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U.S. POSTAGE PAIDNMP MEDIA CORP.
NMP MEDIA CORP.1220 WANTAGH AVENUEWANTAGH, NEW YORK 11793
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Arizona Association of Mortgage ProfessionalsP.O. Box 487 v Peoria, AZ 85380
Phone: (623) 972-6180 v Web site: www.azamp.org
STATEWIDE BOARD OF DIRECTORSPhone # E-mail
Lisa Lund. LIS President (623) 875-9940 [email protected]
Joseph Ashton President-Elect (602) 912-0222 [email protected]
David Almaraz Vice President (480) 248-0138 [email protected]
Ray Edwards, LIS Secretary (520) 323-3300 [email protected]
Matt Oliver, LIS Treasurer (623) 875-9940 [email protected]
Tina Rose Immediate Past President (480) 553-8490 [email protected]
Ernest Jones Jr., LIS Director (520) 982-1958 [email protected]
April Miller Director (480) 726-9993 [email protected]
Gary Ogami Director (480) 538-5333 [email protected]
Jeanine Robbins Director (480) 626-3044 [email protected]
Glen Warner Director (520) 234-0309 ------------
Linda Wright, LIS Director (602) 809-7007 [email protected]
CENTRAL CHAPTER BOARDJGary Ogami Central Chapter President (480) 538-5333 [email protected]
Jeanine Robbins Central Chapter (480) 626-3044 [email protected]
President-Elect
Joseph Ashton Central Chapter Immediate (602) 912-0222 [email protected] President
William Woods Central Chapter Treasurer (623) 972-6432 [email protected]
Gordon Goosen Central Chapter Director (480) 320-2322 ------------
Richard Griffin Central Chapter Director (602) 295-3949 [email protected]
Beverly Lacy-Hampton Central Chapter Director (480) 895-5555 [email protected]
April Miller Central Chapter Director (480) 726-9993 [email protected]
Jonathan Reece Central Chapter Director (602) 332-1772 [email protected]
David Stroop Central Chapter Director (888) 901-4647 ------------
Sue Whitney Central Chapter Director (602) 677-3850 ------------
Linda Wright, LIS Central Chapter Director (602) 809-7007 [email protected]
Brian Yampolsky Central Chapter Director (602) 912-0222 [email protected]
SOUTHERN CHAPTER BOARDErnest Jones Jr., LIS Southern Chapter President (520) 982-1958 [email protected]
Glen Warner Southern Chapter (520) 234-0309 ------------President-Elect
Kathryn Welch Southern Chapter Secretary (520) 495-7200 [email protected]
Letty Huffman, LIS Southern Chapter Treasurer (520) 909-4463 [email protected]
Ray Edwards, LIS Southern Chapter Immediate (520) 323-3300 [email protected] President
Rocke Andrews Southern Chapter Director (520) 886-7283 [email protected]
Tom Beach Southern Chapter Director (520) 260-9660 [email protected]
Randall Hotchkiss Southern Chapter Director (520) 324-0000 ------------
Denise King Southern Chapter Director (520) 548-2408 [email protected]
Mariana Leonardi Southern Chapter Director (520) 603-5338 ------------
ARIZONA EDITION
AzAMP Code of Ethicsv AzAMP Members shall act in accordance with any laws, rules, and reg-
ulations of the State of Arizona and in accordance with the Bylaws ofthe Arizona Association of Mortgage Professionals.
v AzAMP Members shall perform his business in a manner reflectinghonor and integrity. He shall avoid and report fraudulent and unethi-cal practices to the Arizona Association of Mortgage Professionals orthe Arizona State Banking Department.
v AzAMP Members shall abide by generally accepted principles of realestate valuation when reporting to the investor regarding the valua-tion of the offered collateral for his loan.
v AzAMP Members shall advise the relevant parties of any equity interesthe may have in the collateral offered as security for the mortgage loan.
v AzAMP Members shall not advise, advertise, or intimate terms and con-ditions not available and not likely to be made available.
v AzAMP Members shall attempt to put all agreements into written form,but shall abide by all agreements made by him whether written or oral.
v AzAMP Members shall maintain special accounts separate from hispersonal accounts for the deposit of trust or escrow funds.
v AzAMP Members shall not speak disparagingly of the business practicesof his competitor or of a transaction being negotiated by a committee.Disputes between members shall be resolved by decision of the Ethics,Grievance and Arbitration Committee.
Our mission is to use the power of video tocomplement the written word and inform,educate, enable and empower mortgage
professionals with the most relevant, up-to-date information and advances in the
mortgage industry. It is our goal to offerworthwhile information to our viewers,
while delivering it with the utmostprofessionalism.
calendar of eventsAzAMP
APRIL 2015
Wednesday, April 8
AzAMP Central Chapter Monthly Luncheon
Starfire Grille
11500 North Hayden Road
Scottsdale, Ariz.
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
MAY 2015
Wednesday, May 13
AzAMP Central Chapter Monthly Luncheon
Starfire Grille
11500 North Hayden Road
Scottsdale, Ariz.
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
For information on all AzAMP events, call (623) 972-6180 or visitwww.azamp.org.
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Master the Markets with Barry HabibRecap of key economic events that took placeover the past week and a look ahead to eventsthat will potentially impact interest rates in the
housing market.
Airs every Monday at 7 a.m. ESTGain access to an exclusive FREE TRIAL OFFER from
MBS Highway for Mortgage News Network viewers, visitMBSHighway.com/mnn
Visit to see these videos and a lot more and to sign upto receive the Mortgage News Network show alerts!
If you have a product or service for mortgage professionals you can be a sponsor for these videos. For more information about these sponsorships or Mortgage News Network custom video productions please send an email to
Info@MortgageNewsNetwork or call Beverly Bolnick, VP-Sales & Marketing, at 516-409-5555 ext. 4and she'll tell you how you can be part of the action!
www.MortgageNewsNetwork.com
Grow Your BusinessBuild a billion dollar business by
implementing the tactics of the industry’s first Billion Dollar Originator, Greg Frost.
Airs everyWednesday
at 7 a.m. ESTFor more information on
taking your business to thenext level, visit PrimaryResidentialMortgage.com
Top Producer Round TableWhat are the top loan originators doing right now to besuccessful? How can you implement their strategies to
grow your business? Find out this and more.
Airs every Tuesday at 7 a.m. ESTTopProducerRoundTable.com
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Compliance MattersLenders Compliance Group providespractical advice regarding currentmortgage compliance topics.
Airs every Friday at 7 a.m. ESTFor more information on LendersCompliance Group, visitLendersComplianceGroup.com
NEW
compliance matterscompliance matters
COMINGSOON!
COMINGSOON!
table oN A T I O N A L M O R T
M A R C H 2 0 1 5 l V O L
A SPECIAL FOCUS ON “WHAT LENDERS LOOK FOR IN TPOs”Regs on the Oversight of Third-Parties Create Challenges forBoth Lenders and TPOs By Greg Schroeder....................................52
TPOs Are Alive and Kicking! By John F. Cady ................................55
Wake Up Mortgage Wholesalers—Revisited AgainBy Dave Hershman..............................................................................57
Relationship Marketing and TPOs By Brent Emler..........................59
People Are People By Eric Weinstein................................................60
FEATURESHow Top Producers Create a Five-Star Experience for theBorrower By Gibran Nicholas ..............................................................8
The Elite Performer: Inbound vs. Outbound MarketingBy Andy W. Harris, CRMS ....................................................................8
Proven Growth Strategies in Today’s Refi Boom ..........................16
NAMB Perspective ............................................................................20
Improved Mortgage Origination Volume Highlights the Need for Flexibility By Nicolle Nelson ........................................................26
The CFPB’s Future and the Bureau’s Impact on the Credit
Reporting Industry By Terry W. Clemans ........................................28
How Brokers Can Earn More by Lending to LandlordsBy Ryan Dunphey................................................................................30
MBA’s Mortgage Action Alliance: A Message From MAAChairman Fowler Williams ................................................................30
Agility Resources Group ...................................... www.agilityresourcesgroup.com ......................................47AllRegs.............................................................. www.allregs.com ..........................................................51American Financial Resources ............................ www.afrwholesale.com/partnership ....................Back CoverB2R Finance ...................................................... www.b2rfinance.com ....................................................33Brokers Compliance Group.................................. www.brokerscompliancegroup.com ..................................72Caliber Home Loans.............................................. www.caliberhomeloans.com ............................................29CallFurst.com ...................................................... www.callfurst.com ............................................................56Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC ...................... www.carringtonwholesale.com ..............................27 & 63CMPS Institute .................................................. www.cmpslive.com ..........................................................5Document Systems, Inc./DocMagic ...................... www.docmagic.com ........................................................7Equity Prime LLC................................................ www.equityprime.com ..........................................54 & 63First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. ............................ www.fgmc.com ..............................Inside Front Cover & 42Flagstar Bank .................................................... www.wholesale.flagstar.com ..........................................19Great Northwest Mortgage Expo .......................... www.greatnorthwestexpo.com ........................................65GSF Mortgage Corp. ............................................ www.gogsfbranch.com ..................................................51HomeBridge Wholesale ...................................... www.homebridgewholesale.com ....................................35iServe Residential Lending, LLC .......................... www.joiniserve.com ......................................................17Lending Manager .............................................. www.lendingmanager.com ............................................65Lykken On Lending ............................................ www.lykkenonlending.com ............................................64MAMP .............................................................. www.mdmtgpros.com ....................................................66Maverick Funding Corp....................................... www.maverickfunding.com ............................................39
V I S I T O U R A
Company Web Site Page
10Zillow’s Chief EconomistDiscusses Best-SellingBook By Phil Hall
24NMP MortgageProfessional of the Month:Donna DelMonte, SeniorVice President of ProductDevelopment, StreetLinksLender SolutionsBy Phil Hall
36Has Affordability Left theHousing Market?By Phil Hall
42Lykken on Leadership: SixGreat Ways to Educatethe Public About theMortgage IndustryBy David Lykken
67Step Inside Ginnie Mae:What’s Next for theHousing Finance Industry?By Ted W. Tozer
f contentsT G A G E P R O F E S S I O N A L
U M E 7 l N U M B E R 3
The Long & Short: The Business of Short Sales By Pam Marron ..................................................................................32NMP’s Economic Commentary: Have We Hit the Bottom?By Dave Hershman..............................................................................34
Compliance Updates: March 2015 By Matt Drottz ..........................44
A Minor Change in Lifestyle That Will Change Your Life By Allen Friedman ..............................................................................44
Just Ask Eric & Laura By Eric Weinstein & Laura Burke ..................46
RESPA/TILA Integration: The Rest of the Story …By Joy K. Gilpin ..................................................................................48
The Art of Getting Referrals By Bubba Mills....................................49
Do You Know What a CPS Is? By Brian Sacks................................50
Ocwen Gets Little Credit for Helping Homeowners, Wall Street Reports By George Yacik ..............................................62
NAPMW Report: March 2015 By Katherine Venters, GML ..............65
COLUMNSNew to Market..............................................................................12
News Flash: March 2015 ............................................................14
Heard on the Street ....................................................................40
Outstanding Places to Work ......................................................68
NMP Calendar of Events ............................................................69
NMP Resource Registry..............................................................70
MBS Highway .................................................... www.mbshighway.com/MNN ..........................................31Midwest Mortgage Matchmaker Conference.......... www.mortgage-matchmaker.com ....................................64Monroe Capital, Inc. .......................................... www.monroecap.net ......................................................57Mortgage News Network (MNN) .......................... www.mortgagenewsnetwork.com ......................................1NAHREP ............................................................ www.nahrep.org ............................................................58NAMB+ ............................................................ www.nambplus.com ......................................................23NAPMW ............................................................ www.napmw.org ....................................................49 & 66NAWRB ............................................................ www.nawrb.com ............................................................67Paramount Residential Mortgage Group, Inc. ...... www.prmg.net ..........................15, 41 & Inside Back CoverPB Financial Group Corp..................................... www.pbfinancialgrp.com ..............................................43REMN Wholesale ................................................ www.remnwholesale.com ..............................AZ2, 13 & 52Ridgewood Savings Bank .................................... www.ridgewoodbank.com ..............................................53TagQuest .......................................................... www.tagquest.com ........................................................45Texas Mortgage Roundup.................................... www.txmortgageroundup.com ........................................55The Bond Exchange ............................................ www.thebondexchange.com ..........................................38The National Real Estate Post.............................. www.thenationalrealestatepost.com ..............................61Titan List & Mailing Services, Inc. ........................ www.titanlists.com ..........................................................9Top Producer Round Table ................................ www.topproducerroundtable.com ....................................5Ultimate Mortgage Expo .................................... www.ultimatemortgageexpo.com ......................................3United Wholesale Mortgage ................................ www.uwm.com ..............................................................11
D V E R T I S E R S
Company Web Site Page
Featured Editorial ContributorsTerry W. Clemans
John Councilman, CMC,CRMS
Donald J. Frommeyer,CRMS
Phil Hall
Andy W. Harris, CRMS
Dave Hershman
Fred Kreger, CMC
David Lykken
Pam Marron
Linda McCoy, CRMS
Ted W. Tozer
Fowler Williams
Editorial ContributorsLaura Burke, EA, MBA,MS
John F. Cady
Matt Drottz
Ryan Dunphey
Brent Emler
Allen Friedman
Joy K. Gilpin
Bubba Mills
Nicolle Nelson
Gibran Nicholas
Justin Restaino
Brian Sacks
Greg Schroeder
Eric Weinstein
Katherine Venters, GML
George Yacik
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MARCH 2015Volume 7 • Number 3
1220 Wantagh Avenue • Wantagh, NY 11793-2202Phone: (516) 409-5555 • Fax: (516) 409-4600Web site: NationalMortgageProfessional.com
How did TPOs win back both the volume and respect of lenders?This month’s Special Focus examines what lenders look for in third-party originators (TPOs). A look backyears ago during the financial crisis reflects a time that lenders, in their relationship with TPOs, met thefierce demand and appetite of their investors, while concerns for loan performance seemed off theradar. Those days are long gone, and in fact, studies have shown that TPO-originated loans today areshowing the highest performance levels of all loans originated.
Investopia.com explains that “third-party mortgage originations frequently come under scrutiny because of thethird-party originator’s lack of an ongoing and lasting responsibility for the mortgage. For example, once a mortgagebroker has been compensated for brokering a mortgage, it no longer has any responsibility for the performance of themortgage, whereas the lender has a continuing interest and is subject to some recourse should the mortgage default.This has led to some criticism of third-party originators for overpricing or otherwise selling loans to borrowers that theycan’t afford.” To simply reply to that definition, I’d say they are WRONG!
The increased performance levels of TPOs today is a product of three changes in the origination environment:l First, the past few years has seen a cleansing of the mortgage profession of non-professional originators. While the
aging population of the originators is a concern for the future, it nonetheless has resulted in an originator beingboth more professional and acting as a trusted advisor for the consumer.
l Second, concerns about buybacks, unlike the wrong definition from Investopia.com above, can be a concern formortgage brokers and other TPOs. Lenders have increased the threshold for underwriting and documentation andhold TPOs to a higher standard of quality in today’s loan submissions.
l The third factor that has both lenders and TPOs concerned is compliance. Compliance is the single word that bringsfear to every level of the origination process.
So … to answer to the question this month. What exactly do lenders look for in TPOs? The answer is simply, butinvolves many factors. They are looking for TPO relationships that mirror how their corporate culture operates. Theywant TPOs that both operate compliantly and can provide evidence of same. They want TPOs that embrace both thetechnology they provide and use technology outside of their own to accomplish their origination goals. They want TPOsthat provide ongoing training for their team as well as support staff, and that encourage both membership in mort-gage trade associations and attaining professional designations. The growth of the current TPO sector is a reflectionthat this sector of the mortgage industry is strong. While TPOs may have been the “poster child” of the financial crisis,today, TPOs get the “Award for Performance Excellence.”
The TPO model is a cost-effective way to originate and when the factors outlined are followed properly, the TPOmodel produces the best performing loans in the mortgage industry.
Sincerely,
Joel M. Berman, Publisher-CEONMP Media [email protected]
National Mortgage Professional Magazine is published monthly by NMP Media Corp. • Copyright © 2015 NMP Media Corp.
publisher’s deskFROM THE
STAFF
ADVERTISINGTo receive any information regarding advertising rates, deadlines and requirements, please contactVP-Sales & Marketing Beverly Bolnick at (516) 409-5555, ext. 316 or e-mail [email protected].
ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS/PRESS RELEASESTo submit any material, including articles and press releases, please contact Editor-in-Chief Eric C. Peckat (516) 409-5555, ext. 312 or e-mail [email protected]. The deadline for submissions is thefirst of the month prior to the target issue.
SUBSCRIPTIONSTo receive subscription information, please call (516) 409-5555, ext. 301; e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nationalmortgageprofessional.com. Any subscription changes may be made to theattention of “Circulation” via fax to (516) 409-4600.
Statements, articles and opinions in National Mortgage Professional Magazine are the responsibility of theauthors alone and do not imply the opinion or endorsement of NMP Media Corp., or the officers or mem-bers of National Association of Mortgage Brokers and its State Affiliates (NAMB), National Association ofProfessional Mortgage Women (NAPMW), National Consumer Reporting Association (NCRA) and/or otherstate mortgage trade associations.
Participation in NAMB, NAPMW, NCRA, and/or other state mortgage trade associations events, activ-ities and/or publications is available on a non-discriminatory basis and does not reflect the endorsementof the product and/or services by NMP Media Corp., NAMB, NAPMW, NCRA, and other state mortgagetrade associations.
National Mortgage Professional Magazine, NAMB, NAPMW, NCRA, and/or other state mortgagetrade associations do not make any misrepresentations or warranties concerning the regulatory and/orcompliance aspects of advertisers, products or services and/or the editorial content contained in NMPMedia Corp. publications. National Mortgage Professional Magazine and NMP Media Corp. reserve theright to edit, reject and/or postpone the publication of any articles, information or data.
Eric C. PeckEditor-in-Chief
(516) 409-5555, ext. [email protected]
Joey ArendtArt Director
(516) 409-5555, ext. [email protected]
Scott KoondelOperations Manager
(516) 409-5555, ext. [email protected]
Richard ZytaSocial Media Ambassador
(516) [email protected]
Joel M. BermanPublisher - CEO
(516) 409-5555, ext. [email protected]
Beverly BolnickVP-Sales & Marketing
(516) 409-5555, ext. [email protected]
Phil HallManaging Editor
(516) 409-5555, ext. [email protected]
Francine MillerAdvertising Coordinator
(516) 409-5555, ext. [email protected]
NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE’S
E D I T O R I A L C O N T R I B U T O R S
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CMPS® Certification, Training & CoachingGet certified with five new mortgage planning skills to grow your business; stay focused with our weekly coaching that helps you implement.
CMPS® Content Marketing SystemShare engaging articles with the click of a button; teach continuing education courses to financial advisors using our turn-key system.
CMPS® TechnologySimplify your life with our fully-compliant CRM that includes built-in campaigns, activity tracker, loan comparison reports,
and real-time MBS market updates.
Includes one-year of CMPS® membership!
DianeCrosby
ScottForman
SteveGrossman
BrentHicks
KellyMarsh
GibranNicholas
JenDu Plessis
CraigStrent
Wednesday-Friday, May 13-15, 2015 • Marina Del Rey, CAMonday-Wednesday, May 18-20, 2015 • Boston, MA
Wednesday-Friday, May 13-15, 2015 • Marina Del Rey, CAMonday-Wednesday, May 18-20, 2015 • Boston, MA
Free BonusReceive the audio recordings and presentations from our Top Producer Round Table
events when you sign up for the CMPS live event.Discover best practices, ask tough questions ... walk away with proven strategies and tactics.
Free BonusReceive the audio recordings and presentations from our Top Producer Round Table
events when you sign up for the CMPS live event.Discover best practices, ask tough questions ... walk away with proven strategies and tactics.
RhondaJohnson
ChrisNooney
National PresidentChristine Pollard(607) [email protected]
President-ElectKelly Hendricks(314) [email protected]
Vice President–Central RegionJudy Alderson (918) 250-9080, ext. 300
Vice President–Eastern RegionCathy Kantrowitz (845) [email protected]
Vice President–Northwestern RegionWilliam “Bill” Sanderson, CME, CMI (360) 713-9264
Vice President–Western RegionAnna Mackovska (323) [email protected]
SecretaryCynthia Nutter(360) [email protected]
TreasurerKimberly Rozell, CME (607) 229-5008 [email protected]
ParliamentarianDawn Adams, GML, CMI(607) 329-4622 [email protected]
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NAMBThe Association of
Mortgage Professionals2701 West 15th Street, Suite 536 l Plano, TX 75075
Phone: (972) 758-1151 l Fax: (530) 484-2906Web site: www.namb.org
OFFICERSJohn Councilman, CMC, CRMS—PresidentAMC Mortgage Corporation10136 Avalon Lake Circle l Fort Myers, FL 33913Phone: (239) 267-2400 l E-mail: [email protected]
Rocke Andrews, CMC, CRMS—President-ElectLending Arizona LLC3531 North Pantano Road l Tucson, AZ 85750Phone: (520) 886-7283 l E-mail: [email protected]
Fred Kreger, CMC—Vice PresidentAmerican Family Funding28368 Constellation Road, Suite 398 l Santa Clarita, CA 91350Phone: (661) 505-4311 l E-mail: [email protected]
Rick Bettencourt, CRMS—SecretaryMortgage Network300 Rosewood Drive l Danvers, MA 01923Phone: (978) 777-7500 l E-mail: [email protected]
Andy W. Harris, CRMS—TreasurerVantage Mortgage Group Inc.15962 SW Boones Ferry Rd., Ste 100 l Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035 Phone: (503) 496-0431, ext. 302E-mail: [email protected]
Donald J. Frommeyer, CRMS—Immediate PastPresident/NAMB CEOAmerican Midwest Bank200 Medical Drive, Suite C-2A l Carmel, IN 46032Phone: (317) 575-4355 l E-mail: [email protected]
DIRECTORSKay A. Cleland, CMC, CRMS KC Mortgage LLC2041 North Highway 83, Unit CPO Box 783 l Franktown, CO80116Phone: (720) 670-0124 l E-mail: [email protected]
John H.P. Hudson, CRMSPremier Nationwide Lending1202 W. Bitters Road, Bldg. 1, Ste. 1205San Antonio, TX 78216Phone: (817) 247-4766 l E-mail: [email protected]
Olga Kucerak, CRMS Crown Lending110 Broadway, Suite 360 l San Antonio, TX 78205Phone: (210) 828-3384 l E-mail: [email protected]
David Luna, CRMS Mortgage Educators and Compliance947 South 500 E, Suite 105 l American Fork, UT 84003Phone: (877) 403-1428 l E-mail: [email protected]
Linda McCoy, CRMS Mortgage Team 1 Inc.6336 Piccadilly Square Drive l Mobile, AL 36609Phone: (251) 650-0805 l E-mail: [email protected]
Valerie Saunders RE Financial Services13033 West Lindburgh Avenue l Tampa, FL 33626Phone: (866) 992-0785 l E-mail: [email protected]
John Stevens, CRMS Bank of England d/b/a ENG Lending11650 South State Street, Suite 350 l Draper UT 84062Phone: (801) 427-7111 l E-mail: [email protected]
NAMB 2014-2015 Board of Directors
Mike BrownPresident(908) 813-8555, ext. [email protected]
William BowerVice President(800) [email protected]
Maureen DevineEx-Officio(413) [email protected]
Julie WinkTreasurer(901) [email protected]
Renee EricksonConference Chair(866) [email protected]
Mary CampbellDirector(701) [email protected]
Scott LedbetterDirector(801) [email protected]
Judy RyanDirectorCredit Plus(800) [email protected]
Mike ThomasDirector(615) 386-2285, ext. [email protected]
Dean WangsgardDirector(801) [email protected]
Terry ClemansExecutive Director(630) [email protected]
Jan GerberOffice Manager/Member Services(630) [email protected]
National Association of Professional Mortgage WomenP.O. Box 451718 l Garland, TX 75045
Phone: (800) 827-3034Web site: www.napmw.org
2014-2015 NAPMW National Board of Directors
National Consumer Reporting Association701 East Irving Park Road, Suite 306 l Roselle, IL 60172
Phone: (630) 539-1525 l Fax: (630) 539-1526Web site: www.ncrainc.org
2014-2015 Board of Directors
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25 Years of Innovative Loan Document and Compliance Solutions!1.800.649.1362 I www.DocMagic.com
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elite performerT H E
By Andy W. Harris, CRMS
The best day of your career as a housing professional is the day your
business runs on inbound production rather than outbound pro-
duction. There is nothing more powerful than developing a repu-
tation and marketplace influence that drives prospects directly to
you, with minor or limited effort. With the changes in technology, access to data, and
expectations of consumers, the housing industry is changing and changing rapidly. If you
don’t stay ahead of the curve with your marketing strategy and rely primarily on outbound
efforts, you’ll find yourself stuck in an old and ineffective way of generating new clients. You should certainly diversify your sources of production, but understanding how to
develop automated content campaigns can drastically improve conversion and decreasecosts. Creating strong content and having a positive presence and reviews online and inyour community for referrals is vital. Why break the ice when you can hand over that taskto perspective clients? Why sell when you can have others sell for you? Essentially, trustand expertise causes your initial interaction to be a two-way educational conversationrather than a one-way sales call. Business grows at a rapid pace when your content drivesinbound contact and production.
Here are a few statistics found on the web pertaining to inbound vs. outboundmarketing:l Thirty-two percent of brands are decreasing spending on outbound marketing to
spend more on content marketing. l Because 61 percent of consumers say they feel better about a company that delivers
custom content, they are also more likely to buy from that company.l Ninety percent of consumers find custom content useful and 78 percent believe that
organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationshipswith them.
l Eighty percent of business decision-makers prefer to get company information in aseries of articles versus an advertisement.
l Per dollar, content marketing produces three times more leads.l Companies that spend more than 50 percent of their lead generation budget on
inbound marketing report a significantly lower cost-per-lead.l For mid-sized businesses, content marketing costs 31 percent less than paid searches.l Inbound marketing costs 62 percent less per lead than traditional outbound marketing.l According to 37 percent of marketing managers, the most important way to engage
customers is content-led Web sites.l Blogs give Web sites 434 percent more indexed pages and 97 percent more indexed
links.l Two hundred million Americans have registered their phone numbers on the FTC’s
“Do Not Call” List.l Fifty-four percent more leads are generated by inbound marketing than by outbound
marketing.
So find new ways to create content, drive interest online and in your community, buildstrong reviews, and a reputation that attracts followers and triggers contacts. Where pos-sible, automate your service offerings and efforts.
Andy W. Harris, CRMS is president and owner of Lake Oswego, Ore.-based Vantage MortgageGroup Inc. and 2010-2011 president of the Oregon Association of Mortgage Professionals. Hemay be reached by phone at (877) 496-0431, e-mail [email protected] visit www.vantagemortgagegroup.com.
Inbound vs. OutboundMarketing
SPONSORED ED ITORIAL
By Gibran Nicholas
Think about the last time you went to dine at a fine restaurant.The owner of the restaurant didn't seat you, serve you water,take your drink order, mix your drinks, take your food order,cook the food, bring you the food and clean up after you. Five-
star restaurants have five-star teams that create five-star experiences. Why should your loan process be any different? Here's how top pro-
ducers create a five-star experience for the borrower:
1. Write down your processTop producers continuously ask themselves: "What does it look like for aborrower to have a relationship with me?"l Lead generation process: How does a lead come in? What happens
when a lead comes in? How does the lead become a borrower?l Loan process: What specific steps take place in order to take a transac-
tion from application to funding? Who performs these steps? When arethey performed? How are they performed?
l After-closing process: What happens after a borrower's transaction isfunded to maintain and advance the relationship?The answers to these questions will tell you what your process with
borrowers looks like right now. Once you discover that, you'll be able toidentify ways of taking that experience to five-star levels.
2. Build a five-star teamMost top producers have at least one assistant, and many top producershave an entire team of people to help them create five-star experiences.Let's go back to the restaurant example. If the restaurant is only servingdinner for one person a day, the owner may be able to get away with doingeverything. No need to delegate. No need to build a team. But even then,who's taking care of the customer when the owner is in the kitchen cook-ing the food?
In the loan business, if you're only closing two to three loans permonth, you can probably get away without an assistant and without build-ing a team. But I'm still not sure your client experience would be at five-star levels. Let's assume I'm wrong. Let's assume you can create a five-starexperience for someone by doing it all yourself. At what point do you loseyour five-star touch?
I've found that once you reach five to seven loans per month, loan orig-inators start losing it … when they work on their own. Things slip throughthe cracks, clients are under-served, quality of life goes down and stresslevels go up. At that point, a decision needs to be made: Keep doing whatI'm doing or get serious about creating a five-star experience.
Top producers get it. Being a loan originator is not just about closingloans. It's about impacting lives … and the mortgage transaction is thesingle most important financial transaction of someone's life. Top pro-ducers see themselves differently than the other loan originators who tryto compete with them. Top producers do whatever it takes to create afive-star experience for their clients.
Gibran Nicholas is the founder, chairman and CEO of CMPS Institute andTop Producer Round Table Series. Since 2005, he's helped more than 7,000of America's top loan originators to grow sales and improve their relation-ships. He may be reached by phone at (888) 608-9800, [email protected] or visit CMPSInstitute.org.
How Top Producers Create a Five-Star Experience
for the Borrower�
A production of
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By Phil Hall
Besides being one of the
most prominent thought
leaders in today’s housing
world, Zillow’s Chief Economist Stan
Humphries can now pride himself as
being one of the nation’s best-selling
writers. Humphries and Zillow CEO
Spencer Rascoff co-authored Zillow
Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate,
which, in just two weeks, since its
release has reached the number two
spot on The New York Times’ Best-
Sellers List in the Advice/How-
To/Miscellaneous category and the
number one spot in Amazon’s Real
Estate Investments category.
If the route to the top of the best-
seller charts was unusually rapid, so
was the creation of the book. “It took
us about six to nine months to
complete the book,” Humphries told
National Mortgage Professional
Magazine, adding that the book’s
genesis was based on the increased
attention that housing has received
within the general economic
environment—as well as the incorrect
assumptions that many people brought
to the subject. “Each chapter of the
book looks at a different real estate
topic as viewed through hard data.”
Humphries notes that the creation of
the book was a joyful experience of
sorts, especially in addressing incorrect
assumptions that many people
continue to bring to homeownership.
“We were delighted over the myths
we were able to debunk, like it is
always best to buy the worst house in
the best neighborhood or that every
home remodeling for resale should
focus on the kitchen,” Humphries said.
“Or that the adjustable-rate mortgage
is the instrument of the devil—we think
that product got tarred in the aftermath
of the housing recession.
Humphries added that the book does
not exist as a cheerleader for
homeownership.
“Renting makes sense for a lot of
people based on their circumstances,”
Humphries said.
On the whole, Humphries views the
national housing environment with
cautious optimism.
