Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s biweekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it every other Friday afternoon.
-Analysts for the S&P released a new breakdown of how removing the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) from their long government conservatorship could impact the mortgage giants—and the market in general. According to National Mortgage News, ramifications are highly dependent on whether the government will continue to back the GSEs, and how, with their standalone credit profiles earning a “B-” grade, compared to an “AA+” with government support.
-An acrimonious four-year legal saga came to a close for loanDepot last week as a jury in California found the company and top executives not liable for gender discrimination and fraud, according to National Mortgage Professional. Former loanDepot COO Tammy Richards had originally filed the lawsuit in 2021, claiming the company had fostered a “frat” culture and additionally cut corners around loan origination practices. The company settled a separate class-action suit based on those allegations for $3.75 million.
loanDepot countersued Richards in 2023, claiming she stole confidential information before filing her original lawsuit and leaving the company. That lawsuit is still pending.
-Foreclosure filings moved up sharply in January, according to the latest data from ATTOM, jumping 8% even as overall foreclosures remain low, down 7% from last year. While the data is potentially concerning, ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said it is too early to know whether the uptick represents a new trend or sign of market distress, rather than regular seasonal fluctuations.
-Business strategy consulting firm Boston Consulting Group is warning the mortgage industry is still overstaffed despite reductions. According to National Mortgage News, the paper pointed out that median productivity for salespeople in 2024 was still 33% lower than pre-pandemic. The consultants claim that tech tools should have increased productivity, and urged lenders to “avoid…hiring whipsaws with the appropriate investment in AI and other workflow efficiency technologies.”
-With the likelihood of new capital requirements being imposed on big banks shrinking under the Trump administration, Bloomberg reported that TD Bank is in talks to sell $9 billion in jumbo loans to Bank of America. Whether or not other banks would be interested in similar moves is unclear, with Bloomberg also noting that the move by TD is likely related to a previous regulatory order related to the bank’s admission of allowing money laundering by drug cartels last year.
-The Trump administration’s decision to halt operations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has significant short- and long-term implications for the mortgage industry—especially if Trump is able to shutter the agency permanently, as he has stated he wants to. Several lawsuits filed by the CFPB, including those against Rocket and Fairway Independent Mortgage, appear to be frozen, and a rule mandating medical debt be removed from credit reports also appears to be dead, according to National Mortgage News.
