Medical Profession, Refi Products; Fee Standardization Thoughts; Investors and ROAD Act

Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian. From lenders and landlords to employers and consumers, Experian helps connect the housing ecosystem with the data and insights needed to make faster, confident decisions. Lead a smarter housing journey with Experian. Today’s has an interview with Experian’s Likhitha Mahendar Singh how the modern first-time homebuyer has evolved, why rental payment data is reshaping how lenders identify mortgage-ready borrowers, and how a data-driven approach can help better target, underwrite, and serve the next generation of homeowners.

Broker and Lender Software, Products, and Services

Everyone in lending is waiting for one thing: the Fed to cut rates and the refi boom to follow. Stop waiting. Alongside its industry-leading Energy-Smart DPA Program, Arcasa introduces its new Refinance Prospecting tool: bulk-upload the clients you locked into the high 6s and 7s and instantly see who can lower their rate today, without waiting on the Fed. Prospects come sorted by impact, ready to convert with one click. Structured as a standard FHA rate-and-term or simple refinance, the Energy-Smart assistance does the heavy lifting: covering closing costs, cutting utility bills via solar, and funding rate buydowns. Because those funds can go toward the buydown, even mid-6s borrowers are in play. No second payments, no income caps, and it can help retire bonds from other assistance programs. The opportunity isn't coming; it's already in your database. Sign up for a live demo or log in and start today.

“Bayview’s Silver Hill Capital is excited to announce the launch of our new Medical Professionals (Med Pro) product designed for licensed medical professionals with strong income stability and earning potential up to 100 percent LTV ratios. Program highlights include, no borrower paid MI Required, DTIs up to 50 percent, Loan sizes up to $2M, Minimum loan amount $100,000 fixed or $300,000 ARMs, Minimum credit score of 700 and Primary residence only. Eligible Professional Occupations are limited to those with established predictable income trajectories and employment stability that support the underwriting of high LTV loans with projected income. Contact your sales coverage for more details. To learn more about this new program, join us for live upcoming trainings: June 30th at 2PM EST, July 9th at 2PM EST and July 16th at 2PM EST.”

Every generation has its workplace giveaways. Boomers had briefcases, Gen X had fax machines, millennials had MapQuest, and Gen Z has never known the joy of yelling at a printer that refuses to connect. LenderLogix’s latest blog looks at a shift mortgage lenders should be paying attention to: younger borrowers and younger loan officers are increasingly speaking the same digital language. With millennials making up a major share of mortgage inquiries and Gen Z continuing to enter the market, the tools lenders give their teams matter more than ever. The blog breaks down why digital-native loan officers are well-positioned for today’s borrower expectations and how mortgage technology can help lenders attract talent, improve borrower experience, and build for where the industry is headed. Read the full blog here.

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 4 of the top 5 lenders in the U.S., Truework gives your team verification results they can rely on. Learn more.

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.

Approaching Webcasts and Videos

Today at 10AM PT is Mortgages with Millennials. Nicole Nosek joins Robbie Chrisman and Kristin Messerli to discuss the future of homeownership and the evolving housing market. The conversation explores changing consumer expectations, affordability challenges, and the trends shaping the next generation of borrowers.

Tomorrow at 11AM PT is Mortgage Matters. Sponsored by Lenders One, Garreth Long, SVP of Title, Trustee and Valuations at Altisource will discuss title, valuations, and operational strategy that lenders should be cognizant of. The conversation focuses on driving efficiency, improving borrower experiences, and positioning organizations for long term success.

Also tomorrow, but at noon PT, is The AI Show sponsored by JazzX AI. Rebecca Seward, Brooke Anderson Tompkins, Jagjit Singh, Mike Hogan, and Tela Gallagher Mathias examine the realities of AI adoption beyond the hype. The panel explores workforce readiness, governance, implementation challenges, and what it takes to move from experimentation to execution.

Housing Investors and the 21st Century ROAD Act

The proposed (passed by Congress but unsigned by President Trump) 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act aims to curb large institutional ownership of single-family homes, but its broad and complex exemptions (particularly for build-to-rent projects, age-restricted communities, and rehabilitated properties) may significantly limit its practical impact and leave ample room for investors to adapt their strategies.

Meanwhile, the actual investor-mortgage market remains dominated by smaller landlords rather than large institutions, with roughly 1.4 million agency-backed investor loans outstanding totaling $275 billion, heavily concentrated in California, Texas, and Florida. Since 2023, investor mortgage production has remained relatively stable in dollar volume despite lower loan counts, reflecting higher home prices rather than increased activity.

