“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money,” was never actually uttered by Illinois politician Everett Dirksen. ("Oh, I never said that. A newspaper fella misquoted me once, and I thought it sounded so good that I never bothered to deny it.") The big news late Friday was the CFPB & OCC announcing a settlement with Wells Fargo for auto-loan administration and mortgage practices – all lenders need adequate compliance or risk management programs, right? Wells Fargo said that the company would adjust its first quarter 2018 preliminary financial results by an additional accrual of $800 million, which is not tax deductible. According to the CFPB's consent orders, apart from paying the fine, Wells Fargo will remediate harmed consumers and undertake certain activities related to its risk management and compliance management.

Webinars and Events

Plaza is providing a free webinar today on mortgage fraud. Register for Plaza’s Financial Planner's Guide to Reverse Mortgages webinar on April 24th, and for Realtors, “Find out the 4 things everyone wants from your company and the 3 things everyone wants from you on the 25th: “Realtor Reality” Home loan options for Condos with its FHA, VA and Conventional programs: Join a webinar on May 2nd to find out how to take advantage of these programs.

May Day! Save the date on May 1st from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm to discuss the future of Silicon Valley CAMP. It is a critical meeting for the continued existence of Silicon Valley CAMP including Q&A with current board members and open nominations for board positions for July 1st, 2018 to June 30th, 2019. The meeting is cost free with drinks and hors d’oeuvres served. Register here. The following positions are open for nominations: President, President Elect, Event Chair, PR, Membership, Government Affairs and State Rep. Please send your nomination to events@siliconvalleycamp.com.

Caliber Home loans is offering digital training for brokers on Thursday, April 19th or Wednesday, April 25th. Either session will cover Caliber's digital Verification of Assets along with Employment and Income.

The North Carolina Bankers Association is hosting the American Mortgage Conference in Raleigh May 1-2.

From May 3-6, in Destin, FL, the Georgia MBA will be holding its annual conference.

Find the right people and build meaningful relationships on LinkedIn. Register for Plaza’s “LinkedIn Part II” training May 3rd and learn how to plan, design and implement an action plan for potential pipeline increase and how to expand your network of connections for increased referral opportunities.

Join Mountain View Financials 30-minute presentation, May 4th, to obtain critical insights on managing, valuing, acquiring and selling MSRs.

The May MGIC May training calendar is available for review and registration.

Get started with the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA)/Form 1003 and DU Specification with Fannie Mae’s new, self-paced eLearning tutorial. This eLearning will introduce the redesigned form and its components (particularly section 1a. Personal Information under Borrower Information) and provide guidance on how to develop a new XML file for DU submissions. The redesigned Form 1003 will be required in February 2020, with the option to begin using it as early as July 1, 2019. Visit the URLA page for additional resources and final versions of the redesigned Form 1003.

MBA’s Cultivating Diversity and Inclusion Summer Webinar Series begins May 16th with its D&I webinar, Learn from the Leaders part 1. Each webinar brings industry leaders for in-depth and actionable discussions on organizational and market outreach diversity and inclusion initiatives. This webinar series is complimentary to MBA Members. Use the promo code WEBINAR at checkout.

Capital Markets

No one is arguing that rates are eventually going higher due to the strong economy. The bond market, and therefore interest rates, is certainly coming around to the Fed’s way of thinking. Sure, there will be downdrafts, but the trend is higher. The advance estimate of GDP for the first quarter of 2018 is just around the quarter and for the most part, 2018 is off to a strong start.  Several economic indicators such as the ISM Manufacturing and Non-manufacturing indices, unemployment claims, and payrolls all support a solid GDP number. As a reminder there is no single component of economic production that is representative of GDP as it is the sum of consumer spending, investment, government spending and net exports.

Consumer spending makes up the largest component of GDP and it made up of durable and nondurable goods as well as spending on services. Consumer spending surged in the fourth quarter of 2017 due to strong auto sales following hurricanes in the fall. Likewise, consumer spending waned in the first quarter of 2018 as those sales returned to normal levels.

Investment is composed of business capital investment, inventory investment as residential investment. Looking at residential investment, single family home sales have fallen from their recent peak in November and housing starts were flat in January and February.

Net exports are simply the value of exports minus the value of imports. As we have seen in recent trade data, the trade gap is near a 9-year high even as demand for exports has increased. In the first quarter television coverage of the Winter Olympics counts as an import as roughly $1 billion in royalties were paid to broadcast the games in the U.S.

Breaking down the components of GDP and help one understand the complexities within the headline GDP number. Even if that number is below expectations, the economy remains strong and could still show in Q2 and Q3. The current median forecast calls for growth of 2.7 percent for the first quarter and we’ll all find out on April 27th how well the economy performed last quarter.

Looking at bonds & rates, with the benchmark 10-year at levels not seen since January 2014, Friday had nothing in the way of economic releases, but did have some Fed speak. Chicago Fed President Evans (higher deficits should lead to a steeper yield curve - that a negative development like a flattening yield curve will be outweighed by an even bigger negative like a rapidly-deteriorating fiscal position), San Francisco Fed President (the "new normal" level for the Fed's balance sheet is around $3 trillion, and that he is not concerned with a flatter yield curve). European Central Bank President Mario Draghi acknowledged that the growth cycle in the eurozone may have peaked already.

