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Daily Mortgage News & Commentary
Mar. 25: LO jobs; Customer experience, set & forget, internal audit, pre-approval tools; CFPB still here; FHA, USDA relentless changes
This week I head to San Diego for MCT Exchange 2025 , and my email has been heating up. “Rob, are you hearing about a big jump in lock...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Today's Commentary
March 2025
Mar. 24: HELOC mgt., LO jobs; VA joint loans, non-QM, HELOC, private label products: rankings of top 50 lenders in 2024; deep dive on rates
“A government survey has shown that 91 percent of illegal immigrants come to this country so that they can see their own doctor.” On a...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
Mar. 22: Thoughts on IMB's future; CFPB hiring back; compliance at the state level; vendor news; Saturday Spotlight: Docutech
For the people who write to me saying either, “Politics don’t impact lending,” or “It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Fannie Mae...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Mar. 21: Polly jobs; AI-powered lending, Day 1 Certainty; new corresp. product tools; abrupt Agency senior management changes
“ Essex Mortgage is excited to announce a new financing product for homebuyers . The Link Loan allows originators to work with consumers...
Rob Chrisman
7 min read
Mar. 20: Secondary, appraisal, audit products; Freddie employee email news; Western Alliance data breach; thoughts on IMB share
“My wife just left me. She says life revolves around baseball and she's sick of it. I'm quite upset. We were together for 7 seasons.” Say...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
February 2025
Feb. 28: LO jobs; home price change, customer behavior tools; CFPB drops several cases; gov't cutbacks & unemployment
Here in Miami, and everywhere, lenders and real estate professionals are acutely aware of supply and demand impacting prices, as does...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Feb. 27: LO jobs; CA insurance, AI hedging, PPE, fee collection products; Figure/Sixth Street joint venture; Agency news
AI is definitely a discussion topic among lenders: what is it, will it help the borrower, will it help the lender… How would you like...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Feb. 26: LO jobs; TBA, processing, 2nd lien, subservicer, solar lending tools; STRATMOR on AI for lenders; conforming conventional news
While the House passed President Trump’s budget resolution, the industry is abuzz about the TV at HUD’s headquarters showing an AI video...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Feb. 25: AE, LO jobs; fast approaching training & events run the gamut; builder news; economic fears push rates down
In Connecticut, a portion of the formal and informal talk here is about how builder news touches on lenders. (As an aside, Home Depot’s...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
January 2025
Jan. 31: AE jobs, companies wanted; FHA underwriting, POS, Community Lending products; Maryland's lending quagmire; Feb in-person events
Here in Las Vegas, I asked a German girl if Germans are afraid of numbers. She said 9. Numbers are interesting, as we will find out with...
Rob Chrisman
12 min read
Jan. 30: Cap. mkts., u/w, AE jobs; POS, servicing tools; fraud, home equity, IMB studies; new companies doing new things
Any capital markets person will tell you, “What’s a surefire way to double your money in a casino? Fold it in half and put it back in...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Jan. 29: Reverse jobs; servicing, operating system, prospecting tools; STRATMOR & profitability; the anatomy of how presidential policy can hit lenders
“Did you ever notice that when you put the two words "The" and "IRS" together, it spells "Theirs"? The impact of taxes and tax cuts...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Jan. 28: LO, AE jobs; POS, servicing, Fair Lending products; program changes around the biz; opinion on mortgage bond prices
“Last year I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet.” Lenders and vendors are certainly meeting here in Austin....
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
December 2024
NY Eve '24: Demographics of wealth; Thought leadership on pipeline pricing; a primer on lock extensions for those who ask for them
Besides being enthralled with Tiger King and My Octopus Teacher four years ago, what do AL, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, MD, MA, NJ, NY, NM, NC,...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Dec. 30: LO jobs, lender wanted; pricing, commercial loan products; a primer for lenders on Treasury auctions; weather damage mounts
“What do they call the 4th of July in nursing homes? In Depends Day.” (Another joke at the bottom.) There are plenty of elderly people,...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Dec. 28: State-level regs to track; vendor news; Secondary marketing deals; Saturday Spotlight: Prudent AI
Can you imagine doing a mortgage in reverse? I know, farfetched. It popped into my mind watching this video of “evil” firefighters , in...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Dec. 27: LO jobs; processor efficiency, commercial lending tools; Agency news; tariff primer for lenders; joke for Realtor clients
“I've just checked my home insurance policy and apparently if my blanket is stolen in the middle of the night, I’m not covered.” For many...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
November 2024
Nov. 30: Christmas idea - Books for your staff or friends by/about authors in our biz; vendor updates; inflation from unusual sources
I doubt if prices are going to drop like the trusting folks in this video . Despite what was said during the campaign, no president, or...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Nov. 29: Lender wanted; LO jobs; PR, dashboard, automation, cap. markets school products; FHA, HECM, HUD updates
“I was late to my cannibal family's Thanksgiving dinner. I got the cold shoulder.” LOs are experts on family life and demographics. The...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Nov. 27: LO, AE, Ops jobs; automatic workflow, POS, IRS verification tools; 2025 conforming loan limit changes begin 1/1
“Rob, my borrowers would be really happy with rates well below 7 percent. When will we get there?” A wise economist with the MBA once...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Nov. 26: SVP of Credit job; exec available; pre-approval letters, IRS verification, DPA tools; Impending changes in regulators; MBA drops forecast
“If there's anyone out there who has no family and is planning to stay home alone this Thanksgiving, please let me know. I need to borrow...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
October 2024
Halloween: Portfolio mgr., production leader jobs; hedging, HMDA compliance, non-QM search, QC tools; FHA & Ginnie news
I recently went to my favorite local Mexican restaurant, and there was a sign in the window, “Sorry, we are closed due to short staff.”...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Oct. 30: Retail leader, LO jobs; foreign national, servicing products; events & webinars through Turkey Day; apps drop again
As I head from Denver to the Bay Area early this morning, I thought to myself, “Why are corn farmers great at eavesdropping? Because they...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
Oct. 29: Collections job, brokers and branches wanted; VOIE, POS, servicing tools; Disaster updates; F&F news of note
Heard in the hallways here at the MBA’s annual convention in December. “I wonder if the MBA’s volume estimate of $2.3 trillion for 2025...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
Oct. 28: Cap mkts, LO jobs; servicers wanted; lead recapture, non-QM, servicing, commercial tools; MBA's Future Leaders Program opens
Thousands of lenders and vendors braved the gate lice to fly to Denver (the term for people who crowd around the gate at an airport,...
