DepthPR News

Press releases issued on behalf of clients of Depth (Depth Public Relations agency, Atlanta), including leading and emerging companies in the fintech, banking, mortgage, compliance, real estate, B2B and related fields.


News items related to DepthPR as issued by the Send2Press Newswire service on behalf of the noted news source.


Dark Matter Technologies names new CTO, CFO and general counsel

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 16, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in home lending technology, today announced the promotions of Don Oliver to chief technology officer, Chris Medvidofsky to chief financial officer and Blaine Prober to general counsel. All three have been with Dark Matter since it launched in 2023. The timing reflects how the company has built its leadership team: supporting people’s growth within the organization when they demonstrate experience, leadership and a customer-first mindset.

Strategic Benefits Advisors named HR Consultant/Advisory Partner of the Year

ATLANTA, Ga., Oct. 15, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Strategic Benefits Advisors, Inc. (SBA), an independent employee benefits consulting firm, today announced it was named HR Consultant/Advisory Partner of the Year in the 2026 Pinnacle Awards for Human Resources, earning the category’s sole platinum award, the program’s highest level of recognition. The honor recognizes SBA’s expertise in benefits consulting, with particular emphasis on a longstanding client engagement led by Director Kim Shumate.

DocMagic CIO Jeremy Boyd Honored with 2026 Lending Luminary Award

TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 13, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — DocMagic® announced today that Chief Information Officer Jeremy Boyd has been named a recipient of the 2026 Lending Luminary Award presented by PROGRESS in Lending. The honor recognizes mortgage industry leaders who demonstrate exceptional vision, leadership, and commitment to advancing the future of lending.

Optimal Blue report: Non-QM bucks September slowdown as mortgage rates surge

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 13, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its September 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) lending continued to expand even as rising rates weighed on broader mortgage activity. Total rate-lock volume declined 2% month over month (MoM), 21% over the past three months and 26% year over year (YoY). Non-QM lock volume bucked the broader decline, rising 8% MoM as non-QM loans accounted for 12% of September production.

Friday Harbor launches Safe Harbor QC with insurance-backed warranty from an A+ rated global insurer

CHICAGO, Ill., Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced Safe Harbor QC, a new pre-closing quality control solution that combines a comprehensive loan review with a warranty backed by a global insurer rated A+ (Superior) by AM Best with the agency’s highest financial size category (XV).

Optimal Blue acquires Usherpa to provide originators with tools to win more business by connecting eligibility, pricing and borrower engagement

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced it has acquired Usherpa, a marketing automation and borrower relationship engagement platform purpose-built for mortgage professionals. The acquisition expands Optimal Blue’s ability to help lenders win more business by bringing borrower engagement capabilities closer to the product, pricing and eligibility solutions that over 200,000 originators use to identify and convert loan opportunities.

Optimal Blue Streamlines Best Efforts Lock Execution for Lenders

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced that its direct lock functionality now integrates with Fannie Mae’s Pricing & Execution – Whole Loan® (PE – Whole Loan) platform. The integration allows lenders using Optimal Blue’s product, pricing and eligibility (PPE) engine to execute best efforts locks with Fannie Mae through real-time, system-to-system connectivity without leaving Optimal Blue.

FirstClose collaborates with Cotality to deliver a streamlined home equity lending platform designed for a 7-day close

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, today announced a strategic alliance with Cotality™, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider that supports 80% of real estate transactions in North America.

DocMagic’s Lori Johnson named a 2026 Powerful Woman of Mortgage Banking

TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 8, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — DocMagic® announced today that Chief Operating Officer Lori Johnson has been named one of Mortgage Banker’s 2026 Powerful Women of Mortgage Banking. The award recognizes women in mortgage banking who stand out as leaders by driving innovation, adapting to change and making a positive impact on their organizations, colleagues and the industry.

Home equity lenders report an average per-loan impact of $753.04 from execution improvements

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, today released the results of an independent study by MarketWise Advisors, LLC, examining the value of improvements in operational readiness and execution for home equity lenders. Participating lenders reported an average financial and operational impact of $753.04 per loan, a 7.99x return, across the core and extended capabilities MarketWise modeled.

Down Payment Resource adds three new team members to support lenders, HFAs and community programs

ATLANTA, Ga., Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry’s leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced three additions to its team: Melissa Roy as a partner solutions engineer, April Espinosa as a down payment assistance programs specialist and Jeff Smith as a housing finance agency (HFA) relationship manager.

Analysis: Neighborhood income data understates mortgage access gaps

DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — New analysis from iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, finds that mortgage access gaps for low-income households are substantially wider than neighborhood-level data suggests. The analysis draws on the last five years of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data.

