The Mortgage Collaborative and Blend announced a partnership to bring the digital experience to a network of small, mid-sized, and community-based lenders. As a 2017 HousingWire Tech 100 winner, Blend is a Silicon Valley technology company that’s helping bring mortgages into the modern age. The Mortgage Collaborative is the latest lender to step up to the growing digital demand in housing.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
California homeowners who rent out their properties on Airbnb could now potentially be the target of fair housing investigations, thanks to an agreement between the short-term rental website and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Here are the details.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
Avilla Homes opened its first leased neighborhood in Texas with a ribbon cutting ceremony in the Dallas area. Despite low inventory levels, the homes’ developer explained the new neighborhood will not compete with single-family developments.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
The Trump administration recently announced a tariff on Canadian softwood lumber imported into the U.S. to address a long-standing issue between the two countries. And while Canadian lumber producers, as intended, will feel the impact immediately, so will U.S. homebuilders. The main difference is that it could take U.S. homebuilders up to six months to feel the financial blow.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
Financial Services Committee Democrats are not going to let the Republicans easily shut the door on discussing the Financial CHOICE Act. Right now, the Financial CHOICE Act is the Republican-led act to replace the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Democrats prefer to call it the “Wrong Choice Act.” This uncommon hearing was scheduled to give their feedback on the controversial act.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
Many, but not all AMCs and lenders have classified appraisers into groups or Tiers. They use different designations or categories but in the end it’s a grading of the appraiser based on several factors: Turn time, quality of work, number of corrections, business practices, etc. Higher Tier appraisers usually, but not always, get paid more and are the first to receive orders. Yesterday (April 27) I sat in a room with several chief appraisers from the NW area. They were paying their Tier 1 appraisers between $700 to $1,500 (depending on location), for standard 1004 form appraisals (waterfront and complex appraisals had even higher fees). Their Tier 2 appraisers were paid less than $500 in the same areas.
Source: Working RE Magazine
For those in the housing industry, Pam Patenaude’s name is well known. So, it should come as no shock that the housing industry supports the Trump administration’s nomination of Patenaude to serve as the HUD deputy secretary. Declarations of support for Patenaude came in quickly after the White House’s announcement of her nomination, including from some of the housing industry’s biggest groups, and from Patenaude’s potential boss at HUD.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
Ten-X predicts existing home sales will slip in April, coming down off March’s high. Despite this drop, economists explain the two months will still be the best in recent memory for the housing market.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
“I’ve been privileged to be with an organization like Texas Capital Bank, which deeply values entrepreneurial thinking. We’ve built a robust mortgage finance business, and I can’t think of a better person to grow it than Jack Nunnery,” Ort said.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
Ellie Mae powered through industry declines in mortgage volumes and recorded a strong boost in revenue for the first quarter 2017. As industry wide mortgage volume declined by 34% from the fourth quarter, Ellie Mae managed to grow its revenue by 26% in the first quarter.
Source: HousingWire Magazine
Equity Solutions, USA provides a full range of services to help ensure lenders meet the stringent regulatory compliance requirement in today’s market. Combining the comprehensive knowledge of our skilled staff, advanced technology and a national panel of licensed and certified appraisers we ensure your business objectives are met, while keeping your time and cost in mind.