This morning I’m feeling old after a 3AM wake up call to travel from Ellie Mae’s conference in San Francisco to the MBAKY in Louisville. (Speaking of “old,” the other day I saw an elderly couple walking down the street sporting identical T-shirts printed with, “Do not resuscitate.” But with big arrows underneath pointing to the other person.) On a personal note, my 96-year old Dad received a small check last week from the VA since he has officially “outlived” his life insurance policy that he purchased from 1942 to 1962 in the USN. (We celebrated with a trip to See’s Candy.) Go VA! There’s a lot of VA, FHA, USDA, and Ginnie program news below.
Lender Products and Services
For independent and community lenders in particular, a standout borrower experience can be an opportunity to shore up your competitive edge. In this margin-constrained market, however, it can be tough to identify positive-ROI investments to improve borrower satisfaction and increase profitability. A new ebook, “The Experience Edge,” helps shine light on the return and impact an improved borrower experience can bring to your business, providing tips to enhance your borrower experience to reap the fiscal benefits of happier borrowers. An exclusive to Rob Chrisman subscribers today and a must-read for all lending managers, download your complimentary copy today!
Angel Oak Prime Bridge, a leading investor-focused lender and Angel Oak lending entity, is pleased to announce the addition of Will Jackson as Wholesale Sales Manager. Will has an extensive background in residential lending, with both retail and wholesale channels. With a fast and simple approval process, his focus at Prime Bridge will be driving growth through the broker channel with its Fix and Flip and Investor Cash Flow products. To inquire about programs or how to become an approved broker, contact Will directly (737-346-9493).
With the DPA Advantage Program administered by AFR, under certain circumstances eligible borrowers are able to receive a forgivable grant that may be used toward a down payment and closing costs. This program is designed to provide down payment assistance equal to 2% of the purchase price to a wide variety of eligible borrowers, including first-time home buyers, first-responders, educators, medical personnel, civil servants and military personnel. And, because AFR is the administrator, they handle all the coordination making it a simple one-step process. DPA Advantage can be used with the FHA 203(b) program or any of AFR’s FHA renovation programs, now including their One-Time Close construction product. From Manufactured Housing programs to Renovation products including FHA 203(k), USDA Repair Escrow and VA Renovation, AFR is dedicated to helping clients bring families home. For more information, email sales@afrwholesale.com, call 1-800-375-6071, or visit www.afrwholesale.com.
The MBA Tech Conference is later this month in Dallas from March 24 to 27. Asurity will be there to show how its mortgage ecosystem combines data-driven, dynamic document architecture and compliance testing, reporting, and analytics tools into one powerful solution. It’s not just about the docs, but rather the data driven result from origination through close and beyond. Asurity’s systems data validation prevents package generation when a loan is out of tolerance and performs compliance testing at the loan-level through bi-directional integrations with your preferred LOS. From disclosure to close, all dynamic content, calculations, and compliance tests are fully warranted and defended by a $10 million E / O policy. If you are heading to Dallas, be sure to connect with one of their experts to see how they can help streamline your lending processes. Better yet, schedule a meeting beforehand.
CMO responsibilities have evolved rapidly in the last two decades. Among the most recognized changes is the need to establish marketing as a revenue driver rather than a cost center. CMOs must be fanatical about creating the kind of consistent customer experience that wins deep trust, keeps customers coming back for life and alleviates the risk of losing customers to more innovative or persistent competitors. Read the Total Expert blog: 4 Ways the CMO Role Will Change by 2020.
Tired of low margin agency lending? Now is the time to grow your pipeline with non-QM programs. The opportunity to serve millions of creditworthy borrowers who don’t fit traditional credit guidelines is one you don’t want to miss. Take advantage of loan products for self-employed borrowers, credit events, single-family rental units and more. Verus Mortgage Capital is a highly experienced investor that is committed to helping correspondents succeed in non-QM. It has purchased almost $5 billion in expanded non-agency and non-QM loans and recently completed a $664 million transaction, the second largest non-QM securitization EVER! In 2018, Verus was the leading expanded non-agency issuer as it completed eight rated transactions. Work with the premier non-QM investor. Email Jeff Schaefer today to learn more or to schedule a meeting with him at the Regional Conference of MBAs April 7-11.
