Critics of the “new and improved” 1003, aka URLA, for loan applications must be quite pleased with the indefinite delay of its required rollout announced yesterday. “The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has completed its review of the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) and has directed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to make specific modifications to the URLA form. To allow industry participants time to make the necessary changes, the implementation deadlines will be extended. This means the mandatory use of the redesigned URLA form will no longer begin on February 1, 2020. More details will follow over the next several weeks as we continue to assess the impact of these changes on the timeline with Fannie Mae and FHFA.”

Lender Services and Products

“While we've seen the front end of the mortgage lending process revolutionized in the last decade or so, the backend has remained largely untouched. In most cases, the many systems LOs rely on to structure and close a loan work independently, resulting in a painfully long mortgage lending process. It’s Time to Stop the Loan Officer Swivel. Cloudvirga understands in order to make real automation possible, you must combine technology with deep mortgage industry expertise and regulatory knowledge. For it to actually work in the real world, you have to establish partnerships with legacy players in the space. Once that is achieved, we create something almost unheard-of in mortgage lending: a true digital platform. When lenders adopt technology that actually solves back office problems while creating a pleasant consumer experience, originators are empowered to be more efficient, borrowers get mortgages more quickly, and lenders increase their margins. Everyone wins.”

Lakeview Wholesale makes 101% conventional financing, down payment assistance and no mortgage insurance possible! Lakeview offers a conventional first up to 97% LTV with no mortgage insurance, plus DPA community second of up to 4% for down payment and closing costs (lesser of purchase price or appraised value). Perfect for increasing your high LTV and first-time buyer business this summer. Currently available in select states. Click here to learn more. 

Every Loan Lost from Your Database is the Equivalent of Your Home Being Robbed! Stop the Theft – Schedule a Demo with Sales Boomerang today. In 2019 alone, Sales Boomerang’s clientele, comprising the who’s who of the lending industry, have closed $1.7B worth of new loans that they would have otherwise been stolen by their competitors. As we enter the last half of the year, it’s imperative to keep loan volumes high and ensure customer retention. Sales Boomerang’s Automated Borrower Intelligence System notifies lenders the moment an unqualified lead becomes eligible, or when existing borrowers qualify for better interest rates or new loans. At the end of the day, your database is your most underutilized asset. What’s even better is that Sales Boomerang customers are experiencing on average a 11X ROI (some as high as 30X ROI) from implementing this technology. Talk about money well spent! Take 30 minutes to see how you can protect your pipeline and future business.

Are you exporting data from your LOS, CRM, Point-of-Sale, HR, Accounting, (etc.) systems at month end and mashing up in Excel just to see how your mortgage business is performing? It’s labor intensive, error prone, and you’re getting key business intelligence too late to act. Believe me, you’re not alone. If you have been wanting a solution, why wait? Bring in Grind Analytics who can very quickly stand up a centralized data warehouse with real-time dashboards, business intelligence, and self-service reporting available via web, desktop, and mobile: contact sales@grindanalytics.com.

Unlock opportunity in a growing market with Loan Product Advisor® asset and income modeler (AIM) for self-employed borrowers. AIM for self-employed is Freddie Mac’s solution to automate the manual lender process of assessing borrower income using tax return data. It’s also the industry’s only AUS-integrated self-employed borrower income calculation solution. AIM for self-employed makes it easier to do more business, close loans faster and get immediate income rep and warranty relief related to certain borrower employment income. Freddie Mac has teamed up with third-party service provider, LoanBeam®, in leveraging their expertise and powerful optical character recognition (OCR) technology to supply qualifying income for any applicant. Freddie Mac’s broad release of AIM for self-employed on March 6 is the next step in their journey to provide innovative technologies that can help lenders turn more borrowers into homeowners. AIM for self-employed borrowers … and get YOUR edge.

Calling all Production Managers: Since the beginning of time production managers have wondered “How can I get all of my originators to form the habits of my top producers?” You’ve been looking for the holy grail called habit duplication. Usherpa has been researching the habits of highly successful LOs for 25 years. We’ve helped literally thousands of LO’s increase production, in every conceivable market condition, using habit duplication. How? We use technology to duplicate most of the successful habits of the best LO’s so every LO in your organization can do the things big hitters do. – Thoughts from our Founder/CEO Dan Harrington. Find out how you can duplicate top producers’ habits for all your LO’s here. While you’re at it download the Usherpa eGuide “3 Habits of Top Producing Loan Officers (You Can Duplicate).”

