How mortgage AI chatbot developers aim to ensure regulatory compliance

Ready or not, artificial intelligence seems poised to play a larger role in the home lending industry, but companies are trying to create their AI strategies in what are largely uncharted regulatory waters.?While some have already found ways to take advantage of generative AI tools on the back end of the home buying process, the arrival of ChatGPT shined an even brighter spotlight on potential opportunities and dangers in artificial intelligence , which many expect to propel technology development in the mortgage industry.?

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Wells Fargo moves to toss borrower's rate lock fee lawsuit

A Wells Fargo borrower is seeking restitution from the alleged billions of dollars he claims the megabank made off of customers' rate lock fees in a prior scandal. Counsel for Wells last week filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit for numerous reasons including a lack of specificity. Anthony Morris, a New York resident and past Wells home loan client, sued the lender earlier this year, and Wells elevated the suit to a federal court in June. The unjust enrichment complaint stems from refunds the bank issued over rate lock extension fees in the past decade it admitted were wrongfully administered.

Finance of America reports loss in 2Q partly due to AAG integration

Finance of America's journey to become a full-fledged reverse mortgage company has landed it in the red in the second quarter, in part due to incurred costs of integrating the recently acquired reverse lender American Advisor Group . The company reported a $222.5 million loss, down from a reported net income of $14.5 million in the prior quarter. Leadership noted that the net loss was driven primarily by negative fair value adjustments to its portfolio as interest rates and spreads were impacted by the fallout from the bank collapses .

Blend cuts 19% of workforce, posts lower Q2 loss

Blend Labs is cutting 150 employees in yet another layoff round, it disclosed Wednesday alongside second quarter earnings in which the fintech trimmed its recent eight-figure losses. Modest revenue gains helped the cloud banking platform developer improve on its first quarter deficit by 45% to a $36.7 million loss at the end of June. At the same time last year, a nine-figure impairment charge related to Blend's title business delivered a $471.4 million loss . The company said its terminations won't affect customer success teams which are helping with the business' numerous product rollouts.?

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Mortgage originations fall to a new low in 2023: TransUnion

Plunging originations helped bring the sum total of U.S. mortgage balances down on a quarterly basis for the first time since 2015, but consumers are still seeking access to home equity , TransUnion said. The sum total of balances fell to $11.7 trillion in the second quarter after hitting a record high of $11.8 trillion three months earlier, the first such drop in eight years, according to a new report from researchers at the credit-reporting agency. Second-quarter numbers still came in 4.3% higher than levels of a year ago, though.

Mortgage rates up on economic news

An inflation report that came out Thursday morning within the market's expectations could portend good news for future mortgage rate movements. However, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield remaining above 4%, albeit lower than seven days ago, the conforming 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose for the third straight week. This follows the markets having time to digest Fitch Ratings' downgrade of the U.S. sovereign ratings. Its Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year FRM at 6.96% on Aug. 10, up from 6.9% one week ago. For the same week in 2022, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.22%.

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