In this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, host Tracey Velt sits down for an informative conversation with Paul Carlson, the president of Five Star Real Estate. Carlson explores his early career journey, including insights into how he grew the brokerage. He also explores key lessons he learned as he inherited the president’s seat from his father, Greg Carlson, Five Star Real Estate’s founder. And Carlson offers some key tips on centralizing management, building a brand and creating a successful succession plan.Following a brief introduction, Carlson shares his background in the industry. The young executive started his career in 2006 before transitioning into key management roles at Five Star Real Estate in 2012. Before that, Carlson was forced into adversity by the 2008 recession and minimal support from his father. This adversity pushed him to learn and grow as a real estate professional and photographer before joining Five Star. Today, the company has about 740 agents and 22 offices, and it closed some 8,000 transactions in 2024. Velt follows up with a question on Carlson’s transition into the president’s role at Five Star. Carlson says that the company enforced an anti-nepotism clause, forcing him to work his way up the ranks. His father started inviting him to marketing meetings with other executives. From there, Carlson started to push for change within the company, which inspired his father to offer him the leadership role. Carlson emphasizes the importance of establishing a unique style of leadership rather than attempting to mimic a predecessor.“The best thing I could do is realize I could never be him, and the company doesn’t need me to be him,” Carlson says. “I see a lot of people taking over their parent’s business trying to imitate the president or founder, and it just doesn’t work. I’m good enough as I am.”Carlson still had to work to earn the respect from some of the senior members of the company, and he faced further criticism overall as he attempted to get the staff on board with Five Star’s future-facing strategies. Following that, Velt asks Carlson to share his initial strategy for growing Five Star. First, Carlson focused on rebranding the company. Internally, he focused on shielding his team from outside noise and tech companies reaching out to pitch products and AI tools. Instead, he chose to focus on building a strong culture without relying on widely available technology to augment Five Star’s productivity.“I was trying to create something unique because, in my opinion, if everyone can get kvCORE, if everyone can get Cloud CMA, if everyone can get Adwerx, any one of us can go buy it,” Carlson says. “Realtors can go to get it themselves too, and that’s not truly differentiating yourself from the marketplace.”Next, Carlson explores a few strategies he used to grow Five Star over time. The company focused on three primary areas to drive growth — lowering costs for agents; offering real-time, centralized brokerage support via phone; and internally designed personal branding managed by a dedicated team. By offering these three forms of assistance, Carlson says he established Five Star as more of a consulting firm than a traditional brokerage. Carlson and Velt close the conversation by exploring the criteria for a good succession plan. Carlson believes that it’s essential for a child to take a company and morph it into their own through hard work and visionary thinking. Companies that don’t implement these principles during a succession may experience shrinkage. He advises successors to find their internal motivation before taking the reins of a business.

Speakers:Dan Snyder, CEO & Co-Founder at LowerBrett Ludden, Managing Partner at Sterling Point AdvisorsDan Hanson, Executive Director, Enterprise Partnerships & Acquisitions at loanDepotJames Kleimann, Managing Editor at HousingWire

In this session, experts will discuss mini-corr challenges and opportunities going into 2025, including whether the channel will continue to see market share growth and the latest on warehouse lender risks.Speakers:Nate Clear, President at First FundingWade Betz, Head of Correspondent Lending at Mpire FinancialSarah Wheeler, Editor in Chief at HousingWire

Two artificial intelligence startups are teaming up to make searches through multiple listing services (MLSs) more accessible to the visually impaired. The combined technology of Restb.ai and Lundy will allow users to search listings through voice commands. Restb.ai leverages AI to produce computer vision for the real estate sector, while Lundy provides a voice-driven property search platform.Together, the two startups will provide a voice-driven search option for agents, buyers and sellers. The new product is being offered to MLSs, and any MLS that already uses Restb.ai’s tagging technology get a complimentary upgrade to one of Lundy’s “Finding Homes Pro” features.“Our mission is to provide the most comprehensive search engine available by voice to ensure the homebuying journey is accessible to everyone,” Lundy CEO Justin Lundy said in a statement. “By joining forces with Restb.ai to leverage their market-leading computer vision technology, we’re dramatically advancing our efforts at Lundy to make voice search a staple feature for every MLS. Together, we’re setting a new standard for accessibility and user-friendly technology.”Restb.ai’s technology is an image tagging system that automatically analyzes photos of properties and provides visual insights. Lundy said it goes beyond a simple screen reader by offering natural language home searches that aren’t interrupted by display ads or pop-up screens.“MLSs are leading the way in delivering practical AI to hundreds of thousands of real estate professionals nationwide,” Nathan Brannen, chief product officer at Restb.ai, said in a statement. ”By teaming up with Lundy, we’re accelerating the momentum of AI adoption in the industry, allowing agents to match homebuyers and sellers to deliver the perfect home with unparalleled speed and precision. “This partnership will profoundly impact how agents serve their clients, bringing more AI innovation to the forefront of real estate.”In April, Lundy extended its partnership with Stellar MLS.