From a mortgage performance standpoint, investor properties have behaved similarly to second-home and owner-occupied loans, suggesting limited unique risk. Ultimately, while the legislation could alter how large institutional investors structure acquisitions, its effect on housing supply, rental availability, and mortgage issuance remains uncertain, especially given the industry's ability to adapt within the law's numerous exceptions.

Fee Standardization is About Data

I received a note from Brian Vieaux, the President of MISMO, warning lenders to look beyond the name of a fee for standardization.

“When people first hear that MISMO has been working on fee standardization, the reaction is understandable. ‘Really? Fee names?’ I get it. On the surface, it does not sound like one of the biggest issues facing mortgage lending. We have affordability challenges, regulation, margin pressure, AI, market volatility…and we’re talking about fee names? But that is the wrong way to look at it.

“This is not really a project about fee names. It is a project about data. Today, a single mortgage loan can touch dozens of companies and systems before it reaches the secondary market. Lenders, title companies, settlement providers, LOS platforms, pricing engines, QC providers, investors, servicers…the list keeps growing. Every one of those handoffs depends on data being understood the same way by everyone involved.

“That has not always been the case with fees. Two organizations may be referring to the exact same fee and calling it something different. For years, the industry managed around that. Someone knew what it meant. Someone made a phone call. Someone updated a spreadsheet. The work got done. But our industry does not operate that way anymore.

“Information now moves between systems far more often than it moves between people. Software does not know that ‘Electronic Registration Fee,’ ‘MERS Registration,’ and ‘Mortgage Electronic Registration System Fee’ might all mean the same thing. It sees three different values. That is where friction starts.

“MISMO’s Fee Modernization work, and the recently published fee modernization white paper behind it, address both sides of the issue: the fee names consumers see, and the underlying data structures systems exchange behind the scenes. That second part matters more than many people realize.

“AI will only make this more important. AI does not magically fix inconsistent data. If anything, it exposes it. The better the data going in, the better the outcome coming out. That is why MISMO’s work on Fee Modernization, the Business Glossary, LINK AI, MCP, and FRAME all connect. They are different pieces of the same strategy: create trusted standards, improve data quality, and make it easier for technology to deliver consistent, reliable results.

“My blog article goes deeper on the work, the white paper, and why fee standardization is really another step toward a more connected mortgage ecosystem.” Thank you, Brian! #vieauxpoint

Capital Markets

Agency MBS and U.S. Treasuries traded quietly to begin the holiday-shortened week, with weakness in shorter maturities offset by relative strength in the long bond as investors largely stayed on the sidelines amid a lack of economic data and improving sentiment in equity markets (geopolitical uncertainty continues to temper conviction). Absent a clear catalyst, muted activity should continue through the rest of the week. Investors continue to favor a cautious, "wait-and-see" approach, gravitating toward mid-coupon MBS while avoiding higher coupons amid expectations for at least one Federal Reserve rate hike by year-end; overall, Agency MBS remain attractively valued relative to investment-grade corporates.

As energy-driven inflation fears recede, markets are increasingly looking to June's employment, wage, and inflation data to determine whether underlying price pressures remain persistent enough to justify a restrictive Fed despite easing headline inflation. Markets continue to price at least one rate hike before year-end, but conviction increasingly depends on incoming economic data rather than Fed rhetoric. Chair Warsh is expected to reinforce the Fed's inflation-first framework in remarks at ECB’s Sintra Conference this week, but his more restrained communications strategy has left short-term Treasury yields highly sensitive to each new economic release.

Not everyone shares the market's hawkish outlook. A growing minority argues that falling oil prices, softer consumer spending (outside the AI-driven investment boom), continued housing weakness (spring homebuying season was a dud), and signs of a gradually cooling labor market (payroll gains have averaged about 113k/month in 2026, reflecting a declining labor force) point toward disinflation rather than renewed inflation, raising the possibility that markets may ultimately have to unwind rate hike expectations if data continues to soften. The question is whether the economy is slowing enough to ease inflation pressures without materially weakening overall growth.

Today’s economic calendar has April house price indices from FHFA and S&P Case-Shiller. Those will be followed by June Chicago PMI and June Consumer Confidence. Consumer confidence is forecast to rise on the month’s decline in gas prices, and inflation expectations should fall, good tidings for the rest of the summer travel season. Tuesday starts with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged from Monday’s close which were roughly unchanged from Friday’s close, the 2-year yielding 4.12, and the 10-year yielding 4.38 after closing yesterday at 4.37 percent.