Mar. 3: Commercial for LOs, HELOC, AI/compliance, eNote products; skiing & AI events/training; rates initially rise on war news

At the L1 Summit, technology is obviously a key segment of many sessions. Tech is helping larger companies in their moves in controlling the borrower funnel. Artificial intelligence (AI) with its pros and cons but hoped-for benefits to productivity and therefore cost reduction, is a common conversation topic. Third party provider offerings are also theme. especially when it comes to technology and marketing. “Rob, I know that you have job ads in your Commentary, but we’re looking for a CRM that works well with lenders. Can you recommend someone?” In our Marketplace we have Total Expert, Volly, Insellerate, Usherpa, MortgageHalo, OptifiNow. Data mining is not new. Trivia experts know that many years ago there was a conspiracy belief that Baskin-Robbins, which recently turned 80 and gives away a free scoop to people on the BR birthday list celebrating their birthday, sold its birthday list to the U.S. Government’s selective service for draft purposes. That was not true. Many decades ago the Selective Service did, however, use Farrell’s birthday list which, when this was found out, quickly came to an end. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Feewise, which turns mortgage compliance from bottleneck to business accelerator. Handle all the complexities involved with establishing TRID compliant fees and disclosures, achieve sign off, and deliver packages to your consumers for review or signature. Hear an interview with ACES Quality Management’s Sharon Reichhardt on improving productivity and mortgage loan quality while controlling costs and risk.)

Employment, promotions, and appointments

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“InterLinc Mortgage continues to grow across the Southeast! We’re excited to welcome Michael Hodges as Branch Manager in Knoxville, TN. With Michael’s outstanding experience and reputation, paired with InterLinc’s powerful operational platform and sales philosophy, he and his team are well positioned to thrive in the Knoxville market. Michael will also focus on expanding our footprint throughout East Tennessee. Interested in joining a winning team? Contact Gary Royal or visit InterLinc Mortgage.”

Is the Wholesale Account Executive going extinct in the age of AI? This topic comes up more and more often when talking to my friends in the industry. No, it is not. I know I sound presumptuous saying that with certainty… But I am certain. What WILL happen is a realignment of the industry into two types of companies... AI-First and Human-First. AI-First companies see a future where AI handles the maximum steps in the loan manufacturing process.…read more.

Fairway Home Mortgage announced that 32-year industry vet Holly Mattson is being promoted to the position of Co-President of Recruiting where she will oversee Fairway's efforts to onboard top mortgage producers. Holly is in her 11^th year with Fairway and previously served as Fairway's VP of TPO Production, VP of Branch Business Development, and SVP of Sales and Recruiting. (As Fairway's top internal recruiter, Mattson and her team saw 174 loan originators return to Fairway last year after stints with other mortgage companies.)

Informative Research today announced the appointment of Mark Jones to the position of SVP of Partner Success where he will develop and scale a strategy to expand IR’s market reach and strengthen partnerships across the mortgage and fintech ecosystem. “Working with the product, marketing, finance and client success teams, Jones will lead efforts to formalize partner onboarding and performance standards to improve consistency and operational efficiency.”

NewDay USA, a national mortgage lending company serving the Veteran community, announced the appointment of Brian D. Montgomery as Vice Chairman of the company's advisory board, effective immediately. (Brian is the only individual to serve as FHA Commissioner twice and under three different presidential administrations: Bush, Obama, and Trump’s first term.)

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.

Products, services, and software for brokers and lenders

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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% 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.

“The property valuation industry has long experienced difficulties in establishing consistent and transparent metrics to compare automated valuation model (AVM) reliability across service providers. This has created challenges around increased collateral risk and inefficient valuation workflows. To help address this gap, MISMO recently introduced the AVM Common Confidence Score Standard and Guidance in September 2025. This new standard is designed to deliver a uniform and actionable metric for the industry that helps mitigate valuation inconsistencies and supports compliance with updated federal quality control regulations for AVMs. ICE is systematically rolling out this new metric across its valuation offerings to align with evolving industry standards and regulatory requirements. To learn more about MISMO’s AVM Common Confidence Score and how ICE is implementing the new metric, check out our recent blog. MISMO's new AVM Common Confidence Score: what you need to know.”

