Finance

Mortgage and Finance News: (CHARLOTTE, N.C. and PLYMOUTH, Minn.) Rice Park Capital Management LP ("Rice Park"), a Minneapolis-based private investment firm specializing in mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), announced today that it has acquired Rosegate Mortgage, LLC ("Rosegate Mortgage"), NMLS #2020757, a retail and consumer-direct mortgage lender headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) Velocity Credit Union (Velocity) has announced the launch of a new Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) program designed to give members greater financial flexibility and control over their everyday spending. A financial institution with over $1 billion in assets and serving over 80,000 members, Velocity is introducing this program to further its commitment to offering comprehensive financial services to its members for every stage of their life.

Mortgage and Finance News: (SAN DIEGO, Calif.) As lenders continue to navigate a shifting housing market marked by volatility, margin pressure and rapid technological change, The Mortgage Collaborative (TMC) is doubling down on what it believes is the industry's greatest strength: connection.

Mortgage and Finance News: (IRVINE, Calif.) Cloudvirga, a Stewart-owned provider of digital point-of-sale platforms for lenders, today announced the launch of its new Loan Hub for lenders seeking an optimized loan team experience. The Loan Hub gives loan officers, LO assistants and processors a modern, intuitive workspace to manage their pipelines, collaborate with borrowers and complete key tasks without toggling between systems.

Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its October 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, showing that rate-lock activity remained strong despite seasonal cooling and continued to outpace last year's levels. Total lock volume fell 4.2% month over month (MoM) from September's peak but was still up 18% year over year (YoY) as borrowers responded to improving affordability and narrower rate spreads.

Mortgage and Finance News: (SALT LAKE CITY, Utah) HousingWire has recognized Dan Jones, Chief Technology Officer at Mobility Market Intelligence (MMI), as one of its 2025 Tech Trendsetters - an annual honor celebrating 75 technology leaders who are shaping the future of housing through innovation.

Mortgage and Finance News: (BUFFALO, N.Y.) LenderLogix, a leading provider of mortgage point-of-sale and automation software for banks, credit unions, independent mortgage banks, and brokers, today announced it has launched AI Sidekick, an artificial intelligence (AI) feature built into the LiteSpeed point-of-sale (POS) platform. AI Sidekick supports loan officers (LOs) with simple tools to instantly review loan files, efficiently update document needs lists and rapidly identify missing data, reducing loan processing times by up to 40%.

Mortgage and Finance News: (MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.) Secured Signing, a global leader in Digital Signature and Remote Online Notarization (RON) solutions, announces a major step forward in fighting digital fraud. We've partnered with Reality Defender, the leader in real-time deepfake detection, to integrate a powerful new security layer into our services.

Mortgage and Finance News: (SEATTLE, Wash.) Friday Harbor, an AI-powered platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced that its AI Originator Assistant now performs collateral analysis alongside credit, income and asset reviews. The enhancement enables lenders to underwrite appraisals and appraisal-related documents with the same precision and consistency the platform already delivers for other loan file components.

Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Click n' Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced a significant expansion of its warehouse line capacity dedicated to its growing One-Time Close (OTC) construction-to-permanent wholesale lending business. The expansion, supported by Merchants Bank and other warehouse partners, triples Click n' Close's OTC capacity and follows a record fiscal year performance, reinforcing the confidence of its capital partners in the company's financial strength and specialized business model.

Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for mortgage and home equity lenders nationwide, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. This marks a quarter-century of innovation in modernizing lending processes for residential mortgage and home equity lenders nationwide.

Mortgage and Finance News: (DALLAS, Texas) Benchmark Mortgage, a full-service mortgage lender and broker based in Dallas, has added mortgage marketing professional Clay McMurray as chief marketing officer. McMurray will help Benchmark Mortgage grow its national brand to new heights, bringing the company's story to life with the goal of helping as many homeowners as possible while attracting top mortgage originators. He brings extensive mortgage industry experience, having led and expanded other national brands.

Mortgage and Finance News: (VALENCIA, Calif.) IRS Solutions® announced the launch of its Partner Rewards Program, a new initiative that rewards tax professionals who refer their colleagues to the platform. This program not only expresses gratitude but also provides tax pros with an easy, recurring revenue opportunity while expanding the IRS Solutions community.

Mortgage and Finance News: (CLEVELAND, Ohio) Top mortgage industry webcast The Big Picture, broadcast live every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, announced its November slate of influential leaders who will cover diverse topics, including user-focused origination technology, agentic AI and the role of homeownership in building stronger communities.

Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Click n' Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced the addition of Jon Wilson as Vice President of Accounting. In this role, Wilson will oversee corporate accounting, financial reporting and process optimization, supporting the company's continued growth and operational excellence.

