June 24: Broker jobs; Retention, credit analysis, CU lending, disaster analysis tools; Housing Act to the President; upcoming webcasts

“Why did the Dalai Lama go to Las Vegas? Because he loves Tibet.” It’s 107 F here in Las Vegas. Some would say, “It’s summer, what do you expect?” (No one expected 40 people to die in France trying to escape the heat.) Lenders and servicers are wondering, if push comes to shove about A/C in homes or supplying a local data center with electricity, who will win. My bet is whoever has the money. Your company, and family, has money, and criminals want it. (The term “bad actors” seems weak.) SIFMA’s 26th Annual AML Conference focused on the most pressing issues in financial crimes compliance, something no company can afford to do without. In a different type of affordability, a link for the new JPMorganChase policy brief (on practical steps states and cities can take to increase housing supply and bring down costs) in yesterday’s Commentary is included above for those who would like to read it. (Using examples from across the country, the brief shows how different places are testing new models to support innovations in homebuilding.) (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Equifax, a global data, analytics, and technology company, helps mortgage lenders gain the borrower and market insights they need to improve efficiency and make accurate decisions. Access differentiated consumer credit data, powerful consumer and market insights, and income and employment data from The Work Number. Today’s has an interview with Spring EQ’s Reno Heine on differentiating oneself in the increasingly competitive home equity and non-QM markets, how technology and AI are shaping growth, and practical advice for brokers seeking new business opportunities.)

Jobs and transitions

_________________________________________________

If you’re ready to build a business that is truly yours, know this: independence doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. With Motto Mortgage (the first and only national mortgage brokerage franchise) you keep your autonomy while gaining the tools and support to grow your business with purpose. You bring the relationships, leadership, and vision. We bring a franchise model that helps you streamline operations, market more effectively, recruit more efficiently, and stay compliant as you scale. Gain the power of a national brand while keeping the independent flexibility that sets brokers apart. This is your business, empowered to perform and built to last. Own it. Grow it. Build lasting value, for life. Ready to take the next step towards franchise ownership? Email franchise@mottomortgage.com to get started.

The Chrisman Job Board is the go-to platform for employment opportunities across the mortgage industry. For employers, adding a job listing is easy. Simply create an account and drop in your existing application link, or forward the details to our team and we’ll take care of it for you. For job seekers, joining our Talent Community is completely free. Upload your resume to be visible to hiring companies across the industry and stay connected to new opportunities as they go live.

Broker & correspondent loan products

_________________________________________________

The flexibility of Symmetry’s HELOC solution goes well beyond second liens; it can also be a gamechanger for your borrowers needing a creative option for their next first-lien purchase or refinance. To streamline the process, we never require condo documents or questionnaires, we don’t source funds, and there are absolutely no reserve requirements or seasoning periods. Additionally, your clients will benefit from having no prepayment penalties or EPO fees. Our first-lien HELOCs are available up to 80 percent CLTV on primary residences, and up to 70 percent CLTV on non-owner occupied (NOO) and second home properties. Symmetry’s HELOC may be the exact solution you are looking for! Please contact your area manager today to learn more, and thank you for every opportunity to partner with you.

“As our nation celebrates 250 years of innovation and growth, Newrez Correspondent is proud to introduce new opportunities designed to help our partners grow. We are pleased to introduce our Medical Professional Home Loan program, built to support borrowers with specialized financial profiles. Our Smart Series Non-QM programs continue to offer Full Doc, Bank Statement/1099, DSCR and Crypto qualification options. We also remain competitive with a 20-year, fixed rate Closed-End Second program and a strong Jumbo AUS solution. Together, these offerings reflect our continued commitment to delivering flexible, competitive products. To discuss our product offerings, Newrez Correspondent is heading to the Western Secondary Market Conference, taking place August 10–12. We invite you to connect with Rebecca Sommer, David Pistone, and Baird Marble. We look forward to connecting with you in the months ahead and sharing more updates as we continue to build momentum across the market.”

