“How much does a chimney cost? Nothing: it’s on the house.” Travel costs a lot more than nothing and be careful that it doesn’t cost you more than it should. Traveling for the holidays? Watch out for scams. Bloomberg reports that airline employee impersonators asking for last-minute credit card information are rampant. In the past, older people were more prone to being taken advantage of, but now, who knows? Follow the money, as “they” say, and many older people have a lot of equity. This week on Mortgage Law Today, sponsored by Polunsky Beitel Green, the focus was on reverse mortgages. Many lenders have opened up HECM divisions, and the episode is ideal for anyone looking to learn more about that product line or pass it along to their clients. Don’t forget that earlier this month HUD published a notice in the Federal Register stating it was reopening the public comment period for its request for information on the home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) program and HECM mortgage-backed securities program. The department sought input on the programs’ role in facilitating access to home equity for senior homeowners and on ways to enhance program performance, market participation, and consumer protections. The new deadline for comments will be January 5, 2026.
Saturday Spotlight: NEO Home Loans
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“Redefining Mortgage Lending Through Partnership, Technology, and Scale”
NEO Home Loans was built on a simple belief: the mortgage industry must evolve to better serve both clients and mortgage professionals. For too long, lending has been dominated by outdated systems, transactional relationships, and business models that prioritize short-term volume over long-term value. NEO exists to challenge that norm and establish a more transparent, strategic, and empowering approach to home financing.
At the center of NEO’s philosophy is the idea that a mortgage should be part of a broader financial journey, not a one-time transaction. Every client relationship is guided by a structured process that begins with Discovery, where advisors take time to understand financial goals, income structure, and long-term plans. This insight drives a tailored Strategy designed to bring clarity and confidence to complex financing decisions. Execution is handled with precision through centralized operations and disciplined workflows, ensuring consistency and reliability. Finally, Wealth Maximization anchors the relationship beyond closing, positioning the home as a long-term financial asset rather than a static liability.
Technology plays a critical role in making this model scalable and efficient. NEO Home Loans, powered by Better, leverages advanced automation to remove friction from the loan process while preserving the human element that clients value. Two proprietary tools are central to this effort. Tinman®, an end-to-end loan origination system, automates underwriting for nearly 40 percent of loan files, significantly reducing fulfillment costs and cycle times. Betsy™, an AI loan partner, handles over 125,000 customer interactions each month, eliminating administrative bottlenecks and allowing mortgage advisors to focus on guidance, strategy, and relationships.
Another key differentiator is NEO’s in-house lead generation engine. Unlike traditional models that rely heavily on self-sourced referrals or inconsistent third-party lead sources, NEO delivers thousands of purchase-ready leads each month. These prospects are precision-targeted using AI-driven insights and nurtured through automated workflows, creating a consistent pipeline of high-intent borrowers. This system enables advisors to spend less time prospecting and more time consulting, while maintaining strong margins and predictable growth.
NEO also redefines the relationship between the company and its mortgage advisors. Rather than treating loan officers as employees, NEO operates on a true partnership model. Advisors are viewed as business partners with full transparency into pricing, margins, and revenue. They direct how loans are priced, and benefit directly from the success of the organization. Beyond mortgages, advisors can build multiple revenue streams through insurance ownership opportunities creating long-term financial stability and scalability.
Supporting this structure is a culture rooted in leadership, mentorship, and genuine care. NEO invests heavily in developing its people, encouraging collaboration, continuous learning, and shared success. Leaders serve as mentors, helping advisors build sustainable businesses without burnout while maintaining a high standard of service for clients.
As the mortgage landscape continues to shift, NEO Home Loans is not simply adapting. It is setting a new standard. By combining intelligent technology, a scalable lead engine, and a partnership-driven model, NEO is creating a future where mortgage professionals operate as true financial advisors and clients receive guidance that extends far beyond the closing table. Learn more about NEO here.
(For more information on having your firm’s extracurricular activities, employee growth, and your charitable side featured, contact Chrisman LLC’s Anjelica Nixt.)
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After some abrupt announcements this year from Bill Pulte’s FHFA, credit score rules for mortgages are changing in 2026, which may help first-time homebuyers. For years, the minimum FICO score to obtain a loan for most borrowers has been 620. Now, companies that provide capital to the mortgage market have removed that requirement and are expanding the scope of credit profiles to include utility and rental payment history.
Paul Robinson, VP of Sales at Certified Credit, writes, “Everyone’s talking about the 42 percent credit price jump. But honestly, that’s not even the part that hits budgets the hardest. The real costs usually come from small workflow issues most lenders don’t notice. When we review credit spend, we often see duplicate pulls that quietly add 15–25 percent+, tri-merge ordered on every file ‘just because,’ and rush supplement fees that could’ve been avoided. Even with the higher pricing, a lot of lenders are ending up spending less once these things are cleaned up.” Thank you, Paul.
