Mortgage and Finance News

Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced it has acquired Usherpa, a marketing automation and borrower relationship engagement platform purpose-built for mortgage professionals. The acquisition expands Optimal Blue's ability to help lenders win more business by bringing borrower engagement capabilities closer to the product, pricing and eligibility solutions that over 200,000 originators use to identify and convert loan opportunities.

Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced that its direct lock functionality now integrates with Fannie Mae's Pricing & Execution - Whole Loan® (PE - Whole Loan) platform. The integration allows lenders using Optimal Blue's product, pricing and eligibility (PPE) engine to execute best efforts locks with Fannie Mae through real-time, system-to-system connectivity without leaving Optimal Blue.

Mortgage and Finance News: (BUFFALO, N.Y.) LenderLogix and Jerry today announced an integration that helps mortgage borrowers proactively secure homeowners insurance once they've submitted their mortgage application. Within LenderLogix's LiteSpeed point-of-sale platform, borrowers can seamlessly shop for homeowners insurance directly from their borrower dashboard.

Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, today announced a strategic alliance with Cotality™, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider that supports 80% of real estate transactions in North America.

Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, today released the results of an independent study by MarketWise Advisors, LLC, examining the value of improvements in operational readiness and execution for home equity lenders. Participating lenders reported an average financial and operational impact of $753.04 per loan, a 7.99x return, across the core and extended capabilities MarketWise modeled.

Mortgage and Finance News: (TORRANCE, Calif.) DocMagic® announced today that Chief Operating Officer Lori Johnson has been named one of Mortgage Banker's 2026 Powerful Women of Mortgage Banking. The award recognizes women in mortgage banking who stand out as leaders by driving innovation, adapting to change and making a positive impact on their organizations, colleagues and the industry.

Mortgage and Finance News: (DENVER, Colo.) ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that it has been named one of the AI Pioneer Award winners by PROGRESS in Lending. Honorees include 14 financial technology companies whose AI work spans the loan lifecycle from origination through servicing.

Mortgage and Finance News: (RALEIGH, N.C.) Capital Automotive Group today announced the acquisition of six Larry Cloninger dealerships and an independent collision center in North and South Carolina, marking a significant expansion for the family-owned automotive group and, more importantly, the continuation of a legacy built on relationships, community, and more than four decades of friendship between the Cloninger and Michael families.

Mortgage and Finance News: (BRENTWOOD, Tenn.) Franklin Madison today announced the availability of Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance (GI Life), a new approach to life insurance that removes traditional barriers to coverage through guaranteed acceptance, simplified enrollment, and no waiting periods.

Mortgage and Finance News: (BOGOTA, COLOMBIA) EDEAL, an emerging financial services company serving individuals and small businesses in Latin America, today announced significant growth in its lending operations in Colombia, alongside a new strategic relationship with Sardona Capital S.A., a securities firm regulated and supervised by the Superintendence of the Securities Market of the Republic of Panama.