I like to say that I am one good Lottery Scratcher away from ditching this daily Commentary gig and starting something new. All kidding aside, where should we start today? With the rumored FICO layoffs yesterday afternoon? Iowa, Michigan, and the Carolinas all having conferences now? Pennymac is now live with VantageScore 4.0 across all three production channels. If you want to learn about appraisal news, there’s a 7AM PT (you’re your read that right) Fannie webinar tomorrow morning: Fannie Mae's UAD 3.6 Policy Exception: What You Need to Know! Two Harbors and UWM are firing shots at each other. In terms of interest rates, oil price inflation from the war, the U.S. budget deficit, competition for investor money from AI companies issuing debt, and tariff price inflation aren’t going away any time soon, so there is little reason for rates to drop. Lenders and vendors are wondering if they want to go through another business cycle, and on today’s Advisory Angle at 11AM PT, STRATMOR’s Amanda Gibson and Garth Graham discuss what mortgage lending leaders should be thinking about now, before a leadership transition becomes urgent. Tech of varying shapes and sizes is the focus of Mortgage Matters tomorrow at 11AM PT (presented by Lenders One and featuring Blue Sages’s Ash Omar) and The AI Show at noon PT (presented by JazzX AI and featuring JazzX AI’s Kunal Patel). (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are presented by Floify, the mortgage industry’s leading point-of-sale platform. Dynamic Apps, which can be seen at booth 600 during MBA Annual next week, lets lenders create fully customizable loan applications for any loan type, including HELOCs, construction, agricultural lending, non-QM and more, without custom development. Today’s has an interview with Polly’s Adam Carmel on where capital markets tech is heading: AI-native foundation, unified operating system, and the first firm built to run on it. Introducing PollyOS/Hedge.)
Lender and Brokers Products, Services, and Software
“Headed to MBA Annual? Come meet Total Expert's new AI sidekicks! Every day, contacts in your database hit equity thresholds, enter a refinance window, and signal they're ready to buy. But there isn't enough time in the week to properly work dozens of opportunities on your own. Our AI Assistants amplify your outreach by automating time-consuming tasks and acting on signals the moment they surface. AI Sales Assistant engages borrowers in natural, human-like voice conversations to qualify interest and hand off warm leads. AI SMS Assistant keeps text chats moving, answers questions, and books appointments. AI Scenario Assistant works behind the scenes to turn equity, refi, and purchase signals into fully priced, borrower-ready presentations… automatically. Together, they ensure that every borrower gets a personalized experience and that no opportunity slips through the cracks. Email events@totalexpert.com to book time with us at MBA Annual!”
MSRs Are Valuable. Customers Are Priceless. Mission Servicing Residential is a leading purchaser of Fannie Mae SMP and GNMA PIIT and one of the few Freddie Mac CIX All-In Funding-enabled buyers. Mission’s model is focused on preserving customer relationships rather than aggressively soliciting customers for subsequent originations. With best-in-class customer experience, flexible execution options, and operational efficiency, Mission Servicing Residential delivers a smarter way to monetize servicing assets and is on a mission to offer liquidity solutions tailored to your needs. Attending MBA Annual? Connect with Richard Dybel, Managing Director of Business Development, and discover why lenders are choosing Mission Servicing Residential.
Fee cures rarely happen because of bad data. They're often caused by inaccurate inputs like the wrong property type, an outdated closing date or a missed exemption, and they're often hard to catch until the cure has already occurred. For instance, a misidentified property type in New York can trigger a $45,000 Mansion Tax discrepancy. A missed closing date change in Maine can create an $11,000 fee cure. An incorrect page count default in Maryland can add up to $1,200 per loan in rework. See how early detection and trend analysis can help lenders catch these patterns before they become recurring losses. Read ICE’s whitepaper: Actionable fee intelligence for enhanced accuracy and profitability.
“PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending, a subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings (NYSE: HTH), focuses on relationship-driven business with long-term success; by-the-way, have you heard about our BTW Services? We are pleased to offer all customers our Broker-Dealer, Treasury Management and Warehouse Lending (BTW) services. Our Broker-Dealers can help customers hedge their origination pipelines by buying and selling TBAs, specified pools and whole loan trading. Our Treasury Management team helps customers with escrow and cash management. Finally, the Warehouse Lending team provides customers with confidence to meet their loan funding needs. If you attend the MBA Annual Conference in Chicago, IL and interested in learning more about PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending please contact Deric Barnett (469)955-6786.”