Recall that Lenders One offers a free credit review. The company has L1 Credit, which is a full-service credit reporting agency designed to help mortgage executives reduce expenses and safeguard margins. Lenders switching to L1 Credit are consistently seeing 15–20 percent savings on credit costs. “With low pricing, excellent customer service, no hidden fees, and convenient technology integrations, L1 Credit delivers the flexibility and value you need. The comprehensive suite includes credit, flood, fraud, and verification products, all backed by the high standard of service you expect from Lenders One. Don’t wait: request your FREE cost-savings review today and discover how L1 Credit can help you offset rising costs and protect your bottom line.”
On May 22, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General jointly filed a lawsuit against Commonwealth Equity Group, LLC, which does business as Key Credit Repair, and Nikitas Tsoukales (also known as Nikitas Tsoukalis), Key Credit Repair’s president and owner.
On December 17, 2025, the parties filed a proposed stipulated final judgment and order as to relief, which the court entered on December 18, 2025. It bans defendants from engaging in credit-repair and debt-relief services for 25 years; requires defendants to pay $20,000 in partial satisfaction of a redress judgment, which includes $36,229,618 for fees charged to consumers since 2013, that is suspended based on defendants’ limited ability to pay; and requires defendants to pay a $1 civil money penalty, which enables the Bureau to access the civil penalty fund for purposes of redressing harmed consumers.
Trump Administration, CFPB, & ECOA
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Stephen Rouzer, with the National Consumer Law Center, addressed the Trump Administration proposal to gut ECOA and how it would resurrect lending hurdles for women, black people, veterans, and Native Americans through decimating Fair Lending Protections and make buying a car or home harder.
“A proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to gut fair lending protections under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) would deal a devastating blow to the many groups of people who have been discriminated against when they tried to buy a car or house or start a small business. Women, Black people, Latinos, servicemembers and veterans, Native Americans, and older adults are among the groups who will find it more expensive to get loans.
“The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), on behalf of its low-income clients, submitted comments warning that the rule would undermine key fair lending protections, leave consumers at risk of discrimination, and reduce access to a fair and competitive credit market during an affordability crisis.
“’The administration’s proposed changes to the ECOA represent a radical departure from the law’s core mission to protect consumers from discrimination,’ said Odette Williamson, director of Racial Justice Advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center. ‘The move to gut fair lending protections will leave people vulnerable to discrimination in the credit market and increase the cost of lending for women, Black people, servicemembers and veterans, older people, and Native Americans, among other groups.’
“The ECOA is a landmark law passed by Congress in 1974 to remedy systemic discrimination in access to credit for consumers and businesses. Before its passage, many women were unable to get mortgages or other loans without a male co-signer. The law prohibits credit discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, the receipt of public assistance benefits, and exercising rights under the federal Consumer Protection Act.
“The history of discrimination in the credit marketplace and its enduring legacy is extensive, including current forms of predatory and high-cost lending, redlining, reverse redlining, and other racially exclusionary practices. These practices created credit deserts, cutting communities off from affordable credit while inundating those same communities with expensive and risky predatory loans.
“The ECOA contains critical protections against credit discrimination targeting consumers who have exercised their rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, including holding debt collectors accountable for harassing debt collection, illegal wage garnishment, and improper credit reporting. With debt collection numbers rising, and overall consumer debt increasing, relaxing protections for people from illegal and harassing conduct in debt collection is dangerous. The proposed rule invites lenders to deny or discourage potential borrowers they perceive as problematic or prone to filing complaints.” (For more, CFPB Proposes to Gut Credit Discrimination Protections, and Presidential Action Enables Discrimination in Housing and Lending.)
Third party provider news
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Doing a loan without outside vendor services is a foreign concept to nearly every lender. Who’s up to what?
MISMO® announced the publication of the MISMO Mortgage Compliance Dataset (MCD) Version 2.0, marking its final approval after extensive review by a broad range of organizations and industry participants. This standard is now ready for implementers across the industry to begin building.
MCT® and FICO have announced the next phase of their collaboration, expanding the predictive FICO® Score 10T across MSR valuation, risk models, and investor price discovery. This integration builds on the successful rollout of Score 10T within MCT Marketplace® and MCTlive!® to enhance clarity, precision, and execution across the secondary mortgage market.
Mortgage Trading Analytics would like the opportunity to be your second set of eyes on how well you’re doing, how you could improve, and show you how our specialized analytics, unique technology, and extensive experience can deliver you outsized gains while saving you money and streamlining your processes. We’ve learned that even the most experienced Lenders have inefficiencies and we can help you identify and improve those areas. We are competitively priced, service oriented, and guarantee we will find ways for you to make or save money or you pay nothing. Contact John Sheadel (404.825.1560) to learn more!”
