LendingLife

Which is better for mortgage — FICO or VantageScore?

VantageScore and FICO have escalated their rivalry in the mortgage space following the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) decision to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase loans underwritten with VantageScore 4.0 as an alternative to the Classic FICO score.  Both companies published analyses this week from their data scientists. Naturally, each claims their score more […]

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VantageScore 4.0 is coming. But much work needs to be done

In the days following the announcement that VantageScore 4.0 was suddenly in play for conventional mortgages, FinLocker‘s Brian Vieaux had to burst some bubbles. Most of the 15 to 20 loan officers he spoke to were ecstatic about being able to use the new credit scoring model. Millions of new prospective borrowers could be scored

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Federal regulators scrap 2023 CRA rule

Three federal banking regulators announced on Wednesday the rescission of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) final rule issued in October 2023. The decision made by the governing boards of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) will result in the agencies reinstating

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NAF reports data breach in California

New American Funding (NAF), a top-25 U.S. mortgage lender, notified the California attorney general last week of a data breach involving one of its vendors, which potentially compromises customers’ personal information.  NAF on June 6 discovered “suspicious activity associated with information provided to one of our vendors that provided notary systems, Mobile Notary Zone,” according to

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After the Bayview deal, what’s the refi strategy for Guild Mortgage?

Bayview Asset Management’s $1.3 billion deal to acquire Guild Holding Co., the parent of Guild Mortgage, has left loan officers wondering how the traditionally purchase-focused lender would integrate refinance capabilities to leverage the $770 billion servicing portfolio of soon-to-be sister company Lakeview Loan Servicing, the nation’s second-largest mortgage servicer. Guild LOs, who spoke with HousingWire

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OCC drops disparate impact enforcement

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced Monday that it will no longer enforce disparate impact analysis in fair lending risk assessments, following a directive from the White House issued three months ago. “Consistent with EO 14281, the OCC supervisory process for fair lending compliance no longer includes examining for disparate impact

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‘Dating the rate’ misled borrowers. Now they’re financially strained

“Marry the house, date the rate” is a phrase that was popularized during the post-pandemic era of rising mortgage rates. Lenders urged borrowers to focus on finding a house they were head over heels with and worry about their interest rate down the line. Borrowers who were accustomed to rates hovering near 3% didn’t realize

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Bilt raises $250M to expand into mortgages, with backing from UWM

Bilt, which operates a loyalty program and credit card that converts rent payments into points, has secured a $250 million funding round led by General Catalyst and GID, with participation from United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the nation’s largest mortgage lender. The funding brings Bilt’s valuation to $10.75 billion and will fuel expansion across the broader

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GTCR announces investment in Clear Capital

Private equity firm GTCR announced on Tuesday that it has made a significant investment in national real estate analytics and data solutions company Clear Capital. As part of the investment, GTCR is partnering with Clear Capital co-founder and CEO Duane Andrews. The transaction represents Clear Capital’s first outside investment, with GTCR becoming the company’s majority

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Waltz raises another $25M to power international real estate investment

U.S. residential real estate is drawing increasing interest from international investors —particularly in Latin and South America — according to Miami-based Waltz, a digital mortgage platform that caters to foreign buyers. The firm announced it has reached $50 million in total funding to date — including a newly secured $25 million line of credit from

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