Mar. 5: LO jobs; wholesale, best ex, verification tools; cybersecurity news & the Figure incident; oil prices hit interest rates

“What is Forrest Gump’s password? 1forrest1.” Cybersecurity is no laughing matter (nor perhaps was that opener), and here in Park City, at the annual mortgage ski trip, some of the banter is social, and some is focused on business. On the business side of things, one topic is the nearly 1 million people impacted by hackers attacking Figure Technology Solutions, a blockchain-focused fintech lender. U.S. financial institutions are increasing cybersecurity vigilance amid the escalating war with Iran, with industry leaders warning that geopolitical conflict often brings a rise in digital threats. Todd Klessman, managing director for financial services cyber and technology at SIFMA, said, "The industry remains vigilant and ready to respond to cyber threats at all times, and especially when global cybersecurity risks are heightened." While we’re on technology, the industry continues to wonder if there will be any limits on artificial intelligence (AI), and in an Insellerate webinar today at 10AM PT (1PM ET) they will discuss how top lenders are pre-positioning for refinances with AI and how to prepare for the next refi cycle without over hiring, overreacting, or missing the window. (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 Feewise’s Rob Withers on enhancing tech stacks through a disclosure manufacturing solution that works at the speed of sales.)

Employment & promotions

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Top LOs Are Moving to Canopy. In today’s market, successful Loan Officers and Branch Managers demand more: better pricing, cutting-edge tech, true transparency, supportive leadership… and a bigger paycheck. Hear directly from top producers who made the switch to Canopy Mortgage, transforming their business, boosting income, and gaining control of their work-life balance. Find out how much more you could be making.

Today should be a wake-up call for loan originators at mortgage companies that don't retain servicing. Under the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (Trigger Leads law), in effect today, credit reporting agencies are banned from selling trigger leads unless the lender receiving them originated or currently services the borrower's loan. For lenders like Sente Mortgage who operate under an originate-and-service model, this creates a significant competitive advantage: privileged access to borrowers from first application through every monthly payment. Lenders who sell off their servicing are handing your customers (and their future business) to a competitor that now has a legally protected channel back to them. In 2025 Sente retained over 95 percent of the conventional loans they originated. That means when your borrowers are ready for a refinance, new purchase, or HELOC, you're still their lender, the one they've built a relationship with and given their trust. Other lenders are scrambling to figure out retention. At Sente, it's how they’ve always done business. Ready to stop losing your customers? Let's talk. Connect with John Owens, VP of Strategic Growth.

“’Tis the season for Retail recruiting when the market shifts and suddenly everyone is “worth more.” Signing bonuses grow, payouts climb, and recruiters move fast. Before you say yes, ask the question experienced Retail originators always ask: are you ready to commit to a company you barely know for years to come? Big numbers make headlines. At Planet, we know culture, support, and execution build careers. When volumes tighten, what matters most is a platform that’s steady, consistent, and fast where it counts: underwriting decisions, operational support, and getting loans to the finish line. Recruiting season fades. Your pipeline shouldn’t. Choose the platform that keeps working long after the contract is signed: Planet. Connect with SVP Retail Growth and Strategic Marketing Candice McNaught (469-592-6631) or SVP National Production Distributed Retail Matt Payan (972-898-8577).”

Dawn Pieper has been appointed Director within MIAC’s Secondary Solutions Group. Dawn has been with MIAC for 14 years and brings more than 25 years of experience across secondary marketing, hedge advisory, and capital markets and joins Managing Director Tina Freeman and Director Danielle Roper in leading the Secondary Solutions Group which “remains focused on structured risk measurement, execution discipline, and advisory continuity across evolving market environments.”

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 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.

Significant process changes for Fannie Mae loans are on the horizon. To comply with regulations, servicers need to rethink their core processes and procedures ahead of new rules for escrow reporting in 2026, default reporting in 2027 and financial reporting in 2028. ICE has broken down these complex changes, highlighting what is new and outlining how servicers can prepare to help them adapt their operations and technology platforms for the new regulations. Based on close communication with government-sponsored enterprises and direct feedback from servicers, ICE is updating the MSP loan servicing system to specifically address changes in each area: escrow, default, and financial/remittance. Read the blog post for a deeper dive into the changes ahead of the first deadline later this year.

In a new case study, Tyler Anderson, Director of Secondary Marketing at First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO), describes how they transformed their hedge strategy and operational efficiency with MCT. By leveraging MCT’s solutions, FNBO modernized workflow, expanded execution mix, and reduced manual processes, driving a +25 BPS year-over-year profitability lift. With AOT automation, the bank unlocked more than $20K in annual savings, while competitive TBA trading delivered an additional $11K per year. Agency cash window integrations now save 2 to 3 hours per day on single cash commitments, and process automation through the Lock Desk saves 12 hours per month. As Tyler shares, “MCTlive! makes hedging conventional pipelines about as easy as it gets. It has allowed me to focus on strategy rather than the small details of entering prices into a system.” Read the full case study to discover how FNBO elevated execution, efficiency, and profitability with MCT.

