July 19: LO, corresp. jobs; jumbo & mfg. products; LO training & conferences; teams with different comp plans?
“Rob, are you hearing, now that the CFPB is perceived to have lost its teeth, that some lenders are providing their loan officers two different rate sheets?” Unfortunately, yes, I am hearing that, but hopefully it is an untrue rumor. It would certainly fly in the face of fair lending and would give another black eye to our industry. See note below from The Knowledge Coop’s Ken Perry regarding compliance issues on this. (By the way, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection has announced the appointment of Paul Watkins to lead the Bureau’s new Office of Innovation, and a confirmation hearing for Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s pick to lead the CFPB, is scheduled today before the Senate Banking Committee.)
Employment & promotions
The RuraLiving team at Compeer Financial is pleased to announce the promotion of Jessica Sacre to Relationship Manager of the Midwest, and the addition of rural lending veteran Doug Gibney as the East Coast RM. “Jessica and Doug join West Coast RM Matt Feigner as we continue to champion rural home lending. Are your clients dreaming of living the country life to enjoy nature or to own an income producing hobby farm? Contact Compeer today.”
Planet Home Lending, LLC has an opening in its Correspondent Division. “We are looking for a Regional Sales Manager for the Northwest Region which includes northern California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska. Eligible candidates must reside in the region. Responsibilities will include maintaining, and growing Planet’s current customer base along with establishing new customer relationships to assist in Planet’s continued growth in the region.” If interested, please forward your resume to Eli Bennett.
Mortgages are moving digital and competitors are clamoring to keep-up. Houston-based Cornerstone Home Lending’s in-house Technology Innovation Team identified the digital need years ago, and now celebrates the 4th anniversary of rolling-out its proprietary LoanFly technology that leverages digital technology for anytime mobile access, improved Loan Officer efficiencies and better service. Cornerstone Loan Originators use their mobile devices on-the-go to pre-qualify borrowers, submit documents, check loan status, access their data bases, and get the information they need instantly in real time to close loans quickly, on-time, all the time. Innovative technology is one of the reasons that Cornerstone Loan Officers rank so high in Funded Loans per Loan Officer, averaging 8.2 funded units per Loan Officer in May 2018! Contact Tom Lott for more information.
Looking for a Great Place to Work? Find it at Evergreen Home Loans. The company continues its focus on being the best place to work in the industry. It was named the #1 BEST Place to work in Financial Services and Insurance and a top Best Workplace for Millennials by Fortune and Great Places to Work®. It was also recognized for the fifth straight year as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in Washington state by Seattle Business Magazine. Evergreen is passionate about their culture and to them, it’s more than just talk to get you in the door. Surveys show that their associates believe in the culture of Evergreen and are a central part of shaping who they are as an organization. Evergreen is hiring loan officers and candidates can learn more about the Evergreen culture here and find the latest job openings on the Careers page.
InterLinc Mortgage Services announced that Gene F. Thompson III, who has served as President since 2010, is now the Chief Operating Officer (COO). A 20-year veteran of the mortgage lending industry, Gene has been with InterLinc since 2007, where he has served as both Executive VP and President.
Velocity Mortgage Capital, a nationwide, direct portfolio lender that provides investment property loans for residential 1-4, multi-family, mixed-use and small balance commercial properties, has hired marketing veteran Michael Oddi as its Chief Marketing Officer.
Lender products
Mr. Cooper Correspondent is excited to announce the addition of Manufactured Home Loans to its product offering. This is an additional solution for lenders working with borrowers needing home financing options beyond traditional single-family dwellings. The product is Conventional and FHA eligible. “Aligned with our product roadmap, Mr. Cooper is in development of Temporary Buydowns, E-Notes, FHLMC HomeOne and Renovation Loans. We’re also pleased to announce Jennifer Verrilli, a seasoned mortgage industry executive, has joined Mr. Cooper Correspondent as VP of Underwriting and Credit Risk. Her immediate focus is the evaluation and implementation of new product initiatives, as well as continuing our emphasis on enhancing efficiencies. Mr. Cooper is a premier Correspondent and Co-Issue investor and the largest non-bank servicer with a servicing portfolio exceeding $500B.”
