Tag: Finance

NATIONAL NEWS (DAYTON, Ohio, and VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.) -- Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) today announced its entry into Ohio, continuing a period of retail expansion that includes the recent opening of its first Louisiana branch. The move extends Atlantic Bay's multistate footprint and brings its lending platform and support resources to Mortgage Bankers and homebuyers across Ohio.

NATIONAL NEWS (ATLANTA, Ga.) -- Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading affordability intelligence platform, today released its Q3 2026 Homeownership Program Index (HPI) report, identifying 2,833 programs nationwide. The total is up 87 programs, or 3.2%, from 2,746 in Q2 2026, marking a new survey high.

NATIONAL NEWS (ADDISON, Texas) -- Click n' Close, a multistate mortgage lender, today announced that it has been named one of Mortgage Women Magazine's 2026 Top Employers for Women. The annual recognition, featured by Mortgage Women Magazine and National Mortgage Professional, honors mortgage companies that provide women with resources, mentorship and leadership opportunities and maintain women's representation at every level of their organizations.

NATIONAL NEWS (ATLANTA, Ga.) -- Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced a partnership with ARMLS® (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service). Founded in 1982 and based in Tempe, Arizona, ARMLS has grown into one of the largest MLSs in the country, serving more than 38,000 subscribers.

NATIONAL NEWS (BOULDER, Colo.) -- Floify, the mortgage industry's leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, today announced the launch of Verification of Assets (VOA) within Floify Verify, its native verification service powered by Argyle. Lenders using Floify have been able to verify income and employment directly through Floify Verify for some time.

NATIONAL NEWS (AUSTIN, Texas) -- FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today that PROGRESS in Lending (PIL) has recognized Chief Technology Officer Dan Kellett for his influence on how lenders approach home equity technology, naming him one of nine 2026 Lending Luminaries.

NATIONAL NEWS (DENVER, Colo.) -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that PROGRESS in Lending (PIL) has recognized Kyle Kehoe, executive vice president of sales, as one of nine 2026 Lending Luminaries. PIL's eighth annual Lending Luminary Award recognizes people in the lending industry who inspire or influence others.

NATIONAL NEWS (DES MOINES, Iowa) -- iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, today announced that CEO Laird Nossuli has been named a finalist for the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) inaugural mPower Visionary Awards. Nossuli was honored October 10 in Chicago at mPowering You, the MBA Summit for Women in Real Estate Finance, following a selection process that drew nearly 100 nominees from across the mortgage industry.

NATIONAL NEWS (ANNAPOLIS, Md.) -- Bay Capital Mortgage Corporation has partnered with LenderLogix to launch LiteSpeed, a modern mortgage point-of-sale platform designed to make the loan process easier for borrowers and more efficient for loan officers.

NATIONAL NEWS (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) -- Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in home lending technology, today announced the promotions of Don Oliver to chief technology officer, Chris Medvidofsky to chief financial officer and Blaine Prober to general counsel. All three have been with Dark Matter since it launched in 2023. The timing reflects how the company has built its leadership team: supporting people's growth within the organization when they demonstrate experience, leadership and a customer-first mindset.

NATIONAL NEWS (ATLANTA, Ga.) -- Strategic Benefits Advisors, Inc. (SBA), an independent employee benefits consulting firm, today announced it was named HR Consultant/Advisory Partner of the Year in the 2026 Pinnacle Awards for Human Resources, earning the category's sole platinum award, the program's highest level of recognition. The honor recognizes SBA's expertise in benefits consulting, with particular emphasis on a longstanding client engagement led by Director Kim Shumate.

NATIONAL NEWS (TORRANCE, Calif.) -- DocMagic® announced today that Chief Information Officer Jeremy Boyd has been named a recipient of the 2026 Lending Luminary Award presented by PROGRESS in Lending. The honor recognizes mortgage industry leaders who demonstrate exceptional vision, leadership, and commitment to advancing the future of lending.