FHA, VA, USDA, Ginnie Mae
Last week Ginnie Mae sent out APM 19-02, generally viewed as increasing the cost of financing of GNMA assets, and drive prices down for loans and MSRs. It addresses counterparty risk management and minimum portfolio servicing spread requirements of single-family issuers. “The amount of net servicing income generated by each Issuer portfolio is a key factor impacting that Issuer’s ability to remit scheduled payments to security holders. Currently, Issuers can create Ginnie Mae pools or loan packages that yield servicing spreads ranging from 19 to 69 basis points (bps)… Effective March 1, 2020 (Effective Date), Issuers will be required to have, and maintain at all times, a weighted average servicing spread of at least 25 bps for their Ginnie Mae portfolio…”
Register for FHA’s free webinar, FHA Quality Assurance Update, on Wednesday, March 20th. This free, online webinar will provide an update on the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Single Family quality assurance results for the most recent quarter, as well as offer additional guidance on the Loan Review System (LRS) and related processes. There will also be a live Question and Answer session at the end of the webinar.
FHA is offering a free onsite-training in Denver on April 10th for FHA Appraisal Training.
SIFMA has written a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs, welcoming its interim rules on the refinancing of VA loans that are aimed to make a safer environment for veterans to buy Ginnie Mae mortgage backed securities, but adding suggestions to bring them more protection from exploitation by unscrupulous lenders. SIFMA President and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. wrote: "We strongly encourage the VA to heed our suggested modifications to ensure the rules cannot be evaded, thus protecting our veterans, the VA borrowers, as well as the investors for whom Ginnie Mae MBS comprise part of their retirement savings."
February 25 was the new effective date for the previously announced changes, identified in FHA INFO 18-46, dated November 19, 2018, to the FHA Connection Appraisal Logging screen and Appraisal Case Transfer screen in FHA Connection. The changes are effective for all appraisals submitted to the Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) system, and for all case numbers assigned in FHA Connection, on or after February 25.
The CFPB released a report focusing on mortgages made to first-time homebuyers who are serving in the armed forces or are veterans, defined here to include both those on active duty and veterans.The Bureau's report is the first-time researchers have been able to provide a description and analysis of servicemembers' mortgage choices and mortgage performance, both during and after the housing crisis of the last decade.
PennyMac posted Announcement 19-15 , a revision to its previous Announcement 19-14 regarding Updates to VA Cash-Out Transactions.
PennyMac is aligning with the updates USDA has made to Chapter 9 of the Technical Handbook. Click here to view the announcement.
USDA has announced changes to HB-1-3555 Chapter 9 “Income Analysis” that will become effective on December 15, 2018. Loan application packages submitted for USDA Conditional Commitment requests beginning December 15, 2018, must meet the new HB-1-3555 Chapter 9 Handbook guidance. Mountain West Financial Wholesale will be updating its USDA guides. Refer to USDA’s HB-1-3555 SFH Guaranteed Loan Program Technical Handbook for guidance.
Freedom Mortgage Wholesale guarantees the best VA & FHA Price for fixed-rate purchase loans/full doc refinance loans with a FICO >=640. If you find a better price, Freedom Mortgage will match it and reduce its Lender Fee by $150. Certain exclusions and requirements apply.
PRMG is making several enhancements to its product profiles. USDA is now allowed to 600 and manual underwriting is allowed. Additionally, the future income option for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is now allowed on conventional products. Other product updated include Agency Products, all products with Deed Restricted properties, Agency DU Portfolio, Home Possible, HomeReady and more.
