mislead people by saying things they know are either false or gross exaggerations."So when you couple that with the administration's pullback in consumer financial protection, if you're a financial provider, you've really got to ask yourself, 'What else do I need to be doing to build and retain the trust of my customers?'" Tescher said. "I think voluntary standards like these are an important way to do that."How effective is self-regulation?There are skeptics, though.Jim McCarthy played a key role in building the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint database. He questions the efficacy of both industry-imposed standards generally and the Financial Health Network's particular recommendations."It doesn't work if you ask an industry to do something they're not going to do," McCarthy told American Banker, arguing that industry-imposed standards are inevitably placed at a point of compromise between what consumers need and what companies are willing to do."And so generally speaking, they never meet the needs of the consumer," he said. "The other thing is they're rigid. They're so difficult to put in place, and so difficult to establish, that they become rigid."McCarthy, who left the CFPB in 2015, is the founder and chairman of McCarthy Hatch, a consulting firm that analyzes the consumer bureau's complaint data in an effort to glean insights for clients.After being contacted by American Banker, McCarthy ran an analysis of some 1,050,000 complaints submitted to the CFPB between April 30, 2023 and April 30, 2025, — in an effort to determine how frequently consumers were expressing gripes about problems addressed by the Financial Health Network's standards."So basically I took the standard and said, 'How well have we done over the last two years on those areas that the standard is attempting to address?'" McCarthy said.As part of his analysis, McCarthy took the FinHealth standards and matched them with labels his firm has developed for categorizing CFPB complaints.His findings indicate that many consumers are concerned about fees and unclear disclosures. But the CFPB received few or no complaints that were categorized as being connected to some other FinHealth standards."The mismatch suggests that some components of the FinHealth Standards may be solving for theoretical problems rather than those actively experienced and reported by consumers," McCarthy wrote in an email."If the goal of the FinHealth Standards is to guide meaningful industry reform, they must be grounded in the actual lived experience of consumers," he added. "As the standard matures, a data-driven feedback loop using complaint analysis should be embedded into its revision process."Marisa Walther, vice president of financial services solutions at the Financial Health Network, responded that her organization's standards offer guidance on how to get things right — in contrast with complaints, which often reflect customers' bad experiences."People rarely file CFPB complaints about not having access to budgeting tools, early pay, or guardrails on credit line increases — not because those features don't matter, but because they've never been offered better," Walther said in an email. "You can't ask for what you've never seen.""Yet research shows these kinds of features can meaningfully improve financial health over time," she added.Walther also said the standards will not be static."As more institutions adopt the FinHealth Standards and share their experiences, and as additional data becomes available, we'll continue to build on this foundation. That may include incorporating new areas of research, lifting up implementation examples, and analyzing complaint trends or other outcomes to sharpen our collective understanding of what works," she said. Why are voluntary banking standards emerging now?These standards are gaining attention due to reduced federal oversight of consumer financial services, prompting the industry to explore self-regulation.How do these new banking standards benefit consumers?They encourage banks to provide consumer-friendly features like spending controls, faster fund availability, and improved financial tools.

A long-term rise in the homeownership rate ended last year, and the latest report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies examines some reasons why.A widening gap between housing costs and wages contributed to the 30 basis-point drop in the ownership rate year over year to 65.6%, according to Census data. This marks the first decline in eight years if 2020 is omitted based on data collection issues, or since 2021 if the initial year of the pandemic is included.The shift from a rising homeownership rate to a declining one is the result of a gradual increase in affordability pressures rather than any abrupt change, according to Daniel McCue, senior research associate at the center."It's an inflection point," he said in an interview about the switch to a declining homeownership rate that's highlighted in the center's latest annual State of the Nation's Housing report.What follows are some factors that contributed to the change in the direction of the homeownership rate, and what this means for the housing outlook in 2025.Trends that brought the market to a tipping point"The high costs, high prices and the high interest rates continued. Something that also continued was low inventory," McCue said. "Household growth overall slowed down over the past year, an indicator of slowing income."Home insurance premiums also rose 57% between 2019 and 2024 according to Freddie Mac data, the study points out."That did increase rather substantially for some locations over the past year. So that's part of that was part of the equation, too," he said. In a market with high insurance costs like Miami, premiums can be over three times the national average, McCue noted.The cost burden has been particularly difficult for first-time homebuyers to bear, contributing to the slowdown in household growth.The homeownership rate "fell most sharply for the youngest households, really pointing to the difficulties in buying that first home for the youngest potential buyers," McCue said.How the housing market has been coping with the challengesLenders and builders have been attentive to these shifts and have responded by offering interest rate buydowns and focusing more on access to the kind of homes that might be more affordable, an effort complicated by rising costs for building materials."Building smaller homes, a product at a lower price point, has been a theme, really