There is an ever growing problem about women in the workforce. Women make around 80% of what men make in the same job. Another scary fact is that the construction industry consists of only 9% women. Construction has always been perceived as a “male job” but women are a growing force in the construction industry. While the national wage average for women is 82% of what their male counterparts make, in the construction industry, women make 93.4% of what males make. BuilderOnline notes that, “The roles females typically fill in the industry tend to be more focused around project management, operations, and business development. We also still see a lot of women in the industry filing administrative roles like assistant or project coordinator.” Obviously the role of women in mortgage banking can’t be underestimated.

Switching to banking news, the announced mergers & acquisitions quieted down slightly this last week: in Michigan West Shore Bank ($390mm) will acquire West Michigan Bank & Trust ($40mm) for about $8.3mm in cash, and in Tennessee Citizens Tri-County Bank ($692mm) will acquire Franklin County United Bank ($78mm).

"Rob, are correspondent investors like Chase offering clients its delegated non-agency program?" Yes they are - but you should ask your local reps about programs. (Plenty of banks are keeping their jumbo originations in their portfolios.) Remember that some lenders ("some" perhaps being an understatement) have had operational issues ("issues" perhaps being an understatement) with purchase times with Chase - but many tell me that the process has improved. And word has it that Chase jumbo delegation must be QM-Safe Harbor or QM-Rebuttable presumption - Delegated Non-Agency amortizing transactions with a Non-QM designation are not eligible. But correspondents like Chase believe it gives the client more control over the loan process.

Continuing along with the Chase program, as an example, the letter clients normally receive goes something like, "You have been chosen by Chase to participate in our Delegated Non-Agency Underwriting Program. Your Delegated Non-Agency Underwriting authority allows you to underwrite Non-Agency transactions within the approved delegated authority, Rep and Warrant transactions secured by condominium and PUD properties, Rep and Warrant revocable trusts, and submit some Non-Agency transactions within your Delegated Non-Agency authority for Chase Underwriting for a fee of $750."

But it isn't a matter of just flipping a switch. With Chase, "Your Delegated Non-Agency Underwriting authority is contingent upon the successful completion of the underwriting test case evaluation phase ('Evaluation Phase'), and receipt and acceptance of your completed and signed Chase Delegated Non-Agency Underwriting Addendum to the Correspondent Origination and Sales Agreement ('Addendum'), and issuance of your approval letter by Chase.

"To ensure loan salability and compliance with Chase credit, appraisal, and product requirements, we will perform a quality review on a minimum of 10 Non-Agency files prior to allowing submission of Delegated Non-Agency transactions. The loans selected should be representative of your Non-Agency production and in clear-to-close condition."

As a reminder I am merely using Chase as an example, but in its program clients can still have Chase do the underwriting. "This enhanced program will allow you to submit some Non-Agency transactions within your Delegated Non-Agency Underwriting authority for Chase Underwriting for a fee of $750. The maximum number of Non-Agency loans allowed to be submitted to Chase for underwriting during any calendar quarter is the greater of 1 loan or 10% of your Non-Agency loans delivered to Chase in that calendar quarter. The number of Non-Agency loans allowed for Chase Underwriting will be calculated at the end of each calendar quarter based on Non-Agency loans received (number of Non-Agency loans underwritten by Chase as a percentage of total number of Non-Agency closed loan packages delivered for purchase by Chase)."

While we're on this topic, Wells Fargo Funding rolled out process enhancements for Non-Conforming Loans. Beginning April 4 Sellers have the ability to: Order Direct - Order appraisal products for Non-Conforming Loans directly from any Wells Fargo Funding-authorized appraisal management company (AMC): Clear Capital, PCV MurcorTM (NEW! Authorized AMC beginning April 4), Rels Valuation (*Rels Valuation's Share with Investor function will be retired in May 2016) and ServiceLink. Deliver Direct - Deliver the first-generation Adobe PDF and industry-standard XML for your final appraisals on Non-Conforming Loans directly via its Wells Fargo Funding website utilizing its new appraisal upload feature. Clients should read the Newsflash for full details.

And while we're on appraisals...

CMG Financial (CMG) has streamlined the management of its appraisal process from start to finish using Global DMS' eTrac platform. This has enabled CMG to work with its AMC providers that have disparate systems through a single interface with eTrac. As a result, processors and brokers no longer have to log into each AMC's system to place appraisal orders. From within eTrac, CMG users can order and assign appraisals, track them with real-time status, review appraisals, and they are then automatically delivered to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP) in full compliance and without errors or missing data.

As an additional clarification to existing Sun West guidelines regarding HECM-to-HECM Refinances, Sun West will accept a HECM-to-HECM Refinance only if it meets the seasoning requirement. There must be an 18 month waiting period after the closing of the prior HECM loan before it can be refinanced to a new HECM loan. If the HECM-to-HECM refinance does not meet the seasoning requirement, Sun West will only accept the loan if there is no increase in the appraised value and the new loan passes both Closing Cost1 and Loan Proceeds2 tests.

In a topic related to appraised values, all states' have current Homestead laws that are directly related to the original Federal Homestead Act of 1862 which promoted our country's expansion in the mid to late 1800s.The great state of Florida offers some of the broadest and most generous protection compared to homestead laws of other states. The main reason is that there is NO limit to the value of property that can be identified as a resident's permanent homestead.

