1.13.26 Interest Rate Instruments; Clever's Jaime Seale on Millennial Home Buyers; CPI Inflation

Welcome to The Chrisman Commentary, your go-to daily mortgage news podcast, where industry insights meet expert analysis. Hosted by Robbie Chrisman, this podcast delivers the latest updates on mortgage rates, capital markets, and the forces shaping the housing finance landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just looking to stay informed, you'll get clear, concise breakdowns of market trends and economic shifts that impact the mortgage world.

In today’s episode, we look at the market's reaction on Monday to criminal charges being levied against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Plus, Robbie sits down with Clever’s Jaime Seale for a discussion on the widespread financial barriers and affordability concerns of younger generations, and why Millennials, in particular, are willing to stretch budgets significantly despite planning to purchase homes below current median prices. And we close by examining what the latest CPI report says about inflation in the U.S.

Thank you to Figure. Figure is shaking up the lending world with their five-day HELOC, offering borrower approvals in as little as five minutes and funding in five days. Figure has hundreds of partners in the Banking, Credit Union, Home Improvement, and of course, IMB space embedding their technology. 

Transcript

Today’s Capital Markets Wrap (3PM ET) will cover how mortgage rates may be impacted by the lack of a traditional flight to quality despite rising international unrest, alongside proposed limits on institutional SFR purchases, rate sheet changes, recent presidential commentary on GSE bond buying, and… the proposed credit card interest cap. “Rob, yesterday’s Commentary had a piece on President Trump’s proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent. Will it impact lenders?” One quick thought is, “If mortgagees are relying on borrowers refinancing their 25 percent credit card debt using home equity, but a person can obtain a 10 percent credit card online and quickly with no ‘hoops’ to jump through, some percentage will do that and not refinance their home using a mortgagee.” Another thought is, “Why stop at setting credit card interest rates? Could the president decide he’s going to set mortgage rate ranges, independent of credit risk, LTV, or default statistics?” Americans now carry a record $1.21 trillion in credit card debt. A new “White Paper reveals how persistent financial pressures are pushing households to rely more heavily on credit cards for everyday expenses, with the average user carrying a $5,595 balance: "Managing High-Interest Debt: How Cash-Out Refinances Can Help Homeowners Find Relief." (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Figure. Take advantage of Figure’s technology and products like its fixed HELOC, DSCR loan, piggyback loan, and direct debt paydown, helping you serve more of your existing network and expand into new markets. Hear an interview with Clever’s Jaime Seale on the widespread financial barriers and affordability concerns of younger generations, and why Millennials, in particular, are willing to stretch budgets significantly despite planning to purchase homes below current median prices.)

Employment and transitions

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Deephaven Mortgage, a leader in the non-QM space, is expanding and hiring across multiple positions. This is your opportunity to elevate your career while working with a team that values expertise, collaboration and growth. Open roles include Wholesale Account Executives, Account Managers, Mortgage Closers, Post Closing Specialists, VP of Product, Senior Underwriter, Senior Data Developer. If you’re ready to join a company with a strong culture, great people and a commitment to excellence, Deephaven is the place to be! Apply here.  If you are interested in becoming an approved customer, reach out to Tom Davis.

Same Effort, Better Margins in 2026. Start the year by fixing your biggest overhead: Corporate Bloat. At Canopy Mortgage, we don’t just talk about efficiency; we engineered it. Our cost to fund is 34% lower than the industry average, fueled by our proprietary LOS. Why does this matter? Because lower operational costs mean sharper rates for your borrowers and higher comp for you. Stop subsidizing middle management and start capitalizing on your own production. Click Here to see the Canopy difference. Own 2026. Power up your future and join Canopy Mortgage.

Stewart Information Services Corporation announced that Matt Orlando has been named President of Informative Research (IR), a leading provider of credit, consumer, and real estate data and technology services, where he will lead IR’s growth strategy and product development as part of Stewart’s vision to create a comprehensive, customer-focused real estate services platform. Congratulations!

Justin Demola, CMB, has joined Equifax as senior vice president of mortgage and housing, bringing more than six years of cooperative and vendor-side leadership experience to the credit reporting and data analytics firm. Demola announced the move in a LinkedIn post, saying he was “thrilled” to join Equifax as it continues to expand its influence across the mortgage and housing finance ecosystem.

Evergreen Home Loans names fintech veteran Dan Richards chief strategy officer to drive channel expansion, AI-powered innovation, and long-term growth.

