Look up authoritative 2026 mortgage facts: FHFA conforming loan limits, FHA loan limits, VA funding fee schedule, FHA MIP rates, and agency DTI caps. Use this whenever you need a specific dollar amount, percentage, or threshold — never quote these from training-data memory because the values reset annually and FHFA/FHA limits are different programs. Returns the requested value with a source citation (FHFA, HUD, VA, Fannie/Freddie). Coverage: all 50 US states + DC, all county-level limits, 1-4 unit properties.

Search Cal's scoped wholesale-lender library for programs that fit a loan scenario. Returns lenders ranked best-first with score, qualifying reasons, and any blockers (state license gaps, FICO/LTV overlays). Use this for any "who does X?" or "which lender for Y?" question — pass as much scenario detail as you have (FICO, LTV, loan amount, occupancy) and Cal will rank against the live library. Defaults to top 5; pass expand=true for top 15.

Fetch the full record for a specific wholesale lender — programs offered, state licenses, account-executive contact, broker portal URL, status, and recent matrix dates. Use this after cal_search_lenders to get contact details + portal info before recommending the lender to an LO.

List indexed matrix / handbook / overlay documents for a lender. Returns each doc's filename, effective date, product category, authority (master vs. supplement), superseded flag, and a short extracted summary. Sorted: master → current → superseded last. Use this to verify program details or cite a specific matrix version when answering an LO question.

Find Down Payment Assistance (DPA) programs for a borrower's state, county, FTHB status, and program type. Returns up to 25 ranked programs with provider URLs, eligibility, amount, and program type (grant / forgivable / deferred / second / MCC). Use this for any "DPA in ", "first-time buyer help in ", grant, forgivable second, MCC, or any city/county/state housing-finance-agency program question.

Tribal-knowledge intelligence on a specific wholesale lender — strengths, watch-outs, speed notes, scenarios they love, scenarios to avoid, AE contacts, recent overlay shifts not yet in PDFs. Use this AFTER cal_lender_details when the user asks "is this lender any good for X?", "fastest path", "what gets denied", or any qualitative question about working with the lender. Pass an intent to narrow the response and save tokens — e.g. intent="scenariosTheyLove" returns just that field.

Fetch a structuring playbook for a recognized hard mortgage scenario — departing residence with property still listed, ITIN / foreign national, sub-580 FHA, renovation (203k / reno-perm), super-jumbo > $1M — or the matrix-freshness citation rule. Each pattern returns the recommended lender shortlist + the specific guideline to apply. Call this FIRST when the LO's question matches one of these patterns — it gives you the playbook before any lender search.