Latest news with #Envoy
LBCI
23-05-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
US envoy Morgan Ortagus to visit Lebanon in two weeks, sources say
U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus is scheduled to visit Lebanon in two weeks, sources told LBCI on Friday.
Associated Press
30-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Envoy Mortgage expands down payment assistance reach with Down Payment Resource partnership after successful pilot
- Pilot results spark full rollout of Down Payment Resource tools to boost efficiency and expand access - ATLANTA, Ga., April 30, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry's leading provider of technology that connects homebuyers with homebuyer assistance programs, today announced that Envoy Mortgage (Envoy) will implement DPR's suite of software tools across its national footprint. The move follows a successful pilot and reflects Envoy's commitment to expanding down payment assistance (DPA) offerings while maintaining operational efficiency and reducing repurchase risk. Founded in 1997 as First Houston Mortgage, Envoy has helped more than 200,000 homebuyers across nearly 49 states. With a 98% customer satisfaction score, the Houston-based mortgage company has long prioritized both service and innovation. As its lending operations continue to scale nationwide, Envoy recognized the need for a more robust, data-driven approach to managing DPA programs. 'Partnering with DPR allows us to accelerate our goal of making affordable homeownership accessible to more people without needing to add headcount,' said Katrina Cummins, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Envoy. 'Its platform helps us streamline DPA management, while giving our teams the tools they need to better serve borrowers at every income level.' During the pilot, Envoy documented significant time savings and process efficiencies, eliminating the need for an additional full-time hire, saving an estimated $70,000 to $80,000 annually. Beyond cost savings, the integration supports more informed lending decisions and a lower loan-to-value ratio for qualifying borrowers and is key to increasing access for low-to-moderate-income buyers. 'Down payment assistance can make a critical difference for homebuyers, especially those just starting their wealth-building journey,' said Jesse Passafiume, president of Envoy. 'DPR's platform has been a game-changer, reducing risk and enabling our team to offer these programs with greater confidence.' Envoy is currently rolling out DPR's technology across its branches. Phase 1 includes training for loan officers and underwriters, while Phase 2 will focus on integrating DPR directly into Envoy's Encompass® loan production system. Phase 3 will explore API integration to capture qualified DPA leads in real time. 'Envoy is known for its people-first approach and high-touch service,' said Rob Chrane, founder and CEO of DPR. 'With this partnership, it's expanding what's possible for buyers across the country. We're proud to support Envoy's efforts to make DPA more accessible, efficient, and impactful.' About Down Payment Resource: Down Payment Resource (DPR) is the housing industry authority on homebuyer assistance program data and solutions. With a database that tracks more than 2,500 programs and toolsets for mortgage lenders, multiple listing services (MLSs) and API users, DPR helps housing professionals connect homebuyers with the assistance they need. DPR frequently lends its expertise to nonprofits, housing finance agencies, policymakers, government-sponsored enterprises and trade organizations seeking to improve housing affordability. Its technology is used by seven of the top 25 mortgage lenders, the three largest real estate listing websites and 600,000 real estate agents. For more information, visit X: @DwnPmtResource #downpaymentassistance #homeownership #housingaffordability NEWS SOURCE: Down Payment Resource ### MEDIA ONLY CONTACT: (not for publication online or in print) Elizabeth Schroeder Depth for Down Payment Resource (209) 774-6555 [email protected] ### Keywords: Mortgage, Down Payment Resource, housing industry authority, homebuyer assistance program data and solutions, ATLANTA, Ga. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Down Payment Resource) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P125839 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Woman accused of DUI in deadly Urbana crash makes first court appearance
