As many of us prepare to head to So Cal for the California MBA’s Western Secondary (800 or so registered), artificial intelligence continues to be the buzz. I recently received this question: “Rob, does it seem to you that we’re now at the same inflection point with AI as when everyone was afraid that DU & LP were going to replace all the underwriters?” Could be, and of course we still have underwriters. Meanwhile, borrowers still need help, and rates don’t show signs of going down. I received a question about “off the beaten path” routes for assistance. The Mortgage Credit Certificate Program might help. “The MCC program is a homebuyer assistance program designed to help lower-income families afford homeownership. The program allows homebuyers to claim a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for a portion of mortgage interest paid per year, up to $2,000. The remaining mortgage interest paid may still be calculated as an itemized deduction.” (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Figure. Figure is shaking up the lending world with their five-day HELOC, offering borrower approvals in as little as five minutes and funding in five days. Figure has hundreds of partners in the Banking, Credit Union, Home Improvement, and of course, IMB space embedding their technology. Today’s has an interview with Wilqo’s Tiffany Jacobelli on building scalable teams, processes, and operational frameworks that can handle mortgage volume surges without sacrificing quality, compliance, or borrower experience.)
Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services
Track down missing flood certs fast! Boarding a newly acquired loan portfolio is complicated enough without the headache of missing historical flood determinations. Cotality supports specialized sub-servicers and boarding specialists with an on-demand, direct, hassle-free channel for ordering and retrieval. You can buy an official flood determination instantly with a credit card and can immediately send a copy to investors, auditors, and counterparties right from the interface. It is the decisive, reliable tool you need to maintain regulatory compliance and verify transfer documentation seamlessly. Learn more.
New Zillow data reveals a housing market splitting in two: starter home inventory is up 4.5 percent year over year, price cuts are more common, and bidding wars are fading, yet starter home sales still fell 5.4 percent in May. Meanwhile, luxury sales are up 6.2 percent over the same period, with shrinking inventory and growing competition. The problem at the entry level isn't supply… It's buyer hesitation, driven by everyday affordability pressures keeping would-be buyers on the sidelines. That's exactly the gap Zillow Home Loans is building to close. By integrating financing directly within the Zillow home search, Zillow Home Loans helps buyers get a personalized understanding of the homes they can afford and qualify for, turning hesitation into action. That integration is a structural shift in how the purchase journey works, creating a smoother path from dreaming to closing. (Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287)
The True HELOC powered by Rhyze just got even better! With True HELOC terms that are already market-leading, Rhyze has recently released a Rate Stack that enables IMBs to provide their customers with the best HELOC rates in the market. But as we all know, it’s not just about Rate. That’s why Rhyze has also enhanced the Price Stack to give loan officers more flexibility and income opportunity. Give your clients a True HELOC with the best rates, in conjunction with a market-leading Price Stack. Email Rhyze directly to learn more.
Is your Mortgage Quality Control program ready for the second half of 2026? TENA’s 2026 Mid-Year Mortgage QC Checklist highlights key areas lenders and servicers should review to evaluate their QC processes and prepare for the rest of 2026. Click here to download your copy! While you are reviewing your QC processes, don’t forget about your 2026 MERS Annual Review & Report. Completing your review early will help avoid the year-end rush and provide time to address any discrepancies before the reporting deadline. Every MERS Member is required to complete a MERS Annual Review & Report. If your firm had 1,000+ active MINs on March 31, 2026, MERS requires the review to be completed by an independent third party, with the results submitted by December 31st. Lock-in a 40 percent early-bird discount by signing up for the MERS Annual Review & Report with TENA and providing the necessary information to perform the review to TENA by August 31.
Affordability pressure doesn't disappear when the loan closes. It comes back later as repurchase risk. Your borrowers are stretched, leaving less room for errors in the file. Truework, a Checkr Company, verifies income, employment, and assets before you close, replacing error-prone processes with fast, automated reports pulled directly from sources. Lenders see up to 50 percent cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times and higher accuracy. Learn more.
