Aug. 9: Opinions on BLS firing and flood risk; SRO & BNPL updates; Vendor product news; Saturday Spotlight: MortgageRight
“Be careful out there. I lost $5 million dollars investing in a bogus company that claimed to be planning to produce life-like sized Henry Winkler dolls. It was a Fonzie scheme.” Freddie and Fannie being released from conservatorship? On again and off again. I can already join billionaire Bill Ackman and own stock in either, although news broke yesterday that the Trump Administration is preparing for some kind of IPO. Fannie and Freddie have enormous backing from hedge fund investors, so much of the proceeds of an IPO would go to wealthy financial backers, not taxpayers. Meanwhile, also under the “follow the money” scenario, Donald Trump signed an executive order that would make it easier for 401K account holders to invest in private equity, cryptocurrency, and other alternative assets. Most current defined contribution plans are concentrated in stocks and bonds, but the latest directive could ease corporate plan administrators' concerns about offering illiquid and complex financial products to plan participants. The move aims to fulfill a longstanding wish of Wall Street firms, which have sought access to 401(k) funds for private investments. "Burdensome lawsuits that seek to challenge reasonable decisions by loyal, regulated fiduciaries, and stifling Department of Labor guidance issued since my first term, however, have denied millions of Americans opportunities to benefit from investment in alternative assets," President Trump detailed in the order.
Saturday Spotlight: MortgageRight
_________________________________________________
“Maximize Your Freedom and Increase Your Revenue”
When was it founded and why, what it does, where, recent growth and plans for near-term future growth?
MortgageRight LLC is a direct mortgage lender headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, operating under TJC Mortgage, Inc. (NMLS #2239). Founded in 2005 by Chris Carter, Tanner Allen, and Joe Meadow, the company focuses on developing branch managers throughout the country. Early on the focus was lending in Birmingham community but now licensed in 47 states. In 2014 the company started rapid growth and operates 47 branches nationwide. The primary objective is to allow branch managers to run their business with real freedom and flexibility.
Tell us about what type of volunteer work employees are encouraged to engage in, or charities your company supports, and why?
MortgageRight proudly identifies as veteran-owned and operated, something that influences their mission, marketing, and commitment to serving their clients.
What does your company do to help elevate your employees’ growth? Describe any mentoring programs, outside classes or training, in-house training. How does the company help people develop?
MortgageRight’s primary business is providing the best possible P&L platform for Branch Managers to have a clear edge in today’s competitive market. Our branch development team has decades of combined experience to ensure smooth transitions and long-term relationships. MortgageRight offers a true P&L branch model for branch managers to excel. With financial transparency, operational autonomy, and a framework that rewards performance, it's tailor-made for those looking to lead and scale in the mortgage industry.
Things you are most proud of that don’t have to do with sales.
1. Veteran-Owned & Operated
Being part of a company founded and led by veterans means you’re tied to an organization that values service, integrity, and discipline—qualities that go beyond business and speak to character.
2. Client-Centered Values
MortgageRight puts transparency, honesty, and education at the forefront, so you can feel good knowing you help clients make confident, informed financial decisions.
3. Community Impact
Branches often participate in local events, charity efforts, and initiatives supporting veterans, first responders, and other community members in need.
4. Operational Excellence
You’re backed by efficient processes, advanced technology, and real-time financial tools that make the mortgage process smoother for clients, something worth taking pride in even if you’re not in sales.
Explore the platform at BranchRight.com
(For more information on having your firm’s extracurricular activities, employee growth, and your charitable side featured, contact Chrisman LLC’s Anjelica Nixt.)
A note from a reader on the firing of the BLS head
_________________________________________________
President Donald Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Critics said that it was a step toward more misinformation coming out of the government, while proponents said that it was about time, given the revisions.
Matthew Maltese wrote to me, saying, “But BLS have been wrong, over estimating jobs, 19 of the past 20 months. By a lot. At some point you have to make an adjustment to get closer. Like Aaron Boone, manager of the NY Yankees once said to the ump, ‘I feel bad for you, man, but get better!’ This year alone BLS over estimated jobs by 77k per month. That's nearly half the jobs; I don't recall them consistently over estimating job growth by 50 percent prior to 2024. It's a big deal.
“The financial markets are not adjusting to revisions, only the initial report. Mortgage rates should have and would have been a good .25 to .5 percent lower had they been more accurate or even underestimated jobs at least once in a while.”
Boarding houses? Layaway plans? Is this 1930?