Encompass lenders heading to ICE Experience 2026 should stop by Booth #626 to see what a point of sale looks like when it’s built inside the LOS. LiteSpeed by LenderLogix works natively within Encompass to streamline borrower intake, automate manual busywork with AI, and bring preapproval letters, upfront fees, and eSignatures into one seamless flow. No syncing delays. No rule conflicts. Just a cleaner, more efficient way to start and move loans forward. Meet with the LenderLogix team at ICE Experience 2026 to see the Encompass-native POS in action.

The New Math of Mortgage: Spring Forward Without Expanding Staff! The market has shifted. After years of boom-and-bust cycles, mortgage volume is stabilizing, creating a rare window to modernize. At the same time, technology has matured, paving the way for automation built on trusted, verifiable data. Now is the moment to act. Gateless Smart Underwrite® helps lenders grow volume without hiring, automating document review, verifying borrower data, and clearing conditions in hours, not weeks. Eliminate bottlenecks. Remove manual labor. Increase capacity without adding a single desk. This isn’t just a better process… It’s a self-scaling way to lend. Our clients are reporting significant capacity increases in operations and decreasing processing time. Automate Intelligently – Scale Logically. Book your demo.

“Still relying on homegrown spreadsheets, siloed systems, and good old-fashioned memory to track your leads? That’s a recipe for missed opportunities and lost revenue! And that’s why Total Expert designed Lead Management system to streamline how modern lenders generate, route, engage, and track leads throughout their pipeline. Lenders and loan officers are under pressure to do more with the leads they have, but when your lead data is scattered and incomplete, speed-to-lead suffers and opportunities slip through the cracks. Whether your leads are coming from organic outreach, digital channels, or referral partners, Total Expert ensures that every lead is engaged quickly with automated Journeys and routed to the right loan officer for faster follow-ups and better conversion rates. Check out our latest blog to learn how you can automate engagement, deliver better experiences, and provide complete visibility for every lead in your pipeline so you can keep deals moving forward.”

Flyhomes has officially launched the Buy Before You Sell DREAM™ Solution, a new initiative designed to empower your clients to buy without a sale contingency, move once, and time their sale for maximum value. With Flyhomes DREAM™ Solutions, you can now deliver D – DTI Buster, R – Retire & Downsize, E – Equity for a Down Payment, A – All-Cash Advantage, and M – Move with $0 Out of Pocket. These solutions increase your buyer’s purchasing power and create smoother transitions while helping you attract more realtor partners, stay in control of the borrower relationship, and win deals that would otherwise be impossible. Book a call to review a borrower scenario and see how DREAM™ can support your next deal today. Flyhomes has helped 5,000+ buyers over the past 10 years, and LOs using this program close an average of 1.2 more loans per month.

The Chrisman Marketplace is 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.

Advisory Angle today: recapture

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Today’s Advisory Angle, presented by STRATMOR March 3, 3:00 PM ET! Sue Woodard, Mike Seminari, and Christy Soukhamneut examine why servicing recapture efforts often fall short despite heavy investment in AI and analytics. The discussion highlights how borrower connection, early servicing experiences, and trust ultimately determine long term retention outcomes.

Leadership is Participation

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Brian Vieaux, President, MISMO, wrote in with some thoughts on the importance of participation. “We do not have the right to criticize this industry if we are unwilling to invest in improving it. That applies in conference hallways. In boardrooms. And yes, on social media.

If we benefit from the infrastructure of mortgage banking, from its standards, its compliance frameworks, and the trust embedded in our system, then we carry a responsibility to help sustain it.

“The pioneers who built this industry did not inherit a functioning system. They built one. They invested their credibility and time to create standards and guardrails that allowed mortgage banking to mature into a profession. Today, one of the places where infrastructure is maintained and advanced is within MISMO. Every loan in this country rides on standards, definitions, and data structures that enable interoperability and compliance at scale. That work does not fund itself. It requires participation.

