http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/topic/rob-chrisman Pipeline Press - Rob Chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-08072026 Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:52:49 GMT 6a75d16e716472bdd916c6ad Rob Chrisman 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.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-08062026 Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:53:19 GMT 6a7480c2ec3d875f676f9b90 Rob Chrisman Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services What if the most important capital markets decision you're making today is based on incomplete data? Mortgage lenders don't struggle with a lack of information. They struggle with too much of it spread across too many systems. Pricing in one place. Hedge performance in another. Pipeline metrics somewhere else. By the time you've connected the dots, the market has already moved. That's why Optimal Blue created Profitability Center, a unified capital markets dashboard that brings production metrics, profitability insights, market intelligence, pipeline activity, investor ratesheets, and platform updates into a single personalized view. No more hunting. No more switching screens. No more waiting for reports. Just the insights that matter, surfaced the moment you log in. Whether you're managing margins, monitoring lock activity, or overseeing production performance, Profitability Center helps you move faster and act with confidence. See what a truly connected capital markets experience looks like. Heading to the HousingWire AI Summit on August 11? JazzX AI will be there and we should connect. If you're interested in how lenders are moving beyond disconnected AI point solutions toward enterprise intelligence, let's grab lunch, connect between sessions, or meet at happy hour. We’d love to compare notes and learn what your team is focused on. Email marketing@jazzx.ai with a meeting time. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-08042026 Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:44:26 GMT 6a71dcf8f9778328d14d156d Rob Chrisman After a general summer lull, and with talk of JPMorgan Chase’s $750 billion housing investment rifling through our biz, mortgage conference season shifts back into gear with next week’s Western Secondary with plenty of events in September and October, so book those rooms. The last time you stayed in a hotel, or maybe you’re reading this right now in one, what color were the sheets and towels? A safe bet is “white,” and here’s why. Sheet psychology is one thing, but for lenders, M&A psychology is another. Yesterday an “industry source” wrote to me, “I learned this morning from Chuck Iverson that Mason Mac entered into an agreement to sell its Production Group to Place / Envoy Mortgage. They are announcing it to their employees this morning. They are also in talks with a group to buy their Corporate shell and Agency approvals. Not sure if their MSRs are going with the Production Team or the Shell Buyer. The deal with Place / Envoy was a private transaction (no transaction advisor) and they used Weiner Brodsky Kider for legal. Chuck plans to stay on with Mason Mac to help Mukesh wind down the business but will have an active role for a year or two, under a TSA Agreement, to support the Mason Mac employees transfer and integration into the new company.” (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 Vesta’s Mike Yu on being on the cutting edge of designing mortgage technology.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-08032026 Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:24:37 GMT 6a708a95210f2f635295686f Rob Chrisman Non-QM investors are “licking their chops” by using the information that the FHFA, through Freddie and Fannie, is requiring a more thorough lender assessment before approving condo loans beginning today. Non-QM is not. Who is going to say that information isn’t important? Lenders and the markets like knowing what the U.S. Federal Reserve is up to… Now Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh is considering reducing the frequency of the central bank's scheduled policy meetings, the New York Times reported Friday. How much would you pay for news in advance? $100k per month? Would you ever buy something from someone selling something that had this access? Trump Media and Technology Group officially rolled out its new subscription-based data service on Saturday, giving paying customers, which may include MBS traders, faster, real-time access to Truth Social posts from Trump and other high-profile accounts. Called Truth API, the application programming interface is intended to provide businesses with “a direct, licensed, real-time feed of the platform’s most market-moving Truths”, interim CEO Kevin McGurn said in a release announcing the launch. Trading firms and other paying subscribers can now access the posts earlier than other users, for a fee of up to $100,000 per month. (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 Aon’s John Dickson on the evolution of disaster modeling and how it is impacting the mortgage industry from origination through the capital markets.