Cohivra, Inc., a precision mortgage operations company, formally launched today under founder and CEO Sam Verma, a 25-year veteran of mortgage operations leadership, alongside co-founder and CTO Pankaj Mhatre. The company provides full-lifecycle operational support for lenders, title companies, and servicers, spanning origination, servicing, and title & settlement. "I've spent 25 years inside mortgage operations, building teams and fixing what breaks under volume," said Verma. "Cohivra is built on that experience: a team that already knows this business, with the discipline and the capacity to scale with our clients rather than behind them." The company operates on flexible transaction or FTE-based pricing, and uses AI to scale seasoned expert teams up or down as client pipelines shift, without sacrificing the quality control review built into every file.
Chrisman Demo Day is a free perk for all Chrisman Marketplace members. If you're a technology or service provider and haven't joined the Marketplace yet, reach out to info@chrismancommentary.com to learn more.
The Chrisman Marketplace is a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the 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.
Webcasts Into Next Week
Today at 10AM is the Last Word: Brian Vieaux, Kevin Peranio, Christy Soukhamneut, and Coby Hakalir break down the week's biggest market signals, agency developments, and industry storylines. The discussion focuses on what the industry got right, what it missed, and what lenders should be watching next.
Now Next Later is Monday, August 10 at 10AM PT. Next week on Now Next Later, Jeremy Potter and Wendy Lee are joined by Kiran Sahota, founder of wave2, for a conversation on AI governance and the frameworks organizations need as AI adoption accelerates. The discussion explores how lenders can manage AI risk, establish effective governance practices, maintain regulatory readiness, and build the internal controls necessary to deploy AI responsibly across the enterprise.
Capital Markets
Advance your career with expert-led online education in mortgage capital markets. Registration is open for the next semester of Panoramic’s Master Class, kicking off on Sunday, August 30, as well as Panoramic’s Executive Course, beginning Sunday, September 6. “I can say with 100 percent confidence I would not have achieved my promotion without this course. The lectures on MSRs gave me the knowledge and confidence to compete for the role.” - Panoramic Capital Academy Graduate. What you’ll learn: Best execution principles, hedging best practices, servicing valuation and decision-making, and financial attribution considerations. What else you’ll gain: A wide range of perspectives thanks to weekly discussion questions with peers from a host of industry professionals. Length: 8 weeks for Executive, 14 weeks for Master. Learn more and register today.
Stocks and bonds don’t always influence each other, but yesterday they did. Renewed weakness in chipmakers weighed on sentiment yesterday, causing U.S. Treasuries to snap a three-day winning streak. There were also rising expectations for a potential September Fed rate hike, fueled by reports that Chair Warsh could support tighter policy if inflation remains elevated, even as Warsh is trying to wean markets off relying on rate and policy expectations. That has pushed yields higher when combined with weakness in global bond markets: price down = yields up. Investors are also waiting for firm(er) developments on Iran, as an Oman-Iran deal that would partially reopen the Strait of Hormuz remains elusive. Higher mortgage rates have sharply diminished refinance incentives, causing refinance activity and Agency mortgage supply to slow well below earlier expectations and shifting lenders' reliance back toward purchase originations despite a modest boost to mortgage servicing rights (MSR) values. Although only 3.7 percent of conventional borrowers now have a financial incentive to refinance (the lowest share in a year) the market remains healthier than the refinance drought of 2022–23, with future improvement hinging largely on lower rates that could follow easing geopolitical tensions and reduced inflation pressures. Ahead of July’s payrolls report that’s due out today, alternative July employment data has presented a mixed but overall constructive picture, with exceptionally low jobless claims, improving manufacturing hiring, and fewer announced layoffs outweighing weaker ADP hiring, softer services employment, and a decline in labor market sentiment. Consensus expectations are for roughly 80k-90k new jobs, a 4.2 percent unemployment rate, and contained wage growth. All that would reinforce the view that the labor market remains resilient enough to keep a September Fed rate hike in play, with only a significantly weaker-than-expected payroll report likely to meaningfully alter the policy outlook. Today’s economic calendar kicked off with July’s employment situation. Nonfarm Payrolls were -23k, much lower than anticipated. The Unemployment Rate came in at 4.1 percent, lower than expected, and Average Hourly Earnings were only +.1 percent, but +3.2 percent Y-o-Y, participation rate about 61 percent. Later today brings June Consumer Credit and Richmond Fed President Barkin. After the weak employment data, Agency MBS prices are better than Thursday’s close by about .250, the 2-year is yielding 4.16, and the 10-year is yielding 4.61 after closing yesterday at 4.67 percent.
Get Rob Chrisman Daily by Email
