The other night, at the Bruce Springsteen concert in San Francisco (it was great), he did a crowd favorite, singing, “Baby I got my facts learned real good right now, you better get it straight darling: Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything…” If you want to read a story with words like bullying, harassment, smear, empire, disgusting, and other similar “lyrics,” you can read this tale about Rocket’s Dan Gilbert and UWM’s Mat Ishbia. Not only that, but suddenly everyone is talking about some company called Hunterbrook, not only being tied into a hedge company (which, in theory, can short a stock, publish a negative story later, watch the stock go down, and then cover their shorts and make money) but putting a link into an expletive deleted-filled voice mail from Mat Ishbia to Anthony Casa. As the world turns… more below! Meanwhile, there are constructive things, l
Is it just my imagination or do restaurants no longer have salt and pepper shakers on the tables after COVID? Is it just my imagination or do organizations with initials that begin with “N” have trouble keeping their leadership? In August of 2023 the chief of NAR resigned, last week it was the NRA, and this week it is NAR’s turn again, this time losing Tracy Kasper to blackmail! Meanwhile, keeping on with real estate news, and realizing that anyone can sue anyone, news came out after Christmas that Zillow, which also owns Zillow Home Loans, is suing rivals over software that schedules property showings.  Agency news Freddie Mac (FHLMC) and Fannie Mae (FNMA) still have the lion’s share of the applications coming through lenders. What’s going on with their conventional conforming products? Fannie Mae SVC-2023-06 December Servicing Guide update advises large non-depository sellers/servicers of updates to the frequency of financial