New Penn Financial’s Dream Big Jumbo loan provides “unparalleled jumbo financing so more families can secure their dream home. With generous criteria and expanded guidelines, the Dream Big Jumbo suite of 20, 25, and 30-year fixed rate mortgages offers quality borrowers up to $3 Million or financing up to 90% LTV. FICO 680+. The $750k cash out option really will allow your borrowers to fulfill their biggest DREAMS! Call your rep for more information or go to www.gonewpenn.com.”
Do you know if your top originators are leaving at a faster pace than originators working for your peers? Many lenders maintain that they keep their core group and that turnover is limited to lower producing quintiles. Is this true? According to STRATMOR’s Originator Census, originator turnover in 2017 was 29.1 percent, and the rate varied dramatically for the top 20 percent versus the bottom 20 percent. What is your originator turnover, overall? Find out the answer to this question and more by participating in the 2018 STRATMOR Originator Census survey, now open for registration for Retail and Consumer Direct channels. Participants receive a customized summary report comparing their company data to industry averages. To participate in the survey, or to learn more about the Originator Census study, visit STRATMOR’s website or email STRATMOR Group.
Upcoming events and training
It may be July, but it is time to start getting ready to finish the year strong. Purchase business has slowed, and experts believe that to achieve higher volume in purchase originations, you MUST make sure you gain the competitive edge. This is an ultra-private success event presented by nmpU, a division of National Mortgage Professional Magazine, in which attendance is limited so reserve early to save your seat. The last nmpU Purchase Bootcamp in San Diego was sold out with originators from across the United States.
Regardless of whether you earn $50,000 or $500,000 a year, this program will elevate your current production. You will learn how to master the skills to unleash your power to develop a 100% purchase-based business. nmpU Purchase Bootcamp is backed by a $100,000 Income Increase Guarantee. Use discount code “Chrisman” and save an additional $200 off your tuition at the Purchase Bootcamp being held Saturday and Sunday, September 15-16 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront Hotel. Learn more about this program here
Now is the perfect time to learn how HomeReady® mortgage can help more of your low- to moderate-income borrowers become homeowners with as little as 3% down. Join Fannie Mae on July 19th at 2PM ET for a live webinar geared toward loan officers (but open to all lenders and housing professionals). Learn how HomeReady features can help you serve more borrowers and close more loans with plenty of time to answer your questions.
Join CAMP Silicon Valley Chapter for its 2018 Installation Board Lunch, July 20th at Morton’s Steak House in San Jose. Lunch begins 11:30.
On July 24th at 9AM PT, join MWF for its webinar “Advantages of Using High Balance Loans in Today’s Marketplace” presented by Dale Delliquadri and Paul Isola.
On Monday, July 30th in Boston, the day before the AARMR Conference at the Park Plaza; join MCPAOA for its second annual workshop.
The Lenders One 2018 Summer Conference will be in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 5-8, at The Grand America. Attendees will be able to select from 16 curated education sessions led by industry experts. Topics include: improving margins, generating business through MarTech, rethinking your compliance strategy and five Secondary Market panels.
The National MI trainings for the month of August feature three webinars. 1) August 8th, Freddie Mac’s Underwriting Income & Employment, 10 AM PST 2) August 9th, Advanced Self-Employed Borrower training 10 AM PST and 3) August 16th, Next Generation Marketing & Sales, 12:00 PM PST.
FHA is providing a free on-site training: FHA Credit Underwriting in Atlanta on August 14th. And FHA’s free, on site FHA Condominium Training in Atlanta on August 15th as well as a review of requirements for underwriting Standard 203(k) and Limited 203(k) products and related procedures.
The Mortgage Collaborative will be holding its 2018 Summer Conference at the fabulous Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, IL from Sunday, August 19th through Tuesday, August 21st. That is also the weekend of the Chicago Air & Water Show, America’s largest air show. TMC has done something pretty neat with their conferences, they allow their lender members to dictate the content, format, and agenda of their events. The result? A myriad of lender-led, discussion-based breakout sessions each day on (very specific) topics and issues viewed as the most pertinent by their national network of lenders. Pretty cool events if you’ve never been. For more details, visit TMC or contact TMC COO Rich Swerbinsky.
