Bill Blain: Queen Elizabeth
This Elizabethan Age has ended. Queen Elizabeth was instrumental in establishing and strengthening the UK’s Soft-Power and global position on an increasingly confused global stage. It’s time to look to the future.… by Bill Blain on Blain’s Morning Porridge: On Thursday morning the Mother of Parliaments was debating the critically important Energy Crisis bailout when everything stopped […]
NEXA, the country’s biggest brokerage, cuts ties with AIME
NEXA Mortgage, the largest mortgage brokerage in the country, this week cut ties with the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME), claiming the trade group fails to address bullying and lacks proper governance. Mike Kortas, the controversial CEO and co-founder who himself is no stranger to starting online scraps, said other community members, including smaller […]
Legacy Home Loans launches SPCP for Black borrowers
Ben Slayton’s Legacy Home Loans, the largest Black-led mortgage banking firm in the country, has launched a special purpose credit program for prospective Black borrowers in six cities across the country. The SPCP, called “closing the gap,” permits a 1% down payment with a free appraisal, free home warranty program, free homebuying counseling and financial […]
Freddie Mac launches 9th STACR series offering in 2022
Freddie Mac is unveiling its ninth credit-risk transfer transaction of the year via its Structured Agency Credit Risk (STACR) program — bringing the total note offerings through its two flagship STACR series programs to $12.2 billion so far in 2022. This agency’s most recent credit risk transfer (CRT) offering, STACR 2022-DNA6, involves a $1.165 billion note […]
Amid Yemen’s Truce, al Qaeda Threatens to Return
Tempered optimism persists over a peace in Yemen after nearly eight years of war. A UN-negotiated truce has largely held since April 2022 between the Houthis, who seized power in September 2014, and the internationally recognized Yemeni government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition. Yemenis now have better access to much-needed humanitarian assistance, though significant obstacles […]
Homepoint has shed about 75% of its workforce in a year
Following the latest round of layoffs, Homepoint has shrunk its workforce from about 4,000 workers in summer of 2021 to about 1,000 in fall of 2022. The wholesale lender last week laid off 913 employees, according to a review of Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices filed in Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Texas. Over the […]
Gorbachev, Idealism, and the End of the Soviet Union
In the excellent alt-history drama For All Mankind, which just completed its third season on Apple TV+, the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States never ends. In that reality, the Soviets beat America to the Moon, giving that regime a long-term confidence boost, both at home and abroad. In the early […]
Pennymac, Finance of America are the latest lenders to raise conforming loan limits
Pennymac and Finance of America followed the tracks of Rocket Pro TPO and United Wholesale Mortgage in raising conforming loan limits ahead of the Federal Housing Finance Agency‘s (FHFA) decision to do so in November. Pennymac will be increasing conventional loan limits to $715,000 across all channels, said the country’s third largest mortgage lender, according […]
Meet the HousingWire Annual Welcome Committee: Erin Halbert
Erin Halbert is the regional leader for Thrive Mortgage Arizona. She sat down with HousingWire to share her excitement for the upcoming HousingWire Annual conference and her role on the welcome committee. HousingWire: What are you most looking forward to at HW Annual 2022? Erin Halbert: One of my classic statements is, “only the strong […]