FHFA Director Bill Pulte and the Trump Administration proposed a 50-year mortgage a few months ago, but the idea was quickly squashed for a variety of reasons. (Mr. Pulte is currently under investigation for misusing his position for a different matter.) But what is happening with other, arguably related, loan maturities? Remember when real estate was going up 10-20 percent during COVID? The price of new vehicles in the United States is up 33 percent since 2020. Granted, that’s five years, but as of November the average monthly payment for a new car clocked in at $760. To ease the pain, auto lenders have devised new loan structures that move the amortization schedule. Yup, you guessed it. Loans now run way past the previous standard of 48 months and 60 months and into 72 months or more, which in the third quarter accounted for a third of all buyers. In fact, 1.61 percent of buyers somehow talked themselves into a car loan that lasts for 96 months, or eight years.
Saturday Spotlight: RatePlug
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“Pioneering the home property search process by including accurate, real-time home affordability information through Afordal.”
In 3-5 sentences, describe your company (when was it founded and why, what it does, where, recent growth and plans for near-term future growth).
RatePlug’s roots stretch back to the late 1970s when Brad Springer joined his father, Don, in his insurance and mortgage operation. In the 1980s, when the market was reeling from double-digit rates, Brad and his siblings pioneered one of the country’s first mortgage brokerage programs, bringing financing outreach directly to real estate agents while becoming the first licensed mortgage broker in Illinois and quite possibly the first in the nation.
Founded at the intersection of real estate technology and mortgage finance, RatePlug pioneered a system that bridged the long-standing gap between real estate agents, lenders, and consumers, transforming static listings into dynamic, decision-ready experiences.
Afordal, by RatePlug, launched last month, is the first platform and app to unify home search, real-time mortgage rates, and property-specific special financing in one seamless solution… And soon it will feature nearly instant online pre-approval.
Afordal solves one of the biggest pain points in residential real estate: aligning what homebuyers want with what they can afford.
What makes RatePlug unique in the mortgage industry?
RatePlug became an indispensable tool for tens of thousands of real estate professionals, enabling smarter home search experiences and deeper collaboration between agents and lenders. Its emphasis on RESPA compliance, transparency, and real-time data delivery helped shape how affordability is considered during home discovery, well before a buyer submits a home loan application.
As of today, RatePlug is embedded in more than 70 MLSs and available to over 750,000 agents across the U.S., covering 60 percent of the market. Research shows that buyers spend up to six minutes longer on listings with RatePlug data, and agents using RatePlug reduce Days on Market by up to 14 percent.
Tell us about how your team gives back to your community.
RatePlug, through leader Brad Springer, is a founding member of the Kids Golf Foundation of Illinois. RatePlug’s team is also an ardent supporter of Chelsea’s Light and the fight to end breast cancer.
Things you are most proud of that don’t have to do with sales.
Being a true “family” business. Throughout the past 45 years and across various companies, we have been fortunate to have worked side by side with our father, uncles, aunts, two sisters, two brothers, multiple nieces and nephews, and even a grandmother!
Fun fact about your company.
Most people are surprised to learn that we are very involved in music. Our father was the MC of the Miss Illinois pageant for 10 years, and our entire family has been involved in bands and musicals throughout the years. Our brother and our CTO/partner even played in a band in Chicago that released two CDs in the early 2000s. Music has been a great “distraction” from the stress of running a business.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Today, with Afordal and our purchase late last year of HomeASAP, RatePlug is powering the next generation of real estate and mortgage technology. Its affordability-first home search solution helps buyers shop for homes based on monthly payment, not just price, and empowers agents and loan officers with predictive lead nurturing and, soon, real-time pre-approval data. Springer calls it “education-forward innovation” that delivers clarity, confidence, and the vital information needed in one place for buyers, agents, and loan officers to accelerate a home purchase
(For more information on having your firm’s extracurricular activities, employee growth, and your charitable side featured, contact Chrisman LLC’s Anjelica Nixt.)
