HELOC, Non-QM processing, Jumbo Tools; STRATMOR on Housing Ecosystem; Rocket Lawsuit
On January 29 at 1PM ET, STRATMOR Group and T3 Sixty launch a new collaboration with a live T3 Insight TODAY webinar focused on the New Housing Services Ecosystem. (More below.) Things are evolving, or devolving, with compliance, and Blake Boss of ActiveComply joins Lenders One tomorrow to discuss what management should know about LOs & compliance. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Truework, the one verification solution to replace in-house waterfalls. Verify any borrower with a VOIE solution that automates the entire process to quickly deliver the most accurate and complete reports with broad GSE coverage. Today’s has an interview with Portnox's Denny LeCompte on the role of network access control, and how organizations can adapt security mindsets and practices to evolving audit and visibility demands.)
Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders
Home equity is not just for banks and credit unions. Independent Mortgage Bankers have a powerful opportunity to meet growing borrower demand with the right technology and execution. IMBs face distinct challenges and opportunities compared to depository lenders. FirstClose is built to support IMB workflows, helping them move faster, scale efficiently and deliver the modern home equity experience today’s borrowers expect. Designed to reduce operational complexity, FirstClose delivers configurable workflows, automated vendor ordering and a digital borrower experience that improves speed, transparency, and confidence. FirstClose will be on-site at the MBA Independent Mortgage Bankers Conference, connecting with IMBs who want to launch or expand home equity lending without adding operational complexity. Attending IMB? Talk to Rob Pommier about how home equity can become a strategic growth channel for your organization.
“What would a sharper-priced Jumbo option mean for your pipeline this year? In a market where every basis point counts, having another competitive execution can make the difference between quoting and closing. Kind has expanded its Jumbo lineup for brokers with another option delivering noticeably improved pricing, streamlined underwriting, and fewer friction points for well-qualified borrowers. Think loan amounts up to $3M, lower reserves, and an AUS-driven process that keeps files moving without added overlays. The result is more flexibility on larger transactions and a cleaner path to approval when the stakes are high. And as part of a full Jumbo suite that addresses both pricing and complexity, Kind gives your team a real edge in competitive bids. Not pricing your Jumbo loans in Kind’s Kwikie first? We dare you. Contact your Kind AE or join the Kind movement here.”
What does the future hold for servicers? Join LoanCare on February 5 at 2 p.m. ET for an insight-packed webinar that tackles today’s servicing realities head-on. This one-hour live event, “2026 Servicing Outlook: What's Coming Next?” features blue-chip panelists Kyle Enright, President, Achieve; Mike Fratantoni, Chief Economist, MBA; Gwen Muse-Evans, President, GME Enterprises; Dave Vida, CRO, LoanCare and Dave Worrall, President, LoanCare. This session will explore how economic headwinds, rising regulatory complexity and shifting market dynamics are reshaping the servicing landscape. Hear what leading organizations are doing differently and walk away with insights that will inform your decisions in 2026. Reserve your seat today and stay ahead of what’s next in mortgage servicing.
While most MLOs are preparing for the next refi boom, a few are having their best months by focusing on real estate investors. In this NMP Webinar, Unlock Higher Earnings with DSCR Loans, you’ll hear from Alex Kakeza, a top-producing MLO with Investor Property Loans, and Kevin Victoria, VP of Sales at CV3 Financial as they discuss how experienced MLOs like Alex are building volume by leaning into DSCR and private capital. While agency volume drags, investors keep transacting, recycling capital, and coming back for more, which means shorter turn times, cleaner files, and repeat borrowers who understand leverage. We’ll dig into how DSCR is underwritten, how pricing works, which scenarios convert fastest, and why investor loans deliver higher velocity with fewer emotional deal-breakers. If you’re looking for durable volume that performs in choppy markets, join us Thursday, January 29, at 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT and position your business for real growth in 2026. Register here.
“Correspondent Infrastructure Built for Non-QM Growth! Non-QM originators shouldn’t have to rebuild their business to enter correspondent. Black Lake Investment Solutions removes the friction. Our platform automates the entire correspondent lifecycle, from tape ingestion and pricing to QC, delivery, settlement, and MSR optimization, so you can scale volume without scaling headcount or operational risk. Black Lake eliminates manual file handling, slow turn times, capital traps, and margin leakage. Real-time best execution, dynamic rate sheets, AI-powered document processing, and automated investor delivery allow you to operate like a top-tier correspondent aggregator from day one. The result: faster funding, lower per-loan costs, improved margins, and dramatically higher throughput — all while maintaining compliance-grade controls and audit readiness. If you’re a Non-QM lender ready to expand distribution, unlock liquidity, and compete at institutional scale, Black Lake is your correspondent engine. Contact: info@blacklakeinvestments.com or book a demo to learn more.”