Service 1st marks 100 years in business, extends beyond mortgage lending

HAMMONTON, N.J., Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Service First Information Solutions LLC (Service 1st), a leading provider of credit reporting and verification solutions for the mortgage and other industries, is celebrating 100 years in business. Over the past century, Service 1st has expanded well beyond its roots in mortgage credit reporting.

PROGRESS in Lending honors ACES Quality Management’s AI advancements with 2026 AI Pioneer Award

DENVER, Colo., Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that it has been named one of the AI Pioneer Award winners by PROGRESS in Lending. Honorees include 14 financial technology companies whose AI work spans the loan lifecycle from origination through servicing.

June Point Lending launches DSCR loans in California

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 6, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — June Point Lending Inc. (June Point Lending), a tech-forward wholesale non-QM lender, announced today it is offering debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans in California, its 19th state for DSCR lending and one of the country’s largest broker markets. California brokers gain access to June Point Lending’s proprietary technology infrastructure.

Floify names mortgage technology leader Bryan Traeger as general manager

BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 6, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Floify, the mortgage industry’s leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, has selected Bryan Traeger as its new general manager. Traeger will lead Floify’s next phase of growth with a focus on expanding the company’s use of AI and push the boundaries of the borrower and lender experience. Traeger officially assumes the GM role on October 12 and will be at MBA Annual in Chicago, October 12-14, booth 600.

Dark Matter Technologies and Mezzo bring one-to-many verification orchestration to lenders

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct., 5, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in home lending technology, today announced an integration with Mezzo, creator of the mortgage industry’s first one-to-many operating architecture for third-party services. Available through Dark Matter’s Exchange℠ Partner Marketplace, the integration gives lenders using the Empower® Loan Origination Solution a single gateway and workflow across multiple verification providers.

Friday Harbor wins 2026 AI Pioneer Award from PROGRESS in Lending

SEATTLE, Wash., Oct. 1, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, has been named a winner of PROGRESS in Lending’s 2026 AI Pioneer Award. Friday Harbor pioneered AI pre-underwriting as a new category of mortgage technology and has since brought the approach into production at meaningful scale.

Technology Credit Union selects Floify to enhance its digital mortgage lending experience

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 29, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Floify, the mortgage industry’s leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, today announced that Technology Credit Union (Tech CU) has chosen Floify to modernize its first mortgage and home equity lending experience. Founded in 1960, the Bay Area credit union recognized the need for a more streamlined mortgage process to meet members’ expectations.

Atlantic Bay helps Roc Solid Foundation pack 16,000 Ready Bags for families facing childhood cancer

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Sept. 24, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) joined nearly 1,800 volunteers at Norfolk Scope Arena on September 18 for Roc Solid Foundation’s inaugural Ready Bag Rally. In less than two hours, volunteers packed 16,000 Ready Bags to support families navigating a childhood cancer diagnosis. The rally was Roc Solid’s first Ready Bag packing event of this scale.

Strategic Benefits Advisors holds steady as Atlanta’s benefits consultant market shrinks 17%

ATLANTA, Ga., Sept. 23, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Strategic Benefits Advisors, Inc. (SBA) has been recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta’s largest employee benefits and compensation companies of 2026. This is the eighth consecutive year SBA has made the Chronicle’s annual list highlighting benefits consultants and brokers. Even as the number of benefits consultants and brokers in Atlanta fell 17% in 2026, according to the Chronicle, SBA held its position.

Friday Harbor adds AI-pre-underwriting support for investor and DSCR loans

SEATTLE, Wash., Sept. 23, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced expanded support for investor loans, including debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans. The new capability builds on Friday Harbor’s recently launched non-qualified mortgage support.

ACES Quality Management launches ACES Population Testing

DENVER, Colo., Sept. 21, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — ACES Quality Management®, the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today the launch of ACES Population Testing™, which evaluates a financial institution’s loan origination pipelines and servicing portfolios against its defined policies and identifies the records that warrant a reviewer’s attention.

FirstClose introduces Lender Portal to manage home equity borrower leads in one workspace

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 17, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today the launch of Lender Portal, a new workspace that lets loan officers manage borrower leads in one place, from initial contact through submission.

Analysis: iEmergent’s 2025 U.S. mortgage forecasts closely track HMDA actuals

DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 16, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, today released a new analysis validating its 2025 forecasts against actual Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. The analysis, which uses final 2025 HMDA data released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on June 23, 2026, spans every geographic level from national down to individual census tracts.

Argyle extends its mortgage verification experience to the wholesale channel with the launch of a broker-branded borrower experience

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., Sept. 16, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced the launch of a new solution that enables wholesale mortgage lenders to extend income, employment, and asset verification across their broker networks with a broker-branded borrower experience. The solution is available through Argyle’s Verification API as well as through Encompass® TPO Connect from ICE Mortgage Technology®.

