Is every non-bank lender of any size looking at offshore options to save money? Perhaps, and underwriting costs and productivity are usually brought up in the conversation. It’s certainly a boon for consultants with specialized knowledge and who speak Tagalog or Hindi. And lenders ask, “If the fintech era is so revolutionary, why are lender costs up 61% since 2008?” Here are a few answers.
Lender Products and Services
Lendsnap is the consumer app of choice for Bank Statement lenders. Our partners close more loans faster because they automatically pull up to 24 months of original bank and investment statement PDFs. While other lenders and brokers make the customer work too hard, you will have a decisive advantage. When your customers don’t have to manually download and update statements, you will get clear to close in days instead of weeks. Get started right away with our simple yet powerful app that includes custom loan officer landing pages, intelligent 1003 powered by PerfectLO, unlimited eSignatures, and automatic import of bank statements, W2’s and pay stubs. All this functionality is built in to our SOC2-audited platform with no hidden fees or setup charges. Lendsnap replaces many services you pay for separately today and fits your workflow without complicated and costly integrations. Request a demo today to go Digital with Lendsnap.
New Penn Financial is growing rapidly as it expands New Penn’s SMART series with SmartFunds, which joins the proprietary lineup of non-QM products geared towards unique borrower needs. New Penn’s dedicated SMART team ensures a quick and efficient loan process. Correspondent lenders can learn more about New Penn’s various products and its new non-QM automation tool from Lisa Schreiber, SVP Correspondent Division, at the MBA Annual later this month: Contact Lisa to schedule a meeting at the MBA.
“Florida Capital Bank is pleased to announce the hiring of 34-year industry veteran, Dan Hastings, CMB, as National Warehouse Sales Manager for its growing Warehouse Lending Division. Mark Johnson, President of Florida Capital Bank, said, ‘Bringing on board someone of Dan’s caliber and reputation to grow our already successful warehouse lending business is a win for both of us, as well as our warehouse lending customers.’ Andrea Lefebvre, Managing Director of Mortgage Banking for Florida Capital, is also pleased to announce the hiring of Scott Kimberly and Jane Yanecko as Wholesale Account Executives. Andrea noted, ‘Florida Capital Bank continues to focus on being a leader in providing personal touch customer service for our warehouse lending, wholesale and retail lending customers by hiring top notch talent and partnering with quality clients in all lines of business.’ If you would like more information on our products and services, please contact Andrea Lefebvre (617-899-1428).”
Caliber Home Loans, Inc. continues to build upon its best-in-class technology platforms with new enhancements to its Document Delivery Portal to improve the closing disclosure collaboration and overall closing process for its business partners and borrowers. This will allow settlement agents to digitally collaborate earlier in the process with the Caliber closing staff to ensure that the most accurate loan, fee, and escrow information is disclosed on the Borrower’s initial Closing Disclosure, all before the loan is even clear to close! This enhancement helps deliver a more accurate and timely CD to the borrower, while creating a more efficient and secure way of doing business for all parties involved! “The new site is super easy to use” says Susan B., a licensed Escrow officer. Click here to see a short video of how Caliber’s Document Delivery portal is digitally bringing ease-of-use, accuracy, and speed to the Closing Disclosure process.
Does your production quality control solution help improve overall ROI through root-cause analysis, recovering lost dollars, identifying efficiencies and saving you money? Several mortgage quality control suppliers have pulled back from origination and trade due diligence while PHOENIX continues to expand its file review platform. PHOENIX is the only firm in the industry that offers comprehensive post close, pre-fund, servicing and quality control along with trade due diligence that provide an independent review of your origination and servicing compliance and specific remediation recommendations to maximize inherent value. The PHOENIX quality control/diligence strategy utilizes a proprietary platform that tests against the latest compliance requirements, tracks systemic defects, remediates loan package deficiencies and provides trend reporting to drive servicing portfolio performance.For more information, contact your PHOENIX representative or inquire at info@phoenixtma.com.
Momentifi CEO Gibran Nicholas is offering a free 30-minute recording of the executive briefing he conducted last week for CEOs, executives and sales managers: How to Create Company-Wide Sales Momentum, Earn 10x ROI on Your CRM Investment, and Transform Your Sales Managers into More Effective Sales Coaches (all in the next 90 days). “This executive briefing will show you how to drive sales growth and become a more effective sales leader by using two key metrics available in most CRMs,” says Gibran. “I also share how to use your sales momentum plan as a recruiting tool to attract and retain top LO's." Click here to sign up for the free recording. You can also email Gibran directly to schedule a demo with him at the MBA convention in two weeks.
News From FHA and HUD
The FHA announced Changes to Appraisal Submission and Assessment for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Originations. Click the link to view the press release. Yes, a new mortgagee letter is out with changes that take effect today for HECMs. All appraisals will be reviewed by HUD. The FHA) announced that it will begin requiring lenders originating new HECMs, commonly referred to as reverse mortgages, to provide a second property appraisal under certain circumstances. FHA is instructing lenders to provide a second independent property appraisal in cases where FHA determines there may be inflated property valuations. FHA’s new requirement takes effect for case numbers assigned on or after October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019. FHA will periodically review this guidance and, based on the results, may renew these requirements beyond fiscal year 2019. Read FHA’s Mortgagee Letter.
The American Bankers Association (ABA) weighed in with a comment on HUD’s Disparate Impact Rule. On behalf of the American Bankers Association and state bankers’ associations across the country, K&L Gates partner Paul F. Hancock and associate Olivia Kelman crafted a comment that was submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD” or “Department”) in support of reopening rulemaking regarding the Department’s implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard.