Get lucky with Kwikie this Spring! Because speed + control = more green in your pipeline. This St. Patrick’s Day, skip the guesswork and go straight to the gold with Kwikie, the broker portal built to move at your speed. Kwik Pricer is “Price in a Flash.” No chasing rates. No waiting. Just fast, accurate pricing when you need it. Kwik Pipeline Access: Your Loans, On Demand. Real-time visibility. Full control. Manage your deals anytime, anywhere. Kwik Marketing: Content Ready When You Are. Customizable materials that keep your brand sharp and your borrowers engaged. Kwik Resources: Everything You Need, Right Now. Guidelines, tools, support - all in one place. No scavenger hunt required. This season, don’t rely on luck.

Rely on speed, simplicity, and total control. Log in, price fast, and let Kwikie help you strike gold. Log into Kwikie here! Not an approved partner? Let’s change that! Join the Kind movement here

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.

Some call it phishing, some call it a breach, some call it a hack

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Did you know that there is a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency?

Mortgage banking, and banking in general, is where the money is, right? Literally. Being hacked is every company’s nightmare, and a review of the four largest recent mortgage-industry data breaches (at Bayview Asset Management / Lakeview, 2021), Flagstar Bank, 2021–2023, Mr. Cooper Group, 2023, and LoanDepot, 2024) shows that while more than 40 million consumer records were exposed, the financial fallout varied dramatically, totaling over $116 million in regulatory penalties and class-action settlements.

Bayview and Flagstar faced the heaviest relative consequences, with Bayview incurring $46 million in combined penalties and settlements amid findings of systemic IT weaknesses and slow regulatory cooperation, and Flagstar paying $35 million following multiple incidents and misleading disclosures. By contrast, Mr. Cooper and LoanDepot, despite affecting far more customers (14.7 million and 16.9 million, respectively), have so far faced significantly lower per-customer costs and limited regulatory enforcement.

The stark differences point to a clear pattern: post-breach response drives ultimate liability more than the breach itself. Rapid detection (within one day for Mr. Cooper and LoanDepot), swift SEC and regulator notification, transparent public disclosure, and proactive customer remediation, such as immediate credit monitoring, substantially reduced enforcement risk and reputational damage. Conversely, delayed detection, slow or inaccurate disclosures, and poor regulator cooperation sharply increased penalties, as seen with Bayview and Flagstar. The overarching lesson for mortgage firms is that while prevention remains critical, the speed, transparency, and credibility of the response ultimately determine the scale of legal and financial consequences.

Figure, on its part, reminded the industry that its incident was not a “breach” because the scope did not reach that threshold/designation. In the earnings call, the “recent security incident” was “… not a blockchain or protocol-related event. The incident involved a targeted phishing attack that affected our loan inquiry records and a limited number of customer accounts in our loan products. There was no compromise of our blockchain infrastructure or core transaction processing systems.

“The impacted information includes names, loan account numbers, addresses, and dates of birth, as well as Social Security Numbers for approximately 12,400 individuals. We began notifying individuals on February 24, 2026, and are offering appropriate support. We moved quickly to contain the incident, and implemented additional safeguards, including enhanced authentication controls, expanded employee training, and further monitoring, to reduce the likelihood of similar events in the future. We take information security extremely seriously, and we will continue investing in our controls and processes. At this time, the incident is not expected to have a material impact on our financial results.”

Brad Ketcher with Ignite Integration Solutions writes, “On the heels of Mexico being in the spotlight, hackers recently used Anthropic’s Claud to steal over 150GB of sensitive Mexican government data. This serves as an opportunity for lenders and financial institutions to evaluate their data centers and mirror what Ignite has created with triple-layer safeguards including: strict access controls, real-time export monitoring, anomaly detection in access logs, and encrypted data at rest and in transit. If your data matters, protect it with infrastructure designed for security-first automation.

“A hacker exploited Anthropic PBC's artificial intelligence chatbot to carry out a series of attacks against Mexican government agencies, resulting in the theft of sensitive tax and voter information. The hacker used the chatbot to find vulnerabilities in government networks, write computer scripts to exploit them, and determine ways to automate data theft, according to cybersecurity researchers at Gambit Security. The attack resulted in the theft of 150 gigabytes of Mexican government data, including documents related to taxpayer records, voter records, government employee credentials, and civil registry files. The hackers use Claud to repeatedly ping the Mexican government for vulnerabilities. In essence, they used Claud as the expert assistant to think better, faster, and deeper until they finally found the answer.

