Oct. 4: Thoughts on the shutdown & lenders; UWM's legal decision, and title insurance; Saturday Spotlight: Prajna.ai

While a $1 Trump coin is in the works in Washington DC, greetings from Eastern Nevada: If anyone wants a good Mexican restaurant in Ely, Nevada, let me know. And it wasn’t expensive. Are people willing to pay up for a product that helps them, or that they want, like a good enchilada in Ely? Yes, experienced loan originators have many tales where the client was so happy with the service or product that squabbling over 1/8 in rate was the last thing on their mind. How many clients drink $4-8 coffee at Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts instead of making it at home? Everyone deserves a little treat: What’s in your refrigerator? Premium butter sales are growing fast; sales of butter priced at 25 percent or more expensive than the average price are up 24.2 percent year over year. Super premium butter (at least 75 percent more than average) is up 13.7 percent, and mainstream butter sales are up a mere 1.1 percent. The butters are winning devoted fans. At the same time that consumers have been trading down in some parts of the grocery store, butter has remained a bit of an exception since the pandemic, when a surge in cooking turned a lot of people on to the good stuff. While the average price of a pound of butter is $4.36, premium brands like Kerrygold can charge $10.99 per pound, Les Prés Salés can fetch $24.38 per pound and Maison Bordier can go for $43.54 per pound. Slather it on!

Saturday Spotlight: Prajna.ai

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“AI-powered texting that turns stale leads into funded loans.”

In 3–5 sentences, describe your company

Prajna.ai is an AI platform built specifically for mortgage lenders and financial institutions to scale customer engagement using intelligent SMS and voice agents. Retail loan officers, consumer-direct teams, and marketing groups rely on Prajna to revive expired pre-approvals, re-engage past borrowers, and qualify HELOC opportunities at scale.

Founded in 2023, Prajna is a member of the NVIDIA Inception and Google for Startups AI programs, giving it access to advanced AI infrastructure and technical expertise that accelerate innovation. Since launch, Prajna has powered thousands of campaigns and handled tens of thousands of borrower conversations, consistently moving borrowers from first text → application → funded loan.

Lenders are deploying Prajna’s AI-assisted texting for appointment scheduling, borrower qualification, and compliant outreach at scale. Campaigns include automated STOP/DNC management, opt-out handling, and positive-response detection, ensuring safe and effective engagement. Results have shown strong borrower response rates across nurture, refinance, and pre-approval campaigns, converting dormant databases into meaningful loan opportunities.

Tell us about your employee growth

Prajna fosters a hands-on innovation culture where product and engineering teams experiment with new AI tools and workflows in collaboration with clients. Employees benefit from access to cutting-edge training and resources through NVIDIA and Google partnerships, with internal projects often becoming production features — from multilingual service agents to compliance automation. This approach ensures employees are continually developing while directly shaping client outcomes.

How do you contribute to culture?

Prajna is a hybrid-first company with hubs in Chicago and distributed team members nationwide. Regular off-sites and summits bring employees together to strengthen relationships and align around the mission. What Prajna is most proud of is the depth of its customer partnerships. The company works shoulder-to-shoulder with lenders to launch new AI campaigns, embedding as an extension of client teams and aligning around borrower outcomes.

If you’re ready to turn stale pipelines into funded business, connect with Prajna.ai to design your first AI-assisted texting campaign.

(For more information on having your firm’s extracurricular activities, employee growth, and your charitable side featured, contact Chrisman LLC’s Anjelica Nixt.) 

The shutdown and your pipeline

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As there has been with every stalemate and shutdown in the past, there is lots of blame to go around. But that won’t help your borrowers, or their rate locks. Troy Garris with Garris Horn LLP weighed in, reminding us that federal agencies have suspended a number of operations, many non-essential employees have been furloughed, and ripple effects have begun hitting regulated industries like housing and finance. “For mortgage companies, the question is simple: what does this shutdown mean for your pipeline, and how do you protect it?

“Take proactive steps to minimize disruption and maintain borrower trust: Communicate early and often, audit your pipeline, engage legal and compliance teams to assess risk, and leverage guidance to stay nimble and alert.” Read Troy’s full article here.

