Secondary Execution, Broker Contest, Commercial Products; Webinars; Bill Pulte's Job Move?
The latest and greatest with FHFA Director Bill Pulte (happy 38th birthday last week!) is that President Trump tapped him (more below), to be the acting director of national intelligence. At this point he is still running Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The President cited Pulte’s work at the FHFA and his role as chair of Fannie & Freddie, saying Pulte “has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 trillion dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago.” For now, our industry and consumers wait on F&F to make a firm decision and move forward with “credit modernization” (aka credit score wars). VantageScore, FICO Direct, tri-merge, and single score models all have their proponents and opponents. Meanwhile, the number of lenders charging borrowers up-front for credit costs continues to limp along, meaning that the company eats the costs for loans that don’t actually fund. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian and the Experian Verify Hub. The platform brings manual submissions in-house and consolidates post-submission activities into a single environment, aiming to provide more streamlined access, faster insights, and a more cohesive user experience. Today’s has an interview with Experian’s Sophia Cheung on simplifying and modernizing the verification process by consolidating multiple systems into a single platform, further streamlining workflows, and increasing value)
Lender and Broker Products, Software, and Services
OptiFunder announces OptiExchange, a partner driven marketplace where lenders and service providers are linked to provide integrated solutions. As part of the broader OptiFunder platforms including Genesis for mortgage originators and Greyhound for warehouse lenders, the network brings together integrated warehouse lenders, investors, loan origination systems, fraud prevention tools, core banking platforms, and more. For solution providers, joining OptiExchange means becoming part of an automated lending ecosystem where seamless workflows and transparency drive stronger relationships. Partners benefit from strong connectivity and greater exposure to active lenders. With tiered partnerships and platform support backed by decades of industry expertise, OptiExchange helps providers expand their reach, integrate efficiently, and grow within a network where lenders are actively seeking proven solutions. To learn more and explore partnership opportunities, visit here.
With the CRE debt bubble unwinding, extend and pretend ending, and more than two trillion dollars in commercial debt maturing, residential mortgage brokers are looking to add or transition into this massive commercial opportunity. Oceanview was built for this market. The platform provides brokers with training, underwriting fundamentals, deal sizing, lender navigation, and the support needed to step confidently into commercial. Once certified, brokers gain access to Oceanview’s six thousand lender network and receive seventy-five high‑intent commercial leads per month. Top commercial mortgage brokers today are earning between three hundred sixty thousand and more than one million annually through consistent lead flow and lender fit. For producers who want scale, the POD Leadership model offers a turnkey, full‑blown commercial lending business you own, complete with deal support, lender access, team training, joint recruitment, and a defined pathway to grow a team. POD Leaders run between ten and sixty brokers and earn forty thousand to one hundred ten thousand dollars per year per certified team member. POD seats are limited by state. Schedule an exclusive interview.
Mortgage lenders are losing time and competitive edge to fragmented reporting and stale data. When your teams are working from different systems, reconciliation becomes a full-time job. ICE Business Intelligence (BI) and Encompass Data Connect® provide the tools and insights needed to work more efficiently. Operations teams receive self-service dashboards and out-of-the-box reporting. Data teams receive flexible, near real-time access to loan data for custom modeling, data warehouse consolidation, and cross-system integrations. Both solutions pull from a single source of truth, the Encompass® LOS, so everyone is working with the same data. By using both, management receives the on-demand visibility they need which allows your data team to get back to focusing on the work that drives your business forward. See how ICE helps organizations establish an automated, highly efficient analytics ecosystem.
Less back-and-forth. More first-time-right verifications. Truework replaces manual verification waterfalls with a single automated platform, so underwriters, LOs, and ops can cut down the document chasing, conflicting numbers, and last-minute corrections. Lenders see up to 50 percent cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times, higher accuracy, and stronger R&W relief. Trusted by top lenders in the U.S., Truework gives your team verification results they can rely on. Learn more.
