Independent mortgage banking, on the record.

Ross Mortgage Corp. team joins LoanPeople; Ross president Tim Pascarella named LoanPeople president Nov. 1

LoanPeople announced that the Ross Mortgage Corp. (Troy, Mich.) team is joining LoanPeople. Tim Pascarella becomes LoanPeople President on Nov. 1, 2026, and Max Leaman stays CEO. Ross originators may keep building under the RMC brand or switch to LoanPeople's. The pitch pairs Ross's government and renovation lending with LoanPeople's non-QM, jumbo, conventional and condo products. Terms not disclosed. The Mortgage Scoop first reported the merger Sep 28.

Nationwide Equities president Glenn Wallace retires; GC Philip Parziale named president

Park Ridge, NJ-based reverse mortgage direct lender and broker Nationwide Equities Corp. announced Oct. 22 that president Glenn J. Wallace, who partnered with CEO Paul Lamparillo to acquire the company, is retiring after 50+ years in mortgage finance. General counsel Philip Parziale succeeds him as president while keeping his legal role; Lamparillo remains CEO.

Northpointe to exit distributed retail and consumer-direct mortgage lending, signs LOI to sell channels to CMG Financial

Northpointe Bancshares (NYSE: NPB) disclosed in an Oct. 20 8-K that its and Northpointe Bank's boards approved on Oct. 18 a plan to exit the bank's distributed retail and consumer-direct mortgage origination channels, and that it has entered a non-binding letter of intent with CMG Financial and affiliates for the potential sale of those channels. The deal is subject to due diligence, a definitive agreement and closing conditions; Northpointe expects $6-7 million in restructuring charges, mostly severance, largely in Q4 2026.

Beeline cuts staff in new $3M cost-reduction plan

Beeline Holdings (Nasdaq: BLNE), a digital mortgage and home equity platform, announced an additional operating expense plan targeting about $250,000 a month ($3 million annualized) through workforce reductions, infrastructure consolidation and elimination of legacy overhead, with about $270,000 in one-time transition costs through Dec. 1, 2026.

Village Capital to pay over $500,000 to settle DOJ servicemember rate-cap claims

Village Capital & Investment LLC agreed to pay more than $500,000, including at least $425,000 to affected servicemembers and a $79,380 civil penalty, to resolve Justice Department claims that it failed to cap rates at 6% under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act on at least 41 pre-service mortgages and retaliated against borrowers who asked.

New American Funding welcomes Mullinix Mortgage Group

New American Funding said Oct. 13 that Will Mullinix and the Mullinix Mortgage Group, including named support LOs, are joining the lender and expanding its Carolinas footprint.

First Alliance acquires MLB Wholesale in asset sale

The Mortgage Scoop reported Oct. 12, citing multiple sources, that First Alliance has acquired MLB Wholesale in an asset sale, giving First Alliance's Sam Khalil a long-desired wholesale channel.

Optimal Blue acquires Usherpa, borrower-engagement CRM for loan officers

Optimal Blue announced Oct. 12 it acquired Usherpa, a marketing automation and borrower relationship platform built for mortgage professionals. Usherpa will be natively integrated into Optimal Blue's product, pricing and eligibility stack while continuing to serve loan officers, real estate agents and mortgage companies; CEO Joe Tyrrell calls it a step toward a single originator command center but says lenders keep their choice of CRM. Terms were not disclosed.

Adam West moves $61.6M team to GoRascal

Adam West and 13 team members (12 loan officers plus a processor) joined independent brokerage GoRascal after closing $61.6 million across 122 loans through Sept. 30, 2026; West closed $86 million in 2025.

Better gets Nasdaq governance deficiency notice after Garg board overhaul

Better Home & Finance disclosed in an Oct. 9 Form 8-K (Item 3.01) that the board removals and resignations from Garg's consent solicitation left it out of compliance with Nasdaq rules requiring a majority-independent board and independent audit, compensation and nominating oversight. Nasdaq sent notice Oct. 8 giving Better 45 calendar days to submit a plan to regain compliance; the notice has no immediate effect on the listing, and Better says it intends to file a plan.

PLACE acquires Ardley, recapture software for IMBs and banks

PLACE announced Oct. 9 it acquired Ardley, a recapture and retention software provider for independent mortgage companies and banks that analyzes servicing portfolios and pushes prestructured loan offers to existing borrowers. Terms were not disclosed. It follows PLACE's September purchase of point-of-sale vendor Maxwell; PLACE says Maxwell and Ardley each touched nearly one in 10 U.S. originations in 2025.

