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4-Letter Word?
By Jeff Walton & Kelly Guest
Is FICO 4-Letter Word? U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri wants the Department of Justice to investigate Fair Isaac Corporation’s (FICO) potentially anticompetitive practices, saying “Because of this government-granted monopoly, FICO enjoys a 90% market share in the business-to-business credit scoring market. It is the only real competitor in the space.” Hawley also noted FICO's sizeable price increases.
They’re just not that into you: This story conjures up the famous meme photo of a guy holding one woman's hand, but blatantly ogling another gal as she passes by. South Carolina is the hottie and California is the woman scorned according to a study on interstate migration from LendingTree, which found that for every 100 Californians interested in purchasing outside of their state, only 30 out-of-state buyers expressed interest in California property. New York, Massachusetts, Illinois and Alaska complete the top 5 “least desirable states to migrate to.” South Carolina has suitors coming out of the woodwork: For every 100 South Carolinians looking at buying out of state, 255 out-of-staters were interested in buying homes in SC.
See our special “InGenius Explores” section focusing on “Real Estate Agent Angst” at the end of this week’s edition.
CHATTER
CFP-Beatdown: In an act of what appears to be self-flagellation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a press release with the following headline and subhead:
CFPB Seeks to Vacate Abusive, Unjust Case Against Townstone
A small business complained about skyrocketing crime in Chicago, CFPB made their life hell
CFPB Senior Advisor Dan Bishop said, “This was a flagrant misuse of government resources to destroy a small business that did nothing wrong. For the crime of protected political speech, this firm was targeted and harassed for years by this rogue agency. We are righting this wrong and protecting the First Amendment." Acting Director Russ Vought added, "The more we uncover at CFPB, the more we see how this agency was weaponized against targeted Americans."
In other regulatory news, NMN reports the CFPB dropped its suit against Comerica without prejudice on Friday, but could revisit the case later. The agency has dropped several other enforcement cases brought by the Biden administration withprejudice, so the agency cannot refile later.
FHFA En Fuego?
Bill Pulte's FHFA issued a statement of Fannie Mae's firing of over 100 employees for unethical conduct - including facilitation of fraud. Pulte also posted on X that the FHFA exceeded DOGE's expectations at U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, with an over 25% reduction in the Agency’s active workforce.
UWM On The Warpath: NMP reports that UWM is sticking to its "all-in ultimatum," racking up some legal fees and damages. In other UWM v. Rocket news, Ishbia announced in a sales meeting that "UWM will be giving brokers 100 bps to reclaim any UWM loan in their portfolio."
The Mortgage Bankers Association released a statement in support of the reintroduction of the bill that "that ends the abusive use of mortgage credit leads."
MOVING & SHAKING
The Mortgage Bankers Association promoted Brendan Kelliher to AVP of Government Housing Finance.
Newrez appointed CFPB alum Mark McArdle to oversee policy and regulatory issues.
Empower Mortgage named Rogelio Goertzen as Chief Growth Officer with emphasis on first generation homeownership.
West Coast Community Bank hired Matthew Mark as EVP and Chief Information Officer.
Jackie Wampler joined Primus Mortgage as Sales Manager.
Truework appointed Randy Lightbody "Head of Mortgage" to advance verification solutions for lenders.
The MBA presented the Burton C. Wood Legislative Service Award to Rebecca “Becky” Sandiland, CMB, Senior Loan Advisor at Belay Bank Mortgage, at its 2025 National Advocacy Conference. The award recognizes members who engage in superior service to the association and the real estate finance industry as an effective and engaged advocate.
Click n' Close announced that Kim Schenck joined the company as Correspondent Manager with its Correspondent Lending Sales Division.
MARKET/INDUSTRY
What happened last week? More like, what didn't? Bill Bodnar goes over uncertainty, eyeballs on bonds, and the CEO of JP Morgan Chase calling out the Fed in his latest Master the Markets segment.
The 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Continues to Trend Down: Freddie 4-10-25
Mortgage Applications Increased 20.0 Percent From One Week Earlier: MBA Weekly Survey for the week ending 4-9-25.
