DAYTON, Ohio, and VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. /CitizenWire/ — Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) today announced its entry into Ohio, continuing a period of retail expansion that includes the recent opening of its first Louisiana branch. The move extends Atlantic Bay’s multistate footprint and brings its lending platform and support resources to Mortgage Bankers […]
DAYTON, Ohio, and VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. /CitizenWire/ — Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) today announced its entry into Ohio, continuing a period of retail expansion that includes the recent opening of its first Louisiana branch. The move extends Atlantic Bay’s multistate footprint and brings its lending platform and support resources to Mortgage Bankers […]
ATLANTA, Ga. /CitizenWire/ — Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry’s leading affordability intelligence platform, today released its Q3 2026 Homeownership Program Index (HPI) report, identifying 2,833 programs nationwide. The total is up 87 programs, or 3.2%, from 2,746 in Q2 2026, marking a new survey high.
ADDISON, Texas /CitizenWire/ — Click n’ Close, a multistate mortgage lender, today announced that it has been named one of Mortgage Women Magazine’s 2026 Top Employers for Women. The annual recognition, featured by Mortgage Women Magazine and National Mortgage Professional, honors mortgage companies that provide women with resources, mentorship and leadership opportunities and maintain women’s […]
ATLANTA, Ga. /CitizenWire/ — Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry’s leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced a partnership with ARMLS® (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service). Founded in 1982 and based in Tempe, Arizona, ARMLS has grown into one of the largest MLSs in the country, serving more than 38,000 subscribers.
BOULDER, Colo. /CitizenWire/ — Floify, the mortgage industry’s leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, today announced the launch of Verification of Assets (VOA) within Floify Verify, its native verification service powered by Argyle. Lenders using Floify have been able to verify income and employment directly through Floify Verify for some time.
AUSTIN, Texas /CitizenWire/ — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today that PROGRESS in Lending (PIL) has recognized Chief Technology Officer Dan Kellett for his influence on how lenders approach home equity technology, naming him one of nine 2026 Lending Luminaries.
DENVER, Colo. /CitizenWire/ — ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that PROGRESS in Lending (PIL) has recognized Kyle Kehoe, executive vice president of sales, as one of nine 2026 Lending Luminaries. PIL’s eighth annual Lending Luminary Award recognizes people in […]
DES MOINES, Iowa /CitizenWire/ — iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, today announced that CEO Laird Nossuli has been named a finalist for the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) inaugural mPower Visionary Awards. Nossuli was honored October 10 in Chicago at mPowering You, the MBA Summit […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. /CitizenWire/ — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in home lending technology, today announced the promotions of Don Oliver to chief technology officer, Chris Medvidofsky to chief financial officer and Blaine Prober to general counsel. All three have been with Dark Matter since it launched in 2023. The timing reflects how […]
ATLANTA, Ga. /CitizenWire/ — Strategic Benefits Advisors, Inc. (SBA), an independent employee benefits consulting firm, today announced it was named HR Consultant/Advisory Partner of the Year in the 2026 Pinnacle Awards for Human Resources, earning the category’s sole platinum award, the program’s highest level of recognition. The honor recognizes SBA’s expertise in benefits consulting, with […]
TORRANCE, Calif. /CitizenWire/ — DocMagic® announced today that Chief Information Officer Jeremy Boyd has been named a recipient of the 2026 Lending Luminary Award presented by PROGRESS in Lending. The honor recognizes mortgage industry leaders who demonstrate exceptional vision, leadership, and commitment to advancing the future of lending.
PLANO, Texas /CitizenWire/ — Optimal Blue today released its September 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) lending continued to expand even as rising rates weighed on broader mortgage activity. Total rate-lock volume declined 2% month over month (MoM), 21% over the past three months and 26% year over year (YoY). […]
CHICAGO, Ill. /CitizenWire/ — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced Safe Harbor QC, a new pre-closing quality control solution that combines a comprehensive loan review with a warranty backed by a global insurer rated A+ (Superior) by AM Best with […]
PLANO, Texas /CitizenWire/ — 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 […]
PLANO, Texas /CitizenWire/ — 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 […]
AUSTIN, Texas /CitizenWire/ — 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.
TORRANCE, Calif. /CitizenWire/ — 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 […]
AUSTIN, Texas /CitizenWire/ — 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 […]
ATLANTA, Ga. /CitizenWire/ — Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry’s leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced three additions to its team: Melissa Roy as a partner solutions engineer, April Espinosa as a down payment assistance programs specialist and Jeff Smith as a housing finance agency (HFA) relationship manager.