NATIONAL NEWS (PLANO, Texas) -- Optimal Blue today released its September 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) lending continued to expand even as rising rates weighed on broader mortgage activity. Total rate-lock volume declined 2% month over month (MoM), 21% over the past three months and 26% year over year (YoY). Non-QM lock volume bucked the broader decline, rising 8% MoM as non-QM loans accounted for 12% of September production.

NATIONAL NEWS (CHICAGO, Ill.) -- Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced Safe Harbor QC, a new pre-closing quality control solution that combines a comprehensive loan review with a warranty backed by a global insurer rated A+ (Superior) by AM Best with the agency's highest financial size category (XV).

NATIONAL NEWS (PLANO, Texas) -- Optimal Blue today announced it has acquired Usherpa, a marketing automation and borrower relationship engagement platform purpose-built for mortgage professionals. The acquisition expands Optimal Blue's ability to help lenders win more business by bringing borrower engagement capabilities closer to the product, pricing and eligibility solutions that over 200,000 originators use to identify and convert loan opportunities.

NATIONAL NEWS (PLANO, Texas) -- Optimal Blue today announced that its direct lock functionality now integrates with Fannie Mae's Pricing & Execution - Whole Loan® (PE - Whole Loan) platform. The integration allows lenders using Optimal Blue's product, pricing and eligibility (PPE) engine to execute best efforts locks with Fannie Mae through real-time, system-to-system connectivity without leaving Optimal Blue.

NATIONAL NEWS (BUFFALO, N.Y.) -- LenderLogix and Jerry today announced an integration that helps mortgage borrowers proactively secure homeowners insurance once they've submitted their mortgage application. Within LenderLogix's LiteSpeed point-of-sale platform, borrowers can seamlessly shop for homeowners insurance directly from their borrower dashboard.

NATIONAL NEWS (AUSTIN, Texas) -- FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, today announced a strategic alliance with Cotality™, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider that supports 80% of real estate transactions in North America.

NATIONAL NEWS (TORRANCE, Calif.) -- DocMagic® announced today that Chief Operating Officer Lori Johnson has been named one of Mortgage Banker's 2026 Powerful Women of Mortgage Banking. The award recognizes women in mortgage banking who stand out as leaders by driving innovation, adapting to change and making a positive impact on their organizations, colleagues and the industry.

NATIONAL NEWS (AUSTIN, Texas) -- FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, today released the results of an independent study by MarketWise Advisors, LLC, examining the value of improvements in operational readiness and execution for home equity lenders. Participating lenders reported an average financial and operational impact of $753.04 per loan, a 7.99x return, across the core and extended capabilities MarketWise modeled.

NATIONAL NEWS (ATLANTA, Ga.) -- Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced three additions to its team: Melissa Roy as a partner solutions engineer, April Espinosa as a down payment assistance programs specialist and Jeff Smith as a housing finance agency (HFA) relationship manager.

NATIONAL NEWS (DES MOINES, Iowa) -- New analysis from iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, finds that mortgage access gaps for low-income households are substantially wider than neighborhood-level data suggests. The analysis draws on the last five years of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data.

NATIONAL NEWS (HAMMONTON, N.J.) -- Service First Information Solutions LLC (Service 1st), a leading provider of credit reporting and verification solutions for the mortgage and other industries, is celebrating 100 years in business. Over the past century, Service 1st has expanded well beyond its roots in mortgage credit reporting.

NATIONAL NEWS (DENVER, Colo.) -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that it has been named one of the AI Pioneer Award winners by PROGRESS in Lending. Honorees include 14 financial technology companies whose AI work spans the loan lifecycle from origination through servicing.

NATIONAL NEWS (BUFFALO, N.Y.) -- LenderLogix, a provider of mortgage point-of-sale and automation software, today announced that FocusOne, a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO), has implemented its LiteSpeed point-of-sale platform as part of its continued investment in technology designed to help credit union partners deliver a modern, streamlined mortgage experience to their members.