showing the limitations that affordability has," said McCue. "Homebuilders are seeing the need to increase affordability in order to increase sales."Rate buydowns offered primarily by large builders with their own mortgage units can help with costs for concerns for builders and consumers as they can make homes more affordable both without lowering the price of the house itself.While studies vary on how helpful some types of buydowns are to borrowers, the center finds they generally have both consumer and business-side advantages."They can make a better, bigger impact by offering a buydown of the interest rate than they can from an equivalent amount spent lowering the house price," McCue said. The outlook for homeownership this yearWhat 2025's trends will look like could depend on policy outcomes.Trump administration officials have shown interest in developing more sources of affordable housing but the Harvard report finds proposed tariffs show potential to add $10,900 to home costsThe broader inflation that monetary policy officials have been working to quell was already driving up the cost of building materials prior to this year, so the upward trend in these expenses isn't new, but it could intensify this year.Whether the inflection point in the nationwide homeownership rate means there will be one when it comes to home prices remains to be seen. So far, it looks unlikely given that the job market and loan performance are still historically strong and given the upward pressure on housing costs, McCue said."You look at jobs and unemployment rates to look for whether there will be distressed sales, and that's where you'll find home prices being pressured to drop. But now it's more of a factor of affordability straining some of the people at the lower end of the market," he said.

Rocket Mortgage unveiled a new equity-backed financing product aimed at giving homebuyers an advantage when vying for homes in competitive markets.The Detroit-based lender's new bridge loan offers prospective buyers the opportunity to draw into their accrued equity to put down an offer on a new purchase while still living in their existing property. Borrowers will have access to home equity for down payments or closing costs, easing many of the leading causes of stress during relocation, the company said."It removes one of the biggest barriers to moving: immediate access to the equity in their current property. With this new flexibility, buyers can quickly and confidently secure their next home," said Bill Banfield, Rocket's chief business officer and economist, in a press release. The tool is expected to be particularly helpful to customers in markets where homes are still attracting scores of buyers, pushing final costs above initial asking price. It also will prevent the need for buyers to find temporary accommodations until their new purchase closes, giving them flexibility to obtain the best offer in their selling process. Terms of the bridge loan offer Rocket clients six months to sell their home after origination, with payments due only on interest during that period. Customers are also required to have an existing purchase mortgage with Rocket. To become eligible for bridge financing, borrowers' current homes must be listed, under contract with a real estate agent or have a guaranteed buyout agreement in place.  Rocket joins other leading lenders, including the likes of Lower and Guild Mortgage, in introducing some form of equity-backed funding that gives customers the opportunity to buy a new home before they sell, or "trade in" their property. Similar offerings have also come from emerging fintechs, such as Calque and Homelight, companies that make their products available through mortgage brokers and lenders.    Total home equity available to be tapped by homeowners currently sits at $11.5 trillion, according to research published by ICE Mortgage Technology in June. In data published last year, Rocket estimated that the average American homeowner had close to $181,000 of equity available to draw from, a "powerful resource" to help them make strong bids for a home. The launch of bridge lending at Rocket comes on the heels of its parent company's merger announcements with Redfin and Mr. Cooper. The opportunity to capture and retain the customer from the initial homebuying stage through the mortgage origination and closing process has been noted as a key driver of Rocket's acquisition strategy. 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifying in the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday morning.Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — House Republicans struck a mostly cordial tone with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at a hearing at the House Financial Services Committee. Trump, ahead of the hearing, called on Republicans to press Powell after he held interest rates steady against last week. "What a difference this would make. If things later change to the negative, increase the Rate [sic]," Trump wrote. "I hope Congress really works this very dumb, hardheaded person, [sic] over. We will be paying for his incompetence for many years to come."Powell faced questions from House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., and the panel's Vice Chairman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., over his comments on tariffs and inflation — a key point of contention between Trump and Powell on rate policy. "So are tariffs in your lane, but a huge fiscal spending by the Biden administration not in your lane?" Huizenga asked during one exchange. Powell said that he and other Fed members are not commenting on tariff policy, but rather on the inflationary effects of tariffs that are important to how the Fed looks ahead and decides interest rates. "We are not commenting on tariffs," Powell said. "What our job is, is inflation — keeping inflation under control."Powell added that the economic impact of Trump's tariff policy — whatever it ultimately may be — are likely inflationary. "All professional forecasters I know on the outside do expect a meaningful increase in inflation over the course of this year," he said.But Powell, who was originally appointed by Trump during his first term and reappointed under President Joe Biden, has a lot in common with the Republican lawmakers, and he's worked with them in the past on issues like the Basel III endgame proposal. Powell's views on tariffs have the potential to pose a political problem for Trump and Republicans, who partially campaigned on promised to