News Topic: Business

Mortgage and Finance News: (MANCHESTER, N.H.) Avatar Construction of Watertown, MA announced today that construction is underway for Grand Central Suites, the newest apartment complex in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire. Located at 21 Central Street, this 77-unit complex is set to transform the current aging commercial space into the premier living destination for families and individuals.

Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Today, Optimal Blue announced the release of its Originations Market Monitor report, looking at mortgage origination data through December month-end. Leveraging daily rate lock data from the Optimal Blue PPE - the industry's most widely used product, pricing, and eligibility engine - the Originations Market Monitor provides a comprehensive and timely view into origination activity.

Mortgage and Finance News: (SARASOTA, Fla.) Each year, NARI of Tampa Bay presents Contractor of the Year Awards to members who have demonstrated outstanding work through the submission of their remodeling projects. The CotY Awards are the highest form of recognition by industry leaders and peers and celebrate members committed to design, best practices, integrity, high standards, and professionalism.

Mortgage and Finance News: (RICHMOND, Va.) Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. ("Matrix"), a leading, independent investment bank, announces the successful closing on the sale of Bobby Taylor Oil Company, Inc. and T&S Transport, Inc. ("BTOC" or the "Company") to Parker Oil Company Incorporated. Based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, BTOC is a leading supplier of retail propane, commercial refined fuels, and racing gas to a diverse customer base of residential and commercial accounts throughout the state of North Carolina.

Mortgage and Finance News: (PHOENIX, Ariz.) Thinkzilla Consulting Group today announced that ImpactAZ 2025, a statewide supplier-diversity accelerator serving black and other minority business owners, has announced the results from its inaugural cohort. Thirty-five participants selected for the accelerator completed the program, with 75% attending all technical assistance programming.

Mortgage and Finance News: (WARRENVILLE, Ill.) Raymond James Financial Services is proud to announce that Legacy Wealth Advisors has been named to the 2nd annual Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams list* for 2024! Legacy Wealth is a diverse team that includes Financial Advisors Fernando Ereneta, Justin Ancona, and Jennifer Secola.

Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK, N.Y.) TravelInsurance.com today announced surpassing 100,000 customer reviews on Shopper Approved, a rapidly growing review platform in the United States. The verified reviews led to a 4.9 out of 5 stars rating, with over 96,000 perfect 5-star ratings. TravelInsurance.com has the highest third-party reviews in the travel insurance industry.

Mortgage and Finance News: (SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) Last week a trial court in Alameda County entered an order permitting Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. to recover nearly $125,000 in costs from the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA). Hobby Lobby incurred these costs during six years of hard-fought litigation involving claims brought under California's Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), CDF Labor Law LLP announced today.

Mortgage and Finance News: (ATLANTA, Ga.) Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading technology for connecting home buyers with homebuyer assistance programs, today announced its Executive Vice President of Product and Operations Sean Moss has been selected as an Industry Titan by National Mortgage Professional (NMP) magazine. The award recognizes experienced professionals who show exceptional dedication, compassion and integrity who are improving the mortgage industry for both industry professionals and the clients they serve.

Mortgage and Finance News: (BOULDER, Colo.) Floify, the mortgage industry's leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, today announced that it has joined the American Credit Union Mortgage Association (ACUMA) as an affiliate member. Through its membership, Floify aims to help credit unions engage their members with an elevated home financing experience while supporting streamlined loan production with cost-saving tools.

Mortgage and Finance News: (SAN DIEGO, Calif.) The Mortgage Collaborative (TMC), the nation's largest independent cooperative network serving the mortgage industry, has wrapped up its fourth annual 12 Days of TMC, a virtual conference running from November 30 to December 15, 2023. The online event, spread over three weeks, featured several keynote speakers.

Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) Argyle, a platform providing automated income and employment verifications for some of the largest lenders in the United States, closed a banner year of mortgage growth with 50 new IMB, credit union and bank customers. The payroll connectivity leader more than doubled the annual volume of income and employment verifications conducted on behalf of its customers to 1.5 million with the help of 15 of the top 100 mortgage lenders.

Mortgage and Finance News: (ATLANTA, Ga.) Depth, a leading provider of consultative B2B marketing, public relations and reputation management services for technology companies in the residential mortgage finance, financial technology (fintech), real estate technology (REtech) and related regulatory technology (regtech) industries, will close 2023 with a significantly larger internal team and client roster in anticipation of continued rebound for mortgage and real estate volume.

Mortgage and Finance News: (NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.) NotaryCam®, a Stewart-owned company and leading remote online notarization (RON) provider for real estate and legal transactions, announced today it will support remote online notarial acts in California beginning in 2024 following the passage of CA Senate Bill 696, which was signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom on September 30, 2023. Stage 1 of the bill takes effect on January 1, 2024.

