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.
-California-based loanDepot, which has faced a bevy of legal troubles in recent years, fired back in court against some of the more high-stakes legal claims it is facing as borrowers have alleged the company falsified documents as part of a “scheme” to pump its numbers ahead of an IPO by steering customers to more expensive loans. While disputing the facts of the case, lawyers for loanDepot argued plaintiffs don’t have standing and also have also exceeded the relevant statute of limitations.
-Fed Chair Jerome Powell in public remarks this week said there is no “risk-free” choice as the central bank weighs when and how much to cut rates. Fed members generally expect more cuts this year, but Powell warned against the possibility of cutting too early and leaving persistent inflation weighing on the broader economy.
-Freddie Mac announced it is extending the tenure of interim CEO Michael T. Hutchins until December 19, as it seeks a permanent replacement for former CEO Diana Reid, who was fired shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Hutchins has worked in leadership roles at Freddie Mac since 2013, previously working at UBS.
-Michigan-based CrossCountry Mortgage joined other large lenders in raising conforming loan limits last week, to $819,000. The move to raise the limits ahead of the FHFA’s expected 2026 announcement later this year appears to be an attempt to pick up waning demand and address affordability issues amid generally lower activity. The FHFA’s 2025 conforming loan limit is $806,500.
-New Jersey-based OceanFirst Bank is laying off 114 employees and closing its residential loan business, according to National Mortgage Professional. OceanFirst SVP Jill Hewitt said the choice was catalyzed by how residential lending is “dominated…by large-scale wholesale mortgage companies and financial technology firms.” The bank will partner with Embrace Home Loans to maintain mortgage offerings.
-As rates have reached 11-month lows, a new report from Realtor®.com claims that younger homeowners and homebuyers are much more likely to benefit from mortgage rate relief. A handful of metros in the south and west, where homeowning populations are younger, are more likely to see renewed activity as rates fall, while others might see relatively little change based on a higher proportion of homeowners who don’t hold mortgages—who tend to be older.