bring down high inflation. But if inflation remains high, the Fed is unlikely to cut its benchmark interest rate, which would have a further inflationary effect — but Powell said how severe and enduring those effects will be is hard to know in advance."The effects of tariffs will depend, among other things, on their ultimate level," Powell said. "Expectations of that level, and thus of the related economic effects, reached a peak in April and have since declined. Even so, increases in tariffs this year are likely to push up prices and weigh on economic activity." Powell also addressed questions about the Fed's independence in the wake of a series of social media posts from Trump and others in the Trump administration. Powell, in response to a question from Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., on President Donald Trump's pressure on Powell to slash interest rates, said that he will "live with the consequences" of any pushback he receives from the President. "We're focused on one thing, that is we want to deliver a good economy for the benefit of Americans and for the health of the American people," Powell said. "That's it. Anything else is kind of a distraction."In response to a question by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Powell said that his priority is that he and the Fed "do our jobs." He said that he thinks he is "fully protected" from removal by the president under the law, a question of some contention after the Trump administration's actions to fire, for example, the heads of independent agencies such as the National Credit Union Administration."I think that I have a job that I'm sworn to do," Powell said. "That's what we think about, what's the right thing."Powell also said that he is not yet concerned that economic indicators published by the federal government — such as inflation metrics published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis or labor participation rates published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics — are unreliable or hurting the central bank's ability to manage interest rates. But Powell said he does fear that he is concerned that the quality of that data could decline further, which he said would hinder not only the Fed but all businesses and policymakers who rely on that data to make informed decisions."I wouldn't say I'm concerned about the data today, although clearly there has been a very mild degradation of the scope of the surveys and things like that — but I would say the direction of travel is something I'm concerned about," Powell said. "Measuring the U.S. economy carefully and well is a project that's been going on and we've been getting better at it for 100 years or more. It's really important, not just for the Fed, but for Congress — and for businesses, frankly — to know what really is going on in the economy. What's happening? Is growth high, is it low? All of those sorts of things."Powell also struck a conciliatory note in response to a question from Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., regarding the Fed's efforts to revise the supplemental leverage ratio. Powell said the purpose of the changes being considered is to make the capital requirement a backstop rather than a binding constraint for banks, particularly those engaged in Treasuries trading."I've always thought that it would be better if we had a leverage ratio that … was a backstop rather than the binding thing, and that's what this proposal is going to do," Powell said.Kyle Campbell and John Heltman contributed to this report.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cut short a five-year agreement with Bank of America Corp. over the bank's alleged submission of false mortgage data as the significantly curtailed government agency rolls back a bevy of settlements, ending the monitoring of BofA more than three years early.The bank "fulfilled the obligations" of the agreement signed in November 2023, including paying a $12 million civil money penalty, and the pact was terminated on June 4, according to a CFPB filing. The consent order with one of the largest US banks was supposed to extend through at least November 2028 to ensure compliance. READ MORE: DOJ quietly axes more redlining settlements with lendersThe consumer-focused regulator claimed that some of Bank of America's loan officers failed to collect race, ethnicity and sex data on mortgage applicants from early 2016 through late 2020 and then falsely said that customers declined to provide the information. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data is collected by the CFPB to monitor home lenders for discrimination.A Bank of America spokesperson declined to comment on the order's early termination. The CFPB didn't respond to a request for comment.The CFPB under acting Director Russell Vought has moved to terminate several settled enforcement actions agreed to under his Biden-era predecessor, Rohit Chopra, including a $100,000 settlement with the mortgage lender Townstone Financial Inc. The CFPB alleged that the president of that firm, Barry Sturner, deterred potential Black borrowers from applying for home loans by using racist language on a radio show and podcasts.A federal judge denied the request from the CFPB and Townstone this month, saying that doing so would "erode public confidence in the finality of judgments."READ MORE: CFPB servicing rule change raises alarm for bankersIn addition to the Townstone case, the CFPB has dissolved other settlements, including one with Toyota Motor Credit Corp., which involved canceling provisions of the deal that allowed the Japanese automaker's finance arm to escape $40 million in restitution payments to borrowers who were unable to cancel add-on products. The move involving BofA is yet another example of how the reach of the agency, which was formed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, has been scaled back. Vought has tried on two occasions to fire as many as 1,500 of the 1,700 workers the CFPB had at the start of the year, and a federal appeals court in Washington is currently weighing whether to stop the Trump administration's latest attempt to do so.The CFPB's enforcement and supervision staff have largely been barred from carrying out their duties under a stop-work order Vought put in place soon after he was appointed acting director in February. The CFPB has voluntarily dismissed around 20 enforcement actions since February, including cases against JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Capital One Financial Corp.