VestaPlus is gaining more traction with its artificial intelligence-powered compliance system. The company announced that Firelands Association of Realtors in Ohio and Northwest Wisconsin MLS have signed up for CheckMate, the firm’s listing compliance violation detection software. In July, Staten Island MLS and San Diego MLS entered similar partnerships with VestaPlus, and the company now serves five MLSs in total.“We are excited to support Firelands Association of Realtors and Northwestern Wisconsin Multiple Listing Service in optimizing data accuracy and streamlining internal processes, while at the same time reducing costs,” VestaPlus CEO Annie Ives said in a statement. “With the removal of offers of compensation from the MLS, it is imperative that MLSs implement new compliance technology that enhances the experience for both MLS staff and real estate professionals.”CheckMate uses AI to find compliance infractions in listings and photos, eliminating the need for MLSs to manually look for individual violations. It is integrated into the MLS platform much like CoreLogic’s Matrix.Compliance software has gotten considerably more important for MLSs in the wake of new rules mandated by the commission lawsuit settlement agreement from the National Association of Realtors. Some agents have gotten creative on how to make offers of compensation to buyer agents, such as placing three items in photos to indicate an offer of 3% commission.VestaPlus is a wholly owned subsidiary of TheMLS.com, which 20 years ago decided to build its own software. In 2018, TheMLS.com created VestaPlus to continue building the software with the intent of licensing it.“The technology is here and it is a resource we should be adopting,” David Freitag, CEO of Firelands Association of Realtors, said in a statement. “We want the best compliance resource available and that is Checkmate.”

Sam Valverde, the acting president of Ginnie Mae, has overseen the work the government-owned company is currently engaging in to better improve the liquidity situation for the companies involved in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. These include efforts to establish an additional HECM-backed Securities (HMBS) instrument to complement what is currently available.Dubbed “HMBS 2.0,” the forthcoming program’s development was initially announced early this year before Ginnie Mae released a more detailed term sheet over the summer. To get a better idea about where the new program currently stands, HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily asked Valverde about it.Coming soon?In part one of this interview, Valverde spoke about the work being done at Ginnie Mae and the FHA to bolster the HECM program. This follows in the wake of liquidity concerns created by the collapse of a major lender in the space two years ago.“Even with all this great work from FHA, it was clear more needed to be done,” he said. “So, we began exploring a new securities program — what we and the industry have been calling ‘HMBS 2.0.’ For HMBS 2.0, we’ve consulted closely with issuers and industry experts to identify the needs of the market and get their input.”Sam Valverde, acting president of Ginnie Mae." data-image-caption="Sam Valverde" data-medium-file="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg?w=240" data-large-file="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg?w=819" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg?w=819" alt="Sam Valverde, acting president of Ginnie Mae." class="wp-image-460379" style="width:200px" srcset="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg 1280w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg?resize=120,150 120w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg?resize=240,300 240w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg?resize=768,960 768w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg?resize=819,1024 819w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241017/16/original_7f21d97a-bfb7-4a4e-a1de-d4256dfb684a.jpg?resize=1229,1536 1229w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" />Sam ValverdeIndustry reaction following the release of the term sheet has been largely positive. Leo Wong, an analyst at Waterfall Asset Management, previously told RMD that the detailed work and proactivity on the part of the government housing agencies has been a source of optimism.But the industry itself also plays a role in policy development, which Valverde discussed while offering a possible timeline for a final term sheet.“That’s why we offered a draft term sheet for public comment in June, and we took those comments in July,” he said. “We’ve received a lot of helpful feedback from the industry on the term sheet, and across Ginnie Mae we’re working through how those comments can lead us to a viable solution. “We’re assessing that feedback, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to complete a final term sheet for public consumption over the next several weeks. We want to make sure stakeholders understand where we’ve landed and why.”Industry collaborationThe public comments play a sizable role in the development of policy at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA and Ginnie Mae. Requests for public comment from the industry can span individuals and larger corporate stakeholders, as well as trade associations. The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) have previously submitted comments on the initial term sheet to Valverde in a joint letter.This feedback, Valverde said, plays a key role in the development process.“I want to underscore the importance of our relationship with our industry partners and the constructive conversations we’ve had with them throughout this process,” he said. “Once we’ve elaborated those final terms through the final term sheet, we can focus exclusively on implementation.”Valverde also wanted to make clear to the reverse mortgage industry that HMBS 2.0 remains a “top priority” for Ginnie Mae, but the industry has also been vocal about its desire to learn more about the implementation timeline. Still, the sensitivity of the work will require patience from private stakeholders.“The program remains a top priority, but I can’t provide a timing assessment at this point,” he said. “We’re weighing program effectiveness against speed to market. It’s critical that what we deliver works well for the industry and reflects prudent risk management for taxpayers.”Valverde also addressed inbound suggestions from the industry about how HMBS 2.0 can be implemented.“Some in the industry are advocating for a phased approach, focusing on the initial product rather than a multi-class structure,“ he said. “We’re taking those perspectives into consideration. HMBS 2.0 presents our best — and perhaps last — opportunity under existing authority to stabilize the program. “So, we want to make sure that what we deliver to the market brings meaningful relief. That’s going to be the goal that determines the scope of the program and our timeline.”

