Lykken on Lending

With the 10-year Treasury testing the psychologically significant 5% level, mortgage professionals are confronting a rate environment many originators have never experienced—but higher rates don't mean the opportunities disappear. In this discussion, David Lykken and the Lykken on Lending team explore why today's market requires loan officers and mortgage leaders to stop relying on rate as the primary sales tool and instead become stronger advisors, communicators, and problem-solvers. From structuring loans around a borrower's real financial priorities to managing market volatility, embracing technology without losing the human connection, and controlling the narrative inside an organization, success increasingly comes down to leadership and relationships. People will continue to buy homes because life continues to happen, and the mortgage professionals who can educate borrowers, communicate value, keep their promises, and provide solutions through uncertainty will be positioned to earn their trust—and their business.

Alice Alvey examines the new VantageScore 4.0 pricing framework, its differences from Classic FICO, the technology challenges facing lenders, and concerns that multiple scoring options could encourage borrowers to shop multiple applications.

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Alice Alvey, Master CMB

Vice President Partner Education and Training at Union Home Mortgage

She handles development of their World Class Training program designed to support UHM partners and organizational effectiveness.

Prior to UHM, Alice served as Senior Vice President at Indecomm leading the Indecomm-Mortgage U division, Internal QA and Compliance and SaaS technologies. Indecomm acquired Mortgage U in 2013, where Alice was President/Co-founder, providing training and consulting since 1996. Prior to MU she served as SVP of Operations at a national bank overseeing operations for wholesale, retail and correspondent from underwriting through servicing, and compliance.

She has been in the trenches of mortgage lending operations from application through servicing for over 30 years. Her authoring work in training content, policies and procedures and the FHA/VA Practical guides illustrates her ability to bridge regulatory requirements with day-to-day operations.

Alice has been a weekly contributor to the Lykken on Lending show since its beginning in April 2009 and has made her weekly contributions to 450+ episodes!

Matt Graham explains how surging oil prices, inflation data, Treasury buybacks, and shifting Fed expectations drove mortgage rates sharply higher while setting the stage for another potentially volatile week.

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Matt began as an originator in 2002. He fell in love with the idea of following MBS in real-time but felt that existing products were only scratching the surface. Thus was born MBS Live in 2007, the first-of-its-kind platform with real-time market data/analysis, and live chat with analysts, traders, and originators around the country. He is currently the Founder and CEO of MBSLive!

He's been covering bond/mortgage markets, writing commentary, alerts, and chatting with the live community every business hour of every business day ever since.

Matt also serves as the Chief of Operations for mortgagenewsdaily.com, where he is one of the industry's most respected mortgage rate experts, frequently quoted in the media. Mortgage News Daily's rate index is used as the definitive resource on day-to-day mortgage rate averages.

He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and son, where he enjoys skiing, fishing, coaching youth sports, playing the guitar, and more DIY projects/hobbies than he'd care to admit.

MBA is calling on mortgage professionals to support the #EndTriMerge campaign as FHFA considers major changes to credit reporting, including greater competition, single-file reporting, and newer credit-scoring models.

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Adam DeSanctis, VP of Communications at Mortgage Bankers Association

As a strategic public affairs and communications executive with nearly two decades of experience, Adam has deep expertise in strategy, management, and media relations. He is widely considered to be an expert in a variety of communications, including advocacy, brand, executive, crisis, grassroots, and social media. In his career, he has been the MBA spokesperson on a wide variety of real estate research and advocacy-related issues, promoted MBA research and advocacy efforts to financial, political, and trade industry media and on MBA's social media channels, and secured media opportunities for MBA leadership on key real estate trends and issues, generated media coverage for MBA's research and data on mortgage applications, credit availability, homebuilder applications, mortgage forbearance/delinquencies, commercial real estate originations, and forecasts, and other industry analysis, developed key strategic initiatives for MBA's organizational public affairs plan, media relations and member communications support for mPower, MBA's Opens Doors Foundation and MBA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program.

Artificial intelligence is generating no shortage of dramatic headlines, but how much of the fear is justified—and where do the real risks actually lie? In this week’s Weekly AI Update, me and Pavan Agarwal cut through the noise surrounding AI and examine what mortgage leaders should truly be paying attention to. From the rapid rise of agentic AI and its ability to deploy thousands of autonomous agents to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, accountability, traceability, and the limitations of today’s large language models, the conversation separates technological reality from sensationalism. They also explore emerging approaches such as JEPA, the growing role of AI in mortgage operations, and why understanding both the capabilities and limitations of these technologies will be critical as lenders decide how—and where—to put AI to work.

