By Eric Souza From the Editor
Like French Chefs, We Rely on Sources (with a Generous Pinch of Salt)
I regularly consult social media to discern what my industry colleagues think of pressing news topics. I read commentary from sources I trust and lean on those perspectives to develop my understanding of nu- anced issues impacting mortgage and real estate markets. I recognize the ways that social media creates echo chambers, so I also intentionally consider the views of colleagues whose words I consume with a generous pinch of salt. In an era of media overload, it’s important to approach new sources with care. My journalism school professor, the late Howard Seemann, drilled this lesson into his students. He would grace the dingy basement newsroom of The Lumberjack (Cal Poly Humboldt’s student newspaper – Go Jacks!) with “Howard’s Homilies,” a two-column breakdown of the good and the bad of each print issue. Howard enjoyed jokes, many of which were, like his issue reviews, generous and brutal. One stuck with me: “What do a French chef and a journalist have in common? You’re only as good as your sauces.” Our SOURCES (phonetic fun aside) and industry relationships are the reason we’ve succeeded, through boom and bust. Sure, we hear plenty of pitches for promotional content, which even occasionally border on mort- gage propaganda, but we have filters in place to maintain the caliber of writers who fill Scotsman Guide’ s pages. Many of our authors are experts in their lending niche who have shared that expertise with our readers for years. We value those connections. Other authors are new to the pages of Scotsman Guide , and represent our publication’s commitment to delivering original insights from front-line sources navigating constantly changing opportunities in the mortgage business. We give space to these new voices and are pleased to share their analysis on topics we may have overlooked in the past. One new writer featured in the February edition is Mike Eising. His openness and biting wit in LinkedIn posts led to us discussing the role of social media in mortgage compliance. His article, found on page 13, is sharp, incisive and required reading for originators and real estate agents overly eager to post their next success story. Compliance professionals (yes, you’re getting two compliance stories this month!) will be pleased to read a piece from Anna DeSimone, starting on page 18, exploring current trends in cybersecurity. Her article examines what she describes as the “three lines of defense risk man- agement model,” while offering suggestions about best practices for risk management and audit assurance.
This month, you might be surprised to learn how interesting a mort- gage deed of trust can be, and the critical role they play in protecting transactions. In our commercial section, two mortgage litigators explain how business-purpose loans are not as standardized as traditional owner-occupied products and can therefore create gaps in lender protection. Find out about the critical provisions they recommend on page 37. As editor of a publication that features industry insights and analysis written by contributing authors, a growing challenge I face is continuing to deliver the quality our readers have come to expect from Scotsman Guide . We are not the landing page for self-serving advertorials or AI-generated slop. We appreciate the authors in this edition, those who have written before, and those to come. We value their expertise. After all, like Howard said all those years ago, we’re only as good as our sauces. ●
Eric Souza Editor of Scotsman Guide magazine. Reach him at (800) 297-6061 or ericso@scotsmanguide.com.
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Scotsman Guide | February 2026
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