“The Money Source (TMS), a leading servicer for state and local housing finance agencies, is proud to announce its new partnership with Nevada Rural Housing (NRH) as servicer for the agency's homeownership programs. Nevada Rural Housing has been creating affordable homeownership opportunities for Nevada families through innovative programs such as Home At Last® and Rural Rocks, helping borrowers across the state achieve the dream of homeownership. For more than 50 years, Nevada Rural Housing has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to serving Nevada communities through quality programs, exceptional service, and a mission-driven approach to expanding access to affordable housing. TMS is honored to support that mission and looks forward to working alongside the Nevada Rural Housing team, participating lenders, and industry partners to deliver outstanding service and sustainable homeownership opportunities for Nevada borrowers. Learn more about us here.”
“More ways to deliver. More ways to grow. One Correspondent partner built to do both. Click n’ Close gives correspondent lenders more ways to expand their business and optimize loan delivery through flexible solutions, customizable delivery options, and a financially strong, stable platform. As a growing provider of down payment assistance, Click n’ Close offers both repayable and forgivable DPA options, giving lenders greater flexibility to serve a broader range of borrower needs. These solutions are backed by Tier 1 Ginnie Mae servicing capabilities and multiple delivery options tailored to your pipeline. Attending MBA Annual? Meet with Click n’ Close to explore how our team can support your correspondent strategy. Schedule a meeting at The Palm by contacting Kim Schenck.”
For the first time in decades, lenders have more than one option for mortgage credit scoring. But approved isn’t the same as being ready, and understanding how model choice affects your borrower mix, costs and workflows takes more than a policy update. Let Informative Research help you figure it out. The IR team’s credit expertise helps bridge the gap between knowledge and execution, and its Credit Platform can deliver each report on a loan-by-loan basis, giving lenders the flexibility to do what’s right for their business. Find the IR team in the Field room at MBA Annual in Chicago, Oct. 11-14, or schedule time with the team to get support in selecting the right model for your business.
“The 4 Cs of lending aren’t going away. So where will AI go to learn them? Cotality is the industry’s go-to source for fiduciary-grade lending data and solutions. Our clients rely on us for credit reports, home price performance, appraisal QC, income verification, flood certs, and fraud prevention, just to name a few. We also collect information and pay property taxes on 49 million homes. Cotality is where the mortgage industry goes for the data behind the 4 Cs and where AI agents will go to find the most current, accurate, and defensible data. So, whether you’re optimizing legacy systems, implementing new AI features, or deploying state-of-the-art MCP servers and agentic workflows, Cotality is here for you. Visit us at MBA Annual to see how AI-ready data changes the game.”
What if you could modernize execution without rebuilding your technology stack? JazzX AI was built for exactly that purpose. Rather than replacing your LOS, CRM, document systems, pricing engines, verification providers, or third-party services, JazzX sits above them as a System of Intelligence, an AI-native execution layer that orchestrates work across the mortgage lifecycle while preserving the systems you've already invested in. The result is a modern mortgage operation that becomes more adaptive, intelligent, and efficient without the cost, risk, and disruption of rip-and-replace initiatives. Want to see it in action? Book a demo with our team.
The transfer portal changed college sports. Now originators have one. Explore 25+ lenders anonymously and reveal your name only if you want to. No cold calls. Find your match on mLOOP.
“Most LOS platforms are stuck in the past and built on outdated tech stacks, patched together over decades and unable to keep pace with today’s lending demands. Blue Sage is different. Our cloud-native Digital Lending Platform puts AI to work across the entire loan lifecycle, from point of sale through servicing. Intelligent task automation, document-level data recognition and real-time loan officer assistance help your team close faster, cut costs and handle more volume without adding headcount. Add 70+ automated processes and loan processing tasks completed up to 90 percent faster, and you've got an LOS built for where lending is headed. Headed to MBA Annual next week? Stop by booth 331 and schedule a demo to see it in action.”
The next Chrisman Demo Day is October 15 and 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 Jake Perkins at 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.