“I characterize our national market as
still recovering quite nicely, but still a
long way from normal,” he said. “We’ve
had quite a strong home price
appreciation, and its slowdown is a
welcome development. In the past 12
months, home prices were up 6.5
percent. We expect an appreciation of
about three percent in the next year.”
Yet Humphries warned there are still
hiccups that could create new
problems. “There are a lot of markets,
especially in California, that look
overheated,” he said. “And we still have
a very high rate of negative equity, with
17 percent of homeowners being under
water. And rental affordability never
looked worse in this country—I
categorize that as a crisis, because
one-third of us are renters, and the
lack of affordable options means there
is less discretionary income for other
things. Because of that, it is hard for
renters to save for down payments for
homeownership later.”
Phil Hall is managing editor of National
Mortgage Professional Magazine. He
may be reached by e-mail at
Zillow’s ChiefEconomist DiscussesBest-Selling Book
Zillow’s ChiefEconomist DiscussesBest-Selling Book
“We were delighted over the myths we were able to debunk, like it is always best to
buy the worst house in the best neighborhood or that every home remodeling for
resale should focus on the kitchen.”—Stan Humphries, Zillow Chief Economist
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DOES YOUR WHOLESALE LENDER DO THIS FOR YOU?
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This information is provided to mortgage and real estate professionals only and is not intended nor is it authorized for consumer distribution.
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DocMagic ImplementsMISMO Version 3.3 toSupport the TILA-RESPARule Changes
DocMagic Inc. hasannounced that itsentire solution setnow adheres to ver-sion 3.3 of the Mort-
gage Industry Standards MaintenanceOrganization (MISMO) Reference Mod-el. The Consumer Financial ProtectionBureau’s (CFPB) Integrated DisclosureRule combines the mortgage disclo-sures required under the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA) and the Real EstateSettlement Procedures Act (RESPA). Itrequires lenders to use the new inte-grated disclosures beginning on Aug. 1,2015. Successful compliance with thisrule depends on use of the latest ver-sion of the data standard.
Version 3.3 of MISMO establishes acommon dataset that is essentially aprerequisite for lenders to use theCFPB’s new integrated disclosures andshare the information about the disclo-sures with their industry partners. TheCFPB’s Integrated Disclosures willreplace the current Good FaithEstimate (GFE) HUD-1 SettlementStatement, and Truth-in-Lending (TIL)disclosures for most residential mort-gage loans as of Aug. 1, 2015. DocMagicis the first document preparation soft-ware vendor to implement MISMOVersion 3.3.
“Our early implementation ofMISMO version 3.3 is significantbecause it is yet another step that weare taking to proactively prepare forthe CFPB’s new Integrated Disclosurerule, as well as industry innovationinvolving the disclosures,” saidDominic Iannitti, president and CEO ofDocMagic. “Any software provider thatis involved in loan closings or dataexchange must update their respectivesystems to implement the new datasetin order to effectively support theirpartners and lender clients. Thoseorganizations that wait will likely notbe ready to meet the CFPB’s deadlineand as a result will encounter seriouscompliance issues.”
In March of 2014, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) intro-duced the Uniform Closing Dataset(UCD), based on the MISMO v3.3
Reference Model standard used to sup-port the Closing Disclosure under theCFPB’s new Integrated Disclosure rule.The Closing Disclosure is the form thatcombines the final TILA and HUD-1Settlement Statement. As a result, clos-ing documents will change significantlycome Aug. 1, 2015. Lenders will beresponsible for the Closing Disclosureand will need to automatically andseamlessly exchange the data from thisdisclosure with its settlement agentsand other partners.
UWM Enhances Its UTrack Loan TrackingTechnology
United WholesaleMortgage (UWM) hasannounced that ithas significantly en-
hanced its loan tracking technologycalled UTrack, which was redesignedspecifically to allow borrowers andreal estate agents to have real-timeaccess to track their purchase andrefinance loans. UTrack providesUWM’s brokers and correspondentswith the ability to share a link withtheir clients to track loans as simplyand quickly as tracking packagesthrough the mail. UTrack displayswhere the loan is throughout theprocess, from submission to under-writing to closing, in a condensed,easy-to-understand manner. Thereare often misconceptions about theloan process and UTrack will helpbring transparency to all partiesinvolved. UWM says that UTrack isbranded with the broker and corre-spondent partners’ information, sothey can be the facilitator of loan sta-tus updates, instead of the wholesalelender.
“We believe communication is ofthe utmost importance in this indus-try and UTrack takes communicationto the next level,” said Mat Ishbia,president and CEO of UWM. “Whenthe borrower or real estate agentclicks on the UTrack link to followtheir loan’s progress, they don’t seeUWM anywhere. This tool was
designed specifically with the brokerin mind, so they are the hero andUWM remains invisible to the client.As a wholesale lender, we believe inempowering our brokers with tech-nology enhancements and tools togrow their business.”
UTrack helps boost the clientexperience and build stronger rela-tionships between borrowers, realestate agents and brokers. Itsenhancements come on the heels ofUWM’s redesigned loan originationsystem, EASE, which was launchedearlier this year as an industry game-changer for brokers and correspon-dent partners.
Ginnie Mae LaunchesNew Issuer Report Card
Ginnie Mae has announced the launchof a risk management tool that willallow Issuers to measure their per-formance not only against programstandards, but against their peers. TheIssuer Operational PerformanceProfile (IOPP) tool uses a scorecardapproach that allows issuers to gaugetheir operational and default perform-ance against their peers and GinnieMae program expectations. GinnieMae President Ted Tozer noted thatthis initiative lays the groundwork forenhanced knowledge and Issuer-dri-ven performance improvements.
“The launch of the IOPP reflectsGinnie Mae’s ongoing commitment toincreasing transparency and value forIssuers, investors, and other stakehold-ers,” said Tozer. “We believe this newtool will help us continue to ensurethat a safe, effective, and government-backed channel for the flow of capitalfor U.S. mortgages exists, reducing riskto the taxpayer and providing much-needed capital for the government.”
The IOPP scorecard gives Issuersimmediate and transparent feedbackon their performance in the GinnieMae program in the areas of issuing,pooling, servicing and collateral man-
agement on a month-to-month basis,and calibrates to their peers. Issuerswill receive an operational manage-ment score based on key metrics suchas failure to report unpaid principalbalance, timely reporting of UPB cor-rections, and a compliance review met-ric based on findings from Ginnie Mae’smost recently-completed compliancereview of the Issuers.
The metrics behind the delinquencymanagement score will be based onearly payment defaults, 60- to 90-plusday roll rates, workout effectiveness,and percentage of loans in foreclosure.The end result will be two scores foreach Issuer—one for operational man-agement and one for delinquencymanagement—both of which will becalculated and reported each month.Both Single-Family, Multifamily andHome Equity Conversion Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) Issuers willhave access to the tool.
“The IOPP is an Issuer report card,and we believe that once launched, itwill help us in our work with ourIssuers so we can continue to providestability to the housing finance indus-try and continue to meet our missionof bringing global capital into thehousing finance market to provideaffordable housing opportunities tomillions of Americans.” Tozer said.
Ellie Mae Launches AllRegs Market Clarity 3.0
Ellie Mae has announced the release ofAllRegs Market Clarity 3.0, a new ver-sion of its business information toolfeaturing new search functions andimproved navigation. The new versionincludes a powerful new user interfacethat lets users compare and contrastmore than 3,000 loan products from 95different investors, giving them betterinsight on the differences betweenproducts and investors.
Market Clarity is a business informa-tion tool for the mortgage bankingindustry that helps lenders and
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EWSFLASH l MARCH 2015 l NMP NEWSFLASH l MARCH 2015 NMP NEWSFLASH
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SSI: Most MortgageProfessionals Prepared for CFPB Disclosure Rule Changes
Secure Settlements Inc.(SSI) has published theresults of its latest poll ofsettlement agents, a pollconducted of 1,743 set-
tlement agents nationwide from Feb. 20-24 inquiring about their preparation forthe CFPB’s new integrated disclosurerules taking effect on Aug. 1, 2015. Thenew rules establish new forms which arereplacing the standard disclosure formsknown as the Good Faith Estimate (GFE),Truth-in-Lending (TIL) and HUD-1. Thepurpose of the new forms is to bringimproved clarity and transparency toconsumers regarding the costs associatedwith their mortgage. The new ClosingDisclosure, which replaces the old HUD-1Settlement Statement, is typically pre-pared by an attorney, settlement or titleprofessional in collaboration with a mort-gage lender.
SSI’s poll questioned a sampling ofagents around the country to determinetheir knowledge of the new rule, famil-iarity with the new closing form, andtheir preparations for the Aug. 1, 2015rollout.
The polling results reflected that 92percent of the respondents were familiarwith the new rules, however only 36 per-cent were familiar with the new closingdisclosure form, which is available withinstructions on the CFPB Web site(www.consumerfinance.gov). A majority,61 percent said that they had taken stepsto prepare for Aug. 1, while 39 percenthave not done so yet. Only 33 percent ofthe respondents had been contacted bytheir lender clients to review the newform and process and to coordinatepreparation and deliver of the disclosure.
Asked how the new rules will impacttheir business, some of the commentsincluded: The new form is “Not neces-sary,” will “Cause confusion and uncer-tainty for the borrower,” will “Increasefees and costs to consumers,” will “Delayclosings,” and “Seem designed to putsmall shops out of business.”
Many agents were concerned that thenew form will complicate not simplify theclosing process, resulting in additional
delays, increased costs, and overall con-sumer dissatisfaction.
Less than 40 percent of the respon-dents thought the new form was a posi-tive thing for consumers, the industry andtheir practice.
“The CFPB is tasked with a difficult jobin taking a complicated loan process andmaking it understandable to the averageconsumer,” said SSI President AndrewLiput. “Most borrowers have never seen apromissory note before, let alone themortgage, title insurance report, anddozens of disclosures and other loan doc-uments that are placed before them atthe closing table. The new disclosures arean important step in the right directionhowever without adequate preparednessby settlement agents, who are the profes-sionals who are interacting with con-sumers at the closing, the effort is likely toresult in much confusion for quite sometime. Eventually as the industry comesaround to understanding their new rolein the closing process, the consumer willultimately benefit. I urge agents to go tothe CFPB Web site and immediately startfamiliarizing themselves with the newforms and guidelines. They should alsoreach out to their lender clients and workcollaboratively with them to assure asmooth process after Aug. 1.”
Zillow Report: MinorityGroups Continue toStruggle forHomeownership
Black and His-panic home-owners have aharder timesecuring ahome loan
and face a steeper climb to a full housingrecovery than white and Asian homeown-ers, according to Zillow’s latest analysis ofrace and homeownership data. Zillow’supdated analysis of housing value andfederal mortgage denial data by racereveals persistent housing performanceand access-to-credit issues for racial andethnic minorities across the country. Forthe first time, Zillow studied this impor-
tant data on a metro level.“While many of the disparities between
the experiences of white communitiesand minority communities during thehousing boom and bust can be explainedby plain differences in finances and geog-raphy, it’s clear that the housing playingfield remains strikingly unequal in thiscountry,” said Zillow Chief Economist StanHumphries. “Black and Hispanic appli-cants for conventional home loans makeroughly $20,000 less per year than whiteapplicants, resulting in much higherdenial rates. Similarly, black and Hispaniccommunities are clustered in areas thatsaw huge run-ups in home values prior tothe recession, and even larger drops dur-ing the crash. But there are some reasonsfor optimism. Home values in black andHispanic communities are expected to risefaster over the coming year, and the datashows that Federal HousingAdministration-backed loans have provento be a viable and critical source of financ-ing in minority communities.”
The discrepancy is most intense insome of the nation’s most volatile mar-kets. Home values in both black andHispanic communities in the Los Angelesarea remain more than 20 percent belowtheir pre-recession peaks, while homes inL.A.’s Asian communities have appreciat-ed beyond those peaks and homes inWhite neighborhoods are almost at peaklevels.
Some of the patterns revealed in thedata can be explained by geography. Forexample, many Asian neighborhoods areon the West coast, in some of the coun-try’s hottest housing markets, which canhelp explain why home values in Asiancommunities have risen faster and fur-ther than in other neighborhoods.Similarly, many Hispanic-dominatedcommunities are located in volatile hous-ing markets in the Southwest andSouthern California, which can explaintheir rapid appreciation during the boomand steep fall during the bust.
The disparity in loan approvals is like-ly tied to a number of factors, includingincome. Applicants who belong to racialminority groups fare better when they
apply for government-backed FHA loansthan conventional loans. The homeown-ership rate in the U.S. is 63.5 percentoverall. The rate among whites is 71.1percent; Asians, 57.8 percent; blacks, 41.9percent; and Hispanics, 45.2 percent.
NAHB Study Finds MoreThan 50 Percent ofMillennials Move Back inWith Parents
A recent studyof “Boomer-ang Millen-nials” whomove out oftheir parents’
home only to move back in may haveimportant implications for this key demo-graphic and what it means for the hous-ing market. The National Association ofHome Builders (NAHB) examined recentresearch conducted by Judith Dey andCharles Pierret using data from theNational Longitudinal Study of Youth1997. The examination found higher inci-dence of “re-launch” for Millennials witha bachelor’s degree compared to thosewith a lower education attainment andhigher incidence of “re-launch” forMillennials from higher parental incomehousehold compared to lower parentalincome households. A “re-launch” occurswhen a young adult moves out, returns tothe parental household, and then leavesagain.
“Understanding the makeup of thosewho return home could shed light on thetiming of the release of what we know isquite a bit of pent-up demand,” saidNAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Thedata may indicate that while this agegroup is delaying what we think of as typ-ical milestones, the combination ofresources and education and what wehave found about their preferences sug-gest growing housing demand in theyears ahead.”
Ninety percent of those born between1980 and 1984 left home before the ageof 27 - but then more than half returnedto their parents’ homes. Of that group,those with a Bachelor’s degree or higherhad the highest share of returning to theparental home at 55.5 percent.Meanwhile, those born between 1980and 1984 with a high school degree had
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the lowest share returning to the parentalhome at 42.1 percent. When looking atparental income, the research revealsthat parents in the top half of the incomedistribution experienced a higher occur-rence of boomerang children than thosein the bottom half.
Another important difference is gen-der: Twelve percent of men in this agegroup never left the parental home,whereas 7.6 percent of women stayed.And although women are more likely toboomerang, they are also more likely toleave again.
Studies continue to show that thedesire to own a home remains strong forthese Millennials. Despite data showingthat the age group is delaying householdformation, they remain a key demo-graphic in the housing market, and thepent-up demand is expected to translateinto housing growth in the coming years.
Independent MonitorReports: BofA Begins LoanMod SettlementRepayment
Bank of America has begun to deliver its$7 billion consumer-relief obligationsunder its Aug. 20, 2014, settlement agree-ment with the U.S. Department of Justiceand six states, Eric D. Green, independentmonitor of the agreement, reported.
In the first of his required reports onthe bank’s consumer relief activities,Professor Green said that he and his teamof legal and auditing professionals foundthat Bank of America had correctlyclaimed credit of $8,948,684 for an initialbatch of 100 first-lien mortgage modifica-tions and that the bank was employing alogical and appropriate approach to seek-ing credit for its consumer relief efforts.
Under the agreement, Bank ofAmerica is required to provide consumerrelief valued at $7 billion by a deadline ofAug. 31, 2018. The categories of reliefinclude not only loan modifications butnew loans to low- and moderate-incomeborrowers, donations toward communityreinvestment and neighborhood stabi-lization, and support for affordable low-income rental housing.
Professor Green noted that the first100 loan modifications are being usedmostly to test monitoring standards andprocedures, but are too small a samplefrom which to draw conclusions aboutthe consumer relief Bank of America willdeliver in the future.
“Examination of the first batch of 100loans amounts to a test drive, assessingBank of America’s plan for deliveringmuch-needed assistance to homeownersand its methodology for calculating howthe assistance qualifies for credit underthe settlement agreement,” ProfessorGreen said. “The bank is extending reliefto tens of thousands of homeowners, andin coming months we should get a clear-er picture of how quickly the bank hasdelivered on its consumer relief obliga-tions, how much of what kind of relief
has been delivered, and where relief hasbeen distributed.”
The 2014 settlement agreement, total-ing nearly $17 billion, settled claims thatBank of America and affiliates had violat-ed federal and state laws in connectionwith their activities involving residentialmortgage-backed securities and collater-alized debt obligations. Bank of America’sis the largest of a number of settlementsstemming from federal and state investi-gations into the causes of the mortgagecrisis of the last decade. Bank of America’s$7 billion consumer-relief obligations arenationwide, but the bank is required todirect at least $1.25 billion of relief collec-tively to the six states—California,Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Marylandand New York—that participated with
the U.S. Department of Justice in the legalaction that led to the settlement.
“For many, if not most, Americans,family and the family home are core val-ues, at the center of the lives they hope tolive. Owning a family home is the dream.Losing that home is the nightmare,”Professor Green said. “This settlementagreement acknowledges that the bankhas committed to do its part to helprepair the dream and avert the nightmarefor those still in their homes but strug-gling with their mortgage payments.”
A unique aspect of the Bank ofAmerica agreement is that the bankdeposited $490 million into a tax relieffund, from which the Monitor is empow-ered to make payments of up to $25,000apiece to assist homeowners who incur
federal income tax liability as a result ofreceiving mortgage modifications. IfCongress decides to extend a tax exemp-tion to such homeowners, the money inthe fund will go instead to communityoutreach and legal aid groups identifiedin the agreement.
Collingwood Survey: Will Private MortgageCapital Dry Up?
Can’t live withthem, can’tlive withoutthem. Thatsums up thesentiment of
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leading mortgage and housing industryprofessionals when it comes to FannieMae and Freddie Mac, in the latest“Collingwood Group Mortgage IndustryOutlook Report.” Each month, TheCollingwood Group, a Washington,D.C.-based business advisory firm, inpartnership with The Five StarInstitute, surveys top mortgage indus-try leaders in an effort to assess thestate of their businesses, currentevents in the industry, and what it allmeans for home buyers and sellers.
In the March survey, mortgageindustry professionals say Fannie Maeand Freddie Mac should be initiatingmore risk sharing transactions to spurthe private securitization market, andthey are worried that keeping Fannieand Freddie in conservatorship is caus-ing private capital to abandon themortgage lending space.
But, they say it is highly unlikelythat GSE reform will occur during theObama Administration. Ninety-fourpercent of survey respondents indicatethat housing finance reform is not apriority for the White House and aslong as Fannie Mae and Freddie Macare returning steady profits to theTreasury, there will be no incentive toreform them. As a result, Collingwooddoes not expect GSE reform to occuruntil well after 2017.
The biggest risk associated withkeeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Macas-is, according to survey respondents,is private capital abandoning thespace. In contrast, others indicatedthat the biggest risk is the governmentusing the GSEs as a political instrumentor as a piggy bank used to fund budgetshortfalls.
Respondents say it is important tohave sufficient reserve capital and/orprivate mortgage insurance in place toprotect taxpayers from the next busi-ness cycle downturn. Some suggestedcombining Fannie Mae and FreddieMac into a single entity or moving to asingle security.
The vast majority (85 percent) ofsurvey respondents agree that FannieMae and Freddie Mac should be doingmore risk sharing transactions. Thesetransactions allow private market par-ticipants to invest in the credit per-formance of Fannie Mae and FreddieMac’s single-family book of business.Most survey respondents indicated thatthey support these transactionsbecause they help fuel the privatesecuritization market and limit taxpay-er risk while the GSEs are in conserva-torship.
As for what Congress can do toimprove the housing market, fewerthan 50 percent of respondents select-ed “Repeal Dodd-Frank” or “Abolishthe CFPB.” Instead, the comments sub-mitted clearly indicate that theseindustry insiders prefer a temperedapproach with reasonable modifica-
tions to these two reactionary reformmeasures stemming from the financialcrisis. Many respondents stated thatthe Dodd-Frank Act should be revisedto remove barriers to innovation andto reduce the cost of manufacturing amortgage.
Similarly, respondents were prag-matic about the unlikely prospect ofshuttering the CFPB and instead sug-gested that Congress consider amend-ing the structure of the CFPB so thatthere is more oversight and accounta-bility. Respondents also stated that ata minimum, the CFPB should providegreater transparency in the examprocess and in the results of an exam.
Data for the survey was gatheredfrom Feb. 10-19, 2015. Online ques-tionnaires were distributed via e-mailto approximately 46,400 mortgageindustry professionals; includinglenders, originators and servicers.Questionnaires were also shared viareal estate groups on social media. Asof Feb. 19, 2015, 132 people respond-ed.
Study Concludes ThatHousehold Formations onthe Rebound
A new studyfrom the Uni-versity ofS o u t h e r nCalifornia LuskCenter for
Real Estate concludes that new house-hold formation, a key driver of housingdemand, has recovered after the job loss-es that accompanied the recession.
While it was known that negativeeconomic shocks such as major dropsin employment reduce household for-mations, little was known about howlong these declines would persist. Thestudy, which is authored by LuskCenter Director of Research GaryPainter and Doctoral Candidate JungHyun Choi, finds that household for-mations consistently fall in the firstquarter after an increase in unemploy-ment, but return to their previous lev-els within about three years. This istrue regardless of whether jobs havereturned.
“This shows us that even a perma-nent increase in the unemploymentrate will not have a permanent impacton housing formation,” Painter said.“As a result, policymakers and industrypractitioners have a new level of pre-dictability when it comes to how eco-nomic crises impact the rate of newhouseholds.”
According to the researchers,household formations fell to nearlyzero from 2008-2010. The formationrate then played catch up for aboutthree years and, even though jobshave not fully returned, household for-
continued on page 33SPONSORED ED ITORIAL
The FHA-MIP Removal program is in full swing and your network is your biggestprofit center to. Even if you use direct marketing to generate new business, youcould be earning more referrals from your network of current and past clients,prospects, and leads. Are you doing everything you can to get as many loans aspossible from your network?
First: Think outside the boxYour competitors are trying to grow their network too. In many cases these are thesame people. How many realtors do you know? They all know other lenders besidesyou. It’s the classic industry conundrum. Who are you going to refer your clients to?Who’s referring clients to you? What separates you from your competitors?
Next: Turn your efforts away from industry partners and towards yourclientsYour realtor knows a dozen other lenders. Your clients may not know any otherlenders. Your competitors aren’t inviting their clients to meet in person. They aresending mail, and making phone calls. An offer to meet for coffee or go golfingwill separate you from your competitors and keep you at the top of mind of yourclients. It will also give you a chance to talk with them about their current mort-gage situation and let them know any new programs available today that couldbenefit them.
Finally: Grow personal relationships with your clientsIt’s not just about saving them money on their mortgage. It’s also about gettingto know them. They know as many people or more than you do. You will suc-cessfully grow your network exponentially. Who’s your favorite doctor? Have theyever asked you out for coffee? Even if you declined, wouldn’t you be more inclinedto go back to them if they put the offer out there? We live in a world with lessand less interpersonal relationships. Ask your clients out for some fun and youwill not only close more business, you will grow your network. In a refinanceboom like we have today we must utilize all our resources. This means quicklycontacting everyone in your network and letting them know what’s available tothem. It also means building and maintaining relationships in your network. Fi-nally, if you are not already marketing to new prospective clients, start a campaignNOW. The goal is to increase your market share while maintaining growth withinyour network. The byproduct of this effective strategy is a win-win for you, yourclients, and your business.
TagQuest customer spotlight: Jason Ponder (NMLS#162105) of MortgageSolutions Network in Lawrenceville, Ga.Each month, we like to talk with our clients and find out how their campaignsare going. Here’s what we heard from one of our Georgia mortgage professionalsJason Ponder.
Marketing campaign used: Direct Mail–FHA Refinancel Five thousand pieces sent per monthl Response rate: Above one percentl Final results: A 20 percent conversion rate into working loans that will close
Highlights of the campaign that worked well for Jason“Easy! It’s really turn-key with tried and true results.”
Highlights that could appeal to other loan officers or offices“Even with the Internet and all the technology today, direct mail still has its place,and it can offer a better return-on-investment (ROI) than most other forms ofmarketing/advertising.”
Based in Medford, Ore., TagQuest Inc. is a full-service marketing firm developedthroughout the ever-changing mortgage industry. Utilizing industry knowledge, mar-keting expertise, and technology we implement any or all aspects of your marketingand/or advertising campaigns. With a proven track record, more than 10 years inbusiness, and decades of experience TagQuest knows what it takes to produce un-precedented results in today’s fast-paced mortgage environment. For more informa-tion, call (888) 717-8980 or visit www.tagquest.com.
Proven Growth Strategies in Today’s Refi-Boom
� nmp news flashcontinued from page 15
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SPONSORED ED ITORIAL
By K. Justin Restaino
Direct mail can be a critically important component of anall-encompassing strategy, giving professionals a cost effec-tive way to send action-oriented, personalized messages tokey market segments and to continually improve that mes-
saging based on results. The reports of direct mail's death have beengreatly exaggerated. In fact, direct mail is alive and well, but it's changing.If you've tried direct mail and not achieved the results you hoped for, it'snot because direct mail doesn't work. Maybe you expected instant resultsfrom the single piece you mailed out. Or perhaps you failed to personalizeyour messaging. Whatever the reason, you probably failed to employ bestpractice strategies that fully leverage direct mail's advantages over otherforms of advertising.
Target only the customers you wantWorking with a mailing list provider, you can select the precise criteriathat match your target audience. Mailing list providers, for example, canhelp you build lists based on location, mortgage amount and credit scoredata, among others. Selecting specific parameters, you can be confidentthat you're reaching only the clients you want and not wasting money onthose you don't.
In 2015, it's more important than ever to analyze the effectiveness ofyour marketing campaigns. Direct mail makes it easy to see what's work-ing and what isn't. You can track how many calls you receive from yourefforts as well as identify which loans close from it. You can also includeseparate codes for each market segment to monitor how well each re-sponds to your mailing. And you can use these results to enhance mes-saging and improve future response rates from segments that underperform.
Your message needs to grab your readers' attention and move them totake action. Make sure they are clear, compelling and original. Avoid triteexpressions and exaggerated language that come across as hype and turnoff your prospects. To build credibility and trust, give readers specific andrealistic benefits rather than generic claims. Be sure to correct any spellingor grammatical errors before you print. Finally, thoroughly vet each piecewith trusted colleagues who can help maximize its effectiveness.
Make a long-term commitment to create campaigns, not individualpiecesSome prospects will respond to your first mailing. Others need more timeand more mailings. For this reason, think of the pieces you create as partsof a comprehensive, long-term campaign, in the same way as the chaptersof a book hold together and relate to one another to tell the entire story.Create all the pieces that constitute your campaign before you send outthe first to ensure they are well integrated and your messages flow natu-rally, from the first to the last.
K. Justin Restaino is vice president of Titan List & Mailing Services Inc. Formore than 15 years, he has led Titan’s Mortgage Division, helping lendersof all capacities grow their businesses utilizing targeted direct mail. With aspecialized focus in refinance and purchase markets, Restaino has the insightfor proper data and mail application for success. He may be reached byphone at (800) 544-8060, ext. 204 or e-mail [email protected].
Direct Mail for Mortgage Professionals in 2015
�
investors manage risk, identify marketopportunities and maintain a competi-tive edge. The tool is Web-based andfeatures product templates anddetailed investor guidelines. It is part ofthe AllRegs by Ellie Mae product line,created following Ellie Mae’s acquisitionof AllRegs in October 2014.
“Market Clarity’s expanded searchcapabilities and its improved navigationmake it an indispensable tool forlenders and investors alike,” said JeffHoerster, vice president and generalmanager for AllRegs by Ellie Mae solu-tions. “Our new loan product overlaysearch makes it easier than ever forusers to truly analyze loan programsside by side and see exactly how theydiffer. Users of Market Clarity have theability to review the full set of productguidelines for each investor with whomthey are an approved Seller/Servicer.Additionally, users may also review aredacted set of guidelines for thoseinvestors participating in the marketwith whom they do not yet have a busi-ness relationship, making the tool espe-cially useful in keeping an eye on whatcompetitors are offering.”
In addition to a more streamlined,intuitive user interface and the newloan product overlay search tool,Market Clarity 3.0 now lets users trackchanges to loan product guidelines overtime. This allows lenders in particularto stay up to date with ever-changingrequirements and underwrite loans cor-rectly based on real-time information.
Accurate Group SpeedsUp Title Decisions WithEquityClear Solution
Accurate Group has introducedEquityClear, designed to help lendersstreamline and accelerate title and lienclearance to produce more accurate,actionable title data for home equityloans. With EquityClear, Accurate Groupfacilitates the title search, automatesthe review of lien and vesting historyusing both public and non-public datasources, and provides a more accurateand useful title report to the lender.Benefits to lenders include greater effi-ciency, reduced expense and burden onloan officers and underwriting teamsand better decisions on borrower quali-fication. EquityClear also enableslenders to reduce overall risk by ensur-ing a standardized process is applied toevery loan and that liens are reviewedand cleared by a fully qualified, neutralthird-party.
As a complement to its traditionalappraisal and title solutions, AccurateGroup offers a specialty suite of prod-ucts that enables lenders to close homeequity loans faster and with less over-head, while remaining compliant withindustry regulations. EquityClear is the
latest addition to this unique productsuite. EquityClear leverages AccurateGroup’s proprietary process automationtechnology to streamline the title andlien review process, accessing informa-tion from multiple data sources. Thetechnology is complemented by an in-house team of certified, U.S.-based titleexperts who evaluate each reportbefore delivery to the lender withoutimpacting total turnaround time.
“As the economy strengthens andhome values continue to increase,lenders have the opportunity to signifi-cantly increase revenues from homeequity loans and home equity lines ofcredit,” said Paul Doman, president andCEO of Accurate Group. “EquityCleartransitions the burden of title and lienclearance from the lender to Accurate,freeing lenders up to spend more timeon new business development andclient service, while also acceleratingthe loan closing process. As the leadinghome equity appraisal, title and com-pliance company nationwide, lenderscan be confident in the thoroughnessand accuracy of the title informationwe provide. We are offering them a wayto benefit from the latest technologyand repeatable consistent reviewprocesses without taking on additionalinternal infrastructure.”
National MI AnnouncesIntegration WithMortgage Builder’sArchitect and Blueprint
National Mortgage Insurance Corporation(National MI) has announced its mortgageinsurance products are now availablethrough the Architect loan originationsystem, an award-winning component ofthe Mortgage Builder platform. NationalMI is also integrated with Blueprint tech-nology, the Mortgage Builder platform’selectronic document management (EDM)solution. Blueprint software enableslenders to receive, share, store, retrieveand deliver loan files in a completelypaperless environment
Mortgage Builder software deliversindustry-leading loan origination soft-ware (LOS) to mortgage banks, communi-ty banks, credit unions and other finan-cial institutions.
“Lenders are now able to access andorder National MI’s insurance productsdirectly through Architect,” said MichaelDirrane, senior managing director andchief sales officer for National MI. “Thisstreamlines the process, allowing ourmutual clients to obtain a rate quote orcommitment from National MI, all with-out ever having to leave Architect.”
