Servicing, CRM, BI, QC, HELOC, TBA, Title Products; STRATMOR on Servicing; UAD 3.6
Among the hot topics in the hallways of the ICE Experience is the evolution in data contained in each lien, along with massive appraisal change hitting our biz. I was chatting with Class Valuation’s Mark Walser yesterday about UAD 3.6. (If you’d like a primer on it, and you should, see this write up by Mike Simmons.) On 11/2/26, all appraisals, to be eligible for sale to Fannie and Freddie, must be submitted in UAD (Uniform Appraisal Dataset) 3.6 format. From what Mark said, lenders need to have begun setting up the process and planning in the first quarter of 2026, and spend the 2nd and 3rd quarters testing and transitioning their appraisal volume to it because underwriters will probably require about 10 percent more time per file to analyze the appraisal, and be fully up and running in production by no later than early October to avoid the deadline, and have to redo an appraisal report on an in-flight loan. Ignore it at your own risk. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Ocrolus. Ocrolus is transforming the mortgage industry with AI-powered data and analytics, featuring cutting-edge tools for automated indexing, income analysis, and now automated conditioning. Ocrolus helps mortgage teams move at the speed of automation with the precision of human oversight. Hear an interview with Gershman’s Adam Mason on the leadership lessons and hiring philosophies that shape strong loan officers, and how adaptability, mindset, and innovation influence success in a challenging market.)
Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders
Flagstar is back in the warehouse lending space, this time, with a more streamlined, strategic approach. Your IMB clients value your relationship-driven service model, but what happens when they start to outgrow your balance sheet? Flagstar Bank offers a compelling solution. Flagstar is returning to warehouse lending with a new partnership-driven model designed for growth. Instead of operating a full warehouse platform, they’re seeking strategic partnerships with established operational providers and strong risk managers in need of additional balance sheet capacity. It’s a straightforward approach: Flagstar provides substantial balance sheet capacity, while their partners maintain operational control and client relationships. By leveraging Flagstar’s resources, administration agents can remain in their current roles and work on more files without disrupting day-to-day business. The only material change is a once-daily settlement process. Participation ranges from $50 million to $200 million, with a maximum concentration of 50 percent. Grow your business while supporting existing IMB relationships. To schedule a confidential conversation, email Ashwin Mago or Paul Tirella.
Covius is strengthening its title and settlement services business with two strategic hires to accelerate growth and deliver greater value, efficiency, and client service. Matt Adrian joins the Covius Settlement Services team as SVP of Business Development, bringing more than 30 years of experience in the lending and title spaces. He’ll work with lenders, servicers, investors, and industry partners to help clients leverage Covius’ integrated title, closing, and fulfillment capabilities. Arianna Metzler joins Covius Settlement Services as VP of Operations, bringing a deep understanding of the title needs of capital markets participants and a proven ability to build scalable, efficient processes. She will play a key role in operationalizing Covius Settlement Services platforms and advancing Covius’ interoperability across the mortgage lifecycle. Reach out to find out more about how Covius Settlement Services is expanding to provide premium service to clients.
Struggling with frustrating and sometimes costly TBA settlement problems? Whether it's mismatched trade amounts, incorrect coupons, or the wrong settlement month, manual trading over the phone leaves too much room for error. Agile Trading Technologies offers the solution in its award-winning Electronic TBA Request for Quote (RFQ) Platform. Purpose-built for lenders and the dealers who serve them, Agile eliminates human error, reduces risk, and brings confidence back to your TBA trading process. “Since transitioning to Agile, we’ve improved trade accuracy and eliminated monthly and quarterly settlement errors,” said Luther Hubbard with Evergreen Home Loans. “The platform streamlines our TBA trading process, removing the inefficiencies and risks we used to face when trading over the phone.” Ready to say goodbye to settlement headaches? Contact Agile or schedule a meeting with them at the upcoming MBA National Secondary in New York to get started.
