One can always focus on lending activity hitting a 25-year low, or the once mighty loanDepot reducing its own liquidity or handing raises out to executives, or Better.com’s CEO back in the headlines. So let’s veer off the mortgage track for a bit. Not everyone in residential lending is a baseball fan, but everyone in our biz knows a thing or two about money. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hit his 62nd home run of the season, a new record. The ball was caught by a fan, and the question has been raised that has not been answered: “What happens when you take possession of a baseball that is worth $1 million to $2 million? The closest that the IRS has come to answering this is a memo sent in the late 1990s titled the “treasure trove regulation.” When one finds a buried treasure, or in this case catches a million-dollar baseball, it would technically lead to a $332,955 tax bill. If the fan gave the ball back to the player, it could technically trigger a gift tax. Alternatively, the IRS would not actually want to collect any tax on the ball until it’s sold, when it’d be taxed as a capital gain, or as a collectible, which has a 28 percent long-term rate. Some suggest the IRS should tax the fan on the $25 retail price of the baseball, and then treat the million-dollar price as an unrealized gain not to be taxed until it’s sold. (Today’s podcast is available here and this week’s is sponsored by Candor Technology, Home of the One Touch Underwrite, supporting lenders from Point of Sale to Post Close QC, to reduce repurchase risk, increase underwriter productivity by 400% and decrease turn-times by 10 days.)

Lender and Broker Products, Services, and Software

Good news for lenders! When Informative Research (IR) began successfully rolling out its dynamic Verification Waterfall solution, the lending community immediately started netting significant results. This best-in-class technology aligns the complex employment and income verification environment with IR customers’ unique loan origination processes. IR does the work so that lenders don’t have to. IR client Kevin English, New American Funding, comments, “We love this powerful new solution…Informative Research configured it in a way that eliminates unnecessary orders, fully integrates with our existing systems, and successfully addresses the pain points of a cumbersome process. Everybody wins.” Available to lenders now, the Verification Waterfall solution is smart, powerful, and easy to use. Informative Research is a technology platform company known for delivering data-driven, practical solutions to the industry, building trust in the lending process with transparency and cutting-edge solutions. Contact IR to connect with one of its Verification Waterfall solution experts.

Next month, the National Toy Hall of Fame will announce its next inductee. Finalists include classics like Bingo, Catan, and Spirograph. With so many prominent names in the running, it’s anybody’s guess who’ll make the cut. But, if lenders were to vote on which technologies deserve a spot in the mortgage hall of fame, Sales Boomerang + Mortgage Coach would be a shoo-in. In just four months, Sales Boomerang alerts brought Axia Home Loans opportunities that converted into more than $57 million in additional closed-loan volume with the help of Mortgage Coach’s Total Cost Analysis presentations. Set a new standard for your mortgage operation with the industry’s first automated borrower retention and conversion platform.

Put your audit in truly capable hands with Richey May. When you need an audit, you need experts in your industry. People you don’t have to train about your business because they know it firsthand. True professionals who stay up to date, promote internal training initiatives, learn new skills, and tweak processes and procedures, so they can deliver the highest quality services. What you don’t need is numbers on a page or perfunctory compliance with laws and regulations. At Richey May, our assurance team contributes meaningfully to your company’s success, providing tailored audit services centered on quality and professionalism, backed by thorough planning and clear communication based on the Statements of Auditing Standards set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Learn more about our Audit and Assurance Services. Talk to a Richey May audit expert today.

FundIT is looking for an independent mortgage banker as a development partner to benefit from an optimized warehouse execution and a lower labor requirement to fund and paydown their loans in exchange for the FundIT software group receiving feedback to improve the efficiency and usability of the software. Fundit is a Warehouse management system that is aiming to maximize the efficiency of where a loan is funded and automate the funding and paydown process. The system is a HUB between your LOS (Encompass), Investors, and warehouse banks. The company's Encompass administrator will need to be involved in the setup of some simple field mapping and linking of the systems through the Encompass API. The Users would need to be available for weekly calls to provide feedback and suggestions based on their user experiences to further enhance the system. The goal is a reduction of cost leakage of 1.7-2.25 bps through funding loans on the most suitable funding line based on the company’s objectives and loan criteria. Contact me to forward your note of interest.

Company-Sponsored Events and Training

“Turn insights into action. Get intel to build your business. Join us for the Planet Home Lending Symposium and Economic Forecast, an exclusive webinar on the current housing landscape, affordable opportunities, and mortgage solutions to meet unique borrower needs. Join Planet Home Lending VP, National Renovation Lending, Jim Bopp, and SVP of Correspondent Sales, Jim Loving, along with Freddie Mac’s Senior Economist, Rama Yanamandra, Ph.D., and Senior Affordable Lending Manager, Jason Jefferies to hear how to master your market. Register today at this link. Admission is limited for this online event, so reserve your seat for Oct. 12 now. Then follow up with Planet in person at MBA Annual, Oct. 24-25, at the Margaritaville Hotel Nashville. Meet Planet in the Seagrass Meeting Room for a 30-minute conversation that could help build your business all year long.”