Spring EQ (NMLS #1464945) continues to expand its home equity and non-QM offerings with pricing and guideline enhancements designed to help partners stay competitive. Rates have been reduced across all fixed-rate products, with cuts of up to 50 bps in most buckets. Additional updates include no reserve requirements on DSCR loans, first-lien HELOCs up to $750,000, and no full title requirement on second liens. To help partners capitalize on growing home equity demand, Spring EQ is hosting The Home Equity Playbook: Reframing the Rate Conversation on June 9 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Attendees will learn how to position home equity solutions without refinancing the first mortgage, overcome rate objections, grow pipeline and revenue, and strengthen customer relationships. Register today to reserve your spot. Visit EMMA to price, process, and manage your loans. Not a partner? Join here: Wholesale or Correspondent.
Pitch the pain point. We’ll help build the fix. The next great broker tech solution could come from you. Rocket Pro’s The Big Pitch invites the broker community to submit a real pain point and the idea that could solve it. 1 idea. $100,000 reasons to submit it. We’ll choose 3 finalists, help build their ideas into prototypes and let brokers vote. The $100,000 grand prize winner will be announced September 1 at RPX. Submissions are due June 30. Submit your idea for The Big Pitch. Big ideas. Live demos. One $100,000 winner. Be there for the moment at RPX. Register for RPX. Rules apply. View official rules.
“We’ve Always Done It This Way” Is Getting Expensive. For years, correspondent acquisition teams have worked around technology instead of with it. Not because better systems didn’t exist, but because nothing really fit. Every buyer has nuances, overlays, and seller relationships that don’t translate cleanly into rigid platforms. So, teams are stuck with email, spreadsheets, and workarounds. And it worked. Until it didn’t. As margins tighten and execution matters more than ever, the cracks are showing: inconsistent data, manual rework, and limited visibility into the pipeline. But purpose-built platforms are finally catching up. LauraMac is designed specifically for secondary market transactions and configurable to how correspondent buyers actually operate. It’s why some of the largest buyers rely on it across agency and non-agency, bulk and flow. If you’re rethinking your process, it’s worth a look. A short demo can show what “better” actually looks like.
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.
Webinars and Podcasts Fast Approaching
Lenders One’s Mortgage Matters is today at 2PM ET. Robbie, Rob, and Tricia Migliazzo are joined by Matt Clarke, President and COO of Churchill Mortgage, to discuss leadership, resilience, and purpose.
The AI Show is today at 3PM ET and presented by JazzX AI. Becca Seward, Brooke Anderson-Tompkins, Jagjit Singh, Mike Hogan, and Tela Mathias return for Episode Two of The AI Show. The discussion tackles the balance between human judgment and AI automation, and what responsible adoption looks like as AI becomes embedded in mortgage workflows.
Tomorrow is a webinar, “Lower Refi Closing Costs with an Alternative to Title Insurance.” “In today’s refinance market, borrowers are increasingly focused on closing costs, and lenders are looking for new ways to remain competitive while still delivering trusted title and settlement solutions. One emerging solution is the use of Attorney Opinion Letters (AOLs) in lieu of traditional title insurance. Join Lenders One at 2PM ET for a webinar featuring AOLPro, a fully insured AOL solution from L1 Title and Settlement Solutions. AOLPro delivers comprehensive coverage while helping reduce borrower title and settlement costs by hundreds, and in some states thousands, of dollars on refinance transactions. Garreth Long, industry expert and SVP of Altisource’s Title, Trustee and Valuation Solutions, will take a deep dive on AOLs and answer your questions live. Registration is free and open to the mortgage lending community.
Join the MBA Thursday, June 4th from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET for a webinar on preparing for UAD 3.6. This webinar will provide practical guidance on lender readiness, appraiser adoption challenges, dual-format management, staff training considerations, workflow adjustments, and coordination with Loan Origination System (LOS) providers.