Mr. Cooper is now offering temporary buydowns here.
The PennyMac Correspondent Group posted a new announcement regarding the Release of VA Renovation Program.
US Bank Correspondent Lending/HFA published its Seller Guide 2019-009 which covers multiple updates including information regarding USDA 2-4 unit Condo loans and FHA gift funds transfer plus other clarification information.
Capital Markets
Freddie Mac announced that it is set to issue the first Freddie Mac 55-day, “To-Be-Announced” (TBA)-eligible Uniform Mortgage Backed Security (UMBS) on June 3! “Under the SIFMA updated Good Delivery Guidelines, UMBS issued by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will be deliverable into UMBS TBA contracts for settlement starting June 3. Freddie Mac will no longer issue new Gold PCs with a 45-day payment delay after May 31, 2019. Beginning on May 7, Freddie Mac plans to offer holders of 45-day, TBA-eligible and non-TBA-eligible PCs and Giants the option to exchange their eligible 45-day securities for 55-day Freddie Mac mirror securities.”
Fannie released this Selling Notice yesterday notifying customers that it will begin accepting forward UMBS trades from approved trading counterparties, with a trade date on or after March 12, 2019 and settlement dates on or after June 3, 2019.
Rates didn’t move much yesterday, with the 10-year ending at 2.64%, although some decent news around the world pushed stocks higher. If one can believe their stats, China's General Administrator of Customs took the unusual step of releasing preliminary trade data for the first nine days of March, showing a 39.9% year-over-year surge in exports. Chinese officials acknowledged that the release was aimed at spreading "positive news that could help shore up confidence. The $38 billion 3-yr note auction was met with lukewarm demand. In mortgage-backed securities land, ThomsonReuters reported that Tradeweb volume were running near half of recent averages.
Coming up for scheduled news today are the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, February Consumer Price Index (look for +.2-.3%), and a $24 billion 10-year note auction. In the early going we find rates a shade higher versus last night’s close (the 10-year is yielding 2.65%) with agency MBS prices down a few ticks.
Jobs
On Q Financial has originators in several markets beating CASH offers by closing loans in just 15 days with their $1,000 On Time Closing Guarantee. Both the buyer AND seller get $1,000 if they don’t close on time! Not only that, they’re known for DOUBLING their LOs production. NOW, On Q’s Price Match Guarantee means their team has never lost a loan to rate, helping their business reach new heights. On Q is simplifying and expediting the mortgage process for their originators and home buyers with their technology, products, and simplified process. If you're a passionate and driven Originator that thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're interested in joining the team at On Q, please contact Nick Suwanvichit or visit On Q Financial Careers.
A full-service Correspondent Mortgage Lender seeking in-house, corporate counsel to work from either its Houston or San Diego corporate office. Candidate will work directly under the CEO but will interact with stakeholders across the entire company. This is not your average mortgage company, so a self-starter with a strong analytical and business mind are a must. Responsibilities include a wide range of matters with emphasis on corporate transactions, review, drafting and negotiations of commercial contracts/leases, compliance and regulatory items, structuring unique portfolio/commercial loans, employment matters and corporate governance. The individual will be critical in providing legal advice and strategy for a growing and dynamic company with a national footprint. If you're interested, please contact Anjelica Nixt with your resume/CV.
“Citizens Retail Mortgage Lending division, one of the fastest-growing lenders in the nation is looking for dedicated loan officers to join our growing team. If you’re committed to your customers from the first conversation until the closing documents are signed (and even after), we want to hear from you. As part of our customer-centric culture, we’ll provide you with customer relations training so you can build strong relationships and deliver a great experience. Then, during the application process and beyond, you’ll have direct access to our servicing partners and their escalation teams so you’ll be ready for anything that comes your way. If you care as much about serving your customers as we do, apply at Citizens Bank today! For questions, please email Jennifer Rader.”
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