Amerant Bank launched national mortgage operations in 2021. Now, the bank is reducing its footprint, focusing on lending in Florida where its bank branches are located.

Waterstone Financial relents on defense against poaching allegations; Mr. Cooper takes loss on sale of Flagstar’s third-party originations unit; legal expenses rise at Mr. Cooper.

Fitch Ratings warned that it could downgrade its corporate rating on Rocket following the company’s planned acquisition of Mr. Cooper. Rocket’s corporate leverage looks poised to increase.

Fannie’s AI-powered Ask Poli allows quality control personnel to identify frequently researched topics, both within and outside their organization, as a way to forecast current or future loan defects.

Most lenders reported significant improvement in servicing profitability that was driven by MSR markups. But results varied greatly on the production side, where lenders that rely on TPO channels fared much better. (Includes data tables.)

Better is touting investments in artificial intelligence to help slash costs tied to originating refis. The lender is also building a distributed retail operation to increase production of purchase mortgages.

When Rocket’s acquisition of Redfin could pay off; PennyMac sponsoring Team USA at Olympics; TransUnion brings on verification tool from Truework; Eastside Distilling now Beeline Holdings, a mortgage company.

Homebuilders with lending units continue to prop up home sales by offering mortgage buydowns. The tactic cuts into homebuilders’ margins but many company officials prefer lower margins rather than unsold inventory.

Retaining servicing rights on production can provide originators a profit opportunity, if they are able to manage the business effectively.

Servicing executives said enhanced data have helped homeowners avoid foreclosure and kept overall losses down for investors.