The integration with Blueprint soft-ware gives lenders improved efficiency inworking with National MI and Mortgage
new to marketcontinued from page 12
continued on page 31
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Member FDIC
New policy changes and near-historic low interest rates have made it an ideal time to purchase or refinance with FHA loans. With more than two decades of industry know-how, Flagstar Bank is a national leader—and a partner you can rely on. Send us your FHA deals today. Visit wholesale.flagstar.com to find an account executive near you.
Source: FHA Neighborhood Watch, December 2014.
Some restrictions may apply. All borrowers are subject to credit approval. Programs subject to change. The information provided
in this flyer is for dissemination to and for the use of real estate and financial business entities only and is not an advertisement for
the extension of credit to customers.
FHA Lender1Wholesale
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What a month!February has been anincredible month of plan-ning at NAMB—TheAssociation of MortgageProfessionals. To begin
the month, I visited United WholesaleMortgage’s huge facility in Troy, Mich.The group included brokers fromaround the United States. It was coldwith about 15 inches of snow on theground, so those of us from sunnysouth Florida were shivering a bit.UWM is an amazing company.Depending on what month, UWM is
the top wholesaler in the UnitedStates. When I visited, I could see why.
Later in the month, I attended ameeting of the Southwest Chapter ofthe Florida Association of MortgageProfessionals (FAMP) where ValerieSaunders was teaching about the newFlorida regulations and what to expectin a state audit. If you have not heardthis session, you are going to be total-ly unprepared and better break outyour wallet or, should I say, consultyour bankruptcy lawyer.
The rest of the month has been devot-ed to writing articles, doing numerous
interviews with national media outletsand event planning. I am very excitedabout NAMB’s first Wholesale Summit. Ifyou have ever wished you could talk tothe people who run the wholesale lenderinstead of, at best, a manager, this iswhat will be happening. The people whorun at least 15 of the major wholesalelenders will be meeting with the NAMBboard to improve this industry. If youhave suggestions, please e-mail them tome at [email protected].
Please make certain you attend NAMB’s2015 Legislative & Regulatory Conferencein Washington, D.C., set for Saturday-Tuesday, April 11-14. This may be themost important single thing you do thisyear. The opportunities for change areincredible, but will not happen withoutyour involvement. We’re the little guys
without millions to spend, but we haveyou. A voter in the office goes a long way.
I was also at the South FloridaRegional Compliance Symposium inFort Lauderdale on March 4 and willbe speaking at the South West FloridaAssociation of Mortgage ProfessionalsChapter Meeting in Fort Myers, Fla. onMarch 19. On April 9, I will be at theMaryland Association of MortgageProfessionals’ Annual Conference atTurf City Resort in Ellicott City, Md.
Hope to see you at one of theseevents!
John Councilman, CMC, CRMSNAMB [email protected]
The President’s Corner: March 2015
N A M B P E R S P E C T I V E
Have you ever wonderedabout changes that couldbe made to make your lifeeasier? NAMB is currentlyworking very hard on ournew Mortgage Summit
involving wholesale lenders. This is totake place on March 21 in Orlando, Fla.There are going to be 15 companies thatwill be attending and there are a numberof items that are going to be discussedand commented on. NAMB’s goal is toopen a dialogue with these companiesand attempt to get these companies todiscuss items from appraisals to disclo-sures to lender agreements.
This Summit is not just a one-timeshot. My goal with this is to continue tomeet and continue throughout the yearto have open dialogue and gather every-one again in Las Vegas at NAMB National.If you know of some potential companiesthat might be interested, let me know.
As I write the Monday MorningMessenger each week, I find myself usuallyhaving a lot to write and trying to only toleave some things out because it could betoo long. But earlier this month, I wroteabout the Congress and Senate. My prob-lem is that it continues to be a fighting andbickering contest amongst those who rep-resent us. Some of them are worse than
others. So here is my plea to all of you …GET INVOLVED IN THE NAMB GRASSROOTSEFFORT. This is going to be the only way weare going to be able to react to some of thestuff that is going on in D.C. Membership isthe answer to all of this. We need each andevery one of you to join the ranks of NAMBso that when we go to our representatives,we have strength in numbers. I know thatI have been preaching this for over threeyears now, but the time is now.
I was talking to someone just lastweek and they were talking about howmuch money it cost to join NAMB. Theysaid that $50 was too much, and to joinat the Platinum Level at $120 was ludi-crous. I asked her what did she expect thedues to be and she said $25 or $30. Webegan to talk about loan closings and shetold me that business was better than lastyear and last year she closed a little morethan 100 loans last year. So I asked, “Didyou make over $100,000 last year?” Sheanswered, “Yes.” I then asked if shestopped every morning for Starbucks and
she told me probably twice a day. Iadvised her that that is about $4.00 perday, times five days a week. It equates to$20 per week or about $85 per month.
I told her, “For the cost of one day ofcoffee or lattes, you could help protectyour industry by being a member ofNAMB. Can you give up two coffees permonth?”
She joined online that day.So, as you see … it is not that expen-
sive. When you join NAMB, you become amember of an association that keeps youinformed of what is going on inWashington, D.C., you also get importantnotifications of things that will affect youin your livelihood. We need MEMBERS,and we need 10,000 of them. Go towww.joinnamb.com today and get on thebandwagon. Become a member today!
Donald J. Frommeyer, CRMS is chief execu-tive officer for NAMB—The Association ofMortgage Professional. He may be reachedby e-mail at [email protected].
A Message From NAMB CEODonald J. Frommeyer
The CEO Perspective
By Fred Kreger,CMC
I was attending a creditunion meeting lastmonth when the topic of
leadership versus management waspresented. What does it mean to leadand not just manage? Leaders need toestablish a clear vision and share thatvision with others so that they will fol-low willingly. They will also provide theinformation, knowledge and methodsto realize that vision by coordinatingand balancing the conflicting interests
of all members and stakeholders.A leader steps up in times of crisis,
and is able to think and act creatively indifficult situations.
Remember, a key difference betweenmanagers and leaders is that managershave subordinates, while leaders havefollowers. Just because you have a titleof “Manager” does not necessarily makeyou a good and effective leaders.
Management is doing things right!Leadership is doing the right things!
You, as a leader, must model the wayand inspire others to follow the vision.And above all, encourage the heart. Pay
attention to what is happening in thehearts of others (what are others pas-sionate about and what do they careabout?). Show people you care and theywill follow.
Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady ofthe United States, once said, “A leadertakes people where they want to go. Agreat leader takes people where they donot necessarily want to go, but ought tobe.”
Now that have you all are enthralledin the word “Leader,” how does thisrelate to NAMB and you. Our advocacyfor our clients and fellow originatorsmust not wane. We need to continueour efforts in order for NAMB to be thethought leader that is expected by you,legislators and our regulators. That lastsentence may have confused you, but
indeed our members of congress lookto NAMB members as thought leadersin housing and lending.
When I was in Washington, D.C. thispast year with more than 100 of yourfellow NAMB members, the messagethat resonated with each meeting was,tell us what we can do to help our con-stituents. These are your clients.Members of Congress are reaching outto us this year. We have been given agreat opportunity to shape OUR lendingenvironment by rebuilding it with ourinput. When was the last time youheard that from D.C.?
Vision without action is adaydream. Action with-out vision is a nightmare.I am asking for each one of you today to
Leadership VersusManagement
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N A M B P E R S P E C T I V Ebe leaders with vision. Volunteer onsomething that you are passionate aboutwithin government advocacy: VA, FHA,USDA, downpayment assistance, loanlimits, etc. You all continue to stay in thebusiness. You all have passion for thisindustry. If you didn’t, you would haveleft years ago. Ask yourself that question.What are you passionate about? Andthen act upon it and volunteer sometime to move YOUR organization furtherforward than it has before.
Now I’m not asking for you to take20 hours a week and work on NAMB’s
behalf. No, I want you to do one thingnot 100. If we all just volunteer andhelp each one of our state organizationsand NAMB do one thing to move us for-ward, can you imagine what we willlook like? Pretty great vision I think.
Your NAMB Government Affairs teamis developing strategies that will helpyou determine your passionate objec-tive. Remember, the word “Strategy”means “To move one’s army.” We havea great army to do such great things. Ihope I have inspired you to do greatthings within your business, your state
organization, your family, and yes,within NAMB.
Leadership involves a goal and notjust influence with no intend outcome.As leaders of your organizations, com-panies and yourself, what goals must bein place in order to maintain your lead-ership title.
Los Angeles Dodger great Steve Saxwrote in his book Shift: “Great leadersare great storytellers. When you can tellsomeone a story that relates to his orher own situation, then you can changethe way they feel about themselves.”
This is what we do on a daily basis tolead others and tell our great stories.
Fred Kreger, CMC is the branch manager atAmerican Family Funding, a Division ofAmerican Pacific Mortgage. He is also apast statewide president of the CaliforniaAssociation of Mortgage Professionals(CAMP) and currently is the vice presidentand Government Affairs vice chairman forNAMB—The Association of MortgageProfessionals. He may be reached byphone at (661) 505-4311 or [email protected].
continued on page 22
By JohnCouncilman, CMC,CRMS
I really don’t have any-thing against the annual
percentage rate (APR) as a mathemati-cal tool for identical loans, but howmany loans are identical? I do think itis not appropriate as a general shop-ping tool, which is how it is primarilyused by the Truth-in-Lending Act(TILA).
I hear a lot of argument against theAPR based on the fact that consumerssimply don’t understand it. That is anexcellent reason not to use it as a gen-eral shopping tool. I have had borrow-ers tell me that they were expecting afour percent interest rate, and here Iam giving them a 4.9 percent interestrate. They had no clue that on an FHAloan, the mere fact that they hadmortgage insurance drives up the APRto quite a bit higher than the Noterate.
It really is easy to mislead con-sumers using APR as the only shop-ping tool. By carefully selecting the
LTV, loan amount or loan program,many tricks can be played with APR. Iknow that you should not compareAPRs on adjustable-rate mortgages(ARMs) to fixed or different loan terms,but borrowers don’t know that. Itwould be very easy for even a sophisti-cated borrower to think that ARMs, atthe moment, offer a better deal. Theymay, but I wouldn’t trust the APR toreveal that.
Another problem with the APR isthat most loan originators and othermortgage professionals really don’tunderstand it. They are relying totallyon a computer algorithm to computethe APR correctly. That can be a recipefor disaster, since the penalties forincorrectly calculating the APR orother important TILA terms are severe.It may even cause the loan to berescinded or possibly set aside by acourt. There could be significant finesfor miscalculating an APR. Should wereally have a calculation that honestpeople are unable to truly knowabsolutely whether the result is true ornot? Should the penalties be so greatfor mistakes? I have served as an
expert in TILA calculation cases wherelenders and borrowers spent tens ofthousands of dollars pursuing some-thing even the lawyers on both sidesdidn’t understand, much less thejudge or the jury.
I remember one case where theloan in question was a paymentoption ARM. The lawyers had a hardtime finding anyone who could calcu-late a Truth-in-Lending disclosure,much less explain how they came totheir result. Yet, the whole casehinged on whether that disclosure wasaccurate. I believe the judge eventual-ly ruled in the bank’s favor becausethey had no one to challenge my cal-culations.
Then, there are the argumentsabout what goes in the APR. Whilelenders have been much more careful,there is still disagreement in this area.With all of the conflict about affiliatefees being in the finance charge andAPR, a loan with lower closing costscan actually be required to have ahigher APR than a loan with higherclosing costs but no affiliate involved.The CFPB says they have clarifiedwhether broker loans may have ahigher APR than lender loans.Personally, I don’t think they havedone so adequately. They have givenverbal interpretation but not a
detailed rationale on how lender com-pensation to brokers affects APR andtriggers for higher-cost loans andhigh-cost loans. Lenders still disagreeon what title fees should be includedin the APR. It is the old argumentabout what service is required toobtain the loan. The ConsumerFinancial Protection Bureau (CFPB)toyed with the idea of an all-in APR alittle while back. This would put allclosing costs into the APR. The prob-lem here is that all of the triggerswould need to be reevaluated whichnot as simple as just moving them up.Different states handle closing costsvery differently. The CFPB simplyavoids APR on the Rate Checker, butdon’t get me started on that.
Let’s talk a little more about theability to manipulate the APR as Imentioned above. Let’s take twolenders who are both advertising …people don’t keep the loans same-lower rate, lower the APR if full term.
I have come to the conclusion thatAPRs are nearly worthless for anythingother than a fixed-rate mortgage. Let’slook at ARMs more closely. One usesthe one-year Treasury as an example,while the other uses the Cost of FundsIndex. Just because the Treasury is
NAMB’s Delegate Council:Goals for 2015
By Linda McCoy,CRMS
It is time to get ready forthe 2015 NAMBLegislative & Regulatory
Conference in Washington, D.C. I get soexcited thinking about meeting ourcongressman and spending time withthem explaining why we are there. Thefirst time I made the trip to D.C., I hadno idea what to expect. For those whokeep coming to Washington every year
to fight for the industry, I thank you asan originator because I know I wouldnot still be in business if you had notgiven your time and lobbied for thethings that have made a difference.
I had my first experience in govern-ment when I was in the eighth gradeand was selected to go to Girls State inJackson, Miss., our state capital, for aweek. We were taught the fundamen-tals of how our government works. Welearned first-hand how the Senate, theHouse of Representatives, and the
Governor all work together to keep ourstate running smoothly. I got a realsense of how important government isto our society as a whole.
Then, when I was in 11th grade, I wasselected to go to Washington, D.C. forGood Citizenship with 187 other peoplefrom all over the country. We visited ourcongressmen’s offices, the Capitol, andmany other important landmarks in D.C.We went through training on our gov-ernment and how it works on the feder-al level. I had no idea at the time that Iwould one day be there lobbying for acause that was very important to me.
Washington, D.C. is a fantastic placeto visit, and you can have NAMB help
open doors for you so you can experi-ence D.C. from the inside. NAMB willalso teach you how the governmentworks and what a difference you canmake. I felt a real connection when Iwas introduced to politics more than 50years ago. I am never disappointedwhen I go to D.C. There is always some-thing new and exciting happening.
Linda McCoy, CRMS is broker/owner ofMortgage Team 1 Inc. in Mobile, Ala., amember of the NAMB Board of Directorsand serves as NAMB Industry PartnersCommittee co-chair. She may be reachedby phone at (251) 650-0805 or [email protected].
Time to Prep for D.C.
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N A M B P E R S P E C T I V E
The Certification Committee of NAMB—The Association of Mortgage Profes-sionalshas been very productive to date in 2014,obtaining many new loan officers who havereceived the Certified Mortgage Consultant(CMC), Certified Residential MortgageSpecialist (CRMS) and/or General MortgageAssociate (GMA) designations.
NAMB will continue to grow itsCertification Program, to enhance its valueto our designees, and fine-tune its structureand procedures. The goal of the NAMBCertification Committee is to raise the num-ber of certified mortgage professionals to1,000 by July 2015, and to launch a mar-keting campaign to both industry membersand the public at-large about the need toutilize a nationally designated mortgageprofessional.
For more information on NAMB’sCertification Program, contact NAMBCertification Committee member JohnStearns, CMC, CRMS by e-mail [email protected] or call (262) 478-1154.
AlabamaLinda McCoy, CRMSPenny H. Phillips, CRMS
Arizona Rocke Andrews, CMC, CRMSCal Carlson, CMC, CRMSBert Carpenter, CMC, CRMS, GMARandall E. Hotchkiss, CMCWilliam R. Howe, CMC, CRMSBrian Jacenko, CMCRoss Jameson, CMCGilda Kemp, CRMSGary G. Kiehlbaugh, CRMSHratch K. Panosian, CMCJoseph P. Paonessa, CMCMark L. Ross, CMC, CRMSGary N. Smith, CMC
Stanley Y. Wang, CMC, CRMSLinda M. Wright, CMC
ArkansasShane Lester, CMC, CRMS
California Fred Arnold, CMCMichael Dorr, CRMSGeorge L. Duarte, CMCJane Durant-Jones, CMCVirginia Ferguson, CMCLinda Fleischmann, CMCDean Henderson, CRMSAl Hensling, CMCPeaches Jensen, CMCFred Kreger, CMCJessica Lanning, CMC, CRMSJoshua Lewis, CMCC. Kent Miller, CMCJames O’Dea, CMCPeter Ogilvie, CMCNancy Osborne, CMC, CRMSDonald Petty, CMCRobert S. Schwab, CMCGuy Schwartz, CMCChristopher Taylor, CMCRichard Vujovich, CMCSusan Wingate, CMC
Colorado Kay A. Cleland, CMC, CRMSTarius L. Derritt, CRMSGary Salter, CMCMichael Thomas, CMC
ConnecticutDebra Killian, CRMSLisa Moriello, CMC, CRMSHector Rodriguez, CMCLou-Ann Smith, CRMS
District of ColumbiaDiane B. Cook, CRMS
Jan Hix, CMC
FloridaTillis Churchill, CRMSFrank Cicione, CMC, CRMSJohn L. Councilman, CMC, CRMSMatthew Daly, CRMSJoseph L. Falk, CMC, CRMSDan C. Longman, CRMSJulie Wheeler, CRMSKenneth Zorovich, CRMS
GeorgiaMichael Sean Collett, CRMSDeborah L. Switts, CMCFrank P Torch, CRMS
HawaiiDonna Dodd, CRMSPatricia K. Morimoto, CMCGlenn Takasato, CMCBarbara Welsh, CMC
IllinoisKenneth J. Amstutz, CMC, CRMSGilbert M. Antokal, CRMSBrian Augustine, CRMSLeticia Avina, CRMSJackie Bulava, CRMSAngelo Cusinato, CMC, CRMSTony Davis, CMC, CRMSJohn Dedes, CRMSDorothy P. Desmond, CMC, CRMSBrian Dixon, CRMSCharles E. Eck, CMCAdenike Fasanya, CMCCarol Gardner, CMC, CRMSJorge G. Gomez, CRMSScott T. Guzik, CMCRobert J. Kenney, CRMSSteven M. Levitt, CRMSRobert C. Moos, CMC, CRMSAndrew G. Palomo, CMC, CRMS
Terry Pogofsky, CRMSJudith Santefort-Frey, CRMSShelly Straim, CMCTory Tarsitano, CRMSPrince Williams, Jr., CRMS
IndianaFrank Andriole, CRMSDonald J. Frommeyer, CRMSRobert E. Sweeney, CRMS
IowaCharles D. Chedester, CRMS Kevin Kirsch, CRMSBrian E. Lampe, CMC, CRMS
KansasA.W. Pickel, III, CMCLynn Smith, CMC
KentuckyNicolas M. Ellis, CMC, CRMS
LouisianaMichael Anderson, CRMSTracy Lynn West, GMA
MaineElizabeth Monaghan, CMC
MarylandTheresa Amos, CRMSAdrian F. Citroni, CRMSJason Fox, CRMSEric D. Gates, CRMSPatricia McGill, CMCRick Rall, CMCCraig Strent, CRMSKen Venick, CMC
MassachusettsRichard M. Bettencourt, CRMSGeorge F. McLaughlin,III, CMC, CRMS
MichiganTimothy Baise, CMCChip Cummings, CMCEric Kistka, CMC, CRMSPava J. Leyrer, CMC, CRMS
MinnesotaJason Decker, CRMSChristopher Dueffert, CRMS
The NAMB Certification Program
General MortgageAssociate
Certified ResidentialMortgage Specialist
Certified MortgageConsultant
lower now does not mean theTreasury will be lower in the future. Infact, the Index for Treasuries is artifi-cially low right now and probably ishighly misleading to use as an indexto derive an APR for disclosure pur-poses. Borrowers would be far betterserved by being given a chart of his-torical values rather than an APR.Construction loan APRs are absurd.You have no idea how much a bor-rower is going to draw and when.There is no way to calculate an accu-
rate APR on these loans.Rather than creating several disclo-
sures and seeing how the publicreceives them, it would seem to be farbetter to find out what consumers don’tunderstand or don’t read. The next stepshould be looking at ways to make cer-tain what consumers need to know andpossibly, more important, what theywant to know. There should be disclo-sures that inform the least sophisticatedborrowers and perhaps totally separatedisclosures that allow knowledgeable
borrowers to dig deeper.I appreciate HUD and the CFPB’s
attempts to create better disclosures,but there has been no revolutionarythought in disclosures since RESPA andTILA were enacted. They were trulyrevolutionary in their day.Unfortunately, everything we seetoday is more or less a variation of 40-year old disclosures. With the adventof laser printers and computerization,we can do far better. I do congratulatethe CFPB for moving the APR out of
the most prominent position. Perhapsit is time to retire it altogether since itis not a good shopping tool and pro-vides no useful purpose at closing,there is no comparisons being madethen. Let’s see if anyone is listening.
John Councilman, CMC, CRMS of AMCMortgage Corporation in Ft. Myers, Fla. ispresident of NAMB—The Association ofMortgage Professionals. He may bereached by phone at (239) 267-2400 or e-mail [email protected].
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NAMB+ is an independent, wholly-owned,for-profit marketing subsidiary of NAMB,The Association of Mortgage Professionals.
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Dear Mortgage Professional, I have some exciting news! You can now connect directlywith NAMB+ on social media!
As you know, part of what NAMB+ does is connectmortgage professionals with special offers, discounts,promotions and pricing on products and services that willhelp you every day. Social media is going to help NAMB+
bring you these deals and introduce you to our growing list of EndorsedProviders in a whole new way.
We need to build our audience and make sure we are communicatingand delivering the content that all of you want. So, right now, pleasetake a few minutes and connect with us on any or all of your favorite so-cial networks. Links to our pages are below. Finally, please do not hes-itate to give us some feedback on how we’re doing. We really do wantto hear from you, after all, it is social media!
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John G. Stevens, CRMS, PresidentNAMB+, [email protected] • NAMBPlus.com • @JohnGlennStevenshttps://www.facebook.om/JohnGStevensUtahhttps://plus.google.com/114643023635445909618/posts
See below for a complete listing of the current NAMB+ EndorsedProviders and visit NAMBPlus.com for more information.
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Shannon Roepke, CRMSJayne B. Sims, CRMSJ.J. Sims, CRMS
MississippiRobert D. Capps, CRMSDaniel J. D’Amico, CRMSVickie S. Graves, CRMSKenneth A. McNeal, CRMS
MissouriAndrew Conner, CRMS
MontanaRni Arnett, CRMS, GMA Tavell Peete, CMC, CRMS
NebraskaBrent Rasmussen, CRMS
New HampshireMichael Loffredo, CMCPaul R. Sliker, CMC
New JerseyRichard L. Jarocki, CMC
New MexicoGinger Bell, CRMSWes Moore, CRMS
New YorkJim Barry, CMCDonald Henig, CMCSeth Rapport, CRMSJessica Schoen, CRMS
North CarolinaDonald E. Fader, CRMSNeill E. Fendly, CMCDavid M. Overcast, CRMSJeffrey Trout. CRMS
OhioKevin Ary, CRMSDennis Fisher, CMC, CRMSRobert Mahaffey, CRMSJim Nabors, II, CMC, CRMSErick A. Parker, CMC, CRMSDuy Vu, CRMSPhenon Walker, CRMS
OregonAndy Harris, CRMSMatt Jolivette, CMCTami Konkel, CRMSStephen C. Salveson, CRMSKerry L. Vasquez, CMC
PennsylvaniaWayne Angelo, CRMSMichael J. D’Alonzo, CMCGeorge Hanzimanolis, CRMSJames E. Martin, CMC, CRMSStephen M. Matthews, CRMSMark Mazzenga, CMCKevin McElwain, CMCDaniel Thierry, CRMSDeborah A. Webb, CMC
South CarolinaJames Taylor, CMC
Robin C. Morton, CRMSJim Pair, CMCWilliam Parker, CMC, CRMSJerry Rutledge, CMCApril Schummer, CRMSJeffrey Shealey, GMA
UtahDavid Luna, CRMSNathan Pirerce, CRMSJohn Stevens, CRMS
VirginiaBernice Brown, CRMS
N A M B P E R S P E C T I V ETennesseeSheila Lipman, CRMSBrian C. Short, CMC, CRMS, GMA
TexasHarry H. Dinham, CMCJohn H. Hudson, CRMSJolene Jaehne, GMAOlga Kucerak, CRMSKarl LeBlanc, CRMSHenry Lesmeister, CRMSStacy London, CMCTerry J. Morrow, CMC
Jason Crigler, CRMSRichard L. Gilbert, CRMSDavid E. Shelor, CRMS
WashingtonStephen Bozick, CMCEdward Irwin, CMCPatricia L. Naselow, CMC
West VirginiaMarc Savitt, CRMS
WisconsinJohn L. Stearns, CMC, CRMS
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Donna DelMonteSenior Vice President of Product Development
StreetLinks Lender SolutionsB Y P H I L H A L L
NMP M O R T G A G E P R O F E S
“OUR GOAL AS STREETLINKS IS TO OFFER
ONE-STOP SHOPPING FOR LENDERS THAT
RELY ON AND TRUST OUR DATA.”Donna DelMonte has
more than 20 years
experience in the
mortgage industry.
In the course of her
career, she has
managed wholesale and retail
lending operations for major
lenders, with responsibilities that
spanned across the entire
residential home loan process,
from origination and underwriting
through risk management and
secondary marketing. She has
gained prominence over the years
with high-profile positions
including senior vice president of
operations at United Lending
Group, senior vice president of
operations at GMAC-RFC, senior
vice president of wholesale lending
at NovaStar Mortgage Bank and
vice president of sales at OneWest
Bank.
In July 2010, DelMonte joined
StreetLinks Lender Solutions, an
appraisal management company
and mortgage solutions provider of
Assurant Inc. She currently holds
the position of senior vice president
of product development.
Under DelMonte’s team
leadership, StreetLinks successfully
introduced its StreetLinks QX
product, a highly regarded
automated appraisal review tool. In
a corporate release, StreetLinks
singled out DelMonte for praise,
noting “StreetLinks QX has since
improved our own collateral
underwriting efficiency by 40
percent and is utilized by top
lending institutions nationwide, with
1190.91 percent growth in number
of customers in 2013.”
National Mortgage Professional
Magazine spoke with DelMonte
from her office in Orange County,
Calif., on her work with StreetLinks
and her views on the state of the
industry.
NMP: What makes StreetLinks
stand out from its competitors?
Donna DelMonte: To me, it is the
StreetLinks team—the people, the
leadership and the core values
that define us and the Assurant
organization. Our leadership team
is comprised of experienced
appraisal management experts
and lending professionals from
diverse backgrounds, creating a
unique balance that allows us to
challenge ourselves and to keep
our vision in line with the lenders
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and appraisal professionals
across our industry.
You have been in the mortgage
industry for more than two
decades. How has the industry
changed, for better and for
worse?
It has changed a lot! I started
back when we had to type out
loan documents. It was time-
consuming and paper-intensive.
We even had to glue
photographs to the documents.
There was not a lot of security
and control over the process.
Things would become lost on
cabinets and left on someone’s
desk.
In retrospect, I can say that,
overall, it was a good learning
experience. Today, many of the
tasks you used to do manually
are now done instantly with new
technology, such as automated
underwriting utilities and
appraisal review tools. That
clearly makes things much
easier. But at the same time,
there have been many new
regulatory guidelines that lenders
need to comply with. Oversight
and adherence can create more
opportunities for potential
problems, delays and expenses
for lenders, which can trickle
down to the consumer.
What are the primary
considerations that go into the
development of StreetLinks’
automated valuation tools?
First and foremost, we design
products that challenge the
status quo. If we cannot create
something better than the
products that are already
available, we are not going to do
it. At StreetLinks, we listen very
closely to our customers to
S I O N A L O F T H E M O N T H
determine their likes and dislikes
of the products that are
currently out in the marketplace.
We use that information as a
sounding board for what to
develop or refine next.
As a team leader, what do you
look for when seeking out
individuals to be part of your
team?
There are certain things that I
always look for: Leadership
quality and an individual who
understands the goals of the
organization. It is very important
to have a team member who
has a positive attitude and is
able to contribute their ideas to
us. They also need to display
honesty and integrity, and know
the importance of doing the
right thing.
Another important factor is
flexibility. Things change and we
want employees who can
successfully adapt to change
and are able to contribute new
ideas to the success of the
company.
And finally, interpersonal skills
are crucial. A successful team
member is one who is
comfortable communicating with
people.
What is your opinion of Fannie
Mae’s Collateral Underwriter,
and how will it impact the
appraisal process?
It is a new process for everyone
and has certainly brought the
industry’s attention to how
lenders handle their quality
control procedures.
As with anything new, people
need to be aware of what is
required and be properly
prepared before using it. Then
again, lenders always need to
research quality tools and need
to understand how the use of
these tools can impact their
business. I believe the release of
CU, along with recent and
upcoming regulatory changes,
will leave lenders heavily focused
on further standardizing
procedures, ensuring compliance
and attempting to lower costs
across the board.
Do you see mortgage banking,
as a whole, and the valuation
sector, in particular, as a
strong career environment for
young people coming out of
college and into the workforce?
Now that is a question that has
not been asked in a long time!
Both of those career paths offer
great opportunities for young
professionals. They have certainly
been very good for me and my
peers. We all experienced the
ebb and flow of the industry
throughout the years, but overall
it continues to grow and can
always use new minds to offer
fresh ideas and perspectives.
I strongly believe in offering
internships so that college
students can understand what
the pros and cons are for this
type of industry. I have a
daughter in college and I tell her
all time to do an internship and
use that experience to learn
what she wants to do.
What projects are you
currently working on?
We are continuing to focus on
our AppraiserPlus program,
which generates ACH payment
within one business day of an
appraiser completing an
inspection. We’ve had fantastic
results with this program. We
are also continuing to improve
on the technology behind
StreetLinks QX and our suite of
products. Our goal at
StreetLinks is to offer one-stop
shopping for lenders that rely on
and trust our data.
Outside of work, how do you
spend your leisure time?
I am a huge boater and am a
fisherwoman. We’ve had a boat
for more than 15 years, and I
love to go out to Catalina and
go fishing in the local waters.
There is great weather there all
year round!
Phil Hall is managing editor of
National Mortgage Professional
Magazine. He may be reached by
e-mail at
www.nationalmortgageprofessionalmagazine.com
26
By Nicolle Nelson
When it comesto mortgageo r i g i n a t i o nvolume, the
news lately has been good. TheMortgage Bankers Association (MBA)forecasts that the industry will origi-nate $1.22 trillion in mortgage loansin 2015, which would be a significantclimb from 2014’s total ($1.12 tril-lion). While many predicted thereturn to prominence of the purchasetransaction (MBA forecasts $731 bil-lion in purchase transactions in 2015,up from $638 billion in 2014), theFederal Reserve Board’s proclamationthat the interest rate will remain lowhas kept the refinance market aliveand well (although a modest $7 bil-lion gain is forecast by MBA in 2015,many had earlier predicted a declinein refinance originations for thisyear).
The bottom line is that the market
for home loans is finally improving.Although the regulatory environmenthas been turbulent for some time, acombination of dramatically lowergas prices, a consistently minisculeinterest rate and an improving nation-al employment number indicate thatAmericans will be seeking more mort-gages this year than last.
