This is not a surprise. Marc is arrogant, but then, so is the NAMB. Marc personalizes issues and is an ineffective spokesman. The NAMB has virtually no influence on Capitol Hill. His claims about what NAMB has done for the industry are laughable. You should also know that NAMB is a virtually all-white organization. ALL of its board members are white, and all of its previous presidents have been white. That is one of the many reasons few listen to this organization. I was a member for many years, and realized it is of limited value. I may still rejoin, but I don't expect much from it.

I just came across these comments from Marc Savitt, the NAMB president, a month ago. He is a real jerk, and these comments prove as much:

He claims that "NAMB has been praised by the media on the Hill for having almost as much success with legislative matters, as NAR." I would love to see what media that was. I doubt such a comment was ever made. This is representative of the outlandish claims NAMB makes. 

He also claims he "testified in 2007 regarding certain loan products. Pay options arms were included. NAMB never supported this product and that's on the record." I have a tough time believing that, too. Does anyone really believe that NAMB worked to end Option ARMs. Simply opposing the product doesn't mean you can say you did anything to stop them.

Then Marc writes: "Instead of sitting back and knocking those who work hard everyday to protect you, help us." This is what NAMB leaders always whine about. They are ineffective, insecure, and arrogant. The fact is, most of these leaders are in it for their own ego. Many committee chairs and board members have been in their positions for YEARS because of their egos. They think they are big deals because they talk to some member of Congress. Fewer than 25% of mortgage brokers ever join the NAMB. And NAMB membership is projected to decline from 27,000 members to 10,000. There is a reason for that. NAMB members get a LOT less for their membership than they are promised.

NAMB is known as an organization that is controlled by white, male, middle-aged subprime brokers. The organization screwed up when the mortgage mess started. The NAMB refused to acknowledge that any of its members, indeed any mortgage brokers, deserved any of the blame. The association lost a lot of credibility, and has not regained it. It continues to support YSP at any cost, and is almost always an opponent of pro-consumer legislation. They just don't get it. It is a reactive and insecure organization that has been told to change time and again by the brokers who refuse to join. The association is irrelevant for the majority of mortgage brokers and loan officers in the US and is quickly becoming irrelevant on Capitol Hill.   

Marc Savitt:

Concerning the "union dues" you pay, the NAMB portion of your total dues (state and national), works out to .33 a day!! Furthermore, I don't seem to be able to locate your name in our membership roles. You might want to check on that.

Well, you probably don't see my name in your "roles" anymore either.  I haven't renewed and heres why:  I've been a member since 2005 in Oregon, and on top of my annual dues, agreed to become a "49'er" to our Oregon chapter - which means an extra $49 bucks a month to help fund the "good fight".  I receive little to no communication from my state association, with the exception to request for more money.  My last reply was a request for information about what the State Organization is really doing for me, and I was considering not renewing.  I stated that they seemed more interested in using our money for the annual Golf Tournament and Convention.  I must have upset somebody, because nobody called or emailed to tell me how I must be wrong...or maybe I was right.  As for the NAMB, yeah, I get a few emails every now and then, but when the annual convention comes around, well then the emails really heat up - but that's usually the only time I really hear from NAMB.

I've often wondered aloud why the NAR seems to be such a powerful lobby but the NAMB does not. 

As for me, well I've donated money, I've never attended a conference - how many attendees are either local, or their own "state" chapters are paying for them to go..... - I have supported all the "call to actions" in Oregon, have communicated to my State and Federal representatives on the issues, been interviewed by local television, talk to civic groups, etc.

Marc, to sum up, times are tough, we all know that, what have I gotten for my $1000 bucks a year?  Doesn't feel like much.....so if it really has been a lot, than NAMB just has a HUGE PR problem with it's very own members and it's very own industry.  As President, I would recommend you start with that.

As for the posts on the whole white male subprime conspiracy theory...well those posts just made me laugh.

I would like to see exactly where the new law says that bank employees must now go through the "exact" same procedures as us, because that is not true and NAMB knows it.

Let's face it, a bank employee can still go from Taco Bell to a bank job in one day.

I would think that our industry is so competitive right now, that we're cheaper than Banks, and Credit Unions.  Let them take away our YLD.  That just means we're the cheapest, most transparent way to get money... NAMB should be screaming from the roof tops that we Brokers the solution, not the problem.  We have been ahead of the curve with licensing, disclosures, ect...  

I don't see how Mortgage Brokers are still getting all this bad press, when we just did what the BANKS told us to do.  We didn't force NINA loans down people's throats... The banks sold them to Brokers.  Countrywide was notorious for their "Fast and Easy Program"  Now, they are a part of BofA blaming the Broker for NINA loans?  We have no representation in the media as far as I can see.

Let them take away our YLD.  That just means we're the cheapest, most transparent way to get money

I agree, Jacob.  I don't think I've recommended a loan, with YSP, in a year.  IN a rising interest rate environment, it will make little sense to sell premium rate loans.

I agree that NAMB needs to do a better job in the Press.  Our interests have been underrepresented.  I decided to change all of that, join CAMB, volunteer for NAMB, and get engaged. Might we expect your help as well?

We are the new leaders, Jacob

Brian Brady:

I don't think I've recommended a loan, with YSP, in a year

So you are doing loans for what percentage then?  1% origination or less or more?  No Back end pricing at all???  Any ysp gets credited straight to borrowers closing costs?  If that's the case, you had better be doing a ton of conforming jumbo's.  Because with an average loan size of $140k, that won't work for me.

Looks like the NAMB are getting the wind knocked out of their sails once again.

Daily Real Estate News  |  July 31, 2009 

A federal appeals court judge threw out the National Association of Mortgage Brokers’ challenge to loan disclosures and other changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) put in place last year by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Barring intervention by Congress, the revised RESPA procedures require mortgage brokers to disclose yield spread premiums – rebates paid by lenders when borrowers take loans at higher interest rates than they might qualify for – and credit them against the borrowers’ closing costs. The new disclosure requirement will take effect Jan. 1.

Often borrowers choose these higher-cost loans because they want to roll closing costs into the loan. The NAMB sued HUD in December 2008, saying the new policy put mortgage brokers at a competitive disadvantage compared to direct lenders, which may receive similar incentives but don’t have to disclose them.

In dismissing the suit, U.S. District Judge James Robertson called HUD’s rationale for the new rules “reasoned and compelling.” Robertson said the premiums lenders get are different and come after the loan is closed.

"Direct lenders cannot be expected to disclose what they do not know," Robertson wrote in his decision.

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2009073103?OpenDocument&WT.cg_n=RMO&WT.cg_s=RSSDaily&Sort=MostRecent

While this was posted back in Feb of this year, figured I would post the updated version of this article.

A message from NAMB President Marc S. Savitt, CRMS to Barack Obama, President of the United States: The banks and Lenders that "prey" together, stay together