Subordination Nightmares or HELOC Dreams? As the refinance market heats up, subordination departments can become a “black hole” where requests stall and closing timelines come and go. With Symmetry's streamlined piggyback process, closing a new HELOC can be faster and more predictable than waiting on a subordination review. Symmetry’s goal is to make sure your loans close on time, so reach out and let us help you solve subordination nightmares with a simultaneous or post-close piggyback HELOC from Symmetry.
Smarter Servicing Starts Before the Defect! Phil McCall, President & COO of ACES Quality Management, says the future of servicing isn't reactive, it's proactive. In a recent conversation, McCall outlined how servicers can stay ahead in 2026 by standardizing data, embracing automation, and leveraging AI to scale without sacrificing compliance or customer satisfaction. "Let's catch those defects before they become defects," McCall said. At ACES, that means using AI to synthesize audit data, saving hours per review, and tools like DataBridge and ACES Intelligence to keep quality ongoing, not just end-of-process. The bottom line, data is king, automation enables scale, and smarter servicing means balancing regulatory discipline with happy customers. Don't wait for problems to surface. Watch the full video interview with Phil McCall and learn how to get proactive with your quality control.
Analyzing complex loan data is an essential business function, but many mortgage professionals rely on manual or outdated approaches that can quickly lead to inconsistencies and bottlenecks. Investing in a specialized business intelligence solution helps organizations overcome these shortcomings and unlock the full potential of their data to improve efficiency, inform strategy, and gain a competitive advantage. ICE Business Intelligence (BI) is built specifically for the mortgage industry and integrated with Encompass® and MSP® to deliver the deep insights needed to make more informed business decisions. By combining robust proprietary, internal, and third-party data sets, ICE BI equips lenders and servicers with intuitive dashboards, preconfigured analytics and automated workflows that help decrease operational costs, optimize processes, identify trends, and uncover new growth opportunities. Don’t settle for more reports. Discover how ICE BI helps you turn your data into a strategic advantage.
What truly separates one CRM partner from another in today’s lending environment? Increasingly, the answer comes down to engagement beyond implementation. As institutions evaluate technology performance in 2026, many are finding that large, big-box platforms often operate at scale but interact with customers primarily through ticket queues and standardized reporting. Usherpa is positioning itself differently. The company’s quarterly enterprise reviews are designed as structured strategy sessions that connect engagement data to production goals. These conversations focus on loan officer adoption, prospect conversion trends, email performance, and repeat business opportunity, turning system activity into forward-looking plans. Partners consistently cite these collaborative reviews as a meaningful advantage, providing clarity, accountability, and practical direction in a margin-sensitive market. The distinction is becoming more pronounced across the industry. Is your CRM functioning as a growth partner, or just another vendor in the stack?
YOUR SERVICING PLATFORM ISN’T ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL. NEITHER IS SAGENT’S IGNITE CONFERENCE. Sagent’s Ignite ’26 is built for servicers who want more than another generic conference agenda. This is not a “walk the floor and collect swag” kind of week. It’s a “compare architecture, trade lessons, and pressure test strategies” kind of week. Inspired by the open road spirit of Route 66, Ignite blends practical insight, hands-on learning, and meaningful connection, designed to bring value to your current servicing operation and help you navigate what’s next. From May 4-6 in Phoenix, you’ll hear candid perspectives from industry leaders, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, dig into real world servicing challenges, and participate in Hands On Training (HOT) sessions that go beyond theory to deliver skills you can apply immediately. Come to Ignite, where the work gets done and the future gets shaped.
American Pacific’s Jason Ponsonby, SVP of APM Production, is interviewed today at 2PM ET on Mortgage Matters, presented by Lenders One.
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.
STRATMOR on Servicing
Strong servicing relationships are built on trust, and that trust plays a critical role in borrower retention and recapture. In STRATMOR’s latest CX Tip, Customer Experience Director Mike Seminari explains how lenders can strengthen borrower loyalty during the servicing phase through consistent communication, responsive support, and proactive engagement. When borrowers feel confident that their servicer is reliable, transparent, and easy to work with, they are far more likely to return when the next financing need arises. Too often, servicing is treated as an operational function rather than a relationship opportunity. But lenders who invest in the borrower experience during servicing can turn routine interactions into moments that reinforce long-term loyalty and make the servicing relationship difficult to replace. Read the full CX Tip here: “Teddy Bear Trust: Making the Servicing Relationship Irreplaceable.”
Capital Markets
Mortgage rates, and rate in general, have gone up since the Iranian War began. There was no “flight to quality.” Investors are increasingly prioritizing safety and duration despite the inflation uncertainty tied to higher energy prices. The yield curve flattening implies growing concern toward slowing growth (and potentially policy easing down the line) rather than persistent inflation driving rates higher across the curve.
It was a quiet day overall yesterday, with markets absorbing an expected rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia, higher oil prices, and a report of stronger-than-expected pending home sales in February (+1.8 percent month-over-month). A $13 billion 20-year Treasury bond reopening was solid, as the 2.76 bid-to-cover ratio and end user demand topped recent averages, pointing to healthy underlying demand, while the 4.82 percent high yield reflected the broader backup in rates. Participation suggested investors are willing to step into duration at these elevated levels, though we will know more about demand after tomorrow’s $19 billion 10-year TIPS auction. Even so, there was little follow-through among investors after yesterday’s auction, with the afternoon tightly range-bound as investors’ focus was on the result of today's FOMC meeting.
As the war with Iran enters its 18th day, markets are increasingly accepting that the conflict may be prolonged. This has shifted the focus toward how Fed Chair Powell at his press conference this afternoon will frame the longer-term inflation impact amid rising oil prices and heightened uncertainty. While higher energy costs have pushed inflation concerns to the forefront, there is a growing counterforce of potential demand destruction, as strained consumers (already facing rising debt and diminished purchasing power) begin to pull back on discretionary spending, which would create a disinflationary offset over time. Fed rate cut expectations have repriced sharply from multiple cuts to just one in 2026, reflecting a more cautious/hawkish outlook as the Fed seeks to preserve flexibility while navigating the dual risks of persistent inflation and slowing growth.
With May 15 quickly approaching as his final day in his current position, Federal Reserve Chair Powell will preside over his second-to-last Federal Open Market Committee meeting/rate decision today. Even after recent legal distractions faded at the end of last week, it’s fair to assume he’s nearing the end of a long road, though subtle shifts in his tone at the post-meeting press conference are capable of driving significant market reactions. Attention is already shifting to Kevin Warsh as his successor, though labeling him a “hawk” overlooks his more accommodative track record during his 2006-2011 tenure, making it unclear how aggressively he will pursue the rate cuts President Trump has consistently pushed for, particularly given already ample system liquidity. The Fed’s “first, do no harm” approach is likely to keep the median rate path largely unchanged, as policymakers balance the offsetting forces of persistent inflation and slowing growth.
Today’s economic calendar kicked off with mortgage application from MBA: activity fell sharply, declining 11 percent week-over-week as rising mortgage rates weighed heavily on demand, with refinancing activity dropping 19 percent despite rates remaining well above year-ago levels. Purchase applications posted slight weekly gains and remained higher than a year ago, suggesting resilient underlying homebuying demand even as rate pressures intensify.
The highlight of today is, of course, the FOMC, with the statement and updated Summary of Economic Projections at 2pm ET and Chair Powell's post-meeting press conference at 2:30pm. The Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged, so what will be of most interest is the Committee’s outlook on rate cuts and the influence oil prices and the US war on Iran will have on the economy and inflation. We’ve also received the February PPI report: +.7 percent m-o-m, +3.4 percent y-o-y, much stronger/inflationary than expected. Other events of note include the Bank of Canada’s latest monetary policy decision (no change expected), January factory orders, and some short-duration Treasury auction activity. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged from Tuesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.70, and the 10-year yielding 4.21 after closing yesterday at 4.20 percent.