Here’s a sign of the times. “Rob, I would think many lenders are for sale; they just don't know it yet. EPOs, servicing write-downs, renegotiations, margin calls... If early pay off penalties are assessed for any loan that pays off in less than six months, and the industry was doing about $2 trillion a year, that means (roughly) $1 trillion of loans may be subject to penalties since they are at higher rates or on which investors paid more than 100. I know that I am generalizing, but still, thinly capitalized companies should be aware and preparing for this.” Something else that companies are very aware of is staff working from home, and sometimes take their cue from law firms. In a relationship business, law firms are analyzing the “work from home” question as the coronavirus spreads. A number of law firms say they're equipped and ready to have their lawyers and staff work from home for the short term. But working remotely for a long period of time poses a major test for an industry built on relationships.
Lender Products and Services
Bluepoint Mortgage is offering a special during the month of March: a 50-basis point price improvement on FHA Streamline loans. Bluepoint is accepting broker applications from nearly 30 states; the approval process can take as little as 48 hours. Bluepoint Mortgage provides a comprehensive line of lending products for their broker partners. Questions about pricing or becoming approved should be directed to Managing Partner Allen Samuel.
Maxwell announced their latest feature, MPay™, designed to help lenders reduce losses and streamline a frequently overlooked part of the mortgage process — receiving consumer card payments. Maxwell’s embedded payment platform enables lenders to seamlessly manage consumer card payments within the Maxwell platform. Whether you collect payments for the appraisal, rate locks, final inspection reports, or other fees, your borrowers expect it to be as effortless as buying a cup of coffee. MPay helps lenders maintain PCI compliance while removing the hassle of paper forms, third-party emails, and confusing entries on credit card statements. MPay collects payment and deposits funds directly in the lender’s account. To learn more about MPay and the other intuitive Maxwell features that power hundreds of lenders, click here and request a demo.
Are you getting the guidance you need during market volatility? In the last two weeks, MCT has authored seven timely market updates and articles, hosted two webinars, and provided a constant stream of support and communication to lender clients. The wide-ranging topics covered include ensuring liquidity, mitigating margin calls, managing pull-through, and detailed market analysis. Despite the latest increase in rates on Tuesday and Wednesday, did you know opportunities exist to float down rates, reduce fallout, and improve your execution at no cost to the borrower? Contact MCT to explore specific opportunities in your pipeline, or brush up on Rate Renegotiation Best Practices. As your trusted capital markets partner, MCT stands by you during times of market volatility - even if you are not an MCT client. Reach out for guidance and support or join the MCT newsletter.
Wholesale and Correspondent Tidbits
As mentioned above, Bluepoint Mortgage is offering a special during the month of March: a 50-basis point price improvement on FHA Streamline loans. Bluepoint is accepting broker applications from nearly 30 states; the approval process can take as little as 48 hours.
This months’ AmeriHome newsletter, the “AmeriHome Angle”, discusses the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA” or the “Act’). Effective January 1, 2020, the Act grants California residents vastly expanded privacy rights and control of how their personal information is handled by covered entities. Read the complete article, CCPA Implementation & Beyond, to find out more information.
Plaza Home Mortgage has made changes to some of its most popular programs. Its FHA High Balance cash-out minimum FICO has been reduced from 640 to 620. Also reduced, its FHA 203(k) High Balance minimum FICO to 620. Plaza’s AUS Non-Conforming program will allow DTI to 50% for LTV <= 80% and FICO >= 720. DTI for 95% LTV remains at 35% and the maximum DTI in all other scenarios will be 43%. This change is effective for all locks starting Monday, March 9, 2020. VA Renovation Jumbo loan amounts to $765,600 are now available nationwide. Previously the VA Jumbo maximum was limited to the FHFA county limit. This update is effective immediately.
Effective April 1, 2020, Wells Fargo Funding will no longer permit Loan-level exceptions. They will exclusively follow the standard Non-Conforming program underwriting guidelines as published in the Wells Fargo Funding Seller Guide and will discontinue making policy exceptions.
PCF Wholesale “has one of the best EPO policies in all of wholesale lending. Its FNMAE-Conventional Loans are 130 days from Funding. FHA/VA Loans are 150 days from Funding and NonQM loans are 180 days from funding.”
With the release of the new 4506-T forms, the vendor’s name and address must be included on loan 5a. Correspondent Lenders should, when possible, include the below vendor information on line 5a for all loans delivered to Fifth Third Correspondent Lending: TALX Corporation, a provider of Equifax Verification Services, 11432 Lackland Road, Saint Louis, MO 63146. If this vendor information is not on the 4506-T, then tax transcripts must be provided if the loan is selected for either pre-purchase or post-purchase audit. Reminder, line 5b of the form must always be left blank.
Capital Markets
The latest ISM manufacturing index just barely remained in expansion territory for February after stabilizing in January following the de-escalation in trade tensions at the beginning of the year. However, it is not expected to continue as the upcoming data should begin to show the effects of trade disruptions caused by the coronavirus especially in those industries which rely on China for key components. The service sector continued to expand in February with the ISM non-manufacturing index increasing to 57.3. Like the manufacturing sector, the service sector is expected to take a hit as consumers scale back on travel, entertainment and recreation, arts, and food services. With the markets firmly focused on the future, February's stellar jobs report, which showed 273,000 new jobs added, barely made headlines. Additionally, December's and January's data were revised upwards bringing the average pace of hiring to 243,000. Without the coronavirus we would be talking about the continued strength in the labor market and a recovering manufacturing sector.
