Mortgage rates might be heading to 8%

The 10-year Treasury yield is threatening to move above the 5% mark for the first time since July 20, 2007, and with current spreads near 300 basis points, that is likely to push mortgages above 8% in the near future, Freddie Mac said. At one point on Thursday morning, the 10-year yield was at 4.97%, although just before noon, it was at 4.94%, a gain of 3 basis points on the day but over 22 basis points higher than the close on Oct. 12. The rise in the 10-year over the last few weeks is in large part a result of the Federal Reserve's statements around holding rates higher for longer, as well as the broader strength in the U.S. economy, which is likely to translate to inflation remaining sticky, noted Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic.

READ MORE: Mortgage rates might be heading to 8%

FHFA, stakeholders struggle to pin down costs in credit score update

Lenders and vendors are seeking guidance from the Federal Housing Finance Agency on what the expense involved in its congressionally-mandated credit score update will be and how to manage it, but an FHFA adviser recently said that's a question the industry itself must answer. "Are there ways to mitigate costs? Frankly, you're all going to know better than me or any of my colleagues at FHFA how to go about doing that," Dan Fichtler, senior adviser, capital markets, when asked about this at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention. He encouraged stakeholders to offer feedback that the FHFA could design policy around.

Mortgage players report series of data breaches

Malware, phishing and a massive zero-day incident hit mortgage players this summer, attacks which compromised the personally identifiable information of thousands of consumers. The companies in public notices revealed hacks affecting as few as around 1,200 customers and as many as about 7,500 clients. The firms said there was no evidence PII, including loan documentation and Social Security numbers, had been misused. Outside of the individual attacks, Planet Home Lending said it also suffered collateral damage from a ransomware gang's vendor software breach in June which feds say affected over a thousand companies, including banks and non-bank lenders. Hackers in that attack found a previously undiscovered vulnerability in a file transfer software.

Ameris Bancorp agrees to pay $9 million in redlining settlement with DOJ

Ameris Bancorp has agreed to pay $9 million to settle allegations by the Department of Justice that it engaged in redlining by failing to open a single bank branch — or to provide home loans in majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods — in Jacksonville, Florida. The settlement is the latest in an ongoing effort by the Justice Department to ramp up anti-redlining enforcement in the banking industry. The Justice Department said in a complaint filed Thursday that Atlanta-based Ameris avoided originating home loans in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville. The DOJ said it currently has two dozen active redlining investigations across the country.

Sign up here to receive the National Mortgage News complete newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily.