AI POS Evaluation, Non-Agency, Servicing, Buy-Before-You-Sell products; What's Driving Rates?

On Mortgage Law Today at noon PT Brian Levy, Loretta Salzano, and Peter Idziak sit down with Laura LaRia and Sandy Shatz for a deep dive into the legal and regulatory pressures shaping mortgage servicing. The discussion covers litigation trends, servicing agreements, regulatory developments, and how AI is beginning to influence risk and compliance strategy. And on tomorrow’s Mortgage Matters (at 1PM ET) Faith Schwartz, who has an incredible pedigree, draws upon her decades of housing finance and policy experience to discuss crisis leadership lessons, regulatory evolution, and what today’s lenders should be watching as the market recalibrates. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Optimal Blue. The only end-to-end capital markets platform built to power performance, precision, and profitability. Modern. Proven. Optimal Blue. Hear an interview with TRUE’s Steve Butler on why lenders start automation too late by focusing on late-stage checks instead of intake, even though most costs are created early, and how to move certainty upstream.)

Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders

If your borrowers are equity-rich but cash-constrained or stuck behind a home sale contingency and running into DTI limits, join Flyhomes live webinar on February 25 to see how Flyhomes Buy Before You Sell can help them purchase before selling, with little to no cash out of pocket. By unlocking equity from their current and future home, borrowers can access up to 105 percent LTV of the new purchase price. Save your spot for the webinar now or book a call to review a borrower scenario today. Flyhomes has helped 5,000+ buyers over the past 10 years, and LOs using this program close an average of 1.2 more loans per month.

“Ever notice how doing great work doesn’t directly translate into recognition, promotions, or raises? For many women in financial services, that’s an ever-present obstacle as they navigate career growth. The reality is that advancement isn’t only about performance; it’s also about understanding how visibility, influence, and sponsorship work inside organizations. The Unwritten Rules for How Women Advance, Lead, and Get Seen builds on the honest conversations sparked at our Women in FinServ Breakfast at Total Expert's Accelerate 2026. It brings together LaTasha Waddy, President of NFM Lending; Kyndle Quinones, Vice President and Branch Manager at Main Street Home Loans; and Kate Cosgrove, Customer Success Manager at Total Expert to their experiences, insights, and practical strategies for how you can increase visibility, build a leadership presence, and foster meaningful sponsorship. For current leaders, you’ll learn how to create more transparent, equitable paths to advancement. Grab a seat at the table.”

“More Options. More Certainty. A Smarter Way to Close! FirstFunding provides warehouse lending solutions designed to support independent mortgage bankers with flexibility, transparency, and consistency, and extends that support to Non-Delegated, Delegated, and TPO channels. With a long-standing track record in warehouse finance, FirstFunding partners with lenders to help manage liquidity, support growth, and navigate changing market conditions with confidence. Our experienced team takes a relationship-driven approach, offering responsive service and unique funding solutions aligned to your operational needs. FirstFunding continues to enhance its technology to better support today’s funding demands. Through our Expressway solution, lenders can process everything from a single wire order to bulk wire orders, hundreds at a time, helping streamline operations and improve efficiency across workflows. FirstFunding’s capabilities have expanded: Whether you’re evaluating your warehouse strategy, expanding into new channels, or looking for a stable funding partner, FirstFunding delivers the reliability, innovation, and expertise lenders depend on. Learn more about FirstFunding’s warehouse funding solutions or contact us to get started.”

“If you are still competing on who has the best Realtor data, you are already behind.

The industry is flooded with platforms that collect and display numbers, leaving your team to do the hard work of figuring out what to do next. CANDID’s proprietary AI Insights changes that. We decode every agent’s Personality DNA to give you a custom blueprint for relationship building, a proprietary Transaction Velocity Index, and an AI-driven Social Intelligence engine that instantly creates stunningly personal, 1:1 marketing opportunities that look as human as it is high-tech. In a market where everyone has the data, the advantage no longer belongs to whoever has the most information. It belongs to the team that uses intelligence to create a better, more personal experience for every partner.”

Have you heard the news? ICE has launched an enhanced user experience for its MSP® mortgage servicing system. This enhancement marks the completion of the first phase of a broader modernization initiative. “Phase one is not just about improving platform navigability; it is already allowing us to roll out second-phase enhanced automation and AI-driven productivity agents that reduce manual effort and help servicers scale more efficiently,” said Bob Hart, President of ICE Mortgage Technology. The enhanced user experience features a modernized look that simplifies servicing, helping back-office users get more work done with fewer clicks. If you are in Dallas for MBA’s Servicing Solutions Conference & Expo, come see the new MSP experience for yourself in the Dallas 1 meeting room. Read the press release to learn more about what the future of servicing looks like with MSP.

HUDDLE UP WITH TEAM SAGENT AT MBA SERVICING ‘26. Sagent is bringing the playbook for the future of mortgage servicing to Booth 606 in Dallas. The Sagent Team invites you to join the conversation and see how their next-gen platform, Dara, is making complex servicing simple: Think real-time data, a unified experience for both servicers and homeowners, and end-to-end transparency across every step of the mortgage lifecycle. Whether you’re looking to streamline operations or searching for practical strategies in today’s evolving environment, Sagent’s on-site experts are ready to collaborate and share what’s next. The countdown is on: don’t miss the chance to connect, exchange ideas, and discover how huddling up with Sagent can help you level up your servicing game. For details or to schedule a meeting, visit Sagent’s booth or check out more information here.

PHH Mortgage is pleased to present Introduction to FlexIQ on Wednesday, February 18 at 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT, an informative webinar created to help correspondents gain a deeper understanding of the FlexIQ Non-Agency product suite and how to effectively incorporate it into their lending strategy. This session will offer a comprehensive overview of FlexIQ Full Doc, Alt Doc, and DSCR solutions, outlining how each option is structured to meet the evolving needs of today’s borrowers and real estate investors. Participants will learn key qualification principles, positioning strategies, and how FlexIQ promotes streamlined execution through transparent guidelines and user-friendly tools. Whether you’re exploring FlexIQ for the first time or aiming to enhance your non-Agency capabilities, this webinar provides actionable insights you can put into practice right away. You’ll also have the opportunity to connect with PHH’s seasoned non-Agency professionals and participate in a live Q&A discussion. Register to attend.

“Not every strong borrower shows up on a tax return. Especially business owners and high net worth individuals. On NMP’s next DealDesk, they’ll do a deep dive on Castor Financial’s Prime Plus Loan Program highlights a solution designed for affluent, self-employed, and investor clients whose financial picture goes beyond conventional DTI math. Join us Wednesday, February 18, at 1PM ET to hear Brooks Champagne and Matthew Craybas break down how Prime PLUS blends prime credit with flexible income treatment. From asset depletion calculated over 36 months, to stacking income sources, unlimited account blending with simple LOEs, highest MID FICO qualification, and 100 percent short-term rental income usage, Prime PLUS focuses on balance sheet strength and disciplined risk assessment. To save your spot and sign up to submit scenarios or ask questions, register here.”

An eGuide that continues to circulate among lenders takes on one of the more persistent questions in mortgage tech right now: how to evaluate the growing number of “AI powered” POS claims in the market. LenderLogix published The Mortgage Lender’s Guide to Evaluating AI Powered POS Solutions as a practical framework for teams comparing vendors or revisiting POS strategies. The guide outlines what lenders should be looking for in an AI enabled POS, where to be cautious, and includes a straightforward checklist that can be used during demos or internal reviews. For those still sorting through AI claims before sitting through vendor conversations, the resource can be accessed here.

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.

Capital Markets

A slowing economy means lower rates, right? Thanks to the partial government shutdown the week prior, last week’s economic calendar included both labor market and inflation updates. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 130k in January, and the unemployment rate declined to 4.28 percent. Despite negative revisions to the prior two months, the latest report suggests job growth may be stabilizing. On the inflation front, both headline and core inflation moderated in January, rising 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. On an annual basis, core inflation declined to 2.5 percent, the lowest reading since March 2021, when it stood at 1.7 percent.

Firmer employment data and cooler inflation reduce the likelihood that the Fed will feel compelled to change the current stance of monetary policy next month. Other recent data points, including slowing wage growth and improving productivity, should help ease labor-cost-driven inflation pressures. Additionally, recent consumer softness appears concentrated in goods spending rather than signaling a broad-based economic pullback. Monetary policy is nearing a neutral stance, while still giving the Fed flexibility to respond if risks shift toward either side of its dual mandate. As a result, yields on the 5-year note and longer tenors to their lowest closing levels since early December while the 2-year yield settled at its lowest level since September 2022,

Recent equity volatility has not been severe enough to prompt Fed concern about tightening financial conditions, though some degree of “de-wealthing” could help cool demand given how concentrated consumption is among higher-income households. Still, December’s flat retail sales and persistently weak consumer confidence raise the risk that financial strain may be spreading beyond lower-income cohorts and beginning to show up in aggregate data, especially once nominal figures are adjusted for inflation, making upcoming personal spending data critical to assessing momentum.

As housing affordability deteriorates, lenders and builders are increasingly relying on tools such as down payment assistance, which now accounts for about 20 percent of FHA loans in Ginnie Mae II 30-year pools, up sharply from 7.5 percent at the start of 2025, while VA usage has climbed more modestly to 3.4 percent, both near multi-year highs. Although down-payment assistance (DPA) borrowers show only slightly lower FICO scores and similar DTIs compared with non DPA borrowers, they exhibit consistently higher severe delinquency and buyout rates, reflecting somewhat weaker long term performance trends. Importantly for investors, DPA exposure is heavily concentrated in higher coupon pools, where as much as 21 percent to 54 percent of certain 7.0 percent and 7.5 percent coupons consist of DPA loans, making coupon selection a key consideration for those seeking to target or avoid this borrower cohort.

This holiday-shortened week has a fairly busy economic calendar, including several shutdown-delayed releases. Following the President’s Day holiday yesterday, there’s the NY Fed manufacturing for February and the NAHB Housing Market Index (expected to rise marginally from the previous reading). Over the remainder of the week are durable goods for December, housing starts and building permits (for November and December), industrial production/capacity utilization (January), December’s advance economic indicators, the first read on Q4 GDP, new home sales, S&P Global February flash PMIs, and final February consumer sentiment. Tuesday starts with Agency MBS prices better than Friday’s close by .125-.250, the 2-year yielding 3.40, and the 10-year yielding 4.03 after closing last week at 4.06 percent given yet more government shutdown news impacting the U.S. economy.