How LOs should view the year via trends
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Earlier this week I received a note “LO VieauxPoint” from Ethan Vieaux, VP, Customer Success at Finlocker, looking back at the year: Stabilization, Mix Shifts, and the Quiet Re-Sorting of Mortgage.
“If you spent 2025 waiting for the market to ‘come roaring back,’ you probably left disappointed. This was not 2020 or 2021. It also was not 2022’s hangover. But it was not the free-fall mood of 2023, either. 2025 was the year the industry proved it can operate in a normal-rate environment, even if ‘normal’ now means a 30-year fixed that starts with a 6.
“The market did not need a miracle to improve. It needed stability, and it needed consumers to stop waiting for the perfect headline. That showed up first in the refinance channel. MBA data cited by AP showed refinance applications made up 59 percent of total applications, the highest share since September.
Production-wise, for a credible directional read, the MBA’s July 17 Mortgage Finance Forecast projected total 1- to 4-family originations of $2.021 trillion in 2025, up from $1.779 trillion in 2024.
“The real story is the type of volume. In that same MBA forecast, purchase originations were projected at $1.357T in 2025 (vs $1.288T in 2024), while refinances were projected at $664B (vs $491B). (MBA) Purchases grew, but modestly. Refinances grew much faster, mostly because they were coming off the floor. 2025 was not ‘the refi year,’ but it was the year refis became a real business line again.
“Distribution mattered, too. According to a December MBA NewsLink, brokers accounted for nearly 20 percent of residential mortgage originations in Q3 2025, up from 19 percent in Q2. That is not ‘brokers took over,’ but it is a clear signal: the broker channel held share and even gained a little when the pie was not expanding dramatically.
“On licensing and headcount, social media narratives tend to get dramatic. Early in the year, National Mortgage News reported that 158,152 individuals had requested MLO license renewal as of January 1, 2025, versus 160,893 the year prior, citing CSBS/NMLS data. (National Mortgage News) That is not a mass exodus. What we do not have, at least from publicly summarized sources in a clean, comparable way, is a simple ‘net new versus unrenewed’ figure for the full 2025 cycle, so I would avoid over-claiming that point in print.
“In 2025 we saw better performance without a rate tailwind, purchases were steady, not easy, still capped by affordability, refinances returned enough to matter, even without a wave, and channel share kept rebalancing, with brokers drifting back toward 20 percent.
“As we head into 2026, here are the practical things I’m watching in January. Does refi momentum hold if rates stay around the low-6s, or was the late-year spike mostly seasonal mix? Does broker share stay near 20%, or does retail regain ground as marketing budgets and lead funnels reset? Does purchase re-accelerate if inventory loosens, or do we stay in the “move-up only” dynamic? Who wins operationally, because in this market the difference between “surviving” and “growing” is often process, pull-through, and partner consistency, not a magic product.
“If 2024 was the year of endurance, 2025 was the year of re-sorting. The winners were not the loudest. They were the ones who built a model that works when rates are not a cheat code.”
#VieauxPoint Thank you, Ethan!
AI, workflows, and business models
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Underwriting is often viewed as a rules-based function. But in reality, it sits at the intersection of data, risk, and human narrative. Drawing on experience across credit unions, IMBs, banks, and non-QM lending, Magda DeMauro explains why flexibility, education, and empathy are becoming more, not less, essential as housing types diversify and AI reshapes workflows. While automation will drive speed and consistency, sustainable homeownership still depends on underwriters who can interpret context, assess marketability, and balance innovation with discipline: Thought Leadership on Underwriting.
As mortgage executives plan for a market that refuses to settle, Ira Selwin explains why success depends on resilient operating models rather than directional bets on rates. From hedging discipline and loan limit mechanics to the growing role of home equity lending and servicing driven retention, the piece outlines how leaders can balance macro uncertainty with precise execution. The conclusion is clear. The market does not reward guessing. It rewards structure, discipline, and readiness for whatever direction comes next: Thought Leadership on Operating Models.
