Fri, May 6 2011, 11:41 AM
As Dodd-Frank loan officer compensation regulations became a reality in early April, I started seeing new pay practices emerge in my reviews.
Sever...
Wed, Feb 23 2011, 12:51 PM
I'm winding down a two week trip to the Mid-West where I've been
performing warehouse lender audits. Something that's really stood out to
me latel...
Thu, Jan 20 2011, 12:48 PM
A counterparty is a company that agrees to perform a transaction or service with or for another company. Counterparty risk is the fallout that would ...
Thu, Jan 13 2011, 11:39 AM
He who adapts to new market conditions will survive and thrive. Those that don’t will die. 2011 may be another year of Mortgage Darwinism.
Tue, Jan 4 2011, 3:32 PM
One of the key metrics wholesaler and correspondent lenders monitor on a regular basis is their pull-through ratio. Pull-through references the numbe...
Tue, Dec 21 2010, 11:26 AM
Making money is not all about producing loans. It's about running the business efficiently. Don't get me wrong, loan production is a very very importa...
Wed, Dec 8 2010, 3:45 PM
Today, there are only a handful of investors buying loans from mortgage bankers. There’s even a smaller amount of investors that offer mandatory comm...
Mon, Nov 29 2010, 2:34 PM
A little over a week ago Garrett, Watts & Co held its annual client appreciation dinner in San Francisco. The event took place at the Palace Hotel. A...
Thu, Nov 18 2010, 12:40 PM
A good way to fend off an unwelcome call from your warehouse lender is to review your scorecards often and address issues quickly. It is always bette...
Fri, Nov 12 2010, 12:35 PM
Without accurate and timely financial reports, managing the affairs of the company can be extra challenging. Let’s take a look at a few examples of t...
Wed, Nov 3 2010, 11:43 AM
We continue to see some of our clients still having loan purchase delays from investors. Part of the problem is the volume of refinances because of l...
Wed, Oct 27 2010, 2:42 PM
One would not go on a long road trip without a map. Without a road map, one could get lost, waste time or maybe never find the place they set out to ...
Fri, Oct 22 2010, 10:28 AM
What do Bank of America and Chase know that the rest of the industry doesn’t? Why have they decided to ditch wholesale and focus on the retail and co...
Tue, Oct 19 2010, 2:01 PM
One shop I recently visited staffs their entire operations department with 100% independent contractors. After 3 years and about 150 shops, this is th...
Fri, Oct 15 2010, 11:49 AM
Our industry is cyclical and we need to be reminded of the need for a "Plan B" quite often. When things are really good, chances are they will turn u...
Tue, Oct 5 2010, 2:55 PM
In my travels around the country I have come to find that mortgage shop owner/operators see repurchase risk and delays in the loan purchasing process ...
Thu, Sep 30 2010, 11:47 AM
Industry evolutions over the past 5 years cemented the growing requirement for loan level reviews of collateral before warehouse lenders would release...
Thu, Sep 23 2010, 2:50 PM
How is it that a small mortgage banker is able to fund 100% of their production through a mortgage bank and pay only 40% commission to its loan office...
Tue, Sep 21 2010, 10:37 AM
In the last several months we’ve seen several banks and mortgage bankers create partnerships that are mutually beneficial. If you are bank, poke arou...
Thu, Sep 16 2010, 1:16 PM
Secondary market revenues are a large piece of the revenues and profits of a mortgage bank. They are predicated on both volume and GOS. A secondary m...
Fri, Sep 10 2010, 2:58 PM
The large bank owned aggregators have “well oiled” processes that put much of the responsibility on mortgage bankers for any loan level issues that m...
Thu, Sep 2 2010, 11:25 AM
Many of our clients feel like the large aggregators are being managed by the risk management departments. There may be some truth in this because mos...
Wed, Aug 25 2010, 9:31 AM
Anyone originating loans through a call center should either request an audit by the DOL or seek legal advice from a labor attorney. It’s better to b...
Thu, Aug 19 2010, 2:34 PM
My most recent post talked about some of the bad habits and practices we’ve uncovered during our FOCIS and FOCIS-plus reviews of mortgage bankers. N...
Thu, Aug 12 2010, 2:53 PM
I recently attended the Michigan Mortgage Lenders annual conference in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. The group invited me to speak about current issues and...