Hedging Products and Education
"What did I actually make on that loan?" For most capital markets teams, the honest answer arrives weeks later, after month-end, stitched together from a pricing engine in one place, a hedge platform in another, and spreadsheets in between. Today, Polly will announce the launch of its next-gen Hedge system, completing PollyOS, the mortgage industry's first AI-native capital markets operating system. Every loan priced, hedged, and sold on one engine, from one data record, with every basis point of margin attributed from rate lock through settlement. Locks, status changes, cancels, and fundings hit the position intraday, not in tomorrow's file. The number the C-suite sees at any point in the month is the same number that ties to GAAP reporting at close. Hedge was built alongside capital markets leaders like Gary Malis at PRMG and advisors including Rob Kessel, Founder and former CEO of Compass Analytics. Headed to #MBAAnnual26? Email events@polly.io to schedule a meeting with Polly in Chicago.
“Black Lake Digital Markets provides institutional ops & capital markets technology to mortgage lenders. We're focused on three things our customers need in this market: Non-QM FORWARDS (liquidity), affordable insured digital UNDERWRITING (efficiency) & profitable RATE SHEETS (margin). Whole loans, seconds, HELOCs, Non-QM & HEI. Fall's coming & clocks are going backwards. These days, Black Lake prefers forwards. Better pricing, certain commitment, 0 hedging & easy delivery/ops through our channels. (liquidity) Human-powered decisions, supercharged with AI & insurance coverage to boot. Priced right & ready to GO. (efficiency) Rate sheet & margin management across channels. Underwriting, pricing, delivery, transfer & settlement. One platform. (margin) Up in days. Lenders connect, load guidelines, price, & begin making loans. “You're absolutely right to point out that I missed this. I should have mentioned Black Lake from the start." Sound familiar? Ready to move forward? Book a demo.”
Are You Asking the Right Questions About Your Secondary Marketing Performance? Mortgage CEOs don't need a trading background to oversee secondary marketing. They do need visibility into the numbers, risks, and controls that drive results. Join Optimal Blue’s Brad Eskridge and Steve Stone of Garrett, McAuley & Co. on October 8 at 12PM CT for a webinar focused on the 10 questions every mortgage CEO should ask their secondary marketing manager. Learn how to evaluate hedge performance, test pull-through assumptions, assess liquidity exposure, monitor dealer concentration, and uncover reporting gaps before they become costly issues. You'll also discover five key metrics executives can review in under two minutes to gain a clearer view of secondary risk, strengthen accountability, and improve decision making. This session will provide the framework and insights you need to oversee your secondary marketing operation with greater confidence and without added complexity. Register today!
Capital Markets
U.S. Treasuries sold off to start the week, pushing 10-year and 30-year yields to their highest levels since 2022 and keeping 30-year Agency mortgage rates firmly in the mid-7 percent range. While the ISM Services PMI eased in September from August, the services sector remained firmly in expansion, with S&P Global’s final reading strengthening month-over-month. The bigger concern for markets was continued increases in services prices, reinforcing fears of consumer price pass-through and contributing to pressure on longer-term yields. The market could see further curve steepening and higher real yields if auctions require a meaningful concession, while developments in France (rising French OAT yields added to broader bond-market unease) and other sovereign markets remain an important source of spillover risk for U.S. rates. Yes, the bigger driver of longer-term Treasury yields appears to be growing global fiscal concerns rather than U.S. economic data alone, with weakness in French sovereign debt reinforcing worries about government deficits, rising issuance, and higher term premiums across developed markets. That’s particularly important as the Treasury prepares to auction 10-year and 30-year debt tomorrow and Thursday, respectively, where investor demand could be challenged by already-elevated yields, fiscal uncertainty, and concerns about the Fed’s commitment to fighting inflation.
The weaker-than-expected September payrolls report has reduced expectations for an October Fed hike, with markets now placing roughly a 20 percent probability on another 25-basis point increase, as the Fed weighs softer labor-market momentum against its ongoing concern about inflation. While the jobs data raises the bar for September inflation readings to justify another hike, policymakers may still view labor conditions as broadly stable given the modest rise in unemployment and continued positive job growth. Today’s economic calendar is already underway with the August Trade Balance.
Later today brings Redbook same store sales, Fed remarks (from Governor Bowman, Boston President Logan, and New York President Williams), and a Treasury auction of $58 billion 3-year Treasury notes. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices better than Monday’s close by about .125, the 2-year yielding 4.80 (after closing at 4.83), and the 10-year yielding 5.27 after closing yesterday at 5.31 percent.
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