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A Champaign woman made her first appearance in court on Monday to face charges that she caused a crash that killed a 2-month-old baby last month. Kartila Brooks appeared via Zoom in the courtroom of Judge Brett Olmstead for arraignment on four counts of aggravated DUI. Three of the counts were for causing great bodily harm, Class 4 felonies, and the fourth was for causing death, a Class 2 felony. Champaign gas station robbed at knifepoint, Crime Stoppers looking for tips '(The counts) claim that you had, within two hours of driving a motor vehicle, a THC concentration of five nanograms or more per milliliter of blood, and you were involved in a motor vehicle crash,' Olmstead explained. The crash Brooks was allegedly involved in happened March 13 in Urbana. Police determined that a GMC Envoy did not stop at the intersection of Philo Road and Colorado Avenue and crashed into three vehicles. 'The driver of the last vehicle struck described the defendant's vehicle as flying through the intersection and becoming airborne at one point,' Assistant State's Attorney Brooke Hinman said. 'The collision was captured on surveillance video from a nearby gas station, which demonstrated that the defendant's vehicle did not slow down at a stop sign but entered the intersection at a high rate of speed.' Hinman said on-board data from the Envoy showed it was traveling 48 miles per hour one second before the crash, and there was no attempt to apply the brakes. One of the vehicles involved in the crash was a Chrysler minivan driven by Evelyn Huang. The GMC t-boned Huang's van, striking the middle of the driver-side sliding door. That's where Huang's 2-month-old daughter was seated. The baby died from her injuries the day after the crash. Hinman said Huang suffered a fracture to her neck and sternum in the crash. Huang's oldest daughter, age 10, suffered a broken arm and her middle daughter, age 9, suffered a broken collarbone and wrist. One dead, four hospitalized after Piatt Co. crash 'Surveillance footage from a nearby apartment complex showed Evelyn's vehicle was in the correct lane of travel and captured no violations of traffic laws by the victim, Evelyn,' Hinman added. Hinman also said that Brooks told officers that she suffers from epilepsy and that she did not recall what happened before the crash. She initially 'strongly denied' having a seizure but later claimed that she did have a seizure and just did not remember it. Medical records, Hinman said, showed Brooks did have two prior seizures, and she had been advised not to drive until six months had passed since her last seizure. Brooks denied receiving this information. 'An officer at the crash scene noticed a strong odor of burnt cannabis in the GMC and found a partially burnt cigarello,' Hinman said. 'The defendant told officers her children drive the vehicle and often leave cannabis in it.' A blood draw taken at the hospital, however, showed she was high. Hinman said it showed a THC level of 12.7 nanograms per milliliter of blood, double the legal limit to drive a car. Urbana PD launches online police report system 'When confronted with these blood tests, the defendant admitted to smoking cannabis about an hour before driving and indicated she smoked a little much for her, but not too much,' Hinman said. Urbana Police said further testing by the Illinois State Police confirmed the excessive amount of THC in Brooks' blood, and she was arrested on Friday. On Monday, making her first court appearance, the Public Defender was appointed as Brooks' counsel, and she waived her right to a preliminary hearing. She then entered a plea of not guilty. A pretrial hearing was scheduled for May 20. In addition, with criminal charges now filed against Brooks, Judge Olmstead dismissed the traffic tickets that had been issued to her after the crash. On the subject of pretrial detention, a hearing on that was continued to Tuesday. Olmstead ordered temporary overnight detention until that hearing could be held. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Yahoo
Woman arrested in connection to Urbana crash that killed two-month-old
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A Champaign woman has been arrested one month after police said she caused a crash in Urbana that killed a two-month-old baby. Urbana Police said 40-year-old Kartila Brooks was arrested on Friday. Chemical testing of her blood showed that on March 13, she had an amount of THC in her system over the legal limit to drive. 'I thought he would wake up'; Family grieves 6-year-old hit by car while crossing street in Decatur On that day, Brooks was driving a GMC Envoy that, according to police, failed to stop at the intersection of Philo Road and Colorado Avenue. The Envoy clipped a car and then t-boned a Chrysler Pacifica, directly in the middle of the driver-side sliding door. The Pacifica was being driven by a woman whose three children were in the passenger seats. One of those children was just two months old, and they were seriously hurt in the crash. The baby later died at the St. Louis Children's Hospital. Urbana Police said Brooks submitted to blood testing that was processed by the Illinois State Police laboratory. Once the results became known, she was arrested for 'aggravated DUI and DUI drugs.' Brooks has been booked into the Champaign County Jail. This is a developing story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
MUSC to study first-ever fully internal cochlear implants as part of national trial
