There's nothing wrong with early dinners! According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a meeting with the National Council of Senior Citizens resulted in President John F. Kennedy designating May 1963 as Senior Citizens Month, encouraging the nation to pay tribute to older people across the country. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter's proclamation changed the name to Older Americans Month, a time to celebrate those 65 and older...just as long as dinner was served promptly by 4:30. Reverse mortgage lenders love talking about Americans over the age of 65. There are 43 million of them making up almost 14% of our overall population; the median income level is $33,848, with a median net worth of $170,516 per household which is down from $203,015 in 2005 (indexed to 2011 dollars); 9.6m served in the military at some point in their life; 21.3% in this age bracket still work. Almost 62% of them use the internet, and almost 81% own their primary residence. State-wise, 18.2% of Florida's population was 65 and older in 2012, followed by Maine at 17% and West Virginia at 16.8%; Alaska had the lowest percentage with 8.5%, followed by Utah with 9.5% and Texas with 10.9%.

Although its headquarters are in Texas, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp is looking to fill a Secondary Marketing Analyst role in Naperville, IL, near Chicago. The position is primarily responsible for managing the risk associated with Secondary Marketing, including pipeline and interest rate risk management, pricing, hedging, trading and loan sales to maximize profitability.  Pay is commensurate with experience and a local candidate preferred. Fairway Independent is a top independent mortgage company originating $5.5 billion in 2013, with 150 branches nationwide and over 1,600 employees. Fairway has a strong focus on purchase business and is dedicated to providing the highest level of customer service and support. Fairway is an approved Fannie, Freddie, and Ginnie seller/servicer.  For questions, to see a full job description, or to submit a resume, please contact Mike Blake at mblake@fairwaymc. com.

For two years running, Supreme Lending has been named as one of the 'Best Places to Work in North Texas' by the Dallas Business Journal. In 2014, Supreme is the only mortgage company ranked in all categories. The company is now looking to expand in the California and Missouri market by adding sales teams of Branch Managers and Loan Officers. Supreme's entrepreneurial business model, combined with an accessible leadership team and flat organizational structure, empowers Loan Originators to excel at what they do best. Supreme's unrelenting commitment to cultivating a culture where Associates and Customers come first is second to none. They remain dedicated to providing on-going branch support and best-in-class customer service while closing and funding loans on time. To learn more about Branch Manager and Loan Officer Opportunities please apply here or email recruiting@supremelending. com.

Operation: Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy; the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II on June 6^th 1944. As far as operational names go, Overlord is about as intimidating as it gets, as its definition is "a powerful lord, who has power over many people and/or power over other lords." Now back to mortgage banking news...the Department of Justice's recent initiative aimed at scrutinizing banks that fail to meet their obligations as gatekeepers to the financial system, allowing easy access to predatory lenders and dubious online merchants has been named Operation: Choke Point. "Choke Point" is defined as...oh, forget it. Operation: Choke Point, which is impossible to say without smiling by the way, saw its first victory...er, I mean settlement...obtaining $1.2 million in monetary relief from Four Oaks Bank in North Carolina. Ballard Spahr writes, "Four Oaks Bank is a small North Carolina bank that had processed ACH transactions for payday lenders through an arrangement with an unidentified third-party payment processor. Based on allegations of inadequate diligence and control over the payment processor and its customers, the DOJ obtained $1.2 million in monetary relief and injunctive relief addressing the bank's dealings with third-party payment processors and with Internet short-term (payday) lenders, credit repair organizations, mortgage assistance relief companies, telemarketers and Internet-based businesses." 10-4, over and out.

Rating firm DBRS reports that Credit Suisse (I am so old I remember when it was Credit Suisse First Boston, or CSFB) completed the fifth bond deal this year tied to new non-agency U.S. home loans without government backing. The securities are backed by 364 loans with $271.7 million of balances, the credit grader said today in an e-mailed statement. But things are not rosy in the non-agency (read: jumbo) market. Bloomberg reports that total issuance of non-agency securities tied to new loans jumped to $13.4 billion last year from $3.5 billion in 2012, the sales collapsed after September - most of the issuance was in the early part of the year and only $1 billion in non-agency MBS were done from October through December. For those keeping score at home, we've done about $1.6 billion this year - a poor pace nearly the same as the 4^th quarter of 2013. Lenders know that most of the big banks are merely keeping these well-documented, well appraised, well underwritten loans on their books and in their portfolios.

So where did these loans come from? The 364 loans came from New Penn Financial (about 25%), Prospect Mortgage and Prospect Lending, LLC (about 20%), and Quicken Loans, Inc. (16%). Select Portfolio Servicing will service 89% of the loans while Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing does about 9% and PHH Mortgage Corporation 2%. Wells Fargo will act as the master servicer and securities administrator and Deutsche Bank National Trust Company will act as custodian. Hey, it takes a village, right?! Here is more on the transaction.