The Homestead Exemption applies to those who make a Florida property their permanent primary residence. For LOs in Florida this is a great reason to get in touch with all their buyers from last year and be sure they know about Florida's Homestead Exemption. Sending a reminder now is a great way to follow up and maybe get a new referral or two. Even when they were Second Home or Investment buyers, they'll appreciate knowing about this. They had until March 1 to file and receive the property tax break for all of 2016. If they had homestead status on a previous home, they'll need to establish their new one as homestead.Florida's Constitution and Statutes extend 3 different types of protection under Homestead Laws: Partial exemption from property taxes, Protection from forced sale, and preserving full value. Safeguards for surviving spouse and/or minor children. Homestead Exemption for property taxes is NOT automatic. Property owners seeking the partial tax break must qualify and apply to the Property Appraiser's Office in the county where the property is located. Filing for the exemption can be made up to March 1, though proof of residency must be dated before January 1st in order to receive the tax break for the upcoming year. Additional information can be viewed here.

And speaking of Florida, it has reduced the time limit for a mortgagee to cancel a mortgage after satisfaction from 60 to 45 days, unless the mortgage is an open end mortgage. The new provision will be in effect July 1^st.  An open end mortgage is one that can increase, pending the request from the borrower. To cancel an open end mortgage, the borrower has to provide a written notice of the intent to close the mortgage and then 45 days after receiving the notice, the mortgagee will cancel the open end mortgage.

The bond market broke out of the narrow range we've been in for a couple weeks yesterday ahead of today's ECB (European Central Bank) meeting. Frankly I did not hear a solid reason, other than "rates were tired of staying the same so decided to move higher." Some thought it was due to stock market strength, others suggested, "jiggering of hedges and concerns about extension risk." Needless to say, the same buyers were buying MBS, and the same sellers were selling, but by the close the 10-year note was .625 worse in price while current coupon agency MBS prices were worse about .250.

Today is a new day, and we have already learned that the ECB, as expected, left its rates unchanged. (Recall that the March statement also expanded QE to 80 billion euros per month, added corporate bonds to the mix, and announced TLTRO II.) In this country we've had weekly Jobless Claims (-6k to 274k) and the April Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook (-14 to -1.6 - not good). Later is Leading Economic Indicators for March (at 10AM EDT), is expected to rise 0.4% vs. +0.1% in February. We closed the 10-year at a yield of 1.85% and this morning it is at 1.87% with agency MBS prices worse less than .125.

Jobs and Announcements

In job news, Impac Mortgage Corp. Wholesale division is expanding nationally and is hiring Area Sales Managers & Wholesale Account Executives for the following areas & states: Pacific Northwest, Northeast, Northern California, Southern California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North & South Carolina, Chicago, Illinois. Interested candidates should email their resume to Todd Kesterson. By the way, Impac's Correspondent Division has tapped industry veteran Alan Peviani as its newest AE in the Impac Correspondent Division. Alan will be primarily focused on building relationships with prospects and clients in the West Region who are dedicated to the development of the non QM markets. Impac offers an extensive suite ofAlt QM products that can be found on its website.

And a well-known industry vendor is hiring Account Executives to support and grow relationships with its mortgage banking customers. "The AEs will develop and expand the relationships with senior management of mortgage lenders to provide direction on product usage and to increase adoption from sales and marketing of a useful product. Previous experience in mortgage origination or selling products/services directly to mortgage lenders is required. Must be a self-starter, work remotely, have good online and in person presentation skills. Compensation includes base salary and commissions based on revenue growth." Please send confidential resumes to me at rchrisman@robchrisman. com.

Congrats to Marc VanBaalen who Ditech just announced has been hired as Sales Director of Non-Delegated Lending in the company's Correspondent Lending Division.

Over at STRATMOR, Senior Partner Dr. Matt Lind tells us that STRATMOR has just launched another Spotlight Survey, this time addressing Retail Loan Originator Ramp-Up Practices and Experiences. According to Dr. Matt, this latest survey focuses on both the recruitment, training and compensation of new retail loan originators and the volume expectations over time that lenders have for new LO hires, and compares the performances of experienced originators and so-called "newbies." Importantly, survey results should indicate both what works and what doesn't as measured by the percentage of new hires that fail to meet minimum expectations. With the mortgage industry experiencing slow growth, it would seem important for lenders to learn about what their peers are doing to grow their retail sales force and with what success. The survey will remain open until May 15th with results expected to be available around June 1st. As with all Spotlight surveys, there is no up-front charge to take the survey and those who participate can purchase results when they come available for a modest fee.. Click here if you are interested in taking this important 15-minute survey.

Citing the rapid growth of MSR portfolios held by nonbanks in recent years, the Government Accountability Office issued a report last month in which it called on the FHFA and CFPB to provide more oversight of nonbank mortgage servicers. With more and more companies retaining servicing, effective oversight is not only required by the regulators and the CFPB, but is a prudent control to ensure that risks to a company's assets are minimized. Richey May & Co, an accounting firm recognized as a leader in providing audit, tax, compliance and oversight services within the industry, is heading out to Cenlar in May to conduct a comprehensive subservicer oversight review that includes loan-level testing and a thorough review of Cenlar'spolicies and procedures and internal controls. If you are an agency seller/servicer, or GNMA issuer, you are fully responsible for monitoring and overseeing your subservicer's performance as required by the CFPB and other regulators. For more information about the upcoming Cenlar review, or to participate in the Dovenmuehle review conducted earlier this year, please contact Kurt Blohm.