The Saga of the Current FHFA Director
Fortune writes, “President Donald Trump has tapped Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to be the acting director of national intelligence, putting a real estate scion and fierce Trump loyalist in a key national security post as the U.S. remains at war with Iran.
“The Republican president cited Pulte’s work at the FHFA and his role as chair of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying that the 38 year-old ‘has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 trillion dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago.’
“Pulte’s sudden elevation to a role coordinating sensitive national security matters is a sign of how Trump is putting a priority on loyalty over a traditional resume full of previous military and intelligence assignments. It’s unclear what national security expertise Pulte has…
“As the grandson of the founder of PulteGroup, one of the country’s largest homebuilders, Pulte has cut a combative streak on social media and used his post at the FHFA to attack perceived opponents of the Trump administration. His time overseeing mortgage finance has been linked with criminal referrals for mortgage fraud by public officials Trump sought to punish, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve, who was nominated by a Democratic president, Joe Biden.
“Pulte has famously gone after then-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting the central bank’s benchmark interest rates as aggressively as the president wanted. He has also been linked to ideas such as the 50-year mortgage and efforts to lower mortgage rates through the purchase of home loan debt that have not paid off as promised.
“Trump said Pulte will keep his other positions even as he fills in for Gabbard, who resigned last month... If formally nominated, Pulte would need to be confirmed by the Senate to hold the position full time.”
Capital Markets
Fannie slipped nearly 6 percent in price and Freddie dropped over 5 percent on Tuesday (both have tumbled more than 30 percent this year) after Director Pulte was named acting director of national intelligence, but I digress. April JOLTS data surprised to the upside yesterday, with job openings rising to their highest level in almost two years and the job openings-to-unemployed ratio moving back above 1.0 for the first time since mid-2025, signaling renewed firmness in labor demand. Layoffs remained low, despite spiking energy costs tied to the US-Israel war with Iran. While hiring and quits rates softened modestly, and all key labor market indicators stayed within their recent ranges, suggesting stabilization rather than deterioration. Your takeaway? It reinforced the view that the Fed can remain patient on policy, which prompted a modest selloff in front-end Treasuries as markets further embraced a neutral rates outlook ahead of today’s ADP and upcoming payrolls data.
Over the past several sessions, the 10-year Treasury yield has repeatedly tested the 4.45 percent level, a technically significant area that previously acted as resistance during the selloff and is now functioning as support. Despite multiple attempts, yields have yet to decisively break below that threshold, suggesting buyers remain reluctant to extend the rally without a stronger catalyst. From a technical perspective, a confirmed close below 4.45 percent would be needed to signal a meaningful shift in momentum rather than another failed test of support. Simultaneously, the Relative Strength Index has moved back (read: normalized) into neutral territory after reaching oversold conditions when yields approached 4.70 percent, suggesting much of the near-term downside in yields has already been realized, leaving the market with ample room to retrace higher if incoming data or geopolitical developments challenge the recent rally.
Today’s economic calendar kicked off with mortgage applications from MBA, which declined 2.5 percent during the holiday-shortened week as both purchase and refinance demand eased modestly from the prior week. Refinance applications are up 20 percent year-over-year, and purchase activity is running 7 percent above year-earlier levels, evidence that housing demand remains resilient even in this higher-rate environment.
Ahead of Friday’s May payrolls report, we’ve also received May ADP Employment (private sector employment increased by 122,000 jobs in May and annual pay was up 4.4 percent versus 110k expectations and 109k previously). Later today brings Final May S&P Global U.S. Services PMI, April Factory Orders, May ISM Non-Manufacturing Index, and the Fed's Beige Book, which is expected to highlight a widening gap between spending by affluent households and middle- and lower-income households (the “K-shaped economy”) as higher energy prices squeeze the cost of living. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices worse about .125 from Tuesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 4.07, and the 10-year yielding 4.48 after closing yesterday at 4.45 percent.