By: Carol Crawford, Chief Marketing Officer

October 15, 2026

The Industry Is Fighting Cost. LOs Have to Win the Conversation.

Rates are well over 7% and the 2026 turnaround everyone expected never showed up. 

At the Opening General Session of this year’s MBA in Chicago, MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit delivered a sharp message: The industry can’t wait on rates, so it’s going after cost. Every win MBA claimed this year lowered costs for lenders, borrowers, or both. Every priority for next year does the same. Here’s what came out of Chicago this year, and what it means for the loan officer sitting across from a borrower.

The market: No Sugarcoating.

A year ago, the industry expected to turn the corner in 2026. It didn’t. Remember “survive ‘til 25”?  Broeksmit acknowledged that too few people are buying, selling, or refinancing, and that many lenders are facing hard decisions about their future.

His framing for the year: MBA’s wins weren’t extras. They were about survival.

The new playbook: Affordability in Action

MBA Chairman Owen Lee (Success Mortgage Partners) launched the Affordability in Action campaign: 20+ reforms that need no new legislation. MBA says they could cut thousands of dollars from the cost of financing a home “with the stroke of a pen.”

Two targets: Lower the cost to manufacture a loan and lower the cost for the borrower to get one.

Five shifts that matter at the kitchen table.

1. Credit score competition is real. FHFA approved VantageScore last year, and the GSEs will now accept it from all lenders. The choice between VantageScore and Classic FICO is a new lever for borrower pricing.
2. Tri-merge is on borrowed time. MBA has pushed for years to bring competition to credit reports, and FHFA is receptive. The specific reform is still being worked out, but Broeksmit said he is increasingly confident tri-merge won’t last.
3. UAD 3.6 got a reprieve. Appraisers, AMCs, software vendors, and some lenders were not ready for the November 2 deadline. The GSEs has given the industry more time to prepare and is protecting borrowers from delays and added costs. Lenders can file a UAD 3.6 extension for added time. 
4. The LO comp rule is on the chopping block. The CFPB rule, now more than a decade old, landed on the administration’s list of regulations to revise. Broeksmit said the rule that keeps LOs from improving borrower pricing “isn’t long for this world.” Expect months, not weeks. But the direction is clear.
5. Defense is the quiet win. Lee noted that only about 10% of lawmakers understand real estate finance, and roughly 90% of MBA’s work is stopping bad policy. This year that included:

• Shaping the ROAD to Housing Act, now law, including defeating a blanket ban on institutional investors buying single-family homes
• The trigger lead ban taking effect
• The return of the VA Partial Claim program
• Blocking state CRA expansion to IMBs and credit unions
• Suing over New Jersey’s disparate-impact rule
• Continued pushback on Basel III capital rules for MSRs and warehouse lending, with a final rule expected by year-end

MBA is betting on the loan officer.

MBA rolled out a new LO engagement platform, MBA Homebase, open to every LO in the country, member employer or not. CE, coaching, career development, customer acquisition and retention content, and a direct seat in advocacy. Lee asked every lender in the room to sign their LOs up.

The signal is hard to miss. The industry’s biggest trade group sees the LO, not the rate sheet, as the lever that moves the market.

What it means for LOs.

Cost relief doesn’t show up as a lower rate on a billboard. It shows up as options. A different credit score. More pricing flexibility if LO comp changes. New affordability programs as reforms roll out.

Options only help borrowers who understand them. In a 7%+ market, borrowers aren’t just shopping a rate. They’re shopping confidence. The LO who can lay out the scenarios, show the long-term math, and make the trade-offs clear is the one who earns the loan.

That’s the conversation MortgageCoach was built for. Advice-led borrower presentations that turn every new option into a clear decision.

See how MortgageCoach helps LOs turn options into decisions.