Lykken on Lending
Created by mortgage professionals for mortgage professionals, Lykken on Lending is a weekly 60-minute podcast hosted by mortgage veteran, David Lykken, and co-hosted by Marc Helm. Joining the program each week is Adam DeSanctis with his weekly MBA Mortgage Minute, Les Parker with his Macro Market Update, Matt Graham with a weekly Market Update, David Kittle with Originations Update, Alice Alvey providing a Legislative Update, Allen Pollack with his weekly Tech Update. The weekly updates are followed by the Hot Topic segment, which is an in-depth discussion about one of the hottest topics related to the mortgage industry. The program can be heard live each Monday at noon central or downloaded as a podcast. Each week thousands of industry professionals have found this to be an effective way to stay up on all that is happening in the mortgage industry. This broadcast is provided to the mortgage industry as a public service compliment of Transformational Mortgage Solutions. We invite you to join us to listen and learn.
Episodes
In this episode of Lykken on Lending, David Lykken sits down with Matthew Marx, co-founder of Evocalize, to unpack a powerful truth emerging in today’s AI-driven mortgage landscape: local relationships still win. Recorded after the Total Expert Conference, the conversation dives into how lenders and real estate professionals can use AI to automate digital marketing, reclaim control from lead aggregators, and refocus their time on w...
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.
Mortgage lenders are investing millions in marketing technology, yet a staggering percentage of those tools go underused or completely idle. In this episode of Lykken on Lending, David Lykken sits down with James Duncan, Founder and Chief Marketing Strategist at Caelum Advisors, to unpack why MarTech adoption breaks down and what executives can do about it. Drawing from his experience leading marketing at Thrive Mortgage and Lower,...
In this episode of Lykken on Lending, David Lykken sits down with Garrett Maroon—founder of The Faithful Agent and the 210 Collective—to unpack what it truly means to build a successful business without sacrificing what matters most. As a husband, father of five, and top-producing Realtor who has closed over 650 homes entirely by referral, Garrett shares the hard-earned lessons behind creating margin, setting boundaries, and redefi...
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.
This commentary explores the growing tension between Federal Reserve policy, liquidity management, and emerging risks in the mortgage market, as panelists unpack rangebound rates, the limits of economic data, and concerns around leverage, fraud, and regulatory inconsistency. Drawing parallels to lessons from The Big Short, the discussion highlights how abundant reserves, yield-curve dynamics, and opaque policy decisions may be mask...
This podcast segment explores the rise of AI-driven mortgage fraud, real-world risks from AI hallucinations, and why human-in-the-loop controls and federal AI governance are critical for lenders and vendors.
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Allen Pollack, Tech Consultant
This podcast segment breaks down the complex reasons behind the 30–40% surge in tri-merge credit report costs, examining regulatory mandates, FICO licensing fees, bureau markups, and the challenges of creating true competition without compromising fair lending or investor confidence.
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This podcast segment explains how jobs data, the Fed’s dot plot, and reserve management purchases kept mortgage rates rangebound while markets wait for clearer inflation and employment signals.
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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...
Consumer Direct lending is experiencing a resurgence as mortgage professionals search for more predictable, cost-effective ways to generate leads in a challenging market. In this episode of Lykken on Lending, David Lykken sits down with Tim Slavin, CEO of The Share Group, to unpack how data science is transforming consumer direct mortgage strategies. The conversation dives into why most purchased leads fail, how richer consumer, pr...
12-16-2025 New Bear Trend Is "Nothing from Nothing"
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Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'. Bears gotta have somethin' if they wanna trend to be.
EU leadership has neither money nor voters’ support to stop the US-Russia Ukrainian peace deal. US wage increases are slowing. China deflates. Germany’s growth shows green shoots but remains constrained by high energy costs.
Jobs are stagnating, while inflation componen...
This podcast segment covers key mortgage-related housing reform legislation and a new federal AI policy framework that could shape compliance, innovation, and affordability across the mortgage industry.
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Adam DeSanctis, VP of Communications at Mortgage Bankers Association
Mortgage lending is undergoing a fundamental shift as technology reshapes how income and employment are verified—yet the human experience remains more important than ever. In this episode of Lykken on Lending, David Lykken sits down with Shmulik Fishman, Founder and CEO of Argyle, to explore how modern income verification is transforming underwriting, reducing friction for loan officers, and improving outcomes for borrowers. From A...
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.
This podcast segment explores the real-world use of AI in mortgage lending, separating hype from value while examining automation tools, app fatigue, platform longevity, and the emerging “51st Date Syndrome” in AI adoption.
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Allen Pollack, Tech Consultant
Allen P...
his podcast segment breaks down the complex reasons behind the 30–40% surge in tri-merge credit report costs, examining regulatory mandates, FICO licensing fees, bureau markups, and the challenges of creating true competition without compromising fair lending or investor confidence.
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This podcast segment examines why bond yields surged toward the top of their recent range despite economic data failing to clearly explain the move, highlighting the role of technicals, holiday trading, and upcoming risk events.
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Matt began as an originator in 2002. He fell in love with the ide...
Artificial intelligence isn’t coming to the mortgage industry—it's already here, and it’s fundamentally reshaping how lenders engage past customers, manage database outreach, and scale production without sacrificing the human touch. In this episode, AI Assistants in the Mortgage Space: How Intelligent Outreach Is Rewriting the Loan Officer Playbook, David Lykken sits down with leaders from Total Expert and Assurance to unpack real-...
12-09-2025 Who's The "Lost Cause"
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Bears, you're lost; Bulls, you're lost; Maybe, you're a Lost Cause.
With bond yields moving up, Bears have an easier path to capture the trend at 4.18 than bulls in diving below 4. Does the steepening of the coupon curve suggest no recession?
According to Deutsche Bank, once the Fed begins a rate-cut cycle, the 10-year Treasury yield does not fall sustainably without the economy...
This podcast segment highlights the Senate’s advancement of major housing finance nominees and reminds IMBs to register for MBA’s premier conference ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
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Adam DeSanctis, VP of Communications at Mortgage Bankers Association
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