Experienced originators know that lending is a numbers game. Every 100 cold calls result in 20 conversations, which result in 5 potential leads, which result in 1 closed loan. Or whatever personal ratios are. Not only that, but there is a 2-4-month lag time between those 100 calls and any funded loans that come from making them so good LOs have been laying the groundwork for summer for a quite some time. But speaking of two months, from St. Louis Mike Swaleh reminded me that the revised Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) Seller data requirements will be effective on June 24, 2019. Lenders are working on the borrower’s app process. For example, Envoy Mortgage has developed XLR8. More on Ops issues below.

Lender Products and Services

MGIC’s SEB Cash Flow Worksheets are Now Live! These worksheets are the industry standard for excellence in analyzing self-employed borrower income.

PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending, a subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings (NYSE: HTH), understands the importance of efficiency when it comes to meeting our customers’ funding requests. “That is why we make the funding process simple: ‘Express Funding’ is how we help our customers reduce the time needed to get their loans funded. Express Funding allows our customers to submit multiple loans for funding in one simple data upload, whether it is one loan or 100 loans. Express Funding is an easy and efficient way to get the funds they need quickly. In addition, we offer a growing list of 2,000+ closing agents with No Doc funding requirements and funding turn times averaging under 30 minutes. We believe in consistently providing service to exceed our customers’ expectations. If you are interested in having a conversation about PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending, please contact Deric Barnett, EVP National Warehouse Lending.

With the market constantly fluctuating, lower your fixed costs and improve efficiency by outsourcing your QC operations. UHS America, a California based leader in QC/Compliance for nearly 20 years, has recently expanded its services to include Non-QM Underwriting Review. With over 120 years of combined mortgage expertise; their long-standing agency relationships with FNMA, FHLMC, FHA, USDA and; their state-of-the-art proprietary software QCIQ, UHS is confident they can help lenders save on origination costs while concurrently delivering the highest quality services for QC and Underwriting. For more information about UHS’s Prefund QC, Post-Close QC, Underwriting (QM and Non-QM), Due Diligence or Mortgage Consulting services, please contact Lisa Vang (657-269-4578), Kim Day, or visit www.uhsamerica.com. Connect with us through LinkedIn.”

The teams at SocialSurvey & Mortgage Coach are excited to announce an integration to help Loan Originators win even more deals! In today’s competitive environment, it is all about standing out from the crowd by providing incredible advice and establishing the highest level of trust with your borrower. Enterprise users of SocialSurvey & Mortgage Coach have the ability to display SocialSurvey reviews and testimonials inside the Mortgage Coach Total Cost Analysis (TCA). Scott Harris, CEO of SocialSurvey, stated “Our philosophy has always been reviews collected by Loan Originators should be shared in as many relevant places as possible.” Joe Puthur, President of Mortgage Coach, added, “Every TCA presentation will include client reviews, combined with tailored loan options.” Learn more about the integration by visiting SocialSurvey’s blog post.

Spring has arrived in Washington, and with it has come a great deal of activity on the housing finance front. Don’t know where to start when it comes to staying updated? We can’t blame you. There are the hearings on housing finance reform, the budgets of federal agencies, the memorandum about reforming the government-sponsored enterprises, and so much more. But, it’s this quietly announced change by the FHA that arguably poses a more immediate impact to mortgage lending. TMS’s government expert Nathan Shultz shares what this new change means for lenders in this latest blog.

Report on MBA Tech Conference

Can the mortgage industry become like Apple or Tesla? In the April issue of STRATMOR Group’s Insight Report, Senior Partner and CEO Lisa Springer urges lenders to take cues from Tesla and Apple and adopt technologies that enhance the borrower’s experience. “The mortgage industry must transform the status quo and become forward-thinking and dynamic lenders willing to cater to a new digital era that removes the complexities of getting a mortgage,” says Springer in her article “Key Takeaways from the MBA Technology Solutions Conference.” Enhancing the borrower experience is driving technology investment, and Springer points out that in a conference session by STRATMOR Senior Partner Garth Graham, 58 percent of the attendees gave “borrower satisfaction” as their primary reason for investing in technology. Hear what STRATMOR heard at the tech conference, including how some lenders are incorporating robotics and AI into the mortgage process and alternatives to traditional loan origination systems (LOS). The April Insights Report.

