Lender Updates; TRID Progress Survey; So You Want to Staff a Correspondent Division?
Pro
Teck Valuation Services' Home Value Forecast (HVF) examined the impact
of lower oil prices on home values. Perhaps to no one's surprise, the
HVF suggested that areas with a diverse economic market and don't solely depend on oil experienced stable home prices. The
HVF evaluated Houston's home prices compared to crude oil prices within
the last forty years and found that Houston's home prices have been
slightly increasing due to the diversity of the industry (with the
exception of the 1980s). The survey
also identified the ten best and the ten worst performing metros ranked
by the survey's market condition ranking model. San Antonio, Houston
and Denver joined Washington State and California areas as top
performing metros according to real estate market indicators including,
sales/listing activity and prices, months of remaining inventory, days
on the market, sold-to-list price ratio, foreclosure percentage and REO
activity.
Stonegate introduced Streamlined Commitment for VA IRRRLs. Stonegate
Mortgage has recently introduced a streamlined commitment for VA IRRRLs
for Wholesale and Prior Approved Correspondent clients. Its new
process program offers VA approved accounts greater speed in
underwriting and closing. Their goal is to have VA IRRRL loans approved
in 24-48 hours, Wholesale loans funded in 15 days or less and Prior
Approved loans clear to close in within 10 business days of receipt.
The Correspondent Division of Envoy Mortgage posted
information regarding removals of overlays, minimum credit scores
reduced and lower/reduced LLPA's. For complete information, click ENVOY CLD.
Mann Mortgage, LLC announced
that it has enhanced its risk management policies and procedures
governing its mortgage lending business by requiring all settlement
agents to pass independent risk evaluation, rating, monitoring and
reporting in order to close their residential mortgage loans. The
process will be managed for Mann by Secure Settlements Inc., the first
vendor management firm to specialize in closing table risk. Mann chose
the SSI Closing GuardTM tool to evaluate all settlement agents who wish
to close loans with its company. For more information, visit the Mann Mortgage website.
Plaza's
guidelines have been updated to reflect Home Possible Advantage loans
eligible to 97% LTV. Plaza's Home Possible Guidelines have been revised
with other improvements as well. For more information, view its Home Possible Program Guidelines. Refer to the Program Guidelines for complete changes and requirements.
Nationstar Mortgage Correspondent Lending published
its seller guide update on Monday, March 9, Various Credit Overlay
requirements and clarifications have been updated since its release. To download the complete update, please click here.
Citi posted updates to its general and loan specific credit policies and announced, effective as of March 5th,
a more streamlined pricing formula for its Rate Renegotiation Policy to
address borrower rate change requests on its "best efforts" rate-locks.
First Community Mortgage Wholesale has issued its February product and pricing guideline changes. To view these updates, click here.
M&T is re‐introducing
FHLMC Super Conforming. This Agency program which provides conventional
financing for borrower's financing properties in high‐cost
markets. This program is Freddie Mac's version of the FNMA High
Balance. The borrowers can get conventional loan underwriting instead
of a higher priced Jumbo loan option. M&T is has also returned to
offering the Fannie 97% LTV option. M&T also posted an introduction
to its Early Renovation Review Process for 203(k) loans in its latest
bulletin. This service enables a Correspondent to submit all renovation
documents for review after a loan has been registered but prior to
purchase. M&T's Project Review team will conduct all reviews.
Wells Fargo Funding's
January newsflash covered the following information: An overview of the
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule and Policy Expansion regarding
Tax Return Transcripts for W-2 Income. Also included are updates to its
Maximum LTV/CLTV Reductions for Condominiums and Non-Conforming Loans
which are in effective as of March 2, 2015. Updated Non-Conforming
Conventional LTV Matrix and a Reminder regarding Standard Documentation
Requirements are now available as well.
Speaking
of TRID, according to Dr. Matt Lind of STRATMOR Group, TILA-RESPA
disclosure requirements are one of the most significant changes to the
mortgage lending process the industry has seen since the passage of
Dodd-Frank. Do you wonder how your peer lenders are addressing this
important regulatory change? Find out by participating in the STRATMOR PeerViews survey. This free survey addresses how lenders are approaching the implementation of the new TILA-RESPA disclosure requirements
along with the status of their implementation and is open to senior
mortgage lender executives until March 31st. Participants will receive a
report summarizing the findings in early April. The results will be
aggregated so that individual company results are not disclosed to any
party, nor will they be displayed in such a way that individual company
responses could be determined.
Regarding TRID, James Brody with American Mortgage Law Group writes, "I wanted to provide you with a link to the recording and PPT of the AMLG webinar
with MBA guest speakers. While we had to cut around 500 people to meet
the maximum 1,000 allowed, we have been receiving some incredible
feedback and it may be something that your audience will benefit from.
Hope all is well and look forward to hearing when you want to do our
lunch.
"Rob,
I read your opening paragraph a while back about the large number of
correspondent lenders, but my CEO still wants to take a look at moving
into that space. Do you have any idea about staffing for a correspondent division?"
Well, a few. I can see the attraction - the correspondent channel is a
good way to add servicing economically. First you'll need someone to run
it. After that you'll probably need a Regional Sales Manager who
manages individual client relationships, client level pricing, a
Regional P&L, many aspects of counterparty risk, accountable for
ensuring client bills are paid on time, input to annual planning and
corporate as well as regional strategy. That person is basically there
to figure out "why a wheel fell off" and has the tools and internal
company resources and relationships to fix it, along with managing the
support team for the region, either directly or via a dotted line. They
could manage other sales people, may or may not deal with loan level
issues, informs and trains correspondent clients about products and
pricing, and is accountable to annual volume and P&L goals.