Mortgage and Finance News: (DALLAS, Texas) Benchmark Mortgage, a full-service mortgage lender and broker based in Dallas, has named Denise Donoghue, also known as "The Mortgage Nerd," as its 2025 Blue Jacket winner. The prestigious award is given annually by Benchmark Mortgage, a community of expert mortgage consultants in more than 80 branches nationwide, to members who embody the company's core values and demonstrate excellence in business execution.

Mortgage and Finance News: (TROY, Mich.) Class Valuation, a leading real estate appraisal management company, and Land Gorilla, a leading provider of construction lending software, today announced a joint integration that adds a new Appraisal Management Company category to Land Gorilla's inspection marketplace. This enables lenders to order or automate final inspections and appraisal updates directly within the Land Gorilla platform.

Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Click n' Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced a two-part initiative to support lenders during the federal government shutdown: free lock extensions for USDA loans already in its wholesale pipeline and acceptance of new USDA locks, which will be eligible for the same free extensions through Dec. 31,

Mortgage and Finance News: (ATLANTA, Ga.) Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry authority on homebuyer assistance program data and solutions, today released its Q3 2025 Homeownership Program Index (HPI) report. The report identifies 70 new programs launched in Q3, bringing the total number of available programs nationwide to a record 2,624. Additionally, 20 new program providers were added to DPR's database in Q3, bringing its provider total to 1,360.

Mortgage and Finance News: (TROY, Mich.) Class Valuation, a leading real estate appraisal management company (AMC), announced today that Kaushal Shah, its chief technology officer, has been named a 2025 NewsLink Tech All-Star by the Mortgage Bankers Association, the national association representing the real estate finance industry. The MBA's NewsLink Tech All-Star awards recognize a few individuals each year who are making measurable and meaningful contributions to the mortgage industry.

Mortgage and Finance News: (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter®), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced that PNC Bank, part of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., will extend its use of Dark Matter's cutting-edge mortgage solutions under a new contract to enhance PNC's mortgage and home equity lending operations.

Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) FirstClose™, Inc., a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for mortgage and home equity lenders nationwide, today announced the completion of an additional round of equity funding, which was led by existing investor Lateral Investment Management, based in San Mateo, California.

Mortgage and Finance News: (SAN DIEGO, Calif.) CapitalW Collective, a trailblazing non-profit dedicated to advancing women and their allies in mortgage capital markets, proudly announces FICO® (NYSE:FICO), as a Corporate Development Partner - CapitalW Collective's highest support tier. The partnership reinforces a shared mission to educate, elevate, and empower current and future leaders within mortgage.

Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced the launch of a new data solution to deliver increased market transparency, as well as three major platform enhancements focused on pricing accuracy, trade execution and counterparty management. Released ahead of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Annual Convention and Expo, and as the company prepares for its 2026 Optimal Blue Summit, these innovations reinforce Optimal Blue's commitment to delivering solutions that position lenders to drive operational excellence and boost competitive performance.

Mortgage and Finance News: (DES MOINES, Iowa) iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, today announced three new market intelligence dashboards that give mortgage lenders immediate, data-driven visibility into competitive benchmarking, market trends and broker performance.

Mortgage and Finance News: (BUFFALO, N.Y.) LenderLogix, a leading provider of mortgage point-of-sale and automation software for banks, credit unions, independent mortgage banks, and brokers, today announced the release of the Homebuyer Intelligence Report, a quarterly summary of insights into borrower behavior during the home-buying process based on data collected by the LenderLogix suite of tools. The latest report covers data collected during the pre-approval and borrower application process in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025.

Mortgage and Finance News: (TORRANCE, Calif.) DocMagic, Inc. announced today it has been granted two patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Patent No. 12,175,785 for its system and method of "Determining Similar Loan Documents" and Patent No. 12,169,976 for its system and method of "Enabling Electronic Loan Documents."

Mortgage and Finance News: (IRVINE, Calif.) Cloudvirga, a Stewart-owned provider of digital point-of-sale platforms for lenders, today announced the integration of its Horizon POS with Stewart Valuation Intelligence, LLC (SVI), a national provider of appraisal management and residential real estate valuation services.

Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its September 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which showed a sharp increase in rate-lock activity as mortgage rates fell throughout the month to their lowest levels in nearly a year. Total lock volume rose 28% month over month (MoM), led by a surge in refinance lending as borrowers seized on the opportunity to lower monthly payments. Purchases also climbed 6% MoM, outperforming typical seasonal trends as improved affordability brought more buyers into the market.

Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) Argyle, the leading provider of direct-source income, employment and asset verifications, today announced the launch of Doc VOI, a new paystub and W-2 based income verification report integrated with Freddie Mac's AIM Check API. Lenders are cutting costs and gaining fast, automated income verifications from uploaded paystubs and W-2s when direct payroll or banking connections are not available.