May 21: U/W mgr., AE jobs; hedging, verification, servicing, QC, reverse products; Road to Housing Bill status; Jerry Seinfeld & the MBA

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 question; I’m sure they are at some level.) “Most lenders are selling loans to the Agencies through their ‘cash windows’ on a whole loan basis rather than through MBS execution.” (True; Freddie and Fannie have increased gfees, so when capital markets staff are seeking every basis point in price, they are nudged toward the window.) During the day, FICO announced that the next generation UltraFICO Score, a “brand new scoring model that combines the trusted FICO Score with real-time, consumer-permissioned cash flow data built through a partnership between FICO and Plaid, is available for lender use… it examines how money actually moves through a consumer's everyday accounts, including cash inflows and outflows, account balance stability, and spending behavior.” (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by TransUnion. Discover how data-driven mortgage intelligence is helping lenders identify in-market borrowers, strengthen portfolio performance, personalize outreach, retain customers, and drive smarter growth in an increasingly competitive housing market. Today’s has an interview with TransUnion’s Satyan Merchant on the accelerating shift toward mortgage credit score competition, exploring how lenders should adapt to increasing model choice, evolving credit report innovation, operational complexity, alternative data, and the growing role of dynamic credit insights across the full mortgage lifecycle.)

Employment; a new STRATMOR partner; a new lender in town

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Ready to lead a high-performing underwriting team where precision meets possibility? Headquartered in Lake City, FL, First Federal Bank is seeking a Mortgage Underwriting Supervisor who excels at sound decisions, coaching talent, and keeping loans moving with confidence and care. In this role, you’ll manage daily underwriting operations, mentor underwriters, ensure compliance with agency and investor guidelines, and improve quality, efficiency, and turnaround times. You’ll partner with processors, loan officers, and leadership to deliver a smooth borrower experience from application through approval. The ideal candidate brings sharp analytical skills, strong leadership, and a positive, team-first mindset. Experience with FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional underwriting is required, along with the ability to identify risk, solve problems quickly, and guide a team toward exceptional service. Join First Federal Bank, where your leadership supports sound credit decisions, clear communication, and a smooth path to homeownership every day.

Verus Mortgage Capital isn’t just participating in the non-QM market. It’s setting the pace. As a trusted issuer delivering repeatable non-QM securitizations, Verus brings the kind of consistency, reliability, and execution partners can count on, deal after deal, cycle after cycle. When others pause, Verus performs. Now it’s doubling down on growth. Verus is actively recruiting top-tier National Account Executives to expand its wholesale presence nationwide. If you know non-QM, how to build relationships, and how to produce, this is your platform. You’ll be backed by a proven securitization engine, a deep capital markets bench, and a brand that opens doors. This isn’t about potential. This is about production. Align with a lender that delivers so you can, too. If you’re ready to win with a team built for consistency and scale, Verus is ready for you. To learn more, contact Joel Veenstra, Head of Correspondent Sales, at (202) 534-1822.

Southern Land Company (SLC), a leading national real estate firm with extensive, multidisciplinary expertise spanning master-planned communities, single-family homebuilding, multifamily development, and mixed-use environments, announced the launch of SLC Lending, a new in-house mortgage division that marks a significant evolution of the company’s vertically integrated operating model. SLC has appointed Bobby Frank, a seasoned mortgage executive with a track record of building and scaling a national lending company, to lead it. “SLC Lending will initially launch in core markets where Southern Land Company has established master-planned and single-family home communities, including Colorado, Texas, and Tennessee, and will expand alongside SLC Homes into additional regions.”

STRATMOR Group announced the appointment of Silvia Kennedy as Partner. Kennedy brings more than 25 years of mortgage industry experience, with a background spanning enterprise transformation, mortgage operations, servicing, technology integration, and change management. In her new role, she will lead strategic engagements for large banks and IMBs, support the expansion of STRATMOR’s digital mortgage platform implementation advisory work, and help advance the firm’s capabilities in AI solution evaluation and deployment. Kennedy has led large-scale origination and servicing initiatives and is known for helping organizations align strategy, technology, and operations to improve performance and customer outcomes. Her appointment reflects STRATMOR’s continued focus on expanding senior leadership and advisory capabilities as lenders and servicers navigate ongoing operational and technology transformation.

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.