After
that you'll need an Area Manager who handles all of the above but with
less focus on regional and corporate strategy & planning. Typically
an Area Manager is present in cases where the Regional Manager is far
removed from clients, and when there are a lot of AEs to manage. Under
that person you need Account Executives for "outside sales". These folks
will focus on just bringing in the volume, informing and training
correspondent clients about products and pricing, and spends a certain
amount of time visiting clients in their physical office. You could also
have AEs for "inside sales". They pretty much do the same as above but
without the physical presence - usually works from a corporate or
centralized office, which has advantages when dealing with policy makers
or loan level issues. They are less costly but are arguably less
effective. Hope that helps!
Turning briefly to bank mergers & acquisitions,
things have been pretty quiet - but they are still being announced. In
Kanas three bank holding company Southeast Bancshares ($291mm) will
acquire The First National Bank of Howard ($8mm). Up in Illinois five
bank holding company Foresight Financial ($921mm) will acquire State
Bank of Herscher ($136mm). Down in Tennessee McKenzie Banking Co
($123mm) will acquire The Farmers Bank ($12mm), and in New Jersey Glen
Rock Savings Bank ($136mm) will acquire Llewellyn-Edison Savings Bank
($122mm). Perhaps the biggest news is that the FDIC has given
conditional approval for Primary Bank (NH) to insure customer deposits
and open as a new bank after it raises at least $22mm in capital. This is only the second bank to open in 4 years.
Turning
to the markets, we've certainly seen some volatility this week, and
Thursday the bond markets did give back some of Wednesday's rally - not
atypical. For news yesterday Initial Jobless Claims were +1k to 291k and
the previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 289,000 to
290,000. The 4-week moving average was 304,750, an increase of 2,250
from the previous week's revised average. The Philadelphia Fed was "5.0"
in March, as expected. (How'd you like to do that for a living: spend your time estimating what the Philly Fed is going to be next...?) And the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index +0.2% to 121.4 in February. By the time the dust settled agency MBS prices were worse about .250.
Interestingly, traders have seen increased agency MBS trading, and I am hearing lock desks are seeing a nice pick up in lock volumes
- maybe even some records yesterday for some reason. Perhaps margins
have been dropped, and borrowers & LOs might be thinking that rates
are going up and the opportunity for a rate & term refinance is
slipping. There will always be cash out refis, right? As Thomson Reuters
mentioned, "Supply has been a cloud over the sector the past several
weeks, with $2 billion the new norm as rate locks get pulled through and
hedged more frequently."
There
is no news this morning, and the markets are pretty quiet here at the
Vernal Equinox - the traditional start of spring. The 10-yr is sitting
around 1.96% and MBS prices are a shade
Jobs and Announcements
In the jobs & expansion category, Guardian Mortgage Company is seeking producing Branch Managers and Loan Officers as it expands its presence in Michigan.
Positions are available in the Grand Blanc, MI office and a new
location in Oakland County, MI. "Serving generations of homebuyers since
1965, Guardian is dedicated to Loan Officer empowerment-as proven by an
average Loan Officer tenure of 10+ years-through origination assistance
and in-house Marketing and Training Departments. Guardian's approach
to the business of residential mortgages is one of integrity, honesty,
and retained servicing focused on long-term relationships and what is
right for the needs of each borrower. For the top 12 reasons why
Guardian would be a good fit for you and how you can join a partner you
can trust," please visit GuardianMortgage or forward your confidential inquiries and resume to LO-Employment@gmc-inc. com.
2,300 miles away National MI continues its expansion and is searching for an Account Manager in the Northern California market.
The Account Manager utilizes their expert understanding of the
residential mortgage industry and their existing relationships in the
Northern California market, to build strong relationships with key
senior level client advocates and influencers, and drive new business.
This individual will meet with clients on a daily basis, clearly
communicate the National MI value proposition, articulate industry and
client trends, and use their superior presentation, communication and
interpersonal skills to develop opportunities, train and educate
clients, and grow profitable market share within their assigned
territory. Headquartered
in the San Francisco Bay Area, National MI is a U.S.-based, private
mortgage insurer enabling low down payment borrowers to realize
homeownership. For the complete job posting, visit National MI.
Congrats to Matt Patterson who has joined 1st Advantage Mortgage, as National VP of Business Development
in the Hammonton NJ office. "Matt's professionalism and integrity have
provided him with a solid foundation of knowledge, ethics, and
understanding, and his 33 years of experience make him a great fit for
managing company growth. Prior to joining 1st Advantage, Matt was the
President of Superior Mortgage Corp. and was the Regional Manager at
Guaranteed Rate for an area with offices covering NY, NJ, PA, and DE
managing a $1.5 billion plus region. At 1st Advantage Mortgage, Matt
will focus on growing the company, especially on the East Coast. 1st
Advantage Mortgage, a Draper and Kramer company, is one of the top 100
Mortgage Bankers in America.
Let me introduce to you Wildcat Lending, LLC., a hard money (also known as private money) lender in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. "This
area of lending is such an untapped or unknown area of lending that
EVERY Real Estate Agent and Loan Originator needs to know about,
especially in today's lending market, to get more offers accepted and
more sales and loans closed. Need a bridge loan or can't approve a
'subject to' appraised value? Hard money is the next 'big' thing in
terms of demand in residential lending and Wildcat is willing to educate you
and show you how we do business so you close more deals. We lend on the
After Repaired Value, or ARV, and our loans include both purchase and
rehab funds. This is for investment properties only where
an investor acquires, renovates and either flips or keeps the property
as a rental. Closings can be days (remember those days?) and this is
basically considered a cash offer! Please email Jeremy Rehwald or Kai Chandler to learn more about Wildcat Lending's loan products and terms.