Credit and Verification, AI Compliance, CRA Sourcing Tools; Housing Bill Stalls; HMDA Data; Inflation Hopes and Rates
We know that a) Congress passed a housing bill which, if not signed within 10 days, becomes law anyway, and b) U.S. presidents are known to be candid. Once again, we see the intersection of housing, lending, and politics with not only the postponement by the President of signing the bill, but also the statement of his alleged opinion about housing. The signing, originally scheduled for Wednesday, June 24, was called off just hours before it was set to begin. In a social media post, President Trump said he would not sign the housing package until Congress makes progress on separate election legislation, the SAVE America Act, which he has described as “a national emergency.” Attorney Troy Garris gives us the options on what happens next. Meanwhile, thank you to Kenneth S. who pointed out that Sheila Bair (as the head of the FDIC a central figure in the government’s response to the 2008 financial crisis and who warned about the risky mortgage lending practices that precipitated it) is warning that today’s crop of financial regulators are forgetting the lessons of that painful saga by weakening banks’ capital buffers, which act as fortifications against unpredictable losses and are intended to ward off potential taxpayer bailouts. Stay tuned. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Equifax, a global data, analytics, and technology company, helps mortgage lenders gain the borrower and market insights they need to improve efficiency and make accurate decisions. Access differentiated consumer credit data, powerful consumer and market insights, and income and employment data from The Work Number. Today’s has an Interview with Equifax’s Justin Demola on how rising credit costs, higher borrower fallout rates, and inefficient credit-pull strategies are increasing origination expenses, making it critical for lenders to manage credit usage more strategically while leveraging reforms to improve efficiency and reduce costs.)
Broker and Lender Software, Products, and Services
Are you running into client scenarios that aren’t eligible for a loan because of DTI ratios? A reverse mortgage could help create more flexibility in how clients leverage their home equity. It’s especially useful for clients who don’t fit cleanly into traditional income-based financial assessments. With senior homeowners holding $14.5 trillion in home equity, this is an opportunity to tap into a segment many originators overlook. Want to see where this could fit in your pipeline? Fill out the form to get a whitepaper on the senior home equity market. Finance of America, NMLS 2285.
Most AI in mortgage automates individual tasks but doesn’t change how work actually moves between roles, keeping costs high and transformation stagnant. The bottleneck isn’t inside any one step, but is in the handoffs, the exceptions, and the decisions that span the entire loan process. AI digital assistants don’t just automate steps, they coordinate complex decisions end-to-end across processing, underwriting, QC, and servicing. Every finding is reasoned against your guidelines and overlays, continuously reassessed as new information arrives, and cited to the specific policy that produced it. Meaning your team stays in control. The result: lower cost per loan, faster decisions, and higher loan quality. Book a demo to see how JazzX AI optimizes mortgage execution from end-to-end.
The future of appraisal reporting is here. First American Mortgage Solutions’ ACI Sky™ Workbench is now live for UAD 3.6 report completion, giving appraisers a modern, cloud-based workflow designed for the industry's next chapter. ACI customers can now complete UAD 3.6 assignments in ACI Sky Workbench and generate the final ZIP package for delivery. Purpose-built for the next generation of appraisal reporting, ACI Sky Workbench helps appraisers navigate UAD 3.6 with intuitive workflows, guided report completion and a modern experience designed to enhance productivity from start to finish. From data collection to report completion and submission, Workbench brings the entire appraisal process together in one connected platform. Start your first UAD 3.6 order today and experience the modern workflow built to help appraisers stay ahead. Learn more at ACIweb.com.
GATHER: Precision CRA Sourcing for Modern Banks: For banks that live in the world of constant struggle to meet their CRA goals or overpay to do so. GATHER can help banks source CRA opportunities faster and more strategically through a technology platform that combines community development data with advanced intelligence. Using bank-defined assessment areas and custom GEO axes, GATHER identifies and surfaces loan populations for sale that align with CRA priorities, business objectives, and local needs. With GATHER, banks can target opportunities within specific geographic priorities, discover qualified CRA investments and partnerships more efficiently, reduce sourcing and compliance burden, and participate in the program throughout the year to eliminate “year-end rush” and overpaying for CRA loans
GATHER enables banks to deploy CRA capital with greater precision, efficiency, and confidence, turning CRA sourcing into a data-driven advantage. Reach out to Wayne Brown directly or schedule a demo here & join today!
“Growth shouldn't cost you the service quality that got you here. Too many lenders discover their subservicer's limitations the hard way: when their portfolio grows and the attention disappears. MSF Servicing is purpose-built to scale without compromise. Complex large-scale portfolios and high-touch boutique relationships run on the same platform, backed by the same people-first philosophy. Five thousand loans or five hundred thousand: the commitment to your success, your borrowers, and your outcomes never change. We grow with you. That's not a promise. That's the platform. MSF Servicing. Premier servicing. Personal accountability. Request a platform demo: Rick.Smith@MortgageSolutions.net (860-989-9006).”