The loan is only one part of the cost  

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A new report from AM Best highlights increased premiums earned last year by title insurers. Chris Porto, SingleSource Property Solution’s Director of Title & Closing, has some thoughts on it and the general trend in our biz. “While underwriting gains across the industry have moderated compared to prior years, the increase in net premiums written and the stabilization of profitability are positive indicators. SingleSource remains focused on operational efficiency and cost management, recognizing the inherently cost-intensive nature of title insurance services. One way we work to address this challenge is by utilizing our in-house abstracting team to help reduce search costs and improve turnaround times, enhancing both our cost structure and service delivery.

“At SingleSource, we have observed a notable increase in refinance volume during the second half of 2025. This trend aligns with the broader industry data indicating a resurgence in refinancing activity, which had previously declined sharply in 2022 and 2023. We anticipate that further rate reductions will continue to support this momentum, providing relief to potential homebuyers and contributing to sustained growth in title insurance premiums.

“We remain cautiously optimistic about the remainder of 2025 and into 2026. Continued economic stability, improved housing affordability, and increased inventory will be critical to maintaining this positive trajectory. We will continue to monitor market developments closely and adapt our strategies to best serve our clients and partners.” Thank you, Chris.

A decision in the courtroom for United Wholesale      

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In all the teeth gnashing over FICO, HUD, and USDA website statements, and shutdown impact the housing industry press seems to have missed how UWM (and Mat Ishbia personally) obtained a big decision in the class action case brought by the Boies Schiller law firm against UWM this week. As you may recall, attorney Brian Levy wrote about this case in an April 2024 Mortgage Musing in which UWM was accused of all manner of violations related to its business practices, including racketeering (RICO), unfair/deceptive practices, and RESPA. Now it appears only the RESPA claims remain. I am sure Mr. Levy will have thoughts on that soon in another one of his Musings. If you want to get that delivered straight to your email, sign up here or you can find it on the Chrisman Commentary Thought Leadership pages.

As a reminder: “Plaintiffs filed this case against UWM, the largest wholesale mortgage lender in the United States. ECF No. 21, PageID.392. Plaintiffs, who have all received a UWM mortgage within the last four years, are alleging that UWM orchestrated a scheme with corrupted mortgage brokers to deceive borrowers into paying improper fees and excessive interest rates on loans that were not “the best option” for their residential financing needs.”

“United Wholesale Mortgage has convinced a U.S. judge to dismiss most of a proposed consumer class action that accused the lender of scheming with brokers to push homebuyers into expensive mortgages, while pocketing billions of dollars in excess fees. Detroit-based U.S. District Judge Brandy McMillion in her ruling on Tuesday dismissed racketeering and other allegations in the lawsuit, after finding that the plaintiffs had not plausibly shown that UWM had caused them harm.

“Still, McMillion said some of the plaintiffs could pursue claims for now that the company violated a federal law that protects consumers in mortgage loan transactions, and she sustained a consumer protection claim under Florida law…Boies Schiller has denied colluding with the hedge fund, Hunterbrook Capital. The law firm said no entity associated with Hunterbrook was paying for the lawsuit, and that the firm has ‘has no interest, none, in any trade by any Hunterbrook entity on UWM’s stock.’ Boies Schiller has said the nonprofit Hunterbrook Foundation shared data analysis and research with the firm before the lawsuit was filed.”

Deals in the secondary markets

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Activities, supply, and demand drive prices in the secondary markets, which in turn drive rates and pricing in the primary markets. Who’s doing what?

Freddie Mac sold a pool of 28 deeply delinquent non-performing residential first lien loans totaling approximately $5.3 million to VRMTG ACQ, LLC as part of its Extended Timeline Pool Offering (EXPO). The loans, serviced by NewRez LLC (Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing), have an average delinquency of 16 months and are primarily located in Texas. About 55 percent of the loans were previously modified but have since become delinquent again. The winning bidder is required to honor existing loss mitigation agreements and pursue additional assistance for distressed borrowers where applicable. The transaction, marketed to NPL investors since March 6, 2025, settled in June. This sale supports Freddie Mac’s broader effort to reduce less-liquid assets in a responsible manner.