Newrez and eXp Realty form Revenos Mortgage JV

eXp Realty and Newrez announced at eXpcon on Oct. 8 a new mortgage joint venture, Revenos Mortgage, expected to launch in early 2027, pairing eXp's agent network with Newrez's origination and servicing platform after eXp wound down its Success Lending JV with Kind Lending.

Better authorizes $30 million stock buyback

Better Home & Finance authorized a share repurchase program of up to $30 million through Oct. 8, 2027, starting with an initial $10 million phase of Class A buybacks funded by cost savings and capital releases.

Scoop: loanDepot lays off product, dev and QA staff

The Mortgage Scoop reports loanDepot cut staff on Oct. 7, with product, developer and QA roles among those shed, which one source described as an ongoing talent restructuring under new IT leadership.

Better 8-K: Lewis out as interim CEO; Garg seats four, search opens

Better Home & Finance confirmed in an Oct. 6 Form 8-K that Vishal Garg's consents removed five directors on Sept. 30 and that director Hugh Frater resigned. Garg, as sole remaining director, appointed Bing Gordon, Steven Sarracino, General Counsel Paula Tuffin and employee Nicholas Calamari on Oct. 5. The new board then removed Daniel Lewis as interim CEO and began a search for a successor interim CEO.

Mortgage Connect buys majority of Stavvy, merging it with Simply Secure Sign

Mortgage Connect, LP said Tuesday it has purchased the majority interest in digital-closing platform Stavvy and plans to merge Stavvy's operations with its own eClosing product, Simply Secure Sign, into one end-to-end platform covering RON, eClosing, SMART Doc generation, eNote, eVault and MERS eRegistry.

Better advances sale of UK Birmingham Bank to consortium

Better Home & Finance said a buyer consortium led by UK investment vehicle B Singh Partners has escrowed £10 million toward buying 100% of its UK subsidiary Birmingham Bank at 0.95 times tangible net asset value (about £56 million as of Sept. 30), subject to regulatory approval, definitive documentation and closing conditions.

Better drops challenge; Garg group wins board fight

Better Home & Finance's board special committee said Monday it has withdrawn its challenge to the independent inspector's preliminary report on Vishal Garg's consent solicitation, citing the cost and uncertainty of a prolonged contest. The consents remove five directors, including interim CEO Daniel Lewis, and the Garg Group says it will immediately add venture capitalists Bing Gordon and Steve Sarracino to the board.

Scoop: NewRez cuts ~70 consumer-direct LOs

The Mortgage Scoop reports NewRez issued pink slips Thursday to an estimated ~70 consumer-direct loan officers via Teams, with a company spokesperson confirming the RIF but not sharing details; ops underwriters were cut a week earlier.

loanDepot adds $125M Nomura repurchase facility

loanDepot disclosed in an 8-K that its loanDepot.com, LLC subsidiary entered an uncommitted master repurchase agreement of up to $125 million with Nomura Corporate Funding Americas on Oct. 2, covering residential mortgage loans and, subject to conditions, REO interests, expiring Sept. 30, 2027.

The Loan Store rebrands as Averra Financial

Top-four national wholesale lender The Loan Store changed its name to Averra Financial effective Oct. 1, 2026; broker programs, pricing, and pipelines are unchanged.

Stockton Mortgage elevates founder David Stockton to CEO, names Whiteside president

Frankfort, KY retail IMB Stockton Mortgage (NMLS 8259) restructured leadership Wednesday: founder David Stockton moves from president to CEO; 18-year firm veteran Anthony Whiteside becomes president over day-to-day ops. Sales leader Kris Vanzant is departing; Fairway Independent's Scott Bristol joins as EVP of national sales (effective Oct 5); Kevin Cario as divisional manager; Christy Soukhamneut promoted from chief strategy officer to chief revenue officer.

West Capital Lending hires Michael Cecero and 33-person team

West Capital Lending hired producer Michael Cecero and a 33-person team adding about $325M in annual production and expanding into Franklin, Tennessee, and Columbia, Missouri.

Elio Mortgage launches with $5.1M preseed

AI-native mortgage company Elio Mortgage launched Tuesday with $5.1 million in preseed funding led by Motive Partners and Social Leverage, planning nationwide licensing expansion and loan officer hiring for its brokerage business.

Better director Michael Farello resigns from board

Better Home & Finance Holding Company reported in an Oct. 2 Form 8-K that director Michael Farello resigned effective Sept. 28, 2026, stating the resignation was not the result of any disagreement with the company on operations, policies, or practices.