Mortgage compliance teams don't have an information problem. They have a time problem. Every day, compliance professionals spend hours searching regulations, reviewing guidance, validating interpretations, and answering questions from across the organization. The challenge isn't finding information. It's finding the right answer quickly and confidently. VAL was built for exactly that purpose. Powered by curated mortgage compliance content and designed specifically for lenders and servicers, VAL delivers source-backed answers with citations in seconds. Whether the question involves RESPA, servicing, Fair Lending, state regulations, or operational compliance, teams can move faster without sacrificing accuracy. The first 100 users who start a free 7-day trial will secure introductory pricing of $200 per month. After that, pricing increases. Start your FREE 7-Day Trial today.
Last Word is today, Friday June 26 at 1PM ET. Brian Vieaux, Kevin Peranio, Christy Soukhamneut, and Coby Hakalir break down the week's biggest market signals, agency developments, and industry narratives. The discussion focuses on separating meaningful trends from market noise and what lenders should be watching next.
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.
Credit and Verification Products
The platform your CRA runs on determines what it can deliver. APS built its own. Credit Interlink is owned and operated entirely in-house, and its development roadmap is guided by one priority: what clients need next. That foundation enabled direct integration of the FICO® Score Mortgage Simulator, allowing loan officers to model credit outcomes before taking action on a file. APS is also among a select group of CRAs participating in the FICO® Mortgage Direct License Program, designed to deliver FICO® Score to lenders without the traditional bureau markup. Credit Interlink integrates with Encompass, Calyx, BytePro, LendingPad, Arive, and more. When industry requirements shift, the platform adapts on APS's timeline, without waiting on anyone else's roadmap. Advantage Partners Solutions: Your mortgage solutions partner that gives you the advantage.
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% cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times, higher accuracy, and stronger R&W relief. Trusted by 4 of the top 5 lenders in the U.S., Truework gives your team verification results they can rely on. Learn more.
All the 2025 Data You’d Ever Want: 4,782 Lenders
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) recently published data on 2025 mortgage lending transactions reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) by 4782 U.S. financial institutions. The Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset released contains the national HMDA datasets as of June 1, 2026. The FFIEC released several data products to serve a variety of data users, including the 2025 Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset, the HMDA Dynamic National Loan-Level Dataset, and Aggregate and Disclosure Reports. The One-Year National Loan Level Dataset for 2024 and the Three-Year National Loan Level Dataset for 2022 were released as well. Users can use the Data Browser Dataset Filtering tool to download customized reports based on the updated data.
Capital Markets
U.S. Treasuries rallied for a third straight session yesterday as lower energy prices, easing inflation expectations, and softer rate-hike sentiment outweighed stronger economic data. While it was revealed that the Fed's preferred inflation gauge rose to a three-year high, keeping price pressures well above the central bank's 2 percent target, the readings largely matched expectations, allowing markets to look past the data and focus more on falling oil prices that have improved the near-term inflation outlook. Consumer spending and personal income both exceeded forecasts, real spending pointed to healthy underlying demand, first-quarter GDP was revised higher, business investment remained firm, and jobless claims stayed historically low, all of which point to continued economic strength. With all that in mind, markets still expect the Federal Reserve to remain cautious and likely deliver one additional rate hike before the end of 2026. The outstanding universe of 30-year UMBS has “exploded” since 2019, growing 141 percent to roughly $5.3 trillion, while 15-year issuance has remained comparatively scarce and has actually contracted since rates began rising in 2022 as refinance activity dried up. Despite representing a much smaller market, 15-year pools continue to post relatively faster prepayment speeds because their borrowers are more likely to make curtailments and prioritize mortgage repayment. The combination of shrinking supply, strong borrower quality, favorable duration characteristics, and accelerated principal return creates a diversified investment profile that can compare favorably to traditional 30-year MBS exposure, particularly in a higher-rate environment where cash in hand carries a premium. Buydown mortgages have emerged as a meaningful tool for navigating today's affordability challenges, growing to $41.7 billion, or 1.6 percent of the Ginnie Mae universe, as elevated home prices and higher mortgage rates continue to strain buyers. Concentrated primarily in FHA and VA lending, these loans temporarily reduce borrowers' interest rates for one to three years but require qualification at the eventual fully indexed payment, meaning they tend to attract stronger-credit borrowers with above-average FICO scores. For investors, buydown loans offer attractive prepayment protection during their early years, as borrowers are less likely to refinance while benefiting from the temporary rate subsidy. However, prepayment activity typically increases once the buydown period begins to expire. As affordability pressures persist, buydown products are likely to remain a significant feature of/in the mortgage market, providing both borrowers and investors with a bridge through a higher-rate environment. Today’s economic calendar kicked off with advanced indicators which had no impact on rates: May advance International Trade in Goods, advance Retail Inventories, and advance Wholesale Inventories. Later today brings Final June University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, which is expected to be revised higher in the final release for June, bolstered by recent weeks’ drop in gasoline prices and buoyant stock markets. Inflation has exceeded wage growth for two consecutive months in several key private-sector industries, and with gasoline prices still elevated and broader war-related price pressures yet to fully emerge, many households may increasingly rely on savings and debt to sustain spending.
We begin the first Friday of summer with Agency MBS prices slightly better than Thursday’s close, the 2-year yielding 4.10, and the 10-year yielding 4.39 after closing yesterday at 4.39 percent.