Atlantic Bay builds on Southern growth with expansion into Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. and VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Sept. 15, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) today announced the opening of its first Louisiana branch in Baton Rouge, extending its’ presence across the South and giving Louisiana homebuyers access to a wide range of mortgage options, local expertise, and the technology and resources of an established lender.

Vice Capital Markets expands bid tape capabilities to include VantageScore data

NOVI, Mich., Sept. 10, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Vice Capital Markets, a leading mortgage hedge advisory firm for independent lenders, banks and credit unions, today announced that its capital markets platform now supports the inclusion of VantageScore™ credit scores on mortgage bid tapes, providing lenders and investors with greater visibility into loan-level credit characteristics during the secondary market execution process.

Friday Harbor’s AI pre-underwriting platform integrates to the Freddie Mac Income Calculator API

SEATTLE, Wash., Sept. 10, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced its integration to the Freddie Mac Income Calculator API. Lenders can now determine calculated monthly income for wage earners, including borrowers with variable income, in minutes while helping preserve eligibility for certain representation and warranty (R&W) relief tied to the income calculation.

Optimal Blue announces initial speaker lineup for 2027 Summit

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 9, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced its initial speaker lineup for its 2027 Optimal Blue Summit, including Analyst, ESPN Monday Night Football, 3-Time Super Bowl-Winning Quarterback, Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. The third annual event shaping what’s next in mortgage will take place February 1-3, 2027 at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.

ACES Quality Management subject matter experts to address AI, mortgage quality at leading mortgage and credit union industry conferences

DENVER, Colo., Sept. 9, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — ACES Quality Management®, the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that three senior professionals will speak at two fall industry conferences including MBA’s Compliance and Risk Management Conference, Sept. 27-29 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C., and the America’s Credit Unions Lending Council Conference, Nov. 3-6 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Argyle expands Tidalwave integration to unify income, employment and asset verification with real-time operability to Encompass

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., Sept. 9, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced an expanded integration with Tidalwave, an agentic AI platform that automates the full U.S. mortgage lifecycle from application through closing. Argyle and Tidalwave partnered in 2025 to embed Argyle’s verification of income and employment (VOIE) solution into Tidalwave’s borrower workflow through payroll connectivity.

Click n’ Close names Blake Priest director of whole loan trading

ADDISON, Texas, Sept. 8, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Click n’ Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced that mortgage industry veteran Blake Priest has joined the company as director of whole loan trading. In this role, Priest will lead the company’s scratch and dent purchasing, giving correspondent partners another outlet for loans that fall outside traditional investor guidelines.

Optimal Blue report: Mortgage demand slips below year-ago levels as rate-and-term refi activity plunges

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 8, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its August 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found that mortgage activity continued to soften in August even as rates leveled off. Total rate-lock volume declined 9% month over month (MoM) and slipped 3% below August 2025 levels. Purchase lock volume fell 10% from July but remained 6% higher year over year (YoY), with purchase loans accounting for nearly 81% of total lock volume.

Dark Matter names Salvatore Piccola and Gil Valera to product strategy, professional services leadership roles

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 3, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced it has expanded its leadership team with two experienced executives: Salvatore Piccola as senior vice president of product strategy and Gil Valera as vice president of professional services. The additions strengthen two areas central to Dark Matter’s growth strategy: innovation focused on using AI to improve customer experience, help lenders realize efficiencies, and drive seamless implementation and adoption of its product capabilities.

FirstClose Chief Revenue Officer John Aslanian named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 2, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today that John Aslanian, chief revenue officer, has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. The award recognizes C-level executives across mortgage, real estate and homebuilding for leadership that has driven measurable impact on their organizations and the broader housing economy over the past year.

HousingWire names Friday Harbor’s Theo Ellis a 2026 Vanguard

SEATTLE, Wash., Sept. 1, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced that its Founder and CEO Theo Ellis has been honored with HousingWire’s 2026 Vanguard Award.

Dark Matter CEO Vikas Rao named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 1, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced that Vikas Rao, chief executive officer, has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. Rao recognized for transforming Dark Matter and opening new ways for lenders to build, integrate and deploy AI.

DocMagic’s Lori Johnson named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard

TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 1, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — DocMagic® announced today that Chief Operating Officer Lori Johnson has been named a 2026 HousingWire Vanguard. COO recognized for advancing DocMagic’s latest innovations in a digital mortgage career spanning more than 30 years.

Washington state adds Argyle as an approved CBV provider for benefits agencies

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., Aug. 26, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Argyle, a consent-based verification (CBV) platform, today announced it has been added as an approved provider under a competitively solicited Washington State Department of Enterprise Services contract (No. 10925, Employment & Income Verification and Public Records Search Services), giving Washington agencies a pre-vetted path to consent-based income and employment verification for benefits eligibility and redetermination.