Yesterday, March 11, 2020, will go down as the day the longest bull market in American history came to an end, as well as the NBA season being cancelled until further notice. The World Health Organization formally declared COVID-19 a pandemic. U.S. Treasuries still pulled back for the second day in a row, though movement lacked the volatility on display Tuesday. Treasury yields across the curve moved +4 bps to +9 bps after further stimulus measures were announced and proposed by Australia and the European Commission, respectively. Positive CPI figures followed the fate of all recent economic releases, which is to say that they will have no bearing on the market's belief that the Federal Reserve will soon be cutting the target range for the fed funds rate at next week's FOMC meeting, if not sooner.
Let’s turn to today. The ECB cut rates 10 bps in their latest policy decision, following suit of the Fed and BoE. ECB head Lagarde’s press conference is currently underway. She commented yesterday that Europe risks a major economic shock not unlike the global financial crisis. The domestic economic calendar is also already underway with a trio of releases: Weekly Initial Claims for the week ending March 7 (-4k to 211k), February PPI (-.6 percent), and Core PPI, ex food and energy (-.3%), mostly due to energy. Later today will be $16 billion of reopened 30-year Treasury bonds. Thursday starts with Agency MBS prices better by .125 and the 10-year yielding .69 percent.
Employment, Promotions, Transitions
A Los Angeles area-based mortgage banker is seeking an experienced Wholesale Production Manager. The ideal candidate will be instrumental in the nationwide expansion of the Wholesale channel. The candidate will have an opportunity develop new product offerings, sales executives, as well as continue to grow their personal production with experienced support staff and technology. The company is a multi-state “Customer-Centric” lender, with an emphasis on building relationships with their customer. Production continues to grow year-over-year with Retail and Wholesale channels. If you are interested in a confidential conversation about the opportunity send your contact information to Anjelica Nixt.
“PRMG is Hiring Experienced Underwriters Remotely! Underwriting has drastically changed over the years and even more recently. You can't just expect to be asked to work longer and harder hours in times like these. At PRMG we've invested millions of dollars to make underwriting easier on the underwriters. We fully believe in Underwriters doing more with technology and not being replaced by it. Our support and Leadership for Ops is rivaled by few. If you want to join- NOW is the TIME! PRMG employs over 2000 people across the country and is licensed in 48 states with nearly 180 branches located throughout the nation. Contact HR@prmg.net for a complete job description or confidential inquiries.”
“Join Golden State Finance Authority for an in-depth look at the new GSFA OpenDoors® down payment assistance program! OpenDoors is a game-changer when it comes to helping homebuyers in California purchase a primary residence with little-to-no money out of pocket. The GSFA OpenDoors Program features homebuyer assistance up to 7% of the loan amount, FICO requirements as low as 620, flexible DTI requirements and enhanced pricing. FHA, VA, USDA and Conventional Loan financing is available. Plus, GSFA delegates the loan process to the Participating Lender so no additional compliance review from GSFA is necessary, making the process simple and easy for both borrower and Lender. Ready to start closing more loans?? Join us for a Lender Training Webinar. and view Program guidelines at www.gsfahome.org. You don’t want to miss out on this EXCITING new Program!”
First Continental Mortgage, Ltd. (“FCM”), an independently owned mortgage banker, is seeking to fulfill an open position of Production Manager/RMLO (PM) located in its Houston, TX headquarters.FCM has been in business for 27 years and maintains multiple home-builder partnerships operating in Texas, Washington, and Colorado. The PM will manage the daily operations and LO production in connection with an exclusive account servicing one of the largest privately owned home builders in the country. The PM will work closely with senior management and branch staff to achieve company goals and metrics such as capture and exemplary customer service expectations. This individual will also generate his/her own loan production. The PM must have and maintain an active LO license in the state of Texas. For more on this exciting opportunity please click here.
AmeriHome continues to grow its Non-Delegated business, and its Non-Delegated team! AmeriHome is excited to announce that Dawn Frensdorff has joined the sales team as a Non-Delegated Account Executive. Dawn’s experience in correspondent lending and knowledge of agency, government and non-Agency products will be a tremendous asset for clients and prospects in the Southwest US. AmeriHome is also looking to fill other critical roles, so please be sure to check out the careers section on its website. Highlighted roles for this month in the Non-Del channel include FVP, Sr. Credit Operations, (Dallas office) and Inside Sales Account Executive (location flexible). Make sure to check out AmeriHome’s Non-QM Income Flex and Non-Agency Jumbo programs as well!
ReverseVision announced the appointment of Joe Langner as president to “lead the company to achieve its strategic vision of establishing HECM and private reverse mortgages as lending portfolio staples alongside traditional and government loans.”
Key Mortgage Services, Inc. has added Brooke Mulder as SVP of Sales Development to focus the salesforce on scalable business growing strategies to increase their reach throughout Chicagoland.
Guild Mortgage has promoted Doug Jameson (AZ & CO) and Eric Weiss (TX) to regional manager positions to help manage the company’s future growth. Previously district managers, Jameson and Weiss were promoted when their predecessors, Andy Stewart and Chad Overhauser, were named VPs and divisional sales managers in January as part of a recent restructuring that included new roles for three senior members of Guild’s leadership team.
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