Rob Chrisman
12 min read
September 2024
Sep. 30: LO jobs, partners wanted; trading app, warehouse, soft pull, reverse products; Helene & other disaster news; Fairway steps up
Well, this is the week that many have been waiting for: Fat Bear Week ! The nearly 600 mortgage folks here in Las Vegas at the ACUMA event...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Sep. 28: Disasters... the new norm? Fairway reacts to Helene; Opinion about signing bonuses; Saturday Spotlight: Wilqo
“Why did the Dalai Lama go to Las Vegas? Because he loves Tibet.” Tomorrow I head to Las Vegas for the ACUMA event , and I highly doubt...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Sep. 27: LO jobs; Credit scoring, AI closing, POS tools; STRATMOR & customer experience; today's live shows; Misc. investor news of note
“Who was the first person that used technology? Moses. He had two tablets that were connected to the cloud.” Technology is a two-edged...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Sep. 26: Hedging, correspondent, accounting, pre-qual, auditing tools; lots of VA, USDA, FHA news; dour predictions
We’re all following Hurricane Helene and its impact on lives and housing stock in the news. Will Rogers famously said, “All I know is...
Rob Chrisman
12 min read
August 2024
Aug. 30: Verification, marketing, broker products; NAR settlement opinion; inflation easing helping keep rates stable
(In honor of labor, there is no Commentary tomorrow; Tuesday will be the next one. But in honor of August 31 being National Bacon Day, we...
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
Aug. 29: LO jobs; hedging, compliance, dashboard tools; STRATMOR & the importance of relaxing; Patelco cyberattack; Primer on the yield curve shift
“Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?” The future is always murky, at best, even to those who tell us that they can predict...
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
Aug. 28: Title insurance co. for sale; AVM, compliance, fee collection, Non-QM products; Conventional conforming program updates
How dedicated are you to mortgages? This dedicated? I hope not. Owners and CEOs of smaller companies are certainly dedicated to our...
Rob Chrisman
7 min read
Aug. 27: Broker programs, processing & workflow automation, business strategy, webinars & conferences to mid-September
Why can’t lending be simple… like “The Revolutionary Haircutting System You've Come to Love!” They even have the forethought to take the...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
July 2024
July 15: IT, LO jobs; AI u/w, DPA, POS, insurance tools, CFPB Townstone case; inflation takeaways
Yes, I know that this is a mortgage commentary, but some things are way above that . (Warning: tissues may be required; what’s happened...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
July 6: A letter about the Atlanta market; a debt primer; Saturday Spotlight: First American Data & Analytics
Key talking points for loan originators while speaking to potential homeowners are rent levels and increases, the cons of apartment...
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
July 5: AE jobs, companies wanted; CU Patelco ransomware attack; Fed primer; jobs data nudges rates lower
Before the internet, everything worked fine without it, right? Just ask the members, whether they be depositors or borrowers, of credit...
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
June 2024
June 29: AI primer; fire retardant system to help insurance woes? Saturday Spotlight: MoneyThumb fraud prevention
I know that this is a Commentary on mortgages, but plenty of lenders eat out, stay in hotels, and have office space. There was once a...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
June 28: LO jobs; website compliance, warehouse, fee collection tools; investor & lender news incl. UWM’s 0 per down program
“They” say that as you age, life is like a toilet paper roll: the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes. Dang. But… 2024 almost...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
June 27: AE, LO jobs; Mission score execution, pet-centric marketing, website compliance tools; STRATMOR on tough refi biz; upcoming webinars & events
“What did people from the Midwest call a small can of pop? A Minnesota.” (Say it out loud to your 3rd grader.) While we’re on a “pop,”...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
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