A new startup wants to help real estate agents get more out of their multiple listing service (MLS).Realoq has launched a MLS platform that features customized branding and direct access to consumers, and the company believes it will provide savings on lead generation.“This new solution is ideal for MLS organizations seeking a more affordable option,” Realoq CEO Anvesh Chakravartula said in a statement.The company’s MLS platform and existing listings portal puts it in direct competition with many giants of real estate, including Zillow, CoStar Group and Move Inc. Competition in this space is already fierce, with the “portal wars” growing more intense.Realoq operates on a subscription model in which an MLS pays a monthly fee per agent. The platform provides agents with property listings, web analytics and lead management tools.The company was founded last year and has received $3 million in seed funding from TRK Ventures. In June, Realoq expanded into three new states. It is now active in California, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Texas, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington.

Carol Dujanovich, senior vice president and director of reverse mortgages at University Bank, has been reappointed to a new three-year term as a member of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee (HCFAC).The committee is designed to advise HUD “by helping shape the direction of its Housing Counseling Program and providing guidance on how to better serve prospective buyers, homeowners, and renters with their housing needs,” the department said in a statement.Housing counseling is a critical element of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. Prospective borrowers are required to attend a HECM counseling session with a HUD-certified counselor prior to closing their reverse mortgage.Dujanovich was first appointed to HCFAC in late 2021. She told RMD at that time that she hoped to illuminate the realities of reverse mortgage lending for her colleagues on the committee. Dujanovich is one of four returning members to HCFAC for the new term that begins in January, and an additional seven appointments were made to fill out the 11-person committee.“I am so proud to be able to continue to serve on the Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee for another three years,” Dujanovich said when reached by HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD). “By serving on this committee on behalf of the reverse mortgage industry, I feel that I will be able to bring forward what issues our seniors face daily.”These include the ways in which reverse mortgage counseling is delivered and how seniors can find needed assistance for aging in place, she said.“We have made strides; however, we still have a lot of work to do and I am privileged to accomplish positive results,” she added.David Berenbaum, HUD’s deputy assistant secretary of housing counseling, expressed well wishes and gratitude to both the incoming and outgoing committee members.“We are excited to collaborate with the Committee to drive our mission forward and provide consumers with vital resources to secure, uphold, and preserve their homes,” Berenbaum said in a statement. “We’d also like to express our appreciation to the departing members for sharing their expertise to foster the impact of housing counseling providers nationwide.”

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have published a new report identifying the locations of people seeking Federal Housing Administration (FHA) rental and homeownership assistance programs. They found that homeownership program beneficiaries generally live in more affluent, racially homogenous neighborhoods than those seeking rental assistance.HUD researchers have dedicated much time and effort studying the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. They published the most recent location report to determine if households receiving HCVs are located in “higher opportunity” neighborhoods, which HUD defines as census tracts with lower rates of poverty.“The latest report, which examined program data from 2010 to 2020, found no meaningful change in neighborhood poverty for program participants,” the report explained. “Studies examining the intersection of race and income in the HCV program, however, indicate that Black and Hispanic voucher holders tend to live in neighborhoods with higher poverty rates than do white voucher holders.”A voucher location report published in 2003 said that white recipients of HCVs were “more likely to live outside of central cities than Black or Hispanic voucher recipients, indicating that the race and ethnicity of program participants may be determining factors for where they live.”The locations of households that have received FHA-backed mortgages have been studied far less, HUD explained. But one analysis from the 2008 mortgage crisis found that “loans in majority-Black ZIP Codes were more likely to be FHA loans, suggesting that FHA played an outsized role in post-crisis homeownership in majority-Black neighborhoods,” the paper explained.The 2008 study, however, did not account for information on the borrower’s race and only examined data in metropolitan areas. This was “a decision that undoubtedly influenced the results,” the researchers said.Among the paper’s other key findings, HUD found that roughly 35% of occupied housing units are rentals while 65% are owner-occupied.“Owner-occupied households are more likely to be located in census tracts that are whiter and have lower poverty rates,” the study said. “If federal homeownership assistance programs follow national trends, we would expect FHA loans to be associated with whiter and lower-poverty census tracts.”The paper framed its findings by comparing the context for federally assisted homeowners and renters around three key neighborhood variables — poverty; resident race and ethnicity; and location in an urban, suburban or rural county.The report also points out a need to examine the potential role that federal housing assistance programs could play in the racial homeownership gap.“Because of the historical role of agencies such as FHA and [the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC)] in perpetuating segregation and promoting investment in white communities, investigating whether investment from federal housing assistance programs continues to flow to majority-white communities is important,” the paper said.“We find that census tracts with higher shares of white residents also have higher shares of homeowners receiving FHA-backed mortgages. Notably, nearly half (45%) of FHA-backed mortgages are issued to homeowners in census tracts where 75 percent or more of the residents are white.”Census-tract demographics and poverty have a relationship with “the prevalence of FHA-insured mortgages and [tenant-based housing choice voucher (TBV)]-supported households,” the paper said.“Whether white residents make up most of the census tract population has less of an impact on where households receiving TBV rental assistance are located; however, nearly half of renters supported by TBVs live in high-poverty census tracts (defined as census tracts with a poverty rate of at least 20%).”This drives the need for accompanying industries to examine the broader, long-term impacts of their actions on exacerbating racial disparities in homeownership and rental assistance programs, the researchers said.“Without intervention, the private mortgage and rental markets could perpetuate a status quo that widens racial and economic disparities,” the paper concluded. “Federal rental and homeownership assistance programs provide housing market interventions that can increase housing stability, promote home equity gains, and build intergenerational wealth.“Present-day disparities in access to quality, stable, and affordable housing punctuate the need to continue to advance racial and economic equity through federal housing policy.”