Compliance news never stops
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MQMR resources wrote a “Compliance FAQ” on why we need to treat business purpose loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac differently than business purpose loans NOT sold to the agencies. You should always verify an investor’s guidelines regarding business purpose loans as they vary. The agencies maintain several rules applicable to business purpose loans that many other business purpose loan investors do not require. For example, while the 3 percent QM points and fees requirement does not apply to any business purpose loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintain an overlay whereby all loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to pass a 5 percent Points and Fees requirement (regardless of a business purpose). In addition, while many non-agency investors require a prepayment penalty on business purpose loans, any loan (including business purpose loans) sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac may not contain a prepayment penalty. Be mindful of business purpose loans in the secondary market as many non-agency investors carry their own overlays and these are inconsistent in the marketplace.
The Trump Administration is certainly impacting regulations. For example, Weiner Brodsky Kider PLC reminds us that the Department of Justice recently issued a final rule which amends its regulations governing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to remove references to disparate impact liability.
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (yes, it still exists) recently issued a proposed rule and request for public comment regarding significant amendments to fair lending provisions in Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). But will the CFPB be around to celebrate Easter, or even President’s Day? In court filings brought to light by WBK, DOJ notified the D.C. District Court and D.C. Circuit Court that the CFPB faces a potential lapse in appropriations because DOJ determined it may not legally request funds at this time from the Federal Reserve.
Meanwhile, mortgage agencies and states are suggesting or making changes that are dramatic as well.
For example, Freddie Mac released Bulletin 2025-16, which takes effect this March and announces, among others, updates to the Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide “to establish a comprehensive governance framework for the responsible development, deployment and oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems.”
FHA recently announced FHA Info 2025-53 and a proposed update to its Limited 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program. Weiner Brodsky Kider PLC did a nice write up on the FHA’s proposed update to the Limited 203(k) Draw Request Policy.
Speaking of which, the FHA recently published multiple revisions to its Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 (Handbook).
Nowadays, New York requires licensed lenders, mortgage bankers, and banking organizations to provide residential mortgage applicants with a “What Mortgage Applicants Need to Know” pamphlet within three business days of receiving their application. This disclosure, developed by the New York State Department of Financial Services and available electronically in English and six additional languages, outlines a range of borrower rights. These include the right to compare loan terms, understand broker compensation, receive clear disclosures on loan terms and fees, obtain counseling, access required documents, cancel certain agreements, and pursue fair treatment free from discrimination or deceptive practices.
The New York Court of Appeals recently held that key provisions of the New York Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) retroactively apply to ongoing foreclosure actions without final judgments, and that retroactive application does not violate due process rights under the NY Constitution.
Last month the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) issued a Consent Order against a Residential Mortgage Lending Act Licensee (Licensee) for, among other things, allegedly overcharging per diem interest on 10 mortgage loans.
In the wake of destructive wildfires, the California Legislature passed a law requiring financial institutions that make or purchase loans secured by one- to four-family residences located in California to pay at least 2 percent simple interest, per annum, on hazard insurance proceeds it holds in a loss draft account pending property repair or rebuilding.
The Connecticut MBA was notified by the National MBA recently about changes to the Mortgage Call Report Forms which should be noted. The CMBA writes, “On January 1, 2026, MCR Form Version 6 will be updated to Form Version 7. It is anticipated that implementing Form Version 7 will present complex technical challenges for both regulated companies and their vendors. Specifically, the updated MCR Form Version 7 introduces extensive changes that require users to redesign, test, and refine their systems before they can begin data collection.
Given these circumstances, the Connecticut Department of Banking will, to the extent that its statutory and regulatory framework allows, permit good-faith filers to amend their submissions prior to the close of the first quarter without penalty. A notice from the Connecticut Department of Banking regarding this matter will be posted in an upcoming CT Department of Banking News Bulletin. The CT Department of Banking News Bulletins can be found here.”
Is your car clean? Mine neither, and here’s a witty parody using Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”
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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