News: Vice Capital Markets expands bid tape capabilities to include VantageScore data
Mortgage and Finance News: (NOVI, Mich.) Vice Capital Markets, a leading mortgage hedge advisory firm for independent lenders, banks and credit unions, today announced that its capital markets platform now supports the inclusion of VantageScore™ credit scores on mortgage bid tapes, providing lenders and investors with greater visibility into loan-level credit characteristics during the secondary market execution process.
News: Friday Harbor’s AI pre-underwriting platform integrates to the Freddie Mac Income Calculator API
Mortgage and Finance News: (SEATTLE, Wash.) Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced its integration to the Freddie Mac Income Calculator API. Lenders can now determine calculated monthly income for wage earners, including borrowers with variable income, in minutes while helping preserve eligibility for certain representation and warranty (R&W) relief tied to the income calculation.
News: Optimal Blue announces initial speaker lineup for 2027 Summit
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced its initial speaker lineup for its 2027 Optimal Blue Summit, including Analyst, ESPN Monday Night Football, 3-Time Super Bowl-Winning Quarterback, Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. The third annual event shaping what's next in mortgage will take place February 1-3, 2027 at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
News: ACES Quality Management subject matter experts to address AI, mortgage quality at leading mortgage and credit union industry conferences
Mortgage and Finance News: (DENVER, Colo.) ACES Quality Management®, the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that three senior professionals will speak at two fall industry conferences including MBA's Compliance and Risk Management Conference, Sept. 27-29 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C., and the America's Credit Unions Lending Council Conference, Nov. 3-6 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
News: Fairway Home Mortgage Announces Opening of New Phoenix Branch
Mortgage and Finance News: (PHOENIX, Ariz.) Fairway Home Mortgage and the Kanyur Reverse Team are proud to announce the opening of a new branch location in Phoenix, Arizona. The new office, located at 11811 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite 1002, Phoenix, AZ 85028, represents an exciting milestone in the team's continued commitment to serving homeowners throughout Arizona with specialized retirement lending solutions.
News: Argyle expands Tidalwave integration to unify income, employment and asset verification with real-time operability to Encompass
Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced an expanded integration with Tidalwave, an agentic AI platform that automates the full U.S. mortgage lifecycle from application through closing. Argyle and Tidalwave partnered in 2025 to embed Argyle's verification of income and employment (VOIE) solution into Tidalwave's borrower workflow through payroll connectivity.
News: Click n’ Close names Blake Priest director of whole loan trading
Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Click n' Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced that mortgage industry veteran Blake Priest has joined the company as director of whole loan trading. In this role, Priest will lead the company's scratch and dent purchasing, giving correspondent partners another outlet for loans that fall outside traditional investor guidelines.
News: Optimal Blue report: Mortgage demand slips below year-ago levels as rate-and-term refi activity plunges
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its August 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found that mortgage activity continued to soften in August even as rates leveled off. Total rate-lock volume declined 9% month over month (MoM) and slipped 3% below August 2025 levels. Purchase lock volume fell 10% from July but remained 6% higher year over year (YoY), with purchase loans accounting for nearly 81% of total lock volume.
News: Dark Matter names Salvatore Piccola and Gil Valera to product strategy, professional services leadership roles
Mortgage and Finance News: (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced it has expanded its leadership team with two experienced executives: Salvatore Piccola as senior vice president of product strategy and Gil Valera as vice president of professional services. The additions strengthen two areas central to Dark Matter's growth strategy: innovation focused on using AI to improve customer experience, help lenders realize efficiencies, and drive seamless implementation and adoption of its product capabilities.
News: FirstClose Chief Revenue Officer John Aslanian named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard
Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today that John Aslanian, chief revenue officer, has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. The award recognizes C-level executives across mortgage, real estate and homebuilding for leadership that has driven measurable impact on their organizations and the broader housing economy over the past year.
News: HousingWire names Friday Harbor’s Theo Ellis a 2026 Vanguard
Mortgage and Finance News: (SEATTLE, Wash.) Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced that its Founder and CEO Theo Ellis has been honored with HousingWire's 2026 Vanguard Award.
News: Dark Matter CEO Vikas Rao named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard
Mortgage and Finance News: (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced that Vikas Rao, chief executive officer, has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. Rao recognized for transforming Dark Matter and opening new ways for lenders to build, integrate and deploy AI.
News: DocMagic’s Lori Johnson named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard
Mortgage and Finance News: (TORRANCE, Calif.) DocMagic announced today that Chief Operating Officer Lori Johnson has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. COO recognized for advancing DocMagic's latest innovations in a digital mortgage career spanning more than 30 years.
News: Secured Signing Launches Outsource Notary Queue, Enabling Seamless Signing Services Management
Mortgage and Finance News: (MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.) Secured Signing, a global leader in electronic signature and Remote Online Notarization (RON) technology, announced the launch of Outsource Notary Queue, a new feature that lets business, delegate overflow signings jobs to trusted signing services partners while staying fully in the loop from start to finish.
News: Advisory List Publishes Exit Preparation Guidance for Business Owners Considering a Sale
Mortgage and Finance News: (SAN DIEGO, Calif.) Advisory List, a directory and professional community for the small and middle-market M&A ecosystem, has published new guidance for business owners considering a future sale, highlighting issues transaction professionals say should be addressed years before a company goes to market.