Products, services, and software for brokers and lenders

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Many servicers can say they’ve “gone digital,” but fewer can say it’s made the job easier. Dashboards have replaced spreadsheets, portals have replaced emails, and task queues have replaced paper files. However, cycle times are still long, costs keep rising, and teams still spend their days coordinating work manually behind the scenes. The real question isn’t whether servicing has adopted technology; it’s whether that technology has changed how the work gets done. In “Moving Past ‘Digital’ Toward Real Default Servicing Performance,” Clarifire takes a hard look at the difference between digitization and real transformation in default servicing. The blog explores what improves outcomes in high-risk environments, how servicers should evaluate fintech in an overcrowded market, and why workflow orchestration, and not more tools, is increasingly the missing link. If “going digital” hasn’t delivered what you expected, this blog is worth reading.

With the calendar flipping to a new year, what better time to roll out our newest solution? Introducing 1st Lien Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) loans from Spring EQ, one of the fastest-growing opportunities to grow your business. DSCR loans, also known as investor cash flow loans, allow you to expand your customer base and close more deals with less paperwork and less hassle. Designed for real estate investors, DSCR qualifications are based on property income, not personal income. That means no W-2s or tax returns are required, which leads to faster approvals and, most importantly, happier customers. On top of these benefits, Spring EQ offers industry-leading DSCR pricing. This is your chance to win more investor business with pricing and speed that truly stand out in today’s market. Ready to get started? Visit EMMA to price, process, and manage your loans today. Not a partner? Join us: Wholesale or Correspondent.

Extreme weather events are becoming more severe, frequent and costly, resulting in significant financial impact for mortgage and housing professionals. For instance, insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2014, creating cascading effects on housing affordability and introducing critical credit risks. Join ICE’s complimentary webinar, Weathering the market: the ripple effect climate risk has on the housing industry, on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. ET, to learn how climate pressures directly impact credit performance and portfolio health. A panel of ICE analysts will examine the root causes that are accelerating insurance premiums; delinquency correlations tied to climate events; and home price dynamics in climate-vulnerable markets. Register today to see how robust climate data and actionable intelligence can help you make faster, more informed decisions before, during and after a disaster.

“Something new is taking shape behind the scenes at Informative Research. We’ve been quietly rebuilding AccountChek from the ground up, modernizing the platform to deliver faster performance, better reliability, and a smoother experience for borrowers. Now, AccountChek 2.0 is moving into testing with beta users. What’s new? A modernized infrastructure unified with the IR Platform. A more intuitive login experience with native SSO support. Easier user and billing management. Faster report generation. And smarter disaster recovery. It’s not just an upgrade. It’s the start of something bigger. Keep an eye on Informative Research as we bring AccountChek 2.0 to life.”

“Hundreds of lenders now have access to top-tier insurance capital Jumbo pricing on the MAXEX platform, with early adopters already locking in on higher margins. In certain scenarios, this buyer’s Jumbo pricing is 50+ bps through the competition. The best part? By plugging directly into MAXEX's streamlined operational processes, lenders gain premium pricing without sacrificing quality. Join us tomorrow, January 14 at 1:30 pm EST for a deep dive into this new investor, the pricing advantage, and how to use it to dominate the Spring buying season.”

eLEND is reflecting on a transformative 2025 marked by growth, momentum, and meaningful change as the company looks ahead to 2026 with a renewed commitment to elevating every experience. Throughout the year, eLEND made bold moves to support long-term success, including a brand evolution from AFR Wholesale to eLEND, expanded product offerings, operational and process enhancements, and continued investments in technology, leadership, and talent. “We didn’t slow down to make these changes, we made them while driving 90 miles per hour,” said COO Michael Brenning, emphasizing the company’s focus on transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement, even amid growing pains. Looking ahead, eLEND’s 2026 priorities include refining products and processes, enhancing partner tools, and maintaining a relentless emphasis on service, communication, and execution. President and CEO Robert Pieklo shared confidence in the road ahead, pointing to strong partnerships as the foundation for continued growth. Read the full press release here. Visit elendtpo.com, call 1-800-375-6071, or email sales@elend.com (NMLS 2826)

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.

Compliance & regulation news

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice announced that they have withdrawn a joint statement regarding the implications of a creditor’s consideration of an individual’s immigration status under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

On October 12, 2023, the agencies published a joint statement cautioning that creditor policies related to an applicant’s immigration or citizenship status could, in certain circumstances, run afoul of ECOA’s and Regulation B’s prohibition of discrimination on the basis of protected classes, including race and national origin. The agencies withdrew the joint statement to avoid any conflict with the express language of ECOA and its implementing regulation, Regulation B.

“For decades, ECOA regulations have permitted lenders to consider a borrower’s lawful residence status and other information necessary to protect their rights and remedies with respect to repayment,” said Acting Director Russell Vought at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “We are correcting the last administration’s attempt to ignore these well-accepted and common-sense principles of our nation’s fair lending laws.”