SCOOP: ROSS MORTGAGE AND LOANPEOPLE MERGE

The Mortgage Scoop's Monday free edition reports multiple sources saying Michigan-based Ross Mortgage Corporation and Max Leaman's LoanPeople have merged; Scoop says neither Tim Ross nor Leaman immediately responded to a request for comment, citing RETR YTD volume of about $500M for LoanPeople and a touch over $200M for Ross, with talk the deal was struck at TMC last week.

BENCHMARK EXITS ELEVEN MORTGAGE WHOLESALE AND CORRESPONDENT

Benchmark Mortgage, a brand of Ark-La-Tex Financial Services, LLC (NMLS 2143), announced it is exiting its wholesale and correspondent division operating as 11 Mortgage / Eleven Mortgage to focus leadership, capital, and resources on retail.

SCOOP: ELEVEN MORTGAGE (ARK-LA-TEX WHOLESALE) SHUTTING DOWN

The Mortgage Scoop's Friday paid edition reports multiple sources saying Eleven Mortgage, the wholesale arm under Ark-La-Tex Financial Services (NMLS 2143), is shutting down; Scoop exclusives are unverified on import and company site/job postings were still live as of Rocky's 1:26pm MT note.

PLACE CLOSES MAXWELL ACQUISITION, ADDS MORTGAGE FINTECH LAYER

PLACE announced it has closed the acquisition of mortgage fintech Maxwell, which serves more than 400 financial institutions and supports over $130 billion in annual mortgage transactions; terms were not disclosed and Maxwell continues as an independent company with its leadership and 100-plus employees joining PLACE.

NFM LENDING ACKNOWLEDGES CYBER INCIDENT AFTER INTERLOCK CLAIM

National Mortgage News reports the Interlock ransomware group claimed it took more than 2 TB from NFM Lending earlier this month, and NFM's legal team acknowledged a cybersecurity incident Wednesday evening without confirming the number of people impacted; a Maryland federal class action was filed last week.

UWM sets terms for $400M rights offering; Oaktree and Ishbia backstop

UWM Holdings set terms for a 200 million Class A share rights offering targeting at least $400 million, priced at the greater of $2 a share or 85% of the volume-weighted average price from Oct. 27 to Nov. 9, with rights distribution beginning Oct. 5. Oaktree Capital Management has the option to backstop and the Ishbia family's SFS Group Capital is obligated to; the offering is part of the $2.05 billion capital raise announced in August. UWM traded at $1.26 on the announcement, below the $2 floor.

MUTUAL OF OMAHA EXPLORES SALE OF MORTGAGE UNIT

Mutual of Omaha Insurance is exploring a potential sale of Mutual of Omaha Mortgage and has hired Houlihan Lokey to assess options, Bloomberg reported via HousingWire; no final decision has been made and plans may change.

GENSTAR + AKSIA: GROWTH INVESTMENT IN RICHEY MAY

Genstar Capital led a strategic growth investment in Denver-based Top-50 accounting/advisory firm Richey May, joined by Aksia; existing investor F3 Partners and Richey May management retain significant ownership. Capital for organic growth and M&A as the firm builds a national platform. Guggenheim advised Richey May/F3; BMO advised Genstar. Vendor/professional-services capital event — not a retail IMB close.

PRETIUM TAKES CASCADE FINANCIAL; MH SPECIALTY LENDER JOINS PE CREDIT PLATFORM

Pretium announced September 10 that Cascade Financial Services, a national manufactured- and modular-home specialty lender, is joining Pretium's residential credit platform; Scotiabank advised Pretium.

ENVOY NAMES CHAD SMITH CEO; PLACE MORTGAGE DIVISION PRESIDENT

PLACE appointed former Better president/COO Chad Smith as CEO of Envoy Mortgage and president of PLACE's mortgage and financial services division on Tuesday, integrating Envoy further into PLACE's homeownership ecosystem while Jesse Passafiume remains Envoy president.

NEXA NAMES GERI FARR CEO; KORTAS TO EXECUTIVE PARTNER

NEXA Lending named Geri Farr chief executive officer on Tuesday as founder Mike Kortas transitions from CEO to executive partner, separating day-to-day operations from growth, partnerships, and acquisitions; Farr joined in 2025 and will oversee the executive team (Mortensen, duPont, Richards, Maharaj), while Kortas and other executive partners including Anthony Casa focus on new concepts and deals.

Fay Group acquires VanDyk Mortgage (Michigan)

Fay Group acquired Grand Rapids-based VanDyk Mortgage Corp. (NMLS 3035; founder Tom VanDyk) to expand conforming origination and agency MSR creation; terms undisclosed; VanDyk did about $894M in 2025 and ~$530M YTD with 135 LOs across 36 branches.

