There are plenty of well-paid people in the mortgage biz. It is good to keep things in perspective: The U.S. median household income was $63,179 in 2018 according to U.S. Census Bureau. Sure, it is easy to become mired down in the statistics, but at this point half the population made more and half made less, more or less. Capitalism is alive and well in mortgage banking, and lots of commission-based personnel are having a fine year. I will let the reader decide if a loan officer or account executive should earn more than a doctor or lawyer, the President ($400k), the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ($267k), or the Speaker of the House ($223k). The minimum salary in major league baseball is $545k, the NLF is $480k. I am reminded of an interview with Babe Ruth where he was asked about how he felt making more money than Herbert Hoover ($80k versus $75k in 1930). His reply included, “I had a better year than he did.” Speaking of the value of employment…

Lender Products and Services

Month over month in 2019, the Caliber Wholesale team has continued to produce record-breaking volume thanks to our national business partners. As a purchased-focused lender and leading servicer providing best-in-class service, we have what it takes to continue ascending in any financial environment. We have a distributed network of Account Executives who partner with you both at the national and local level for a highly personalized experience on every loan, a diverse product portfolio that includes Government, Conventional, and non-Agency and Caliber Reconnect which helps you create customers for life. Work with a mortgage lender that isn’t slowing down and who works for you! Contact your Caliber Account Executive today or email us newclientinquiry@caliberhomeloans.com to get started.

eMortgageLaw is proud to announce an enhancement to its eClose solution to include Remote Online Notary (RON), becoming the industry’s complete eClose solution. With a proprietary intelligence engine enabling the automatic tagging of any document from any system, a Smart Note, an eVault, and now RON, this solution offers the ability to quickly and securely eClose transactions remotely from anywhere in the world. Join us for a demonstration at Booth 540 at the National MBA in Austin, October 27th – 29th   and learn why Lenders and Title Companies throughout the country have chosen the eMortgagelaw solution.

How many people are paid on a single loan at your organization? At FirstBank Mortgage, it’s 8-12 people per loan. How do they manage it? Process efficiency, transparency and accuracy delivered through CompenSafe. Since implementing CompenSafe by LBA Ware, FirstBank Mortgage has reduced its incentive comp processing time by 75%, empowered its employees, improved communication and gained a new level of insight into its business. Meet with the LBA Ware team at MBA Annual to learn how CompenSafe will make it easy for you to incentivize your sales and your ops teams.  Click here to schedule a meeting or email Finn Klemann.

Chenoa Fund: Help for Single Moms. “Morgan A. is a single mother who works two jobs to provide for her young daughter. It’s a tough life, and her dream of enhancing her family’s stability by buying a home was just out of reach, year after year. But through the Chenoa Fund, Morgan finally received the boost she needed to obtain a loan. Her words of appreciation are powerful: ‘The Chenoa Fund has made the impossible possible. My daughter will now have a home to grow up in, a place to drive by and point [at] and say, ‘That is where I grew up.’’ Meredith B. had trouble obtaining a loan because of a bankruptcy years earlier. The Chenoa Fund helped. Now, ‘my son can feel secure knowing we don’t have to move anymore.’ At the Chenoa Fund, we’re proud to help deserving moms make life better for their kids.”

Non-QM is one of the fastest growing sectors in the mortgage industry. In fact, $40 billion is forecasted to be funded in 2019, quadruple the amount that was funded last year. And, there is much more room to grow. Unmet mortgage demand is estimated to be roughly $200 billion annually. Not only that, non-QM delinquency rates are less than those for conventional mortgage products. Isn’t it time to add non-QM to your loan portfolio? Verus Mortgage Capital is the largest securitizer of non-QM assets in the industry and is committed to helping correspondents succeed in this dynamic sector. To learn more about the benefits of partnering with Verus, email Jeff Schaefer and schedule a meeting with him at the MBA Annual Convention in Austin.

ARMCO completes a fast track 45-day implementation in delivering on Bay Equity’s QC update deadline. ACES Audit Technology™ platform connects multiple locations and increases accuracy and efficiency. Since implementing ACES, the company not only successfully launched its updated quality control initiatives, but also gained tangible efficiencies in its QC processes: Replaced email and spreadsheets as a means for sharing information, with a secure, real-time online platform that connects multiple QC locations, reduced turn times for month-end reports from several days to roughly one hour, and accelerated configuration times from as much as five days, to just a few minutes. “We love that ACES’ configurability gives such versatility in the ways we can use the technology,” said Clouse. “We’re looking forward to expanding use into our servicing QC audits and possibly within other Bay Equity departments. READ PRESS RELEASE

Correspondent and Wholesale Changes

HMDA data gives everyone 48 data fields providing details on mortgage lending transactions at 5,683 U.S. financial institutions. That’s a lot of companies! Many of them broker or sell loans up the “mortgage food chain” to correspondents and wholesalers, with the wholesalers in turn selling many loans to the big correspondent aggregators like Wells, Chase, AmeriHome, or PennyMac.

Many of these companies are acutely aware of Freddie and Fannie’s announcements concerning the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA). Updates to the GSEs’ automated underwriting systems are expected to be announced next month, followed by the release of an interactive PDF version of the URLA in early 2020. Open to suggestions, the GSEs expect to announce the updated implementation timeline by the end of this year. One will see changes to the Borrower Information, Additional Borrower Information, Lender Loan Information, Continuation Sheet, and Unmarried Addendum components. One won’t see the borrower the borrower language preference question included on the mandatory portion of the form. But hey, read it from the source by using the links above. The news prompted one industry vet to write me asking, “Can they revise it back to the two-page version so the borrower will read the form?  Please?