_________________________________________________
Single-room occupancies, or SROs, are a once-common reliable form of housing that has since all but disappeared in the United States. These are cheap housing units, the least expensive option, which would be rented for as little as $100 to $300 per month (that’s 2025 dollars, adjusted for inflation!) and were single rooms that had a shared bathroom and kitchen with other tenants. It was an arrangement that ranged from your classic boarding house situation to large buildings. By 1950, SROs were 10 percent of all rental units in major cities and were a small but necessary way for people from all income levels to be housed. A successful attempt to eliminate SROs ensued, and that’s one reason that homelessness (which was rare from the end of the Great Depression to the 1970s) became incredibly common. Had SROs grown at the same rate as the rest of the U.S. housing stock, the U.S. would have 2.5 million such units, which is incidentally three times the number of Americans currently experiencing homelessness.
Another old concept is a layaway plan, now somehow re-branded as “Buy Now Pay Later.” The Wall Street Journal reports that this year, buy now, pay later transaction volumes will hit $116.67 billion, well over the $97.98 billion in BNPL spending last year and orders of magnitude higher than the $5.45 billion in BNPL spending in 2019.
Banks are worried about them, and that’s one reason that FICO is adding point-of-sale loans to credit scores later this year. The BNPL industry points out that the plans are individually underwritten and have a default rate under 2 percent, but there are still signs of some stress: a quarter of BNPL users missed a payment last year, up from 15 percent in 2021.
LOs are aware of flood risk and advise clients
_________________________________________________
Regardless of your politics, at the beginning of July, the Guadalupe River in Texas overflowed, killing more than a hundred people in the Texas Hill Country. Shortly after, floods ripped through North Carolina, parts of the Midwest, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C. And a few weeks ago, as rain crashed down on New York and New Jersey, phones lit up, warning residents of imminent flooding. Videos of water rushing into a subway station went viral, and, by Tuesday morning, two people in New Jersey were confirmed dead after their car was swept away by the storm surge.
As temperatures around the world continue to rise, so have bursts of extreme precipitation. We’re now seeing more floods that resemble the volatility of a tornado or a wildfire, events that leave only ‘a narrow window within which to act before the deadly force of the raging river arrived at your door,’ John Seabrook, a staff writer for the New Yorker, reports in a piece from this week’s issue. Seabrook argues that we’re living through a distinct age of floods, and that we don’t yet have systems in place that are equipped for what’s to come. Here are a few key things that we all should know.
The idea of a “hundred year” flood is a misleading statistic. The phrase makes it sound as if “a bad flood will occur only once every hundred years,” Seabrook writes. But what the “hundred-year floodplain” actually measures is how likely a flood of a certain magnitude is to occur in a certain area. Someone living in this zone would have a one-per-cent chance of being flooded any given year. And a recent study commissioned by First Street Foundation, a private risk-assessment firm, found that such massive floods, previously considered hundred-year events, are, on average, becoming more and more frequent.
A storm surge is not the deadliest kind of flood. We’re familiar with the footage that shows people in low-lying coastal towns and cities, inundated by rain, wading through streets submerged in water. But those floods often unfold more slowly, allowing people to get to safety on higher ground. A flooded river, by contrast, moves rapidly and “reshapes the entire landscape.”
Millions of homeowners are living on property that is at high risk of flooding, but they don’t truly understand the risks. In recent years, people have moved away from coastal areas to places out of the way of storm-surge flooding, hurricanes, and rising sea levels. But the kind of flooding that occurred in Texas’s Kerr County often takes place in the hilly and mountainous areas that are attracting new residents. “They have merely traded a devil they know for one they don’t,” Seabrook points out. FEMA uses floodplain maps to designate a Special Flood Hazard Area, or S.F.H.A., but the data used to identify these places is based on readings from the middle of the twentieth century or earlier. The First Street study found that, of the more than seventeen million properties that are at risk of flooding, only five million are in a FEMA-designated flood-hazard zone, meaning that many homeowners and buyers are unaware of the risks to their property.
What are LOs and lenders doing about it?
Third-party provider developments: who’s doing what?
_________________________________________________
What lenders don’t rely on outside parties for their business? Let’s take a random look at who’s up to what and play some catch up.
