Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders
What if the biggest driver of servicing costs isn’t your volume, staffing, or vendor stack… but the gaps between them? Clarifire’s new blog, “What’s Really Driving Cost Per Loan in Servicing?” explores a hidden operational challenge many servicing leaders face: systems that are technically connected but operationally fragmented. Every time work moves between systems, teams, or departments, delays and exceptions creep in, and those small gaps scale quickly across thousands of loans. Late-2025 data shows the cost to service non-performing loans was nearly nine times higher than that for performing loans, highlighting how operational complexity drives servicing costs. To protect margins, servicers must move beyond basic connectivity. So how are forward-thinking organizations doing it? The blog explains why workflow orchestration and business rule automation are essential strategies for reducing cost per loan and improving operational visibility. Read the blog to see why connectivity alone isn’t enough and how CLARIFIRE® delivers truly Brighter Automation.
“When your servicer competes with you, customers become assets to recapture, not relationships to protect. Servbank is different. We’re an OCC‑regulated bank that never competes with our clients, and we service every loan to the highest standards of compliance, service, and performance. Our industry‑leading platform was purpose‑built for originators and asset owners. We exist to service your loans better. Period. Partner with Servbank.”
Construction lending presents a unique set of challenges for lenders, especially when compared to traditional mortgage processes. Throughout the construction draw loan process, lenders are responsible for releasing partial payments to builders or contractors as specific phases of the project are completed. This often means relying on manual steps and third-party inspectors to get updates on project status which can be time-consuming and costly. With ICE’s digital property valuation tool, Validate, lenders can alleviate many of the challenges that construction lending presents. Validate helps simplify the construction draw process by replacing manual inspections and keeping property photos and data organized, accessible and up to date in a single solution. By capturing time stamped, GPS verified photos and entering progress updates, on-site users can generate and submit a complete report to the lender within minutes at every stage of the project. Read ICE’s recent blog to learn how Validate can provide lenders with a digital process that transforms construction lending from complicated to seamless.
Let’s be honest. Most mortgage teams are skeptical of AI. And that is healthy. Loans are too important to hand over to black box technology. That is exactly why Lender Toolkit built Responsible Mortgage AI around one principle: Mortgage people first. Lender Toolkit’s tools are designed to help with specific, repeatable pain points, not to take over your process. Guideline Agent is a great example. A free AI assistant that helps your team find and understand guideline information faster, with mortgage expertise guiding how it works. It is a small step, but one that can save time and reduce friction without adding risk. If you are going to ICE Experience, book a meeting with Lender Toolkit to see how its end to end Encompass solutions combine smart automation, practical AI, and real mortgage experience. Try Guideline Agent free now, then come see what responsible, lender focused technology actually looks like.
Now, more to discover with Docutech. Move faster with a dynamic, data-driven document generation platform built for modern mortgage origination. Docutech helps simplify document complexity while keeping loans on track from disclosure through post-closing. Docutech’s origination solutions integrate seamlessly with leading LOS platforms to generate accurate, compliant, and customizable documents. Automated rules and real-time data validation reduce errors, eliminate rework, and keep loans moving forward with confidence.
Whether you’re scaling eClosings, supporting hybrid workflows, or still managing paper, Docutech meets you where you are. Flexible delivery options and built-in compliance controls help streamline operations without disrupting your process, or your pipeline. The result? Faster turn times. Fewer exceptions. A smoother borrower experience from application to close. With Docutech, originators can spend less time fixing documents and more time closing loans. Discover how Docutech helps you originate smarter and close with certainty.
Trigger leads have long created friction in the mortgage process, flooding borrowers with unwanted calls and offers. With the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (HPPA) now in effect, that’s changing. Lenders must understand how new restrictions on inquiry-based data sharing will reshape borrower outreach, compliance workflows, and early-stage credit strategies. In a two-part blog series, Informative Research breaks down what the new trigger lead bill does and how lenders are adapting operations. The blogs explore the legislation’s impact on borrower privacy, outline expected workflow adjustments, and highlight why soft pull strategies will remain critical as the competitive landscape shifts, and retention becomes vital. Read the blogs to understand the new trigger lead bill and its impact and explore how Informative Research is helping lenders adapt.
Flyhomes has launched its Cross Collateral bridge loan, designed to help your borrowers purchase a new home with $0 out of pocket. The program allows borrowers to buy with $0 out of pocket (up to 105 percent LTV on the new home), close in as little as 10 days with an all-cash advantage, leverage both the existing home and the new home as collateral, delay payments until the departing home sells, and borrow up to $3M with no prepayment penalty. To learn more, join Flyhomes live sessions on March 18 and March 20, where the team will walk through real borrower scenarios and answer questions in real time. For a limited time this month, Flyhomes is also offering a flat 1 percent origination fee, regardless of LTV, to make the program even more cost-efficient. Save your spot for the webinar now or book a call to review a borrower scenario today.
