• Federal agency members voice support for new CRA rules 

    Federal agency members voice support for new CRA rules ,Flávia Furlan Nunes

    This week in Washington, D.C., representatives at federal agencies reinforced their support for the new rules that would modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a few days after a federal judge in Texas granted a preliminary injunction to banking associations that seek to halt its implementa

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  • Ryan Serhant launches broad-based sales training tool 

    Ryan Serhant launches broad-based sales training tool ,Sarah Marx

    Ryan Serhant — the acclaimed real estate broker, media personality and serial entrepreneur — is moving beyond his career in real estate to delve into the broader arena of sales. Serhant has teamed up with former NBC News producer Kyle Scott to unveil Sell It, a sales training platform tailored for a

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  • Houston must return $45M in unused affordable housing funds

    Houston must return $45M in unused affordable housing funds,Chris Clow

    Despite recent data indicating a poor affordable housing situation in Texas, the city of Houston must return $45 million in unused affordable housing funds to the state after failing to use them for construction of new homes. This is according to local reporting by a Houston ABC News affiliate.Prima

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  • Zillow names this year's best markets for first-time home buyers

    Zillow names this year's best markets for first-time home buyers,
  • Liberty Reverse parent Ocwen seeks to rebrand this year

    Liberty Reverse parent Ocwen seeks to rebrand this year,Chris Clow

    Ocwen Financial Corp., the parent company of top five reverse mortgage lender Liberty Reverse Mortgage and PHH Mortgage Corp., announced on Wednesday that it is undergoing a rebranding effort and will be known as Onity Group Inc. This is according to a company spokesperson and a subsequent announcem

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  • Zillow or CoStar? NAR settlement terms could determine a winner

    Zillow or CoStar? NAR settlement terms could determine a winner,Brooklee Han

    Real estate listing giants Zillow and CoStar are currently embattled in a fight for listing portal supremacy.The battle began heating up in September 2023 when CoStar’s residential real estate platform Homes.com surpassed 100 million unique monthly visitors, becoming the second most popular listing

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  • CHLA urges FHA’s equal treatment of homebuyers despite commission status

    CHLA urges FHA’s equal treatment of homebuyers despite commission status,Chris Clow

    The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) this week submitted a letter to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that urges the agency to “provide comparable down payment treatment for FHA borrowers, regardless of whether or not the seller is willing to pay the home buyer broker commission,” ac

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  • UWM sued over ‘corrupt’ scheme with brokers to steer loans

    UWM sued over ‘corrupt’ scheme with brokers to steer loans,Flávia Furlan Nunes

    Top U.S. mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is the target of a class-action-seeking lawsuit alleging it orchestrated a scheme with mortgage brokers to apply excess fees and costs to borrowers. The wholesale lender called the accusations a “sham.”The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in a Mic

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  • Pennsylvania doctor, lawmaker explain why aging in place ‘makes sense’

    Pennsylvania doctor, lawmaker explain why aging in place ‘makes sense’,Chris Clow

    A physician and a lawmaker, both based in the state of Pennsylvania, have come together to explain to area seniors why aging in place “makes sense,” explaining potential benefits from a regional healthcare system’s senior wellness program and the ability to remain in their own homes as they get olde

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  • Millennials are once again driving the home purchase market: NAR 

    Millennials are once again driving the home purchase market: NAR ,Sarah Marx

    Millennials replaced baby boomers as the largest group of homebuyers in 2023.The combined share of millennials, both younger (ages 25 to 33) and older (ages 34 to 43), made up a combined 38% of the home purchase market last year, up from 28% in 2022, according to the 2024 Home Buyers and Sellers Gen

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  • Compass to acquire Latter & Blum

    Compass to acquire Latter & Blum,Brooklee Han

    Compass is entering the housing markets in Louisiana and Mississippi through its acquisition of Gulf Coast-based brokerage Latter & Blum. The Robert Reffkin-helmed Compass announced the acquisition on Wednesday. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. “We are excited to welco

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  • Keller Williams named in additional lawsuit regarding profit-sharing program

    Keller Williams named in additional lawsuit regarding profit-sharing program,Sarah Marx

    Keller Williams is named in another class-action lawsuit that contests alterations made to the brokerage’s profit-sharing program. There are now six class-action lawsuits against KW that challenge the company’s profit-sharing program adjustments. Last month, five agents formerly affiliated with Kell

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  • How the brokerage landscape has changed in the last five years

    How the brokerage landscape has changed in the last five years,Will Robinson

    A pandemic-fueled home-buying bonanza. Rate-hike-squeezed housing inventory. Tectonic changes in how agents are compensated in home sales. There have been plenty of changes in the last five years, and RealTrends Verified has gotten the inside look at how the nation’s top brokerages have been affecte

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  • Keller Williams named in telemarketing lawsuit

    Keller Williams named in telemarketing lawsuit,Brooklee Han

    Keller Williams is in the crosshairs of yet another class action lawsuit, except instead of dealing with agent compensation or alleged breaches of contract, this latest suit involves unwanted telemarketing communications.In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court of the Western District of

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  • JPAR Real Estate announces strategic promotions

    JPAR Real Estate announces strategic promotions,Sarah Marx

    JPAR Real Estate, a full-service real estate brand and franchise platform, announced several strategic promotions and organizational changes within the brokerage on Monday.“These appointments represent not just a shift in roles but a bold statement of our commitment to excellence, innovation and unp

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  • Fairway’s reverse leadership talks course change and business in 2024

    Fairway’s reverse leadership talks course change and business in 2024,Chris Clow

    Last month, Madison, Wisconsin-based mortgage lender Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. announced the appointment of reverse mortgage industry veteran Dan Ventura to serve as its new president of reverse mortgage lending. The hiring came after a series of announcements in February, including the add

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  • CHLA appoints new vice president

    CHLA appoints new vice president,Sarah Marx

    The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA), a Washington, D.C., advocacy group representing smaller mortgage lenders, appointed Paulina McGrath to the position of vice president, it announced on Tuesday. In this role, McGrath will advocate for independent mortgage banks (IMBs) nationwide and will

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  • HUD awards $30M to fight Fair Housing Act violations

    HUD awards $30M to fight Fair Housing Act violations,Chris Clow

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Tuesday announced that it awarded $30 million in grants to fair housing organizations across the nation, which will go to “support the efforts of national, state, and local fair housing entities working to address violations of the Fair H

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  • Majority of older homeowners plan to stay in their home as they age: Redfin

    Majority of older homeowners plan to stay in their home as they age: Redfin,Sarah Marx

    Older Americans who own their home are financially incentivized to stay put, which is likely to worsen the ongoing inventory shortage, two Redfin studies found. In one recent survey, Redfin found that over three-quarters (78%) of older American homeowners (ages 60 and up) are planning to stay in the

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  • Highlands Residential Mortgage adds top Texas producer

    Highlands Residential Mortgage adds top Texas producer,Neil Pierson

    Josh Moody, a mortgage industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience and nearly $2 billion in career sales volume, recently joined Highlands Residential Mortgage.Based in Addison, Texas, Moody most recently worked for Synergy One Lending, where he posted nearly $77 million in production vol

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