Most of the time, when a homeowner takes out a HELOC, the plan is to use the proceeds to fund home renovations. But a recent survey of 1,003 HELOC or future HELOC borrowers by Citizens Bank revealed that younger borrowers are much more open to using the loan for things other than home renovation, shedding light on a generational divide in the way homeowners utilize their home equity.

More than a dozen of the world’s largest financial institutions conspired to fix the prices on more than $485 billion in bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a five-year period, according to a new blockbuster lawsuit. Click the headline for the full story.

Residential real estate giant Realogy has debuted as suite of AI tools for agents and brokers that it hopes will reshape the future of real estate. At its RGX conference in Las Vegas this week, Realogy introduced a number of innovative tools that it’s planning to roll out this year, including some that leverage artificial intelligence to make the job easier.

PeerStreet, an online marketplace for real estate-backed loans, has launched Residential for Rent loans, enabling borrowers to secure long-term financing on residential properties for rent. PeerStreet Co-Founder and CEO Brew Johnson said the company was excited about expanding its marketplace beyond bridge loans, and that the move is a natural progression as the company increases its transaction volume with institutional investors.

Despite HUD stating recently that its policies have not changed in regards to the FHA backing mortgages for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, it appears that the opposite is actually the case. Or at least that’s how the mortgage lending industry is reacting. A new HousingWire investigation has uncovered lender bulletins or guidelines from a dozen different lenders each stating that Dreamers are not eligible for FHA financing.

Don Layton’s time as CEO of Freddie Mac will officially end this summer, the government-sponsored enterprise announced Thursday morning. Layton has led Freddie Mac since 2012, but the GSE announced last year that Layton would be retiring at some point in the second half of 2019. And Thursday, the GSE revealed exactly when Layton’s run as CEO will end, and who will replace him.

Digital real estate disrupter Opendoor has landed yet another massive cash infusion, raising $300 million in a recent investment round and bringing its total equity capital to $1.3 billion. Now, the company – which aims to change the way Americans buy and sell homes by whittling the process down to a few simple online transactions – is valued at $3.8 billion.

Homeownership investment company Point just landed a major cash infusion that will fund its plans to help more Americans access their home equity, raising $100 million in platform capital and securing $22 million in a Series B funding round. "We are witnessing the emergence of a whole new class of financial solution that is aligned with homeowners, and investors are taking notice," said Point Co-Founder and CEO Eddie Lim.

In a deal that will combine two of the biggest names in multifamily and commercial real estate, Jones Lang LaSalle announced Tuesday that it is buying HFF for approximately $2 billion. Both JLL and HFF are consistently among the top lenders in the multifamily real estate space, with both companies placing in Freddie Mac’s top 10 lenders of 2018.

A New York man has admitted to taking part in a massive multifamily real estate scandal that harkens back to some of the darkest parts of the housing crisis, including fake residents, fake incomes, and inflated mortgages. The charges stem from an investigation that the Wall Street Journal previously called “one of the biggest mortgage-fraud probes since the financial crisis.”