Month: February 2026

Can’t you feel the anticipation building? March 5 th … Trigger leads… Don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten all about it. When a borrower applies for a mortgage and their credit is pulled, that data has historically been sold as a “trigger lead” and dozens of calls are received. Starting March 5, according to the law, credit bureaus can no longer sell trigger leads, the borrower’s lender can still contact them, and the current servicer may also reach out. Originators are reminding clients that…

Let’s check the ol’ mailbag. “Rob, I know that the May MBA’s National Secondary is in Manhattan, as it has been for years. Have you heard that it is moving for 2027?” It is best to ask the MBA, but I believe that this could be the last year of the contract with the Marriott for that site, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if 2027’s was in a major city, in the Central Time Zone, with a couple baseball teams. “Rob, have you heard that during Trump II, we’ll see less regulation and an increase in…

“A regulator, a lender, and an AI assistant walk into a bar…” “Rob, have you heard anything about a state regulator going after a lender on AI doing licensed LO activities?” No, I haven’t, but the industry is waiting. It is no secret that Congress and regulators have trouble keeping up with technology. But is an AI “conversation” with a borrower any different than a questionnaire given to that same borrower? Will the line be drawn at RESPA items? Can regulators audit transcripts of AI…

Today happens to be rocker George Thorogood’s 76 th birthday, and mortgage bankers know that he re-did Amos Milburn’s 1953 classic tale of rent collection, land ladies, and payment avoidance . Not having your rent money and having too much debt is not a recipe for success, but loan officers deal with that all the time while trying to help their clients. At the Optimal Blue Summit going on now, sessions range from AI to loan officer tools to market strategy, product unveilings built to…

Anyone out there who believes that storms aren’t becoming more severe is in the minority. The latest examples are the blizzard that hit the mountains in the West and the one that is currently hitting the Northeast. (Those heading to the Hurt No Mor Ski Trip next week in Park City, Utah, are pleased with the snow dump.) The current storm, and news of Homeland Security suspending TSA PreCheck and Global Entry security programs, and then apparently not suspending the programs, has put a good…

“I hate it when people subtly brag about where they went to college. I have this friend who went to Harvard, and he just won’t shut the hell up about it. He’s always been like this, even when we were in college together.” Nature abhors a vacuum, and if students don’t want to go to college in their own countries, where are they going to go? The environment for people around the world coming to the U.S. has changed, whether for college or to live, impacting to some degree the demand for…

“I asked my pen why it never moves. It wrote, ‘Sorry, I’m stationary.’” (It’s cutting-edge humor like that which keeps readers coming back!) Pens? Mail-related check fraud never seems to go away, and the FBI reminds us that blue gel pens certainly help in reducing check fraud. “Rob, are you hearing that the increase in the popularity of artificial intelligence has led to an increase in mortgage fraud?” Yes, I have. It can be insidious… it may not show up until months or years have passed….

Here in New Orleans, the other night on the street, or was it on a capital markets conference call yesterday, I heard someone singing, “There’s a party goin’ on right here, a celebration to last throughout the years…” by Kool & the Gang. The years sail by, and it’s hard to believe that the COVID pandemic was six years ago with its increase in deaths . For our biz, we switched to “work from home,” among other changes. Along those lines, I received this note: “Rob, are you hearing about a…