Mortgage applications

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the FICO credit-scoring model has drawbacks in price, predictiveness and market competition, and stakeholders should develop a more open-sourced model that uses artificial intelligence.

The lawmaker said leadership on the House Financial Services Committee is supportive of the legislation, which would limit the ability of credit-reporting agencies to sell homebuyer information to financial service providers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice issued a consent order against Wisconsin-based nonbank mortgage originator Fairway Independent Mortgage over redlining allegations. Fairway is the country's fifth-largest mortgage originator by volume.

Loan volumes fell for the third straight week, with depressed demand for government lending driving activity downward, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Navy Federal, the nation's largest credit union, is facing a lawsuit about its allegedly discriminatory mortgage lending practices.

The lawsuit accuses Navy Federal of violating the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act after a CNN report that the lender approved a lower percentage of Black and Latino mortgage applicants.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is appealing a lower court ruling that the agency exceeded its authority in bringing an anti-discrimination enforcement action against a Chicago mortgage lender after he made disparaging remarks about Blacks and Hispanics.

The number of government-backed home loans transferred from one borrower to another is up significantly this year as prospective buyers look for ways to avoid elevated interest rates. Some say this is the beginning of a larger movement, but others say regulatory hurdles will get in the way.

A continued slowdown in refinances, though, drove overall loan-application volumes lower last week, even as the Government Index posted a small gain, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Both purchases and refinance volumes climbed higher, as interest rates flattened following earlier volatility, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.