Oct. 13: Mortgage jobs; Wells settles; servicing continues to trade; reverse lender bails & sails; Facebook to become a lender?
Today is the first day of National Aging in Place Week (who knew?!), and the National Aging in Place Council published “Act III: Your Plan for Aging in Place.” All kidding aside – and there could be so many jokes about Betsy in underwriting – it is a unique organizational tool designed with input from experts to enable American retirees and seniors to assess their needs for successful and fulfilling aging. Act III allows a senior, either alone or with family assistance, to answer a set of questions about each critical area of life: home, health and wellness, personal finance, transportation, and community involvement/social interaction. If there are any old people in our business, or if you have a senior in your life that is computer literate, they can go to www.ageinplace.org to check things out. Marty Bell, Executive Director of NAIPC. “To this point in time, Aging in Place has meant simply remaining at home for as long as you like or can. But we view it as a comprehensive lifestyle. In addition to simply remaining at home, you need the services that provide a good, safe, secure life in that home.”
On the jobs front, Nations Reliable Lending, a rapidly growing mortgage bank which is a FNMA Seller/Servicer continues to seek seasoned Branch Managers across the country. NRL is currently licensed in 25+ states and is offering “market leading products, superior service, top tier pricing and industry leading compensation. NRL’s Team will be attending the National MBA Convention in Las Vegas, October 19-21. Branch Managers and top producing loan officers that have interest in discussing new opportunities and have future growth initiatives, email joinourteam@nrlmortgage.com to schedule a confidential meeting while you are there. Headquartered in Houston, TX, Nations Reliable Lending, LLC has become one of the fastest growing companies and top mortgage lenders in the nation. NRL Mortgage has been recognized as an Inc. 500/5000 company multiple times and has plans to continue to grow with BM’s that fit the NRL culture. Get ready to grow with NRL Mortgage.”
And in the wholesale channel, Endeavor America is pleased to give its brokers access to GUS findings and it will continue to fund and purchase USDA loans during the temporary lapse of USDA funding. Follow USDA guidelines with 580+ fico, manual underwrites allowed. “Customers love doing business with EA. During the months of July, August and September we surveyed 1190 of our brokers to ask them if they would recommend our services to a friend or colleague. Our results were as follows: 1116 out of 1190 surveyed said they would recommend EA to a colleague or friend. If any brokers would like to work directly with the underwriter on their loan, visit EndeavorAmerica to learn more.
And this might be good news, except to anyone who lends money: Facebook is thinking about entering the biz. Apparently discussions are in the early phases. And while companies are hiring and expanding, others aren’t. Late last week Generation Mortgage decided to bail and sail from reverse mortgage lending. “The company is attributing the departure to a heightened and sustained regulatory environment and having seen reverse mortgage volume fall industrywide over the last 12 months as a result.” Every lender out there weighs the same decision factors every week… Let me know when the consumer is better off.
Here is an interesting legal piece titled, “CFPB as HUD: Another Section 8 Consent Order Displays CFPB’s RESPA Approach”. As I have said numerous times, I don’t know how lenders keep up with all of this besides to hire numerous staff. I am under the impression that many smaller lenders rely on the big guys to tell them what to pay attention to, and hope for the best…
By the way, The CFPB has released Version 3.0 of its “2014 CFPB Dodd-Frank Mortgage Rules Readiness Guide.” The Guide, originally issued in July 2013, now contains changes to the final rules issued through August 1, 2014. The updated Guide includes the TILA-RESPA Integrated Mortgage Disclosures Rule that takes effect in August 2015. According to the CFPB, the Guide provides guidelines to “help financial institutions come into and maintain compliance with the new mortgage rules.” Designed to help institutions of all sizes, the Guide consists of: (1) a summary of the rules, (2) a readiness questionnaire, (3) frequently asked questions, and (4) tools.
And what week goes by without some new lawsuit or settlement? Late last week Wells Fargo settled a case where it was accused of refusing mortgages to pregnant women and new moms. (Still pending is a case where it discriminated against baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet.)
We have some MSR deals to catch up with….Phoenix Capital, Inc. was offering approximately $50-100 million per month of FNMA and FHLMC flow mortgage servicing rights. The seller is a leading mortgage lending institution operating in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. The servicing package is 90% FNMA, 10% FHLMC, 88% 30yr, 7% 15yr, 5% ARM, Avg Bal $260-265k, wAvg FICO 759; wAvg DTI 34, wAvg LTV 80, wAvg CLTV 81, 38-41% Virginia geography, with 91-94% Owner Occupied, and sub-serviced at Provident Funding. Bids for this offering were due last week. MountainView Servicing Group, LLC offered $215 million of FHLMC/FNMA/GNMA servicing portfolio. The package is 100% FRM 1st lien product, with wAvg FICO of 725, wAvg LTV of 84.1%, wAvg Coupon of 4.30%, Average 12-month escrow of 1.04%, top states: Massachusetts (36.9%), New Hampshire (36.3%), Maine (11.8%), and average loan size of $212,046. Bids were also due last week. MIAC is offering $120 Million FNMA in mostly Texas production. The portfolio is being offered by a mortgage company that originates loans with a geographic concentration in Texas. The package is 100% FRM, has an average loan size of $212,964, 100% FNMA A/A loans, WAC of 4.19%, weighted average Delinquency rate of 1.78%, weighted average loan age of 23 months, is 100% retail originations, and is 62.34% new purchase. Bids are due October 15th.
