Fri, Mar 28 2025, 11:49 AM
“What is the difference between the government and organized crime? Only one of them is organized.” (Suitable for any administration.) Government poli...
Thu, Mar 27 2025, 11:21 AM
Here in San Diego at the MCT Exchange 2025, with nearly 500 registrants, the agenda’s keynote speaker and one of the panels was composed of Fannie and...
Wed, Mar 26 2025, 11:41 AM
Anyone who thinks politics doesn’t impact residential lending isn’t, frankly, paying attention. Let’s start with something simple, like… interest rate...
Tue, Mar 25 2025, 11:45 AM
This week I head to San Diego for MCT Exchange 2025, and my email has been heating up. “Rob, are you hearing about a big jump in lock volume last week...
Mon, Mar 24 2025, 11:58 AM
“A government survey has shown that 91 percent of illegal immigrants come to this country so that they can see their own doctor.” On a more serious no...
Fri, Mar 21 2025, 11:53 AM
“Elon is firing Twitter employees with bad posture. I have a hunch I might be next.” If I have a sprained finger, I don’t need a heart and lung transp...
Thu, Mar 20 2025, 11:43 AM
“My wife just left me. She says life revolves around baseball and she's sick of it. I'm quite upset. We were together for 7 seasons.” Say hello to the...
Wed, Mar 19 2025, 11:40 AM
Tired of writing those pesky checks? Wait no longer: If you don’t want to send a check through the U.S. Mail, for whatever reason, there’s Deluxe Paym...
Tue, Mar 18 2025, 11:00 AM
The calendar pages flip. We’re in mortgage conference season again in hotels around the nation, and why not have a little fun leaving your quarters (e...
Mon, Mar 17 2025, 11:25 AM
“My friend showed me a photo of a famous meteor crater in Arizona. It's amazing how close it landed to the Visitor's Center!” Here in Tucson, the weat...
Fri, Mar 14 2025, 12:05 PM
Time flies. We’re at “pi day” (3.14), two weeks until the end of the quarter, one month before our taxes are due. Tax returns for individuals are priv...
Thu, Mar 13 2025, 11:47 AM
Teddy Roosevelt thought that lawyers are trained to serve clients and not justice. An interesting discussion topic. Residential lending certainly has ...
Tue, Mar 11 2025, 11:42 AM
“Buying eggs on the street and weed in the stores: the times they are changing.” Borrowers are certainly reacting to changes in rates as capital marke...
Mon, Mar 10 2025, 11:53 AM
“Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.” People flying around the nation have probably observed, or have heard, a change in the mood of airpor...
Fri, Mar 7 2025, 11:48 AM
“If you boil a funny bone, it becomes a laughingstock. Now that's humerus.” What isn’t humer…, uh humorous, is a) most states losing an hour Sunday mo...
Thu, Mar 6 2025, 12:03 PM
“I recently saw a woman at Walmart with March Madness teeth... She was down to the final four.” Risk-free, prepayment-free Treasury rates have approac...
Wed, Mar 5 2025, 11:52 AM
Today involves a flight from Cancun to the West Coast. Maybe the news flow will cease for me in the six hours in the air, but the news flow impacting ...
Tue, Mar 4 2025, 11:45 AM
Some argue that “March 4th” is the only date that is also a command (march forth), while others disagree and say that any date in March is also a comm...
Mon, Mar 3 2025, 11:43 AM
Can you believe it’s been five years since we were chuckling at, “I ran out of toilet paper and had to start using newspaper. Times are rough” and “Th...
Fri, Feb 28 2025, 11:52 AM
Here in Miami, and everywhere, lenders and real estate professionals are acutely aware of supply and demand impacting prices, as does anyone who buys ...
Thu, Feb 27 2025, 11:52 AM
AI is definitely a discussion topic among lenders: what is it, will it help the borrower, will it help the lender… How would you like every hand motio...
Wed, Feb 26 2025, 11:45 AM
While the House passed President Trump’s budget resolution, the industry is abuzz about the TV at HUD’s headquarters showing an AI video of Donald Tru...
Tue, Feb 25 2025, 1:03 PM
In Connecticut, a portion of the formal and informal talk here is about how builder news touches on lenders. (As an aside, Home Depot’s earnings, repo...
Mon, Feb 24 2025, 11:46 AM
Today I head to Connecticut for a visit with First World Mortgage and the Northeast Mortgage Summit. Today happens to be rocker George Thorogood’s 75t...
Fri, Feb 21 2025, 11:53 AM
While much of the nation deals with the severe cold, I received this note from a new loan officer in Oklahoma. “Rob, I overheard my secondary group ta...
