“Remember how when you were little you could just rip off your diaper and run around naked and everyone thought it was so cute and funny? Anyway, I need bail money.” Money makes the world go ‘round. Fed President Lisa Cook was fired earlier this week based on claims of occupancy fraud, and while I agree with many of you that this Commentary has been writing too much about politics lately, politics and the mortgage industry are certainly intertwined. There’s a nearly identical occupancy story coming out of Texas. “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, are longtime owners of a $1.5 million house in a gated community in McKinney. In 2015, they snapped up a second home in Austin. Then another. The problem: Mortgages signed by the Paxtons contained inaccurate statements declaring that each of those three houses was their primary residence, enabling the now-estranged couple to improperly lock in low interest rates…” Of course, things should be equal in the eyes of the law, right? I’d like to believe enforcing it isn’t a political thing. Maybe things have gotten too political, or maybe people like being pissed off these days more than normal? Just ask a couple of former Phoenix Suns minority owners. A pair of them who were holdovers from the previous ownership group are suing the team, alleging that current Suns owner, and head of UWM, Mat Ishbia has refused access to internal records. It’s the sixth lawsuit against the team since November 2024. I think we had a national election around that time. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Arrive Home. Arrive Home helps mortgage lenders connect creditworthy buyers with down payment assistance and affordable homeownership solutions, offering tools that empower lenders and uplift communities. Hear an interview with Trueworks Victor Kabdebon on data from recent homebuyer surveys pertaining to products and lender decisions.)