Broker and lender software, products, and services

_________________________________________________

The World Cup is the ultimate display of global soccer talent, but talent alone does not guarantee success in the tournament. For example, the 2002 French squad included the top goal scorers from the three best European leagues and boasted two legendary players, Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane. They entered the tournament as reigning world champions but failed to score a single goal and did not advance past the first round due, among other things, to a failure to integrate their individual talent into a cohesive system. Credit unions face the same challenge with home equity. Competitive rates, trusted relationships, and experienced staff aren’t enough when disconnected technology prevents them from delivering the fast, seamless lending experience borrowers expect. FirstClose CTO Dan Kellett breaks down what a modern digital lending stack looks like for credit unions in this blog and how to build one without scrapping what’s already working.

AI adoption is rising across the industry, but most solutions are still built around task-level automation. While that can improve isolated steps, it doesn’t fundamentally change how loans move through the process, or reduce cost per loan at scale. JazzX AI delivers true end-to-end automation, with digital assistants that coordinate work across the full loan lifecycle while integrating with your existing LOS. By streamlining operations from application through close, JazzX helps lenders accelerate decisions, lower costs, and improve loan quality without increasing headcount. Schedule a demo to learn more.

“PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending, a subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings (NYSE: HTH), offers funding for multiple mortgage products and programs with little to no additional requirements. FNMA HomeStyle, FHA 203K Full, Limited, and USDA Rural Housing renovation loans. Mortgage Revenue Bond and DPA loans with extended dwell times. Sub Limits for lower FICO scores, manufactured homes, renovation, construction and other unique mortgage products and programs. With over 30 years’ experience and a well-capitalized diversified financial holding company we provide our customers confidence to meet their loan funding needs. If you are interested in learning more about PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending please contact Deric Barnett (469)955-6786.”

Your borrowers may be feeling the squeeze. As home insurance premiums climb (driven in part by growing frequency of natural disasters) more homeowners are one renewal notice away from a serious affordability crisis. And that risk lands on your portfolio too. The good news: you don’t have to wait for a default to act. Learn how data-driven disaster identification and proactive outreach can help you get ahead of the problem. Read the blog by Matt Dowd, Vice President of Product Management at ICE.

CIC Credit is helping lenders make their mid-year credit check count. As credit teams reassess risk, policies, and pipelines before Q3, the FICO® Score Mortgage Simulator, the only mortgage simulator built by FICO analytic scientists, just got more powerful. New FICO® Smart Plans recommend borrower-specific credit actions, while FICO® Score Potential estimates score gains before simulation, enabling mortgage lenders to prioritize the most impactful opportunities. Also new from CIC’s flood partner, ServiceLink: CertMap™ aerial imagery, provided at no additional cost when a property is near a FEMA flood zone – not just when it falls within one. Right Data. Right Source. Smarter Credit Decisions. Connect with CIC Credit at sales@ciccredit.com.

Less back-and-forth. More first-time-right verifications. Truework replaces manual verification waterfalls with a single automated platform, so underwriters, LOs, and ops can cut down the document chasing, conflicting numbers, and last-minute corrections. Lenders see up to 50 percent cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times, higher accuracy, and stronger R&W relief. Trusted by 4 of the top 5 lenders in the U.S., Truework gives your team verification results they can rely on. Learn more.

Great conversations start with context. Without it, outreach feels generic, timing feels wrong, and opportunities get missed. Customer IQ is Total Expert’s answer: an always-on context engine that aggregates the data that actually matters, servicing info, real-time pricing, conversation history, equity positions, and financial goals. This isn’t data sitting in a dashboard. It becomes actionable intelligence that powers AI assistants to reach thousands of borrowers with personalized outreach while keeping loan officers in control. The result? AI detects which homeowners have high-interest debt and available equity, surfaces them proactively, and completes the handoff to a human when it matters. Lenders see 3-4x more applications, doubled recapture rates, and the ability to offer true post-close retention. Listen in as Total Expert Founder & CEO Joe Welu breaks down how AI is helping lenders have smarter, more personal conversations with borrowers, at a scale that simply wasn’t possible before.