“Here is Part 3 in a Series on DPA. CBC Mortgage Agency is committed to ensuring proper loan performance for homebuyers we help with DPA. With reasonable credit controls and borrower education through a HUD-approved provider, we help buyers realize the dream of responsible homeownership. Borrowers appreciate the effort, giving us high marks for staying in touch through phone calls, emails, and texts for 12 months after closing. See feedback we’ve received from borrowers and lenders. Perhaps that’s one reason our loan performance scorecard is better than national averages. CBCMA provides DPA under rules that are stricter than standard FHA underwriting requirements. When managed properly, DPA has an important place in the real estate ecosystem, especially when it’s provided along with stellar borrower resources to ensure the greatest possible success, such as is offered through the Chenoa Fund Program.”

Jumbo and Nonconforming Trends

Although large loans are mostly found along the coasts, they are still found in other areas, and few lenders want to run the risk of not having some type of offering for their originators or broker clients. And non-bank lenders find it very difficult to compete with the banks in products and pricing of nonconforming offerings.

Effective August 1st, Wells Fargo Funding now has an LTV/CLTV reduction by 5% for California loans with the following criteria: Non-Conforming, Cash-out refinance, Loan Score less than 760.  Subject property located in any of the following counties in California: Santa Clara, San Benito, Marin and Sonoma.

Wells Fargo Funding updated its Non-Conforming policy for borrowers who finance or own multiple properties as follows: Previously, the maximum number of one- to four-unit properties that may be financed was four and there was no limit on the number of properties owned free and clear. Effective June 25, 2019, for Prior Approval Loans, the number of financed properties (including the subject property) can exceed four when reserves/post-closing liquidity meet the following: When aggregate liens are less than or equal to $3 million, 35% of the total of the aggregate liens, When aggregate liens are greater than $3 million, 50% of the total of the aggregate liens, The maximum number of properties financed or owned free and clear on an investment transaction is being reduced to five. Effective June 25, 2019, for Non-Conforming Correspondent Credit Underwrite (CCU) Loans: The maximum number of one- to four-unit properties financed by all borrowers on the Loan will remain at four (including the subject). The maximum number of one- to four-unit properties financed or owned free and clear by all borrowers on the Loan will be reduced to five (including the subject).

Wells Fargo Funding has updated its Non-Conforming price incentive categories for fixed rate loans. Effective July 1, 2019, 20-year loans will be included with the 25- and 30-year loans in a new 20/25/30 Year category.

Mountain West Financial began offering the MFW Jumbo RR program effective 8/1. Available as a 30-year fixed option, the primary use for this program is for borrowers that have experienced multiple credit events and reduced seasoning of derogatory credit events.

Capital Markets

U.S. Treasuries retreated yesterday, the volatile session being more notable for positioning with the absence of any real meaningful data. There was an overnight improvement in risk tolerance supported by limited movement in the yuan and China's better than expected balance of trade report for July. The final Treasury auction of the week found some support, as the $19 billion 30-year bond auction drew a high yield of 2.335 percent, tailing the when-issued yield by 1.2 bps while the bid-to-cover ratio (2.24x) was a touch below average.

International politics continued to dominate headlines as it was reported British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to hold a general election shortly after completing Brexit. And Deputy Prime Minister Salvini, made it clear that Italy appears to be headed for a general election, saying the current coalition with M5S is irredeemably broken. We did have some more central bank news, with the ECB’s latest Economic Bulletin predicting a rising risk of a broad-based deterioration in global growth expectations due to weak services output in Q2. Though the bulletin did note that economic indicators continue pointing to employment growth and steady consumption growth.

This week’s economic calendar ends with the July Producer Price Index (+.2%, as expected, the core rate, not including food & energy, was -.1%). We begin with the 10-year yielding 1.70% and agency MBS prices up/better a few ticks.

Employment and Transitions

Arch MI, the flagship US mortgage insurance provider, is actively looking for an Account Manager in Alabama. The Account Manager builds and maintains long-term relationships in customer organizations to ensure that growth, and quality targets are met or exceeded. The Account Manager develops advocacy with key branch level decision makers and grows profitable market share by proactively identifying and capitalizing on new business opportunities. S/he provides support to National Accounts consistent with organizational objectives and ensures customers receive superior quality and responsive service. S/he works closely with the RVP on direction and strategy for the territory. S/he will be responsible for Arch’s visibility in the marketplace, calls patterns, and results of lender client relationships. Interested parties should send resumes to Tonya Battle.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that David Applegate will step down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Common Securitization Solutions, LLC (CSS), a joint venture established by the companies in 2013 to build and operate a new single securitization infrastructure. The CSS Board of Managers has launched a search for his replacement through Spencer Stuart, which will include both internal and external candidates. Mr. Applegate will stay on board to help ensure a smooth transition.