If the MBA forecast is to be accept-ed, however, total mortgage origina-tion volume will again decline in2016 (to $1.17 trillion). Although it isfar too early to have a good perspec-tive on where the mortgage industry
will be in 2016, the number explainswhy so many lenders and originatorsremain uneasy. Origination volume isimproving, but we are not in a “hock-ey stick” style recovery. There will bestarts, stops and bumps in the road.
The impact of fluctuating demandfor mortgages can be significant forlenders and originators of all sizes.The traditional cycle of increasingfixed costs (including staffing) duringtimes of increased demand, only tocut capacity when the marketdecreases, is expensive, time-consum-ing and painful. The firm that pares
its expenses to run lean then risksbeing unprepared or unable to reactthe next time a market opportunityarises. On the other hand, no origina-tor or lender can afford to carrythrough a market slump the samefixed costs needed to capture busi-ness during upcycles. The cost to orig-inate a mortgage loan is alreadyincreasing because of regulatory andcompliance demands. With the likeli-hood that the market will continue tofluctuate, how does a mortgage busi-ness find the flexibility to adapt?
Start by assessing youroperation … are therestill areas where costscan be contained or cut?Most agree that mortgage processestypically become inefficient duringhigh volume periods, such as therecent refinance boom. These ineffi-ciencies are generally not obviousuntil the market declines, at whichpoint they become glaringly appar-
“The traditional cycle of increasing fixed costs (including staffing) during times of increased demand,
only to cut capacity when the market decreases, is expensive, time-consuming and painful.”
Improved Mortgage Origination Volume Hi
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YOUR GO-TO LENDER FOR THE
TOUGHEST
LOANS
FHA, VA & USDA PROGRAMS
FICOREDUCED TO
550
© Copyright 2007-2015 Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC headquartered at 1610 E. Saint Andrew Place, Suite B150, Santa Ana, CA 92705. Toll Free 800-561-4567. NMLS ID 2600. Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) Consumer Access website: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. AZ: Mortgage Banker BK-0910745; 2159 McCulloch Blvd 4, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403. CA: Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, File 413 0904. CO: Check license status of your mortgage loan originator at http://www.dora.state.co.us/real-estate/index.htm. GA: Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee 22721. IL: Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee. KS: Supervised Loan License SL.0000313. KY: Mortgage Loan Company License MC21112. MN: This is not an off er to enter into an interest rate lock agreement under Minnesota Law. MO: Residential Mortgage Broker License 09-1746-S. NH: Licensed by the New Hampshire Banking Department. NJ: Licensed by the N.J. Department of Banking and Insurance. NY: Licensed Mortgage Banker—NYS Department of Financial Services. New York Mortgage Banker License B500980/107664. OH: Ohio Mortgage Broker Act Mortgage Banker Exemption MBMB.850208.000 (FHA, DE & VA automatic loans only) OR: Mortgage Lender License ML4886. PA: Licensed by the Department of Banking. RI: Rhode Island Licensed Lender, Lender License 20112809LL. VA: Licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission MC5382. WA: Consumer Loan License CL2600. Also licensed in AL, AR, CT, DE, DC, FL, ID, IN, ME, MD, MI, MT, NM, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, UT, WV and WI. NOTICE: All loans subject to credit, underwriting and property approval guidelines. Off ered loan products may vary by state. There is no guarantee that all borrowers will qualify. Restrictions may apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Terms, conditions and programs are subject to change without notice. This information is for mortgage professionals only and is not intended for distribution to consumers. Carrington Mortgage Services is not acting on behalf of or at the direction of HUD/FHA or any offi ce of the federal government. All rights reserved.
At Carrington Mortgage Services, we are committed to meeting the
fi nancing needs of those who are underserved throughout America.
We have loan programs specifi cally tailored to credit-challenged borrowers, so there’s no need to turn away those borrowers with low FICO scores. We are your government lender of choice with loan programs, service, technology and national support to grow your business today, tomorrow and beyond.
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ent. Somewhat surprisingly, the strat-egy for managing costs in a toughenvironment shouldn’t really changefrom cycle to cycle. There are a num-ber of typical places to look at to findthese opportunities.
The areas that tend to have thegreatest influence on costs includethings like breadth of products sup-ported, infrastructure (IT, technolo-gy) or channels and geographic mar-kets being served. Streamlining/elim-inating/modifying these generallybrings the quickest impact, but theseareas are often the hardest to opti-mize as well. The next area to scruti-nize is the structure of the origina-tion business. Is it centralized? Doesthe scale allow the firm to operate incertain geographic markets or offercertain products? Then come the sys-tems, workflow tools, resources andtheir capacity, followed by staffinglevels and productivity.
As you assess your operation, con-sider the following questions as well.Are there unnecessary redundanciesin your origination or productionprocess (such as systemic re-keyingof data)? Do those involved in pro-ducing the loan (including vendors,partners and staff) have access toeffective, efficient communicationsystems? (Have we moved past theera of phone tag and the fax to a newera of systemic communication and24/7 availability for status updates?).Does the technology you use allowyou to do business in a flexible andefficient fashion … or is the firmbeing forced into less efficientprocesses simply to accommodate itstechnology (or that of vendors)? Alltoo often in the past, mortgage busi-nesses have selected their technolo-gy platforms without consideringease of use, how those systems fittheir workflows or ability to inte-grate with other systems. That ischanging, and will allow mortgagebusinesses to get more productionfrom their resources instead of sim-ply bringing in additional resourceseach time demand improves.
Review your costs objectively … or getsomeone to do it objectively for youA critical review of your operationand processes is often very difficultto do objectively. The people manag-ing and executing at ground level arerarely able to step back and view theprocess objectively. Oftentimes, themanagers or executives charged withthe review are familiar with few, ifany, operational optimization tools.They are also frequently unable tospare adequate time for such reviewbecause of the demands of their day-to-day work. As a result, using a
third-party service provider can bringan unbiased perspective as firms re-examine their processes. Some caneven provide the same services at alower cost while also helping toimprove quality and turn time.
We frequently see three specificprocesses which can be improved, nomatter how big or small the firm. Thefirst is loan registration (or loanboarding). There is usually muchroom to improve turn time in thisprocess. Second, unsurprisingly, is the
underwriting cycle. Can it be short-ened without sacrificing quality con-trol? The answer, most often, is “yes.”The third is the workflow of the origi-nation process itself. Numerous inef-ficiencies frequently arise over timewhen it comes to origination, and itoften takes an outside and objectiveexpert to root these out.
Outsourcing … a whole new ballgame“Outsourcing” any number of func-
tions in the loan origination processis nothing new to the mortgageindustry. Lenders and originatorshave outsourced numerous “backoffice” operations for decades to suc-cessfully and significantly contain orcut their expenses. But the way it isbeing done today is different, mak-ing it a viable (and preferable) optionfor more functions than ever.Although some of the largest lendersare increasingly bringing formerlyoutsourced or managed functions “inhouse” to manage risk, small- oreven mid-sized mortgage businessessimply do not have the resources todo so.
ighlights the Need for Flexibility
continued on page 32
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By Terry W.Clemans
The battle over the struc-ture of the ConsumerFinancial Protection
Bureaus’ (CFPB) leadership and fundingis now raging. Recently, as CFPBDirector Richard Cordray was providingthe latest semiannual reports toCongress, six bills, HR1261-HR1266,introducing legislation that if signedinto law, would bring a massive over-haul to the Bureau.
In the hearing’s opening state-ment, House Financial ServicesCommittee Chairman Jeb Hensarling(R-TX) a conservative and outspokenadvocate for limited government, setthe table for the bills being droppedinto the legislative hopper with thefollowing statement: “The CFPB isperhaps the single most powerful andleast accountable federal agency inall of Washington and demands rigor-ous oversight.” He went on to expandabout the CFPB’s power, “When itcomes to the credit cards, auto loansand mortgages of hardworking tax-payers, the CFPB has unbridled, dis-cretionary power not only to makethem less available and more expen-sive, but to absolutely take themaway. This is not the rule of law, it isthe rule of rulers and the rulers areunaccountable. The Bureau is funda-mentally unaccountable to the presi-dent since the director can only beremoved for cause. Fundamentallyunaccountable to Congress becausethe Bureau’s funding is not subject toappropriations. Fundamentally unac-countable to the courts becauseDodd-Frank requires courts to grantthe CFPB deference regarding itsinterpretation of Federal consumerfinancial law. Thus, the Bureauregrettably remains unaccountable to
the American people.”Of course Director Cordray’s state-
ment countered ChairmanHensarling’s with his account of theCFPB’s actions to positively changethe various sectors of the financialservices landscape over the last sixmonths, and sometime referencingback to the young agencies creation aspart of the Dodd-Frank FinancialReform of just a few years ago. He hasused this vast power swiftly in manyways, bringing about many changes atwarp speed, compared to the regula-tory process pre-CFPB. While the per-spective of the Bureau’s actions arevery much open to debate with verystrong opinions on both sides, theposition of Chairman Hensarling isundeniable. The bills introduced arefocused on his statement, and willattempt to bring some balance andaccountability to the current powerstructure. The most obvious changesbeing sought revolve around theCFPB’s leadership, bringing in a com-mission (like most other governmentagencies) and the funding, moving itto the normal appropriations processregulated by Congress. While onlyRepublican bills, with a veto waitingat the White Housing door unlesssome Democrats join in, hardball pol-itics on this issue will be entertainingto watch in the months ahead.Regardless of the outcome of that bat-tle, we are going to focus on the someof the changes the CFPB has brought
about with that unprecedented in thecredit reporting industry.
Director Cordray’s statements deliv-ered in two recent important state-ments that featured the credit report-ing industry as the only topic, or amajor portion of the address. The firstwas on Feb. 19 when the CFPB’sConsumer Advisory Board met wherecredit reporting, credit scoring andcollections comprised the entire agen-da. Then, less than a week later,Cordray addressed the NationalAssociation of State Attorney Generals,and in this speech, while coveringmany topics, featured credit reportingprominently in his target issues. Inaddressing the state attorney gener-als, Cordray stated, “Robert F.Kennedy once said something that isapt for the work we all do: The chal-lenge of politics and public service isto discover what is interfering withjustice and dignity for the individualhere and now, and then to decideswiftly upon the appropriate reme-dies.” I have spoken with you beforeabout some of these obstacles thatinterfere with justice and dignity forconsumers—which we regularly referto as ‘The Four Ds.’ We see them muchtoo often: Deceptive Marketing, DebtTraps, Dead Ends and Discrimination.Today, I would like to revisit theseobstacles and describe some of theprogress we are making to combatthem.”
When expanding on “The Four Ds,”
credit reporting and collections werehis examples of consumer “DeadEnds,” recalling his days as the OhioAttorney General as his first experi-ences with consumer dissatisfactionwith credit reporting and how it con-tinues today at a national level. Acommonality to both his addressesand a driving force for his desire tochange the credit reporting industryis the “profound influence on theirlives” and that consumers have “limit-ed clout because they cannot choosethe businesses they are dealing with”in credit reporting which he referredto as an industry that has been a“mystery for decades.” He clearlybelieves that “mystery” is going to besolved, as he told the attorney gener-als about the “things we are doing topry it open, to help ensure that peo-ple are being treated fairly, and tomake sure that consumers are notencountering dead end after deadend when they run into trouble.”
Examples he cited as changes to theindustry that will provide immediateimprovement to the consumer experi-ence is the “securing of importantupgrades to e-Oscar.” E-Oscar is the sys-tem used to process consumer disputesbetween the credit bureaus and credi-tors. The big improvement the CFPBbrought here was the inclusion of con-sumer documents (when provided bythe consumer) to the creditor to sup-port the dispute, instead of just ageneric code for the base reason of thedispute. Another of his recent initiativeshas been the pursuit of creditors to pro-vide consumers their credit score, forfree, as part of their monthly billingstatement. Since many creditors oftenaccess the consumer’s credit report andscore for the accounts they service,many times even monitor the creditreport and score monthly, they havethe data in their file. Director Cordray
“The CFPB is perhaps the single mostpowerful and least accountable federal
agency in all of Washington and demandsrigorous oversight.”
—Rep. Jeb Hensarling, House Financial Services Committee Chairman
The CFPB’s Future and the Bureau’s Impact on the
Credit Reporting Industry
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Caliber Home Loans, Inc., 3701 Regent Boulevard, Irving, TX 75063 (NMLS #15622). 1-800-401-6587. Copyright©2015. All Rights Reserved. Equal Housing Lender. For real estate and lending professionals only and not for distribution to consumers. This communication may contain information that is privileged, confidential, legally privileged, and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Distribution to the general public is prohibited. Caliber Home Loans, Inc. is required to disclose the following license information: Alaska Mortgage Lender License No. AK15622; Arizona Mortgage Banker License No. 0923637; Licensed by The Department of Corporations under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, Finance Lender Licensee; CO: Regulated by the Division of Real Estate; DE: Licensed by the Delaware State Bank Commissioner, License 5202 expires 12/31; Georgia Residential Mortgage Lender License No. 7330; Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee No. MB.0004043, by the Illinois Division of Banking, 320 West Washington St., Springfield, IL 62786, (217) 782-3000; Kansas-licensed mortgage company, License Number SL.0000796; Minnesota: MN-MO- 40149066, This is not an offer to enter into an agreement. Any such offer may only be made in accordance with the requirements of Minn. Stat. Section 47.206 (3) and (4); Licensed by the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance; Montana Mortgage Lender License No. 15622; Licensed by the New Hampshire Banking Department; NV: 3753 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 257, Las Vegas, NV 89169, (702) 784-5975; Licensed mortgage banker n.s.--N.J. Department of Banking; Licensed Mortgage Banker-NYS Department of Financial Services; Ohio MBMB.850184.000; Oregon Mortgage Lender License ML-324; Rhode Island Licensed Lender; VA: NMLS ID # 15622 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org); Washington Consumer Loan Company License No. CL-15622.
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claimed this initiative has grown fromjust three companies, (with Discoverbeing one of the first big providers ofthis service) to now include more thana dozen financial intuitions affecting 50million consumers.
In the CFPB Consumer AdvisoryBoard meeting, Cordray’s openingstatement to the group provides amore in-depth look into the path andfuture objectives of the agencyregarding credit reporting. An obser-vation from both opening statementsis that this agency understands thecredit reporting industry far betterthan previous regulators, and is usingthe “first-time ever” powers he hasbeen granted by Congress to continuean aggressive approach changing theway the industry operates that willbenefit consumers and leave a lastinglegacy if the CFPB goes through amajor structural overhaul in thisCongressional session.
As examples of this understanding,in the early portion of his statementhe reiterates the great importancethe industry has on consumers’ livesand that unlike most businesses con-sumers cannot “vote with their feet”when it comes to credit reporting.This appears to be one of the drivingforces the Director has in bringchange to the credit reporting indus-try. The combination of inescapableimportance on the consumers’ finan-cial existence, combined with mil-lions of consumer complaints aboutthe “mystery” in which the industryoperates. This has driven the CFPBuse their examination ability to lookat the inner workings of the systemsin place, the long-time practices, andis turning up the pressure on theindustry to perform better.
Cordray stated, “Because of theimportance that credit reports havein consumers’ lives, we all need thisindustry to operate at the highest lev-els of quality and performance. Asconsumers develop greater awarenessof these issues and intersect moreroutinely with the credit reportingcompanies, we need those companiesto become more responsive to thevery people whose information, afterall, is the core element of their busi-ness.”
The Director makes the connectionbetween handling consumer disputesand report accuracy when he states,“We want to see how disputes getresolved as part of our work to ensurethat millions of consumers are notbeing wrongly denied access to creditor charged more than they should befor taking out a loan. Moreover, weare seeking to ensure that the creditreporting companies are taking allreasonable measures to assure maxi-mum possible accuracy as required bythe Fair Credit Reporting Act. After all,even an accuracy rate that seems hightaken in the aggregate—say, 95 per-cent, for example—would mean thatmore than 10 million consumerscould have problems in their creditreports that can impede their path
forward in their financial lives.” Inaddition to the changes to e-Oscar,the CFPB is requiring a new reportfrom the national credit bureausabout the quality of the data beingprovided by the credit furnishers. Thisis going to be done by looking at theamount of disputes filed vs. the credi-tors, and shows the CFPB understandsthat the credit bureaus are only asaccurate as the data they are sent.
Another issue addressed in theAdvisory Board Meeting was that ofmedical collection accounts which Ihave written about many times previ-ously. Cordray clearly believes thatthese accounts are not reliable to usefor evaluating a consumer’s creditworthiness, due to so many of the
issues NCRA and NAMB—TheAssociation of Mortgage Professionalshave repeatedly cited while support-ing the Medical Debt ResponsibilityAct. While Director Cordray acknowl-edges the newest score models havelowered the importance of medicaldebts, hopefully he realizes that thelimited use of the newest scores forsome of the most important lendingdecisions, like mortgage loans, is notyet a reality. Since Fannie Mae,Freddie Mac, and HUD continue to useFICO score models that are almost 10-years-old, medical accounts willremain part of the lending decision aslong as the account itself remains partof the consumer’s data in the creditreporting file.
Note, I referred to the consumer’sdata in the credit file, not the creditreporting agencies’ data. DirectorCordray stated, “The information onour credit reports is, after all, our infor-mation, not theirs” this is positionabout the data is another example ofpower the CFPB is showing that previ-ous federal agencies did not have. Nowwe will have to watch as the Red andBlue powers in Congress and the WhiteHouse flex their muscles over the futurestructure of this agency.”
Terry W. Clemans is executive director ofthe National Consumer ReportingAssociation (NCRA). He may be reachedby phone at (630) 539-1525 or [email protected].
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SPONSORED ED ITORIAL
By Ryan Dunphey
There are four compelling reasons that mortgage brokersshould take the buy-to-rent investor seriously as a greatsource of new business in 2015 and a very good way to buildtheir businesses during a time when other lines of business
are not performing well.
A viable focusWhen a mortgage broker differentiates themselves from their competi-tion, they have a distinctive competence that qualifies them to do workbetter than others—or work that others don’t even do—they prove them-selves to be a valuable resource.
Very few mortgage brokers are catering to this particular real estate in-vestor at this time, making it an excellent opportunity for a broker thatwants to specialize in a defensible niche. Depending upon your location,this could be an auxiliary product, allowing you to say “yes” to prospectivecustomers more often. For others, it could become a large part of yourbusiness.
Even better, it’s a product offering that blends the best of residentialmortgage lending with aspects of commercial mortgage lending. This hasthe effect of making the broker who understands it very attractive to realestate agents, accountants, commercial brokers and other referral part-ners who have clients seeking hybrid financing options.
An empty nicheThis market is just heating up, fueled by a new class of mortgage bondsbacked by loans made to this community. That means that more lendersmay be looking at this market in the future. Now is the time for brokersto establish their leadership in the buy-to-rent market, before other bro-kers move into the space.
This is great news for real estate brokers, who know who the investorsare in their geographies but have had limited access to good financingoptions to offer them. Those who form relationships with these referralpartners first will have the best chance of earning money from those re-lationships for years to come.
The deals are easier today than in the pastExperienced loan originators will tell you that writing loans for investmentproperties, especially when the investor already owns four single-familyhomes, is a laborious process that takes a great deal of time and rarelyresults in affordable financing. In the past, this was true. But today’s mar-ket is different.
Today’s buy-to-rent investors have access to the same capital that fi-nanced the big Wall Street players. It’s available through a streamlinedapplication process with underwriting that takes into account the prop-erty’s anticipated cash flow. Mortgage brokers can now help these in-vestors increase the size of their portfolios and even pull cash out byrefinancing them, singly or in a group.
These investors are highly motivated to transactThis may be the biggest reason for mortgage loan brokers to investigatethis opportunity now: these investors have very few options available tothem today. That may not always be the case, but for the foreseeable fu-ture, the brokers who reach out to them today will be able to provide thefinancial solutions they have been looking for.
Ryan Dunphey works with B2R’s wholesale lending platform, advising thirdparties and facilitating access to B2R’s financing options for their clients. Formore information, call (888) 495-7731 or visit http://info.b2rfinance.com/NMP.
How Brokers Can Earn More by Lending to Landlords
�
As the 2015-2016 Mortgage Action Alliance (MAA)chairman, I want to share with you some of thereasons active engagement and advocacy areessential to the future of our industry. MAA is aunique program that harbors the strengths of everysegment of real estate finance. We are a free, vol-
untary and non-partisan nationwide grassroots lobbying network dedicatedto strengthening the industry’s voice and lobbying power in Washington, D.C.and state capitals across America. The policies and legislation the industryfaces impact our day-to-day jobs in tangible ways. We have a right and dutyto join that conversation.
We have a right to speak freely. We have a duty to speak up. As a rep-resentative of an industry that employs hundreds of thousands ofAmericans, you cannot sit idly by while decisions are made that affect usall. You have a choice—watch it happen and accept what may come, or bean active participant.
Our next “must-attend” event is the MBA’s National Advocacy Conference2015, set for Tuesday-Wednesday, April 14-15 at the Capital Hilton inWashington, D.C. Whether you are brand new to our industry advocacyefforts or have been active for years, the MBA’s National Advocacy Conference2015 will help you find out what the issues are, learn how they affect yourbusiness, and get tips and talking points for discussions with lawmakers. Andthat’s just Day One.
You’ll also get the chance to put the skills you learn in our seminars intopractice. On Day Two, you will join your colleagues on Capitol Hill for a dayof democracy in action. We will line up face-to-face meetings with lawmak-ers and key policy staff that represent you in Washington, D.C., and give youthe chance to tell them how their actions affect your business. You have theright to be heard. Make your plans to attend the National AdvocacyConference 2015 today. Together, we CAN make a difference.
Getting involved with MAA allows industry professionals to play an activerole in how laws and regulations that affect the industry and consumers arecreated and carried out by lobbying and building relationships with policy-makers. It only takes a moment to get started, and you do not have to be amember of MBA to enroll. The larger the group, the louder the voice!
If you would like to run a MAA campaign, please contact StephanieGraham at (202) 557-2818 or e-mail [email protected] to receive an enroll-ment campaign kit and learn more about how you can engage your col-leagues and employees in MBA’s advocacy programs.
Real estate finance industry professionals who wish to join or learn moreabout MAA can do so at www.mortgageactionalliance.org. If you have anyquestions regarding MBA’s advocacy programs, please contact MBA’sAssistant Director of Political Affairs Annie Gawkowski by phone at (202) 557-2816 or e-mail [email protected].
Fowler Williams is chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s MortgageAction Alliance. He is also president of Atlanta, Ga.-based Crescent Mortgage.Williams speaks regularly to financial institutions and their respective organi-zations on compliance, regulatory changes in mortgage lending, and assessingtheir overall mortgage operations to maximize income, while minimizing therisks associated in today’s mortgage lending environment. He may be reachedby phone at (800) 851-0263 or e-mail [email protected].
MBA’sMortgageActionAlliance
A Message From MAA Chairman Fowler Williams
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Builder through a secure, paperlessexchange of documents, Dirrane said.“Our lender customers who use Blueprintare now able to transmit their documentsseamlessly,” he said. “It’s another optionwe offer our customers to transmit loandocuments electronically and securely.”
ISGN Partners With Fiservon Default ServicingPlatform and LaunchesLoanDynamix LoanServicing System
ISGN Corporation hasannounced that long-time strategic partnerFiserv Inc. has fully
integrated ISGN’s Tempo default servicingplatform within its LoanServ loan servic-ing platform. Tempo is now the preferreddefault platform for mortgages support-ed on LoanServ from Fiserv. ISGN’sTempo is an end-to-end, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based default managementplatform and system of record that helpsservicers, attorneys and vendors manageand track the default lifecycle from thecollection/early intervention stage all theway through to liquidation, includingbankruptcy and foreclosure attorneyprocesses. The integration of Tempo willenhance the LoanServ platform’s loss mit-igation capabilities to meet the needs oftoday’s servicers, as well as position ser-vicers for the emerging market.
“Our goal was to expand the capabili-ties of LoanServ to specifically help clientsmanage portfolios of defaulted realestate loans, and Tempo is the mostsophisticated default servicing platformavailable in the marketplace today,” saidJoe Dombrowski, director of productmanagement, Lending Solutions atFiserv. “With this integration, Fiservclients can continue to improve efficien-cies and mitigate compliance risks sur-rounding the complex default manage-ment process, enabling them to stayfocused on their institutions’ futuregrowth.”
“This partnership reflects our insightinto the needs of mortgage servicers andour expertise in delivering solutions tomeet those requirements,” said AnnePolitis, EVP at ISGN. “ISGN and Fiserv haveenjoyed a close, strategic alliance for sev-eral years, so this is a natural extension ofthat relationship.”
“ISGN’s expanded partnership withFiserv enables customers who use bothTempo and LoanServ to achieve unprece-dented levels of efficiency and compliancewhile managing their defaulted loan port-folio,” said Erik Anderson, president ofSales for ISGN. “We frequently hear fromservicers who are hungry for a new tech-nology solution that is scalable, predica-ble, cost-effective and easy to use. Webelieve this is a big step in that direction.”
ISGN Corporation has also announcedthe release of its latest loan servicing sys-tem, LoanDynamix. Built on more thanthree decades of technology expertise ofLSAMS, ISGN delivers its next generation
loan servicing system, LoanDynamix, tomeet the new demands of servicing byfusing proven servicing utility with state-of-the-art technology.
Delivered through a secure Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, LoanDynamixoffers a smooth migration from existingsolutions. It is easily accessible from anybrowser, anytime and anywhere so ser-vicers can work where and how they aremost comfortable. Supporting the entireservicing lifecycle, LoanDynamix canscale from a few thousand to more thansix million loans while substantiallyimproving operational performance,
new to marketcontinued from page 18
supercharging productivity and abbrevi-ating turnaround times. By improvingand automating loan boarding, transac-tion processing and banking, investoraccounting, collections and payoffs,LoanDynamix can help servicers increasestaff productivity, manage higher loanvolumes with existing staff, and increasebusiness profitability.
“Mortgage servicing comes with a myr-iad of challenges,” said Paul Imura, CMOand senior executive of ISGN. “In fact, themajority of mortgage-related complaintsreceived by the CFPB stem from servicingand defaults, and, more than a third aredue to routine servicing functions likemanagement of payments, escrow andtransfers. Our industry is ready forchange. We believe one in three servicers
are looking to replace their core plat-forms.”
Your turnNational Mortgage Professional Magazineinvites you to submit any information pro-moting new “niche” loan programs, newproducts or any other announcementrelated to the introduction of a new pro-gram, to the attention of:
New to Market columnPhone #: (516) 409-5555
E-mail:[email protected]
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are pre-ferred. The deadline for submissions is the1st of the month prior to the target issue.
BARRY HABIB—THE ORIGINATOR OF THE MARKET ADVISORY SERVICE
Daily guidance and insights from Mort-gage Market expert Barry Habib. He closedover $2 Billion in production as a LoanOriginator, called the bottom of the Hous-ing Market and currently provides sales
and market training to thousands of Loan Originators acrossthe country.
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The Long & Short:The Business of Short Sales
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Fortunately, outsourcing no longerrequires originators and lenders tochoose either “fast and cheap” or“quality.” Today, the lender demandsthat such solutions be fast, cheap anddone well (as well as compliant).Outsource solutions providers are nolonger detached from the mortgageorigination process. They are muchmore knowledgeable and bettertrained in regard to the entire mort-gage transaction. They provide bettermetrics and better quality control.They are no longer simply data entryspecialists. Outsourcing an origina-tion process no longer equates to sac-rificing on quality of product.
Outsourcing is a time-tested way tocut fixed expenses without sacrificingcapability, which is the formula forsuccess in a relatively volatile market.Some outsourcing providers nowoffer flexible pricing on a pay-as-you-go basis or even based upon transac-tion volume, which is ideal for fluctu-ating origination volumes.Outsourcing also offers a far easierramp-up and ramp-down than main-taining and cutting staffing does.Today, with the regulatory environ-ment bringing heightened scrutiny,some outsource providers even offeradditional resources in compliance(auditing, knowledge base andresources, etc.). Finally, the fact thatsome outsource providers are multi-national often means they offer 24/7operations, making it easier to scaleand, quite simply, achieve more inless time.
Choosing your partner carefullyBecause lenders are now explicitlyresponsible for the actions of theirservice providers, it is more impor-tant than ever to choose any out-source provider carefully. Does thepotential partner have the ability toobjectively analyze business opera-tions and advise on the optimal pathto meet business goals? Does the
potential partner have clearlydefined processes and tools to reviewkey business metrics, technology,platforms and infrastructure? Havethey demonstrated the ability to con-duct a detailed operational analysis,including organizational structure,functions, processes and regulatoryrequirements?
An effective outsource providerwill perform a review of process per-formance, and use industry bench-marking to help identify the gapsthat need to be managed. The part-ner should be able to define currentprocess challenges and identify exist-ing initiatives in place to addressthem.
Once an outsource provider hasbeen selected, it is critical to main-tain strong oversight and communi-cation, including the use of metricsand clearly defined accountability.The partner management team needsto be accessible and visibly activeduring the course of the implementa-tion—a key component to ensuringthe success of the initiative.
Although all indicators are point-ing to a positive 2015 for the mort-gage industry, the big picture sug-gests what many economists havebeen saying since 2008: The recoverywill have many dips, starts and stops.With origination costs going up,lenders and originators will need tomaintain a philosophy of flexibilityand adaptation in order to stay suc-cessful. We truly are entering a newera in mortgage lending. It is nowclear that those willing to rethink theway they did business five years agoand able to innovate in the way theyproduce loans will lead the way.
Nicolle Nelson is vice president of busi-ness development at SLK Global, a busi-ness process management (BPM) firmthat performs operational risk audits toimprove processes while reducing costlymistakes. She may be reached by phoneat (480) 395-8253.
An Open Letter to President Obama and Federal Housing Finance Agency
Director Mel Watt
By Pam Marron
1. President Obama: A HARP-like program needs to be availablefor underwater homeowners who do not have a Fannie Mae orFreddie Mac mortgage. 2. Mr. Watt: HARP needs to be available with unlimited loan to
value, the way the guidelines state.And for both programs, stress the idea of a shorter term at the lower refi-
nanced rate, the quickest way to re-gain equity.
Dear President Obama and FHFA Director Mel Watt:I am a mortgage broker of 30 years in Tampa Bay, Fla., one of the hardest hitareas with negative equity properties in the United States. As of December2014, there were still 7.1 million underwater homeowners, or 13 percent of allmortgaged properties, with negative equity of 125 percent or greater acrossthe U.S.1
First on the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), a refinance pro-gram that is supposed to be available for those who own a home that is:
l Backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac;l Has negative equity; andl The homeowner is current on their mortgage.
This program was supposed to offer a refinance with an unlimited loan-to-value (LTV), where the amount of negative equity is not capped. Instead,since the program came out, lenders have applied overlays en-masse, lim-iting maximum LTV, commonly capping the total at 105 percent to 150 per-cent LTV. You would think that these lenders would apply written guide-lines to insure that these homeowners continue to stay current. No optionsare given to these homeowners who must go out on their own and researchfor the handful of lenders that offer HARP at the uncapped LTV. And otherthan improving customer loyalty, there does not appear to be any incen-tive for current lenders to assist underwater homeowners. Why? If thehomeowner refinances their loan with another HARP lender, that is oneless negative equity loan on the books of that initial lender.