Interactive Mortgage Advisors (IMA) has been busy, as I’ve seen two deals recently. The first is $238.8 Million of Fannie Mae bulk residential mortgage servicing rights. The seller is an independent mortgage banker with experienced senior management in MSR sales. The pool characteristic is 87% 30 Year Loans, $206k Average Loan Balance, 3.987% WAC, 23 months of seasoning, with low DLQs. The second offering is a flow deal for $30 – $60 Million per month Fannie/Freddie co-issue. The originator is a builder affiliated mortgage company. The entire flow deal is centered on retail originations. Prospective purchasers are invited to submit bids in the form of a pricing matrix to allow the Seller to sell loans direct to Fannie/Freddie and simultaneously sell the servicing under a monthly co-issue structure. IMA has the deal structured to meet a characteristic profile of: $300k average loan balance, WaFICO > 756, with a TX, NC and CA concentration. Bids on both these packages were due October 9th.
Continuing on, Phoenix Capital has two deals I’ve seen recently; the first is Project Gilpin which is a $600M bulk Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Federal Home Loan Bank MSR offering, originated by a Federal Savings Bank. The pool is 50% FNMA A/A, 47% FHLMC ARC, 3% FHLB, 82% Fixed 30, 17% Fixed 15, 3% DEL, 4.404% WAC, Avg Bal $199k, WaFICO 752, WaLTV 65%, CA (84%), NY (6%), NJ (2%) geography, 62% correspondent, 24% wholesale, 10% acquired, 3% retail; the second is Project McIntyre which is a $355M Fannie/Freddie bulk, PLUS, $15-20mm per month flow MSR offering. The bulk portion of the deal is 83% FNMA, 17% FHLMC, 73% Fixed 30, 26% Fixed 15, 3.883% WAC, $180 Avg Bal, 762 WaFICO, 73% WaLTV, 95% IL properties; the flow portion perimeters will be 90% FNMA, 10% FHLMC, 84-89% Fixed 30; 100% Fixed Rate, Avg Bal $215-$230k, WaFICO 749-761; WaLTV 79-81%, 92% IL geography, and 100% will be retail originated.
Turning to FHA and VA news…
Recently the Veterans Administration issued two circulars addressing appraisal policy changes; the first was Circular 26-14-27: Policy Changes Affecting Value Adjustments and Photographs, the second CIRC. 26-14-29: Agreement of Sale/Sales Contract to be Provided to the Fee Appraiser. The appraisal value adjustments and photographs circular announces the continuation of two previously active policy positions, value adjustments to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Notice of Value (NOV) by Lender’s Staff Appraisal Reviewers (SARs), and the requirement for interior photographs of subject properties. The later circular is to announce the continuation of previously active policy that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) requires a copy of the agreement of sale or sales contract be provided to the fee appraiser by the requester of the VA appraisal immediately upon assignment.
FHA posted its proposed draft Loan Quality Assessment Methodology for feedback. The Loan Quality Assessment Methodology is one part of FHA’s Blueprint for Access strategy announced earlier this year to expand access to mortgage credit for underserved borrowers. All approved mortgagees and other interested stakeholders are invited to review the proposed Loan Quality Assessment Methodology, which is posted on FHA’s SF Drafting Table web page, and provide feedback from September 16 through October 15, 2014.
FHA published its origination through post-closing and endorsement polices for its Single Family Housing Policy Handbook. These are the first policies incorporated into the new SF Handbook (HUD Handbook 4000.1) and published in their completed, final form and become effective for FHA Case Numbers assigned on and after June 15, 2015. The time period between the publication date and the effective date is for stakeholders in FHA transactions to implement changes to their systems and operational processes.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced its intention to offer an extension of the program “FHA Refinances of Borrowers in Negative Equity Positions” authorized by Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2010-23 which is due to expire on December 31, 2014. A Mortgagee Letter extending the program and announcing any program changes will be issued at a later date.
The Federal Housing Administration is extending the feedback period for the draft Servicing section of the Single Family Housing Policy Handbook (SF Handbook) through November 14, 2014. Originally the deadline was October 17th. FHA is extending the period to allow stakeholders additional time to provide feedback.
We had very little economic news last week to move the markets, yet they moved. Both the stock and bond markets were volatile. So besides overseas events which can easily impact our interest rates, where were investors focused? The release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s minutes from their meeting of September 16/17 was one focus. In the minutes we see hints that within the FOMC there is a range of opinions about the condition of the economy, and about the appropriate stance of monetary policy. It is not the Fed’s job to tell us where interest rates are going, but it is the FOMC’s job to help stability in our markets. Yes, at some points rates will go up – they can’t really go down much lower – and some of that will be due to the perceived improvement in jobs.
But after today’s holiday we have plenty of scheduled news. (Be careful about rate locks today – the bond market is closed so anyone producing a rate sheet has some fudge factor built in.)
WFC, C, and JPM’s earnings results are set to be released before trading on Tuesday, October 14. Wells Fargo, Citi, and J.P. Morgan will kick off large-cap bank earnings together this quarter. Watch those mortgage department earnings!
Wednesday is Retail Sales, Empire Manufacturing, the Producer Price Index, and the release of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book. Thursday the 16th is Initial Jobless Claims, the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization duo, Philly Fed Survey, and the NAHB Housing Market Index. We finish up Friday with the Housing Starts and Building Permits twins, and the University of Michigan Confidence number tagging along. As noted, the bond market is closed today (on Friday the 10-yr ended at 2.31%); equities appear to be set for a quietly higher session.
(Countdown to the MBA’s Las Vegas conference…)
After a day’s work, a man returns home to find his wife packing a suitcase.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“To Las Vegas!” she says. “My friend told me there are men in Vegas that will pay me $500 to do what I do for you for free!”
The man considers what she’s said, and then begins packing HIS bags.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she says.
“I’m going to Las Vegas with you… I want to see how you’re going to live on $1,000 a year!”
Rob
(Copyright 2014 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.)
