Author: Michael Gersitz

Movement Mortgage CEO Casey Crawford and President Mike Brennan. Movement Mortgage’s deal to acquire top indie retail lender Mortgage Network marks a shift in the South Carolina-based company’s strategy. “Over the years, we’ve been more focused on organic growth, one

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported today on two trends in existing home sales that we have seen for many months now: sales are declining while total inventory data has fallen directly for the three straight months. On a

Black Knight agreed to sell its TitlePoint business unit to former parent company Fidelity National Financial for $225 million in cash. A sale of TitlePoint is expected ahead of Black Knight’s planned blockbuster acquisition by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.  TitlePoint enables

Proptech firm Rhino will be buying the technology and assets of Deposify, a cash security deposit management technology platform, to launch an end-to-end deposit management and compliance platform. The platform, which is planned to launch after the transaction closes this

Don’t be fooled by last week’s mortgage rate collapse.  A combination of elevated mortgage rates, sluggish home sales and inflation continue to plague the housing market workforce, with numerous mortgage lenders and real estate startups shedding employees. “The U.S. housing

On Aug. 31, 2022, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it would conduct a comprehensive review of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system. This article addresses two legal issues relevant to the review: FHFA’s statutory authority to

The third quarter used to be historically the strongest of the year for independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks.  At least until 2022.  On the origination side, these companies’ costs exceeded $11,000 per loan for the

The housing recession was in full swing in October. Existing home sales last month declined 5.9% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million in October, and were down 28.4% year over year. That’s the largest year

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased a record $2.52 trillion in single-family loans in 2021, with the average guarantee fee — expected to cover credit losses, administrative costs and cost of capital — rising 2 basis points from the prior year

FHA’s Tuesday release of its MMIF Report showing that FHA continues to build its capital reserve ratio to 11.1% will no doubt add fuel to the public debate about whether FHA should cut premiums for the borrowers it serves. This

Wisconsin-based mortgage lender Waterstone Mortgage Corporation appointed Chik Quintans its new director of digital marketing, the company announced Thursday. In his new role, Quintans will oversee the digital marketing strategy to advance Waterstone Mortgage’s online presence through social media campaigns