In February of 2012 during the State of the Union Address2, there was acall on Congress to provide a refinance mortgage for responsible underwa-ter homeowners who do not have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage.No programs were ever put in place.
HARP is the only refinance option for underwater homeowners currenton their mortgage with a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan. There is no refi-nance option for underwater homeowners current on their mortgage thatdo not have a Fannie Mae- or Freddie Mac-backed loan.
It seems incredible that we cannot provide a refinance program formortgage holders who are current on mortgage payments, whether theloan is a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan, or not. This refinance is for per-forming mortgages and could better the financial picture for 7.1 millionhomeowners in the U.S. that still have negative equity in excess of 125 per-cent LTV.
And here is the incentive: Show how reducing the loan term3 to 10, 15or 20 years at a lower interest rate accelerates equity substantially. Showthe break-even month and year when the homeowner will no longer havea negative equity mortgage.
And, while we are on refinances, could you please find out why mortgagelenders cannot proactively reset performing HELOCs4 and second mortgages tolower, current rates when they are due to be fully amortized for homeownersthat are paying on time? There is no refinance option available for these loans
unless the homeowner goes delinquent,and many will be negatively affectedwhen interest only payments at existinghigher rates become fully amortized.
Pam Marron (NMLS#246438) is seniorloan officer with Innovative MortgageServices Inc. (NMLS#250769). She maybe reached by phone at (727) 375-8986or e-mail [email protected] to www.8Problems.com for Video 4and Video 5 to show problems of no refi-nance availability and how shorter term,lower rate escalates home equity.
Footnotes1—Jan. 21, 2015: RealtyTrac: SeriouslyUnderwater Properties Decrease by 2.2 Million in
2014, Down 5.8 Million From Peak NegativeEquity in Q2 2012/ Daren Blomquist.
2—Jan. 24, 2012: Blueprint for an America to Last/President Barack Obama/ http://www.white-house.gov/sites/default/files/blueprint_for_an_america_built_to_last.p, page 8, “Call on Congress togive every responsible homeowner the opportuni-ty to refinance: Millions of Americans who try torefinance are given the runaround from the bankeven though they are current on their payments.”
3—8Problems.com: Problem #4: HARP 2.0 BeingCapped By Lenders (http://8problems.com/prob-lem4.html).
4—“56 Percent of 3.3 Million HELOCs Scheduledto Reset With Higher Rates in Next Four Years Areon Underwater Homes,” RealtyTrac Staff: March4, 2015 (www.realtytrac.com/news/mortgage-and-finance/heloc-resets-report).
mortgage origination volumecontinued from page 27
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mations have now recovered to theirpre-recession levels of one million peryear.
“The freeze in formations is over andpeople are again moving out and forminghouseholds. This means that real estateprofessionals and policy makers shouldnot keep waiting for pent-up demand”Painter said. “So while a number of fac-tors will continue to influence the hous-ing recovery, household formation is nolonger one of them.”
The study reviewed quarterly datafrom 1975-2011 and found that three-year recoveries in household formationwere typical for all major employmentshocks to the economy in the last 30years.
Syracuse Leads the Way asHousing AffordabilityShows Gains in Q4
Slightly lowerinterest ratesand homeprices in mar-kets across thecountry con-
tributed to a slight increase in nationwidehousing affordability in the fourth quar-ter of 2014, according to the NationalAssociation of Home Builders/Wells FargoHousing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all,62.8 percent of new and existing homessold between the beginning of Octoberand end of December were affordable tofamilies earning the U.S. median incomeof $63,900. This is up from the 61.8 per-cent of homes sold that were affordableto median-income earners in the thirdquarter.
The national median home pricedeclined from $220,800 in the third quar-ter to $215,000 in the fourth quarter.Meanwhile, average mortgage interestrates decreased from 4.35 percent to 4.29percent in the same period.
“This upturn in affordability for thefinal quarter of 2014 is a positive devel-opment and is in line with what we arehearing from builders in the field thatmore prospective buyers are starting tomove forward in the marketplace,” saidNAHB Chairman Tom Woods, a homebuilder from Blue Springs, Mo.
“Affordable home prices, historicallylow mortgage rates and an improving jobmarket will release pent-up demand andhelp keep the housing market movingforward in the year ahead,” said NAHBChief Economist David Crowe.
Syracuse, N.Y. claimed the title of thenation’s most affordable major housingmarket, as 92.8 percent of all new andexisting homes sold in the fourth quarterof 2014 were affordable to families earn-ing the area’s median income of $67,700.Also ranking among the most affordablemajor housing markets in respectiveorder were Akron, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio;Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.; and Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa; the latter two of whichtied for fourth place.
housing market. There, just 11.1 percentof homes sold in the fourth quarter wereaffordable to families earning the area’smedian income of $100,400.
Other major metros at the bottom ofthe affordability chart were Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.; Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.; and NewYork-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.
All five least affordable small housingmarkets were in California. At the verybottom was Napa, where 12 percent of allnew and existing homes sold were afford-able to families earning the area’s medi-an income of $70,300. Other small mar-kets included Santa Cruz-Watsonville,Salinas, Santa Rosa-Petaluma, and San
Cumberland, Md.-W.Va. topped theaffordability chart among smaller mar-kets in the final quarter of 2014. There,96.2 percent of homes sold during thefourth quarter were affordable to familiesearning the area’s median income of$54,100. Other smaller housing marketsat the top of the index include Kokomo,Ind.; Wheeling, W.Va.-Ohio; Binghamton,N.Y.; and Salisbury, Md.
For a ninth consecutive quarter, SanFrancisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.was the nation’s least affordable major
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Your turnNational Mortgage Professional Magazineinvites you to submit any information onregulatory changes, legislative updates,human interest stories or any other news-worthy items pertaining to the mortgageindustry to the attention of:
NMP News Flash columnPhone #: (516) 409-5555
E-mail: [email protected]
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are pre-ferred. The deadline for submissions is the1st of the month prior to the target issue.
nmp news flashcontinued from page 16
economic commentaryN A T I O N A L M O R T G A G E P R O F E S S I O N A L M A G A Z I N E ’ S
H A V E W E H I T T H E B O T T O M ?
By Dave Hershman
Usually, when wehear that someoneor something has
“hit bottom”—that is agood thing, because the only direc-tion that person or thing can go fromthere is up.
On the other hand, if we are talk-ing about oil prices and interestrates, hitting a bottom might not beconsidered a good thing. For exam-ple, if you were looking for gas pricesto hit $2.50 per gallon, they are notgoing near that price if we haveindeed already hit bottom.
Indeed, there is some evidencethat oil prices bottomed around $45per barrel. We are not surprised bythe fact that oil prices reboundedabove the $50 per barrel rangebecause they had fallen so far and sofast. Often markets overshoot thefundamentals and come back to bein balance.
Are oil prices going back to $100per barrel? We have no idea becausewe cannot predict the future.However, most likely the price willsettle somewhere in between $45and $100 without some major inter-vening economic or political vari-able. Of course, in today’s world of
uncertainty, such variables are notonly possible, they are quite likely.The fact that we don’t know where oilis going is reflected in the very “wide”range we have presented.
Interest rates too had been fallingfor the past few months. Not as pre-cipitously as oil, but one mustremember that rates were alreadyvery low. The fact that rates wentback to the record low levels hit twoyears ago, was quite extraordinaryand certainly not predicted.
Like oil, we are not surprised thatrates have rebounded somewhat. Iflast month was the bottom for inter-est rates, there will likely be a rush
of those who waited too long. Whenhomeowners and buyers realizethat, we expect there to be linesforming to refinance or purchase ahome.
The question: Is there still time toget in front of the line?
Dave Hershman is a top author in themortgage industry with seven bookspublished. He is also the founder ofthe OriginationPro Marketing System,and currently the director of branchsupport for McLean Mortgage. He maybe reached by e-mail at [email protected] or visit www.origina-tionpro.com.
NMP Daily is the mortgage industry's sourcefor news, insights, trends and tips.It keeps subscribers informed of the regulatory and legislative updates, latest industry happenings and breaking news about the mortgage technologies and services.
W W W . N A T I O N A L M O R T G A G E P R O F E S S I O N A L . C O M
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On Feb. 24, Dr. Anthony B.Sanders, DistinguishedProfessor of Real EstateFinance at George MasonUniversity in Fairfax, Va.,used his ConfoundedInterest blog to point out a
disturbing data trend that clouded theeconomic numbers at the tail-end of2014.
“The good news ... if you already owna home ... is that the Case-Shiller homeprice index for December grew at a rateof 4.46 percent year-over-year,” Dr.Sanders wrote. “That is awesome, con-sidering the inflation rate in the U.S. isonly 0.8 percent. And wage growth isaround two percent. So if you alreadyown your home, you are on easy street.If not, you are on rental street.”
Earlier in the month of February, Dr.Sanders focused on affordability inregard to central bank policies.
“Housing is getting unaffordableagain, in part thanks to the FederalReserve’s quantitative easing programs,”he stated in a Feb. 9th blog. “Houseprices are rising, while real median
household income fell/stagnated.Homeownership and mortgage purchaseapplications keep falling despite lowmortgage rates and massive Fed inter-vention. Even the 64 percent homeown-ership [rate] is misleading. Rentership ison the rise in big cities, even in citieswhere homeowners are the majority.”
At first, this might seem confusing. Onthe surface, it seems that the economicpicture is encouraging a greater degree ofhousing affordability.
“Home values are up, interest ratesare still down and employment is gettingback,” observed Mat Ishbia, presidentand chief executive officer of Troy, Mich.-based United Wholesale Mortgage(UWM). “I don’t think it is relatively hard-er [to find an affordable house] in today’smarket than it was three years ago or itwas seven years ago.”
But while the bigger picture may seemserene, the situation becomes more com-plicated when one goes into specific mar-kets—even the supposedly healthierones.
“Our market is one of the better mar-kets in the nation,” said Fred Law, bro-
ker/owner at Law Real Estate, based inthe Salt Lake City suburb of Draper, Utah.“We didn’t have the major downturnhere. We have an excellent workforceand good economy.”
Yet Law pointed out that while hismarket looks solid on the surface, thereare fissures within that create grief.
“Our average home price has beenaround $235,000 to $240,000,” Law con-tinued. “But many buyers cannot affordto pay that anymore. And rental valuesare rising here because a lot of peoplecannot qualify or get a loan.”
Rising rents are the proverbial fuel tothe flames, according to Stan Humphries,chief economist at Zillow.
“Rental affordability never lookedworse in this country,” Humphries said. “Icategorize it as a crisis in housing—prob-ably because more than one-third of usare renters. The lack of affordableoptions means less discretionary incomefor other things. It becomes hard forrenters to save for a downpayment forhomeownership later.”
And that brings about another prob-lem: Saving for a downpayment. From
initial appearances, this should not seemto be a problem. In fact, U.S. Departmentof Commerce data showed that the totalamount of bank account-based con-sumer saving equaled the total amountof consumer spending in 2014, at $11.9trillion each.
“As far as the convergence in theamount of bank savings with consumersavings—this is a first time event,” saidDr. Dan Geller, developer of the MoneyAnxiety Index. “It never happenedbefore. This shows a proportional declinein spending and the proportionalincrease in savings.”
But Dr. Geller quickly pointed out thatthe seemingly simple act of savingmoney is complicated by several factors.
“The jobs coming online right now arepaying less than the jobs we lost duringthe recession,” Dr. Geller continued.“That’s an issue. These new employeeshave low earnings, and that affects mort-gages. And the cost of education translatesinto young people starting their financiallife with a burden that would have other-wise been directed to mortgages.”
Phil Bracken, chairman and founder
B Y P H I L H A L L
HasAffordability
Left theHousingMarket
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37
of America’s Homeowner Alliance and aformer executive vice president at WellsFargo, agreed that the challenge for sav-ings is acute when it comes to home-ownership.
“The average firefighter with averagedebts who wants to buy an averagehouse would have to save 22 years for a10 percent downpayment,” Bracken said.“A middle school teacher would have tosave 18 years, and a nurse 15 years.”
But Bracken also stressed that thequestion of affordability in housingpoints to an even bigger problem.
“The economy is leading housing outof the recession, as opposed to the otherway around,” Bracken said, adding thatthe current situation will create moreproblems in the near future unless thereis a significant change. “Between 2012and 2015, there will be approximately 17million new households founded, andabout 74 percent of those will consist ofpeople of color. But they have no gener-ational wealth, no large holdings ofstocks and bonds or savings. The group ismost in need of accessible and afford-able policies.”
Even the financial institutions that arecelebrated for going the extra mile oncustomer service are hampered when itcomes to offering residential mortgages.Bob Dorsa, president of the AmericanCredit Union Mortgage Association(ACUMA), pointed out that while creditunions are eager to work with borrowersseeking an affordable home, the two seg-ments that are most at risk of being shutout of the housing affordability equa-tion—Millennials and the nation’s immi-grant population—are the two groupsthat are not active within the creditunion movement.
“The credit unions have to reach outto both of these demographic groups,”Dorsa complained. “The average age ofcredit union member is mid-50s. It is amatter of repositioning and restructuringthe credit union membership base. Butthe question is how do we go out andreach those groups?”
But more pressing to the wider finan-cial services world is the question of theregulatory burden placed on lenders inthe aftermath of the 2008 crash.
“It is more difficult to qualify borrow-
ers,” said Ron Haynie, executive vice pres-ident of mortgage services at theIndependent Community BankersAssociation (ICBA). “Many of our bankerssaid there are loans they made years agothat they are not comfortable makingnow. They are concerned they could endup with a problem down the road. Thebusiness is so regulated that there seemsto be zero tolerance for any kind of erroron a mortgage. There is no way they’remaking those loans—or, if they do,they’ll be very, very selective.”
And this raises a crucial point regard-ing affordability—lenders that are eagerto work with borrowers, but are appre-hensive to move forward aggressively dueto established and perceived repercus-sions from regulators. John Councilman,CMC, CRMS, president of NAMB—TheAssociation of Mortgage Professionalsand president of Fort Myers, Fla.-basedAMC Mortgage Corporation, stated thatregulations that were designed to protectconsumers had an unintended effect ofkeeping them out of the home loanprocess.
“We’ve restricted the people who can
actually get a loan, and that has a damp-ening effect,” Councilman said. “Wedon’t have any flexibility in the loansbeing offered. This makes it difficult forpeople have who attempt to qualify. Andborrowers are afraid to go into theprocess because it is not a pleasantprocess to be in.”
In fairness, the federal governmenthas not been completely indifferent tothe situation. The government-sponsoredenterprises are now enabling a 97 per-cent loan-to-value (LTV) threshold whilethe Federal Housing Administration (FHA)has lowered its mortgage insurance pre-mium. But Matthew Ostrander, chairmanand CEO of Parkside Lending LLC in SanFrancisco and a director of the CaliforniaMortgage Bankers Association (CMBA),observed that Washington has muscledout the private sector when it comes tooffering new solutions to expand afford-ability in housing.
“It stymies innovation,” Ostrandersaid. “We’re at an innovation standstill tohave new products to help the buyer
continued on page 38
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when Fannie, Freddie and the FHA con-trol 95 percent of the market.”
But is there a total absence of solu-tions to the affordability puzzle? BrianKoss, executive vice president at Danvers,Mass.-based Mortgage Network, believedone possible approach involves micro-housing, both in the so-called “tinyhouse” movement of smaller privatehomes as well as the more compactapartments that becoming more com-mon in urban settings.
“People are okay with less now,” Kosssaid. “They are willing to deal with 600-to 800-square-feet. Instead of trying tobuild big penthouse units for Euro-money, [builders] should build some-thing smaller for people that can usethem—after all, in view of the amount oftime spent living outside of the house,many people just want a place to laytheir head at night. That would give folksa better foot in the door.”
Jason Madiedo, president and chiefexecutive officer of Las Vegas-basedVenta Financial Group and president ofthe National Association of Hispanic RealEstate Professionals (NAHREP), suggestedtaking the current 97 percent LTV andpushing it even further.
“I think a 100 percent LTV mortgagewould be helpful, if it is underwrittenand documented properly and if itensures that sustainable and responsible
lending decisions are being made,”Madiedo said.
But Chris Sorensen, director of merg-ers and acquisitions at Corona, Calif.-based Paramount Residential MortgageGroup Inc. (PRMG), expressed concernthat the mortgage industry is beingforced to fix a problem that goes deeperthan the origination process.
“It seems to me that we don’t have anaffordability issue due to the mortgageindustry,” Sorensen explained. “Themortgage industry should not seek tofind a lower common denominator vialess restrictive standards or more creativeloan programs as this simply masks theunderlying challenge we face today. Thetrue challenge is getting a president anda pro-capitalist Congress to release thepower of the American economic jugger-naut, which has been stymied due to thesocial experimentation currently occur-ring. If we were to leave this to the mort-gage industry, all it can do is work withWall Street in an effort to come up withnew and creative means to entice institu-tional investors and rating agencies toinhale ether and express how safe amortgage-backed security is, based onborrowers who cannot afford their mort-gage. And that is what ushered in the lasteconomic crisis!”
But on the other hand, there is thepoint of view that affordability is not a
national issue, but rather, one that is dis-tinctive to individual markets.
“I don’t know if the industry can doanything to make it easier to get intohomes,” said Peter Doiron, senior vicepresident of residential lending atThomaston Savings Bank in Thomaston,Conn. “Affordability issue varies by sec-tions of the country. Our average loansize is about $170,000, and that’s prettymuch affordable when you are looking at20 percent down. We are not into realhigh-ticket areas, but we are trying to dodeals in a variety of price ranges. We’reputting together a $70,000 loan on aHUD property that was foreclosed on—it’s not that bad of a piece of property.”
“You have some markets that areunchanged,” said Jeff Del Rey, director ofstrategic partnerships at Mission Viejo,Calif.-based PCV Murcor. “Pennsylvania,Boston, Cleveland—they are no better orworse than they were a couple of yearsago. Even Michigan is still affordable, butit is seeing an uptick in value. And inPhoenix, people are going away from sin-gle-family house to condo and townhous-es—that is roughly a $100,000 differ-ence.”
Still, not everyone in the industrybelieved that affordability in housing is ator approaching a crisis level.
“Interest rates are as low as I’ve seenin my life,” said Paul Abbamonto, chief
operating officer at Orange, Calif.-basedLRES. “We can all guess that rates aregoing to increase, and that will changethe formula of what’s affordable andwhat’s not. But for the last four to fiveyears, there’s been the opportunity forpeople to get property at absolute bar-gain prices … I doubt we’ll see that kindof price drop ever again.”
Abbamonto added that he hasbrought his observations home to hisfamily.
“We have four girls, and I tell them thesame thing: Buy what you can today,because five years from now it will poten-tially be more difficult,” he said.
And taking optimism even further isthe National Association of HomeBuilders (NAHB), which issued data onFeb. 19 that claimed 62.8 percent of newand existing homes sold in the fourthquarter of 2014 were affordable to fami-lies earning the U.S. median income of$63,900, up from 61.8 percent in thethird quarter. The NAHB also stated thatthe national median home pricedeclined from $220,800 in the thirdquarter to $215,000 in the fourth quarterwhile average mortgage interest ratesdecreased from 4.35 percent to 4.29 per-cent in the same period.
“This upturn in affordability for thefinal quarter of 2014 is a positive devel-opment and is in line with what we arehearing from builders in the field thatmore prospective buyers are starting tomove forward in the marketplace,” saidNAHB Chairman Tom Woods, a homebuilder from Blue Springs, Mo.
However, one prominent industryleader is not convinced that with theNAHB view that happy days are hereagain for affordability in housing.
“When anyone tells us housing isaffordable, I say: If that’s the case, howcome we have the worst mortgagedemand ever with the lowest interestrates ever?” said Logan Mohtashami, anIrvine, Calif.-based senior loan managerat AMC Lending and a financial bloggerat LoganMohtashami.com. “In 2014,inventory was up and rates were downand we had negative demand. And ifcash buyers weren’t 20 percent abovetheir normal levels, 2013 and 2014would have seen the lowest numbersafter the Great Recession.”
Phil Hall is managing editor of NationalMortgage Professional Magazine. He maybe reached by e-mail at [email protected].
has affordability left the housing market?continued from page 37
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“Home values are up, interest rates are still downand employment is getting back.”—Mat Ishbia, President and CEO
of United Wholesale Mortgage
“We’ve restricted the people who can actually get aloan, and that has a dampening effect.”
—John Councilman, CMC, CRMS, President of NAMB—The Association
of Mortgage Professionals
“The lack of affordable options means lessdiscretionary income for other things. It becomeshard for renters to save for a downpayment for
homeownership later.”—Stan Humphries, Chief Economist of Zillow
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heardstreet
Our Heard on the Street column is a chronicle of events, changes and passages in the lives of the people and companies shaping the mortgage industry.
DocMagic Integrates WithMERS eRegistry
DocMagic Inc., aprovider of fully-compliant loandocument prep-
aration, compliance, eSign andeDelivery solutions for the mortgageindustry, has announced that the firmhas now completed its integration withthe MERS eRegistry, making it one ofonly a few industry vendors to integratewith the widely used system.
Launched in 2004, the MERSeRegistry is the legal system of recordthat identifies the owner or holder(controller) and custodian (location) forregistered eNotes and provides greaterliquidity, transferability and securityfor lenders, according to MERSCORPHoldings Inc. It was created in responseto demand by the mortgage industryfor a system to satisfy certain safe har-bor requirements under the UniformElectronic Transactions Act (UETA) from1999, and the Electronic Signatures inGlobal and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN) from 2000.
“The MERS eRegistry system excels ateffectively handling a vital service foreMortgage originations,” said DominicIannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic.“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bothrequire use of the MERS eRegistry for alleNotes they purchase. DocMagic’s inte-gration with MERS’ system fulfills theGSEs’ requirement and thus allows us topass the benefits that the service offersalong to our customers.”
Parkside LendingAnnounces New Brand
Parkside Lending, a national wholesaleand correspondent lender, has launchedits new corporate brand, which is epito-mized by a new tagline: Experience thepower of caring. The company, knownfor providing a more thoughtful borrow-ing experience, has been experiencingsubstantial growth and wanted to
ensure all aspects of its brand were con-sistent across the country.
“We launched our new brand at anemployee conference because it is ouremployees who have internalized andinstituted the principles that are funda-mental to our brand. They are the face ofParkside Lending,” said MatthewOstrander, chief executive officer ofParkside Lending. “From start to finish,the key to our unique approach is caring.”
In conjunction with its new brand,the company is also launching a newpublic website that will help familiarizevisitors with Parkside Lending, as wellas present information about partner-ing with the organization and opportu-nities for doing business together.
“After launching a new, easy-to-use,intuitive broker and correspondentWeb site last year, we wanted to ensurethat anyone who visited our public Website would quickly see that we are agrowing organization with much tooffer—and that the basis for everytransaction involves a genuine concernfor our clients and their customers,”Ostrander said.
Ostrander co-founded ParksideLending in 2004. He and his manage-ment team successfully navigated themortgage deterioration of 2007-2008,and have steered the company onto astrong national path. His history ofbuilding companies from start-up tosuccess includes experience across anarray of industries, from music andinteractive media, to medical softwareand entertainment production.
SimpleNexus Honored forEntrepreneurship andLeadership
SimpleNexus, a provider of mobile app-based solutions for mortgage and real
estate professionals, has been named oneof the nation’s Top 50 mortgage serviceproviders for 2014 and one of the UtahValley’s Top 100 “Most Buzzed About”companies across all industries.
SimpleNexus received the back-to-backrecognitions as the Utah-based companycelebrates four years of providing cus-tomized mobile technologies to mortgageprofessionals, real estate agents and clientsnationwide. The company already countsmore than 60 mortgage companies and2,500 loan officers among its customers.
“We are particularly honored by thesedual recognitions because they reflectSimpleNexus’ entrepreneurial leadershipwithin the business community, as well asour company’s rapid ascent on the nation-al mortgage scene,” said SimpleNexusChief Executive Officer Matt Hansen, thecompany’s founder. “We look forward tocontinuing to grow our customer base andreputation for excellence as the mortgageindustry increasingly turns to mobile tech-nologies to conduct business.”
SimpleNexus also has been recognizedas one of Utah Valley’s Top 100 “MostBuzzed About” businesses by the UtahValley Entrepreneur’s Forum, a non-profitbusiness association that selects its hon-orees through a combination of public vot-ing and intern UVEF voting. The UVEF Top100 list, made up of businesses under five-years-old, features a wide range of indus-tries, from marketing companies to onlineclothing retailers, that reflects the diversityof the Utah Valley business community.
RGS, Sage Title and Settlement ProsContract SSI forIndependent Evaluationof Operational Risks
As part of it ongoingcommitment to compli-ance and consumer pro-tections, RGS Title LLChas initiated an inde-
pendent evaluation of its operational
risks with Secure Settlements Inc. (SSI).RGS voluntarily approached SSI, a NewJersey-based firm that created the firstindependent risk analytic process toscreen title and settlement profession-als, for the risk analysis without alender requirement.
Over the coming weeks, SSI will vetRGS’ ownership and key escrow andclosing staff, ensuring that they meet allfederal, state and local regulatoryrequirements. It is expected that all RGSagents will be fully vetted by March 1and will achieve the highest reliabilityrating possible. Going forward, SSI willcontinue to monitor RGS’ performance,ensuring the title company’s continuedcompliance and consumer protections.
“In today’s market, it is essentialconsumers have confidence that theirsettlement partner will work to ensuretheir mortgage closing process is notonly seamless, but also secure,” saidGina Parello Esq., regional manager forRGS.
Bethesda, Md.-based Sage TitleGroup LLC has also contracted SSI for anindependent evaluation of its opera-tional risks. SSI will vet Sage’s owner-ship, and escrow and closing staff, mak-ing sure they meet federal, state andlocal regulatory requirements.
“We realize that the lenders we serveare expected to evaluate and monitortheir business partners, and by initiat-ing this assessment process on our own,we demonstrate to our clients thatthey’ve made a good business decisionto work with us,” said Bobby Lee Esq.,regional manager of Sage.
Also working with SSI on an inde-pendent firm evaluation is Washington,D.C.-based Settlement Professionals LLC(Settlement Pros).
“Having an independent organiza-tion like SSI successfully vet our creden-tials for consumer protection is one waythat we can establish greater confi-dence in our company and our process-es,” said Carol Calomiris Esq.
“When RGS, Sage Title andSettlement Pros approached us, weknew immediately that they were seri-ous about embracing independent vali-
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dation and risk analysis for consumerprotection and vendor managementcompliance,” said SSI President AndrewLiput. “Lenders and borrowers aredemanding transparency and account-ability; they want to do business withtrustworthy, professional firms. RGSclearly meets those expectations.”
Zillow Closes $2.5 BillionTrulia Deal, Cuts Staff
Zillow hasannounced thecompletion of
its previously announced acquisition ofTrulia Inc. for $2.5 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction, and formed ZillowGroup Inc., which houses a portfolio ofthe largest and most vibrant U.S. realestate and home-related brands onmobile and the Web. In addition toZillow and Trulia, Zillow Group’s con-sumer brand portfolio includesStreetEasy, New York City’s leading realestate marketplace, and rental searchbrand HotPads.
“This is a pivotal day in online realestate and we couldn’t be more excitedto welcome Trulia to Zillow Group,”said Spencer Rascoff, CEO of ZillowGroup. “Each of our brands share a con-sumer-first philosophy, and our power-ful combination of insights and expert-ise will drive even greater innovationfor consumers, empowering them withessential information they need tomake critical financial decisions. Ourcombination will also enable realestate professionals to more efficientlyand easily reach the nation’s largestaudience of engaged buyers, sellers andhomeowners, and extract even morevalue from their advertising.”
Paul Levine, previously Trulia’schief operating officer, has beennamed president of Trulia, reportingto Rascoff. Pete Flint, co-founder andformer CEO of Trulia, has joined theZillow Group board of directors, ashas former Trulia board member GregWaldorf. Zillow Group is expected tobegin trading on Nasdaq on Feb. 18,2015, under the ticker symbol “Z” andwill inherit the trading history ofZillow Inc., which also traded underthe ticker symbol “Z”.
Later this year, Zillow Groupexpects to begin to offer shared serv-ices and marketing platforms foradvertisers and industry partners thatwill enhance efficiency and delivergreater return on investment.Information about any changes willbe communicated promptly to adver-tisers and partners.
In connection with the close of theacquisition, the companies eliminat-ed approximately 280 positions, pri-marily in San Francisco and Bellevue,Wash., due primarily to redundancyin the combined company’s sales andadministrative organizations. Another70 positions will be eliminated as ofthe end of the second quarter, atwhich time Zillow Group will haveapproximately 2,000 employees. Theapproximately 350 affected employ-ees have already been notified.
Comergence AddsPartners and ForgesAlliance With NAA
Comergence has announced that it isnow providing its originator screeningand due diligence services to ExcelerateCapital, a mortgage lender based inIrvine, Calif. Comergence offers a fullsuite of hands-on and automated serv-ices for mortgage originator andappraiser due diligence and profile sur-veillance. Comergence has alsoannounced that it is now providing itsoriginator screening and due diligenceservices to Verus, a residential mortgage
investor based in Washington, D.C.Both Excelerate Capital and Verus
began using Comergence’s REALM forThird-Party Originators. REALM is a pro-prietary platform with a comprehensivedatabase of over 400,000 records onevery licensed mortgage originator inthe country. REALM aggregates criticaldata such as: Licensing, criminal andcivil records, financial sanctions, as wellas bankruptcies and foreclosures.
“We’re delighted that Verus choseREALM for Third-Party Originators toscreen its correspondents,” said GregSchroeder, president of Comergence.“By using our due diligence and moni-toring services, Verus is simplifying itsoriginator approval process.”
“REALM for Third-Party Originatorshas streamlined our mortgage origina-tor approval process, saving us timeand money,” said Mike Thompson, CEOof Excelerate Capital. “The ongoingalerts provided by Comergence enableus to monitor the activities of our bro-kers and correspondents, which helpsensure we’re not missing anything interms of due diligence.”
Comergence has announced that ithas formed a relationship with theNational Association of Appraisers(NAA), an association representing pro-fessional appraisers in multiple disci-plines in all parts of the United States.
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leadershipLYKKEN ON
leadership
Six Great Ways to Educate the Public About the Mortgage Industry
By David Lykken
I’ve been thinking a lotlately about educationin the mortgage indus-try. I have a daughter
who is entering her adult life, and I
cannot say that I would mind if she fol-lowed in my footsteps and pursued acareer in the mortgage banking indus-try. And it isn’t just my daughter. Morepeople are graduating our universitiesthan ever before, and many of them arecompletely unaware of the opportuni-
ties that lie in our industry. The MBA has just launched a pro-
gram called “Mortgage BankingBound,” with the express purpose ofpreparing people who are new to themortgage industry, and people whowould like to enter it, for the excitingcareer that awaits them in the field.Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of thisprogram and what it represents. Weneed to be concerned with how the nextgeneration is going to take up the man-tle and propel the field forward in theright direction.