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-07312026 Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:49:27 GMT 6a6c96022e40639e5dcf0048 Rob Chrisman I am no numerologist, but Freddie Mac’s announcement yesterday, that 30-year mortgage rates are averaging 6.66, caught my attention. Unlike rumors, like the one going around about a Texas IMB buying California IMB, hard, provable numbers are hard to argue with… Like the hundreds of thousands of people every month turning 62. Setting up a reverse division at your company isn’t as difficult, say, parachuting beavers into Idaho. Why should lenders have a reverse mortgage division? Housing wealth among homeowners aged 62 and older rose in Q1 2026 to a record $14.92 trillion, according to the latest quarterly NRMLA/Riskspan Reverse Mortgage Market Index, driven by an estimated $314.8 billion (1.8 percent) increase in senior home values, partially offset by a $10.5 billion (0.4 percent) increase in senior-held mortgage debt. On today’s Last Word at 10AM PT, the gang will probably talk about demographics and business that works, the head-scratching Chair Warsh press conference and its impact on rates, and the latest MISMO news. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian Verify, providing mortgage lenders with automated income, employment, identity, and asset verification solutions that help accelerate underwriting while reducing fraud risk and manual documentation. Today’s has an interview CATO Institute’s Jai Kedia on if the Fed's policy stance is getting closer to its target, and the future of the central bank under Chair Warsh.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-07302026 Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:56:05 GMT 6a6b463acb6350c6d33aaefa Rob Chrisman I was recently doing some bike riding in the Napa Valley and spent some time speaking with a wine maker. She told me that because of the increase in temperatures, growers are buying land to the south and planting vineyards there, nearer the San Francisco Bay where it is cooler. Their livelihood is at stake “up Valley.” In addition, this year’s harvest is a full month earlier than historical harvests as the grapes ripened quickly. Other fruit growers are seeing the same thing: products are ripening earlier in the year. One state over, Phoenix’s high temperatures this weekend will be around 115 F. Lenders and servicers, who have money at stake as well, are acutely aware of climate-related events and their impact on borrowers. The climate is changing, but human nature is stubborn: “Morgan Stanley Bankers Were Pressured to Approve Mortgages for Wealthy Clients” … Mortgage employees faced backlash when questioning or rejecting loans but the bank says it hasn’t ‘compromised its underwriting standards.’ Today’s The Big Picture at noon PT features Jennifer McGuinness-Lubbert, CEO of Pivot Financial, for a conversation on leadership, market strategy, and the forces shaping today's mortgage industry. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian Verify, providing mortgage lenders with automated income, employment, identity, and asset verification solutions that help accelerate underwriting while reducing fraud risk and manual documentation. Today’s has an interview with ALTA’s Chris Morton on first-quarter title insurance premiums, and the industry's preventative role in resolving title defects before closing as a form of reducing long-term underwriting risk.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-07292026 Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:23:29 GMT 6a69f1dfa1243219366162b6 Rob Chrisman “Technology is dominated by two types of people: Those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand.” Even if you’re a 90-year-old LO using a rotary phone, the rest of your company, and your borrowers, use technology and new products and need to stay up on them. FICO Score 10T, adoption, for example, has surpassed 70 mortgage lenders. There’s still time to participate in STRATMOR Group’s first module of its 2026 Technology Insight® Study (TIS), the LOS Perception Survey. The survey explores how lenders view today's loan origination systems and how AI, automation, and other emerging technologies are reshaping expectations for the future. The survey is open exclusively to mortgage lenders. (Participants will receive a complimentary summary report featuring STRATMOR's expert analysis of industry trends, lender sentiment, and key findings.) Today’s Mortgage Matters show, at 11AM PT and sponsored by L1, focuses on strategy and technology, whereas tomorrow’s The Big Picture at noon PT features Jennifer McGuinness-Lubbert, CEO of Pivot Financial, for a conversation on leadership, market strategy, and the forces shaping today's mortgage industry. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian Verify, providing mortgage lenders with automated income, employment, identity, and asset verification solutions that help accelerate underwriting while reducing fraud risk and manual documentation. Today’s has an interview with Experian’s Jamie Norris on expanding data verification options and automation while enhancing efficiency, flexibility, and decision-making across the mortgage process.