My cat Myrtle was always interested in both the primary and secondary markets… for line-caught halibut. In residential lending, the secondary markets shouldn’t be a mystery to anyone. Did you know that Fair Housing laws apply to the secondary markets? HUD’s overview notes that “It is illegal discrimination to refuse to purchase a loan based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, familial status, or national origin.” In primary and secondary markets hungry for borrowers and assets like MBS, this isn’t currently a problem, so that’s good. In the secondary markets, accurate data commands a premium, whether it is borrower data, credit data, genetic data, and now… neural data, they’re all for sale. (Elon Musk’s Neuralink, brain implant tech, is considered medical technology, thus supposedly covered by HIPPA.) Repositories of mortgage, servicing, & borrower data see value in using the data and reporting the information, while worry continues to mount over non-government agency DOGE having nuclear, Medicare, Social Security, and population data for U.S. citizens. Some say, “Most have nothing to worry about” while others say, “I want my privacy.” Stay tuned. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week is sponsored by CreditXpert, the credit optimization platform that helps today’s top mortgage originators and more than 60,000 mortgage professionals qualify more applicants, make more competitive offers, reduce LLPA premiums and close more loans. Hear an interview with American Pacific’s Audrey Boissoneau on the latest conversations that originators are having with borrowers as we enter Spring home buying season.)