“The federal government is committed to avoiding statements that could confuse the law or imply compliance standards for civil rights laws that lack any statutory or regulatory basis,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This administration is restoring alignment with established federal civil rights law rather than continuing the prior administration’s ideologically driven departures.”

ECOA and Regulation B respectively permit creditors to consider pertinent elements of creditworthiness and information necessary to protect creditor rights and remedies, including a borrower’s immigration or citizenship status. The agencies also believe withdrawal is appropriate to avoid any confusion that lenders may legitimately consider immigration status under several circumstances, including when necessary to avoid financial risks and to comply with other laws. In addition, withdrawal is appropriate to address any misimpression that the joint statement interprets 42 U.S.C. § 1981 to confer any liability under the statute that has not already been recognized by courts. Finally, the agencies believe withdrawal is appropriate to avoid any unnecessary burdens from new or increased compliance efforts.

Last week the Acting Director of the CFPB requested $145 million from the Federal Reserve. The CFPB filed a notice in the District Court in the NTEU v. CFPB case that included the Acting Director’s letter requesting the funds from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell. Richard Horn points out that, “The letter states that the Acting Director disagrees with the District Court’s opinion that the CFPB must request funds to comply with its preliminary injunction (which I discuss here), and then states that he has determined that $145 million is ‘the amount necessary to carry out the Bureau’s authorities for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2026.’”

Recall that On December 30, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the CFPB union’s motion to clarify the scope of a preliminary injunction in the ongoing litigation regarding the CFPB’s funding and operations. Orrick reports that, “The court held that the defendants claimed ‘lapse’ in funding, premised on a DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo that concluded that the Fed did not have ‘combined earnings’ from which the CFPB could request funding, did not justify noncompliance with the injunction.”

Levy’s Mortgage Musings is out with its first edition of 2026, offering another unique take on a hot RESPA topic. In his latest edition, Levy tackles the issue of so-called “Reverse Referrals” explaining why he thinks that is a terrible name for these kinds of cooperative provider arrangements. You can sign up for free here to get an email directly from Levy’s Substack account whenever he posts a new blog.

Capital markets: consumer inflation back in the news

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Despite heightened political rhetoric and investigations, investors showed little conviction that the turmoil would meaningfully derail markets yesterday. Markets opened with brief “Sell America” jitters amid a Justice Department criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over Fed headquarters renovation costs, which is widely being panned as an attack on Fed independence, but largely shrugged off the political noise by yesterday's close. Treasuries were supported by strong demand at a $39 billion 10-year auction, though they later gave back gains and finished mostly lower. Agency MBS saw mixed performance: lower coupons outperformed following President Trump’s call for the GSEs to buy $200 billion of MBS, while higher coupons came under pressure as falling mortgage rates revived refinancing fears. 

Today brings the all-important December CPI report. The headline increased (+.3 percent monthly, +2.6 percent, both about as expected), with core +.2 percent, +2.6 percent y-o-y. The CPI was expected to have held steady in December after decelerating in November, as the government shutdown caused issues with the measurement of inflation in late 2025 that likely overstate the recent improvement.

Other data points today include NFIB small business optimism for December, Redbook same store sales, the delayed figure for new home sales, and the December budget statement. We will also receive remarks from St. Louis Fed President Musalem and Richmond Fed President Barkin, and JP Morgan kicks off bank earnings from Wall Street. We begin Tuesday with Agency MBS prices slightly improved from Monday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.49, and the 10-year yielding 4.16 after closing yesterday at 4.19 percent.

Einstein dies and goes to heaven

He is informed upon arrival that his room is not yet ready.

"I hope you will not mind waiting in a dormitory. We are very sorry, but it is the best we can do, and you will have to share the room with others," the doorman, Clyde, tells him. Einstein says that is perfectly fine and there isn't any need for a big fuss. So, Clyde leads him to the dorm where Einstein is introduced to the current residents.

"Well, here is your first roommate, he has an IQ of 180!"

"Why that's splendid!" exclaims Einstein, "we can discuss literature!"

"And here is your second roommate, she has an IQ of 150!"

"What fun!" exclaims Einstein, "we can discuss mathematics!"

"Meet your third roommate, his IQ is 100!"

"Jolly good!" exclaims Einstein, "we can discuss the latest plays showing at the theatre!"

Just then another gentleman comes up to greet Einstein and shake his hand, "I'm your last roommate, and I wanted to apologize in advance, my IQ is only 80."

Einstein smiles back at him and inquires, "So, where do you think interest rates are headed?"