New American Funding cuts 160 consumer-direct jobs

Santa Ana-based New American Funding confirmed to HousingWire it laid off 160 employees in its consumer direct division citing market conditions; the lender has about 330 branches, 2,646 LOs, and $12.5B YTD volume.

Truss Financial pivots broker to direct lender in California

Orange County non-QM specialist Truss Financial Group (NMLS 2006915, CEO Jeff Miller) began in-house direct lending in California on a hybrid model while staying broker elsewhere across 44 states plus DC.

Mortgage Nerds moves onto NEXA Lending platform

Mortgage Nerds, an Appleton, Wisconsin brokerage owned by Mike Cox and Brian Hofmann, is joining NEXA Lending after an approximately 18-month platform search, keeping its own brand while affiliated Processing Nerds stays independent.

eXp and Kind Lending wind down Success Lending JV

eXp World Holdings and Glenn Stearns' Kind Lending are shutting down Success Lending, their 2021 mortgage joint venture, in what eXp called a mutual strategic decision, and eXp says it is exploring a replacement joint venture with Newrez.

Rate takes $155M Fairway team, opens Elmhurst branch

Vito Roppo and Nick Ferrante left Fairway Home Mortgage to join Rate as producing partnership branch managers leading a new branch in Elmhurst, Illinois, with $155M in combined production per Rate.

FIGURE CLOSES KIAVI; SIXTH STREET JV TAKES RTL BOOK

Figure Technology Solutions (Nasdaq: FIGR) completed its previously announced acquisition of Kiavi, the #1 Residential Transition Loan lender, integrating Kiavi's technology and operating platform into Figure Connect; a Figure–Sixth Street joint venture purchased loans off Kiavi's balance sheet, and Kiavi CEO Arvind Mohan joins Figure as Chief Business Officer.

STEWART BUYS PROTITLEUSA + DOCSOLUTIONUSA

Stewart Information Services (NYSE: STC) acquired ProTitleUSA and DocSolutionUSA, adding title analytics, portfolio diligence, and mortgage document-generation capability for servicers, investors, and capital-markets clients; terms undisclosed; Solomon Partners advised the sellers; Alex Goldovsky (ProTitle/DocSolution CEO) quoted on joining Stewart.

JUDGES CLEAR GARG PROXY PATH; DELAWARE TRO SUSPENDS BETTER POISON PILL

SDNY Judge Margaret Garnett denied Better's TRO and preliminary injunction against Vishal Garg's shareholder solicitation, finding no irreparable harm; Delaware Vice Chancellor Lori Will granted Garg a TRO that suspends Better's 15% poison pill and the special committee while the fight continues.

INFORMED NAMES SOGORKA CEO; HE EXITS ORIGNA8

Verification/fraud fintech Informed appointed former Rocket Pro GM Dan Sogorka CEO on Aug 31 as it expands from auto into adjacent verticals including mortgage credit; he is stepping down as CEO of UWM-partnered broker platform Origna8 and staying as board adviser.

SOUTH RIVER PROMOTES TYLER PLACK TO CEO; JIM PLACK TO BOARD

South River Mortgage (NMLS 1854524), a top-five reverse originator, promoted longtime President and founding employee Tyler Plack to CEO effective Aug 28; Jim Plack retires as CEO and stays on the board.

SEC CLEARS GARG SHAREHOLDER SOLICITATION; BETTER TRO STILL PENDING

Vishal Garg received SEC approval Thursday to solicit shareholder support for his return as Better CEO and to remove five directors; Better still awaits an SDNY TRO ruling and the sides were set for Delaware Chancery Friday on the poison pill.

VELOCITY TO BUY TOORAK BPL PLATFORM; $3B BOOK GOES TO THIRD PARTY

Velocity Financial agreed to buy Toorak Capital's business-purpose lending platform in an all-cash deal; a third-party investor takes Toorak's ~$3B UPB loan book, which Velocity will manage, with close expected in Q4 2026.

Announced, not closed — close expected in Q4 2026. John Beacham stays on as EVP of Velocity Commercial Capital.

HOMESERVICES ADDS IN-HOUSE SERVICING VIA PROSPERITY

HomeServices of America said Prosperity Home Mortgage (~$9B annual originations) will retain mortgage servicing in-house under its OnePoint strategy instead of selling MSRs after close.

A vertical build, not a transaction — reported on the tape, not counted in the deal tracker.

CCM CLOSES TWO HARBORS BUY; ~$155B MSR + ROUNDPOINT IN-HOUSE

CrossCountry Mortgage completed its all-cash acquisition of Two Harbors Investment on Aug 25, taking TWO private at $12/share plus stub dividend (~$1.28B total) and adding ~$155B owned MSR plus RoundPoint servicing to CCM's ~$209B book.