“Heat up 2026 with some new HELOCs from the BETTER Wholesale 2nds Program! Price sensitive clients? Better offers low rates with no lender origination fees or application fees. Self-employed borrowers? We offer 12- & 24-month Bank Statement programs. If you’d like to make higher comp than most programs, earn up to 3 percent in BPC. What else? Up to 90 percent CLTV, 75 percent minimum draw, and up to a 10-year IO period on HELOC. Better Wholesale offers an easy digital pricing experience featuring an approval process that takes as little as 3 minutes, and its speed is backed up by a real underwriting process. Better’s program is open to brokers and lenders of all sizes: work with us and get lender-direct pricing! Visit Better Wholesale or contact Patrick Kandianis directly. Let’s do some loans in 2026!”
Andrew Liput, the CEO of Secure Insight, is also a long-time mortgage industry regulatory and compliance attorney and has drafted a 40-page white paper on "Artificial Intelligence in Mortgage Lending: Legal Risk Assessment and Regulatory Update." which is available to mortgage lenders upon request at aliput@liputlaw.com. He also recently wrote an article in the Chrisman Commentary on Agentic AI and it's risk for mortgage lenders available here.
There are some webcasts of interest! Mortgages With Millennials is today at 1PM ET (Kristin Messerli and Robbie Chrisman are joined by Mosi Gatling for a conversation on creative financing strategies designed to better reach Millennial buyers and how lenders can modernize their communication playbooks to connect more effectively with the next generation of homeowners).
Tomorrow’s Lenders One show: Blake Boss of ActiveComply joins Lenders One tomorrow to discuss what management should know about LOs & compliance. Thursday has The Big Picture at 3PM ET with guest Vishal Garg, for a wide-ranging conversation on the evolution of Better, what AI-powered mortgage looks like in practice, scaling to $100 billion in volume, the One Day Mortgage, blending technology with local origination, rebuilding culture and trust, and how leadership teams should be positioning for the next turn in the housing cycle. Lastly, Friday’s Last Word at 1PM ET has Jason Ponsonby of American Pacific Mortgage for a conversation on leadership, production growth, and building high-performing teams.
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.
Learn About the New Housing System
Our housing market seems okay but is evolving quickly and the traditional boundaries between mortgage, real estate, and related services are changing. Whether it’s the legal challenges in the latest industry lawsuit (more about that below) or the business challenges for the Real Estate or Mortgage companies, there is a lot to talk about related to the latest market dynamics. On January 29 at 1PM ET, STRATMOR Group and T3 Sixty launch a new collaboration with a live T3 Insight TODAY webinar focused on the New Housing Services Ecosystem. Join Garth Graham, Senior Partner at STRATMOR, and Coby Hakalir, VP of Core Services at T3 Sixty, as they share key market insights, trends to watch in 2026, and data-driven perspectives on how the housing services landscape is changing. Neither Coby or Garth are lawyers, so expect this to be grounded in the business drivers rather than the legal headlines. But the webinar kicks off a broader conversation and sets the stage for a four-part follow-up series that will explore these themes in greater depth. Register now to stay ahead of what’s next.
New Tools for LOs
Recently I received a note “LO VieauxPoint” from Ethan Vieaux, VP, Customer Success at Finlocker, addressing LO efficiency. Mortgage marketing is no longer about who spends the most, it’s about who builds the fastest. In this VieauxPoint, Ethan Vieaux introduces “vibe coding,” a practical AI-powered approach that lets loan officers quickly create simple, high-impact tools that attract leads, energize agent partners, and turn social and databases into conversion engines. If you want to ship smarter assets in minutes, not months (and win attention in a purchase-driven market) this article shows exactly how to start.
“Most LO marketing is still built around static tactics: a website that looks nice but does not convert, social posts with no destination, a database that gets blasted instead of segmented, and agent partnerships that rely on ‘checking in.’ Vibe coding changes that because it makes it realistic to build mini funnels: one page, one message, one call to action, and a simple follow-up path. You can create a tool once and use it across multiple channels.