The nation’s second largest mortgage lender has launched a new bridge loan product to help buyers move before selling their existing home.It allows them to tap into their often enormous amount of equity while avoiding having to make a contingent offer.This could improve their odds of a winning bid, as sellers will typically favor their offer over others that require the sale of the departing residence.Of course, it merely buys them some time and eventually they’ll need to sell their old home to pay back the loan.But it is yet another option for those looking to move, especially in markets that continue to experience tight inventory.Rocket Mortgage Bridge Loan Provides Up to Six Months to SellThe new bridge loan from Rocket Mortgage makes it easier to buy before selling your existing home by unlocking home equity prior to a sale.That money can then be used to fund the down payment on the new purchase, and/or go toward closing costs on the new loan.There are lots of move-up home buyers with a ton of home equity thanks to rapidly rising home prices and record low mortgage rates, which increased the speed of principal repayment.But you don’t have access to that equity unless you took out a home equity loan or a HELOC.The bridge loan gives you access to some of that money to put toward the home purchase while you attempt to sell your existing residence.Once sold, you can use the proceeds to pay off the bridge loan and move on with your life.However, there are several requirements needed to get one of these loans, the most important being that you need to take out an associated purchase loan from Rocket Mortgage.Along with that, you must have your home listed for sale, be under contract with a listing agent, or have a guaranteed buyout agreement in place.You must also be selling a one-unit primary residence and purchasing a primary residence as well.There is a minimum 740 FICO score requirement, a maximum 45% DTI ratio permitted, and the max LTV/CLTV is 80%, meaning you need a good amount of equity to keep a 20% buffer.One perk to a bridge loan is the bridge loan payment is typically excluded from your home purchase loan DTI as it’s paid off via the home sale proceeds.Rocket Mortgage’s bridge loan provides up to six months of interest-only payments while you attempt to sell your old home.If you’re unable to, the bridge loan must still be paid back. So there’s a risk there, and you really need to be motivated to sell, even if it buys you a bit more time.The upside is if you sell quickly, you only pay interest for the months you had the bridge loan in place.This can be handy as bridge loans typically have much higher interest rates than other types of mortgages and home equity options.Speaking of, an alternative to a bridge loan is taking out a home equity loan or HELOC and using some of the funds for a down payment on the replacement home.It provides a bit more flexibility if your old home doesn’t sell immediately for whatever reason.Also note that other mortgage lenders out there offer bridge loans too, so you need to shop both the bridge loan rate and terms and those of competitors to see who can offer the best deal.Long story short, you won’t want to pay more for your permanent financing just to get a bridge loan.Rocket Mortgage Bridge Loan Requirements• Existing home must be under contract, listed for sale, or buyout agreement in place• Must be a one-unit primary residence• Must be buying a primary residence• Must use Rocket Mortgage for the new home purchase loan• Must have a 740+ FICO score• Maximum DTI ratio is 45%• Maximum LTV/CLTV is 80%• Bridge loan term is a maximum of six months• Interest-only payments can be made during that time• Funds can be used to cover down payment, closing costs, or to pay off current mortgage(photo: Andrew Kearns) 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)

Four years after a notorious condominium collapse that suddenly tightened home lending standards, influential government-sponsored enterprises have soothed some industry tensions, but lenders say there's still more to be done."Increased transparency regarding which condo projects are and are not on Fannie and Freddie's approved list has been a big CHLA priority — so we are pleased with progress in that area," said Scott Olson, executive director of the Community Home Lenders of America.Mortgage companies nevertheless still have frustrations with the list Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have of buildings considered too unsound to fund single-family units in, and perhaps more so the ability to do something about it within sales timelines if there's an issue.Part of this comes from current condo market challenges that add to that blacklist and one the Federal Housing Administration has, Olson said."Rising insurance costs are an issue that affects homebuyers, their lenders, and federal mortgage programs — FHA and the GSEs — so we continue to advocate for policies that balance affordability with prudent standards," Olson said in an email.In other words, GSE efforts like adding online information and an appeals process or an upcoming plan to more proactively evaluate and report on properties have made blacklist visibility better. But what lenders really want is more approvals."You can see early on