This is the close. An earlier item on the tape covered stockholder approval only.

CrossCountry closes Two Harbors

RoundPoint and the MSR book go private under Ron Leonhardt. Stockholders get $12 cash plus a $0.20326 stub. TWO leaves the NYSE as a CCM subsidiary. UWM’s $500M+ suit is still live and did not block the close. CCM is not a defendant.

Garg files SDNY declaration opposing Better TRO

Vishal Garg filed a declaration in the Southern District of New York opposing Better's TRO and injunction request, disputing a mutually agreed ouster and saying he had about 15 minutes to review the press release and lost system access within about 30 minutes.

A separate filing from the Aug 24 special-committee item — declaration dated Aug 24, reported Aug 25.

Real completes REMAX takeover to form 180K-agent real estate giant

The Real Brokerage completed its $880 million acquisition of RE/MAX Holdings, combining the two into a single brokerage network of roughly 180,000 agents.

Brokerage consolidation rather than an IMB transaction — carried as market color.

NEXA takes UMortgage

Already signed and funded. Casa, Hodgson, Paradise, and Hobson come over as executive partners. 246 LOs, about $2.05B trailing. NEXA goes to roughly 4,000 LOs and $14.15B. The UMortgage entity is slated to dissolve by year-end; teams can keep the name as a DBA. Casa said out loud: when he looked at the tech, lender relationships, infrastructure, and scale, he asked how he was supposed to compete with that.

Better special committee: no operating role for Garg

Every director but Garg backed Lewis as interim CEO. Unanimous: no continuing operating role for the founder. Q3 still in guidance. Cost cuts to exceed $45M annualized.

LOANDEPOT GETS NYSE DEFICIENCY AFTER 30 DAYS UNDER $1

loanDepot received an NYSE Section 802.01C notice on Aug 21 after its Class A average close stayed under $1 for 30 trading days; six-month cure period, reverse split among options.

Judge narrows Veterans United suit

Most counts tossed. RESPA Section 8 kickback claims survive for a few borrowers. 35% commission-share allegation.

Luminate Bank takes First State Mortgage's assets

A bank taking an Illinois IMB team. Rene Shaffer and the First State people move onto a 50-state bank platform. Small shop, but the shape is the same as the Whalen piece: IMB production going inside a depository.

UWM hedge tape: $603.2M derivatives loss, $2.05B raise, dividend suspended, then a shareholder suit

$603.2M derivatives loss, $2.05B Oaktree + Ishbia raise, dividend suspended, then a shareholder suit. Brokers told HousingWire it is still business as usual. Public filings put a $27.5B notional on the books in Q1.

Evergreen opens a wholesale TPO shop

Evergreen Home Loans launches BrokerBrand TPO. CEO Donald Burton said they will not compete for the broker’s borrower relationships.

New American Funding deploys Kastle AI voice agents

NAF putting AI voice agents on originations and a $73B servicing book. President Christy Bunce on the record.

REALPHA CLOSES $8.5M INSTAMORTGAGE ACQUISITION

reAlpha completed its acquisition of InstaMortgage for about $8.5 million on August 19, adding in-house origination, underwriting, and funding across 38 states and D.C. while two state approvals remained pending under a closing waiver.

CHECKR ACQUIRES TRUV FOR MORTGAGE VERIFICATION

Checkr acquired Truv, adding consumer-permissioned income, employment, and asset verification that reaches about 96% of the U.S. workforce and deepening Checkr's mortgage verification business.

CLASS VALUATION ACQUIRES ALLSTATE APPRAISAL

Appraisal management company Class Valuation acquired Illinois-based Allstate Appraisal (founded 1959), with Allstate keeping its team while gaining Class's tech and national infrastructure.

ATLAS VMS BUYS FIRST APPRAISAL MANAGEMENT

Atlas VMS acquired Houston-based First Appraisal Management to expand Texas AMC coverage; FAM managing partner Nicole Bookout becomes EVP of appraisal operations at Atlas.

GORASCAL MERGES WITH MATADOR LENDING

Flat-fee brokerages GoRascal and Houston-based Matador Lending merged; Matador's ~50 originators keep the Matador DBA on GoRascal's 50-state platform and set a $1 billion Texas production goal.

Panebianco: the war has not been good for mortgage

AnnieMac CEO on LinkedIn. Higher fuel, inflation, uncertainty, Treasury issuance weighing on rates, refinances, and consumer sentiment.

