News By Edition

The design team at ICE Mortgage Technology combined the powers of artificial intelligence and human collaboration to create a search tool capable quickly searching the company’s vast database of regulatory knowledge and delivering answers to mortgage professionals’ most pressing compliance questions.

The Federal Reserve voted to lower the federal funds target rate by 1/4 percentage point to a range between 3-3/4 to 4 percent. There were two dissenting votes over the decision.

In the midst of a federal government shutdown and just over a month after the first federal funds rate cut since last December, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) three top economists took turns breaking down their projections for the coming year and beyond during the “Market Outlook” special session at MBA Annual 25 on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas.

Thirty-six lawmakers filed an amicus brief in NTEU v. CFPB, requesting the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to grant a petition for an en banc rehearing.

Bipartisan legislation proposing to close a loophole in a statutory prohibition on interest and yield payments by stablecoin issuers has garnered support from financial services advocates.

Cornerstone Capital Bancorp, Inc. entered a definitive agreement to acquire Peoples Bancorp, Inc. to establish the bank holding company of Cornerstone Capital Bank as one of the largest institutions in Texas among those with less than $10 million in total assets.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced Christine Chandler as MBA’s 2026 chair and executive vice president during the organization’s annual convention in Las Vegas on Oct. 20. She laid out her priorities for the year ahead in prepared remarks.

Fannie Mae President and CEO Priscilla Almodovar stepped down after nearly three years leading the government-sponsored enterprise. The company announced her departure along with three other changes to senior leadership on Oct. 22.

Fannie Mae’s president and CEO stepped down after nearly three years leading the government-sponsored enterprise. The company announced her departure along with two other changes to senior leadership in an Oct. 22 news release.

Wilqo has acquired Brimma Tech along with its suite of products powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The company believes the acquisition will help strengthen its flagship production optimization platform, “Charlie,” while expanding the company’s roster of tools available to mortgage lenders.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Opens Doors Foundation announced the recipients of the Opens Doors annual awards during MBA’s 2025 Annual Convention & Expo in Las Vegas.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) presented Christine (Chrissi) Rhea, former President and CEO of the Mortgage Investors Group, with its Lowrie-Woodward Distinguished Service Award during MBA’s 2025 Annual Convention and Expo.

Quality control experts from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shared insights about the trends they are seeing among performing and non-performing loans while speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2025 Compliance and Risk Management Conference in late September.

The Federal Reserve released its latest Beige Book on Oct. 15 with input from the 12 institutions comprising the Federal Reserve Bank System. Due to the government shutdown, the banks largely relied on data provided by their network of public- and private-sector contacts in their contributions to the report.

Thirty-six members of Congress filed an amicus brief in NTEU v. CFPB, requesting the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to grant a petition for an en banc rehearing on Oct. 6.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are seeking input on a joint notice of proposed rulemaking to eliminate “reputation risk” from their supervisory programs.

Enforcement of RESPA has been shifting with the current administration, creating questions within the industry about where oversight will come from. Two industry experts discussed changes in the enforcement landscape, proposed rulemaking by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and regulatory scrutiny from both state and federal levels.

Uplist, a provider of borrower engagement and portfolio intelligence technology, announced a notable increase in users of the company’s Recapture refinance analysis and automation platform.

The Certified Mortgage Banker Society presented Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit with its E. Michael Rosser, MBA Education Lifetime Achievement Award during MBA’s 2025 Annual Convention & Expo on Oct. 19.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a motion in federal court opposing Experian’s attempt to dismiss claims that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The move came more than a month after the bureau’s first amended complaint was dismissed without prejudice.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2025 annual flagship conference will run from Oct. 19-22 in Las Vegas, with 3,500 mortgage professionals set to attend. Dodd Frank Update will be on-site, speaking with industry insiders and covering various educational sessions addressing the state of the economy, the housing market and the regulatory environment.

Real estate finance professionals have been reading a lot about mortgage fraud in recent months. Attorney and former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Senior Counsel David Friend helped us unpack the difference between “fraud for money” and “fraud for housing,” as well as why proving intent is so difficult.