A model of Envoy Medical's fully implantable cochlear implant, which MUSC is studying as part of a national medical trial. (Provided by Envoy Medical) People with hearing loss could have the option of an implant with no external pieces for the first time as part of a medical trial at the Medical University of South Carolina. The Charleston-based teaching and research hospital will place a fully implantable cochlear implant in about 15 adults with significant hearing loss in both ears. Depending on the results of the study, which will last three years, the device could become widely available. Traditional cochlear implants, typically used by people with hearing loss too advanced for hearing aids, include pieces both inside and outside a person's ear. The external piece a person wears picks up sounds and sends it to the implant placed in the inner ear, allowing a person to hear. How to sign up For more information on signing up for MUSC's clinical trial, contact the clinical research program at (843) 792-4611 or CIProgram@ Source: National Institute of Health Companies have been trying to develop a device that places all the external pieces beneath a person's skin for about 20 years, said Kara Leyzac, director of MUSC's cochlear implant program. 'The biggest challenge has always been, where do you put the microphone?' Leyzac said. Envoy Medical, a Minnesota-based company focused on devices that mitigate hearing loss, found a way in 2015 to place the microphone in a person's middle ear, which is past the ear drum but not as deep as the implant itself. Those bones vibrate with sound, which the microphone picks up and sends to the implant itself. For most people with significant hearing loss, those middle ear bones still vibrate, allowing the device to work, Leyzac said. The more often a person wears a cochlear implant, the better they can hear, so having something easy to wear 24/7 helps people with hearing loss better understand language and interpret sounds. This one, people can wear as they shower, swim and sleep, which they can't do with traditional implants, said Envoy CEO Brent Lucas. 'You don't have this thing on the side of your head,' Lucas said. 'It can't fall off in the middle of the day. It's part of you.' Three patients had the device implanted as part of a smaller feasibility study in 2022. After that went well, the study expanded to seven more hospitals across the country, including MUSC. MUSC has implanted its first patient but is searching for more who are interested in participating, Leyzac said. MUSC, which was chosen because of the strength of its cochlear implant program, will submit its data to the FDA to consider as the agency determines whether Envoy can sell the device. If the device makes it to the market, it will likely cost between $25,000 and $35,000, which is similar to a traditional cochlear implant, Lucas said. He expects the devices to be covered by most insurance companies. The company covers the cost of surgery and the device during the trial. Previous attempts at creating a fully implantable device would put the microphone beneath a person's skin, muffling sound or causing a person to hear their own body, MUSC's Leyzac said. Envoy's device avoided this problem by keeping the microphone within the ear. The other major challenge in making a fully implantable device was the question of where to put the battery, Leyzac said. Traditional cochlear implants include an external battery that people can take off and charge at night. The fully implantable device includes a battery pack that a surgeon places in a person's chest, near their shoulder. Patients then place an external charging coil over the internal battery, which charges the device for several days, Leyzac said. 'You can sit there and watch TV, or do whatever, and it's just charging for you, which is pretty cool,' Leyzac said. The fully implanted device also has an on and off switch included with the charger coil, allowing people to decide when they want to hear and not hear. Many patients who have been unable to hear for a long time get used to the quiet and overwhelmed with constant sounds, Leyzac said. 'It's really cool to hear 24/7, but there are some distinct advantages to being able to turn off the world sometimes, right?' Leyzac said. Along with being more practical in some cases, fully implantable cochlear implants allow people with hearing loss to avoid some of the stigma that comes with it, Leyzac said. Stigma could be one reason few people who are eligible for cochlear implants get them. Of the people believed to be eligible, an estimated 12%, at maximum, actually undergo the procedure, 'which is an astoundingly low number,' Leyzac said. That has been the case for decades, and doctors have been trying to figure out why and whether they can do anything to make the surgery more appealing and accessible to more people. Leyzac hopes MUSC's trial will introduce more people to the idea of an implant, whether it's fully implanted or a traditional version, she said. 'If this makes it possible for more people to receive this technology, then that's a really amazing thing,' Leyzac said. 'If it improves their outcomes and makes them hear better with their implant, that's a really amazing thing.' Lucas compared the device to people with failing eyesight getting corrective surgery instead of wearing glasses all the time. Some people will still prefer the traditional implants, but they should still have the choice, he said. 'To us, it's really just a chance where individuals get to pick,' Lucas said. 'They deserve to have options, and some people really want a fully implanted solution, and we're here to provide them with that.'