’Tis the season for good news, and Down Payment Resource (DPR) is closing out the year with plenty to celebrate. In 2025 DPR’s database of DPA programs expanded to a record 2,624 nationwide, with assistance available in every U.S. county, offering an average benefit of $26,000 and lowering a borrower’s loan-to-value ratio by 8.8 percent. For many families, that help is the difference between wishing for a home and unlocking the front door. Just ask Crystal Damon, a single mother in Salem, North Carolina. With support from Wider Path Home and the power of a donation from DPR, she received $11,000 to buy her first home. She shares how that support changed life for her and her son in this video and reminds others not to be discouraged by naysayers. Let Rob Chrane and team show you how to spread joy to more homebuyers in 2026.
Assets Grow on Units. Not spreadsheets. If you’re a subservicer, you already know the problem: growing units under management is hard, slow, and usually involves too many emails, too many files, and not enough certainty. Black Lake’s Servicing Conduit Technology fixes that with a platform that is built for subservicers, investors aggregating assets, and originators seeking liquidity… without chaos. Boards loans from any LOS, across any asset type, with no custom integrations or manual re-keying. Assets move from seller to servicing in hours, not weeks, while data and documents stay aligned from day one. A live, dynamic order book connects originators looking to move assets, investors looking to acquire, and servicers ready to absorb them, adjusting automatically as pricing, eligibility, and allocations change. No reboarding. No stalled transfers. No “who owns this file?” conversations. Less manual work. Fewer surprises. More assets under management. Contact: info@blacklakeinvestments.com or book a demo to learn more.
(Here’s something useful for team building quizzes or happy hours or family dinners.)
Name the carols described in each riddle
1. Oh, member of the round table with missing areas = Oh Holy Night
2. Boulder of the tinkling metal spheres = Jingle Bell Rock
3. Vehicular homicide was committed on Dad’s mom by a precipitous darling = Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
4. Wanted in December: top forward incisors = All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
5. The apartment of two psychiatrists = The Nutcracker Suite
6. The lad is a diminutive percussionist = Little Drummer Boy
7. Sir Lancelot with laryngitis = Silent Night
8. Decorate the entryways = Deck the Halls
9. Cup-shaped instruments fashioned of a whitish metallic element = Silver Bells
10. Oh small Israel urban center = Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
11. Far off in a hay bin = Away in a Manger
12. We are Kong, Lear, and Nat Cole = We Three Kings
13. Duodecimal enumeration of the passage of the yuletide season = The Twelve Days of Christmas
14. Leave and broadcast from an elevation = Go Tell It on the Mountain
15. Our fervent hope is that you thoroughly enjoy your yuletide season = We Wish You a Merry Christmas
16. Listen, the winged heavenly messengers are proclaiming tunefully = Hark the Herald Angels Sing
17. As the guardians of the woolly animals protected their charges in the dark hours = Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night
18. I beheld a trio of nautical vessels moving in this direction = I Saw Three Ships
19. Jubilation to the entire terrestrial globe = Joy to the World
20. Do you perceive the same vibrations which stimulate my auditory sense organ? = Do You Hear What I Hear?
21. A joyful song of reverence relative to hollow metallic vessels which vibrate and bring forth a ringing sound when struck = Carol of the Bells
22. Parent was observed osculating a red-coated unshaven teamster = I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
23. May the Deity bestow an absence of fatigue to mild male humans = God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
24. Rose-colored uncouth dolf is aware of the nature of precipitation, darling = Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Visit www.ChrismanCommentary.com for more information on our industry partners, access archived commentaries, or subscribe to the Daily Mortgage News and Commentary. You can also explore the Chrisman Marketplace, a centralized hub connecting mortgage professionals with trusted vendors and solutions. If you’re interested, check out my periodic blog on the STRATMOR Group website. This month’s piece is titled, “Artificial Intelligence in Mortgage Lending.” The Commentary’s podcast is available on all major platforms, including Apple and Spotify.
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(Market data provided in partnership with MBS Live. For free job postings and to view candidate resumes, visit the Chrisman Job Board. This newsletter is intended for sophisticated mortgage professionals only. There are no paid endorsements by me. For the latest mortgage news, visit Mortgage News Daily. For archived commentaries, or to subscribe, go to www.ChrismanCommentary.com. Copyright 2025 Chrisman LLC. All rights reserved. Paid job & product listings do appear. This report or any portion hereof may not be reprinted, sold, or redistributed without the written consent of Rob Chrisman. The views and opinions in this newsletter are mine alone unless otherwise specifically stated herein.)
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