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Month: February 2026

Feb. 12: Non-QM pricing, appraisal, BI, servicing tools; Interview with Pennymac Chief Strategist; CFPB update; Bevri.ai & NEXA

Posted on by Rob Chrisman

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…

Feb. 11: AE jobs; DPA, HELOC, correspondent eNote, escrow mgt. tools; STRATMOR on IMB concerns; Servicing alarms

Posted on by Rob Chrisman

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…

What Floods Reveal About How We Price Risk

Posted on by Robbie Chrisman

It is easy to look at the steady drumbeat of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires and ask whether something fundamentally different is happening or whether we are simply more aware of risks that have always existed. When people talk about once-in-a-century floods arriving every few years, the question is not really theological or political. It is about whether the data supports what our instincts are telling us. And in at least one important way, it does. If you step back from…

Consolidation, Technology, and the Human Imperative: How the Mortgage Industry Is Quietly Being Remade

Posted on by Garth Graham

The mortgage industry has always been cyclical, but what is unfolding now feels structurally different. Consolidation is no longer just a byproduct of downturns or margin compression; it has become a defining feature of an industry grappling with scale, technology, and shifting consumer expectations. In 2025, this reality became impossible to ignore. Despite a return to modest profitability, roughly 25 basis points for the average independent mortgage bank (IMB), merger and acquisition…

Rethinking How We Measure Creditworthiness

Posted on by Michele Bodda

By Michele Bodda, President Employer Services, Verification Solutions and Housing at Experian Credit scores feel like a simple thing because we’ve been taught to treat them that way, a three-digit number that opens doors or closes them. But credit scores don’t exist on their own. They are downstream of something far more fundamental: credit data. Without the information in a credit report, there is no score at all. That distinction matters, especially now, as the mortgage industry finds…

The Human Side of Mortgage

Posted on by Mosi Gatling

I have been in mortgage long enough to watch communication shift from a nice-to-have skill into a real competitive edge. Buyers today can shop lenders as easily as they shop homes, and many do. Not because the first loan officer failed them on rates or accuracy, but because the experience felt off. It felt pushy instead of helpful, scripted instead of conversational, more like being sold than being guided. That reaction matters, especially with Millennial buyers, who are not just comparing…

Feb. 10: Transaction mgr. job; Servicing, QC, workflow, non-Agency products; LOs using tools effectively; STRATMOR tech survey

Posted on by Rob Chrisman

“You are allowed to send e-mails to people in prison, as long as you don’t attach a file.” I receive my share of emails every day… Let’s open up the mailbox and see what’s going on. “Rob, thank you for publishing Mike Simmons’ primer on UAD 3.6 . Right now, credit is a hot topic, but I am sure appraisals will ‘have their day in the sun’.” You’re welcome, and in fact tomorrow’s L1 show at 11AM PT features Caleb Stuemky with Connexions, a valuation platform designed for AMCs and mortgage…