ATLANTA, Ga. /CitizenWire/ — Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry’s leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced three additions to its team: Melissa Roy as a partner solutions engineer, April Espinosa as a down payment assistance programs specialist and Jeff Smith as a housing finance agency (HFA) relationship manager.
DES MOINES, Iowa /CitizenWire/ — New analysis from iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, finds that mortgage access gaps for low-income households are substantially wider than neighborhood-level data suggests. The analysis draws on the last five years of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data.
DES MOINES, Iowa /CitizenWire/ — New analysis from iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, finds that mortgage access gaps for low-income households are substantially wider than neighborhood-level data suggests. The analysis draws on the last five years of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data.
HAMMONTON, N.J. /CitizenWire/ — Service First Information Solutions LLC (Service 1st), a leading provider of credit reporting and verification solutions for the mortgage and other industries, is celebrating 100 years in business. Over the past century, Service 1st has expanded well beyond its roots in mortgage credit reporting.
DENVER, Colo. /CitizenWire/ — 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 […]
NEW YORK, N.Y. /CitizenWire/ — June Point Lending Inc. (June Point Lending), a tech-forward wholesale non-QM lender, announced today it is offering debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans in California, its 19th state for DSCR lending and one of the country’s largest broker markets.
BOULDER, Colo. /CitizenWire/ — Floify, the mortgage industry’s leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, has selected Bryan Traeger as its new general manager. Traeger will lead Floify’s next phase of growth with a focus on expanding the company’s use of AI and push the boundaries of the borrower and lender experience. Traeger officially assumes the GM role […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. /CitizenWire/ — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in home lending technology, today announced an integration with Mezzo, creator of the mortgage industry’s first one-to-many operating architecture for third-party services. Available through Dark Matter’s Exchange℠ Partner Marketplace, the integration gives lenders using the Empower® Loan Origination Solution a single gateway and […]
SEATTLE, Wash. /CitizenWire/ — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, has been named a winner of PROGRESS in Lending’s 2026 AI Pioneer Award. Friday Harbor pioneered AI pre-underwriting as a new category of mortgage technology and has since brought the approach into […]
BOULDER, Colo. /CitizenWire/ — Floify, the mortgage industry’s leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, today announced that Technology Credit Union (Tech CU) has chosen Floify to modernize its first mortgage and home equity lending experience.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. /CitizenWire/ — Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) joined nearly 1,800 volunteers at Norfolk Scope Arena on September 18 for Roc Solid Foundation’s inaugural Ready Bag Rally. In less than two hours, volunteers packed 16,000 Ready Bags to support families navigating a childhood cancer diagnosis. The rally was Roc Solid’s first […]
ATLANTA, Ga. /CitizenWire/ — Strategic Benefits Advisors, Inc. (SBA) has been recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta’s largest employee benefits and compensation companies of 2026. This is the eighth consecutive year SBA has made the Chronicle’s annual list highlighting benefits consultants and brokers. Even as the number of benefits consultants and […]
SEATTLE, Wash. /CitizenWire/ — 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 investor loans, including debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans.
DENVER, Colo. /CitizenWire/ — ACES Quality Management®, the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today the launch of ACES Population Testing™, which evaluates a financial institution’s loan origination pipelines and servicing portfolios against its defined policies and identifies the records that warrant a reviewer’s attention.
AUSTIN, Texas /CitizenWire/ — FirstClose, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today the launch of Lender Portal, a new workspace that lets loan officers manage borrower leads in one place, from initial contact through submission.
DES MOINES, Iowa /CitizenWire/ — iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, today released a new analysis validating its 2025 forecasts against actual Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. The analysis, which uses final 2025 HMDA data released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on […]
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. /CitizenWire/ — Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced the launch of a new solution that enables wholesale mortgage lenders to extend income, employment, and asset verification across their broker networks with a broker-branded borrower experience. The solution is available through Argyle’s Verification API as well as through Encompass® TPO […]
BATON ROUGE, La. and VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. /CitizenWire/ — Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) today announced the opening of its first Louisiana branch in Baton Rouge, extending its’ presence across the South and giving Louisiana homebuyers access to a wide range of mortgage options, local expertise, and the technology and resources of an […]
NOVI, Mich. /CitizenWire/ — 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 […]
SEATTLE, Wash. /CitizenWire/ — 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 […]