But there is another element of edu-cation that I think has become increas-ingly more important—the educationof the public. The recent financial crisishas, whether we consider it fair or not,shed somewhat of a negative light onour industry. The general public is moreor less unaware of how the mortgageindustry works, and people oftenassume the worst about what they don’tunderstand. The less informed the pub-lic is, the more likely it is to demonizethe industry.
If we want to get people to see thevalue of the mortgage industry for theeconomy and society in general, we’vegot to be willing to open up and teachthem what we know. We’ve got to comeclean about how the industry works. Asvulnerable as it may make us feel, we’vegot to strive for transparency. I believewe need to make a concerted effort toeducation the general public about theins and outs of the mortgage industry.Here are some ways that we may goabout doing just that …
The first and most obvious way toeducate the public is by proxy—through the education of employees.The more educated employees are, themore educated the public with whomthey interact will be as well. We’ve all,I’m sure, been in a situation in which
we were dealing with a salesperson whodidn’t really know all that much. Whenpressed, these salespeople will oftenmake something up to avoid the shameof not knowing. In the mortgage indus-try, we don’t want to put our salespeo-ple in that kind of situation. We wantour loan officers to be experts and takepride in sharing their information withbuyers. By training our people well andempowering them to teach what theyknow, we will take away the reasonspeople have to be skeptical about theindustry. Maybe you’ve heard theexpression: “How you treat youremployees will be how they treat yourcustomers.” This also is true: “How youtrain your employees will be how theytrain your customers.”
Beyond training your employees,you may want to go the extra mile andeducate the public by interacting withthem outside of the context of theworkplace. For example, you may wantto try teaching a course at the local col-lege or university. Many academic insti-tutions are hiring adjunct faculty toteach various electives on both theundergraduate and graduate level. As aleader in the mortgage industry, youcould teach a special course related tothe industry in the finance departmentof the business school. Many studentswill be attending such classes to get adegree, but some have already earnedtheir degrees and are simply there tobetter themselves personally or furthertheir career professionally. Interactingwith these students will help spread theword around your local communityabout how the industry works and whyit’s important for the local economy.
In addition to teaching a collegecourse, you may want to consider get-ting involved in the research of thatinstitution as well. Particularly if youlive near a large- to mid-sized universi-
This information is solely for mortgage professionals and should not be provided to consumers or third parties. Information is subject to change without notice. This is not a commitment to lend and there is no guarantee that all borrowers will qualify. All loans are subject to credit, underwriting, and property approval. Other restrictions may apply. FGMC is not acting on behalf of HUD, VA, FHA or any other agency of the federal government. First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation (Company NMLS ID 2917) is licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act; Regulated by the Division of Real Estate in the State of Colorado; Licensed by the Delaware State Bank
Commissioner to engage in business in this State under License No. 2403 (renewed through 2015); Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee; Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee; KansasLicensed Mortgage Company; Licensed by the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance; Licensed by the Nevada Division of Mortgage Lending to make loans secured by liens on real property; Licensed by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance; Licensed Mortgage Banker – NYS Department of Financial Services, Licensee No. B500800 (d/b/a FGMC In Lieu of True Corporate Name First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation); Rhode Island Licensed Lender. For complete corporate and branch licensing information, visit www.fgmc.com or www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Follow us on:
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Capital Markets fgmccm.com
Warehouse Lendingfgmcwarehouse.com
First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation® (FGMC), is a National Approved Single Family Issuer for Ginnie Mae; an Approved Fannie Mae MBS Issuer; Approved by HUD; an FHA Approved Lending Institution; Approved for VA; and Approved by USDA. FGMC provides a full spectrum of lending products and services throughout the 47 states and the District of Columbia, where licenses are held.
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ty, there may be opportunities for youto collaborate with professors on schol-arly articles for academic journals.Researchers are interested in questionsabout how things work or why they hap-pen. There are many departments—from sociology to business to statis-tics—that may be interested in under-standing a particular question aboutthe mortgage industry. If you collabo-rate with them on the project, youcould provide the public meaningfulinformation about the industry.Granted, this may seem to be a little far-fetched, but the opportunities for edu-cating the public are great here. First,popular journalists from newspapersand magazines often read these aca-demic journals to find stories. Secondly,the peer-reviewed, scientific nature ofthe academic journalists will provideadditional credibility to any claims thatare made. There is real opportunityhere—I’m just surprised more leadersin our industry aren’t jumping on it!
So, I understand not everyone read-ing this will have a strong college oruniversity close by. But almost every-one will be in close proximity to alibrary. Another way to educate thepublic about the industry is to teach aseminar at your community library.Most libraries invite local business peo-ple in to offer free educational sessionson various subjects. Many people wantto know more about the financialaspect of owning a home. Offering aworkshop at your local library can bethe perfect platform for setting therecord straight about what the industrymeans for your community.
Another area in which educating thepublic has becoming increasingly easieris through that of owned media. WhenI say “Owned Media,” I mean any con-tent that you produce and publish onyour own. This could be the blog onyour company Web site, a podcast likethe “Lykken on Lending” show that Ihost, or a simple newsletter you sendout in the mail. Any material that youproduce and distribute to an audiencecan be educational and informative forthe public. I am quite surprised that,given the increasingly lower cost andgreater accessibility, more organiza-tions aren’t taking advantage of theseopportunities. Could you imagine howmuch more informed the public wouldbe if we focused more of our messagingon teaching rather than selling? Afterall, people will more likely buy fromthose they trust. So, in the end, teach-ing is selling.
One final idea for engaging a wideraudience as an opportunity to informmore people about the nature and roleof the mortgage industry is to sponsoran event of another organization.Obviously, you’ll want to partner withan organization that has some rele-vance to the industry, because such apartnership will give you an openopportunity to talk about the mortgagebusiness. You could sponsor a non-profit organization that builds homesfor disadvantaged people, you couldsponsor a civic organization that helps
Stated Business Purpose Loanson Residential Properties•Refinances up to 65% LTV, min loan amount 50K to 5 million•Purchases up to 70% min. loan amount 50K to 5 million•Loan term, 6 months, 3 year, 5 year, interest only or fully amortized available•Programs with no PP available•Rates from 8.50% and up depending on LTV term and prepayment penalty•We have 2nd position loans available for n/o/o and investment properties up to 55%-60% CLTV•5-7 days closing available
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Disclosures: per FDIC Regulations Section 6500 Part 226, Subpart C, 226.24. The amount of each payment that will apply over the term ofthe loan is based on simple annual interest applied to the unpaid balance. Loans range from 1 day to 60 months, are interest only and includea balloon payment due at term. Finance charges apply. Payments do not include amounts per property taxes or insurance premiums. This isnot a commitment to lend. Rates and points are subject to change without notice. NMLS #357614
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ing corporate dysfunction, establishingand communicating a clear corporatestrategy while focusing on processimprovement and operational efficien-cies resulting in increased profitability.David has been a regular contributor onCNBC and Fox Business News and cur-rently hosts a successful weekly radioprogram, “Lykken on Lending,” that isheard each Monday at noon (CentralStandard Time) by thousands of mort-gage professionals. He produces a dailyone-minute video called “Today’sMortgage Minute” that appears on hun-dreds of television, radio and newspaperWeb sites across America. He may bereached by phone at (512) 501-2810 orby e-mail at [email protected].
people get out of debt, you could spon-sor a trade school that teaches pro-grams on home maintenance. The listof opportunities for which there can bemortgage-related tie-ins are endless.Partnering with such groups for anevent can get you in touch with aspectsof the public who will likely be morereceptive because are already interest-ed in something related to the industry.
When looking for information aboutthe mortgage industry, many peoplewill seek out sources that are critical ofthe industry. They’ll read consumerwatchdog magazines and watch exposéson the news about how harmful someindividuals and organizations in theindustry can be to society. How about
giving them the other side? How abouttaking the initiative to educate thepublic ourselves? How about settingthe record straight and answering thequestions people are asking? The gen-eral public stands ready and willing tolearn. Will we be there to teach them?
David Lykken is 40-year mortgageindustry veteran who has been anowner operator in three mortgagebanking companies and a softwarecompany. As a former businessowner/operator, today David loveshelping C-Level executives and businessowners achieve extraordinary resultsvia consulting, coaching and communi-cations, with the objective of eliminat-
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Compliance Updates: March 2015
SPONSORED ED ITORIAL
By Matt Drottz
FHA Reduces Annual Mortgage Insurance PremiumsRatesOn Jan. 9, 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing & UrbanDevelopment (HUD) has issued Mortgagee Letter 2015-01 to
communicate a reduction to the annual Mortgage Insurance Premium(MIP) rates for FHA Title II forward mortgages with terms greater than 15years.
The MIP rate reduction is effective for FHA case numbers assigned onor after January 26, 2015, with the exception of Section 247 mortgages(Hawaiian Homelands) and single family forward streamline refinancetransactions that are refinancing existing FHA loans that were endorsedon or before May, 31, 2009. The following table provides a breakdown ofthe existing and new annual MIP rates by amortization term, base loanamount and LTV ratio:
[INSERT: DocMagic_Chart_03_15]
Note that the annual MIP rates specified in ML 2015-01 supersede therates established in ML 2013-4. All other sections of ML 2013-4 remain ineffect.
Massachusetts Amends Truth-In-Lending Requirements The Massachusetts Division of Banks filed final amendments to 209 CMR32.00: Disclosure of Consumer Costs and Terms. The amendments becameeffective on Jan. 2, 2015. The amendments are intended to streamline theregulation for easier compliance by providing that compliance with citedprovisions of the regulations of the federal Consumer Financial ProtectionBureau (CFPB) constitutes compliance with the cited provisions of 209 CMR32.00.
As a result of the streamlining to align the State regulation to CFPBstandards, there may be instances where state specific disclosures needto be altered or may no longer be required. Lenders should review its in-ventory of Massachusetts disclosures to validate compliance.
Matt Drottz is a compliance analyst with DocMagic Inc. Matt has more than12 years of experience in the mortgage industry, with extensive knowledge per-taining to mortgage servicing oversight, risk management and compliance.
� A Minor Change in Lifestyle That Will Change Your Life
BY ALLEN FRIEDMAN
Iwould like to convey to you a wonderful story as to how my son’s gift to me severalFather’s Days past has changed my life, and in a very positive way. His gift caused meto look outside the box for ways in which to improve my health, lifestyle and overallwell-being. It actually wasn’t that far out of the box, no more than seeing the forestthrough the trees.
I was getting all kinds of comments from my family, making fun of my weight and urg-ing me to diet and exercise. I wasn’t that big at 6’0” and about 210 lbs. Quite honestly, Inever was a bad eater, just ate what I wanted and when I wanted. Didn’t really overdo myeating, just didn’t have much concern for it. The same with exercising, as it wasn’t high onmy list of priorities.
On Father’s Day 2012, my son had enough of it. He took money from his own savingsaccount and bought me a Nike Fuel Band. His intent was to get me back into some formof decent shape. The brand of the fuel band is not relevant. Even an inexpensive pedome-ter would suffice. Anything measuring steps or body movement gets the job done. Hebegged me to keep the gift and give it a try. I was so busy, just the thought of any exerciseregimen or tracking devise totally turned me off. My son pleaded with me and told me thatwas not the case at all. He said it was hassle-free, no work-outs required and demandedthat I read the instructions and just give it a try. He said that I didn’t have to “work out”but just move a little more. I felt badly that he spent his own money, and more for thatreason and not wanting to ruin his Father’s Day surprise, I kept the fuel band and told himI that would try it out.
It took several days of his nagging for me to even open the box. I actually read theinstructions and decided to take a scientific approach and see what this fuel band had tooffer. For the first use, I decided to wear the band one full day. I would do nothing differ-ent and just see where my fuel points would end up. In the back of my mind, I was reallythinking then that I could honestly tell my son I gave it a try, and then just move on.
At that time, I was on the phone most of the day, watched some TV at night, and didn’tdo much physical activity in-between. The first day, not changing anything in my routine,my Nike fuel points totaled 1,750. That was with putting the band on first thing in the morn-ing and taking it off at bedtime. It meant nothing to me, but made me curious. How wouldthat point total compare if I did something–anything–differently during the day. So the nextday, I changed it up just a bit. When I was on the phone, I moved around a little. I actuallystood up and walked around, nothing dramatic at all–maybe just a little pacing. When I gothome, instead of using the downstairs restroom, I used the upstairs. I also paced a littlewhen on my home phone. Again, this was nothing major, just a little more activity.
It was about 10:30 p.m. that second night and I was ready for bed. I checked my Nikefuel point total, and it was 2,500. I am a little hard-headed and definitely goal-oriented.Also, very competitive. Just for fun, I wondered what it would take to get to 3,000 points.So I went downstairs and just walked in a figure eight in our family room for 10 minutes.Checked the band and was just over 3,000. That was over two years ago, and I have neverbeen under 3,000 per day since. Even when traveling, if I just spend a few minutes walk-ing in figure eights in my hotel room, I find a way to get to the 3,000.
The goal has become far less of an issue over time. My phone pacing and normal move-ments have just increased out of habit. Don’t even notice the changes any more. My pointsmore frequently get well past 3,000, but never below. I have not changed my eating habitsin any material way, although I have cut back just a bit on sodas and limit my deserts toone a day max.
After six months, my weight was 175 lbs., dropping down from 210 lbs. I remain at 175lbs. today, and now seems to be my core weight. My family is so thrilled, and my son could-n’t be prouder of me and his gift. My doctor said that I have added years to my lifeexpectancy, reduced the propensity for diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure andother heart issues.
The amazing thing is that there has been no profound change in my activities. Thechange is more in mindset and some subtle modifications in lifestyle. Having that fuelband on my wrist during the day is a constant reminder to be active whenever possible,and it provides the satisfaction of having a healthier life. I feel better, look better, am morefocused, and I have more energy during the day.
I just wanted to share how thinking outside the box and a modest change in behaviorcan become so significant. No question that being conscious of one’s diet and activity lev-els are important for good health. However, in my opinion, any change in lifestyle must bereasonable and one that can be maintained for years to come. I had previously tried dietsand workout regimens, and they worked to some extent, but I was not able to maintaineither the time or interest necessary to stick with them long-term.
This hassle-free approach to a happy and healthier lifestyle truly excites me, and I want-ed to share with my industry associates.
Allen Friedman has 20-plus years of experience in the mortgage industry. He has maintainedkey positions in operations and sales management, serving more than 10 years as vice presi-dent with Great Western Bank and Washington Mutual Bank (now JP Morgan Chase) andjoined iServe Residential Lending in 2009 as western regional sales manager. He may bereached by phone at (415) 298-2500 or e-mail [email protected].
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www.TagQuest.com [email protected]
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Knowledge is power. Powertranslates to success, whetherit is dollars in your pocket,stronger leadership, increasedbottom lines or peace ofmind, we are here for you.
This month, we are introducing a newcolumn for questions relating to starting abusiness, managing a business, training,networking, tax-related issues, corporatesecurity policy, fraud alerts and compli-ance. All answers are for informationalpurpose only, and are not intended topractice law, or are meant to provide taxadvice or tax opinions. After reviewing ourinformation, we both recommend seekinglegal counsel or the advice of a tax profes-sional. Please e-mail us at
[email protected] to voiceany questions or problems. We are here foryou!
Jake from San Diego asks …I have been a loan originator for aboutseven years and am doing well, I am won-dering if you could tell me when it wouldbe advantageous to hire an assistant?
Eric’s reply to Jake …When I was running my company, I hada rough rule of thumb before hiringadditional help. When I was absolutely,positively so busy that I was tearing myhair out and losing business because Iwas too occupied to answer the phone,
THEN it was time to hire some help.Many people get an ego boost or feelthey want to hire to show the worldhow important they are. I alwayslooked at it as an added expense andsomething to dread. Why pay someonewhen I can do it myself for free?
There is an economic term called“Opportunity Cost.” If you are too busydoing a thing that makes you $10 thatyou cannot do the thing that will makeyou $100, then doing that thing costsyou $90. If you don’t have an opportu-nity to do the $100 thing, then youshould just keep doing the $10 thing.
Basically what I am saying is, if youare really sure you can get more busi-ness by freeing up your time, go ahead
and hire someone. If you think you willget the same amount of business, butONLY want help to free up your time,you are just plain lazy.
Laura’s reply to Jake …I too used a similar method to deter-mine when to hire an assistant, Iwould recommend consistency. Youneed to have six months of consistentproduction that warrants this type ofhelp. I made a number goal for myselfof $1 million per month minimum ofclosed loans for six consecutivemonths, and this number may havechanged it’s an idea. I started with apart-time assistant determining whatshe could do that wasn’t a conflict of
ByEric Weinstein & Laura Burke
Just Ask
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k Eric & Laurainterest. I also worked for a bank andI had to have her hired by the bank asan employee, so that was a task in andof itself to prove I needed an assistant.I hired her, Kathy, she soon becamefull-time, and she was with me formany years.
When I opened my own mortgagecompany she came with me and wasmy administrative assistant for manymore years. I do like the fact that Erichas brought up the “Opportunity Cost.”It is true, paying an assistant’s salary ora portion of it, must make economicsense, and keep in mind you do notwant to hire someone until you areready. Once you have taken on a per-sonal assistant, they are counting onyou for work. They have taken them-selves off the market and have put theirtrust in your hiring decision, so youdon’t want to have to let them go. Makea sound decision.
Mary from Denver asks …I am wondering if there is a way I canpay a referral fee to my hair profession-al for sending me clients my way. Sinceshe has sent me two in the past twoweeks, I would like to compensate her.
Eric’s reply to Mary …You can do anything you want. Free willis a wonderful thing. Just be aware thatif you do, the only file you will be work-ing with is the one baked into a cake foryou to cut through the bars of yourprison cell!
Seriously, don’t they teach RESPAlaws in Colorado, or is everyone justhigh from the legal weed you can buythere now?
No, don’t do that. Laura can probablyquote you the exact laws, regulationsand statutes, but a licensed mortgagebroker cannot pay a referral fee to any-one else but another licensed mortgagebroker. Assuming your hair professionalis not a licensed mortgage broker, here iswhat you can do: Thank her, refer hersome hair dressing business, give her ahug to show your appreciation, butmostly, treat everyone she sends youwell. When someone recommends a cus-tomer to you, they put their own reputa-tion on the line. You have an obligationto live up to the faith they put in you.Doing a good job for her friend is proba-bly all she wants from you.
Laura’s reply to Mary …Here is the exact RESPA ruling: 12 USCSection 2607 “Prohibition AgainstKickbacks and Unearned Fees.” RealEstate Settlement Procures Act (12 USC2602)/Chapter 27: REAL ESTATE SETTLE-MENT PROCURES ACT 01/22/02/ Sec.2607. Prohibition Against Kickbacksand Unearned Fees (01/22/02).
(a) Business referralsNo person shall give and no person
shall accept any fee, kickback, or thingof value pursuant to any agreement orunderstanding, oral or otherwise, thatbusiness incident to or a part of a realestate settlement service involving afederally related mortgage loan shall bereferred to any person.
Penalties for violations of this sectionshall be fined not more than $10,000 orimprisoned for not more than one year,or both.
So yes, Eric was correct about theprison cell. I know it seems like an inno-cent thing to do, but it is a highly regu-lated act.
The best way to thank someone for areferral is by referring business back tothem, it is the nicest compliment wereceive is the referral of a new client froma past, present or even future client.
Jim in Chicago asks …I was unemployed for 2014 fromJanuary until October. I started a newjob in September and received healthinsurance for myself and my wife inOctober 2014 with my new job. I did notcover my daughter because I believedshe had healthcare coverage from whenI was unemployed only I found out shedidn’t. Will I have to pay a penalty onmy taxes for her? What can I do?
Eric’s reply to Jim …This one is all yours Laura …
Laura’s reply to Jim …Unfortunately, the new Affordable CareAct (ACA) will cause many individuals toincur small penalties this year when fil-ing their 2014 tax returns. The ACArequires everyone to have minimumessential coverage healthcare for all of2014 for every month. This is addressedon your tax return, so you will morethan likely incur a penalty for themonths of January through Septemberas your coverage started in October, andwithout coverage for your daughter shewill have a penalty charged to you onyour tax return for the entire 12months.
The penalties for not having cover-age in 2014 if you didn’t have coveragein 2014, you’ll pay the higher of thesetwo amounts:
lOne percent of your yearly householdincome. Only the amount of incomeabove the tax filing threshold, about$10,000 for an individual, is used tocalculate the penalty. The maximumpenalty is the national average pre-mium for a bronze plan.
l$95 per person for the year ($47.50per child under 18). The maximumpenalty per family using this methodis $285.
The penalties for not having cover-age in 2015 if you don’t have coverage
in 2015, you’ll pay the higher of thesetwo amounts:
lTwo percent of your yearly householdincome. Only the amount of incomeabove the tax filing threshold, about$10,000 for an individual, is used tocalculate the penalty. The maximumpenalty is the national average pre-mium for a bronze plan.
l$325 per person for the year ($162.50per child under 18). The maximumpenalty per family using this methodis $975.
The penalty can have exemptions suchas low-income, non-resident status, filingduring the appropriate time to the mar-ketplace, less than three months of beinguninsured and a few others, check withyour tax professional.
Everyone needs to be aware of thenew Act, and apply for healthcare insur-ance, either through your employer,through the marketplace or throughGet Covered Illinois.
Penalties this tax filing season (2014)are minimal; however, they will triple in
2015, and then triple again 2016. This isserious business. Everyone needs to gethealthcare coverage. Thank you for bring-ing this to everyone’s attention.
Disclaimer: All answers are for infor-mational purpose only, and are notintended to practice law, or providetax advice or tax opinions. Afterreviewing our information we recom-mend seeking legal counsel or theadvice of a tax professional.
Eric Weinstein worked in banking, onthe commercial real estate side until1991, when he fell in love with residen-tial lending. In 1995, he started a smallmortgage company in his basementcalled Carteret Mortgage Corporation,which in 2003, grew to one of thelargest mortgage broker companies inthe United States. He may be reached byphone at (703) 505-8692 or e-mail [email protected]. Laura Burke is anauthor and trainer with 20-plus years ofexperience in the mortgage arena. Shemay be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
Helping Mortgage Associations GrowFrom affordable association management services to creating
vibrant and profitable conferences, Agility Resources Group can
help your mortgage association achieve a stronger bottom line.
Ask us about our creative approach to partnering with you. We’ll
bring the help you need to achieve the results you depend on.
Conference Producers
Association Managers
Contact Vincent M. Valvo, CEO860.922.3441 or [email protected]
www.AgilityResourcesGroup.com
Eric & Laura welcome your questions, please send your inquiries [email protected].
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SPONSORED ED ITORIAL
By Joy K. Gilpin
Today, the lending industry is abuzz with all the prepara-tions necessary to implement Integrated Disclosures underRESPA/TILA this coming August. As well we should be, afterall this is only going to change the way we’ve done business
for the last 30 years. That’s right, we are bidding farewell the old ways ofproviding a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and an initial Truth-in-Lending (TIL)as part of the application/initial disclosure process. So long are the daysof closing out transactions with a Final TIL and the HUD-1 SettlementStatement. Soon we’ll be moving to the new Loan Estimate and ClosingDisclosure, both hitting the scene on Aug. 1, 2015. And while there ismuch to discuss on the new Integrated Disclosure rules, that’s not whatwe’re discussing today. Instead, in the words of the late Paul Harvey, weare going to explore … the rest of the story. What do I mean? Think aboutevery single time or place your organization references one of the follow-ing in some written format:
l GFEl RESPAl TILAl HUD-1l Settlement Statement l Closing Statementl Initial Disclosuresl Or some variation of these terms
What sort of documents might be impacted? That’s an excellent ques-tion. Since my team is responsible for the authorship and maintenanceof about 40 compliance policy manuals (www.AllRegs.com) in the mort-gage lending space it is a question we’ve been asking early, and often, toensure we’re accurately addressing the needs of our clients and businesspartners. For all of us out there working hard to remain ahead of the curveand compliant, there’s more to do.
For example, we have identified that of our roughly 40 documents,nearly half reference the traditional RESPA/TILA requirements I mentionedabove. Think about that. Fifty percent of our material requires a touch inorder to adjust for Integrated Disclosures.
What does that mean to you? Well, I’m not sure, but I’m certain itmeans something.
For example, what about your training materials? Any references there?Job aids? Do they reference any of the terms listed above? What aboutyour form letters, or system guidance?
What about marketing materials or borrower education content? The point I’m trying to make is there is more to the process than just
taming the RESPA/TILA beast (ROAR)—which is a significant endeavor. It’sabout understanding and responding to the MANY rolling impacts theseregulatory changes present to us all. Set aside some time to review yourdocument libraries and find the language, references, and links that mightbe affected. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure—especiallywhen prescribed by an auditor.
Good luck and stay compliant.
Joy K. Gilpin is professional services manager with AllRegs. She may bereached by phone at (800) 848-4904.
RESPA/TILA Integration: The Rest of the Story …
�
“We’re delighted to be working withthe real property appraisal segment ofthe NAA,” said Greg Schroeder, presi-dent of Comergence. “The associationadds great value for appraisers, witheducational programs and advocacy toboost professionalism and increasemember marketability throughout thereal estate finance community.”
Comergence will work with the NAAto help NAA members increase credibil-ity and visibility among the country’sappraisal management companies(AMCs) and lenders, offering its servicesto NAA members at a discount. Thecompany’s proprietary REALM forAppraisers is a service where appraiserspay a low annual fee to set up a singleonline profile that can be shared elec-tronically with any AMCs and lendersthey choose.
“As an advocate for appraisers, NAA ishappy to work with Comergence,” saidLaurie Egan, president of the NAA. “Theissue of appraisers being required tosubmit to multiple background checkshas become enormous. Our initial goalfor this alliance is to make a serviceavailable that would help relieve theburden of the cost and time associatedwith background checks to our mem-bers. We believe our real estate apprais-ers will also like the convenience andportability of Comergence’s services andit will help them do more business, moreefficiently.”
Hudson & MarshallPartners With GenesisAuctions on Real EstateAuction Site
Hudson & Marshallhas announcedthat it is joiningforces with GenesisAuctions, an Inter-net-based dis-
tressed residential real estate disposi-tion platform. Dave Webb, principaland owner of Hudson & Marshall, willco-own and co-lead the new combinedentity with Trixy Weiss, founder andchief executive officer of GenesisAuctions. For more than 50 years,Hudson & Marshall has provided realestate auction services along with highimpact marketing services. The compa-ny has sold more than 150,000 proper-ties nationwide, with over $5 billion ofreal estate sold just in the last fiveyears. The Genesis Auctions platformenjoys wide access to both real-estateowned and non-performing assets frombanks, servicers and private sellers.Genesis Auctions has completed assetdispositions across all 50 states and cur-rently has thousands of fully vettednational and local/regional buyers andborrowers registered on the platform.
This transaction pairs Hudson &Marshall’s stellar reputation of integrityand performance with the nation’sleading servicers, lenders, credit unions,
government-sponsored enterprises(GSEs), asset management firms, andinvestors with Genesis Auctions’ reput-ed investor marketing, innovativeness,and synergistic relationship with lend-ing affiliate Genesis Capital, a privatebridge lender to investors active in dis-tressed single-family real estate. Thefirms will be owned by Global PropertyExchange LLC and maintain the Dallasand Los Angeles operations of bothcompanies.
“Hudson & Marshall’s excellentindustry reputation is built on success,ingenuity, and hard work. Our special-ized services and customer-centricapproach have made Hudson &Marshall a recognized leader in ourindustry with results that exceed theindustry average,” said Webb. “Theaddition of Genesis’ investor sales andmarketing programs and databases,technology expertise, and relationshipwith Genesis Capital, will attract morebuyers to our platform and providethem access to capital which willincrease auction execution exponen-tially and enable a higher level of serv-ice to our collective clients.”
Guild Mortgage LaunchesFinancial InstitutionsServices Group
Guild Mortgagehas announcedthe launch of itsFinancial Institu-
tion Services (FIS) Group to leverage itsstrengths as an independent mortgagebanking company and offer completeoutsourced mortgage services to region-al banks, community banks and creditunions.
Mary Ann McGarry, Guild Mortgage’schief executive officer and president,said the new group builds on the suc-cess of its correspondent banking oper-ation to fulfill a growing need to pur-chase and service loans from the small-er institutions.
“Mortgage lending has becomeincreasingly complex and difficult,”McGarry said. “Many smaller creditunions and banks struggle with thehigh cost of having the resources to addstaff and be compliant with all the newrules and regulations. If they sell theirloans to bigger banks, they worry aboutthe bigger bank trying to cross-sell con-sumers on other products not related tomortgages. Guild is an independentmortgage banker, not a financial insti-tution, so they can rest assured wewould never be a competitor.”
McGarry said Guild produced morethan $7.4 billion in loans in 2014 andserviced $17 billion. It can leverage itsstrengths to support these institutionsin continuing to provide mortgages totheir members or consumers.
Named to lead the new FIS Group is
heard on the streetcontinued from page 41
continued on page 64
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By Bubba Mills
Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to market your serv-ices? Just serve and help clients all day … it’s why youchose to get into the mortgage lending business in thefirst place, right? To help people? But if you’re like most
lenders, you’re likely working your butt off just to get those clients. So what’s the answer? Referrals … from your current and past clients, family,
friends and acquaintances. Imagine what your business would look like if every-one you knew gave you just one good referral. Yeah, savor that feeling for aminute.
Referrals are where the money is and here are five tips you can start using todayto get more:
1. Make your service downright unforgettablePast clients cannot refer you if they do not remember you. Help them rememberyou by giving them memorable service. Consider other mortgage lenders who youthink knock service out of the park. Then do more than they do. Take time tobrainstorm ways to increase your service. Remember that referrals are earned, notpaid for. By the way, I teach a seminar called “Marry Me! Getting Your Clients toSay ‘I Do!’” that gives tips on how to offer service that yields referrals for Realtorsbut mortgage lenders can get a lot of useful information from them as well. Visithttp://getbubbasnotes.com/marryme and get them free.
2. Cross-promote and partner with other businessesThink about all the local businesses in your city and then ask this question: Whatcan I do to help those local businesses while promoting my business? Thinkcoupons for your clients and leaving your business cards in their stores.
3. Think “ABA,” Always be Asking”If you don’t ask, you don’t get referrals. Add a P.S. to your e-mail signature.Something like this: “P.S. If you know anyone in the market for a mortgage, pleasetell them about ABC Mortgage Lending and hit the reply button and tell us howwe can help them!” Also, put some serious thought into your closing gifts. I’vegiven Cutco Knives with my name engraved on the blades. Every time they use theknives, they think of me. Give gifts that have a shelf life.
4. Get involved in your communityPeople are more likely to refer someone they believe is a good person. A commu-nity “do-gooder” is, by definition, a good person. And remember, it’s not yoursigns all over town that make you a community icon, it’s what you do for yourcommunity. Volunteer at retirement centers, help rebuild and paint local parks,serve food at the local soup kitchen, take part in fundraisers and be seen at blockparties and street picnics.