Alpha7X has launched as the mortgage industry’s first agentic artificial intelligence (AI) utility infrastructure platforms designed to connect, validate and synchronize mortgage data and eliminate redundant loan reviews, according to a press release.

The Senate voted to confirm more than 100 nominees, including a nominee for assistant secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for general counsel of the Department of Veterans Affairs and for several U.S. attorneys.

A federal judge temporarily blocked reduction in force (RIF) orders seeking to dismiss employees of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Treasury on Oct. 15. Democratic senators wrote to agency leaders, pressing them for details about the RIF plans.

The minutes for the Federal Open Market Committee’s Sept. 16-17 meeting offer some key insights about inflation and the labor market indicators ahead of the first interest rate cut of the year last month. Multiple Federal Reserve officials highlighted potential risks affecting the agency’s work to fulfill its dual mandate.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency outlined plans to overhaul its regulatory and supervisory regime for community banks by replacing fixed examination requirements with a new approach intended to reduce regulatory burdens on smaller institutions.

More than 20 state attorneys general penned a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Russel Vought in opposition to the proposed rule on the legal standard applicable to supervisory designation proceedings.

The Senate confirmed Jonathan McKernan to be become the U.S. Treasury’s undersecretary for domestic finance by a 51-47 party-line vote.

Mortgage credit availability attained its highest level in four months in September, based on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s analysis of data provided by ICE Mortgage Technology.

A federal court has indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on two charges of mortgage fraud, following grand jury testimony on Oct. 9. The prosecution in the case will be tasked with proving whether James intentionally misrepresented her intended occupancy status for a property she purchased in Virginia.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking feedback on its proposal to recalibrate housing goal benchmarks for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for 2026-2028. The agency said it is aiming to simplify the framework governing how the government-sponsored enterprises support affordable housing while accounting for the state of market.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced the withdrawal of proposed rules setting liquidity requirements for the government-sponsored enterprises and establishing credit limits for the Federal Home Loan Banks.

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking to clarify certain requirements related to suspicious activity reports by answering four frequently asked questions in a joint release with other federal agencies.

Technology solutions useful for settlement services professionals are constantly evolving – how can companies evaluate which ones can give them an edge? A panel of experts offer their perspectives.

The Senate passed the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act as part of its version of the National Defense Authorization Act. The housing bill aims to incentivize communities to take certain steps to encourage more new home construction.

North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, Inc. (NTREIS), a multiple listing service (MLS) in North Texas and Northwest Louisiana, has appointed industry veteran and licensed attorney René Galicia to be its executive vice president and general counsel.

As the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. weighs calls to reform the deposit insurance framework, President Donald Trump nominated Travis Hill to become the agency’s new permanent chairman on Sept. 30.

Following the federal government’s shutdown on Oct. 1, agencies released their lapse in appropriations contingency plans, outlining which functions remain active and which will be suspended until the shutdown ends.

The Mortgage Bankers Association announced a series of promotions within its senior leadership team as part of a planned restructuring. The changes come as the trade organization prepares for the retirement of its long-time chief operating officer.

When the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced sweeping new reporting requirements, one Texas title agent decided she couldn’t stay silent and shared her story with October Research Chief Knowledge Officer Mary Schuster.

A day before the federal government shutdown, Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit described the impacts of the government shutdown and policy shifts under the Trump administration at MBA’s 2025 Compliance and Risk Management Conference on Sept. 29 in Washington, D.C.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ended a string of consent orders in September, including major agreements with U.S. Bank, Washington Federal Bank and Planet Home Lending, as the Trump administration continued to consolidate the bureau’s supervisory and enforcement activities.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a one-year delay for compliance dates associated with its small-business lending rule, implementing Sec. 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The delay applies to all tiers of covered institutions based on loan volume.

FICO announced a new program expected to provide mortgage lenders and brokers immediate cost-savings and price transparency when accessing its credit scores.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has requested public comments on ways to improve its rules governing residential mortgage-backed securities. The agency is also seeking general input on certain aspects of asset-backed securities.

The advocacy group Public Citizen accused the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal agencies of “blatant” violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of taxpayer money for partisan political purposes, connected to website messages about the shutdown.