Correspondent & wholesale product news

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“The non-QM market continues to show remarkable strength, with issuance up 40 percent year over year and volume trends pointing to continued momentum into 2026. At SG Capital Partners, we are not simply observing the growth. We are building for it. As demand accelerates, SG Capital is strategically positioned to support significant volume growth in the second half of 2026. Our platform, infrastructure, and team are aligned to scale with the market while maintaining the responsiveness and service our partners expect. A key advantage is our efficient prior-to-close process, delivering 48-hour turn times that help clients move quickly and confidently. To support this growth, SG Capital has expanded teams across multiple departments, adding experienced professionals to strengthen operations and client support. Recent additions include Elizabeth Schuette as Client Relationship Manager and Nicole Turitto as Transaction Manager, both helping drive a seamless client experience as the market continues to evolve.”

“Planet appreciated the opportunity to connect with clients and partners at MBA Secondary this week. We heard from many lenders looking to increase volume and margin in today’s range-bound market and discussed ways to expand confidently into agency, non-agency, and business-purpose lending. From DSCR, SFR, and RTL to renovation, manufactured housing, and expanded credit/alternative income, Planet delivers the operational support and execution flexibility sellers need across changing market conditions. If we missed you at MBA Secondary, it’s not too late to connect. Contact your Regional Sales Manager or SVP Correspondent Sales Jason Mac Gloan (843-625-6869) to learn more about Planet’s Correspondent opportunities.”

Some borrowers don’t fit the standard mold, and that’s okay. In today's market, traditional eligibility requirements could limit otherwise strong candidates. Reverse mortgages offer a path forward, with a financial assessment that does not rely on income. For you, that means expanding your business by identifying new opportunities. That could be done within conversations you're already having, not by chasing entirely new clients. Standards matter. They protect consumers and professionals alike. Finance of America continues to raise the bar for how reverse is delivered to borrowers and implemented by mortgage professionals. Connect with a Finance of America Account Executive to learn more. Finance of America | NMLS #2285

Lender and broker products, software, & services

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Emporium TPO cut collateral review time by 57 percent, and they did it without adding headcount or overhauling their tech stack. The key was letting loan data drive decisions. By unlocking automation already built into Encompass®, Emporium was able to streamline and scale its entire lending business. For lenders still relying on manual workflows, the gap between where you are and where you could be is often smaller than it seems. Read their customer story to see how they're using Encompass automation to transform wholesale lending from the inside out.

ACES Q4 and CY 2025 Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report shows critical defect rate falls to annual low. “Lenders ended 2025 on a strong note, with Q4 delivering a meaningful drop in the critical defect rate and the full-year average holding essentially flat versus 2024,” said Nick Volpe, EVP at ACES Quality Management. “But the year’s defining shift toward eligibility-driven defects as refinance activity returned indicates that disciplined documentation and consistent eligibility decisioning will define quality in 2026.” Notable findings: The overall critical defect rate fell to 1.38 percent | CY 2025’s average critical defect rate was 1.50 percent, essentially flat from CY 2024’s | Legal/Regulatory/Compliance defects increased 30 percent | For CY 2025, Borrower/Mortgage Eligibility climbed 291.58 percent year over year | Refinance review share nearly doubled year over year in CY 2025 | FHA defect share remained elevated relative to review share at 30.86 percent for CY 2025. Read the full report.

Sagent’s Ignite 2026 brought together servicers, regulators, and industry leaders in Phoenix earlier this month, including Robbie Chrisman, who sat down with Sagent Chairman and CEO Chris Marshall for a live interview on Dara and the future of servicing. One theme came through clearly: compliance isn’t a checkpoint… it’s infrastructure. In the conversation, Marshall outlined how Dara is designed to build compliance directly into servicing workflows, using real-time data, automation, and unified systems to reduce risk instead of reacting to it. It’s a shift away from fragmented processes toward a model where auditability, accuracy, and execution happen simultaneously across the lifecycle. That idea takes center stage in Sagent’s latest Dara-focused Down to the Roots blog series, breaking down how modern servicing platforms can get compliance right by design, not by exception. Read the Chrisman/Sagent recap of the conversation here, then go deeper on compliance in Dara here. 

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 top lenders in the U.S., Truework gives your team verification results they can rely on. Learn more.

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.

Continued news from New York City and Washington DC

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Another MBA conference under many people’s belts, and the discussions and topics will be impacting our biz for quite some time.

First off, today’s The Big Picture at 3PM ET, 9AM HT, features Kate deKay, CEO of Eustis Mortgage, to discuss leadership and growth in today’s market. The conversation explores how lenders are adapting strategy and operations as conditions continue to evolve. Register here.

Tomorrow’s Last Word at 1PM ET breaks down market signals, agency developments, and where the industry succeeded or failed. The discussion focuses on separating real insight from reaction as the market evolves. Panelists will be fresh from the MBA Secondary. Register here.

