Neighborly Co., a franchisor of 24 home repair and maintenance service brands, is pledging franchise-fee, royalty and other related revenues from its mostly recession-proof business lines.

Between the dip in refis and the approach of the spring buying season, mortgage lenders are likely to start paying a little more attention to the purchase market, which is less rate-sensitive.

While the Mortgage Bankers Association hailed the move, some experts say it could negatively impact housing inventory.

With pandemic conditions in place for a second spring, lenders and brokers discuss the indicators that will reveal whether the market is shifting away from the traditional selling season to one that runs hot throughout the year.

While its net income declined annually for the second consecutive year, CEO Hugh Frater touted Fannie Mae’s resiliency in a record year for providing mortgage liquidity.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of Feb. 5-11

The deal is similar in size and credit metrics to Caliber’s January private-label deal, albeit with a slightly higher borrower WA FICO (742) and smaller share of dirty-current loans.

Opportunity Financial, which offers consumer installment loans in partnership with banks, is merging with FG New America Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition corporation. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

The company purchased $1.1 trillion of single-family mortgages and $83 billion of multifamily loans during 2020.

Interim CFPB Director Dave Uejio expressed concern that financial institutions have dragged their feet in resolving disputes with consumers for service issues during the pandemic.

The Japanese lender will back $526 million in U.S. dollar-denominated notes with receivables of domestic new- and used-car loans from domestic borrowers.

Homeowners still deferring payments on federally backed loans as of Feb. 28 will be permitted to request an additional three months of relief.