Better says Garg was terminated, not a mutual exit

Better's board, excluding Garg, said it unanimously terminated Vishal Garg as CEO after concerns about judgment and credibility, contradicting the Aug. 3 'mutually agreed' transition language as Garg pressed directors to resign.

Rizor on consistency and culture

Two owner articles after the school-supply post. Aug 13: 33 years at Equity Resources, consistency is why they survived. Aug 20: culture is not ping-pong tables, it is a common goal, egos at the door, accountability.

MITT TO BUY CHERRY HILL MREIT; ~$117.5M CASH+STOCK, NOT CLOSED

TPG Mortgage Investment Trust agreed Aug 10 to acquire Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment in a cash-and-stock deal valuing CHMI at about $117.5 million, creating a ~$9 billion residential mREIT pending Q4 close.

Sopko launches Nations Lending Insurance Services

Initial rollout in 17 markets. Sopko: buying a home is one of life's biggest financial decisions, and insurance is part of that journey.

Ellington teases a small servicer acquisition

On its Q2 call, Ellington Financial said it is nearing an agreement to buy a small servicer with single-digit billions of servicing rights to build special/subservicing capability, with an announcement expected sometime in September.

ANNIE MAC LIFTS $220M WICHITA TEAM OFF UHM

AnnieMac Home Mortgage recruited a roughly 12-person Wichita retail team that had moved to Union Home Mortgage after the Sierra Pacific asset buy, adding about $220 million in trailing-12 production.

Envoy takes MasonMac's retail

About 100 LOs, $1B trailing, Envoy north of $4B run-rate. Iverson keeps a smaller shop and ~$250M MSR. Close was targeted for late August. As of this morning, no close confirmation.

Carrington closes Valon, puts ValonOS under ~810K loans

Combined servicing heads toward 2 million. Newrez already said it will put 4 million loans on the same OS starting 2027. This is a cost-to-service story.

Better names Daniel Lewis interim CEO; Garg steps down

Better Home & Finance appointed board member Daniel Lewis interim CEO effective August 3 as founder Vishal Garg transitioned from the CEO role while remaining a director, and raised its year-end annualized cost-cut target above $45 million.

PennyMac cuts lending and fulfillment roles ahead of Q2

PennyMac confirmed another round of layoffs eliminating select lending and mortgage-fulfillment positions with severance, citing reduced industry volume, weeks after closing its Franklin, Tennessee consumer-direct office.

NEW SILVER BUYS MAYFLOWER FOR NEW ENGLAND FIX-AND-FLIP

New Silver Lending acquired Quincy, Massachusetts-based Mayflower Venture Partners to expand New England fix-and-flip and construction lending, with Mayflower's team continuing under the New Silver platform.

PennyMac Q2 net income falls to $22M

PennyMac reported Q2 2026 net income of $22 million, down sharply from a year earlier, with fallout-adjusted lock volume down 18% to $31.5 billion as management realigned cost structure.

Everett: companies don't enrich lives, people do

Supreme Lending. Also on record at The Gathering: will not grow a dollar past culture; culture is the first screen in M&A.

BWE agrees to a Bayview/Springmont majority stake

Commercial/multifamily mortgage banker BWE signed a definitive agreement for Bayview's MSR Opportunity Fund and Springmont Capital (Morgan family) to buy a majority interest, with Bayview becoming majority owner and CEO DJ Effler remaining.

Randian Capital calls for a loanDepot sale process

Activist Randian Capital published an open letter urging loanDepot's board to explore strategic alternatives including a sale, citing share-price decline since the 2021 IPO and arguing the MSR book could command a premium in a strategic deal.

Two Harbors stockholders approve the CrossCountry merger at $12

Two Harbors common stockholders approved the merger with a CrossCountry Mortgage affiliate at a reconvened July 2 special meeting, with $12 cash per share plus a pro-rated stub dividend and closing then still expected in August.

FOA CLOSES ONITY REVERSE MSR BUY, ~$5.2B UPB

Finance of America Reverse closed an all-cash purchase of Onity Mortgage's reverse MSR book of about 20,000 Ginnie Mae HECM loans (~$5.2B UPB) effective June 30, with Onity exiting reverse origination and staying on as subservicer for three years.

UHM buys Ameritrust's assets, ~$913M, no servicing

Bill Cosgrove took a California non-QM-tilted retail shop in 45 days. About 200 people over. No servicing in the deal. Cosgrove said the industry still has record-low gross margins and overcapacity, and consolidation will continue.

Knudson: "our product is homeownership"

PRMI's Ken Knudson on LinkedIn: the industry's Christmas wish has been another refinance boom. Buyers cannot refinance a home they never purchased.