News: Washington state adds Argyle as an approved CBV provider for benefits agencies
Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) Argyle, a consent-based verification (CBV) platform, today announced it has been added as an approved provider under a competitively solicited Washington State Department of Enterprise Services contract (No. 10925, Employment & Income Verification and Public Records Search Services), giving Washington agencies a pre-vetted path to consent-based income and employment verification for benefits eligibility and redetermination.
News: FirstClose expands MeridianLink partnership to serve home equity lenders in mortgage divisions
Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today that it has launched an integration with MeridianLink to bring its home equity order management capabilities directly into the MeridianLink Mortgage loan origination system (LOS). The integration extends FirstClose's existing MeridianLink partnership to help support lenders that manage home equity originations within their mortgage division.
News: Dark Matter’s latest POS release brings real-time document validation to the point of sale
Mortgage and Finance News: (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter®), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced its latest point-of-sale (POS) release, bringing document validation powered by Aiva Intelligence to the earliest stage of the lending process. By validating borrower documents at upload instead of later in the review process, lenders can identify issues sooner, provide immediate guidance to borrowers and reduce downstream conditions and rework.
News: ACES Q1 2026 Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report shows critical defect rate reverses course as compliance defects reach record share
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 the release of its quarterly ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report covering Q1 of 2026. The report analyzes post-closing quality control data derived from the ACES Quality Management & Control® software.
News: Class Valuation expands valuation capabilities with acquisition of Allstate Appraisal
Mortgage and Finance News: (TROY, Mich.) Class Valuation, a leading real estate appraisal management company (AMC), announced today that it has acquired Allstate Appraisal, one of the nation's longest continuously operating valuation firms. Founded in 1959 in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Allstate Appraisal brings more than six decades of experience delivering credible, compliant and timely valuation and review services to lending institutions, mortgage insurance companies, government entities, law firms and other organizations nationwide.
News: The Mortgage Collaborative Names Down Payment Resource’s Brad Cardwell to Partner Advisory Council
Mortgage and Finance News: (ATLANTA, Ga.) Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced that Brad Cardwell, vice president of sales and business development, has been named to The Mortgage Collaborative's (TMC) Partner Advisory Council. The council brings together TMC's preferred partners to promote fair, transparent and efficient practices through open dialogue and coordinated initiatives.
News: Friday Harbor brings AI pre-underwriting to complex loans as non-QM volume reaches record highs
Mortgage and Finance News: (SEATTLE, Wash.) Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced expanded support for non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) and other non-agency lending programs, enabling lenders to evaluate a broader range of complex borrower scenarios against investor-specific guidelines before underwriting.
News: DocMagic named one of LA Business Journal’s Best Places to Work 2026
Mortgage and Finance News: (TORRANCE, Calif.) DocMagic®, a leading provider of digital mortgage solutions, has been named one of the 2026 Best Places to Work in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal. The annual program, now in its 20th year, recognizes companies that demonstrate a strong commitment to employee engagement.
News: Down Payment Resource named to the 2026 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America
Mortgage and Finance News: (ATLANTA, Ga.) Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced it has earned a spot on the 2026 Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest-growing privately owned companies after achieving significant revenue growth from 2022 to 2025. DPR was also honored on the 2023 and 2025 Inc. 5000 lists.
News: Optimal Blue report: Rising rates cool July mortgage activity, but demand remains above year-ago levels
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its July 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found that mortgage activity softened as rising rates weighed on both purchase and refinance demand. Total rate-lock volume declined 11% month over month (MoM) but remained 5% above July 2025.
News: Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group named a Hampton Roads Top Workplace
Mortgage and Finance News: (VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.) Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) is proud to announce it has been recognized among Hampton Roads' Top Workplaces by the Virginian-Pilot. The annual recognition honors employers that create exceptional workplace experiences, with recipients determined through confidential employee survey feedback.
News: Optimal Blue Continues AI Innovation Leadership with Expanded Access to Virtual Economist and Launch of AI Labs
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced the general availability of Virtual Economist, the first on-demand forecasting tool for mortgage capital markets leaders powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML). Revealed in beta at the annual Optimal Blue Summit in February 2026, Virtual Economist is now available to all Optimal Blue Product, Pricing, and Eligibility (PPE) Engine and CompassEdge clients at no added cost.
News: Halo Programs Launches Self-Service CRM Registration While Preserving White-Glove Service
Mortgage and Finance News: (COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich.) Halo Programs, formerly Continuity Programs, today announced the launch of self-service online registration across its industry-specific CRM and relationship marketing platforms serving mortgage lenders, real estate brokerages and residential contractors. Professionals can now activate an account in a few clicks, eliminating the wait for a sales call before getting started.
News: Argyle names John Hardesty chief revenue officer, Daniel Esquibel vice president of mortgage
Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced two executive promotions-longstanding leaders stepping into expanded roles, backed by deep product knowledge built from growing within the company. John Hardesty has been named chief revenue officer and Daniel Esquibel has been promoted to vice president of mortgage.
News: ACES Quality Management’s Garry Manley named 2026 HousingWire Insider
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, today announced that Garry Manley, assistant vice president of client success, has been named a 2026 HousingWire Insider. The award recognizes operational leaders across the mortgage, real estate and homebuilding industries whose behind-the-scenes work drives measurable impact within their organizations.