Eighth Circuit upholds $876M Sitzer/Burnett settlements

Plus: reAlpha to acquire InstaMortgage for $8.5M

August 21, 2026

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Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of August 20, 2026. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. Eighth Circuit upholds $876M Sitzer/Burnett settlements

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the settlements reached after the landmark Sitzer/Burnett commissions case, keeping $876 million in deals with NAR, Anywhere, RE/MAX, HomeServices, and Keller Williams intact.

The ruling ends a challenge brought by seven parties who argued the settlements were flawed and should be thrown out.

The court rejected every argument from the appellants. The core dispute was whether the settlements adequately compensated homesellers and whether the terms were broad enough to cover buyers — the judges said yes on both counts.

2. reAlpha to acquire InstaMortgage for $8.5M, adding direct lending across 32 states

reAlpha Tech Corp. closed its acquisition of InstaMortgage on August 19, paying approximately $8.5 million for all outstanding shares under an amended merger agreement first announced in December 2025.

The deal adds in-house mortgage origination, underwriting, and funding capabilities across 38 states and Washington D.C., while InstaMortgage's existing brokerage services continue operating alongside the new direct lending operation.

The acquisition is a key piece of reAlpha's push to build a vertically integrated homebuying platform — combining real estate technology with its own mortgage lending rather than relying on third-party lenders.

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3. More Nuggets

🏚️ Abandoned homes in Baltimore are now being fought over in bidding wars. (WSJ)

🏦 Luminate Bank acquires select assets of First State Mortgage Services. (Yahoo)

💊 Better rolls out a poison pill as Garg fights for control. (HousingWire)

📲 New American Funding extends AI push to borrower calls. (PR Newswire)

🤝 Checkr Buys Truv to expand identity verification for mortgage and government. (PYMNTS)

4. IMB profits rose to $973 per loan in Q2 as costs hit a five-year low

Independent mortgage banks posted a pretax net production profit of $973 per loan in Q2 2026, up from $727 in Q1, with 85% of firms profitable overall.

Production volume per company hit $689 million — the highest since Q2 2022 — and per-loan costs dropped to $10,936, the lowest level in basis points since Q3 2021.

The improvement came despite narrower gain-on-sale margins. Revenue fell to $11,909 per loan from $12,626 in Q1, but falling expenses more than offset the decline. The profit margin rose to 25 basis points, still below the historical average of 39 bps since 2008.

Purchase loans made up 80% of first-mortgage originations by dollar volume among reporting companies, well above the MBA's 63% industry-wide estimate.

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5. Lennar Mortgage discloses data breach affecting tens of thousands

Lennar Mortgage disclosed a social engineering attack that gave unauthorized parties access to company systems between May 26 and June 1.

The breach potentially exposed names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, government ID, driver's license, financial account information, and in a small number of cases, medical information. Texas alone reported 60,526 affected residents.

Lennar said it discovered the incident on June 1, immediately secured its systems, and hired a third-party forensics team. The company is offering two years of complimentary identity monitoring through Kroll to affected individuals, who have until November 20 to enroll.

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

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