NATIONAL NEWS (NEW YORK, N.Y.) -- June Point Lending Inc. (June Point Lending), a tech-forward wholesale non-QM lender, announced today it is offering debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans in California, its 19th state for DSCR lending and one of the country's largest broker markets.

NATIONAL NEWS (BOULDER, Colo.) -- Floify, the mortgage industry's leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, has selected Bryan Traeger as its new general manager. Traeger will lead Floify's next phase of growth with a focus on expanding the company's use of AI and push the boundaries of the borrower and lender experience. Traeger officially assumes the GM role on October 12 and will be at MBA Annual in Chicago, October 12-14, booth 600.

NATIONAL NEWS (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) -- Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in home lending technology, today announced an integration with Mezzo, creator of the mortgage industry's first one-to-many operating architecture for third-party services. Available through Dark Matter's Exchange℠ Partner Marketplace, the integration gives lenders using the Empower® Loan Origination Solution a single gateway and workflow across multiple verification providers.

NATIONAL NEWS (RALEIGH, N.C.) -- Capital Automotive Group today announced the acquisition of six Larry Cloninger dealerships and an independent collision center in North and South Carolina, marking a significant expansion for the family-owned automotive group and, more importantly, the continuation of a legacy built on relationships, community, and more than four decades of friendship between the Cloninger and Michael families.

NATIONAL NEWS (BRENTWOOD, Tenn.) -- Franklin Madison today announced the availability of Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance (GI Life), a new approach to life insurance that removes traditional barriers to coverage through guaranteed acceptance, simplified enrollment, and no waiting periods.

NATIONAL NEWS (BOULDER, Colo.) -- Floify, the mortgage industry's leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, today announced that Technology Credit Union (Tech CU) has chosen Floify to modernize its first mortgage and home equity lending experience.

NATIONAL NEWS (BOGOTA, COLOMBIA) -- EDEAL, an emerging financial services company serving individuals and small businesses in Latin America, today announced significant growth in its lending operations in Colombia, alongside a new strategic relationship with Sardona Capital S.A., a securities firm regulated and supervised by the Superintendence of the Securities Market of the Republic of Panama.

NATIONAL NEWS (VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.) -- Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) joined nearly 1,800 volunteers at Norfolk Scope Arena on September 18 for Roc Solid Foundation's inaugural Ready Bag Rally. In less than two hours, volunteers packed 16,000 Ready Bags to support families navigating a childhood cancer diagnosis. The rally was Roc Solid's first Ready Bag packing event of this scale.

NATIONAL NEWS (ATLANTA, Ga.) -- Strategic Benefits Advisors, Inc. (SBA) has been recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta's largest employee benefits and compensation companies of 2026. This is the eighth consecutive year SBA has made the Chronicle's annual list highlighting benefits consultants and brokers. Even as the number of benefits consultants and brokers in Atlanta fell 17% in 2026, according to the Chronicle, SBA held its position.

NATIONAL NEWS (SEATTLE, Wash.) -- Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced expanded support for investor loans, including debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans.

NATIONAL NEWS (DENVER, Colo.) -- ACES Quality Management®, the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today the launch of ACES Population Testing™, which evaluates a financial institution's loan origination pipelines and servicing portfolios against its defined policies and identifies the records that warrant a reviewer's attention.

NATIONAL NEWS (AUSTIN, Texas) -- FirstClose, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today the launch of Lender Portal, a new workspace that lets loan officers manage borrower leads in one place, from initial contact through submission.

NATIONAL NEWS (GARDEN GROVE, Calif.,) -- Informative Research (IR), a leading technology provider of data-driven credit and verification solutions for the lending industry, today announced that Tim Cox has rejoined the IR leadership team as executive vice president of business process automation. In this role, Tim will apply his industry expertise to support the company and help its clients work more efficiently and intelligently.