About a week after the Federal Reserve lowered benchmark interest rates for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, mortgage rates reached their low point for 2024.The news has not been so positive since then for U.S. consumers or the housing industry.According to HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center, the average 30-year conforming rate bottomed out at 6.24% on Sept. 27. That was the lowest figure since February 2023. But after muddling along for another week, rates rose again and stood at 6.49% on Wednesday. The average 15-year conforming rate jumped even more sharply during this time, going from 5.58% to 6.02%.It’s not an unexpected turn of events. Mortgage industry experts said that last month’s Fed cut of 50 basis points (bps) was already baked into loan pricing. And with the economy remaining resilient as job creation exceeds expectations, lenders are betting that Fed policy will not loosen quickly in the final two months of the year.According to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, interest rate traders say there is a 94% chance of a 25-bps cut next month. They’re also giving 86% odds of an additional 25-bps cut in December. But two small cuts, if they materialize, would still leave the federal funds rate at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. And many market observers believe that is still far from the “neutral rate” needed to spur more demand for purchase loans and refinances.Mortgage rates tend to move in tandem with Treasury yields, and HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami wrote last week that the 10-year yield has increased by 35 bps since the Fed’s decision to cut rates. This was the result of stronger-than-anticipated economic data, including a September jobs report that blew past expectations with 254,000 jobs created — well above the 12-month average.“Mortgage rates had already reached the bottom of my 2024 forecast so the risk of rates going higher was a legitimate concern,” Mohtashami wrote. “As I have noted, once the 10-year yield gets below 3.80% we need to see weaker economic data for rates to drop and the opposite happened last week. This explains the rise in mortgage rates since the Fed cut rates.”Some economic data supports the theory that the economy is cooling and could support lower interest rates. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September showed seasonally unadjusted inflation of 2.4% over the past year, which was higher than forecasted. And weekly unemployment claims for the week ending Oct. 5 jumped to 258,000, their highest level in more than a year.Higher borrowing costs are already showing up in mortgage application data. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday that applications took a 17% nosedive during the week ending Oct. 11. Refinances have been showing recent signs of life, but demand dropped by 26% during the week and the refi share of all applications fell below 50% for the first time in a month.Melissa Cohn, regional vice president for William Raveis Mortgage, said that it’s not outside the realm of possibility for the Fed to stand pat in November with its current policy rate. For prospective homebuyers, she said, waiting may not be the best approach.“You can’t just sit around and wait for rates to drop,” Cohn said in a statement. “You have buyers who say they’re waiting for rates to drop before they want to buy. Well, this is a wake-up call, saying that no, you better find a house you want to buy and then worry about rates secondly. […] You cannot wait for a rate that may never exist.”Even with lower mortgage rates than a year ago, home-price appreciation continues to negatively impact affordability. Fannie Mae reported Tuesday that U.S. single-family home prices rose 5.9% during the year ending in third-quarter 2024. This was lower than the annualized growth rate of 6.4% in the second quarter, but the government-sponsored enterprise said that prospective buyers are likely weighing prices more heavily than interest rates or available inventory.  “In fact, consumers have told as much: In September, high home prices supplanted high mortgage rates as the top reason for our survey respondents’ overwhelming pessimism toward homebuying conditions,” Fannie chief economist Mark Palim said in a statement. “Overall, the strength of this latest home price reading confirms the ongoing challenges with tight supply; however, the index’s continued deceleration shows that we’re slowly moving toward a better balance between supply and demand.”

Coldwell Banker Realty just made earnest money deposit payments much easier for real estate agents and homebuyers. Technology provider Payload is integrating with the brokerage firm, according to a recent announcement.With its new integration, Coldwell Banker Realty — a subsidiary of Anywhere Real Estate Inc. —can now process all earnest money deposit (EMD) payments through Payload’s Check21 feature. It is based on a federal law of the same name that allows financial institutions to process checks through imaging. In 2022, Coldwell Banker launched digital EMD capturing for all agents through an integration earlier with Payload to its My Deals platform — a system designed to replace traditional transaction cover sheets — and its Trident account system. Before partnering with Payload, Coldwell Banker handled more than 100,000 of these transactions manually. Now, those days are long gone, according to company leadership.“We are thrilled to partner with Coldwell Banker Realty to digitally transform their payment workflows,” Zach Jacob, Payload’s vice president of real estate, said in a statement. “Our technology is perfectly suited to meet the unique demands of the real estate market, and this collaboration highlights the potential for automation to drive significant improvements in operational efficiency and client satisfaction.”Kevin Morey, Anywhere’s vice president of agent services, also reinforced the company’s commitment to growing its services via new technology.“We’re always looking for ways to leverage technology to enhance the homebuying experience for our team and clients,” he said. “The simplicity of the Payload integration and payment experience has led to widespread adoption from our agents and homebuyers, while the automated payment reconciliation has greatly simplified our accounting processes.”Payload offers more than automated EMD capturing. Coldwell Banker also launched lease commission payments and agent receivables through Payload, allowing agents to process automatic clearinghouse, credit and debit transactions, along with virtual wallets such Google Pay or Apple Pay.“In our efforts to remove friction and complication from the real estate transaction, both agents and consumers have appreciated the convenience Payload offers to ratify a purchase and sales agreement,” said Pauline Bennett, Coldwell Banker’s Northeast regional president.