Mortgage and Finance News: (SAN DIEGO, Calif.) Mortgage Capital Trading, Inc. (MCT®), a leading mortgage hedge advisory and secondary marketing software firm, today announced a 10.7% decrease in mortgage lock volume in November compared to the previous month. This revelation comes as part of MCT's monthly Lock Volume Indices report, offering valuable insights into the dynamic landscape of the residential mortgage industry.

Mortgage and Finance News: (RICHMOND, Va.) Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. ("Matrix"), a leading, independent investment bank, announces that it has advised Santmyer Companies, Inc. ("Santmyer" or the "Company") on the sale of its Red Rover convenience retail stores to Par Mar Oil Company and its branded dealer wholesale business to Countywide Petroleum Company (subsidiaries of Croton Holdings Co.). Santmyer is a leading privately-owned and family operated full-service distributor whose primary offerings include diesel, gasoline, propane, lubricants, diesel exhaust fluid and logistics services.

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 that Legacy Mutual Mortgage has selected its pre-approval letter generation tool QuickQual to provide borrowers with a white-labeled, digitally-driven entry point into their homebuying experience.

Mortgage and Finance News: (ATLANTA, Ga.) Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading technology for connecting home buyers with homebuyer assistance programs, today announced a $10,000 donation to the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership to be used as a grant to help an eligible homebuyer working with the local nonprofit housing agency.

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 the second quarter (Q2) of 2023. The latest report analyzes post-closing quality control data derived from ACES Quality Management & Control® software.

Mortgage and Finance News: (COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) Financial Advisor Keith Eckhardt of the financial services firm Edward Jones in Colorado Springs, Colorado has received the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, or CFP®, certification, granted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board).

Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK, N.Y.) Wells Fargo, in partnership with the award-winning fan-athlete community, HANG, will bring a one-of-a-kind watch-party game experience to HBCU fans for the storied match-up between Howard University and Florida A&M at the Celebration Bowl on December 14, 2023. Actor and former NFL linebacker Isaac Keys (Morehouse); NFL Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams (Southern); Miami Dolphins star Terron Armstead (UAPB), Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Nick Leverett (North Carolina Central) and pro basketball player Shakyla Hill (Grambling) will be among the HBCU notables who will celebrate the HBCU experience while discussing the game with fans around the country.

Mortgage and Finance News: (ATHENS, Ga.) FormFree® today announced its President Eric Lapin has been selected to speak at the MISMO Winter Summit taking place January 8-11, 2024, at The Woodlands Resort just outside of Houston, Texas. Lapin will speak on a panel titled "Demystifying Artificial Intelligence, Digital Identity and Blockchain" during a brown-bag lunch session on January 9 from 12:30 pm-1:25 pm CT. He will be joined by fellow panelists Devin Caster, principal, product solutions at CoreLogic; Rishi Godse, principal technical architect at USAA; and Shawn Jobe, vice president and head of business development at Informative Research.

Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) Argyle, a platform providing automated income and employment verifications for some of the largest lenders in the United States, announced today its integration with the Exchange, an interconnected network of mortgage-specific service providers available to customers of the Empower® loan origination system (LOS) from Dark Matter Technologies. This collaboration simplifies the income and employment verification process for lenders, further amplifying the cost and time-saving benefits of digital borrower verification.

Mortgage and Finance News: (BOALSBURG, Pa.) EnergyCAP, a leading provider of energy and sustainability enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, proudly announces its prestigious placement in the top right leader quadrant of the Verdantix Green Quadrant: Energy Management Software 2023. This accolade underscores EnergyCAP's commitment to delivering innovative and effective solutions in the energy & sustainability management sector.

Mortgage and Finance News: (JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative new leader in mortgage technology backed by time-tested loan origination software and leadership, today announced significant enhancements to the integration between the comprehensive Empower® loan origination system (LOS) and DocMagic's document generation solution.

Mortgage and Finance News: (ATHENS, Ga.) FormFree® today announced the appointment of former hip-hop/rap recording artist-turned-techpreneur Victor D. Lombard, professionally known as DIVINE, as head of culture. DIVINE is the CEO and founder of Solvent, a fintech focused on financial empowerment for marginalized groups.

Mortgage and Finance News: (BOULDER, Colo.) Floify, the mortgage industry's leading point-of-sale (POS), today announced the launch of Floify Broker Edition, an easy-to-use, one-stop lending platform for mortgage brokers. Built on the foundation of the classic Floify POS platform, Broker Edition has been thoughtfully configured to make managing loans simpler at an accessible price point.

Mortgage and Finance News: (NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.) Argyle, a platform providing automated income and employment verifications for some of the largest lenders in the United States, announced today that CEO Shmulik Fishman has been named to HousingWire's list of 2023 Tech Trendsetters. Now in its fifth year, the Tech Trendsetters award honors the 50 most impactful executives, product leaders and professionals shaping innovation in the mortgage and real estate industries.

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 Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Scott Falbo has been selected by HousingWire as a 2023 Tech Trendsetter Award winner. In its fifth year, HousingWire's Tech Trendsetters award recognizes the most impactful and innovative technology leaders serving the housing economy.