NATIONAL NEWS (DES MOINES, Iowa) -- iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, today released a new analysis validating its 2025 forecasts against actual Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. The analysis, which uses final 2025 HMDA data released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on June 23, 2026, spans every geographic level from national down to individual census tracts.

NATIONAL NEWS (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) -- Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced the launch of a new solution that enables wholesale mortgage lenders to extend income, employment, and asset verification across their broker networks with a broker-branded borrower experience. The solution is available through Argyle's Verification API as well as through Encompass® TPO Connect from ICE Mortgage Technology®.

NATIONAL NEWS (BATON ROUGE, La. and VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.) -- Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) today announced the opening of its first Louisiana branch in Baton Rouge, extending its' presence across the South and giving Louisiana homebuyers access to a wide range of mortgage options, local expertise, and the technology and resources of an established lender.

NATIONAL NEWS (ORLANDO, Fla.) -- EnergyCAP®, the leading utility and energy management platform for public and private sector organizations, announced Insights, a new capability to their energy and utility management platform, that brings reporting, alerting and prioritization together so energy teams can focus on what's most important. The announcement came at Catalyst Converge, the company's 20th annual conference where energy, facilities, finance and sustainability teams are gathered for three days of learning, collaboration, and product innovation.

NATIONAL NEWS (RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif.) -- Mezzo, creator of the mortgage industry's first one-to-many operating architecture for third-party services, today announced an integration with Vesta, the AI-native loan origination system (LOS) and agent platform built to automate and accelerate mortgage operations. Mezzo launches with a single gateway across verification providers.

NATIONAL NEWS (NOVI, Mich.) -- Vice Capital Markets, a leading mortgage hedge advisory firm for independent lenders, banks and credit unions, today announced that its capital markets platform now supports the inclusion of VantageScore™ credit scores on mortgage bid tapes, providing lenders and investors with greater visibility into loan-level credit characteristics during the secondary market execution process.

NATIONAL NEWS (SEATTLE, Wash.) -- Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced its integration to the Freddie Mac Income Calculator API. Lenders can now determine calculated monthly income for wage earners, including borrowers with variable income, in minutes while helping preserve eligibility for certain representation and warranty (R&W) relief tied to the income calculation.

NATIONAL NEWS (PLANO, Texas) -- Optimal Blue today announced its initial speaker lineup for its 2027 Optimal Blue Summit, including Analyst, ESPN Monday Night Football, 3-Time Super Bowl-Winning Quarterback, Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. The third annual event shaping what's next in mortgage will take place February 1-3, 2027 at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.

NATIONAL NEWS (PHOENIX, Ariz.) -- Fairway Home Mortgage and the Kanyur Reverse Team are proud to announce the opening of a new branch location in Phoenix, Arizona. The new office, located at 11811 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite 1002, Phoenix, AZ 85028, represents an exciting milestone in the team's continued commitment to serving homeowners throughout Arizona with specialized retirement lending solutions.

NATIONAL NEWS (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) -- Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced an expanded integration with Tidalwave, an agentic AI platform that automates the full U.S. mortgage lifecycle from application through closing. Argyle and Tidalwave partnered in 2025 to embed Argyle's verification of income and employment (VOIE) solution into Tidalwave's borrower workflow through payroll connectivity.

NATIONAL NEWS (ADDISON, Texas) -- Click n' Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced that mortgage industry veteran Blake Priest has joined the company as director of whole loan trading. In this role, Priest will lead the company's scratch and dent purchasing, giving correspondent partners another outlet for loans that fall outside traditional investor guidelines.

NATIONAL NEWS (PLANO, Texas) -- Optimal Blue today released its August 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found that mortgage activity continued to soften in August even as rates leveled off. Total rate-lock volume declined 9% month over month (MoM) and slipped 3% below August 2025 levels. Purchase lock volume fell 10% from July but remained 6% higher year over year (YoY), with purchase loans accounting for nearly 81% of total lock volume.