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.
Pennymac’s David Spector on a Winning Strategy
David Spector offers a rare inside look at Pennymac’s long-standing strategy of building rather than buying scale, explaining how an intentionally designed platform across servicing, correspondent, broker, and consumer-direct channels created a flywheel that compounds efficiency and growth. The company’s acquisition of Cenlar’s subservicing business marks a pivotal evolution in that model, expanding servicing scale in a capital-efficient way while strengthening fee-based income, data capabilities, and the foundation for AI-driven borrower engagement. As mortgage banking becomes more technology- and scale-intensive, Spector argues that servicing, production, and customer relationships are converging into a lifecycle model that will define the industry’s next era. Read the full article.
Prediction Markets and Interest Rates
I recently received this note from Finlocker’s Ethan Vieaux. “Mortgage professionals are used to watching a familiar set of indicators when thinking about where rates might move next. The 10-year Treasury. Mortgage-backed securities. Inflation data. Fed commentary.
“But another signal may be quietly emerging in the background: prediction markets. Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket allow participants to trade contracts tied to real-world outcomes. Instead of buying a stock or bond, traders buy contracts tied to questions such as whether the Fed will raise rates at the next meeting or whether the 30-year mortgage rate will exceed a certain level this year. Each contract effectively trades as a probability. If a contract is priced at 60 cents, the market is implying there is about a 60 percent chance the event happens.
“What makes prediction markets interesting isn’t the wagering. It’s the signal they produce. Rather than reading an economist’s forecast, you can see where people are actually putting money behind their expectations.
“Mortgage rates ultimately move on expectations around inflation, economic growth, and Fed policy. Prediction markets attempt to price those expectations directly, creating something like a real-time probability dashboard for macro events. They aren’t perfect indicators. Liquidity is still small compared to traditional financial markets, and these platforms aren’t practical tools for lenders to hedge rate exposure. That’s what the Treasury, swap, and MBS markets are built for. But as consumers increasingly turn to new data sources and real-time signals, prediction markets offer another lens into how expectations are shifting. Not a crystal ball for mortgage rates, but one more indicator worth keeping an eye on as the market tries to figure out what comes next.” Check out the full article here on the Chrisman Commentary website. #VieauxPoint
What LOs Should Know About Buying Power
By the end of 2025, U.S. home-buying power rose to roughly $417,000, surpassing the national median list price of $396,000 for the first time in more than three years and signaling a potential boost to the 2026 spring housing market. Because buyers typically shop based on monthly affordability, purchasing power can improve quickly when mortgage rates decline or incomes rise, while home prices tend to adjust more slowly as sellers anchor expectations to prior market conditions. The pandemic-era period of ultra-low rates created a substantial affordability cushion, but the sharp rate increases in 2022 reversed that dynamic, pushing buying power below $340,000 and leaving buyers facing roughly a 15 percent affordability deficit by late 2023, which contributed to weak sales activity. That gap gradually closed through 2024 and 2025 as mortgage rates eased, incomes grew, and home price appreciation flattened, and by December 2025 buying power had once again moved ahead of list prices, an alignment that, if sustained alongside modest supply improvements, could support a stronger housing market in 2026.
Capital Markets
The bond market, which has seen increased demand for Treasurys amid corporate risk concerns, faces uncertainty as investors grapple with rising oil prices and the potential for stagflation. Financial markets are showing growing concern that the U.S.-Israel war with Iran could trigger a broader economic shock as oil prices climb and global equities fall. While the S&P 500 has held up relatively well, stocks outside the US have dropped sharply and investors are increasingly weighing whether the conflict could spark stagflation similar to the shock following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The markets had a volatile day to open the week, a continuation of last week’s movement, but bond yields fell by the close as oil prices dropped sharply following President Trump’s comments suggesting the U.S. conflict with Iran might end sooner than expected, easing some inflation fears. The news that Trump might instead end U.S. hostilities sent a predictable wave of relief across markets, with stocks closing up and oil down to around $92 a barrel from its previous surge upward to about $119 a barrel.
We’re not out of the woods yet: tensions affecting global oil supply could still drive inflation higher, and upcoming inflation data will be closely watched. Speaking of which, the New York Fed's Survey of Consumer Expectations for February that was released yesterday offered some mild support, showing a 10-basis point dip in year-ahead inflation expectations to 3.0 percent while three-year and five-year expectations remained at 3.0 percent. Later this week brings both CPI and PCE reports.
Today’s economic calendar got underway before the open with NFIB small business optimism for February (falling for the second month in a row). Later today brings non-market moving news: Redbook same store sales, Existing home sales for February, Treasury activity that will be headlined by an auction of $58 billion 3-year notes, and the NY Fed conducting a buyback (for cash management purposes) in 1-month to 2-year coupons for up to $15 billion. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged from Monday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.57, and the 10-year yielding 4.13 after closing Monday at 4.14 percent.
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