Month: May 2026

USDA lenders ask, “Can our Fed save the day for U.S. wheat farmers up against a drought, tariff woes, lack of a deal with China, and rising fuel bills?” Nope. Buy flour before you leave the supermarket. Lots of folks were leaving the MBA’s National Secondary yesterday, and many comments and questions were heard. “Did you hear that Jerry Seinfeld is doing a show at the MBA National in October?” (True) “Ginnie Mae began ratcheting up its cybersecurity efforts in 2024. Why aren’t others?” (Good…

Here in New York, as over a thousand of us head to airports (hopefully avoiding manholes… tragic), the mood has been pragmatic. Not overly optimistic, not somber, just realistic. No one is arguing that the war hasn’t driven up worldwide oil prices, impacting inflation and borrower psychology, impacting lending. The Mortgage Bankers Association now predicts a Federal Reserve rate hike to arrive in 2027, so any lenders or originators hoping for lower rates, well… At this point there isn’t a lot…

“I was watching Jurassic park the other day when I thought, “Not only does my son have a really stupid name, he´s also a terrible driver.” The movie’s lesson was that just because scientists and IT people can do something, doesn’t mean they should do it. ChatGPT can now connect to your bank account and see all your transactions. Any questions? Plenty. One of the discussion topics here in New York at the MBA conference is, just like every other conference, artificial intelligence, and one of…

We will never charge for this Commentary, but the same can’t be said for home loan closing costs or doing a mortgage in general. For those of you who like maps, here’s one of the states’ closing costs. And here’s something for companies who have training programs: New hires should check out the Business Glossary from MISMO. It covers business processes, events, calculations, documents, forms, regulations, AI terminology, and more. LOs of various ages tell me that people in their 20s not only…

As the legal and proxy battles are waged among Two Harbors, UWM, and CrossCountry, today I head to New York for the MBA’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference. John Wooden said, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” and across the land, over a thousand people are avoiding failure by preparing, lining up sessions, meetings, and hallway chats, along with social events. Participants had better prepare for sticker shock: $30 cocktails. Several topics are dealing with the regulatory…

Every once in a while, I break out of bunking down at Hilton’s DoubleTree in the U.S., despite the tasty cookie. Recently I spent some time in Indonesia. Yes, the region is known for its nefarious computer activities, but what immediately strikes you are the two-wheeled vehicles: the country is estimated to have 120-132 million scooters and motorcycles, and I can guarantee you that a good chunk of them don’t have license plates or registrations. Try running a mortgage company in the U.S….

As many of us prepare for the National Secondary (and visiting I’m Donut? in Times Square), food is an issue. If you’re a fan of saffron in your food, find a substitute. The blocking of the Strait of Hormuz due to the war has hit saffron: Iran produces 90 percent of it. The war’s impact on mortgage rates will certainly be a topic on today’s Capital Markets Wrap, and I received this note. “Rob, mortgage rates have moved higher, certainly higher than where we thought they’d be. Will the Fed…