Month: February 2026

Here in New Orleans, the average rainfall is about 5 feet a year, much of it in the summer. Out west, most snow and rain occur in the winter. I mention this because, although being hit by a storm now including a deadly avalanche, until recently the Western U.S. was in a dire snow drought. What comes next is even scarier. Does the climate, and its impact on weather, impact lenders and servicers? Of course it does. But then again, in my 40+ years in capital markets, I’ve seen many things…

Here in New Orleans, there’s a lot going on that is not mortgage related, namely parades and celebrating Carnival ahead of Lent. But we shouldn’t let appearances deceive us. John Kruk famously said, “I’m not an athlete. I’m a professional baseball player .” The average elevation of New Orleans is 1-2 feet below sea level, with some areas 8 feet below. Do you think mortgage servicers are concerned about doing business here? On Mortgage Law Today at noon PT Brian Levy, Loretta Salzano, and…

Did someone say it’s Valentine’s Day ? Indeed. I don’t know the statistics, but my guess is that a sizeable chunk of couples met each other at work or at school. Hopefully they’re paying their tuition, but… New data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that about one million borrowers defaulted on their federal student loans last year , with 9.6 percent of balances at least 90 days past due. As of September 2025, 3.3 million borrowers were between 31 and 270 days late on…

Here at San Diego’s MCT Exchange 2026, one topic is, as it is at every mortgage conference, is AI. More specifically, using artificial intelligence to leverage the strengths of existing employees but certainly setting up “guard rails” in rolling it out, and in finite chunks rather than company-wide all at once. Another topic is the ramp up of non-QM in the primary and secondary markets. The book of business is performing well, although is definitely not “cookie cutter”: many loans have…

Here at San Diego’s MCT Exchange 2026, the hallway chatter is varied. These are capital markets personnel, so things are pragmatic. One topic is Freddie Mac’s earnings : $2.8 billion in income for the fourth quarter of 2025 and $10.7 billion for 2025. Another is large companies becoming larger, exemplified by Tradeweb making an investment in MAXEX and by yesterday’s news of Pennymac entering into an agreement to acquire subservicer Cenlar (sponsor of this week’s podcasts with its 2 million…

Anyone flying in or near El Paso, Texas, good luck: the FAA has shut down its airspace for 10 days! The government closing down travel… Conspiracy students, take note! Something else to take note of is… If you had something that earned you $3.5 billion in the last three months, would you get rid of it? Me neither. That’s what Fannie Mae earned in the fourth quarter of 2022. In 2025 Fannie earned over $14 billion. Remind me again… is the “system” so broken that the government is in a hurry to…