NATIONAL NEWS (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) -- Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced it has expanded its leadership team with two experienced executives: Salvatore Piccola as senior vice president of product strategy and Gil Valera as vice president of professional services. The additions strengthen two areas central to Dark Matter's growth strategy: innovation focused on using AI to improve customer experience, help lenders realize efficiencies, and drive seamless implementation and adoption of its product capabilities.

NATIONAL NEWS (AUSTIN, Texas) -- FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today that John Aslanian, chief revenue officer, has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. The award recognizes C-level executives across mortgage, real estate and homebuilding for leadership that has driven measurable impact on their organizations and the broader housing economy over the past year.

NATIONAL NEWS (SEATTLE, Wash.) -- Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced that its Founder and CEO Theo Ellis has been honored with HousingWire's 2026 Vanguard Award.

NATIONAL NEWS (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) -- Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced that Vikas Rao, chief executive officer, has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. Rao recognized for transforming Dark Matter and opening new ways for lenders to build, integrate and deploy AI.

NATIONAL NEWS (TORRANCE, Calif.) -- DocMagic announced today that Chief Operating Officer Lori Johnson has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. COO recognized for advancing DocMagic's latest innovations in a digital mortgage career spanning more than 30 years.

NATIONAL NEWS (MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.) -- Secured Signing, a global leader in electronic signature and Remote Online Notarization (RON) technology, announced the launch of Outsource Notary Queue, a new feature that lets business, delegate overflow signings jobs to trusted signing services partners while staying fully in the loop from start to finish.

NATIONAL NEWS (SAN DIEGO, Calif.) -- Advisory List, a directory and professional community for the small and middle-market M&A ecosystem, has published new guidance for business owners considering a future sale, highlighting issues transaction professionals say should be addressed years before a company goes to market.

NATIONAL NEWS (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) -- Argyle, a consent-based verification (CBV) platform, today announced it has been added as an approved provider under a competitively solicited Washington State Department of Enterprise Services contract (No. 10925, Employment & Income Verification and Public Records Search Services), giving Washington agencies a pre-vetted path to consent-based income and employment verification for benefits eligibility and redetermination.

NATIONAL NEWS (AUSTIN, Texas) -- FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today that it has launched an integration with MeridianLink to bring its home equity order management capabilities directly into the MeridianLink Mortgage loan origination system (LOS). The integration extends FirstClose's existing MeridianLink partnership to help support lenders that manage home equity originations within their mortgage division.

NATIONAL NEWS (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) -- Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter®), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced its latest point-of-sale (POS) release, bringing document validation powered by Aiva Intelligence to the earliest stage of the lending process. By validating borrower documents at upload instead of later in the review process, lenders can identify issues sooner, provide immediate guidance to borrowers and reduce downstream conditions and rework.

NATIONAL NEWS (DENVER, Colo.) -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced the release of its quarterly ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report covering Q1 of 2026. The report analyzes post-closing quality control data derived from the ACES Quality Management & Control® software.

NATIONAL NEWS (TROY, Mich.) -- Class Valuation, a leading real estate appraisal management company (AMC), announced today that it has acquired Allstate Appraisal, one of the nation's longest continuously operating valuation firms. Founded in 1959 in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Allstate Appraisal brings more than six decades of experience delivering credible, compliant and timely valuation and review services to lending institutions, mortgage insurance companies, government entities, law firms and other organizations nationwide.

NATIONAL NEWS (ATLANTA, Ga.) -- Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced that Brad Cardwell, vice president of sales and business development, has been named to The Mortgage Collaborative's (TMC) Partner Advisory Council. The council brings together TMC's preferred partners to promote fair, transparent and efficient practices through open dialogue and coordinated initiatives.

NATIONAL NEWS (SEATTLE, Wash.) -- Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced expanded support for non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) and other non-agency lending programs, enabling lenders to evaluate a broader range of complex borrower scenarios against investor-specific guidelines before underwriting.