The Chrisman Marketplace is a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the industry to be viewed by lenders in a very cost-effective manner. We’re adding new providers daily, so check back often to see what’s new. To reserve your place or learn more, contact us at info@chrismancommentary.com.

Road to Housing Act heads to President Trump

_________________________________________________

Congress last night passed the largest housing bill in decades, leading all kinds of organizations to post complimentary messages on the internet. The 21st Century Road to Housing Act passed in the House 358 to 32. The Senate approved it on Monday with similar overwhelming bipartisan support. The measure now heads to Trump’s desk for his signature. The bill seeks to address the U.S.’s lack of sufficient housing to meet demand. Realtor.com estimated that last year, the U.S. was short by more than 4 million housing units.

Webcasts to finish off the week

_________________________________________________

AI, Compliance & State Enforcement: What Lenders and Servicers Need to Know in 2026

In the latest QC Now webinar, compliance experts ACES’ General Counsel and EVP of Compliance, Amanda Phillips, AVP of Compliance, Savannah Prout, and Reid Herlihy, Partner at Mitchell Sandler, share practical insights on navigating emerging AI governance requirements, UAD 3.6 implementation, and evolving federal and state mortgage servicing regulations. Learn what these developments mean for your organization and how to strengthen your compliance program to stay ahead of regulatory change. Watch the webinar on demand.

Mortgage Matters is today at 2PM ET and sponsored by Lenders One. Sasha Hewlett, AVP of Secondary & Capital Markets at the Mortgage Bankers Association, will discuss mortgage policy, regulation, and the issues shaping the industry. The conversation explores Basel III, updates on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, along with the trends lenders should be watching.

Dodd Frank Update is bringing together Mike Silver of Spencer Fane and Justin Wiseman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) for the Taking Ownership of Consumer Protection webinar at 2PM ET June 24^th. Together they will discuss today’s regulatory environment and how to keep consumer protection standards strong.

Recapture Wars is Wednesday, June 24 at 3PM ET and sponsored by Mortgage Solutions Financial. Nolan Turner, Courtney Thompson, Seth Sprague, and Rick Smith take a closer look at what’s actually driving recapture performance in today’s market. The discussion explores retention strategies, common misconceptions, operational challenges, and the opportunities lenders have to strengthen customer relationships and improve long term results.

Thursday has The Big Picture at 3PM ET. Rob Chrisman is joined by Joe DeDominicis of Stockton Mortgage for a conversation on leadership, growth, and navigating today’s mortgage market. The discussion explores how lenders are adapting to changing market conditions, building strong organizations, and positioning themselves for long term success.

Join Appraiser eLearning for the UAD 3.6 Bootcamp live in Dallas, Texas or virtually, from June 24^th – 26^th. This 14-hour CE course is split up into 7-hour blocks over 3 separate days. You’ll get to experience ScanToSketch within TOTAL for Mobile, an Appraiser’s Guide to the new URAR, and hear from each software provider about their UAD 3.6 solution.

Last Word is Friday June 26 at 1PM ET. Brian Vieaux, Kevin Peranio, Christy Soukhamneut, and Coby Hakalir break down the week’s biggest market signals, agency developments, and industry narratives. The discussion focuses on separating meaningful trends from market noise and what lenders should be watching next.

ADUs have been on the center-stages as a viable option for affordable homeownership. Join NYMBA’s first Affordable Fridays webinar, ABCs of ADUs, with Andy Thaw and Jim Bopp on Friday, June 26^th at 9AM ET. Join in on the National and State dialogues with the latest guidelines.

Capital Markets: “higher for longer” message continues

_________________________________________________

Investors piled into safe-haven assets yesterday amid a sharp technology-sector selloff and easing of concerns that higher oil prices would force additional Fed tightening. The rally in bond markets was led by the front end of the curve, pushing 2-year and 3-year yields back below 4.20 percent, though most of the post-FOMC rise in yields is yet to abate. Economic data is driving market direction less than technical factors, cross-asset flows, and sentiment around risk assets. Geopolitical tensions and oil-price volatility are the main rate drivers, but a deeper equity-market correction could revive flight-to-quality demand.

