With
plenty of texts flying around regarding the MBA's conference in San
Diego that starts today and thus the early commentary, here is an
"exciting" tidbit - text messages are old enough to be college
graduates. The first text message was sent on this date in 1992 - 22
years ago. It was sent by Neil Papworth, an England-based software
developer. "Merry Christmas" was the first text. It is rumored that the
second text was, "who dat?" Yes, technology has come a long way, and
Millennials demand it. Sometimes LOs have difficulty explaining to
borrowers why a residential loan can take weeks or months to process
when places like Lending Club can make a decision in a matter of seconds.
I guess if you want job security, HUD is the place to be. It seems that HUD has a very low rate of firing anyone
- which means that management excels at hiring the right people in the
first place, right? Right? (One thing that comes out of Haiti
periodically is a leader that declares himself "president for life." I
think that the last one - Jean-Claude-Duvalier, the self-proclaimed
"president for life" of Haiti whose corrupt and brutal regime sparked a
popular uprising that sent him into a 25-year exile, died in October.)
Capital markets folks, and ARM originators, are still talking about "being charged to use LIBOR"
- but there is still confusion out there about it. As a reminder, ICE
Benchmark Administration recently announced a new licensing framework
for users and redistributors of LIBOR. The changes can be found here.
Included in the new framework is a discounted fee for smaller
institutions that use LIBOR only in the context of a single currency. The
MBA's Dan McPheeters is hosting a call to hear directly from ICE
Benchmark Administration on what this means for your company. "Please join us Tuesday, December 9th at 12PM EST
to learn more about current and planned developments with LIBOR and to
ask questions regarding the licensing fee or the rate itself." The call
is primarily for MBA members, but it is open to others - contact Dan McPheeters to sign up.
Yes, there continue to be a lot of upcoming events and training for folks. In no particular order...
Chase Correspondent
is offering a webinar on lending tools and resources available to help
mitigate on December 4th. Also available on December 10th, underwriting
training information to help you overcome any underwriting challenges
you may face today. Information and registration for either webinar is
available here.
Would you like to be a member of Colorado Mortgage Lender Association's
Leadership development forum? As a member you will learn Personal
Leadership Development Plans, Change Management, Coaching Skills &
Conflict Management, Project Management, Building Winning Teams, and
other management, leadership & coaching issues you face each day. To
request information, view its CMLA forums.
The MBA
is coming to Los Angeles on January 29th providing the next set of
RESPA-TILA Integration Forums to help you and your company prepare for
the August 1, 2015 compliance deadline. Additional details and
registration information can be viewed here.
MBA
is gearing up for its National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo
2015. The conference will be held in Dallas TX on February 23rd-26th.
Details and registration information can be viewed here.
MGIC
is offering both live and recorded webinars covering topics such as
appraisal training, basic MI, self-employed borrowers, and income and
assets. For complete details, visit MGIC's training site.
Mortgage Bankers Association of New Jersey
is conducting its Compliance Summit 2015: Managing Risk and Compliance
in the New Regulatory Era on December 11th. The event is free and
includes breakfast and lunch. Register now.
Radian
offers various trainings spanning topics such as schedule C, MI,
quality applications, social media, and unusual income types. For
details, check out its training calendar.
Radian
announced NAR will present the 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
annual survey for its customers. Speaker Jessica Lautz, Director of
Member and Consumer Survey Research, will discuss the latest industry
trends, data on home buyers and sellers, and why consumers are making
the choices they are making. This Webinar on December 10th has limited
space available, register now.
Texas Mortgage Bankers Association's
2014 Education Webinar Series: Market and Valuation Trends for Mortgage
Servicing Rights, is scheduled for December 11th with speakers from
MountainView Servicing Group. The registration form and additional
information is available by clicking here.
BuckleySandler
chairman Andrew Sandler will discuss the expansion of lender liability
under the TRID rule, and partners Clint Rockwell, Joe Reilly, and Ben
Olson will discuss the key implementation issues and the latest guidance
provided by the CFPB. If you would like to register for the December
11th free webinar regarding update on the CFPB's New Mortgage Disclosure
Rule, click here.
On December 4, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. ET, K&L Gates
and PayBefore will present a complimentary webinar discussing what the
CFPB's Prepaid Proposal means for your business. The focus will be on
the practical impact the rules will have on prepaid accounts, and what
they may mean to prepaid issuers, program managers and processors. The
goal will be to give listeners information and tools to evaluate how the
rule will impact their business and provide practical advice on how to
address concerns about the rule with the CFPB. Follow the link for registration information.
Mortgage Bankers Association of the Carolinas is
providing The Summit Broker Focused training on Dec 16, 2014. This
event will enable you to learn from other Brokers in the State, meet
legislative leaders who will make a difference, share business
challenges, and the opportunity to speak with your Banking Commission
about the MARs report, register now.
Join Mark Reeve, Plaza Home Mortgage's
Reverse Mortgage National Director. This webinar is designed to learn
how to present a reverse mortgage to your borrowers. Follow the link if
you would like to register for this December 4th webinar.
Any
entity investing in the bond market has plenty of choices: Treasury
debt, mortgage-backed securities, municipal bonds, bonds issued by
foreign countries, and so on. Here in the United States companies angling to get ahead of rising interest rates have sent U.S. corporate-bond sales in 2014 to an annual record: $1.5 trillion. Hey, if you're Exxon or IBM and can borrow a yields below 4%, why not?