Compliance, Ops, Misc. Underwriting Changes

Lenders Compliance Group revealed that it is introducing its Website Tune-up!™ “We have pioneered unique regulatory tune-ups that are affordable, full compliance reviews, promptly completed by subject matter experts, and delivered in an actionable report. Our compliance tune-ups are a great way to quickly evaluate virtually all regulatory elements in mortgage banking, proving that compliance reviews do not have to be expensive or take forever to get done! CLICK HERE for more information about the Website Tune-up!™”

The April 2019 issue of Mortgage Compliance Magazine features a wealth of information on quality control, starting with the first installment of a nine-part series from Steve Spies, VP of Loan Quality with Fannie Mae, from Fannie's Beyond the Guide. In this issue, Spies navigates the process of meeting secondary market investors' QC requirements and discusses the keys to effective QC. This issue features insight from a number of the industry's top QC experts on the latest QC issues, including Phil McCall of ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), Tim McWay and Aaron Soule of CrossCheck Compliance, Laura Kate Davis of Quality Mortgage Services (QMS), Charles Sewright of Quest Advisors, and Belinda Kraus of Trelix. Click here to view the April 2019 issue of Mortgage Compliance Magazine

AmeriHome announced the publication of several new Non-Delegated Underwriting Program resources available on SellerWeb, including new “Did You Know” resources, updated Non-Delegated user guides, a new Non-Delegated Loan Submission Checklist and new ordering options for private mortgage insurance.

Mortgage Solutions Financial posted updates to its Loan Purchase Requirements.

Freedom Mortgage Wholesale offers the Texas Non-Home Equity 50(a)(4) program. View the Product Guide for details.

FNMA updated requirements regarding borrower-initiated cancellation of private mortgage insurance (PMI) this past July. Mandatory compliance with these changes begins September 1st, 2019, but servicers may optionally begin complying with these changes starting on January 1st. Read the docutech Compliance update for information on document changes to California, Connecticut, and Washington PMI Disclosures.

Waterstone Mortgage has introduced an update to its Single Loan Close Construction Program, or construction loan. The one-time-close loan program still offers one loan to cover the cost of the land, construction, and mortgage, but now also includes 95% LTV, meaning the down payment requirement is just 5%.

U.S. Bank Correspondent posted SEL-2019-014: Geographic Market Restrictions in Nevada.

AmeriHome announced that several new Non-Delegated Underwriting Program resources are now available on SellerWeb, including a new Non-Delegated Submission Checklist. A new private mortgage insurance ordering option is now available as well.

Eligibility and underwriting guidelines for the Ditech Correspondent Expanded Criteria products have been revised.

Effective March 18, 2019, the maximum LTV/CLTV’s for Second Home Purchases and Rate/Term Refinances with Mountain West Financial Wholesale have increased. Maximum LTV/CLTV has increased 5% for loan amounts/combined loan amounts up to $2,000,000.

Capital Markets

From out of Michigan came news that Northpointe Bank’s new SVP of Capital Markets is Bryan Neitzelt. Bryan will be responsible for enterprise-level financial risk management of Northpointe’s nationwide residential lending business, including interest rate risk hedging, securitization, portfolio asset management and investor relations.

