Real estate entrepreneur sentenced 20 years for fraud

Everett Craig Williams, a real estate entrepreneur, is spending 20 years behind bars for swindling thousands of dollars from investors, according to an article written by L.M Sixel at the Houston Chronicle. Williams used investor money to finance his personal expenses.

Planet Home Lending hires new chief information officer

Planet Home Lending announced this week that Mike McChesney has joined the company as its new chief information officer. “His strong mix of business, operations, and technology expertise across originations, capital markets, and servicing will allow us to differentiate at a time of tremendous opportunity in the industry,” said Michael Dubeck, Planet Home Lending president and CEO.

Richard Branson wants people to stop making poor financial decisions

“I love to invest in companies that make people’s lives better,” said Sir Richard Branson, on his decision to invest in this artificial intelligence loan service.

TMS promotes two key leaders

After launching Happinest, a homeownership solution, The Money Source recently announced the promotions of Barbara Yolles to chief strategy officer and Pete Sokolovic to president of originations. Notably, Yolles will be speaking at HousingWire’s engage.marketing conference.

HousingWire survey: Are lenders adopting digital technology?

A survey conducted jointly by HousingWire and Maxwell showed only 14% of lenders answered they do not have a digital mortgage application for borrowers. But a digital mortgage application is just the beginning to submerge borrowers into the full digital mortgage experience. This exclusive infographic also breaks down the numbers for lenders who use a borrower portal.

Senate Democrats unveil sweeping rent reform proposal

Increasing rent prices leave many American families struggling to afford housing, but Senate Democrats have introduced new legislation to help alleviate that stress. The Rent Relief Act will award refundable tax credit to renters that pay more than 30% of their gross income on rent, including utilities.

More executive changes at Equifax: Former interim CEO to lead U.S. information business

It’s been a bit of a revolving door amongst senior management at Equifax ever since the massive data breach that exposed the personal information of nearly 148 million U.S. consumers to hackers was first disclosed. And it looks like the company isn’t done making changes yet.

How to avoid being one of the 5.2 million renters scammed in rental fraud

A staggering 5.2 million renters lost money to scammers, according to a newly released report from Apartment List. A disproportionate number of these people are young renters between the ages of 18 and 29-years-old. Read on for tips on how to avoid getting scammed out of your hard-earned money.

Is real estate appreciation shifting west?

Just as America’s population growth moved west from the Atlantic, real estate appreciation is trending in that direction, too. According to projections from Veros released last month, a graph of the nation’s highest-appreciating Metropolitan Statistical Areas through May 2019 might look like a wave cresting towards the West Coast.

Boston Capital gears up for $350 million of multifamily acquisitions

Boston Capital Real Estate Partners, the 3rd largest apartment owner in the U.S., just closed the Boston Capital Income and Value U.S. Apartment Fund. The fund has enough juice to add $350 million of apartments to the Boston Capital empire.