Looking at today, the calendar opens with the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for March. Following at 9:45am are the preliminary April Markit Manufacturing and Services PMIs. Existing home sales for March will be 10AM which is expected to increase 0.2% MoM to 5.55 million annualized. Finally, at 11AM, the Treasury will provide details regarding Tuesday's one-month bill announcement and at 11:30am will auction $48bn 3-month and $42bn 6-month bills.

Things pick up tomorrow with the February FHFA Housing Price Index and February S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index before March New Home Sales and April Consumer Confidence. Wednesday has the usual weekly MBA Mortgage Index, and weekly crude inventories before March Durable Orders and Durable Goods -ex transportation on Thursday. Thursday also has weekly Initial Claims and Continuing Claims. Friday, we receive Q1 GDP-Advance (prior 2.9%), Q1 Chain Deflator-Advance (prior 2.3%), and Q1 Employment Cost Index (prior 0.6%), ahead of April Chicago PMI (prior 57.4) and Final April Michigan Sentiment Index (prior 97.8). We start the week with agency MBS prices worse almost .125 versus Friday’s close and the 10-year note yielding 2.97%.

Employment

KBHS Home Loans, LLC is experiencing unprecedented growth and has immediate openings for Loan Officers in KB Home communities around the country. Louie Colatriano, President of KBHS said, “In today’s purchase-focused market, we are well positioned to continue expanding and offer tremendous opportunities for Loan Officers to thrive in a 100% purchase business partnered with KB Home.” Dedicated to delivering a smooth home buying experience from start to finish for customers, KBHS places Loan Officers directly within KB Home communities. “We are looking for top talent to expand our salesforce in nearly all our markets.” Those markets include: San Antonio, Houston, Austin, TX; Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, FL; Denver, CO; Phoenix & Tucson; Las Vegas; Orange County/San Diego, Inland Empire, Los Angeles/Ventura, Bay Area, Central/Sacramento, CA. KBHS and Erik Wirtner, who was recently promoted to Vice President of Sales - Western Region, are seeking Loan Officer and Sales Manager candidates in these expanding markets. If interested, contact Erik Wirtner, Craig Chapman (East Region VP) or Brian Corder (Recruiter).

Caliber Home Loans, Inc. was recently ranked #1 on Mortgage Executive magazine’s annual list of Top 100 Mortgage Companies in America! Caliber achieved the highest total origination volume and number of loans closed in 2017, among non-banks. This is a huge accomplishment for Caliber, who has previously been ranked 3rd and 2nd on this list. Caliber had an outstanding 2017: being voted #2 by Loan Consultants on Mortgage Executive’s 50 Best Companies to Work For list, earning top 10 spots on national lists for both home builder and VA loan production (Metrostudy and VAloans.com, respectively), and reporting the highest year-over-year volume growth among the industry’s top mortgage players (according to Inside Mortgage Finance, March 2018). Caliber is looking forward to another successful year in 2018 and recruiting loan officers to join our national network of producers. Email Jeremy DeRosa or visit us online.

Originators typically dread the time and cost it takes for them to complete their mandatory CE credits. But LO’s procrastinating on completing them have one less reason to do so thanks to REMN Wholesale. REMN is working with Mortgage Educators and Compliance to offer three convenient and affordable webinar options for you to complete your CE credits, at a price of 50 percent off the regular rate. The interactive webinar will be offered throughout the next two months, with the first occurring on May 1st. Space is limited, and you must register in advance online here. REMN’s sponsorship of these NMLS CE webinars is just another example of its dedication to a superior experience for its broker and banker partners. REMN continues to look for AEs across the country who share its dedication to helping broker and banker customers thrive. Experienced AE’s who match this description should send their resumes to aerecruiting@remn.com.

“Greater Nevada Mortgage’s continual focus on enhancing the lives of its employees is why Greater Nevada Mortgage (GNM) has been recognized as the Best Place to Work in the Reno/Tahoe Area, and consistently selected as Best Mortgage Lender in various areas throughout Northern Nevada and most recently, recognized as the Customer Service Institute of America’s, 2017 International Service Excellence Award recipient. Would you like to help more people Live Greater? GNM’s people help support strong communities through Greater lending options for their clients and it is what we deliver each day to thousands of consumers, in the numerous communities we serve. Ready to achieve Greater Success and join a growing team in Northern Nevada and Las Vegas? Visit GreaterNevadaMortgage.com or, call us at (775) 886-1455 to speak with a Talent Support Representative.”

Chicago, IL based AHP Servicing is hiring a Vice President, Servicing. AHP Servicing has a social mission: To purchase non-performing mortgages from investors and restructure the debt to help keep families in their homes. Management is moving the servicing business in-house and is looking for someone with at least three years of management experience leading a servicing team.Interested candidates should send their resumes to HR’s Lina Goldstein.

Sterling National Bank’s Warehouse Lending Group, based in New York, initiated a search for an experienced warehouse lender to help grow its national portfolio. Sterling’s warehouse group provides facilities from $10MM to $250MM+ for small to large mortgage bankers. The individual will join an experienced team and have the support of a well-capitalized bank with a history of growth and a balance sheet to triple the warehouse portfolio. The position offers a competitive salary, commission and benefits package along with the ability to work in NYC or remotely. To learn more about this opportunity, please click on the following link.