The MBA tells us that both volume and profits were down in 2017. “Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks made an average profit of $711 on each loan they originated in 2017, down from $1,346 per loan in 2016.” Production expenses grew in all categories: sales, fulfillment, production support and corporate. Keep that in mind the next time anyone questions pricing, asks for a free extension, or wants .250 knocked off the price of that $300k loan to match the guy up the street.

Trainings and Events

Todd Duncan is hosting his High Trust Sales Academy mortgage training event May 8th-11th in Newport Beach, California. He’s been teaching this event for 26 years and over 12,000 loan officers have successfully completed the training. The event is designed to help any loan officer at any stage of their career create a successful plan for their business and their life. The longevity of High Trust Sales Academy proves how powerful it is. Click here to find out more about Todd Duncan’s passion behind creating the High Trust Sales Academy. Also, Todd is giving away a free download of his audio interview with Success Magazine founder, Darren Hardy, about failure. Click here to download Making Failure Your Friend.

AllRegs is offering the following courses: “Analyzing Alternative Income” beginning April 17, 19, 24, and 26th. During this course, case studies will be analyzed using the Fannie Mae form 1084 method to calculate self-employed income for Sole Proprietors, Partnerships and Corporation owners. Class time will also be spent analyzing rental income, pension income and income derived from retirement funds. “Mortgage Compliance for Originators” beginning April 23, 24, and 25th. This course was developed for mortgage professionals in a leadership or decision-making role and have a good understanding of mortgage compliance regulations and their applicability to specific functions during the life of the loan, from application through closing.

Check out this free series of webinars hosted by the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) during its Education Week beginning April 23. Learn about the loan product for homeowners aged 62+ and how these loans not only benefit the borrower and their loved ones, but also mortgage professionals and financial planners.

Mountain West Financials’ free webinar is today, April 18th: What you need to know about Manufactured Homes.

AmeriHome’s underwriting management team will be providing an Appraisal Review Webinar on April 19th and April 26th.

Hear from Ari Karen, CEO of Strategic Compliance Partners and Partner at Offit Kurman on April 19th as he discusses reviewing and rebalancing your compliance program.

Find out from some of the top experts in the nation how your team can build agent partnerships and leverage tech to create massive growth opportunities. Dave Savage, Founder of Mortgage Coach, and Sue Woodard, Chief Customer Officer at Total Expert, are teaming up with John Seroka, Principal at Seroka Brand Development for a FREE webinar, courtesy of the California MBA's Mortgage Technology & Marketing Committee (MTAM). Click here to register for TOMORROW's (4/19/18) webinar, starting at 11AM PT.

National Mortgage Professional Magazine is hosting its latest complimentary webinar titled "How They are Closing Loans from Facebook Ads..."  this Thursday, April 19th at 2 p.m. EDT with Carl White and Chris Johnstone, marketing experts who have a proven track record in the industry for many years. See the entire campaigns (targeting, ads, and lead capture) of 3 successful Facebook marketing campaigns that are working right now to generate funded loans at an excellent ROI.  Click here to register for this FREE webinar.

Weiner Brodsky Kider PC is offering two educational events in April. On April 20, WBK is teaming up with Richey May to host a Data Security Workshop in Washington, DC focused on practical ways that regulatory compliance and IT security must work together to address regulatory and technical issues surrounding cybersecurity.

On April 24, Mitch Kider, Jason McElroy, and Tim Ofak will present the webinar “Government Investigations and Enforcement Actions,” from 1-2PM EDT, covering the process of government investigations and enforcement actions, Civil Investigative Demands, administrative subpoenas, state and federal agencies, and discuss the general administrative process followed by most federal and state agencies.

Sierra Pacific Mortgage is hosting a webinar featuring Steve as part of its Market Power series on Tuesday, April 24th from 10-11 AM PT called “Death by Cliché & Other Business Buzzwords.” You’ll learn actions you can take today to update your business plan, improve communications, and differentiate yourself from the competition!

Capital Markets

Rates didn’t do much yesterday, though the 10-yr-2-yr spread narrowed to 42 basis points from 46 basis points on Monday. This was partially driven off a remark by San Francisco Fed President Williams (voter) who said he sees inflation hitting 2.0% this year and remaining at, or above, 2.0% for another couple of years, and Chicago Fed President Evans saying that he is okay with raising rates patiently in the absence of inflation. Additionally, some positive American earnings reports coupled with Germany's April ZEW Economic Sentiment Index being weaker than expected, and ECB chief economist Praet saying dovishly an ample degree of policy stimulus is still necessary, seemed to promote several interest rate differential trades that strengthened longer-dated U.S. maturities.

The positive U.S. Housing Starts figures were above expectations but were driven entirely by multi-unit dwellings. Single-family starts were down 3.7% while single-family permits fell 5.5%, both disappointing. Industrial production increased 0.5% in March, above expectations, and the capacity utilization rate jumped from 77.7% to 78.0%, besting expectations as all three major industry groups drove the uptick in industrial production in March.

This morning we learned that weekly mortgage applications for last week were up almost 5%, up 10% versus a year ago. This afternoon we have the Fed’s Beige Book, along with a couple Fed speakers. Wednesday starts with the 10-year yielding 2.85% and agency MBS prices down a smidge versus Tuesday’s close.

Lender Products

On Sunday night at the MBA's Technology Conference MCT was presented with PROGRESS in Lending Association's 2018 Innovation Award for its Bid Auction Manager (BAM) whole loan trading technology. "BAM is truly industry-altering fintech that is changing the way bulk bid loan tapes are transferred between lenders and investors,” said Phil Rasori, COO at MCT and Chief Architect of BAM in his acceptance speech. “As we continue to add functionality and make the solution more robust, ultimately, what BAM is achieving is helping move the mortgage industry toward digital loan trading on the secondary market." With 100% adoption among the investor community and over $7 billion per month in committed loan volume, BAM is leading the way in bid tape management and digital whole loan trading.