if it's not approved or if there's an issue. So that does help weed some of them out," said Philip Crescenzo Jr., vice president in Nation One Mortgage Corp.'s Southeast division, said of his team's feedback on the collective GSE effort to improve blacklist visibility."But the information is not always clear on the ones that are approved," he added.Lending headaches involved in the blacklisting systemThree out of the last four condo originations the company reviewed did not get a green light from the enterprises, which is necessary to give borrowers the most favorable rates, Crescenzo said.His team reports that rising building insurance costs and declining availability have become a major concern, with conditions worsening over time. It may mean a change in project status from approved to blacklisted within the course of the origination."There have been ones where we found out late in the process," he said. Discrepancies between the system-listed status of the building and the one it has later in the origination timeline also can result because traditionally information is only recorded when a building when a loan is made there, something a more proactive GSE approach could address."What if nobody's revisited the home sale or a purchase in that community in six months, nine months, or whatever? If it's in an area where people just aren't selling a lot, everything's going to be outdated, because nobody's looking at the risk," Crescenzo said.READ MORE: Nonwarrantable condos fuel niche lending boomWhen asked about Fannie's mention of shifting to a more proactive approach, Crescenzo said, "I haven't seen anything tangible, but I like that." (At the time of this writing, Fannie and Freddie had not immediately provided any additional information to provide updates on their latest condo initiatives and given information about lender feedback.)Other condo approval challenges Crescenzo said his team has run into recently included a situation where a building the company was trying to fund a loan that one GSE labeled as having a "condotel" that's disallowed, and didn't meet insurance requirements.However, the other enterprise listed the loan as not having a condotel component suggesting the information could be incorrect.Crescenzo said efforts to address this through submitting a lot of documented proof there were no such units in the building were unsuccessful and the loan did not close with the GSEs due to delays.When asked about progress in the past year given the GSEs' updates, the Community Associations Institute described them as "well intentioned," but the group said the market is still "in crisis.""The tragedy in Surfside must remain a catalyst for reform but not one that indiscriminately penalizes responsible communities," the institute said.Insurance and new standards for reserves in reaction to the Surfside tragedy have remained challenges associations have worked hard to address but can struggle with, according to the institute."These conditions are making it harder for buyers to qualify for loans, while associations are forced to make repaid financial changes under pressure, yet many communities are proactively stepping up — completing repairs, funding reserves and improving transparency," CAI said.In a survey of over 700 community leaders, CAI found 42% of respondents didn't know their building's status in regard to qualifying for financing, and 64% of those with an "ineligible" status reported "negative impacts on home sales and property," CAI said in an emailed statement."Many well-maintained, financially responsible communities are being denied access to mortgages, not because of safety risks, but due to vague documentation rules and unrealistic reserve or insurance thresholds," the institute said.Suggested reforms to the blacklisting processCAI would like to see a more "reasonable and phased compliance plan for reserve studies and funding," and more flexibility for insurance arrangements such as relaxing rules and the replacement cost requirement that could make coverage more manageable for associations.The GSEs have said in the past that they are open to discussion on the replacement cost requirement for single-family loans but fear other types of coverage would not cover expenses related to loss in a way that would adequately protect collateral.CAI also would like to see more condo boards and managers get more direct access to the blacklist and ability to appeal."Fannie Mae must publish an accessible list of ineligible properties and detailed, actionable steps for restoring eligibility," the institute said.The CAI also called for "lending policies that distinguish between buildings with known issues and those that are safe, compliant and striving to improve."What Crescenzo said his team would like to see improved is access to up-to-date information about approved projects, and not only have an appeals process but ensure that it's one that rectifies issues quickly enough to get loans closed in time whenever possible."Anything that's proactive, I can't see as hurting the process. An approved list that covers say 75% of the projects and say they're approved until a certain time period, would be a great help. It hasn't happened yet, but that would be huge. That that would make a difference," he said.