Recall that in June HUD issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that sought public comment on possible amendments to the Department’s 2013 final disparate impact rule considering the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 2507 (2015). In that decision, the Supreme Court articulated the standards for, and the constitutional limitations on, disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act. The comment explains that the rule should be amended because it adopts standards that are inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent, fails to provide much needed guidance to entities seeking to comply with the law, and is therefore outdated and ineffective. A copy of the comment is available here. To read the full alert, click here.
HUD has been in the press lately. For example, HUD alleged that Facebook enabled housing ad discrimination by not displaying ads to people who listed things like “child care,” “mobility scooters,” or “assistance dog” as interests.
Don’t forget that FHA issued a reminder that effective August 19 the Transaction Layer Security 1.0 (TLS 1.0) support for all Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) applications, including FHA Connection (FHAC), and all applications accessed through FHAC will end. If you are using TLS 1.0 after the effective date, access to all HUD applications will be denied.
Capital Markets
The big news over the last 72 hours is the US-Canadian trade agreement (reached late Sunday night) that will preserve the trilateral NAFTA pact (although NAFTA will be renamed). Rates were unchanged Friday with market news centering around President Trump signing a stopgap spending bill delaying a potential partial government shutdown until December. Kick the can down the road! Internationally, Italian officials confirmed that the target for next year's deficit will be set at 2.4% of GDP, on the high end of expectations and certainly causing consternation from the European Commission about Italy's fiscal discipline.
Now we turn to a new month and new quarter. Today sees releases of September ISM Manufacturing Index and August Construction Spending. Manufacturing is expected to decline while Construction Spending is seen increasing. In addition to Mary Daly starting at the SF Fed, we have other three Fed speakers today: Atlanta's Bostic, Minneapolis' Kashkari and Boston's Rosengren.
Tomorrow, things are quiet with only September Auto Sales and Truck Sales in the afternoon. The RBA will also be out with their latest monetary policy decision. Wednesday, we receive the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, September ADP Employment Change, September ISM Services, and weekly crude inventories. Thursday brings August Factory Orders and weekly natural gas inventories. The week closes with September Nonfarm Payrolls and Unemployment figures, August Trade Balance and August Consumer Credit. The week commences with rates higher than Friday’s close: the 10-year is yielding 3.09% and 30-year agency MBS prices are worse .125.
People on the Move, Good and Bad
Gershman Mortgage said its longtime employee and president, Al Will, will retire at the end of the company’s fiscal year, and two division presidents have been named. Bruce Sandweiss has been named president of the company’s multifamily and health care division, and Adam Mason was appointed president of its single-family division. Both were previously EVPs of the firm.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Bryan R. Ziegenfuse, a VP of Servicing for Ocwen Financial Corporation, with multiple instances of insider trading on Friday.
Congrats to Gino Olivo whom Franklin Loan Center has brought on board to open up its new Westlake Village branch. Franklin Loan Center, founded in 1989, is licensed in ten states and offers traditional and non-traditional products.
Employment
First Commonwealth Mortgage has announced the addition of Matt Koch as SVP of Sales for Ohio. Matt is responsible for optimizing existing talent along with adding Mortgage Loan Officerswho are serious about taking Production to the next level(s). When Matt was asked why he joined First Commonwealth Mortgage, he noted that, “There is such a need for a blended model in the Midwest. In a true community bank like First Commonwealth we can make thoughtful decisions quickly, do what is right for our customers and use portfolio lending capabilities to impact the markets. This capability, alongside a true mortgage banker model which offers all of the products and pricing that the mainstream markets expect, is a powerful combination.”
Roostify, one of the fastest growing fin-tech companies in the country, is expanding its team and looking for a Client Success Manager to interface with clients, ensuring they are successful with and delighted by Roostify. From the company's CEO, Rajesh Bhat, "It’s an exciting time to be at Roostify. We’ve rolled out at several top-tier national lenders, we’re expanding our platform capabilities to improve more parts of getting a loan, and we’ve just raised a $25M Series B with a round of prestigious investors to help us accelerate our growth and further capitalize on a fantastic market opportunity. We’re looking for creative, passionate people to help us get there." Apply directly through the website, or contact Roostify's Head of Recruiting, Ashley Burnstad.
For the second year in a row, Inc. magazine has placed Highlands Residential Mortgage on its Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. For the past 37 years, Inc. studies thousands of companies to highlight those experiencing staggering growth. “I’m so proud of the Highlands team,” said Brian Bennett, Highlands Residential Mortgage President. Here are other milestones that Highlands achieved since making the 2017 Inc. 5000 list: Appeared on Mortgage Executive Magazine’s “50 Best Companies to Work For”, landed on The Dallas Morning News’ Top 100 Places to Work list, and named to SMU Cox Dallas 100 for Second Year in a Row. Only about 12 percent of American companies achieve one-year revenue growth of 25 percent or more,” said Inc. editor in chief James Ledbetter. To see why Highlands continues to experience rapid growth and success visit our website: Highlands Residential Mortgage.
How will you win as a mortgage sales professional in 2019? By joining the TCF Home Loans Team! TCF is back in the mortgage business with the launch of TCF Home Loans! There is a unique opportunity in Denver for a proven sales leader with a producing team of loan originators to help grow our business while meeting the needs of our 75,000 customers and 40 community bank managers in our Colorado and Arizona markets. If you are looking for an opportunity to expand your referral network, gain more lead activity, and be part of a company that is making big investments in mortgage, then TCF Home Loans is the place for you. We are seeking top performers with strong networks that want to be part of a growth-focused environment backed by the stability of a $23 billion bank. TCF Home Loans has an exciting story of expansion and success! Reach out today by contacting Deana Aune, our Senior Recruiter (763-337-5575).
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