By Elise Daniel Last year was the year without evictions and 2021 may be shaping up similarly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently extended their eviction moratorium, which bans landlords from kicking out tenants who fail to make rent payments. The ban is creating a situation that will present short term problems for landlords and have long-term impacts on the quality of the American housing supply. Already struggling to make ends meet, landlords should be prepared to face several months of additional eviction moratoriums and the prospect of tenants owing tens of thousands of dollars in back rent. Originally enacted in March 2020 as a public health measure to prevent overcrowding in shelters, the moratorium was successful in pushing evictions to historic lows. However,…
By Elise Daniel Tesla made headlines when the electric vehicle company invested 1.5 million in Bitcoin in February. Last week, Elon Musk announced that customers could now buy Teslas with Bitcoin. Other tech-forward companies including MicroStrategies and Square have also invested in the cryptocurrency. However, many traditional investors and financial institutions are still approaching Bitcoin with skepticism. Warren Buffet has outright condemned Bitcoin, likening cryptocurrency to rat poison and claiming it has no value. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Bitcoin is an “extremely inefficient” currency. Though historically Bitcoin has been very volatile, even skeptics may find it difficult to ignore the recent BTC bull market. The digital currency’s increasing adaptation is attributed to what Bitcoin believers have jokingly called “number go up technology” on the Twittersphere.…
By Elise Daniel United Wholesale Mortgage reiterated Friday that it will close loans in process with brokers even if they do not sign an agreement to not work with two competitors by Monday’s UWM-imposed deadline. The Mortgage Note raised the issue after obtaining an email from a UWM employee to a broker that appeared to indicate otherwise. “Any loans with Rocket Mortgage must be disclosed on the Addendum if you do choose to accept the terms,” the email said. “The terms are to no longer send business to Rocket Mortgage and to Fairway Independent after you have accepted the addendum. “The 3/15 part is simply the last day to complete the addendum. If it is not completed by 3/15, all loans in…
By Elise Daniel Interest rates jumped to 2.97 percent last week, the highest they’ve been in six months. On its own, the increase is not significant—but it may actually be monumental if it is the beginning of a rate surge that has been long predicted. If the historic decline in rates that we have been experiencing has finally reached its bottom, then today’s rates may be the lowest available for months, and maybe years, to come. But if the surge doesn’t arrive and this week’s minor increase is just a predictable blip, then the frenzy will have been overblown. One market watcher has said that a “perfect storm is brewing,” but as any meteorologist knows, prediction is always a hard game. Market prediction…
By Elise Daniel When Vice President Joe Biden entered the White House in 2008, he inherited an economic recession and subprime mortgage crisis in which millions of people lost their homes due to foreclosure. Bank bailouts, stimulus packages, and financial regulation followed. The burning question for lenders in 2021 is: How will President Biden, who’s been around this block before, respond to today’s complex housing market that has been propped up by forbearance and historically low interest rates? Just hours after swearing in, Biden signed an executive order that pushed back the federal eviction moratorium to the end of March. He’s asked Congress to extend the grace period until the end of September and plans to call on the Federal Housing Finance Agency to extend the foreclosure…
By Elise Daniel United Wholesale Mortgage is slated to go public Friday. The Wall Street debut will turn Mat Ishbia into a billionaire overnight. Ishbia is the 40-year-old President and CEO of UWM, the second-largest mortgage lender in the country. After playing college basketball at Michigan State University, Ishbia joined his dad’s mortgage company, United Shore, in 2003 and worked his way up. Ten years later, his father, Jeff Ishbia, made him president of United Shore’s primary business unit, UWM. Ishbia is considered the biggest player in the wholesale sector. He was named one of the “Most Influential Mortgage Professionals Under 40” by National Mortgage Professional magazine in 2019. Merging with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Gores Holdings IV and going public will likely make him even…
By Elise Daniel Even in the middle of an economic recession, IPOs are booming and mortgage companies don’t want to miss out. The mortgage industry at large is at a peculiar crossroads and companies and investors are jumping to cash in on a unique set of circumstances, at least in the short term. Though some public debuts went on hold in the fall, likely due to market uncertainty surrounding COVID stimulus negotiations and the election, IPOs are back in 2021. Several lenders either went public or announced their plans to go public last year and many are expected to go public in the first quarter. Between jaw-droppingly low interest rates and a booming stock market, many experts aren’t surprised so…