Mortgage credit availability increased in March: The Mortgage Credit Availability Index rose by 2.5% to 102.9 in March.
5 Best Markets To Buy & Sell: Zillow
Miami, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Memphis are the five best markets for home buyers this spring due to an analysis of factors such as inventory increases, percentage of listings that cut prices, and affordability. On the sell side, Buffalo, San Jose, San Fran, Hartford, and Boston are the best for owners wanting to move, based on inventory scarcity, large numbers of homes selling above list price, and short spans on market.
Real Estate By Race: Redfin
The total value of homes in majority-white neighborhoods grew fastest in 2024, rising 5.4% to $40.4 trillion.
The growth rate was essentially the same in majority-Black and majority-Asian neighborhoods: They experienced a 5.3% increase to $1.5 trillion, and 5.2% increase to $1.4 trillion, respectively.
The total value of homes in mixed neighborhoods grew 4.7% to $2.4 trillion.
The total value of homes in majority-Hispanic neighborhoods rose 4.2% year over year to $2 trillion in 2024.
Home values are growing slower in Hispanic neighborhoods because many are in the Sun Belt, especially Texas and Florida. Home prices have stalled in those states over the past year, due to an increase in supply.
Following Foreclosures: Activity Rises In Q1 - ATTOM Data
Q1 2025 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 93,953 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2025, up 11% from the previous quarter but down 2% from a year ago.
INGENIUS EXPLORES: Real Estate Agent Angst
HousingWire's Brooklee Han does a rockstar job of following industry lawsuits and her piece about how Multiple Listing Services (MLS') are working to implement the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) gives great perspective on all the players and moves around the country.
Wading through the different layers of rules, oversight, jurisdiction, and negotiation between NAR, state, and local associations reveals a concern for agents and agencies that can be seen as prevailing over the wishes of consumers they serve. Through CCP and other policies, boards and associations subjugate home sellers' desire to limit their market exposure for their own reasons to agent complaints about pocket listings. This ventures into grey areas of NAR's own code of ethics:
Article 1: When representing a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, or other client as an agent, REALTORS® pledge themselves to protect and promote the interests of their client.
Article 3: REALTORS® shall cooperate with other brokers except when cooperation is not in the client’s best interest.
State departments of commerce and other official government regulatory agencies notwithstanding, the labyrinth of trade associations and boards that govern real estate agents and in most cases control MLS access have grown exponentially and become increasingly bureaucratic. Salaries for staffers of all types at local, state, and national levels are funded by real estate professionals who must create their own paycheck; and agents are increasingly questioning the ROI. And many agents who pay dues to use the esteemed "Realtor" title are miffed that NAR pimped it out to Move, Inc. (parent company of Realtor.com) for licensing fees.
In light of all the settlements and deals that agents must abide by, the workarounds are popping up. The Corcoran Group- founded by Shark Tank regular Barbara Corcoran - is one of several brokerages including eXp Realty, Compass, TTR Sotheby's International Realty and others are launching programs that seem to flout the CCP and give sellers the listing format and terms they want. The practice changes implemented in August of 2024 dictate how agents must work, but they also infringe on what a seller may wish to do to market their home. We may be witnessing the beginning of more and even bigger changes to the real estate industry. Consider the following:
Multiple brokerages no longer require agents to be NAR members.
Plaintiffs from several states are suing to end NAR's mandatory membership requirement.
NAR laid off 40 people and declined to fill 20 open positions.
A premise that advanced many of the commission lawsuits leading up to the NAR settlement was basically that the defendants (NAR and various named brokerages) "created and implemented rules that require home sellers to pay commissions to the broker or agent representing the buyer and that caused home sellers to pay total commissions at inflated rates." There were buyer angles to different suits as well, but it's also possible that real estate commissions could be inflated because of the large and ever-growing costs and complications imposed by the real estate governing bureaucracies who all seem to want a piece of and money from agents.
These and other aspects of how the industry operates today beg the question: Is publishing a home seller's offer to pay buyer agent compensation in the MLS really the problem?