Wed, Aug 4 2010, 2:03 PM
There is always an opportunity to grow profits without taking on additional risks. Sometimes it makes sense to engage someone to help you identify th...
Fri, Jul 30 2010, 11:05 AM
After visiting over 100 shops in the past 3 years, we haven't really seen anything “new under the sun” in terms of loan officer agreements. Sometimes ...
Wed, Jul 28 2010, 3:33 PM
We all know the mortgage business can be extremely profitable at times. We also know it can be disastrous at other times. Regulators and law makers h...
Fri, Jul 23 2010, 3:07 PM
I recently visited two direct lender shops for a warehouse FOCIS review study. These lenders generated leads from two different sources: Radio and In...
Fri, Jul 16 2010, 1:40 PM
When a bank regulator makes a visit, they focus on various types of risk associated with operating a mortgage bank. They are interested in steps mana...
Tue, Jul 13 2010, 12:07 PM
All individuals, companies and organizations experience change. Some change is drastic and some is slight. How we confront and adapt to change defin...
Fri, Jul 9 2010, 12:21 PM
This week I attended the Western Secondary Market Conference sponsored by the California Mortgage Bankers Association. During my discussions with sev...
Tue, Jul 6 2010, 1:51 PM
Six years ago Joe Garrett and I co-authored an article called "The Seven Deadly Sins of Mortgage Bankers". The article examined seven key mistakes ma...
Thu, Jul 1 2010, 11:56 AM
The benchmark 10 year note yield is back below 3.00% and mortgage rates are at lifetime lows. Hello homeowners! Why isn’t everyone (who can qualify)...
Thu, Jun 24 2010, 12:59 PM
I’ve talked to quite a few loan originators over the past month. My most recent conversation with a loan officer started out with an explanation of a...
Tue, Jun 22 2010, 3:13 PM
We’ve talked a lot about how it makes sense for an originator to latch onto a commercial or federally chartered national bank. Net worth, state licen...
Thu, Jun 17 2010, 12:33 PM
Over the course of the last decade, many mortgage bankers implemented a "Russian Roulette" approach to managing the risks associated with originating ...
Thu, Jun 10 2010, 3:42 PM
I noticed a short article this week in the Wall Street Journal that reported on the $108 million settlement between Countrywide Financial and the Fede...
Mon, Jun 7 2010, 3:21 PM
The perfect mortgage company allows a loan officer to focus 100% of their attention on their job: WRITING LOANS! There are a handful of regional and...
Thu, Jun 3 2010, 1:15 PM
A month ago I visited a client in Las Vegas, the epicenter of the mortgage and real estate malaise. During my interviews, the owner of the operation i...
Tue, Jun 1 2010, 3:37 PM
The MBA recently published a comprehensive study on the risk management practices of the mortgage industry that ultimately led to themeltdown. The s...
Tue, May 25 2010, 10:44 AM
I recently attended a Board of Directors meeting of a mid-size commercial bank that owns a mortgage banking operation. I was invited to make a presen...
Fri, May 21 2010, 1:30 PM
Twenty years plus years ago I was operating a wholesale mortgage bank that was owned by a savings & loan that was on the brink of shutting down. Regu...
Wed, May 19 2010, 10:31 AM
Our Management Advisory Program (MAP) results for the first quarter 2010 are starting to come in. We measure top line revenues, gain-on-sale, compen...
Mon, May 17 2010, 3:47 PM
The GSEs were once the cornerstones of American Homeownership. However, at last count, the CBO estimated that it would cost taxpayers $389 billion thr...
Tue, May 11 2010, 3:31 PM
America was built by risk-takers, and you can’t have risk without potentially negative outcomes. If America were to become a risk-free society, this ...
Thu, May 6 2010, 3:41 PM
Regional mortgage bankers (RMB) with a retail and wholesale orientation may be the best partners for mortgage brokers. We won’t call it what it reall...
Tue, May 4 2010, 2:45 PM
The mortgage business is a study in Darwinism. Mortgage participants that learn to collaborate and adjust to the business environment will prevail. ...
Fri, Apr 30 2010, 1:59 PM
Let’s do a short review of what I believe RMBS traders were thinking in 2006 and 2007 and what they did to address increasing risk to the firm. They ...
Thu, Apr 29 2010, 1:04 PM
Political thinkers like George Orwell and Hannah Arendt used to think technology would be the permanent boot-jack on the neck of mankind. You only nee...