I continue to receive e-mails expressing concern about the market for servicing. The only "legal" advice I can offer to anyone lending in the state of New York is that if your caller ID reads Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, let it go to voicemail; or if your receptionist says he's sitting in the waiting area, run out the back door. Sound legal advice might not be my forte, but this guy is probing everyone from auto lenders, to mortgage servicers, like Ocwen. In a letter from Mr. Lawsky to Ocwen, the superintendent inquired about possible self-dealings between the company and Altisource Portfolio Solutions (ASPS) through the use of ASPS's online home auction site, Hubzu. Lawsky inquired whether ASPS was charging above-market rates for Ocwen serviced properties that are auctioned through Hubzu. Specifically, the letter asks details on a number of fees charged by Hubzu in auctioning Ocwen-serviced properties. Specifically, the letter inquires about the auction fee charged to Ocwen-serviced properties, which is quoted at 4.5%, while the rate charged to third-party buyers on the open market is 1.5%.

The hopeful sales of servicing continue as companies decide they'd rather show month-to-month profits rather than long term annuity-style servicing income. MSRs recently...MIAC is representing a retail originator for $69 million FNMA mortgage servicing portfolio. The package is being offered by a mortgage company that originates loans with a geographic concentration in Florida. The seller will provide full reps and warrants for the loans, which have a pool characteristic of: 100% FRM, $188k Avg Loan Amount, 4.179% WaC, 0.60% WaDEL, 9 months WaLA, 56% RefiPlus, 42% Standard, with a geographic concentration in Florida. Bids are due May 6th. Phoenix Capital, Inc. is has two offerings; the first a $232 million bulk Fannie Mae mortgage servicing rights of 100% FNMA S/S FRM, 0% Delinquencies, 83% 30yr term/17% 15yr term, 4.436% WaC, $255k/195k (30/15) WaBAL, 746 WaFICO, 75% WaLTV, 58% California, 18% HARP, 59/41% wholesale/retail originations, bids for this offering are due on Monday, May 5, 2014 by 5pm EST; the second is $1.1 billion bulk Fannie Mae MSR offering of 100% FNMA A/A, Fixed Rate, 0% Delinquencies, 87% 30yr term/13% 15yr term, 4.135% WaC, Avg Bal $210K, 31% CA geography, wAvg FICO 74, wAvg LTV 76%,  wAvg Age 10 months, 43% Wholesale/31% Correspondent/26% Retail, bids are due May 1st. MountainView Servicing Group, LLC as exclusive sales advisor, is offering for bid, $40-$70 million per month FNMA flow servicing 100% retail production, approximately 80% purchase and 90% owner occupied, average loan size of $221,601, with UT (92.9%) and AZ (4.6%) production.

The Wall Street Journal reports France's largest bank and parent company of First Hawaiian Bank & Bank of the West, BNP Paribas SA, is facing fines of around $2B and criminal charges related to violations of U.S. sanctions against various countries including Iran. The bank reportedly tried to cover up transactions and altered trades to hide their origin.

Congrats to the mortgage bankers in the Great State of Texas. Their annual Texas MBA convention, which starts Sunday at the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio, broke the record with over 700 pre- registered attendees and are excited to have David Stevens attending. See texasmba.org for details.

A correction to yesterday's Affiliated news. Affiliated Correspondent's division released this clarification on "FHA/VA Product Changes and Credit Requirements" on Wednesday. "Minimum 620 credit score required. Minimum 640 credit score for cash-out transactions for properties located in CA, IL and MA. An acceptable credit score is required on all full doc loans. Non-traditional credit histories are not allowed. If a non-occupant co-borrower is included, occupant borrower(s) must have a credit score that meets AMC's minimum requirements above. No late payments on housing history in the past 12 months. 3 - 4 Unit Owner Occupied minimum credit score required 640. Credit Scores 620 - 639 also require the following: letter of explanation for all derogatory credit in the past 24 months, no more than 1 x 30 late payment on installment/revolving accounts in the last 12 months, minimum 3 credit trade lines in credit profile (open, active, inactive or closed). Alternative credit may be used if borrower has fewer than 3 trade lines, but they must be acceptable to FHA/VA, 1 - 2 Unit Owner Occupied only with credit scores 620 - 639. And VA Ratio Requirements are 41.00% maximum if manual underwrite due to AUS downgrade."

Mortgage companies are focused on compliance and legal issues rather than rates. But where does the MBA's leading economist think about home ownership and the direction of rates? Thanks to Norcom Mortgage, here you go. (Apparently someone had kicked poor Mike in the right knee prior to filming.)

The market continues to stay range-bound. That may change today, of course with the unemployment data - although one can argue that if any news is important enough, it could change any day! The news has been mixed, leading plenty of armchair economists saying that plenty of sectors are lagging. Car sales are mixed, but yesterday we learned that the ISM Manufacturing Index came in better than expected, Construction Spending was up slightly in March, Personal Income and Personal Spending both increased (although part of the increase in spending is Obamacare-related so it isn't really an apples-to-apples comparison), but Initial Jobless Claims rose slightly. Challenger and Gray announced job cuts rose 5.7%, but are still pretty low, running at a 40k pace.

Fixed-income securities rallied Thursday as investors "covered shorts" ahead of today's jobs report. Hey, we'll take an improvement in agency MBS of .250 however we see it, right? All that may change this morning at 8:30AM EST (2:30AM Hawaiian Standard Time) with the Bureau of Labor Statistic's employment situation for April release. Nonfarm payrolls are projected at +218k versus +192k in March, and the unemployment rate is expected to slip one-tenth to 6.6%. At 10AM EST is March Factory Orders (+1.4). In the very early going the yield on the 10-yr is sitting around 2.63% after a 2.61% close, and agency MBS are off a shade pre-employment data.