5. Show your gratitude when you do get referralsThank those who refer you for their help, and keep them updated on how the newrelationship is going. The referral system is built on strong relationships andshared value.
Bubba Mills is executive vice president of Corcoran Consulting & Coaching Inc. Hemay be reached by phone at (800) 957-8353 or visit www.corcorancoaching.com.
The Art of GettingReferrals
Five surefire ways to get more referrals in 2015 and beyond
By Brian Sacks
The reality in our busi-ness is that we are only asgood as our last deal, butwe are also only as good
as the staff that surrounds us. While thesuccess formula in this business is fairlysimple, it’s clearly never an easy jobunless you become very systematic.
If you aren’t familiar with the for-mula for success here it is. Actually, Iwill give you two formulas: One for get-ting loans, and one for maintainingyour reputation and pipeline.
The formula for originating newbusiness:l Pick a niche, become the expert and
let everyone know about it.
The formula for maintaining business:l Return your calls.l Communicate with all interested
parties.l Set realistic expectations. That may
mean saying what is not popular
but is necessary. l Get the needed documentation
upfront.l Know your guidelines!
So … what is a CPS?Before I tell you what a CPS actually is,you need to know that every companyand every office has one. Some areintentional and some may not evenrealize that they are functioning thisway.
A CPS is another name for a “ClosingPrevention Specialist.”
These are the staff that put upunnecessary road blocks. They havepoor attitudes. They may hate their joband our industry, but still work in iteach day. They can come in many forms… an underwriter, a processor, a closerand sometimes even one of your felloworiginators.
We all know that no matter who failsto do their job or what happens on theloan file, it is always our fault … I meanresponsibility.
To illustrate this point, I just got offthe phone with a client who was veryangry that his new home was not com-pleted. He is due to settle soon and mayhave to rent an apartment or rent backhis current home until the property heis buying is done. He clearly has no ideawho to scream at, but today hescreamed at me.
My response, “I am so sorry Mr.Smith … you realize the weather hasbeen a bit challenging with an unusualamount of snow, but I will grab myhammer and some nails and meet youout there so we can get your homedone.”
Of course, after I said this to him, hecalmed down and realized that I wasthe lender and had no control over howlong it takes to complete his home.
The simple way to cure the CPS prob-lem, in my opinion, is to fire them onthe spot. Leopards rarely change theirspots, and if someone is preventingprogress, they should have no place inyour organization.
But there are other things you mustdo to succeed with or without a CPS!
Have you ever heard a real estateagent scream? I mean really scream?Well, a few years ago, I had a loan inprocess and a real estate agent calledme one day screaming at the top of hervoice. She was angry that the loan had-n’t been approved and had been inprocess almost 30 days.
She totally forgot that I had asked fordocuments prior to application. At appli-cation, I provided her and the borrowerwith a list of items that were still neededfor approval. Each and every week, I senther a status update, letting her and thebuyer know what was still needed.
I call this “being an offensive com-municator!”
In this case, after being yelled at forwhat seemed like an hour, I told her tomeet me outside of her office and I wascoming over to pick her up. The planwas to break into the borrower’s homeand search for those W-2s, paystubs andbank statements.
Do You KnoWhat a CPS
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FREE Agency andState Complianceemail alerts
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ow S Is?
My point in saying this was to light-en her up and make her laugh, butinstead, she only became more aggra-vated. Sometimes, no matter what wedo, we simply cannot win.
But let’s return to the concept ofbeing an offensive communicator for aminute because it is critical to your suc-cess … even more so, if you have a CPSin your office.
Offensive communicationexplainedYou must constantly be advising yourclients of the documentation that willbe needed to get their loan approved.Ideally, you are getting them pre-approved before they even go search-ing but here is my plan you can copy forbeing an offensive communicator.
1. Put the items needed on the back ofyour business cards and on your Website and other marketing materials.
2. Create a hit list form that you use at
application. On this form, list theitems you still need and the dateyou need them by. Have the bor-rower sign and date this form. Aftereach application, I provide a copyof this form to the selling agentand put one in the file for myprocessor so she knows what I haverequested.
3. Each and every week, I have a setmeeting with my processor. It’s thesame date and time each week.During this meeting, I review eachand every file to see what is stillneeded, what issues we need to dealwith, who needs to deal with it, andwhere we stand date wise. Wereview the appraisal, lock, income,assets and any other issue related tothe file.
4. Each and every week, after thismeeting, I send the listing and sell-ing agent an update on the status ofthe loan.
The most important datein the contract that noneof us pay attention toDo you know what the most importantdate in the contract is? I bet you saidthe closing date right? Actually, the con-tract also has a financing commitmentdate which most of us simply ignore.But if you are able to meet this datethan you never have to worry aboutwhen it closes.
I take this date one step further sothat I can effectively communicate. Onmy files, I have what I call a “Submit byDate.” This is a date 10 days prior to thedate the contract calls for financingcommitment.
As an example if the contract callsfor closing on March 30, it might callfor a financing commitment by March10. I will then put down a date ofMarch 1 as the Submit by Date. OnMarch 1, I will look at the file andmake sure it is ready to be submitted.If it is not ready, I will call the realestate agents and the borrower and letthem know that if I don’t receive theneeded documents by the next day,they will need to get an extension.
This tells the agents that I am on topof my files and puts the burden backwhere it belongs—right on the buyer.
Try this … your agents will love youfor this and even the CPS in your officewill be forced to admire you andbecome a help instead of a hindrance.
Brian Sacks is a nationally-renownedmortgage expert who has career closingof more than 5,924 transactions for inexcess of $1 billion. He has trained, con-sulted and coached, tens of thousands ofloan officers and company owners overthe past 29 years on how to close moreloans, make more money and still have alife. You can download his report, “TheFour Tools You Can Use to ImmediatelyGrow Your Business,” awww.AgentsChaseYou.com. Brian maybe reached by phone at (443) 324-8424or e-mail [email protected].
By Greg Schroeder
There is no shortage of compliance con-cerns facing those in the mortgage businesstoday, and one of the more challengingrelates to lender oversight and manage-
ment of third-party relationships. With reg-ulations driven by the Dodd–Frank WallStreet Reform and Consumer Protection Actnow being enforced by regulatory agencies,
including the Consumer FinancialProtection Board (CFPB), lenders have tomaintain tight ships with their vendor rela-tionships. Lenders aren’t just being heldaccountable for their own actions, but forthe actions of all the third parties withwhom they do business. That includes thirdparty originators.
The CFPB and other agencies, includingthe Federal Reserve System, the FederalDeposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) andthe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency(OCC), are closely watching how lendersmanage and monitor their third party rela-tionships. Keeping up with the ever chang-ing regulatory environment is difficult andthe penalties are steep. Lenders cannotplead ignorance or point fingers when itcomes to how someone they work with con-ducts their business, specifically third-partyoriginators (TPOs). And originators are fac-ing ever-increasing demands for more infor-mation and documentation each time theydecide to apply to a new wholesaler.
According to the OCC, lenders need toadopt risk management processes that are“commensurate with the level of risk andcomplexity of its third-party relationships,”and that run through the entire life cycle ofthese relationships. Such processes need toinclude plans that identify the risks of thethird-party activities, how the vendor wasselected, written agreements or contractsthat cover the responsibilities of the third-party, as well as contingency plans for end-ing the relationship.
Keeping up with the changing landscapeis difficult and the penalties are steep. TheDodd-Frank Act authorizes the CFPB toincrease its assessment of civil monetarypenalties from up to $5,000 per violationper day to up to $25,000 per violation perday if violations are reckless, and up to $1million per violation per day if violations areknowingly occurring.
Regulators are stepping up their enforce-ment in this area. In fact, they have alreadyuncovered cases in which lenders have failedto properly assess third parties for risk andfailed to monitor their activities.
Originators asked to jumpthrough more hoopsAs might be expected, it’s not just wholesalelenders that are affected by the regulatorydirectives on managing third party relation-
ships: originators themselves are facingmuch more scrutiny from the wholesalelenders with whom they do business. As reg-ulators ask the lenders to provide proof thatthey are on top of their third-party relation-ships, the lenders are in turn requiring moreof originators. Today, originators are asked bytheir wholesale lenders to provide more interms of documentation, including proof ofcurrent licensing, financial statements, andresumes. They’re also asked to undergo back-ground checks, and to demonstrate theyhave their own quality control process inplace.
When you consider that originators workwith a number of wholesale lenders, it’sunderstandable they might grow frustratedby having to provide the same verificationsand information to multiple lenders overand over.
Fannie Mae issues guidanceIn late February, Fannie Mae issued newguidance on third-party originators. Theagency stipulated that before entering intoan agreement with a third-party originator,a lender must “satisfy itself that the third-party originator is capable of producingquality mortgages.”
Fannie Mae requires the lender to havewritten procedures for the approval of third-party originators and outlined specificallythat those procedures must include reviewsof all of the following: lMost recent financial statements;lCurrent licenses;lResumes of principal officers and under-
writing personnel;lThe third-party’s QC procedures so that
the lender can determine if the party andits originations comply with the lender’sstandards for quality;
lResults of background checks for principalofficers (for example, obtaining a creditreport, screening through a mortgagefraud database or investor exclusionarylist, confirming business references, etc.);and
lThe third-party originator’s hiring proce-dure for checking all employees, includingmanagement, involved in the originationof mortgage loans (including applicationthrough closing) against the U.S. GeneralServices Administration (GSA) ExcludedParties List, the HUD Limited Denial ofParticipation List (LDP List), and the
“Lenders need to document their strategy for monitoringthird-party vendors, then test it and put it into use.”
Regs on the Oversight of Third-Parties Create Challenges for Both Lenders and TPOs The good news? There is now technology designedto ease the process for all parties
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Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)Suspended Counterparty Program (SCP)list.
Fannie Mae recommends that lendersdocument their arrangement with third-party originators by a contractual agreementthat includes specific warranties related tothe eligibility of mortgages and the third-party originator’s responsibilities, as well asavenues of recourse that can be taken if thewarranties are breached. As part of theireffective management of third-party origina-tors, lenders need to have a system for eval-uating and approving those originators,according to Fannie Mae.
Fannie Mae monitors the performance ofthird-party originations from lenders toidentify issues with performance or profile.Based on these reviews, Fannie Mae maytake action against lenders, up to andincluding restricting or eliminating a lender’s
ability to deliver third-party originations toFannie Mae.
Freddie Mac has issued similar guidanceto wholesale lenders. The agency instructslenders to maintain written standards andprocedures for working with third partyoriginators, which will provide the founda-tion for a strong and comprehensive quali-ty control program. Lenders should ensurethat the standards and procedures theyadopt “yield investment-quality wholesalemortgages” and include standards and pro-cedures that are appropriate for thelender’s organization,” Freddie Mac states.
For lenders: Common sensetips for managing origina-tor relationshipsI recommend that lenders take the follow-ing actions when managing third-partyoriginators: lBe very familiar with the originators with
whom you do business. That means con-firming third-party originators are regis-tered and have the proper certificationsand licenses. It also means reviewingthird party originators’ policies and pro-cedures and financials and making sureeverything is up to date. It’s not a badidea to look into past compliance per-formance, which can be indicative offuture problems. In fact, I typically rec-ommend a comprehensive backgroundcheck to assure regulators that you’re ontop of your third party originators.
l It’s important to have a clear plan inplace (and in writing) and then be able toprove that you are following it. Lendersneed to document their strategy for mon-itoring third-party vendors, then test itand put it into use. If an auditor pays avisit, they will be looking for documentedstrategies and procedures, and proof thata program to monitor third parties has
been put into action. The CFPB is alsolooking for lenders to test their programs.
l It’s critical that lenders monitor thirdparty vendors on an ongoing basis. A“point in time” check of a third-partyoriginator is no longer enough—the reg-ulations clearly state that all third partiesmust be monitored continually.Problems can crop up very quickly, andauditors need to be assured that lendersare performing regular checks.
lKeep complete and detailed records andbe prepared to access them quickly.Auditors will be looking for those recordsas proof that you have a good plan inplace for monitoring third parties andare following it on an ongoing basis.
For wholesale lenders, keeping track of
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what their third-party originators aredoing presents a big challenge in termsof both time and money. It’s uncommonfor a lender to have the capability toeffectively manage the surveillance andoversight of third parties.
However, there is technology availabletoday specifically designed to help mort-gage lenders manage third-party rela-tionships in an efficient and compliantmanner. A word of caution: Not all of thetechnology available provides continualupdates on third-party originators, so it’svital that the vendor or service youchoose does offer that feature. Auditorswon’t care if you’re able to prove youwere compliant in a month ago if a prob-lem arises today; they will be looking forproof that monitoring is ongoing.
Help for originators tooWhile originators may be growing frustrat-ed with all the requests for informationfrom their wholesale lenders, it’s impor-tant for them to keep in mind that theserequests—which can be redundant com-ing from multiple lenders—stem from thenewer regulations the lenders now mustcomply with. While third-party oversighthas always been a factor, now it’s becomeeven more critical to regulators. The ulti-mate goal is to protect consumers, solenders are being held accountable for anyslip-ups or oversights on the part of theiroriginators.
The good news for originators is that thesame technology designed to help lendersmanage and oversee their third-party orig-inator relationships can be just as benefi-
cial to originators. Rather than filling outredundant applications and faxing thevast number of documents that lendersask for, these newer systems allow origi-nators to complete their applicationonline and store all the documentslenders require. Doing so enables origina-tors to easily apply to as many lenders asthey would like. The best of these systemsprovide security against identity theft, andexpedite approval times.
Finally, while both lenders and theirthird-party originators may have tradition-ally viewed complying with these require-ments as a necessary evil, there are sever-al positive outcomes to using technologythat manage the oversight of third-partyrelationships.
Lenders can easily see which originatorsare producing and not producing, and canfocus on growing the relationships withcompliance-minded producers and elimi-nate those that are not. Overall carrying
costs are reduced, and the entire process ofmanaging and overseeing third-party origi-nators is streamlined and simplified.Originators can use the same technology tosave time and money in the applicationprocess, and are able to apply to multiplewholesalers much more easily.
And of course, regulators and their audi-tors are able to more clearly evaluate alender’s process and procedures for third-party oversight when the lender uses tech-nology which readily provides all the prop-er documentation. Simply put, it just makessense for all parties involved.
Greg Schroeder is president of ComergenceCompliance Monitoring LLC, an SaaSprovider of third-party originator andappraiser risk management solutions.Comergence provides lenders and appraisalmanagement companies with tools thatreview and continually monitor registeredmortgage loan originators and appraisers.
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regs on the oversight of third-partiescontinued from page 53
EQUITY PRIME MORTGAGENMLS #21116 Retail: (301) 996-4605Wholesale: (201) 981-7855htt p://www.equityprime.com/htt p://www.equitytpo.com/
Constant 24 hour turn time standard.
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Relationships are everything.
Growing? We’ll help.
Look for our new mobile app.
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55continued on page 56
By John F. Cady
Within the past few years, we have seenthe mortgage industry shift fromlenders that serve primarily wholesaleto one that now includes more retailoffices. While there are some thatbelieve the wholesale channel isdying, they could not be more wrong.In fact, the wholesale business is verymuch alive and thriving. The responsi-bility for this success lies, in part, inthe fact that third-party originators(TPOs) are choosing to stay on thewholesale side of the business and notmake the leap over to the retail side.There are three types of lenders in theindustry: 100 percent retail, 100 per-cent wholesale and the hybrid lenderwho serves both channels. Each con-centration services their clientele dif-ferently than the other. Those lendersthat support both channels and main-tain an independent workflow foreach have perfected catering to theirdiffering expectations and require-ments, and those are the lenders whoprovide optimum service to their val-ued TPO clients.
How can one avoid the TPO vs.Retail conflict? Actually, this conflictdoesn’t exist much anymore. Over thelast five years most brokers who want-ed to move into the retail arena didso. The remaining TPOs choose toremain. They like owning their ownbusiness. They are successful and seeno reason to change. They confidentlyfunction in competition with the retailoriginator, making TPO a valid busi-ness strategy that is still dynamic. Inthe industry, we must recognize thatthe two channels–wholesale andretail are distinctly different. Not onlydo they offer different products, butthey are governed by differing guide-lines and differing requirements. No“one shop” fits all lending needs.There is a legitimate need for bothwholesale and retail originations. Thetwo channels require support andtools specific to their needs.
Are there any compliance issues forTPOs? Previously in our industry, com-pliance used to be an issue when bro-kers would skirt the rules to work inthese “grey” areas. However, with allof the regulations that accompanyhome loans in today’s market this isno longer possible. You cannot avoidthe regulations and go under theradar. TPOs currently have a hardtime trying to cover all of the compli-ance changes because, unlike alender, they do not have a compliancedepartment and are only focused onoriginating loans.
Having a lender that is up-to-dateon all compliance issues makes it a loteasier for TPOs to focus on what theydo best–originating loans.
What are the modern day market-ing strategies for TPOs? Before LOcomp, the industry was driven by prof-its. Whoever had the best rates andwherever the broker could make themost money would get the business.However, this is not the case anymore.Now TPOs are all about improvingtheir business. TPOs go where theyhave access to marketing and trainingfor their originators. Today, it is allabout being a “lending partner.” TPOsare looking for lenders that offer newand upcoming products. Most TPOs donot have their own marketing depart-ments. So, they appreciate utilizingthese resources provided by theirlender partners. TPOs that strategizemarketing with their lender increasetheir pipeline and profit. Most TPOs willhappily accept any marketing assis-tance offered. TPOs want the best serv-ice possible from their lender and seekwhoever is willing to go the extra milenot only with marketing but also byoffering the best communication andeasiest workflow so that both thelender and the broker provide a suc-cessful loan transaction to all partiesinvolved.
Lenders want quality brokers, those
who will close at least 20 percent to 25percent of their business with thatlender. Lenders and TPOs both look tobuild a trusting and profitable busi-ness partnership. It is taxing on bothoperations to close the incidentaltransaction. A TPO wants a lender withintegrity, who is like-minded, whocarry purchase money and has highstandards of business practices.Because a lender is also looking forsoundness, integrity and high stan-dards of business practices from theirTPO, the Broker Approval Process mostlenders practice should indicate norisk to their own reputation (by associ-ating with the reputation of this bro-
ker) and includes verifying that thebroker:lHas had no regulatory infractionsl Is financially strong and sound (as
indicated by their assets and profitand losses statements)
lHas an acceptable credit profile.
All of this approval work on the TPOis done because the lender’s name isassociated with their brokers on everyloan that is brought through that par-ticular TPO for their home loan. Ifsomething goes wrong on a loan, it notonly looks bad on the TPO, but on the
TPOs Are Alive and Kicking!
“TPOs currently have a hard time trying to cover all of thecompliance changes because, unlike a lender, they do nothave a compliance department and are only focused onoriginating loans.”
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www.callfurst.com
lender as well. Both of their reputationsare at stake for every home loan, there-fore, it will only work if they are treatedas partners to make the home loanprocess run as smoothly as possible.
Likewise, the reputation of the TPOcan easily be tarnished by a lenderwho cannot perform. TPOs will also veta potential lender by reviewing theirproduct mix and tools, ease of use, andquick access to their business develop-ment manager. Most TPOs will test thewaters first but sending a lender who isa potential partner, a few tough deals.Depending on the success of thosetransactions, the lender can alsoexpect a mix of more “vanilla-type”loans. Once a TPO finds a lender whoconsistently contributes to the broker’s
success, the relationship is deemed solidand hopefully long-lasting. In this case,the TPO will send the lender more of aconsistent basis thus forming a strongerpartnership.
Some important qualities that willentice a TPO to form a lending partner-ship with a particular lender include:l Superior customer service: In a multi-
faceted, fast-paced industry like mort-gage lending, superior customer serviceis a requirement. Successful compli-ance with the numerous industry regu-lations commands clear communica-tion with all participants of the loan.
lConsistent underwriting practices:Both the lender and the TPO want tobe on the same page when it comes tounderwriting the loan to ensure the
process goes smoothly.lEase of using the lender: From sub-
missions to navigating the lender’sWeb site for guidelines, forms, etc.,all must be easily accessible. A lenderwho is difficult to use can easily setback the transaction.
lConsistent turn-times: If a lender hasexcessive turn-times, real estateagents (or originators) will easily goelsewhere in order to keep theirclient happy.
lPricing: This industry is very price-driven. With pricing that can changeat any moment, the lender has tostay competitive.
lTools: Training, marketing tools andtechnical support are very valuableto TPOs. The lender, who offers theseto the wholesale originator, has theadvantage at using these items toform a stronger, lasting relationshipwith the TPO.
Therefore, if you hear someone saythat wholesale business is dead, youcan be sure to let them know that it isquite the opposite. Keep in mind thatthere are the three types of lenders inthe industry and that each concentra-tion services their clientele differentlythan the other. Also, in the industrytoday, both lenders and TPOs arelooking for partners who will supporteach other and help provide a suc-cessful loan transaction to all partiesinvolved.
John F. Cady is senior vice president ofproduction at Mountain West FinancialInc. John has more than 20 years ofmortgage banking experience, and isresponsible for the management of allretail and wholesale mortgage bankingproduction activities. He may bereached by phone at (909) 557-2227 ore-mail [email protected].
tpos are alive and kicking!continued from page 55
continued on page 58
By Dave Hershman
Rates moving down in December andJanuary gave us a stark reminder of whatthe refinance boom was like. Only, theboom of the first quarter of 2015 is notlikely to last nearly as long as what wehave previously witnessed. As a matter offact, by mid-February rates already hadstarted moving back up.
Every time we have a “boom,” loanofficer pipelines fill up and, of course,that translates into good times forwholesale companies. The focus turnsto accommodating the business andnot the future. For example, goodunderwriters again become a hot com-modity. Certainly getting loans closedin the right way is the first priority forall companies, retail and wholesale.
So what happens when this mini-refi-nance boom ends? Certainly, we all hopethat the spring purchase market fills insome of the gap, but experience will tellus that purchase markets improve lin-early, which refinance markets explodeand contract exponentially.
It appears to the neutral observerthat very little is being done to positionthe typical wholesaler to succeed afterboom times. For example, if a whole-sale lender is focusing upon rates, theyare likely to be attracting brokers whoare selling based upon rates instead ofrelationships. These brokers are alsomore likely to be those who are lessexperienced and less likely to be suc-ceeding in a purchase market.
In reality, those brokers who are exe-cuting broad-based relationship busi-ness models should be the targets everywholesaler should focus their attentionupon. However, that strategy requires along-range business model and I don’tquite see that happening today—andnor did I see that happening nearly tenyears ago when I first wrote this article.
A relationship model requires thedelivery of what we call “added value”instead of hawking rates, programs and
service—not that rates, programs andservice are not important. But to be agreat wholesale company and a leader—these factors must be a given instead ofthe entire focus. In other words, if youdon’t have the “basic three” down pat—don’t even bother trying to become aleader. And don’t think that I am takingfor granted that the delivery of the “basicthree” is easy. I ran wholesale as well asretail operations and this business is noteasy in this regard. And in today’s mar-ket, it has become even harder, especial-ly with regard to delivering first-in-classservice with changing programs andquality issues.
What represents added value? Forone, wholesalers should be trying toimprove the careers of their targets. Ifwholesalers provide training, it is typi-cally on their procedures and their
products. This is akin to a loan officerspeaking at real estate agent salesmeeting and talking about their greatrates, programs, service and doughnuts.
Wake up wholesalersSupport efforts to improve the careersof your targets. Not just to become bet-ter sales people but to become expertswithin the industry. It is the expertswho will survive. It is the experts whowill thrive after the boom. Loan officerscannot service real estate agents bysolely promising the best rates asopposed to having extra value to helpenhance agent business through syner-gistic relationships. How are you help-ing your loan officer clients deliver thisvalue? Certainly not by buying themgolf or drinks. I cannot imagine howthese things will help your clientsbecome higher quality customers.
Training is one way to deliver valueto your customers—either by deliveringthis training through your company orsupporting industry-wide efforts.Unfortunately, there are not enoughalternatives within this industry forbroad-based financial, marketing and
service training that resides well abovethe basic level. Personally, I reallythought training would become moreimportant in this industry when licens-ing became a requirement. However,licensing just covers basics and compli-ance. It does not help a loan officer suc-ceed. And more than 50 percent of theloan officers aren’t even required to getthat because they work for banks,though you can be sure the banks aredelivering compliance training.
It is interesting that the industry is sofocused upon compliance and not suc-cess … I always thought that qualitycontrol starts at the beginning of theprocess. How many wholesalers com-plain about loan officers puttingtogether poor case files? On the otherhand, much time are they spendingtraining them to put a good file togeth-er, and not just including the rightforms? More importantly, how are theyshowing them how a great file can leadto better service and then help themmine that service for more opportuni-ties? A transaction has a sphere of its
Wake Up Mortgage Wholesalers—Revisited Again
“It is interesting that the industry is so focused uponcompliance and not success … I always thought thatquality control starts at the beginning of the process.”
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own and the development of relation-ships should come from within eachfile, but only if the file itself is pack-aged in the right way.
There are other ways to providesuch value, including marketing sup-port. How many wholesalers are help-ing brokers focus upon increasing theirability to help increase sales of theirreal estate agents? Or perhaps helpingtheir business-to-business clients suchas divorce attorneys, financial plannersand CPAs expand their own business?
I have focused upon two things in mycareer. Helping loan officers becomeexperts in the industry so that they canbecome expert mortgage advisorsinstead of focusing upon rates, and show-ing loan officers how to market like an
expert. If you think I am focused upon theword expert, you are right. Experts earnmore. Experts don’t sell—people come tothem for advice. Experts become leadersand will survive the end of the refinanceboom. Wholesalers, are you experts? If youare not, how can you teach your mostimportant clients to become experts?
Expert knowledge andexpert marketingOne without the other is worthless.Experts who cannot market like expertswill not position themselves in the rightway. Those who market well but are notexperts will similarly fail. Those who canshow loan officers how to provide valueto the real estate community, as well asalternative referral sources, will position
themselves differently within thisindustry. If this is not part of your busi-ness model, then you will be missingthe boat when it sails in the long term.
The benefits of being an expert andfurthering expertise goes beyond mar-keting success. If you are reprocessingloans for your brokers, how expensiveis that? Will you be able to afford tolend this help when the business is notso profitable? Where will this leaveyour clients when you have to with-draw this level of support?
Lack of quality training and market-ing support is quite expensive for all theplayers involved—from the homeown-ers we are serving to the brokers’employers and the wholesalers whoservice the brokers. In the long run, notdelivering this training will be deadly. Ishould point out that it is not only theloan officer who needs to become anexpert—so must the wholesaler who is
serving this loan officer. Is your compa-ny helping you with this worthy goal?
Without this important componentyou will unfortunately be in the posi-tion of the blind leading the blind. If itleads your clients down the wrongpath, the end of good times is going tobe very painful. Granted it will bepainful for all—but especially for thosewho are not in the best position todeliver value. Wake up and think aboutit because the clock is again ticking,and this time more quickly.
Dave Hershman is a top author in themortgage industry with seven bookspublished. He is also the founder of theOriginationPro Marketing System, andcurrently the director of branch supportfor McLean Mortgage. He may bereached by e-mail at [email protected] or visit www.origination-pro.com.
wake up mortgage wholesalerscontinued from page 57
By Brent Emler
What does a CRM and relationship market-ing service provider know about third-partyoriginators (TPOs)? The answer is, probablynot as much as you do! What we do knowabout though, is the value of relationships.The principles of relationship marketingapply regardless of the niche subject.
At my company, we also know that wehave to align with companies who share inour philosophy: Shotgun marketing is noteffective for either the sender or recipient.It’s become too easy for marketers and salespeople to use the “shotgun,” or to furtherthe metaphor, “nuclear bomb” approach tothe sales and marketing effort. A lot of peo-ple do it but it just isn’t effective.
To understand how this relates to theTPO marketplace, I contacted Matt Johnson,who heads up the new wholesale division atPeople’s Home Equity Inc. Matt’s experiencein the industry combined with his freshapproach to wholesale lending made him agreat candidate for this interview.
Matt maintains that the culture atPeople’s Home Equity is to embrace thisphilosophy: “Relationship Quality FarOutweighs Relationship Quantity.”
Since e-mail marketing is incredibly inex-pensive, many account executives think thatblasting out thousands and thousands of e-mails each day is an effective sales and mar-keting strategy. The thinking is, “Well, younever know. Maybe one of the people onthe list of 5,000 recipients that receive mydaily e-mails will be dissatisfied with theircurrent lender. Maybe they aren’t gettingthe response they hope to get from theircurrent lender. Just maybe I’ll be able toattract them with a slightly better rate.”
That’s dragnet marketing, “just in case”and “because you never know” marketing.One could argue that this type of marketingis an effort to gain “eyeball share,” whichwill then soften subsequent sales calls. Theproblem with this argument is multi-lay-ered, but it starts and probably ends withasking yourself how you feel about repeat-edly getting an e-mail from a stranger. Doyou like getting e-mail after e-mail fromsomeone you don’t know? Do you like a
stranger blatantly pitching their product?Furthermore, is the person sending thesemarketing e-mails really going to call all ofthe recipients to follow up? No, realistical-ly, he or she won’t. So there goes the argu-ment that e-mail blasting is a way to softenup cold calls. It’s really just a function ofblindly checking the marketing box.
Let’s also be clear about somethingimportant here. SPAMMING is illegal. If youscrape Web sites for e-mail addresses andthen send e-mail blasts to those contacts,you’re breaking the law. In this highly reg-ulated age, we find ourselves constantlyamazed when an account executive, realestate agent, loan officer, or any othersalesperson is not adhering to CAN-SPAMcompliance regulations. The risk they’retaking is enormous. Not only could theyfind themselves and their company in trou-ble, they could land their email provider ina “Black List” situation.
The case for deep relationships with TPOsDuring the interview with Matt, he sharedsome of the reasons he is building thePeople’s Home Equity’s wholesale platformby focusing on the quality of their TPO rela-tionships rather than the quantity. He isbuilding a team of account executives whoare charged with developing deep and last-ing relationships. The days of approving asmany brokers as possible and using a strat-egy based on hope no longer make sense.The incremental costs of supporting hun-dreds of brokers on a pricing engine resultin operational inefficiencies, reduced pull-through rates and inferior, confusing com-munication between the lender, broker,and subsequently, the referral partners andclients.
People’s Home Equity’s account execu-tives are given a clearly defined geographicarea so the brokers and loan officers have avery clear understanding of who theirpoints of contact are. This results in a con-sistent voice and message for the brokersand loan officers. In an effort to drive com-petition within their ranks, some wholesale
lenders take the approach of even pittingtheir own AEs against one another. Theremay be some psychological advantage tothis approach, however, it creates an envi-ronment where the brokers and loan offi-cers don’t have a clear line of communica-tion. In addition to carving out specificregions, Matt’s team is focusing more onwallet share than market share. They’re ask-ing questions about how committed theirbroker networks are for a couple of reasons.First, the aforementioned incremental costsassociated with connecting their brokerswith their pricing engine. Then there’s aneven more important component—opera-tional efficiency. If brokers are choosing thelender on a whim or on the off-chance theywere one of the 5,000 e-mail recipients, thefile becomes a “Throw it against the walland hope it sticks” transaction.