The nation’s most expensive neighborhoods are once again in coastal states. A recent report from real estate data provider PropertyShark ranked California, New York and Florida as the states with the most expensive ZIP codes in 2024.The report listed the 100 most expensive ZIP codes between Jan. 1 and Sept 30 of this year based on prices for closed residential sales. California dominated the list, comprising 66% of the most expensive ZIP codes in the U.S. Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Orange counties had the highest concentrations of pricey ZIP codes this year.The nation’s most expensive neighborhood — Atherton, California — saw its median sale price jump to $7.9 million this year. Atherton maintained its spot as the most expensive ZIP code for the eighth year in a row. In 2023, Atherton’s median sale price was $400,000 lower than today. Behind it, six other California ZIP codes — including neighborhoods in Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, Rancho Santa Fe and Santa Monica — ranked among the 10 most expensive spots.California may have the majority of the most expensive counties, but New York’s Suffolk County — which comprises two-thirds of Long Island — follows with eight high-income neighborhoods in The Hamptons on the list. Two of these neighborhoods — Sagaponack and Water Mill — hold the No. 2 and No. 3 spots nationally.New York City is the most expensive city among the top 100, followed by Los Angeles and Newport Beach. Five Manhattan neighborhoods and one Brooklyn neighborhood are on the list, with Tribeca standing out as the most expensive neighborhood. Some of the Los Angeles neighborhoods on the list included Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, Beverly Crest and Brentwood.Together, the San Francisco Bay Area, metro L.A. and metro New York make up 78% of the country’s most expensive ZIP codes. Florida’s Miami Beach area occupies the No. 4 spot on the list with a median sale price of $5.7 million. Homebuyers in these locales boosted the luxury real estate market by 70%, according to the report. Meanwhile, 67% percent of the most expensive ZIP codes saw a price increase in 2024, compared to 29% in 2023. There were 15 ZIP codes on the list that boasted a median sale price above $4 million, while only 15 were below $2 million. 