Figure Lending is set to issue a prefunded securitization involving home equity lines of credit. The deal is scheduled to close May 6 and Figure plans to use proceeds from the issuance to add collateral to the securitization, through May 25. The securitization can be backed by HELOCs with a total unpaid principal balance of up to $300.0 million.

Recently Angel Oak Capital Advisors announced the successful completion of its first HELOC securitization. The first under the AOMT shelf, the firm’s sixth securitization of 2025 brings its total issuance to $22 billion since its initial non-QM securitization in 2015. The securitization, which was six times oversubscribed at the AAA tranche, shows the major investor demand for these loans. You can view more about the HELOC securitization and Angel Oak’s success in the space in the press release here: Angel Oak Capital Advisors’ First HELOC Securitization Debuts with Strong Investor Demand, As Firm Surpasses $22B in Total Issuance

Fannie Mae announced the winning bidder of its thirty-fifth reperforming loan sale transaction is Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO). The transaction, announced on August 12, 2025, included the sale of 3,044 loans totaling $559,090,747 in unpaid principal balance (UPB), offered in one pool. The transaction is expected to close by October 3, 2025. The pool was marketed with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as advisor. The pool awarded in this most recent transaction includes 3,044 loans with an aggregate UPB of $559,090,747, average loan size of $183,670, weighted average note rate of 3.71 percent, and weighted average broker's price opinion (BPO) loan-to-value ratio of 45 percent. The cover bid, which is the second highest bid for the pool, was 85.07 percent of UPB (31.42 percent of BPO).

Reperforming loans are loans that have been or are currently delinquent but have reperformed for a period of time. The terms of Fannie Mae's reperforming loan sale require the buyer to offer loss mitigation options to any borrower who may re-default within five years following the closing of the reperforming loan sale. All purchasers are required to honor any approved or in-process loss mitigation efforts at the time of sale, including loan modifications. In addition, purchasers must offer delinquent borrowers a waterfall of loss mitigation options, including loan modifications, which may include principal forgiveness, prior to initiating foreclosure on any loan.

Fannie Mae announced the winning bidder for its twenty-sixth Community Impact Pool (CIP) of non-performing loans. The transaction closed on July 29, 2025, and includes 39 loans totaling $6.9 million in unpaid principal balance (UPB). The loans are geographically focused in the Florida area, and the winning bidder was VRMTG ACQ, LLC. The pool was marketed with BofA Securities, Inc. and First Financial Network, Inc. as advisors. The CIP awarded in this most recent transaction includes 39 loans with an aggregate UPB of $6,929,805, average loan size of $177,687, and weighted average rate of 4.35 percent. The cover bid, which was the second highest bid, for the CIP was 106.05 percent of UPB (34.22 percent of BPO). 

All purchasers are required to honor any approved or in-process loss mitigation efforts at the time of sale, including loan modifications. In addition, purchasers must offer delinquent borrowers a waterfall of loss mitigation options, including loan modifications, which may include principal forgiveness, prior to initiating foreclosure on any loan. Interested bidders can register for ongoing announcements, training, and other information here. Fannie Mae will also post information about specific pools available for purchase on that page.

Asset Based Lending (ABL), a New Jersey-based private lender for real estate investors, has completed its largest and most strategic securitization to date (ABL 2025-RTL1) totaling $190 million. Backed by a diversified pool of business-purpose residential real estate loans, including a notable 65 percent concentration in in-fill new construction, the transaction attracted broad institutional interest and reflects strong confidence in ABL’s asset quality and lending practices. This marks ABL’s third securitization, bringing its total volume to over $500 million. Executed with the support of Nomura and other financial partners, the deal underscores ABL’s growing institutional presence and its commitment to serving borrowers with speed, reliability, and performance.

Warning: Rated R for foul language. No complaints, please.

For a change of pace, let’s have some Brit levity as displayed in this short video. (Click the little speaker to hear the sound; Read the T-shirts and watch the background.)

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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 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.)