September 2025

Pres. Trump signs mortgage trigger leads ban into law

Pres. Trump has signed into law H.R. 2808, the Homebuyer Privacy Protection Act, one month after the bill cleared the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent. The new law, which takes effect 180 days after enactment, has been welcomed by the mortgage industry for putting an end to the sale of trigger leads — consumer data […]

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Regional real estate pockets are showing stress in 2Q

Some mortgage delinquency data raised concerns, but Cotality’s Q2 report also showed a positive sign: late loans aren’t progressing to more serious stages. The total delinquency rate rose on a quarter-to-quarter basis for the period ended June 30, trending higher after a drop-off for the period ended March 31, the Loan Performance Indictors report said.

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Mortgage firms add staff as rate cuts look likely

Housing finance firms have been adding staff as falling mortgage rates look more likely, with stronger overall job growth raising the chances of modest business gains for the industry. “This is likely to support some additional decline in rates, which will offer opportunities at the margin for people to buy,” said Doug Duncan, former chief

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Deliver guy worker employment

Economy adds anemic 22,000 jobs in August

Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy added 22,000 jobs in August, an anemic growth rate that could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates during their next meeting later this month. BLS reported that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.3%, while the

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Should your mother-in-law be your real estate agent (or your mortgage broker, home inspector, etc.)? 

Dave Ramsey says, “You’re gonna get screwed.” But economics disagrees. I think the better question is: What’s the cost of NOT working with your mother-in-law?  Whether or not you agree with the saying “time is money”, I believe that whatever you think you might be financially saving by going with a third-party real estate professional,

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Fannie, Freddie update reconsideration of value rules

While Fannie Mae has “retired” the term appraisal waiver from its seller guide, the change in the latest update, which could have the most impact on consumers involves the reconsideration of value policy. The Fannie Mae announcement is SEL-2025-07. Freddie Mac put out a similar ROV update on Wednesday in its bulletin 2025-12. Some of

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FHA updating default reporting with new tax, insurance data

The Federal Housing Administration, which insures a large number of loans in the U.S. market, will be instituting a new digital file format for distressed mortgages that will add several reporting elements related to taxes and insurance. The new electronic-data interchange file for default reporting also addresses data privacy by removing 24 elements that are

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FTC revisits noncompete rules after Biden-era ban blocked

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday issued a public request for information on noncompete agreements as it seeks to identify practices it considers “unfair” and “anticompetitive,” a topic that has drawn attention across the mortgage and real estate industries.  Under the Trump administration, the FTC said it will take a case-by-case approach rather than

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MTV host Nēv Schulman joins Coldwell Banker Warburg as agent

Nēv Schulman, known for hosting MTV reality show “Catfish,” has joined Coldwell Banker Warburg (CBW) as a real estate agent, the brokerage announced Thursday. His father, Robert Schulman, has been a broker at the firm for more than 30 years and recorded more than $10 million in 2024 volume with an average sale price of

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HUD moves to bar non-permanent residents from Section 184 tribal loan program

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has revised residency requirements for the Section 184 Indian Housing Loan Guarantee program to exclude non-permanent resident aliens. “This update aligns HUD’s requirements with recent executive actions that emphasize the prioritization of federal resources to protect the financial interests of American citizens and ensure the integrity

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