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. has agreed to settle with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) over the regulators’ allegations of mortgage lending discrimination in majority-Black neighborhoods of the Birmingham, Alabama, metro area.The agreement, which was submitted for court approval, requires the Madison, Wisconsin-based mortgage lender to pay a $1.9 million civil penalty. It also must provide $7 million for a home loan subsidy program in majority-Black neighborhoods, and it must pay at least $1 million to serve the neighborhoods it redlined, according to the terms of the agreement released on Tuesday.Similar to other lending discrimination cases, the CFPB and the DOJ accuse Fairway of redlining as the company allegedly discouraged people from majority-Black neighborhoods from applying for mortgages, including through its marketing and sales actions. Fairway released a lengthy statement on Tuesday in which it said it had been investigated by the CFPB on this matter since the opening days of the Biden administration in 2021. The company also said that it received the allegations after a settlement was reached. “The complaint significantly mischaracterizes the matter at issue and appear to be intentionally inflammatory in nature,“ the company stated. “For one, the complaint characterizes Fairway’s actions as willful and reckless, a claim that was mutually rejected by the parties prior to settlement. In addition, the complaint characterizes Fairway’s actions as willful and intentional, despite the government agencies’ failure to identify any evidence to support such a claim. Fairway is disappointed by these statements in the complaint, which suggest bad faith by the part of the government agencies.“ The company ranked No. 12 among the largest U.S. mortgage lenders in the first half of 2024, with $11.8 billion in home loan production. That was down 18% year over year, per Inside Mortgage Finance estimates. Fairway operates in the Birmingham area under the trade name MortgageBanc, which it acquired in 2009. Regulators said that data showed that only 3.77% of Fairway’s applications from 2018 through 2022 were for properties in majority-Black areas of Birmingham. This compared to 12.2% for peer lenders, which the regulators cited as evidence of redlining. In neighborhoods with Black populations of 80% or more, Fairway granted loans at less than one-eighth of the rate of its competitors. The regulators added that in the Birmingham area — which has six counties and about 1.1 million people — Fairway had three retail loan offices and three desks in real estate offices, all in majority-white areas. From 2018 to 2020, it directed less than 3% of its direct mail advertising to consumers in majority-Black areas and, despite knowing about the discrepancies, failed to address them. “Fairway’s unlawful redlining discouraged families from seeking loans for homes in Birmingham’s Black neighborhoods,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “This case is a reminder that redlining is not a relic of the past, and the Justice Department will continue to work urgently to combat lending discrimination wherever it arises and to secure relief for the communities harmed by it,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland added. Through its Combating Redlining Initiative, the DOJ has collected more than $150 million in relief for communities across the country over the past three years. Redlining is the legal practice of denying certain neighborhoods the same access to credit based on their racial or ethnic composition. Fairway’s statement said that the multiyear investigation did not identify any evidence of redlining or discrimination. It said the CFPB reviewed loan application data that the company reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The bureau calculated the ratio of Fairway’s lending activities in majority-white census tracts to its activities in majority-Black areas, then compared the ratio to those of other lenders. “The government agencies refused to consider the fact that Fairway took more loan applications and made more loans, in terms of number of loan units, in majority-Black census tracts than any other non-bank lender with a physical presence in the Birmingham MSA,“ the statement read.“Fairway vigorously defended itself against the government agencies’ allegations and continues to deny that the Company engaged in any discriminatory behavior. Fairway also maintains strong disagreement with the government agencies’ legal and statistical approach to identifying potential discrimination. However, to resolve the matter and curb the further expenditure of resources, Fairway determined that a settlement with the Bureau and the DOJ would be the most appropriate solution.“Editor’s note: This story was updated with a statement from Fairway.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) is targeting January 2025 as the release window for reverse mortgage standards from its work group that is analyzing and developing the standards, according to a statement released Tuesday by Mortgage Cadence.“Interestingly, traditional forward mortgage lenders are beginning to take notice of the reverse mortgage opportunity, albeit cautiously,” the informational blog posted reads. “There’s a growing curiosity about integrating reverse mortgage capabilities into existing lending platforms. Questions about data portability and system integration are becoming more common, indicating a shift in perspective among conventional lenders.”This interest aligns with efforts designed to standardize reverse mortgage data, the company noted. It also characterized the standards more fully, saying they could go a long way in making reverse mortgages more of a mainstream financial product than they are today.“This landmark development will establish uniform data standards for reverse mortgages, potentially opening the door for wider adoption and integration across the lending industry,” according to the Mortgage Cadence post. “It addresses a long-standing challenge in the industry — the lack of standardized data formats that has historically made it difficult for traditional lenders to incorporate reverse mortgages into their existing systems.”The hope is that these standards will enable any lender, vendor or other party “in the loan manufacturing ecosystem interested in entering the reverse mortgage space to do so with greater ease and efficiency,” the company said.MISMO launched its reverse mortgage working group in April 2023. It initiated a discovery phase by identifying professionals to join, analyzed reverse mortgage use cases, and evaluated existing MISMO products and tools that could be applied to reverse mortgages.Earlier this year, the MISMO reverse working group appointed industry veteran George Morales, the national sales director for Mortgage Cadence, to serve as its chairperson. In an interview shortly after his appointment to the role, Morales told RMD about the hopes for the working group.“This reverse mortgage reference model would go a long way to ‘mainstream’ the reverse mortgage products — which are often seen as niche — by providing opportunities for systems, data and documents in an industry-standard format (with data definitions), to be easily and consistently exchanged between all parties involved in the lending life cycle by both forward and reverse mortgage lenders, vendors and other third parties,” Morales said in July.Part of this includes lowering the barrier to entry for new players in the reverse mortgage space. This may also include broadening the language used by industry professionals, which is sometimes out of sync when compared to language used on the forward side of the mortgage business, Morales said.“Creating a MISMO standard that includes reverse mortgages will help in mainstreaming the reverse mortgage product,” he said in July. “It will enable us to bring it to forward mortgage companies, third-party vendors and organizations that interact in the mortgage world, allowing for the exchange of reverse mortgage information between systems.”Late last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) signaled that it was more interested in reverse mortgage activity in 2024.“I think that given the demographics of this country and given the record levels of home equity, it makes perfect sense for our members to focus on that product, [and to] make it as strong and sustainable, both for lenders and servicers and of course for the homeowners and their families, as it can be,” MBA president and CEO Bob Broeksmit said at the time.

Title valuation, brokerage and consulting services firm Title Success, which is powered by Bowe Digital, announced Monday that it has launched a newly designed website.The new site offers a listing service for title companies looking to sell their operations. Title insurance agency owners interested in mergers and acquisitions can use the site to search for potential deals — filtering their searches based on location, asking price, gross revenue, company ID, number of employees, number of locations and date listed in the portal.Once users find a company they would like to acquire, they can then begin a due-diligence process run by the team at Title Success.“We drew inspiration from the user-friendly design of online dating apps to create a professional, efficient and intuitive environment for title companies to find their ideal match,” Wayne M. Stanley, an owner of Title Success and the founder of Bowe Digital, said in a statement. “Buyers looking to expand their agency’s footprint can easily access a vetted network of companies eager to sell.”Those looking to sell their business have access to two listing options — a “standard listing” and a “featured listing.” Both options offer immediate exposure, but the “featured” option also includes high-quality photos, videos and detailed company information.“This new site will transform how buyers and sellers in the title industry find each other,” Marcus Hunt, a co-founder and partner of Title Success, said in a statement. “We envision a marketplace where every transaction is a perfect fit, ensuring long-term success for both parties.“