All kinds of organizations were pleased about the House passing H.R. 6644, the “21st Century Road to Housing Act." On to the Senate.

The MBA points out that most of what’s in the legislation is positive, including a greater recognition of modular and manufactured housing options. “But the Senate’s version has a harmful ban on institutional investors. It’s a policy that’s destined to reduce housing supply.

“A ban would lead to less new rental home construction, thereby decreasing the supply of available homes overall. But that’s a guaranteed recipe for higher prices. MBA has opposed any such effort that would make homeownership, or rental housing, for that matter, harder to achieve.

“The House bill clarified and broadened the Senate bill’s exemptions to the institutional investor ban for build-to-rent properties and attached/contiguous multifamily properties. It also preserves needed improvements to rural housing programs and appraisal-related provisions. And now rescopes and appropriately narrows a proposed expansion of an inefficient “first look” requirement for servicers.”

Capital markets: “dead cat bounce” or turnaround?

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For lenders running best efforts, the burning question for a 10-50 bps lift is whether pipeline, net worth, and lock desk are ready to support the move to mandatory. In MCT's whitepaper, Mortgage Pipeline Hedging 101, growth-stage originators will find a clear breakdown of how TBA-based hedging offsets pre-close pricing risk, how the daily lock, coverage, best execution, and mark-to-market cycle runs in practice, and the operational prerequisites that separate lenders ready to make the move from those who should wait. With pull-through assumptions shifting and investor pricing buffers continuing to eat into already-thin best-efforts margins, the cost of postponing the decision is no longer abstract. Join MCT's newsletter to stay current with the latest secondary market strategies and mortgage capital markets education.

Ginnie, Fannie, Freddie. Ginnie Mae’s (with its couple hundred employees) mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio outstanding grew to $2.93 trillion as of April 2026. In addition, Ginnie Mae issued $57.3 billion in total MBS, resulting in net portfolio growth of $18.9 billion. Ginnie Mae facilitated the pooling and securitization of more than 209,000 loans for first-time home buyers year-to-date. April had $55.3 billion in Ginnie Mae II MBS, $1.9 billion in Ginnie Mae I MBS, including $1.8 billion for multifamily housing loans, and the pooling and securitization of loans for more than 160,000 American households, including over 58,000 first-time home buyers.

A drop in oil, a Treasury selloff driven by inflation fears easing, and a respite for traders; not a bad day in the bond market yesterday. The market saw good demand at the day's $16 billion 20-year bond auction, while the April FOMC Minutes unsurprisingly showed some division among policymakers about the future rate path. The 20-year auction was welcomed following seven consecutive tails in Treasury coupon auctions and a disappointing 30-year auction last week despite yields above 5 percent. Historically, 20-year refunding auctions have struggled when preceded by weak 30-year demand, though current yields above 5 percent represent the most attractive outright level for 20-year issuance since the bond’s reintroduction in 2020.

With rising yields and deteriorating technical conditions in long-duration bonds, investors are increasingly being forced to balance fiscal concerns against the absence of any clear economic breakdown or recessionary shock. The lack of a sustained flight-to-quality bid, even as 30-year Treasury yields breached post-financial crisis highs above 5.15 percent earlier this week, reflects both the resilience of the U.S. economy and investor uncertainty surrounding the Middle East (read: the growing likelihood of a prolonged disruption in global energy markets). Investors have become conditioned to expect aggressive political rhetoric and policy threats to eventually soften, though bond market momentum remains firmly bearish.

And borrower psychology has been hurt, although for those truly wanting to buy a home many will view rates as secondary. (In China, which is slowly elevating its world economic status, bonds are diverging from global trends as a fragile economic recovery and ample liquidity keep yields low. The yield on 10-year government notes has dropped to 1.73 percent, contrasting with rising yields in the U.S. and Japan driven by inflation concerns.)

Today’s economic calendar kicked off a few moments ago with April Housing Starts (1.465 million, versus 1.42 million expectations and a prior reading of 1.50 million), Building Permits (1.44 million, versus 1.38 million expected and a prior reading of 1.37 million), weekly Initial Claims (209k, similar to the prior week), Continuing Claims (1.782 million), and May Philadelphia Fed survey. Later today brings S&P Global Flash PMIs, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index, a 10-year TIPS auction from Treasury, and Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. We begin Thursday with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged from yesterday’s close, the 2-year yielding 4.10, and the 10-year yielding 4.61 after closing yesterday at 4.57 percent.

What is the leading cause of dry skin? Towels.

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, “Mortgage Rates Are Not Random.” 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.)