The Federal Reserve’s inflation-focused messaging has kept real yields elevated even as market-based inflation expectations have fallen back to pre-conflict levels. 10-year Treasury yields remain near 4.50 percent largely because investors believe the Fed is willing to keep policy restrictive until inflation is convincingly under control. Strategists continue to favor a longer-term flattening of the yield curve, viewing any near-term steepening as temporary rather than a lasting shift. Your takeaway? Markets remain caught between easing inflation fears and a Fed that has yet to signal any willingness to relax its commitment to price stability, leaving rates range-bound and awaiting clearer evidence on both inflation and geopolitical risks.

The Agency MBS market continues to offer a compelling case for shorter-amortization securities, particularly 15-year pools, where investors benefit from both lower duration risk and a faster return of principal. While Agency-backed mortgages carry virtually no credit risk, investment performance depends heavily on turnover, prepayments, and curtailments. Compared to 30-year pools, 15-year borrowers tend to have stronger credit profiles, lower loan-to-value ratios, and more accumulated home equity, reflecting borrowers who are often later in their financial lives and focused on accelerating mortgage payoff. As a result, these pools generally exhibit faster cash flow characteristics despite smaller loan balances, making them attractive in an environment where investors increasingly value liquidity and certainty of return.

We learned yesterday that U.S. business activity grew at its fastest pace in five months in June, as a rebound in manufacturing pushed the S&P Global flash composite PMI to 52.2, but the expansion masked underlying weakness. Today’s economic calendar kicked off with mortgage applications from MBA, which rose 1.0 percent for the week ending June 19, driven by a 3 percent increase in refinance applications, which were 17 percent higher than a year ago. Purchase applications slipped 1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis but remained 3 percent above year-ago levels, as mortgage rates remained largely unchanged despite a more hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve.

We’ve also received Building Permits and Housing Starts for May. Later today brings New Home Sales for May, a 5-year Treasury note auction, and remarks from Fed Governor Cook. We begin Wednesday with Agency MBS prices better by .125-.250 versus Tuesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 4.17, and the 10-year yielding 4.44 after closing yesterday at 4.49 percent.

A man wins $100 000 at Las Vegas.

When he returns home, he hides it in his backyard, only to wake up the next morning and find it stolen, with a trail of muddy footprints leading to the mute-deaf a few blocks away. Enraged, he enlists the help of the sign language professor next door, and together, the man armed, they confront the mute-deaf at his door.

“Tell him I want to know where he hid the money!” the man yells. The professor conveys this to the mute-deaf and he responds with sign language that he hid the money under the cherry tree in his backyard.

The professor turns to the man and says, “He won’t tell you. He says that he’d rather die first.”

Visit www.ChrismanCommentary.com for more information on our industry partners, access archived commentaries, or subscribe to the Daily Mortgage News and Commentary. You can also explore the Chrisman Marketplace, a centralized hub connecting mortgage professionals with trusted vendors and solutions. If you’re interested, check out my periodic blog on the STRATMOR Group website. STRATMOR’s current blog is “Pricing That Can Help Borrowers.”  The Commentary’s podcast is available on all major platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

qoɹ & ǝᴉqqoɹ

(Market data provided in partnership with MBS Live. For free job postings and to view candidate resumes, visit the Chrisman Job Board. This newsletter is intended for sophisticated mortgage professionals only. There are no paid endorsements by me. For the latest mortgage news, visit Mortgage News Daily. For archived commentaries, or to subscribe, go to www.ChrismanCommentary.com. Copyright 2026 Chrisman LLC. All rights reserved. Paid job & product listings do appear. This report or any portion hereof may not be reprinted, sold, or redistributed without the written consent of Rob Chrisman. The views and opinions in this newsletter are mine alone unless otherwise specifically stated herein.)