A quick note about my periodic blog at the STRATMOR Group web site in the right-hand column. The current blog is, "Supply & Demand: Still Driving Mortgage Rates". The initial outlook for net supply in 2015 is just $85 billion based on an average of the major Wall Street firms' projections,
similar to what is expected this year. Meanwhile, net demand from the
Fed is projected at $6 billion, banks $40 billion, REITs $10 billion,
while money managers should easily manage the remaining excess new
issuance and paydown supply from the GSEs.
BofA Merrill Lynch published its "2015 Agency MBS Outlook: Scarcity Value."
Their staff of bright MBAs and quant jock's findings includes mortgage
valuations being priced to low volatility, which is their core view, due
to minimal credit growth and net issuance of mortgage-backed Securities
(MBS) being well behind the 2013 level. Credit still remains an issue,
as the cost of credit is high and affordable credit through new programs
is not available. BofA ML's forecast for 2015 net issuance is $65 billion,
with net growth across all private MBS holders, with the opportunity
for MBS to tighten if the post-crisis lows in volatility are achieved.
The federal government's guidance on reinvestment agency MBS pay downs
will be the focus in 2015 but the lack of capital and political action
will restrain reform.
When
I am helping companies with capital markets issues, occasionally
someone (usually the CFO) will say that hedging involves using
"derivatives" and that the board of directors will frown on their use
and that accounting for them is rife with problems. A primer titled "OTC derivatives-A primer on market infrastructure and regulatory policy"
just came out that may answer some of these questions and concerns, and
discusses counterparty risk, tax treatment, trading, and so on.
I have a lot of time to listen to things as I travel the country. On a recent broadcast of Capital Markets Today sponsored by Neighborhood Stabilization Capital Management, Gregg Rand, CEO & Founder of OwnAmerica
discussed the institutionalization of the single family rental
industry. Rand stated that out of the crash, the single family rental
industry has evolved to be a sophisticated and scalable industry. Rand
goes on to point out that the industry is spinning off a non-distressed
8-12% cash on cash yield that is attracting Wall Street institutional
investors. He further discussed barriers to entry, ways to invest,
multi-borrower securitizations, data aggregation tools, demographics and
evolutionary next steps. It's worth a peruse with an analytic eye....or
ear.
Continuing with the market news, Paul Jacob with Wunderlich Securities
summed things up: "We're keeping an eye on the situation in Washington
regarding last-minute budget talks. (Are there any other kind?) Dec. 11
is the current deadline. At this point a government shutdown looks
unlikely, though I wouldn't bet the farm. This situation will be an
interesting preview for whether upcoming Congressional session will be
about."
Yesterday
we learned that Construction Spending during October rose 1.1%, 3.3%
above the October 2013 estimate of $939.9 billion. This number doesn't
move markets, but does give us a sense for what is going on out there.
Speaking of which, the markets move lower Tuesday due to "rate-lock
hedging of corporate deals, along with asset reallocation from
Treasuries into the new corporate issuance" per Thomson Reuters.
Today,
as folks including myself head to San Diego, we will have the MBA's app
numbers for last week, the ADP Employment report for November (expected
+230k private sector jobs), final Q3 productivity and unit labor costs
(projected at +2.2% and +0.3%, respectively), the ISM non-manufacturing
PMI for November, and the Fed's release of its Beige Book. When the dust
settled Tuesday we had a 2.29% close on the 10-yr.
Jobs
For company news, Fidelity Bank is expanding the Wholesale and Correspondent Lending Division within the Southeast Region. Industry veteran Craig Dodds
was hired this year to manage the division and grow the channel. "We
are now looking for AEs for both wholesale and correspondent lending in
Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North and South
Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Based in Atlanta,
Fidelity Bank is a direct seller servicer to the agencies and provides AEs with access to wholesale and correspondent programs (both delegated and non-delegated) from a full menu of products. Please send your confidential resume to Craig (above), to resumes@lionbank. com, or mail to: Fidelity Bank, Human Resources 3 Corporate Square, Suite 110, Atlanta, GA 30329. EOE/M/F/Disabled/Veteran.
On the warehouse side, Preston State Bank (PSB) has successfully launched a "non-captive" mortgage warehouse lending division
servicing both the mini-correspondent and correspondent channels in the
state of Texas. PSB is a state chartered commercial bank, established
in 2003, and its warehouse lending program has over 50 approved
investors and provides flexibility to the mortgage banker in how they
run their business. For more information contact Jim Harrison.
Lastly,
"Do your lending partners obsess about turn times? When it comes to
turn times and meeting close of escrow deadlines, not all lenders are
created equal. Endeavor America Loan Services was recently named a
'Five-Star Lender' by MPA Magazine
for its stellar turn times. How does EA do this? First, currently 91%
of Endeavor America's fundings are purchases. In a recently measured
loan cycle, EA looked at the last 1,166 purchase loans they closed - 37%
(434 units) closed by or before the close of escrow date; 27% (308
units) within one-seven days of the COE; and 36% (424 units) closed over
one week from the original COE. That means 64%
of all purchases sent to EA closed before, on, or at worst, within one
week of the close of escrow date including loan files where EA was the
lender of second choice. That's
some pretty impressive data to keep in mind when you choosing where to
send your next loan." To learn how to become approved with Endeavor
America, visit its wholesale or correspondent website.