The mortgage industry is entering a period where relying on the traditional agency model alone may no longer be enough. In this Hot Topic, David Lykken sits down with mortgage industry veteran Bill Dallas to explore why Non-QM and non-agency lending could become some of the industry's biggest growth opportunities over the next decade. Drawing on decades of experience spanning origination, capital markets, product development, and multiple market cycles, Dallas explains how today's borrower has fundamentally changed—and why mortgage lenders must change with them. From HELOCs, DSCR and bank-statement loans to interest-only products and investor financing, the conversation examines how lenders can move beyond a one-size-fits-all agency approach and become solutions-driven organizations equipped with a broader product toolbox. More importantly, Dallas shares why successful lenders must rethink product development, liquidity, capital markets, underwriting and risk management if they want to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.

The Lykken on Lending Weekly Mortgage Update delivers expert commentary and timely insights from across the mortgage industry. Each episode features a curated lineup of respected thought leaders and analysts:

• Adam DeSanctis with the MBA Mortgage Minute, providing key updates from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
• Les Parker’s TMSpotlight offers a macroeconomic perspective with his signature musical parodies.
• Matt Graham of MBS Live, breaking down market activity and interest rate movements.
• David Kittle, CEO of The Mortgage Collaborative, sharing insights on mortgage originations and industry trends.
• Alice Alvey of Union Home Mortgage, delivering essential regulatory and legislative updates.
• Allen Pollack, with the Tech Report, spotlighting emerging technologies impacting mortgage operations.
• Bill Corbet, presenting Bill's Bullet Commentary with focused insights on loan servicing and capital markets.
• Marc Helm, offering Marc’s Rant, an unfiltered take on operational and agency-related developments.

Together, this expert panel brings clarity, relevance, and a touch of personality to the ever-evolving mortgage landscape.

09-08-2026 The 2009 Endangerment Finding..."It's Over"

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Golden scams with US end. Regulation cuts are wins.

Regulations have consequences. Forget hook ‘em horns, go with fart*, Bevo, fart. We can exhale* more easily now that Trump revoked the 2009 Obama-era "Endangerment Finding." It drove climate rules by defining greenhouse gases, including methane emitted by cows and CO₂ exhaled by humans.

The largest deregulatory move aims to reduce manufacturing costs and increase vehicle affordability. As a result, the 10-year yield remains below 5% and will break below 4.40%.

It’s Over.

These views are mine. Catch changes by signing up for TMSpotlight

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Song: It’s Over (1964) Roy Orbison

FHFA is advancing major changes to mortgage credit reporting, including full availability of VantageScore 4.0 and potential alternatives to the traditional tri-merge requirement aimed at increasing competition and lowering borrower costs.

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Adam DeSanctis, VP of Communications at Mortgage Bankers Association

As a strategic public affairs and communications executive with nearly two decades of experience, Adam has deep expertise in strategy, management, and media relations. He is widely considered to be an expert in a variety of communications, including advocacy, brand, executive, crisis, grassroots, and social media. In his career, he has been the MBA spokesperson on a wide variety of real estate research and advocacy-related issues, promoted MBA research and advocacy efforts to financial, political, and trade industry media and on MBA's social media channels, and secured media opportunities for MBA leadership on key real estate trends and issues, generated media coverage for MBA's research and data on mortgage applications, credit availability, homebuilder applications, mortgage forbearance/delinquencies, commercial real estate originations, and forecasts, and other industry analysis, developed key strategic initiatives for MBA's organizational public affairs plan, media relations and member communications support for mPower, MBA's Opens Doors Foundation and MBA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program.

Artificial intelligence may be transforming mortgage lending, but according to Pavan Agarwal, AI is only half the story. In this week’s AI Update, David Lykken and Pavan explore how blockchain could become the other half of the industry’s transformation by bringing greater certainty, transparency, security, and speed to the mortgage process. From tokenized pre-approvals and on-chain records to borrower-controlled data, digital wallets, and the potential disruption of traditional LOS platforms and financial intermediaries, this conversation looks at what mortgage lending could become when AI and blockchain work together. The result may be a future where loan officers have greater control of their relationships and data, consumers have greater ownership of their financial information, and mortgage transactions move more efficiently from pre-approval to closing.