“One week ago today, Spring EQ hosted a sold-out webinar: Home Equity Loans – Why Cash out? Why Now? Why Spring EQ? If you were unable to register and secure a seat for the webinar due to the overwhelming demand, the Spring EQ team has you covered! You can watch the entire recorded webinar by clicking here. We’ve also launched a new and improved website full of helpful resources such as marketing materials, a library of this year’s webinars, trainings, tools, and more. In addition, we’ve expanded our HELOC product, now offering higher CLTVs in many FICO tiers, all the way up to 95% CLTV. You can see rates here. At Spring EQ our primary focus is second mortgages. So, think of us first for all your seconds. Become a partner now or contact your Account Executive to learn more.”

If you're in the St. Louis market and looking to close on more homes, the Guild Mortgage Homebuying Solutions Seminar on October 18th may be a good place to get the inside industry scoop on the strategies and new product options available to qualify more buyers. Hear from Freddie Mac Affordable Lending Manager Nora Guerra, Freddie Mac Single Family Housing Outreach Manager Letania Gonzales, and Guild Mortgage EVP of Capital Markets David Battany on the challenges and solutions to improve housing affordability in St. Louis. Invite your buyers to the homebuyer session immediately following or stay to meet new homebuyers in your area. Register here.

Capital Markets

As the leader in capital markets software and services, MCT supports more lenders with hedging and pipeline management solutions than any other single provider. This privileged position allows aggregation and analysis of a meaningful population of data for translation into macro trends and insights such as the latest MCTlive! Rate Lock Indices. Rate lock activity in September was surprisingly up 5.4 percent in total month-over-month as refinances rose 33 percent versus August. MCT’s rate lock activity indices are based on actual locked loan volume, not applications, which MCT views as a more reliable metric due to multiple applications per funded loan. In case you missed it, MCT hosted a webinar reviewing how quantitative tightening, interest rate hikes, and market deterioration are affecting mortgage lenders. The webinar also reviewed what to look for moving forward and a set of recommendations to improve performance. View the webinar recording then join MCT’s newsletter.

Will the Fed stick or twist when it comes to its hawkish monetary policy? We saw losses in the bond markets yesterday after the final reading of September Services PMI improved from the preliminary reading as well as a better-than-expected ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for September. The September ISM reading did decline versus August, but marks the 28th straight month of growth for the services sector. Separately, the economy added 208k jobs in September as private employment has returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to the ADP Employment Report. Annual pay was up 7.8 percent on a year-over-year basis, which will concern the Fed, though the pay increases for those changing jobs is beginning to decline. The report also noted that it looks like people are returning to the labor market. Demand remains strong from employers.

Job cuts from Challenger, Gray and Christmas for September (30k) lead off today’s calendar. We’ve also received weekly jobless claims (219k, up from last week’s 193k; 1.361 million continuing claims). Later this morning brings the latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Treasury announcing the details of the mini-Refunding consisting of $40 billion 3-year notes, $32 billion reopened 10-year notes, and $18 billion reopened 30-year bonds, and four Fed speakers are currently scheduled to deliver remarks. We begin Thursday with vanilla Agency MBS prices pretty much unchanged from Wednesday’s close and the 10-year yielding 3.75 after closing yesterday at 3.76 percent.

Careers for MLOs and AEs

“Button Finance, your Home Equity Loan partner, is seeing explosive growth and is looking to expand its team with an experienced Account Executive as we launch our correspondent program. The market is constantly changing, and many lenders are feeling the squeeze. Button Finance is bucking the trend by providing premier service. Our operations team can CTC a loan within five business days. This is a unique opportunity to join a growing company focused on being one of the top 2nd lien lenders in the nation. If you’re a self-starter with existing mortgage broker relationships and want to continue to grow your business in this market, this is the right place for you. Compensation includes equity in Button Finance and a competitive commission structure. Please send your resumes to Rose Taylor.”

Join the Kind Movement! Are you an Account Executive looking to expand into new territories? Grow your pipeline and spread Kindness alongside other motivated and seasoned professionals at Kind Lending (https://KindTPO.com), founded by CEO Glenn Stearns. We’re adding Kind Ambassadors in all territories to join tour upbeat and collaborative TPO to take advantage of a full suite of loan products including agency and Non-QM options with competitive financing solutions for a range of borrowers. Join the expanding team and enjoy competitive compensation with an unparalleled company culture fueled by leadership dedicated to shaking up the mortgage industry. To apply, reach out to Delfino Aguilar or submit your confidential resume.

STG Mortgage, dba AT Lending, announced that it has entered a strategic partnership agreement with Nectar Kalajian. “This is an important day in the growth and development of AT Lending,” said Ryan Bacily, "Nectar’s track record, proven leadership skills, added to our commitment to becoming one of the nation’s premier wholesale lending companies, clearly give us a competitive advantage.” The mortgage broker industry is growing rapidly, and Nectar Kalajian, President- Partner will be instrumental in making AT Lending the go-to source for wholesale lending. STG Mortgage is a nationwide direct lender, licensed in 30 states, with a large menu of product offerings, including Non-QM, Non-Agency, and all Agency products. If you are interested in joining a successful sales team and a company that has no bureaucracy, please email us or call Raymond Marquez at (855) 528-5363 ext. 9012.