As a technical matter, Better.com’s SPAC maneuver is still alive. But with the refinance business waning and gain on sales slipping, the company’s future looks cloudy, at best.

Financial technology lender SoFi is set to acquire a bank; United Wholesale Mortgage will cover appraisal costs on purchase mortgages through the end of March; mortgage tech companies raise capital; CoreLogic offers new fraud-detection service; low-code marketplace launched.

Some 300 companies are now members of MISMO. The organization’s efforts to improve mortgage data are being helped by a new fee.

The connection between work from home and productivity; Supreme Court blocks vaccine mandate for larger employers; Figure revises bank charter application; parent of Texas Capital Bank launches broker dealer.

Fed researchers find nonbanks improve the quality of their mortgage servicing by specializing in low-income borrowers.

Remote online notarization provision dropped from defense bill; credit unions allowed to acquire MSRs from other credit unions; new document processing technology offering; mortgage tech vendor raises capital; automated mortgage assistance product offered to distressed mortgage borrowers, for a fee.

The government watchdog found few instances where lenders incorporated alternative data in their underwriting.

Start-up mortgage lender Beeline completes Series A funding; HouseCanary publishes report defending its AVM; DC attorney general introduces legislation aimed at the use of algorithms by companies in the housing sector; LoanLogics acquires LoanBeam.

Black Knight increased its earnings in the third quarter of 2021 compared with the prior quarter while Blend Labs took a loss after earning a small profit in the second quarter.

A Redwood executive shared how new tech was implemented at the company, largely revolving around features improving customers’ experience.