“Here in Long Island, Suffolk County was hacked where police records were unavailable for nearly a month and the tax recorder couldn’t take payments for nearly two months. This is just one county, one microcosm. The reach for hacking is infinite, which requires everyone to partner with the right resources to protect themselves else it’s just a matter of time.” Thank you, Brad!

Capital markets: lots of labor news to chew on & MS layoffs

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Gone are the days when a “flight to quality” involved buying U.S. securities. Futures traders are scaling back expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts as the war with Iran raises concerns about inflation. The spread between December 2026 and December 2027 Secured Overnight Financing Rate contracts has dropped to a new low, reflecting fears that a spike in oil prices could drive inflation. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said markets have reacted calmly so far to the escalating conflict involving Iran but warned it could take weeks for the full economic and financial impact to be reflected in asset prices. While oil has risen and equities have edged lower, he said broader fallout will depend on how the conflict evolves and whether it begins to weigh more heavily on growth and investor sentiment.

Escalating conflict in the Middle East has pushed energy prices sharply higher, which is dominating the macro narrative currently, yet the market response has been unusually counterintuitive. Treasury yields have risen primarily through higher real rates and the yield curve flattening rather than reflecting stronger inflation expectations. 10-year inflation expectations have stalled near 230-basis points while the front end of the curve has sold off sharply, with 2-year yields jumping roughly 23-basis points as markets scale back expectations for Fed easing to about 41-basis points of cuts by year-end (down from more than 60-basis points last week). This reaction is puzzling because energy-driven price spikes are more likely to act as a consumer tax (or drag) than generate sustained core inflation, suggesting limited reason for a more hawkish Fed. At the same time, persistent demand for longer-duration Treasuries has driven a continued flattening trend in the curve, now occurring in 13 of the last 15 sessions. Geopolitical uncertainty (and developments in oil prices), equity market weakness, and shifting policy expectations should be the primary drivers of near-term rate moves.

Affordability pressures in the residential housing market have eased somewhat as rate volatility has moderated, but housing costs remain elevated enough to keep the issue politically and economically salient, especially with mortgage rates not expected to decline materially from current levels. Home price appreciation is projected to reaccelerate modestly as supply constraints persist and home sales slowly improve from recent lows. On the supply side, limited existing inventory will continue to underpin prices, even as single-family construction activity cools from prior peaks. The multifamily sector appears to be transitioning back toward growth after a period of adjustment, while the home equity market is expected to remain robust as homeowners increasingly invest in existing properties rather than moving.

Government shutdowns don’t impact stats from private sources. Yesterday brought a strong ADP Employment Change report for February (+63k) and an impressive February ISM Services Index. This morning we saw the regularly scheduled data of Challenger job cuts for February. U.S.-based employers announced 48,307 job cuts, down 55 percent from the 108,435 job cuts in January and down 72 percent from the 172,017 cuts announced during the same month last year. Through February, employers announced 156,742 job cuts, the lowest January-to-February total since 2022, when 34,309 cuts were recorded in the first two months of the year. It is the fifth-highest January-February total since 2009.

In more labor news, Morgan Stanley is laying off 3 percent of its workforce. We also had weekly jobless claims (213k, as expected; 1.868 million continuing) and the previously delayed import and export prices for January (+.2 percent, about as expected), along with preliminary Q4 productivity (+2.8 percent) and unit labor costs. After some short-duration Treasury auctions, Freddie Mac will release its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, and markets will receive remarks from Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Bowman. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices worse than Wednesday’s close by about .125, the 2-year yielding 3.58, and the 10-year yielding 4.13 after closing yesterday at 4.08 percent.

An Irishman is sitting in a pub minding his own business. Three Englishmen come in and see him.

The first says, “I’ll get his goat.”

He goes up the Irishman and says, “St. Patrick was a liar.”

The Irishman calmly says, “I’ll drink to that.”

The Englishman walks away and tells his friends.

The second Englishman says, “I’ll get him.”

He goes up to the Irishman and says, “St. Patrick was ‘on the spectrum’.”

The Irishman calmly says, “I’ll drink to that.”

Stunned, the Englishman returns to his seat and tells his friends.

The third Englishman says, “You just don’t know how to do it. I’ll get him.”

He goes up to the Irishman, gets close to his face and says very loudly, “St. Patrick was an ENGLISHMAN!!”

The Irishman looks up, calmly points to the other Englishmen at the end of the bar and says, “Yeah, that’s what your two friends were telling me!”

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.)