As a quick aside, in retail news, last month loanDepot and Century 21 Redwood Realty launched a joint venture partnership called Day 1 Mortgage to transform the home-buying experience for the mid-Atlantic region consisting of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The innovative real estate joint venture will leverage powerful proprietary mello™ technology and insightfully local expertise to create a streamlined home search and purchasing experience with a real estate broker and lender working in tandem.

Mountain West Financial posted updates to its Section 4.6.1 - Appraisal Requirements for Select and Choice Programs. The company issued a bulletin as a reminder that U.S. Bank is the Master Servicer for the GSFA Platinum program which affects all the GSFA Platinum loans. As a result, The MLOA form must be delivered to the borrower within 3 days of application. The MLOA must be signed by the broker and a minimum of one borrower. The MLOA needs to identify the source of compensation (borrower paid for GSFA loans) and the compensation amount (dollar amount or percentage). The MLOA must match the final Closing Disclosure (CD). As a reminder, the Anti-Steering Certificate (aka Anti-Steering Disclosure) must be provided on all GSFA Platinum loans and signed by the broker.

And wholesale brokers may request a TCF HELOC at the time they submit the simultaneous 1st trust deed loan to Mountain West Financial. This program can be used in conjunction with any MWF product that allows for secondary financing. MWF will act as a facilitator to gather and submit information/documentation on behalf of the broker to TCF. MWF will assign a HELOC Transaction Coordinator to process the request for the simultaneous TCF HELOC. Because MWF is acting as a facilitator, no HELOC loan file is to be created in BOLT. The terms of the HELOC are entered when the 1st TD is registered and priced. Disclosures are not required to be issued. Complete guidelines and details are available.

All AmeriHome Mortgage guideline questions for both delegated and non-delegated transactions can now be submitted through the Scenario Desk link located on the Navigation Bar in Correspondent Connect and under the “Contacts” link in SellerWeb. Complete the Scenario Desk submission form on the platform of your choice (Correspondent Connect or SellerWeb) and click the button for the Delegated or Non-Delegated Underwriting Channel.

Effective September 1, 2019, Plaza Home Mortgage will board and begin servicing loans 18 calendar days after the loan is purchased. Plaza will generate a combination Hello/Goodbye letter once the loan has been purchased informing the borrower of a transfer date calculated 18 calendar days post purchase. Clients issuing a separate Goodbye letter are asked to update the servicing transfer date to reflect a transfer date 18 calendar days post purchase by August 31, 2019. Renovation borrowers, contractors and consultants will continue to receive their welcome packages within five business days.

Wells Fargo Funding’s non-escrow adjusters are always being updated. Current adjusters are found on page 5 of the Wells Fargo Funding Best Effort Rate Sheet and on page 3 of the Wells Fargo Funding Mandatory Rate Sheet. Its non-escrow adjusters are state-specific and differ between fixed-rate and ARM products.

Caliber is originating Caliber Home Equity Line of Credit loans as the first customer licensing Figure SaaS, a best of class loan origination system natively integrated into blockchain. Figure SaaS offers loan origination platforms in home equity and mortgage and will soon offer multiple other asset classes and product offerings. All will feature full integration into Provenance to deliver origination, servicing and financing benefits. By originating, servicing and financing loans on Provenance, Caliber looks to deliver an outstanding consumer experience while lowering costs, reducing risk, and improving financing execution throughout the entire loan process.

loanDepot Wholesale offers multiple investment property pricing improvements. View its Product Pages for details.

Capital Markets

As rumors swirl that Ellie Mae is shopping for a hedge advisory firm, the bond market is as quiet as can be. A “narrow trading range” is the name of the game and the benchmark U.S. 10-year closed Thursday yielding 1.76%. Yesterday’s slight drop in New Home Sales was focused in higher-priced abodes and the affordability pressures presented by mortgage rates that went up in September. (Remember, new home sales are recorded when a contract is signed not when the sale closes, as is the case for existing home sales). The decline in Durable Goods orders showed that business spending remained weak.

Friday’s U.S. calendar only has the final October Michigan sentiment figures later this morning. Friday begins with rates hardly changed versus much of the week: the 10-year seems content yielding 1.76% and Agency MBS prices are better by a few ticks.

Jobs, Business Opportunities

A well-established large independent mortgage banking company, with primarily TPO focus, is seeking a seasoned and dynamic CFO. As a member of the executive leadership team, this individual is responsible for performing effective treasury and financial management, warehouse relationships, MSR sales, forecasting, planning and analysis, budgeting and financial reporting. The ideal candidate will possess exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, communication and analytic skills. This position is based in Southern California, will report directly to the COO and will manage the finance and accounting team. CPA and mortgage banking experience required. The company offers competitive compensation, benefits and an amazing culture. Click here to send your resume for consideration.

“For companies looking for increased production, a proven non-QM success with a TRUE aggregator partner with just under $100 billion in Non-Agency management of origination and acquisition experience would like to speak with you. Our Top 5 Correspondent partners went from 0 up to $50+ million per month in Non-QM production in 2019! Please contact us if you are serious about wanting to increase your mortgage franchise value through Non-QM production at NonQmcashwindow@gmail.com. And, if you are going to the MBA in Austin, we have meeting times available for a few select prospective partners to learn more on this opportunity.”