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Court denies lenders request to vacate fair lending settlement

Plus: Opendoor sheds more employees following Nasdaq delisting threat

June 13, 2025

🎉 TGIF! Good morning and welcome back to Mortgage Nuggets. Today’s newsletter is 672 words, a 2.5-minute read. Let’s dive in…

Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of June 12, 2025. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. Judge blocks CFPB request to undo Townstone redlining settlement

A federal judge on Thursday refused to let the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Chicago lender Townstone Financial wipe out their redlining deal. Calling the bid “legal hara-kiri” and a “Pandora’s box the court refuses to open”.

  • U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama said the parties hadn’t met Rule 60’s “extraordinary-circumstances” bar. The $105,000 penalty and five-year compliance order therefore stay put.

The CFPB sued Townstone in 2020 for radio-show remarks it said deterred Black borrowers; the firm settled for $105,000 in November 2024 after the bureau won on appeal, without admitting wrongdoing.

2. Opendoor sheds more employees following Nasdaq delisting threat

Opendoor on Wednesday cut roughly 40 positions—mainly sales-staff roles—and moved another 70 employees into different jobs, calling the move a “small, targeted restructuring” aimed at unifying its sales, marketing and industry-partner channels.

The real-estate company said the trims are part of a pivot to a leaner, “asset-light” business model that leans more on partnerships and referral fees than on buying and flipping homes—a strategy shift forced by 16 loss-making quarters.

  • Opendoor’s stock closed at 60 ¢ on Thursday, leaving the company out of compliance with Nasdaq’s $1 minimum and pressuring it to pursue a reverse stock split that shareholders will vote on July 28.

It is the fourth cut in less than three years. Opendoor shed about 550 jobs in November 2022, 560 in April 2023 and 300 in November 2024, reducing head count from roughly 3,000 to about 1,195 after this week’s action.

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3. More Nuggets

🤝 Fairway makes a deal to acquire Hallmark Home Mortgage. (PR Newswire)

💼 Trigger leads bill advances in the House; industry anticipates new rule soon. (HW)

💀 Trump calls Fed chief Powell ‘numbskull’ as he urges interest rate cut. (CNBC)

🏡 Homebuyers face less competition from investors right now. (FastCompany)

🤡 Disbarred lawyer accused of stealing homes found guilty. (DOJ)

🚨 Coach’s Corner

Take the L! Sometimes you have to….. Tune in for the truth! (Video)

— Dave Krichmar CEO

4. After weeks of declines, mortgage applications rise

Mortgage applications rose to the highest level in over a month. Total mortgage application volume rose 12.5% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

  • Applications to refinance rose 16% for the week and were 28% higher than the same week one year ago.

  • Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home climbed 10% for the week and were 20% higher than the same week one year ago.

  • The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $806,500 or less, increased to 6.93% from 6.92%.

“Coming out of the Memorial Day holiday, mortgage applications increased to the highest level in over a month,” said Joel Kan, deputy chief economist at the MBA, in a release. “Treasury rates saw some movement during the week, which resulted in additional opportunities for borrowers.”

5. Change Lending wins $94M judgment

Change Lending won a $94 million judgment in New York state court against Yeti Global Services and its owner, Adam Levine, for tortious interference and aiding a breach of fiduciary duty.

Levine, a former Change executive and Bush White House aide, was accused of stealing documents to launch Yeti and attempting to extort the company. He was placed on leave in March 2023 for alleged misconduct, then filed a wrongful termination suit as the firm briefly lost its CDFI status.

Change resolved the dispute with the Treasury by late 2023, regained its certification, and plans to use the judgment proceeds to expand lending to underserved borrowers.

The Change Company CEO Steven Sugarman thanked the court for the judgement and stated, “While the damage done by Adam Levine cannot be fully remediated, this is a great first step to secure justice for The Change Company.”

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Monday!

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