“The Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Advocacy Conference is one of the most important opportunities we have to shape housing policy directly with lawmakers. Affordability, GSE reform, capital markets stability, regulatory alignment, these conversations are happening with or without us. The question is whether we are in the room. If you believe leadership is demonstrated by participation, not title, then engagement cannot be episodic. It must be expected. Standards matter. Advocacy matters. Participation matters.” You can read the full blog article on the Chrisman Commentary website here. Thank you, Brian! #VieauxPoint

Capital markets: yes, oil prices aren’t helping lower inflation

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MBS prices trade off of spread to Treasury securities. Many of you are probably wondering why Treasury yields have moved higher across the curve in the wake of the attacks against Iran, when normally geopolitical conflict triggers a flight-to-safety trade. Well, that flight-to-safety trade has been building since the end of January with the buildup of U.S. attacking forces in the region (the 10-year yield was 4.23 percent a month ago). So, what we saw yesterday was more of a “sell the fact” trade. The question now becomes how long the conflict will last (along with the potential impacts on inflation and growth); President Trump said that the war could continue for a few weeks, forcing the market to contend with elevated uncertainty regarding major shipping routes.

The longer the conflict lasts, the likelier higher debt issuance (Treasury debt currently sits at around $39 trillion, or 115 percent of GDP) and more Federal Reserve monetary easing (i.e., rate cuts, quantitative easing, yield curve control) become, all of which likely lead to inflation. And given the renewed fears of inflation, that also helps to explain why we haven’t seen Treasury yields drop; bonds are especially sensitive to inflation. Gold has absorbed more of the safety trade, acting as an inflation hedge. Inevitably, balance sheet debates will resurface…

Remember remarks from Fed Governor Waller a couple of weeks ago cautioning against intentionally scarce reserves? Recent speeches from Federal Reserve officials confirm a lack of consensus regarding the economic picture and the appropriate monetary policy. Members who prioritize the labor market have expressed a desire for further rate cuts, while those concerned with inflation prefer to wait for additional progress to avoid exacerbating price pressures. 

The U.S. MBS index last month posted a modest 8-basis point excess return loss, only its fourth negative month in the past year. A 15-basis point bull-flattening of the 2s/10s Treasury yield curve and a sharp 24 percent surge in volatility (driven largely by escalating geopolitical tensions) pressured mortgage performance through higher hedging costs and weaker carry. Issuance registered $99.5 billion, up 33 percent year over year, but the first sub-$100 billion month since last April. Performance diverged across sectors, with Fannie Mae 20-years leading (up 31-basis points in February and 99-basis points over the past three months) and Ginnie Mae 30-years lagging (down 16-basis points amid widening spreads and convexity challenges). Investors seem to be favoring lower coupons to mitigate rising prepayment risk as rates declined, with expectations for a roughly 5 percent uptick in Fannie Mae prepayment speeds (due out this Thursday) despite fewer day-counts as seasonals and borrower refinance incentives improve.

We have a number of relevant economic releases this week (ADP, Challenger, ISM, and Non-Farm Payrolls) but it’s hard to know if the results will be strong enough to distract from what is going on in the Middle East. The only data point on today’s economic calendar is Redbook same store sales, due out later this morning. Events of note on today’s calendar include remarks from New York Fed President Williams, Kansas City Fed President Schmid, and Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari. There are also some short-duration Treasury auctions. Tuesday starts with Agency MBS prices worse .250-.375 compared to Monday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.56, and the 10-year yielding 4.09 after closing yesterday at 4.05 percent.

An Irish woman of advanced age visited her physician to ask his advice on reviving her husband’s libido.

“What about trying Viagra?” asked the doctor.

“Not a chance,” she said. “He won’t even take an aspirin.”

“Not a problem,” replied the doctor. “Give him an ‘Irish Viagra’.”

“What is Irish Viagra?” she asked.

“It’s when you drop the Viagra tablet into his coffee. He won’t even taste it. Give it a try and call me in a week to let me know how things went.”

It was a week later when she called the doctor, who directly inquired as to her progress.

The poor dear exclaimed, “Oh, faith, bejaysus and begorrah! T’was horrid! Just terrible, doctor!”

“Really? What happened?” asked the doctor.

“Well, I did as you advised and slipped it in his coffee and the effect was almost immediate. He jumped straight up, with a smile on his face, a twinkle in his eye! With one swoop of his arms, he sent me cups and saucers flying, ripped me clothes to tatters and took me then and there passionately on the tabletop! T’was a nightmare, I tell you, an absolute nightmare!”

“Why so terrible?” asked the doctor, “Do you mean the sex your husband provided wasn’t good?”

“It was the best sex I’ve had in 25 years! But sure as I’m sittin’ here, I’ll never be able to show me face in Starbucks again!”

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, “Helping Borrowers in a Market Defined by Complexity and Change.” The Commentary’s podcast is available on all major platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

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(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.)