Thu, Feb 20 2025, 11:44 AM
“Inflation is really getting out of hand... But that's just my 5 cents.” Inflation impacts the prices of fixed-income securities, like the kind backed...
Wed, Feb 19 2025, 11:45 AM
So, you drive across town to a gym to walk on a treadmill? There are always interesting and strange things going on out there. Huh? The Florida’s gove...
Tue, Feb 18 2025, 11:45 AM
This weekend I spent a little time in the Miami Airport and overheard two people discussing how they were waiting for a builder in Tennessee to finish...
Fri, Feb 14 2025, 11:25 AM
As rumors of the demise of HMDA reporting swirl, as well as a 50 percent reduction in HUD headcount and actual VA cuts, think about this the next time...
Thu, Feb 13 2025, 11:45 AM
Capital markets participants around the world breathed a sigh of relief when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that President Donald ...
Wed, Feb 12 2025, 12:05 PM
With the whirlwind of Trump Administration news (Jonathan McKernan to lead the CFPB, playing hardball in Gaza, ending penny production, pardoning form...
Tue, Feb 11 2025, 11:49 AM
Hah! Just kidding… But did you think, “Oh no!” or “Yippee!” when you saw that subject line? The ups and downs of the Consumer Finance Protection Burea...
Fri, Feb 7 2025, 11:51 AM
“The San Diego Padres visited an orphanage in Mexico. ‘It's really sad to see their faces with no hope,’ said Juan, age 9.” In other San Diego news, O...
Thu, Feb 6 2025, 11:51 AM
“Nothing says, ‘I mean business’ than using a shopping cart at the liquor store.” We’re already 10 percent through with 2025, and residential lenders ...
Wed, Feb 5 2025, 11:40 AM
I know where to go when this Commentary writing gig grows stale. Wanna make 30 clams an hour? Costco’s hiring! (Remember when lenders and originators ...
Tue, Feb 4 2025, 11:46 AM
How’s your ability to predict the weather? Apparently not good if you’re a groundhog. It is not hard to predict how you’ll hear from the IRS, if you d...
Mon, Feb 3 2025, 11:52 AM
Where should we begin this week? There’s President Trump making good on one of his campaign promises over the weekend, and it wasn’t ending Russia’s a...
Fri, Jan 31 2025, 12:02 PM
Here in Las Vegas, I asked a German girl if Germans are afraid of numbers. She said 9. Numbers are interesting, as we will find out with the declared ...
Thu, Jan 30 2025, 11:54 AM
Any capital markets person will tell you, “What’s a surefire way to double your money in a casino? Fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.” I ...
Wed, Jan 29 2025, 3:27 PM
“Did you ever notice that when you put the two words "The" and "IRS" together, it spells "Theirs"? The impact of taxes and tax cuts (potential or expi...
Tue, Jan 28 2025, 11:44 AM
“Last year I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet.” Lenders and vendors are certainly meeting here in Austin. What’s going o...
Mon, Jan 27 2025, 11:54 AM
“Dr. Oz says rubbing coffee grounds on your naked body will get rid of cellulite. Apparently, you can't do this in the downtown Austin Starbucks.” Her...
Fri, Jan 24 2025, 11:47 AM
“With oil prices going down, I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rate...
Thu, Jan 23 2025, 11:54 AM
“Be decisive. Right or wrong, make a decision. The road is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make a decision.” Potential borrowers wonder why mor...
Wed, Jan 22 2025, 11:47 AM
A fake image of Brad Pitt was used to scam a woman out of $850,000. (Hopefully every lender has set up policies and procedures regarding events like t...
Tue, Jan 21 2025, 11:40 AM
Please don’t touch my pizza! In a decision that has left countless fans disappointed,, including many in the mortgage ranks, Costco has decided to rem...
Fri, Jan 17 2025, 11:47 AM
We’re more than halfway through January already, the MBA has lowered its 2025 projection to $2.1 trillion, and there is a sense of “wait and see” out ...
Thu, Jan 16 2025, 11:55 AM
Do you know the interest rate on your loan? How about the age of your roof? Here in Austin, a big concern is too much growth: Austin has gained 1 mill...
Wed, Jan 15 2025, 11:48 AM
The folks here in Austin are sarcastically asking, “Who’s in your wallet?” Hopefully not Jennifer Garner or Samuel L. Jackson. The Consumer Financial ...
Tue, Jan 14 2025, 11:54 AM
“The older I get, the earlier it gets late.” It was early to bed last night for me, early to rise, since today we are heading to Austin, Texas for the...
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