Banc of California's Residential Lending Division is now accepting new Wholesale, Delegated Correspondent and TPO partners in 46 states. With over $2.5 billion in Non-QM loans originated in the last two years, Banc of California is the leading Non-QM lender in the space. The bank’s offerings include a variety of Full and Alternative Documentation products including Portfolio Prime (“just miss QM”), 12-Month Bank Statements, Assets for Income, 1-Year Tax Returns and Expanded Criteria. More companies are supplementing their core production with Non-QM products and Banc of California is their solution. If you would like to find out more about becoming a Wholesale, Correspondent or TPO partner, please reach out to the firm's National Sales Manager, Adam Liebross, for more information.

eRAMP reduces MERS workload by 70% or more with batch processing. Submit 25, 500 or more loans to MERS in minutes. All transaction types supported; Registration, Update, Transfer of Rights and more. eRAMP has been the leader in batch processing MERS transactions for nearly 15 years. Lenders with LendingQB’s loan origination system receive additional benefits through our LQB integration including eRAMP’s exclusive registration confirmation report uploading into EDocs. It’s all about more loans, less work. Please visit www.oncyberlink.com to learn more about eRAMP.

“At HomeScout-HBM we are committed to assisting loan officers and branch managers by removing obstacles that declining origination numbers and shrinking margins are having on commissions. Our proven lead and conversion technologies have helped lenders for over 20 years, build relationships with top-performing agents, increasing purchase production and commissions for thousands of loan officers. Our National MLS for lenders provides 100% MLS listing data inside a custom mobile app dedicated to promoting only you! Converting more purchase transactions for you AND providing additional business for your agents. With 50% of all home buyers finding their house online, our digital real estate marketplace gives you, the loan officer, the opportunity to get in front of buyers earlier in the home buying process, before they find an agent. Take control of purchase transactions and close more loans! For more information and schedule a demo contact us HERE or call us at 952-831-0623.”

Caliber Home Loans, Inc., announced this week its partnership with FirstFunding, Inc., the leading provider of warehouse facilities for non-delegated correspondent lenders. “Together, Caliber and FirstFunding are bringing the first-of-its-kind technology integration, Caliber Express Connect, to meet one of the industry’s biggest concerns – providing viable, secure, and accelerated solutions for its lenders. With Caliber Express Connect, First Funding’s system is integrated with Caliber’s loan origination system to empower the correspondent lender to pass the loan information and image documents directly from Caliber to FirstFunding, reducing the need for lenders to manually enter data and upload loan documents. This results in a seamless platform that allows the Correspondent lender to have more control, reduce submission errors, deliver faster closing times to their borrowers, and lower their overall costs. Click here for more information about Caliber Express Connect, or email Caliber here.

Employment and Promotions

Wintrust Mortgage is pleased to announce that Mike Mergen has joined its operation as Vice President of Affinity Lending. Mike is a lifetime mortgage professional who spent the last 18 years of his career at a large bank as part of its national Affinity Program. Mike will be responsible for growing and more fully developing Wintrust’s national Affinity Program and helping its loan officers diversify their business by establishing their own affinity relationships with employers and organizations. “Affinity is one more great reason for top loan originators and managers to join Wintrust – to supplement its already fantastic value proposition (great comp and products, competitive pricing, strong marketing, commitment to fulfillment excellence and a complete employee benefit package). Wintrust is a 50-state licensing exempted lender (bank owned) with offices throughout the nation. Wintrust is aggressively seeking great mortgage company operators. Any LO, manager or owner interested in hearing about Wintrust and what they offer should contact Bob Shield, EVP of National Sales (847.939.9361).

Steady growth with the right originators is the key to Network Funding’s success. Management is looking to add originators to their existing branches in Phoenix AZ, SC, Baton Rouge LA, TX, Chicago IL, Denver CO and N. Smithfield RI. "If you’re a professional mortgage originator and you want to work with a lender that has all the new tech available to make you more productive and relevant in the industry, please reach out to us. Our proprietary Digital Mortgage will help you stand out, no FHA overlays, a common-sense approach to underwriting, Closing Disclosures issued at initial approval for all purchase loans, and Day 1 Certainty Approved. To apply, send resumes to Candice Williams.

TowneFI is Towne Mortgage Company’s newest formation, combining the best of AmeriCU for Credit Unions and Homeowners Mortgage for Community Banks and Agricultural Banks, serving both markets for over 25 years. TowneFI is looking for a seasoned, high-energy, Senior Account Executive to join the TowneFI team to expand its book of business.  In this position you will have access to multiple operation centers and products including FHA, 203K, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HomeStyle, HomeReady, DU Refi Plus, VA, USDA, and Manufactured Programs. You can add an array of account types including Community Banks, Credit Unions, and Agricultural Banks with execution channels including Retail, Wholesale, and Mini-Correspondent. Interested applicants can email Cassie Sluka.

Digital Risk LLC announced that Sadie Gurley has joined the company as Head of Diligence Services “to better deploy its best-in-class integrated solutions, facilitate rapid access to loan information from client systems and boost loan evaluation services.”

Congrats to Darryl Lee whom Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. (PRMI) announced is its new EVP and Chief Legal Officer.

And Ellie Mae announced that Eric Connors has joined the organization as SVP of product strategy and management, responsible for leading the overall product strategy for Ellie Mae’s Encompass digital mortgage solution, the Encompass NG Lending Platform, and related products including the Encompass Connect suite of solutions.