In the newest episode of the PowerHouse podcast, HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins sits down with Greg Schwartz, CEO of Tomo, to discuss market recovery indicators and Tomo’s recent investments in artificial intelligence (AI). Schwartz also shares his approach to building a mortgage company alongside tips on work-life balance, market dynamics and more.To start the conversation, Collins and Schwartz reflect on Tomo’s past as the company was founded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schwartz points out that starting Tomo required an adaptive approach to leadership by people who maintain a “wartime“ leadership style that adjusts to industry changes. But he notes that building a successful mortgage company requires hard work and diligence, regardless of industry changes.From there, Collins dives deeper into Tomo’s past and mentions its focus on purchase loans versus refinances and other product types. Collins points out that purchase lending is generally more stable than refinances. Schwartz agrees and shares that one of Tomo’s top priorities was to build a business model that moved away from unstable refinance markets in favor of a more stable and predictable purchase-focused strategy.Collins asks Schwartz to share how he balanced working with real estate agents and other referral partners by leveraging AI to develop the “Costco loan origination method.“ Schwartz shares that agents prefer Tomo due to its shorter origination timelines, which allows them to deliver more value to customers. Agents prioritize accountability and quality, and Tomo helps them provide that for buyer clients.Schwartz also shares that his priority is to help Americans build wealth through real estate, which comprises more than 70% of all wealth in the U.S. As such, Tomo’s priority goes beyond merely driving loan volume.“It is not just about turning volume or making a buck,” Schwartz says. “The people that come to work here understand that it’s a startup. It will be a little less consistent every day because we’re inventing and changing day after day, but it’s purpose-driven, and that makes my job easier because I get to anchor to something bigger than me.”Unlike other lenders, Tomo doesn’t use market conditions to determine production goals or other critical metrics. He urges leaders to innovate and set standards based on a shared vision for the company in the future. Collins says it is vital to understand market conditions to a certain degree when determining performance metrics. The societal views of housing wealth also influence Tomo’s product decisions. Schwartz shares that millennials have the same attitudes toward homeownership as older generations, despite the increased costs of housing. He also notes that many homeowners struggle to save for a down payment, a phenomenon he calls “the Pinterest effect.““We see a whole generation of homebuyers — and there’s a lot of research — who’ve struggled to save for a down payment, and I hear this theme repeatedly. I saved, saved and saved, and it still seemed elusive because homes became more expensive during that period,” Schwartz says. He describes the Pinterest effect as an inflated belief that many first-time buyers have about their first home, which dissuades them from purchasing.Next, Collins mentions the recent decline in mortgage rates and asks Schwartz for insights on how Tomo will respond. Schwartz shares that Tomo’s recruitment efforts have increased and that the company has put more effort into technological developments. His goal is to use technology to hire fewer employees, which takes the workload off Tomo’s current workforce. Collins and Schwartz agree that some mortgage companies will hire fewer employees. To close the conversation, Schwartz shares that he is improving his leadership skills by learning from mentors, creating and following standards, communicating more effectively and holding his team accountable for offering better mortgages.