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-07282026 Tue, 28 Jul 2026 15:32:11 GMT 6a68a25b1251af233ce2d203 Rob Chrisman Does innovation in lending always means building something new? MISMO’s President Brian Vieaux challenges that familiar assumption, instead, he argues that some of the industry's greatest opportunities lie in eliminating outdated processes that add friction without adding value. Read why the future of mortgage may depend as much on what the industry chooses to let go of as on what it chooses to build next. This kind of forward thinking leads directly to strategy, and tomorrow, Rick Scherer, CMB, Chief Strategy Officer at NewFed Mortgage Corp., sponsored by Lenders One, discusses this kind of thinking on Mortgage Matters at 11AM PT. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian Verify, providing mortgage lenders with automated income, employment, identity, and asset verification solutions that help accelerate underwriting while reducing fraud risk and manual documentation. Today’s has an interview with PMSI’s John Walsh on the mortgage investor reporting and accounting space.) Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services “NMBNOW®, a recognized innovator in Non‑QM lending, is expanding into the wholesale lending market to give brokers the same dedicated, individualized service that fuels our retail success. Benefit from concierge support for scenarios, pricing, and underwriting—delivering fast decisions and tailored solutions for complex borrowers. Close more loans with flexible Non‑QM guidelines, seasoned underwriting, fast turn times, and competitive pricing. We handle diverse files, from DSCR, alt‑doc, and full‑doc loans (including those with recent housing or credit events) to ITIN borrowers and foreign nationals. Learn more and get approved. Contact: Joe Villani, EVP, TPO Lending.” Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-07272026 Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:45:14 GMT 6a6751739d3d41e3d5a8ae95 Rob Chrisman In 2025, the IMF reported that, across the globe, companies, households, and countries had amassed $251 trillion in debt. Looking toward the end of 2026, J.P. Morgan has warned that interest rates on such borrowings are set to spike, owing largely to dwindling populations and diminishing fiscal discipline. JPMorgan’s Joyce Chang and team unpacked the “six D’s” that will shape the global economy under the current and surrounding Administrations: Deficits, deregulation, de-carbonization, de-population, de-globalization, and de-dollarization. Of these factors, two in particular will put upward pressure on borrowing rates around the world: Deficits and de-population. How might that impact your borrowers, or will we continue to ignore things like deficits? (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian Verify, providing mortgage lenders with automated income, employment, identity, and asset verification solutions that help accelerate underwriting while reducing fraud risk and manual documentation. Today’s has an interview with Lower’s Paul Zinn on how successful retail mortgage teams are staying competitive by evolving their sales strategies, investing in recruiting, and developing top loan officers, and positioning their organizations to capitalize.) Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services Truework, a Checkr Company, is the unified income, employment, and asset verification platform built for mortgage lenders, replacing slow, manual processes with fast and automated reports pulled directly from payroll providers and other authoritative data sources. Lenders see up to 50 percent cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times and higher accuracy. Trusted by 4 of the top 5 lenders in the US, Truework delivers verification results your team can rely on. Learn more. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-07242026 Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:40:04 GMT 6a635c58de21bbf5300fb00f Rob Chrisman Odds are, anything you buy was transported using diesel fuel, the price of which has shot up after Russia banned exports of it, impacting farmers, trains, trucks… kind of nearly everything. Today is “Pie and Beer” Day in Utah, aka Pioneer Day, and having parades is costly. It was also celebrated last year, and the year before, and the year before. What were we talking about a year ago? We were interested in how FHA and VA wanted early payoffs when loans traded below par. At that point, JPMorgan Chase was very active in MBS issuance, and most banks preferred short duration products like HELOCs or ARMs while offloading 30-year MBS. There was a lot of talk about how IMBs were increasing production of non-Agency loans. Things haven’t changed too much… like Pie and Beer Day. But change is the name of the game on today’s Last Word at 10AM PT where 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. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by JazzX, the first true end-to-end AI platform built for mortgage. From application to closing, JazzX is a new operating model that helps you scale growth, boost productivity, and transform how your team performs. Today’s has an interview with Morgan Stanley’s Matthew Hornbach on identifying the risks that investors and the mortgage industry may be underestimating as the economy transitions into its next phase.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/chrisman