It’s time to register for the 2018 MMLA Annual Lending Conference, August 15th–16th,
“Rolling with the Changes.” There will be nationally recognized industry and motivational speakers. A full schedule of golf, educational sessions, social receptions and indulgent dinners. Also, there is built-in time to make those important business connections, free time to catch up on work…or just relax at the resort.
On September 13th, OMBA is hosting its first annual Loan Production Conference. Trainings include growing your business utilizing LinkedIn, staying compliant using Social Media and Turn Up the Volume with a 3-hour sales training experience.
The Northeast Conference of Mortgage Brokers and Professionals is coming up September 23rd-25th in Atlantic City. This years’ conference highlights topics such as the impact of recent court decisions and CFPB enforcement actions on mortgage servicing agreements, wire fraud and how to avoid it, and the current structure of and future planning for the CFPB.
Compliance
LO’s have two rates sheets? Ken Perry with The Knowledge Coop sends, “In this incredibly competitive market we are seeing companies sharpen their pencils and unfortunately they are factoring in the decreased risk of BCFP (CFPB) enforcement and stretching their comp plans in dangerous ways. What people need to remember is that liability for illegal comp plans lies on the head of both the loan officer and the company. One example of risk we are seeing is when the company allows 2 different pay plans using teams. If a borrower doesn’t like the rate, the loan originator can refer the deal to somebody on a lower comp plan to fund in their name. The LO still gets the whole payment. So, the rate is tied directly to the comp plan and it is changing based on loan terms. It’s exactly what the CFPB wrote about in the comp rule. It will take a state to enforce this as the bureau has backed off so much, but I do expect to see something on this in the future.”
Capital markets
Rates, up a little, down a little – not much moving them. Lenders are out there working on succeeding in their business models rather than reacting to rates moving. Yesterday U.S. Treasuries, and MBS prices, ended on a modestly lower note and the 10-year closed yielding 2.87%. The slope of the yield curve steepened a touch, as the 2s10s spread widened by a basis point to 26 bps while the 2s30s spread ended the day two basis points wider at 38 bps. But does the slope of the yield curve matter any longer?
We had disappointing Housing Starts and Building Permits numbers – unfortunately at a time when each should show strength. More talk of the difficulty builders have finding labor, as well as the constraints they are facing with higher land, labor, and material costs. Yet the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book for June noted that contacts in ten out of twelve districts reporting moderate or modest growth.
This morning we’ve had weekly jobless claims (-8k to 207k, lowest since 1969) and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey (25.7 – strong). Ahead are June’s leading economic indicators and the NY Fed’s report on MBS purchases for the week ending July 18 (expect a total of $2.9 billion net). Rates are up from last night’s close with the 10-year yielding 2.90% and agency MBS prices worse .125.
11 – I almost had a psychic girlfriend, …… But she left me before we met.
12 – OK, so what’s the speed of dark?
13 – How do you tell when you’re out of invisible ink?
14 – If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
15 – Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
16 – When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
17 – Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
18 – Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.
19 – I intend to live forever… So far, so good.
20 – If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
Visit www.robchrisman.com for more information on our industry partners, access archived commentaries, or to subscribe to the Daily Mortgage News and Commentary. If you’re interested, visit my periodic blog at the STRATMOR Group web site. The current blog is, “With Regulations, Be Careful What You Wish For.” If you have both the time and inclination, make a comment on what I have written, or on other comments so that folks can learn what’s going on out there from the other readers.
Rob
(Market data provided in partnership with MBS Live. For free job postings and to view candidate resumes visit LenderNews. Currently there are over 300 mortgage professionals looking for operations, secondary and management roles. For up-to-date mortgage news visit Mortgage News Daily. For archived commentaries, or to subscribe, go to www.robchrisman.com. Copyright 2018 Chrisman LLC. All rights reserved. Occasional paid job listings do appear. This report or any portion hereof may not be reprinted, sold or redistributed without the written consent of Rob Chrisman.)