Brian McKinney, formerly the CEO of Benchmark Mortgage (a dba of Ark-La-Tex Financial Services), has joined PrimeLending in a newly created executive position. McKinney, who’s been CEO of Benchmark since 2016, will serve as executive vice president for growth and strategic development at PrimeLending. He’s tasked with exploring new revenue opportunities and driving company growth.“Brian is a tremendous addition to our team, bringing an incredible track record of success building top-performing business lines in the mortgage industry,” Steve Thompson, president and CEO of PrimeLending, said in a statement. “Brian shares our commitment to excellence — we don’t settle for average — and I’m excited to see the positive impact that Brian will have on the future of PrimeLending.”Before his decade-plus stint at Plano, Texas-based Benchmark, McKinney was a vice president at GMAC Financial Services. His new shop originated roughly $5.3 billion in mortgages over the past year, according to Modex data, and it has made no bones about tapping high-volume loan officers in targeted locations to gain market share. The company told HousingWire last year that it sees an opportunity to grow in the Southwest region and in Texas in particular, where it is headquartered.PrimeLending is backed by Hilltop Holdings, a holding company that includes PlainsCapital Bank and Hilltop Securities.“I’m excited to join PrimeLending, a company I’ve long admired as the gold standard in the industry for its excellence and innovation,” McKinney said in a statement. “As part of the Hilltop Holdings family, PrimeLending is backed by a well-funded and supportive owner, providing unmatched stability and resources. I look forward to helping drive the next chapter of this proven organization.”Benchmark, meanwhile, has originated about $2.5 billion in mortgages over the past year, according to Modex. It does much of its business in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Its executives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — the regulatory body that oversees communications across a wide variety of media including radio, telephone and the internet — announced that new rules related to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) will go into effect in April 2025.The new guidelines are designed to make it easier for consumers to revoke consent for unwanted robocalls and texts. The rules also impose stricter compliance guidelines on the organizations responsible for the communications, saying that companies must respond to opt-out requests in a “timely manner.”The effective date for the new rule is April 11, 2025, giving the mortgage and real estate industries roughly six months to become compliant.A consent order that was initially released this past February and published in the Federal Register in March aimed to “strengthen consumers’ ability to revoke consent to receive both robocalls and robotexts,” according to an announcement published by the FCC.“In addition, the Commission sought comment on whether the TCPA applies to robocalls and robotexts from wireless providers to their own subscribers and whether to require an automated opt-out mechanism on every call that contains an artificial or prerecorded voice.”The new guidelines will be of interest to any mortgage or real estate company that uses these communications to solicit business. With the mortgage industry coming out against the practice of trigger leads — and trade groups like the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) excoriating the practice as one that reduces consumer trust while actively harassing, deceiving and misleading consumers — the FCC is following suit with this broad-based rule.It also follows on actions taken by the FCC in December 2023, where the regulator moved to adopt rules that would close the “lead generator loophole” that had been used in the mortgage business. “The new rules allow blocking of ‘red flagged’ robo-texting numbers, codifies do-not-call rules for texting, and encourages an opt-in approach for delivering email-to-text messages,” the FCC said at the time.The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act of 2024, a U.S. Senate bill introduced in December to target mortgage trigger leads, has been incorporated into the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Congress must pass the NDAA each year, since it refers to laws that specify the annual budget for the U.S. Department of Defense.Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of the MBA, said his group is pleased with the development. The trade group is “working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle […] to make sure this provision is included in the final version of the NDAA,” he said. “Congress must help homebuyers before it adjourns later this year.”There are three core provisions to the new rules. First, consumers can revoke their consent to any such communications in “any reasonable way,” but in response to the broadness of the word “reasonable,” the FCC published guidelines for its thinking.“Specifically, we adopt a new rule that makes clear that any revocation request made using an automated, interactive voice or key press activated opt-out mechanism on a robocall; via a response of ‘stop’ or a similar, standard response message sent in reply to an incoming text message; or submitted at a website or telephone number provided by the caller to process opt-out requests constitute examples of a reasonable means to revoke consent,” the FCC explained.“If a called party uses any such method designated by the caller to revoke consent, we consider that consent to be definitively revoked by a reasonable means, and future robocalls and robotexts from that caller must be stopped.”The second provision relates to the timely processing of opt-out requests.“Specifically, we amend our rules to require that callers honor company-specific do-not-call and revocation-of-consent requests within a reasonable time from the date that the request is made, not to exceed 10 business days after receipt of the request,” the FCC’s guidance states.Third, senders may follow up with a message that confirms the opt-out request was received.“[A] one-time text message confirming a consumer’s request that no further text messages be sent does not violate the TCPA or the Commission’s rules as long as the confirmation text merely confirms the called party’s opt-out request and does not include any marketing or promotional information, and the text is the only additional message sent to the called party after receipt of the opt-out request,” the guidance explained.

In the third quarter of 2024, Bank of America (BofA) saw a decline in mortgage production, despite a drop in interest rates that benefited competitors like Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Citi. BofA announced on Tuesday that it posted $5.3 billion in first-lien mortgage volume from July to September, a 7% decline from the $5.7 billion recorded in the previous quarter and a 4% decrease compared to its $5.5 billion total in Q3 2023. In second-quarter 2024, the bank’s mortgage origination volume jumped 66%. Chief financial officer Alastair Borthwick explained that consumer banking loan growth was largely driven by credit cards, small-business loans and auto loans. But this overall growth was muted by a decline in mortgage balances as paydowns exceeded originations in a higher rate environment.Citi, which also announced its earnings on Tuesday, reported a more positive performance with $3.9 billion in originations, up 7% from the prior quarter and up 18% year over year. Last week, JPMorgan maintained its top position among depository mortgage producers with $11.4 billion in Q3 volume, followed by Wells Fargo at $5.5 billion. Combined, the four largest depository mortgage lenders produced roughly $26 billion in mortgages from July through September.Nonbank mortgage lenders such as Rocket Mortgage, United Wholesale Mortgage, loanDepot, Pennymac, Newrez and Mr. Cooper, among others, are expected to release their quarterly earnings in the coming weeks. Home equityBofA’s home equity loan production also dropped. In Q3 2024, the bank originated $2.28 billion in home equity loans, a 4.3% decline from the $2.39 billion reported in Q2 and a 5.4% decrease from $2.42 billion in Q3 2023.The bank’s total outstanding residential mortgages stood at $227.8 billion as of Sept. 30, compared to $227.5 billion in Q2 and $229 billion in Q3 2023. Its home equity portfolio was valued at $25.48 billion at the end of the third quarter, compared to $25.44 billion in Q2 2024 and $25.49 billion in the same period last year. Bank of America’s total mortgage-backed securities had a fair market value of $70.3 billion as of Sept. 30, up from $57.1 billion on June 30.Despite the declines in its first mortgage and home equity sectors, BofA reported a steady net income of $6.9 billion in Q3 2024, mirroring last year’s figures. The consumer banking division contributed $2.7 billion to this total. Credit loss provisions remained at $1.5 billion, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). BofA chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement that the bank’s team produced another “solid earnings result.” Company executives told analysts that despite planned revisions to the proposed Basel III Endgame capital rules, which were announced by Federal Reserve officials, the company’s capital strategy has not changed.