Make no mistake, the relationshipapproach to TPO lending is more workupfront, but it’s well worth the investment.Matt and his group are judging themselvesby the quality of their submissions and thepull-through rate. Naturally, volume isimportant, but it can’t the only metric bywhich you judge your success. What’s better?An account executive funding $20 million amonth with $40 million in submissions orthe one who is funding $18 million with$19.5 in submissions? If we’re only looking atthe top line volume numbers, perhaps itwould be the former. Shouldn’t the bottomline really be the number we all care about?
With a current pull-through rate of betterthan 92 percent, Matt and company havebeen hitting their marks. The brokers andloan officers they’re working with are appre-ciating the “hand on” approach. They don’tget false positives which can result inembarrassing phone calls to referral part-ners and clients. The AEs are getting to knowtheir broker network and loan officers in adeep and meaningful way. In turn, they’reable to identify opportunities to makeexceptions to their process without using acomplicated “preferred broker” model.
Matt admits that as they continue togrow, their approach will be tested. Thepressure to hit volume numbers will makeit difficult to remain steadfast in their prin-cipled approach. Typically, companies areeither really great at pricing but sacrificeservice or they provide exceptional service,but marginal pricing. Matt believes that
focusing on the relationships, understand-ing the broker’s business, and emphasizingthe importance for everyone to focus onthe process will allow them to remain high-ly competitive on price, while maintainingexemplary service.
Relationship matterWhile doing research for this article, I founda number of different statistics regardinghow often we’re marketed to each day.Some of the research says that we’re hitwith between 3,000 and 20,000 marketingmessages per day. Other articles make agreat case about the human brain’s abilityto disregard superfluous information. Sothe marketing impressions we actually con-sume are more along the lines of 300-500.Either way you look at it, we have a thickarmor plate when it comes to marketingimpressions we really pay attention to.
I found what most in the advertisingspace consider the oldest article written onthe topic. In it, Samuel Johnson, a notablepublicist wrote, “Advertisements are nowso numerous that they are very negligentlyperused, and it has therefore become nec-essary to gain attention by magnificence ofpromises, and by eloquence, sometimessublime and sometimes pathetic.”
Imagine his dismay at an e-mail inboxwith 300 advertisements from randomstrangers pitching their rates without eventhe courtesy of a phone call. Just becauseyou can put together a collection of elec-trons and hammer the Internet withproclamations of great rates, it doesn’tmean that you should.
If you make your focus the develop-ment of relationships and support thoserelationships with email communications,you’ll have happier customers, happierprocessors, and happier bean countersback at the corporate office. You alsowon’t’ have to spend your valuable timecoming up with new “promises of magnif-icence.” Your customers will experienceyour magnificence when you providethem with a great product, combined withan exceptional experience.
Brent Emler is director of sales and market-ing at Velma.com, a customizable marketingsoftware provider exclusive to the mortgageindustry. He may be reached by e-mail [email protected].
Relationship Marketing and TPOs
“In this highly regulated age, we find ourselves constantlyamazed when an account executive, real estate agent,loan officer, or any other salesperson is not adhering toCAN-SPAM compliance regulations. The risk they’retaking is enormous.”
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By Eric Weinstein
This article will take an in depth focus onand will analyze in fullest modern daymarketing strategies for the typical TPO.But first … I just feel like I have to unload.
I just had a loan get declined two daysbefore closing because the bank wasusing an outdated form and refused tocorrect it.
People are people and people makemistakes. Also, people have faults likepride. Sometimes they do not want torecognize their own mistakes. It is a nat-ural human tendency. I am sure, at somefuture board meeting at the bank, some-one will bring this topic up and get theform changed six months from now, butthat is not going to bring back my $6,000commission on this deal today.
Every loan officer has gone throughthis scenario, I am sure. You send in a filewith everything you know they are goingto ask for. Then, the underwriting
approval comes back asking for a paperyou KNOW you put in there. You are con-fused. So you ask, “Did you not see it, orwas what I sent in not satisfactory?” Then,two days later, you get anotherConditional Approval, but the condition isno longer on there. Wouldn’t it be nice toget an e-mail saying, “Oops! I missed that.I got it. Sorry!” I have never gotten an e-mail like that from an underwriter.People just hate to admit when theymake a mistake.
The Big Bang theory states that theuniverse exploded into existence and it isconstantly expanding outward into …well, nobody knows. The JewishKabbalah takes a slightly different slant.It says at first, the Lord was everywhere.But because the Lord is perfect in everyway, he had to withdraw himself from apart of the universe so Man could exist.This is because Man and the world we live
in are not perfect. I think of this every time the world
gives me the heel of its boot. Underwritersare not perfect. Systems to run organiza-tions are not perfect. People have flaws,pride, prejudice and all the other thingsthat make my loans get declined for nogood apparent reason.
I am Jewish, but I really like the part inthe Christian Lord’s Prayer where it says:“And forgive us our trespasses, as we for-give those who trespass against us.”
As much as people are human andmake mistakes, this reminds me that Iprobably screw up just as much as theydo. So I have to give them a break.
In Jewish folktales, it is said there arethree types of evil in the world:1. There is the evil that men do to other
men;2. There is the evil that a man does that
comes around and bites him on theirown behind; and
3. Before we are born into this world, theLord sits us down and tells us: “Theworld I am sending you to is not per-fect. There are diseases and accidentsand a bunch of other stuff you are not
going to like. But, you have a choice… you can stay here up in Heavenwith me or go down there and experi-ence all that life has to offer. If you arehere, you made that choice.”
I know all this. Yet, sometimes it is justso annoying!
Why does the world have to be soimperfect. Why do other people constant-ly screw up and it costs me money?
I am sorry … what was I saying aboutTPOs again?
Eric Weinstein worked in banking, on thecommercial real estate side until 1991,when he fell in love with residential lend-ing. In 1995, he started a small mortgagecompany in his basement called CarteretMortgage Corporation, which in 2003, grewto one of the largest mortgage broker com-panies in the United States. These days, Ericis semi-retired, doing mortgages by referralonly. As he likes to put it, “He is either sav-ing people money per month or helpingthem buy a new home. What a great job!”He may be reached by phone at (703) 505-8692 or e-mail [email protected].
People Are People
“People are people and people make mistakes.”
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A fresh & healthy take on otherwise
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www.TheNationalRealEstatePost.com
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By George Yacik
Ocwen FinancialCorporation maybe getting anunfair bad rap
from regulators and consumer protec-tion agencies, a new report from a WallStreet investment firm’s non-agencyRMBS strategists says. In reality, strug-gling borrowers are more likely to stayin their homes or receive a generousloan modification from Ocwen thanfrom other sub-prime mortgage ser-vicers.
Few companies in the residentialmortgage business have been under
such negative scrutiny lately as Ocwen.In late 2013, the company agreed to
a $2.1 billion settlement and fine withfederal and state regulators to settlecharges of alleged misconduct in its bigsub-prime loan servicing operation. LastDecember it reached a settlement withNew York State regulators that requiredthe company to change its practices andprovide $150 million to help strugglinghomeowners in the state. The agree-ment also forced founder William Erbeyto resign as chairman of the company aswell as four related companies.
The company’s stock price is downmore than 80 percent in the last year toless than $9 a share from a November
2013 peak of $56.66.While these events certainly create a
perception that Ocwen’s strategies hurtborrowers, that may not be true, atleast compared to its industry competi-tors, according to a recent report byMorgan Stanley on the company’s mort-gage servicing operations
In fact, compared to other servicersof sub-prime mortgages, Ocwen does abetter job of keeping struggling borrow-ers in their homes and reducing theamount of money they owe on theirloan, the report says.
“Ocwen’s modification style differsstarkly from its peers,” the report says.“Since the beginning of 2011, they have
been far more likely to give a borrowera principal modification than the mar-ket as a whole. Ocwen has been farmore generous to borrowers than theoverall sub-prime market.”
“To the extent the ObamaAdministration wants to keep borrow-ers in their homes, Ocwen seems to beaccomplishing that—at least for now,”the report says.
Ocwen has previously stated thatsince the onset of the mortgage crisis,they have helped more than 500,000American families avoid foreclosure byoffering loan modifications.
While Ocwen modifies borrowers’mortgages at about the same rate as
Ocwen Gets Little Credit for HeHomeowners, Wall Street Rep
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other sub-prime servicers, since 2011the company was “more likely to per-form a principal modification, andfrom 2011 through 2014, far more like-ly to cut a borrower’s monthly P&I pay-ment by 50 percent or more,” the Feb.25 report said.
Moreover, “This modification styleappears to have been effective in keep-ing borrowers in their homes,” MorganStanley adds. “Whether a borrower firstwent delinquent while being serviced byOcwen, or fell delinquent and was thentransferred to Ocwen, we find that theseborrowers are more likely to be in theirhome today than if the MSR (mortgageservicing right) was held elsewhere.”
Ocwen is the nation’s largest sub-prime mortgage servicer, with morethan 25 percent of the legacy non-agency residential mortgage-backedsecurities (RMBS) market, includingalmost 40 percent of the 2004-2007sub-prime universe, 22 percent of Alt-Amortgages, 23 percent of option ARMs,and eight percent of prime jumboloans, according to Morgan Stanley.
In February, Ocwen agreed to sell a$9.8 billion mortgage servicing portfolioof loans owned by Freddie Mac toNationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. andearlier this week it reported it wouldsell residential mortgage servicingrights on $45 billion of agency loans toan undisclosed buyer.
Ironically, Morgan Stanley noted thatsome of Ocwen’s strategies, while bene-fiting borrowers, could be “potentiallydisadvantageous” to holders of itsRMBS. When borrowers get a loan mod-ification, bondholders take a loss.
“Not only does the modification—ifultimately unsuccessful—delay therecognition of principal recovery fromthe liquidation of the underlying prop-erty, it also forces the trust to take a lossin the month that the principal modifi-cation occurs,” the report said.“Furthermore, the percent by which themonthly principal and interest paymentdecreases could mean that the principalmodifications themselves—and thusthe losses—were steep, while also eat-ing into the excess interest in the deal.”
“Yes, the servicer has an obligation toinvestors to maximize the value of thetrust, but there are other forces at play,”Morgan Stanley notes, such as keepingborrowers in their homes. Yet it doesn’tappear that Ocwen gets a lot of creditfor that.
And, according to the report, “itappears that Ocwen’s servicing resultsare in line with or better than the otherservicers.”
The combination of downgrades byratings agencies and the number ofactions taken against the company byregulators have led investors to ques-tion Ocwen’s ability to continue servic-ing their non-agency portfolio, MorganStanley notes. The firm advises them tostick with Ocwen.
“In our base case, legacy non-agencyMSRs [should] remain with Ocwen,” theWall Street firm said. “It doesn’t appearin investors’ best interest to replaceOcwen as servicer. In addition to thepotential for short-term cash flow dis-ruption, Ocwen’s current servicing prac-tices are very similar to market aver-ages, leaving investors with little to gainfrom an MSR transfer.”
George Yacik is a special correspondentto National Mortgage ProfessionalMagazine. He has been covering the resi-dential mortgage business for more than20 years and writes frequently for indus-try publications. He is a former vice pres-ident of SMR Research Corporation,where he was the lead research analyston residential and sub-prime mortgageloans, and a former editor at AmericanBanker.
elpingort Says
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David Neylan, senior vice president,who has been with Guild since 2007. Hesaid the idea for the FIS Group came outof Guild’s experience in the correspon-dent lending channel, which Neylan hasmanaged since inception in 2011. Inaddition, Neylan is responsible for man-agement and oversight of the consumerdirect and wholesale channels at Guild.
“Smaller banks and credit unionswere stuck,” Neylan said. “They faced adilemma where if they didn’t offermortgages, the consumer would walkacross the street to a big bank. If theysold the loan, the big bank would startsoliciting right away. We heard storiesabout one bank trying to cross-sell 13different products in a one-year periodto a small bank customer after they pur-chased his loan. In partnering withGuild, the smaller institutions can con-tinue to offer mortgages to their cus-tomers and compete with the biggerbanks.”
Mortgage Professionals to Watch
lCMG Financial has added MichaelRodriguez to its team in theMonterey, Calif. area.
lEnvoy Mortgage has announced itslatest hiring, Michael Castanon, anexecutive with more than 20 years ofmortgage and financial industryexperience, as regional vice presidentof the Southwest region for the com-pany’s retail operation, whichincludes central and southernCalifornia and the state of Arizona.
lRobert Allphin has been namedregional manager of Guild MortgageCompany’s Mountain region of theU.S. Guild has also promoted MattMacGillivray to the role of southeastregional manager.
lGina Morales has been named vicepresident of marketing forNationwide Title Clearing (NTC). NTChas also named Todd Gomes nationalaccount executive.
lParamount Residential MortgageGroup Inc. (PRMI) has named JaJeanLeaf as correspondent operationsmanager.
lHomeBridge Wholesale has namedCraig Chapman eastern divisional salesmanager, based in Washington, D.C.
lEnvoy Mortgage has announced thehiring of 20-year industry veteranKenneth Panosian for the newly cre-ated position of regional vice presi-dent of the Great Lakes Region.
lAmerican Pacific Mortgage (APM) hasannounced the hiring of JasonBannister as director of capital mar-kets, specialty products, where hewill be responsible for developingnew specialty products, educatingloan officers on specialty products.
lNational Mortgage InsuranceCorporation (National MI), a sub-sidiary of NMI Holdings Inc., hasannounced the appointment ofMichael J. Dirrane as senior manag-ing director and chief sales officer ofNational MI.
lMortgage Network Inc. has appointedErin Cornwell to the position of direc-tor of strategic implementation andprocess improvement.
lThomas Kim has been promoted by theMortgage Bankers Association (MBA) tothe position of senior vice president ofcommercial/multifamily.
lOpen Mortgage has named JoAnnaBignell vice president of retailrecruitment for the firm’s retail andreverse divisions.
BA
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www.LykkenOnLending.com
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APMW Foundation
Now Offering Grants
By Katherine Venters, GML
We want you to know!The APMW Foundation is a National Foundation whose primarypurpose is to promote a better education work force at all lev-els in mortgage lending and its related fields. To fulfill this pur-
pose, the APMW Foundation provides financial aid for mortgage lending edu-cation on a non-discriminatory basis in two categories:
A. Pursuit of professional designations conferred by the Institute of MortgageLending.
B. Other educational opportunities appropriate for professionals in mortgagelending and its related fields.
Grants to individuals shall be made on a demonstrated financial need basisand shall be awarded without regard to race, gender, national origin, age orreligious affiliation.
Grants to organizations for the underwriting of educational symposiums orseminars shall be made based upon a determination of overall contributionto the mortgage related industries.
Individual grants will be considered after the student has completed theclass/course with a grade of “C” or better. Applicants will be requested to pro-vide proof of payment and a certificate of passing the class/course of study.After review of student’s application for a grant, they may receive up to 80percent of the cost.
To apply for a grant, please submit the following items to the GrantsReview Committee:
lCompleted APMW Grant Application FormlProof of cleared paymentlProof of completion of class/coursel Statement of 150 words of less describing financial need, and career and
educational goalslTwo letters of recommendation
Visit www.apmwfoundation.org to apply. For more information, contactKatherine Venters, GML, APMW Foundation director by phone at (713) 899-9989 or e-mail [email protected].
Donations to the APMW Foundation are welcomed on a corporate or indi-vidual basis.
Katherine Venters, GML is past national president of NAPMW and current boardof director for The APMW Foundation. She may be reached by phone at (713)899-9989 or e-mail [email protected].
NAPMW REPORT
M A R C H 2 0 1 5
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The National Association of Professional Mortgage Women (NAPMW) Partners in Progress sponsor program is designed for companies of all sizes interested in enhancing their national presence with NAPMW, the premier community of professionals in the mortgage banking industry.
NAPMW’s sponsor packages are priced to encourage participationby businesses of all sizes. The fee for each package is affordableand all maximize sponsors’ exposure beyond what would be received if purchased individually.
Primary benefits include:
• National visibility to professionals from all areas of the mortgage industry
• Advertising exposure through numerous proven communication channels
• High-profile marketing at key association events
For more information or to become a sponsorof the Partners in Progrees program, contact:
BECOME APARTNER IN PROGRESS TODAY
DEANNA MELLAS North American Title Company Business Consultant, National Partners in Progress Chair
c: 832.465.6413 e: [email protected]
www.nat.com/DeannaMellas
www.nat.com/Texas
Like Clockwork ®
©2014 North American Title Group and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. North American Title Group and its subsidiaries are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. | TX14-5945 R 10-22-14
Provided by North American Title Company
lNorcom Mortgage has named AudraSantos branch manager of the firm’snew Monroe, Conn. location.
lOpenClose has added Will Foy as inte-gration manager, where he will beresponsible for client integrations,project management, quality assur-ance and testing, the application ofagile technology methods, and busi-ness analysis and solution crafting.
lMortgage document preparationvendor International DocumentServices Inc. (IDS) has announcedthat it has promoted formerExecutive Vice President MarkMackey to the position of chief exec-utive officer.
lLenderLive Network Inc. has namedJoe Chappell as the firm’s senior vicepresident of operations for the com-pany’s Settlement Services Division,where he will be responsible for ven-dor management, title, and escrowoperations in the company’s Denver,Colo., Madison Heights, Mich., andKansas City, Mo. locations.LenderLive has also named ShanaLasko as executive vice president ofoperation and client managementfor mortgage services.
lGrant Spurrell, a sales leader withmore than 25 years of mortgagebanking experience, has joined The
StoneHill Group as business develop-ment manager.
lVeteran mortgage professional KenKeating has joined Mortgage NetworkInc. as a loan officer in the company’sDoylestown, Pa. branch office.
lCapsilon has announced the appoint-ment of Dave Nielsen as senior vicepresident of sales.
lDan Mugge has been named seniorvice president of program develop-ment for ClosingCorp.
lHomeUnion has named JulieManthey senior director of asset man-agement.
lReverseVision has named Wendy Peelvice president of sales and marketing.
lGSF Mortgage has announced theaddition of Robert Brockerman to itsteam as a loan officer in Floridawhere he will be working under RuthWatkins, branch manager. GSF hasalso added MLO Nicole Vaughn to itsbranch in Hypoluxo, Fla. where shewill be working under BranchManager Robert Scolnick.
lGuaranteed Rate has announced thatit has named Jonathan Mullins asregional manager and senior vicepresident, based in the company’sRoswell, Ga. office where he will over-see the company’s mortgage lending,sales and operations in Louisiana,Mississippi and south Texas, includingSan Antonio, Austin and Houston, andhe will co-manage those operationsand recruiting in Alabama.
Your turnNational Mortgage ProfessionalMagazine invites its readers to submitany information, events, passages, pro-motions, personal or professional occur-rences that seem appropriate and/orother pertinent data to the attention of:
Heard on the Street/MortgageProfessionals to Watch column
Phone #: (516) 409-5555E-mail:
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are pre-ferred. The deadline for submissions is the1st of the month prior to the target issue.
heard on the streetcontinued from page 64
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calendar of eventsN A T I O N A L M O R T G A G E
P R O F E S S I O N A L
see page 69
Step Inside Ginnie Mae
By Ted W. Tozer
Following considerable effort to enact housing finance reformduring the 113th Congress that concluded last year, legislatorsappear to have hit the “pause button” on reform efforts duringthe early days of the 114th Congress.
Those considering what type of housing finance model will work for thecountry continue to take a deep dive look at the Ginnie Mae model to under-stand why it has succeeded in the face of the worst housing market in our life-times. I believe it’s because Ginnie Mae is already doing what housing expertssay needs to be achieved in a future housing finance structure.
It is placing private capital well in front of taxpayer risk. It is preserving accessto safe and simple loan products such as the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage. It isenabling lenders to borrow from global capital markets at low costs, so afford-able credit is available far and wide. And it keeps smaller lenders competitiveagainst the nation’s largest banks because investors are indifferent to the sizeand financial strength of the Issuer of the Ginnie Mae guaranteed mortgage-backed security (MBS). Investors’ primary interest is the full faith and credit ofthe U.S. government that stands behind Ginnie Mae’s MBS.
Ginnie Mae’s unique model survived the housing crisis that placed the GSEsinto conservatorship because:
lThe GSEs buy loans from originators. Ginnie Mae does not.lThe GSEs own loan servicing. Ginnie Mae does not.lThe GSEs securitize MBS. Ginnie Mae does not.lThe GSEs hold the excess credit risk of borrowers. Ginnie Mae does not.lThe GSEs concentrated credit tail risk in just two institutions—Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac. In contrast, Ginnie Mae spreads credit tail risk among itsmore than 400 Issuers, none of which are too big to fail.
Our issuer base is growing every year—up nearly 30 percent since the time Itook office in 2010—in both number and diversity, providing the opportunityfor private capital to play an ever-increasing role in our future. Fewer than fouryears ago, our four largest Issuers were responsible for more than 60 percent ofour monthly issuance. Our Top 10 Issuers comprised more than 80 percent ofour issuance. Today, only one institution is in double digits. The share of the Top10 is down to about 50 percent. That diversification is healthy not only forGinnie Mae but the nation’s housing market, as well.
Moreover, it provides insight into the costs and benefits of the dominantplayers in today’s housing finance system. For instance, policymakers have achoice to go with a Fannie/Freddie model in which two large enterprises are reg-ulated and essentially control much of the mortgage market or a broad networkof participants that will boost competition and improve credit access and pric-ing to borrowers. Sure, it is easier to regulate just two, albeit sizeable, institu-tions than conduct counterparty credit risk management on hundreds ofIssuers. But bigger isn’t always better when it comes to taxpayer risk.
Unfortunately, as we now know, the GSE model didn’t work out well for theAmerican taxpayer. It gave us two “Too Big to Fail” enterprises that are now ingovernment conservatorship. Policy makers need to study why that modelfailed and why the Ginnie Mae model—which avoided the Too Big to Fail prob-lem by strategically spreading risk among many institutions—succeeded. Thoseanswers can guide them in their next round of debates over the future of hous-ing finance.
Ted W. Tozer is was sworn in as president of Ginnie Mae on Feb. 24, 2010, bring-ing with him more than 30 years of experience in the mortgage, banking and secu-rities industries. As president of Ginnie Mae, Tozer actively manages Ginnie Mae’s$1.5 trillion portfolio of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and more than $460 bil-lion in annual issuance.
What’s Next forthe Housing Finance Industry?
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Equity Prime Mortgage877-255-3554, xt. 600www.equityprime.com
Equity Prime Mortgage is focused on creating an outstanding workenvironment. We consider each and every employee as a true partner
to our success. This approach, combined with Equity’s industry-leading technology and turn times ensures we deliver exceptional
service levels to our branches, referral partners and customers alike.
REMN Wholesale732-738-7100
www.remnwholesale.com
Although REMN Wholesale has over 1,000 employees, it feels like a“Mom and Pop”-style company. We encourage our team members togrow and we train and promote each individual to their full potential.
As a national company, REMN provides many opportunities foremployment from coast to coast.
PRMG1-866-PRMG-YES (806-776-4937)
www.PRMG.net
Built by originators for originators, PRMG was born from a vision of creating a company with a unique culture
focused on the successes of the producer. We understand what ittakes to be a successful originator and cultivate
new business every day.
United Wholesale Mortgage800-981-8898
www.uwm.com/careers
Voted the #1 place to work in Metro Detroit, UWM is looking for A-players to join our talented team. Our business is driven by our
culture, and our people are our greatest asset. If you’re looking forthe opportunity of a lifetime, apply to UWM today!
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Attention Recruiters, Business Development Managers and HR Professionals
We are pleased to announce a new package that will give your firm the recruiting tools to instantly shiftyour recruiting efforts into high gear using a multimedia, market-saturating approach. We will utilize themost successful methods that our clients have been using to find, identify and place top talents for yourcompany. We have designed these packages with the concept of making it less expensive to give youthe ability to reach more people.
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AAA Lenders, Inc000-000-0000
www.aaalendersinc.com
We’re a company that’s focused on creating a corporate
culture that inspires originators to serve their local com-
munities with the best service, best technology and
fastest App to Closing Table processes.
BBB Lenders, Inc000-000-0000
www.bbblendersinc.com
We’re a company that’s focused on creating a corporate
culture that inspires originators to serve their local com-
munities with the best service, best technology and
fastest App to Closing Table processes.CCC Lenders, Inc000-000-0000
www.ccclendersinc.com
We’re a company that’s focused on creating a corporate
culture that inspires originators to serve their local com-
munities with the best service, best technology and
fastest App to Closing Table processes.
DDD Lenders, Inc000-000-0000
www.dddlendersinc.com
We’re a company that’s focused on creating a corporate
culture that inspires originators to serve their local com-
munities with the best service, best technology and
fastest App to Closing Table processes.EEE Lenders, Inc000-000-0000
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NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE1220 Wantagh Avenue • Wantagh, New York 11793-2202
516-409-5555 • Fax: 516-409-4600 • E-mail: [email protected]
NationalMortgageProfessional.com
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calendar of eventsN A T I O N A L M O R T G A G E P R O F E S S I O N A L
To submit your entry for inclusion in the National Mortgage ProfessionalCalendar of Events, please e-mail the details of your event, along with contact
information, to [email protected].
* Looking for additional exposure at key industry events?Call 516.409.5555, ext. 4 to discover how to maximize your event coverage.
APRIL 2015Thursday, April 2
Texas Mortgage Roundup 2015Hyatt Regency San Antonio
123 Losoya StreetSan Antonio, Texas
For more information, call (860) 922-3441, e-mail
[email protected] orvisit www.txmortgageroundup.com.
Thursday, April 92015 Maryland Association of Mortgage
Professionals Annual ConferenceTurf Valley Resort
2700 Turf Valley RoadEllicott City, Md.
For more information, call (410) 752-6262, e-mail
[email protected] or visitwww.mdmtgpros.com.
Saturday-Tuesday, April 11-14NAMB—The Association of Mortgage
Professionals 2015 Legislative &Regulatory Conference
Hyatt Place Hotel33 New York Avenue NE
Washington, D.C.For more information,
call (972) 758-1151 or visitwww.namb.org.
Wednesday, April 292015 Midwest Mortgage Matchmaker
ConferenceAmeristar Casino Resort & Spa
1 Ameristar BoulevardSaint Charles, Mo.
For more information,call (314) 690-1504, e-mail
[email protected] or visitwww.mortgage-matchmaker.com.
MAY 2015Tuesday, May 12
2015 Great Northwest Mortgage ExpoCrowne Plaza Downtown Portland
1441 NE 2nd AvenuePortland, Ore.
For more information, call (503) 567-9326, e-mail
[email protected] or visitwww.greatnorthwestexpo.com.
Thursday-Sunday, May 14-17National Association of Professional
Mortgage Women’s 51st AnnualEducation Conference & Business Meeting
Hilton Dulles Airport13869 Park Center Road
Washington, D.C.For more information,
call (800) 827-3034, [email protected] or visit
www.napmw.org.
Monday-Wednesday, May 18-20American Land Title Association 2015
Federal Conference and Lobby DayMandarin Oriental Hotel
1330 Maryland Avenue SWWashington, D.C.
For more information, call (202) 296-3671, visit www.alta.org
or e-mail [email protected].
Sunday-Wednesday, May 31-June 3
National Notary Association’s 37thAnnual Conference
Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek14100 Bonnet Creek Resort Lane
Orlando, Fla.For more information,
call (844) 466-2266, visitwww.nationalnotary.org/conference ore-mail [email protected].
JUNE 2015Friday, June 5
2015 Southwest Mortgage FestEmbassy Suites Hotel & Spa
1000 Woodward Place NortheastAlbuquerque, N.M.
For more information, call (860) 719-1991, e-mail
[email protected] orvisit www.swmortgagefest.com.
Monday-Wednesday, June 22-24Ultimate Mortgage Expo 2015
The Hotel Monteleone214 Royal StreetNew Orleans, La.
For more information, call (860) 719-1991, e-mail
[email protected] orvisit www.ultimatemortgageexpo.com.
AUGUST 2015Thursday-Friday, August 20-21
Louisiana Mortgage Lenders Association(LMLA) 2015 Education Conference
The Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel2 Poydras StreetNew Orleans, La.
For more information, call (225) 590-5722 or visit
www.lmla.com.
OCTOBER 2015Wednesday-Friday, October 7-10American Land Title Association 2015
Annual ConventionWestin Copley Place Boston
10 Huntington AvenueBoston, Mass.
For more information, call (202) 296-3671, visit www.alta.org
or e-mail [email protected].
Saturday-Monday, October 17-192015 NAMB National Conference
Luxor Resort and Hotel3900 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Las VegasFor more information,
call (860) 719-1991, [email protected] or
visit www.nambnational.com.
Sunday-Wednesday, October 18-21
Mortgage Bankers Association AnnualConvention and Expo 2015
San Diego Convention Center111 West Harbor Drive
San Diego, Calif.For more information,
call (800) 793-6222 or visitwww.mortgagebankers.org.
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LOWEST-COST STATE MORTGAGE LICENSE BONDSSupport NAMB in supporting you!
Online surety bond applications, instant underwriting approval, andcredit card payments administered through The Bond Exchange -NAMB's exclusive partner provider for state license surety bonds.
The Bond Exchange is a national surety agency specializing in serv-icing mortgage license bonds for thousands of mortgage profession-als across the country.
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AUDIT DEFENSE AND RESPONSE
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Division of Lenders Compliance Group, BCG is the first and onlymortgage risk management firm in the U.S. devoted to supporting
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BROKERS COMPLIANCE GROUP167 West Hudson Street – Suite 200
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The first full-service, mortgage risk management firm in the country, specializing exclusively in mortgage compliance.
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LENDERS COMPLIANCE GROUP167 West Hudson Street - Suite 200
Long Beach | NY | 11561 | (516) 442-3456www.LendersComplianceGroup.com
AllRegs offers mortgage professionals fast, reliable answers need-ed to conduct their day-to-day business. From research and ref-erence to business intelligence, from education and training toprofessional services, we are your definitive source for mortgageindustry information. With tools for originators like NMLS-approved CE training, regulatory content libraries for compliancestaff, guidelines for underwriters, policy manuals for operations,and business intelligence for business development – we have youcovered as the leading information provider for the mortgageindustry. If you have a specific need, our professional servicesteam can help with thing like policy, procedure or guideline devel-opment, as well as custom training or publishing resources.Contact us to learn how we can help you – visit www.allregs.comtoday.
AllRegs—Your Source for Fast, Reliable Answers2600 Eagan Woods Drive, Suite 220
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MARKETING
TagQuest is a full service marketing firm created specifically forthe ever changing mortgage business. We have tested and provencampaigns for FHA -VA - HARP - CONVENTIONAL loan types.TagQuest knows what it takes to generate quality leads whetherthrough direct mail marketing, telemarketing, internet leads, datalists, tracking systems, or any combination thereof. TagQuest willbrand your company, prepare targeted marketing campaigns thatgenerate interest in your company, and most importantly, showyou how to turn sales leads into repeat customers.
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