Read the complete post here at “Vibe Coding Loan Officers.” #VieauxPoint Thank you, Ethan!
Another Lawsuit Turns Heads
Of course, anyone can sue anyone at any time, and large lenders are usually a target. (Recall Ohio pursuing UWM nine months ago.) Yesterday a new consumer class-action lawsuit was filed against Rocket Companies on Jan. 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Rocket is accused of forcing agents to steer clients toward using Rocket Mortgage. This move, according to attorneys at Hagens Berman, is to the detriment of homebuyers across the country.
Known as Waller v. Rocket Companies, et al., the lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Barbara Walter, Elizabeth Johnson and Randel Clark, and accuses the collective defendants (Rocket Mortgage, Amrock Holdings, and Rocket Homes Real Estate) of having “exploited the vulnerability of home buyers for profit,” by steering consumers to use their financing “even though Rocket Mortgage’s terms are disadvantageous to the clients” as well as “funneling leads (in the form of interested buyers or sellers) to real estate agents who, in turn, steer clients to Rocket’s mortgage company,” away from other providers with cost-saving opportunities, in violation of a real estate agent’s fiduciary duties to their clients.
The release above went on to note that up until its 2025 acquisition of Redfin, Rocket Homes operated a “vast referral network” connecting prospective buyers with third-party real estate agents who were required to pay a “referral fee” of 35 percent to Rocket Homes. The lawsuit claims that Rocket has violated RESPA (the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) and is seeking treble damages, single damages, disgorgement and injunctive relief to end Rocket’s alleged steering practices, which were brought to light due to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s four-year federal investigation.
Rocket countered with, “We categorically disagree and will dispute the allegations that Rocket, Redfin, or any of the named defendants are doing anything illegal. The claims in this case are a complete retread of the case that the CFPB filed and was quickly dismissed. Rocket is proud to help homebuyers navigate complex real estate partnerships. We are confident that we will be vindicated once facts are presented.” Stay tuned!
Capital Markets
Bonds rallied yesterday as global risk hedging intensified, driven by record gains in gold, speculation around Japanese FX intervention, and renewed U.S. government shutdown risk, all of which increased demand for safe assets. Treasuries remained resilient despite strong U.S. data (November Durable Goods Orders came in much stronger than expected at +5.3 percent versus a +1.1 percent consensus, a data point that would normally pressure Treasuries higher in yield but was ultimately shrugged off by the market) as investors viewed it as backward-looking and unlikely to change the Fed’s near-term stance. The move was reinforced by solid auction demand, led by longer maturities. A weaker dollar and softer oil prices allowed the bond rally to extend, despite an otherwise mixed macro backdrop.
Treasury markets have retraced much of last week’s selloff, with 10-year Treasury yields slipping back below the 200-day moving average to return to the well-worn 4.11 to 4.21 percent range. The recent bearish range break that briefly pushed 10-year yields above 4.30 percent proved short-lived, and the yield curve has since flattened meaningfully as 2s/10s reversed from the low-70s basis points back toward the low-60s. Your takeaway? Markets are reassessing how aggressively to price continued growth and reflation into 2026. Price action has not reflected a classic risk-off move, and sentiment has grown more cautious amid rising political and policy uncertainty.
Looking ahead, there are several event risks, including the FOMC decision and press conference tomorrow, final January Treasury auctions, month-end flows, and (most importantly) the Fed chair nomination. Investors are also weighing the renewed risk of a government shutdown and broader geopolitical and trade-related headwinds. Inflation expectations remain elevated due to tariff rhetoric, but that narrative is now being tempered by signs of labor market stabilization and clear Fed messaging that rate decisions beyond this week (no cut is expected) will hinge on incoming data rather than political pressure.
Today’s economic calendar kicks off with Redbook same store sales, which will be followed by November house prices from Case-Shiller and FHFA, consumer confidence for January, Richmond manufacturing and services, and Dallas Fed Texas services for January. Treasury activity will be headlined by an auction of $70 billion 5-year notes and a buyback in 1-year to 10-year TIPS for up to $750 million. Earnings also continue from Wall Street. We begin Tuesday with Agency MBS prices little changed from yesterday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.59, and the 10-year yielding 4.23 after closing yesterday at 4.21 percent.