Panebianco: market share, not volume

NMN interview. Risk-adjusted, slower-moving 20-year approach. Owns a separate PE firm that funds Cash2Keys so AnnieMac can buy the house if the buyer falls through. May overweight non-QM.

Holland: top-five purchase lender, or don't be in the market

Atlantic Bay, 30 years, same brand, just under 700 people. Holland: keep growing only as long as culture holds. If culture slips, stop growing.

APM merges Synergy One, ~$14B

Steve Majerus becomes APM president. Synergy One keeps the brand as a division. Majerus said scale is becoming essential to fund pricing, products, AI, and customer acquisition. This is the $2B–$5B shop that chose a DBA/division over staying fully independent.

Scotiabank buys MapleMark, back into U.S. warehouse

Canadian bank buying a Dallas charter so it can offer FDIC deposits to U.S. mortgage warehouse clients. Follows the 2024 JPM warehouse-team hire. Flagstar exited warehouse in 2024. Comerica pulled back.

Biaggi: HouseAmerica joins All Western, AWM on pace past $3B

Not a sale. Brand joiner. Biaggi said alignment in values and leadership style is the kind of partnership he wants as AWM grows nationally. $2.05B in 2025 (Modex), on pace over $3B in 2026.

Carrington paid $47.3M cash for Reliance

Rare public price. ~$1B DTC originator plus $3B servicing, cash at close $47,291,890 per the Tiptree 8-K. Taffet wanted a direct-to-consumer channel.

CrossCountry buys Summit, 163 jobs cut

Todd Scrima sold a 30-year Western IMB into CrossCountry. One day later Summit filed a California WARN to permanently eliminate 163 jobs, including the CIO, COO, and GC. Scrima's line was that growth happens through scale and investment.

Freedom's parent agrees to buy Seneca Mortgage Servicing from EJF

Freedom Superior LLC, indirect parent of Freedom Mortgage, signed a definitive agreement March 16 to acquire GSE-approved MSR platform Seneca Mortgage Servicing from EJF Capital, subject to regulatory approvals.

PROPY BUYS BOSS LAW TITLE UNIT IN FLORIDA

Propy acquired the title division of Boss Law on Mar 12, 2026, adding St. Petersburg and Seminole Fla. offices under the Propy Title brand for institutional/REIT closings.

Covius closes the Title365 buy from Blend

Blend Labs completed the sale of substantially all Title365 title-insurance assets and liabilities to Covius Services on March 1, exiting ownership of the title unit it had agreed to sell in June 2025.

LenderMac to buy Utah's Direct Mortgage

Cypress, California non-QM wholesale/correspondent platform LenderMac Holdco agreed to acquire Draper, Utah agency lender Direct Mortgage Corp. to add Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie approvals to a multichannel platform.

PennyMac to buy Cenlar's subservicing business, $740B UPB

PennyMac Financial Services signed an all-cash deal on February 11 for Cenlar Capital's subservicing business at $172.5 million upfront plus up to $85 million contingent, expected to add about $740 billion UPB and 2 million loans, close in H2 2026.

Experian agrees to buy mortgage-shopping platform Own Up

Experian announced February 3, 2026 an agreement to acquire AI mortgage-shopping platform Own Up for integration into Experian Marketplace, with close expected within 90 days; financial terms were not disclosed.

XACTUS BUYS BALEEN FOR SELF-EMPLOYED INCOME ANALYSIS

Xactus acquired Baleen Solutions on Feb 2, 2026 and is folding Baleen's tax-document income automation into Xactus360 as Income CalculationX for mortgage lenders.

Lower buys Acopia Home Loans, 14 Southeast branches

Lower Mortgage acquired Goodlettsville, Tennessee IMB Acopia Home Loans, adding more than $425 million in annual production, 14 branches and 36 originators who will operate as Team Acopia in Lower's Southeast division.

Stewart Title acquires Townsend Title in southwest Florida

Stewart Title acquired Townsend Title Insurance Agency, adding Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Lehigh Acres offices while keeping Townsend staff and locations; financial terms were not disclosed.

First Federal to buy Fidelity's NOLA Lending Group

First Federal Bank of Lake City, Florida signed a definitive agreement January 5 to acquire the assets of Fidelity Bank's NOLA Lending Group mortgage division, keeping the NOLA brand across Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi offices.

reAlpha signs to buy InstaMortgage for ~$8.5M

reAlpha Tech Corp. signed a definitive agreement on December 22 to acquire independent lender InstaMortgage for about $8.5 million in cash and stock, then expected to close in the first half of 2026 subject to regulatory approvals.