Few expect a big move in rates up or down in 2019, but that doesn’t stop them from drifting up or down. The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.59 percent after hitting its highest level in more than a month amid data showing the U.S. trade gap unexpectedly narrowed. European debt also dropped, while the euro strengthened even as Germany’s economy ministry revised its growth forecast lower. Health providers and hospital operators came under pressure as U.S. politicians debated expanding Medicare to all Americans, which could upend earnings models for large parts of the system. The rout in health-care shares dwarfed the latest batch of earnings reports, which painted a mixed picture on the state of the economy (e.g. Morgan Stanley rose, but Bank NY Mellon weighed financial shares lower). Earnings continue today and tomorrow, and investors are growing more confident the anticipated drop in Q1 results won’t ruin the year, as central banks around the world continue to be accommodative and the latest Chinese data calmed fears that the world’s second-largest economy was slowing down.

Data today began with weekly jobless claims for the week ending April 13 (-5k to 192k), Retail sales (+1.6%) and Retail sales excluding autos for March (+1.2%), and the Philly Fed Index for April (-5.2 to 8.5). Next up will be the flash Markit manufacturing PMI and flash Markit services PMI later this morning. Those readings come just before February Business inventories; and March Leading indicators at 10am ET. Finally, at noon Fed Governor Raphael Bostic speaks. Most financial markets will be closed for the Good Friday holiday tomorrow, including in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, but we will still have March Housing starts and Building permits. We begin today with agency MBS prices up slightly versus last night and the 10-year yielding 2.58%.

Employment and Business Opportunity

Arc Home welcomes Katherine Gardner as Chief Production Officer leading Arc’s Wholesale, Delegated and Non-Delegated Correspondent Channels. “Arc Home is perfectly positioned to grow in this challenging market. By providing proprietary Non-QM products in addition to a full agency offering, we can meet our customer’s product needs and meet their desire to work with a unified operation and salesforce. Having a proprietary product enables us to advance in the Non-QM space others struggle with – program exceptions. Our competition sees loans outside the guidelines as exceptions; we see them as an opportunity for execution. Non-QM is blurring traditional channel lines. We are adding Account Executives with the ability to sell across the client-spectrum. In addition to growing our salesforce, we will continue to build our operations teams in Mt. Laurel, NJ and Phoenix, AZ. If interested in joining a growing team, please contact Katherine Gardner, Chief Production Officer.”

A privately-held mortgage company licensed in 14 states is interested in partnering with an investor or another mortgage company to grow their origination platform, in addition to securitizing and servicing loans The company has been in business for over 35 years and is approved by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and all major private investors.  If interested, please contact Anjelica Nixt.

Franklin American Mortgage Wholesale Lending, our Account Executives are the heart and soul of what we do, providing best in class industry knowledge and a hands-on approach to developing relationships as we grow with our valued business partners. A division of Citizens Bank, N.A., we provide the tools and support that our AEs need to make an impact in today’s competitive marketplace. We are looking for Account Executives in Washington, D.C.; AZ; Austin/San Antonio, TX; UT; OK; WA; OR; Los Angeles, CA; CO; and Chicago, IL to join our team and take their careers to the next level. If you’re ready to join a team that’s focused on your success and the success of our business partners, please email Jennifer Rader, VP, Head of Talent Acquisition – Home Mortgage to get started today.”

One of the strengths of Caliber Home Loans, Inc. is its product portfolio. Caliber offers a wide range of loan options to meet the needs of more borrowers: government, conventional, jumbo, and a proprietary suite of non-agency loans. Caliber also participates in state-specific DPAs and bond programs, and has the ability to broker and offer buy-downs. By offering more products for its producers, Caliber gives them the opportunity to meet the needs of more home buyers and increase volume. In 2018 Caliber added 65 retail products, an increase from 44 products introduced in 2017. Part of this product expansion has included additions to its Caliber Portfolio Lending suite (CPL). Introducing Elite Access to this suite of non-agency loans was attributed to Caliber’s 122% growth in 2018 CPL volume. If you’re looking for a lender that has the products you need to succeed in this market, contact Jeremy DeRosa or visit www.joincalibernow.com.