The 2025 STRATMOR Technology Insight® Study is now underway. The first part of the study (the Lender Intelligence Survey) is live and focused on how lenders really feel about the tech they use every day. Lenders who complete the survey will receive a summary report of 2025 Technology Insight® Study results at no cost. This is actionable intel to help guide tech decisions in today’s competitive environment. Take the survey and help shape the future of mortgage tech. The survey is open to lenders only. Questions? Reach out to STRATMOR’s Technology Insight team for details: technologyinsights@stratmorgroup.com.
Argyle, known for automating income and employment verifications for many of the nation’s largest lenders, has expanded its platform to include verification of assets (VOA) powered by Mastercard’s open finance arm, Finicity. With this addition, Argyle now offers lenders GSE-accepted verifications of income, employment, and assets through a single provider by pairing its own real-time payroll connections with direct-source banking data from Finicity. The solution is a cost-effective way for lenders to reduce manual processes and accelerate loan decisioning.
Transition from traditional ink signatures to instant and compliant eSignatures, available anytime, anywhere, and on any device with ClickSign by DocMagic. Designed for mobile use, ClickSign offers a secure and simplified environment. Beyond just an eSignature solution, ClickSign revolutionizes the workflow for your crucial documents. Whether you're reviewing, signing, or storing documents, ClickSign streamlines the process, minimizing errors, reducing compliance risks associated with paper-based methods, and ensuring secure storage in our certified eVault.
Per annual requirements, Oklahoma has updated its laws regarding the maximum dollar amounts which can be charged for late fees. View Docutech Compliance post for more document update information.
MISMO® announced a new standard, applicable to SMART Doc V3 Verifiable Profile functionality to the security instrument, works to restore trust in security instrument data and reduces the financial burden of onerous verification requirements. The SMART Doc® V3 Verifiable Profile makes the data trustworthy by allowing it to travel with the PDF and then be automatically verified with the document image. This modernized format provides assurance that loan documents and associated data are consistent, reliable, and unaltered.
Global analytics software leader FICO announced MeridianLink, Inc., a leading provider of modern software platforms for financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies, as the first mortgage technology platform company to offer the FICO® Score Mortgage Simulator. Integrating the FICO Score Mortgage Simulator with MeridianLink Mortgage Credit Link helps to expand access to credit decisioning tools for resellers and lenders nationwide that provide valuable insights to support more informed decisions and better lending options for consumers. View the press release for announcement details.
MortgageFlex added numerous enhancements and integrations to its MortgageFlexONE Servicing software application. Continuing to bring customers online and add new ones, MortgageFlex welcomes customer and industry feedback on improving its products. The roadmap has significant updates, including more workflow queues, robust new tools, functions, and integrations. Additionally, the launch of its new cloud LOS went live with the first new customer at the beginning of June.
Ready to enter your home address, or your neighbor’s to protect your privacy? Kukun is a remodeling cost estimator and ROI tool that is white labeled for lenders and generate a large amount of HELOCs for banks such as PNC, US Bank, Bayview, among others. Kukun also developed a dashboard for brokers that leverages data and tools to generate mortgage leads.
Enter any home address and see its dashboard. There is a cost estimator on the site, but here is a version that is used by US Bank for its home improvement calculation.
Servicing software provider, Financial Industry Computer Systems, Inc. (FICS®) and Wescom Resources, a wholly owned credit union service organization (CUSO) of Wescom Financial, announced a new business partnership establishing Wescom Resources as the preferred nationwide hosting partner for FICS’ full suite of industry-leading mortgage software solutions. As part of the collaboration, Wescom Resources will host key products including Mortgage Servicer®, Commercial Servicer®, and Loan Producer®, along with FICS’ complementary reporting and document management services. The two organizations will collaborate closely on product and system planning and provide system implementation, integration, and ongoing support services to their mutual clients.
Dark Matter Technologies finalized its integration with the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP), making it one of the first tech providers ready to support the GSEs’ new UAD 3.6 and Forms Redesign initiative. With the GSEs rolling out limited production in September, this development helps lenders get a jumpstart on what’s shaping up to be a major shift in appraisal reporting. That means lenders using Dark Matter’s Empower LOS and Exchange Network can start submitting modernized appraisal files (with ZIP format support, new data fields, etc.) well ahead of the mandate.
By the way, the Chrisman Marketplace is now “up and going,” a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the mortgage 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.
Do you ever go to the gym? Australians are known for their wit, and here are some interview snippets from older Aussies working out.
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. This month’s piece is titled, “The Tax and Spending Bill: The Impact on Borrowers.” The Commentary’s podcast is available on all major platforms, including Apple and Spotify.
qoɹ
(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 2025 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.)