UWM agrees $1.3B all-stock buy of Two Harbors

UWM Holdings and Two Harbors announced a definitive all-stock merger on December 17 valuing TWO at about $1.3 billion and adding roughly $176 billion of MSR UPB, then expected to close in Q2 2026.

Milliman buys Morvest Capital's MSR analytics

Milliman acquired Dallas-based MorVest Capital, adding MSR valuation, financing, hedging and brokering to its mortgage solutions practice.

Absolute Home Mortgage buys Fidelity Direct Mortgage assets

Fairfield, New Jersey IMB Absolute Home Mortgage confirmed December 2, 2025 a deal to acquire the assets of Gaithersburg’s Fidelity Direct Mortgage, with founder Maria D’Souza-DaTa joining Absolute’s board; terms were not disclosed.

Bayview closes the Guild take-private at $20 a share

Bayview MSR Opportunity Fund completed its all-cash acquisition of Guild Holdings on November 28, taking Guild private at $20 per share (~$1.3 billion equity value) with the brand and leadership remaining in place.

FOA to buy PHH's reverse MSR book and pipeline

Finance of America Reverse agreed to an all-cash purchase of PHH Mortgage's HECM servicing portfolio and certain reverse origination assets, with PHH to subservice for three years and exit reverse origination at close.

Rice Park buys Rosegate for MSR recapture

Minneapolis MSR investor Rice Park Capital Management acquired Charlotte retail and consumer-direct lender Rosegate Mortgage and combined it with affiliate Nexus Nova to recapture on MSRs that lack an embedded recapture agreement.

The Title Team buys Minnesota's LEER Title

The Title Team acquired Minnesota title and closing firm LEER Title Services, a 20-plus-year woman-owned agency in Walker, Bemidji, Park Rapids and Longville, with founder Ineke Leer staying to lead the local team.

Atlantic Coast takes Tidewater Mortgage's assets

Fairfax-based Atlantic Coast Mortgage acquired the assets of Virginia Beach's Tidewater Mortgage Services, combining ACM's 40-state platform with Tidewater's Mid-Atlantic and Southeast retail offices.

Propy buys Delta South Title in Alabama

Title and escrow firm Propy completed its first acquisition under a stated $100 million AI roll-up, buying Mobile County, Alabama title company Delta South Title for an undisclosed sum.

Stewart to buy MCS property preservation for $330M

Stewart Information Services agreed November 7 to acquire Mortgage Contracting Services' mortgage property-preservation, inspection and default-servicing support line for $330 million cash, with the close later reported December 10.

NFM Lending to take Homespire as a division

Maryland retail lender NFM Lending agreed to acquire Gaithersburg-based Homespire Mortgage, which will operate as Homespire Home Loans under president Michael Rappaport with job offers extended to Homespire staff.

Opteon buys Equity Valuation Partners

Opteon announced the acquisition of U.S. appraisal firm Equity Valuation Partners, effective November 1, folding EVP into the Opteon brand for residential and commercial valuation.

Carrington signs to buy Reliance First Capital from Tiptree

Carrington Holding Company entered an agreement on October 31 to acquire Melville, N.Y. DTC originator Reliance First Capital from Tiptree, adding a ~$1 billion origination platform and a ~$3 billion servicing book expected to move at close.

PartnerOne to buy Mortgage Cadence from Accenture

PartnerOne entered an agreement with Accenture to acquire cloud LOS provider Mortgage Cadence, with closing then still subject to customary conditions and terms undisclosed.

Centerbridge takes MeridianLink private at $20 a share

Centerbridge Partners completed its acquisition of lending-software vendor MeridianLink on October 24, 2025, paying $20.00 cash per share and delisting the company from the NYSE, with Silversmith taking a minority stake.

LendWare buys Aidium's mortgage CRM assets

Lendware completed an asset purchase of residential-mortgage CRM platform Aidium on October 7 and rebranded the product under the Lendware name after a summer of Aidium leadership turnover.

ANNALY BUYS ~$12B UPB MSR BOOK FROM PENNYMAC

On Oct 1, 2025 Annaly agreed to buy a ~$12B UPB MSR portfolio from PennyMac, with PennyMac retaining all subservicing and recapture on the sold book.

Chimera closes the HomeXpress non-QM buy

Chimera Investment Corporation completed its purchase of wholesale non-QM originator HomeXpress Mortgage on October 1, paying estimated book value plus a $120 million cash premium and 2,077,151 Chimera shares.

Rocket closes the $14.2B Mr. Cooper buy

Rocket Companies completed its acquisition of Mr. Cooper Group on October 1, combining the largest U.S. originator with the largest servicer and a combined book of nearly 10 million homeowners.