Should we start the finish of the normal workweek with some non-mortgage stuff? There are green monkeys living near a Florida airport who are connected to 1948 zoo escape. (Reminds me of the parrots in San Francisco, Pablo Escobar’s hippos running amok, or the chickens in Kaua’i.) Microsoft is retiring Internet Explorer. What’s next? Farewell Ask Jeeves? Adios AltaVista? The pace of change has me on tenterhooks. Forbearance is certainly changing: The MBA’s survey showed the rate of forbearance is down to 4.22% as of May 9. While the headlines are still focused on the decline in the overall rate of forbearance, some folks (like attorney Brian Levy in his Mortgage Musings) are looking at the same study and asking about the people who are exiting forbearance and how they are doing that. No doubt the CFPB is wondering about that too. Today’s audio version of the commentary is available here; this week’s is sponsored by loanDepot Wholesale, providing a fast, integrated, and seamless technology-based lending experience for business partners and their customers.

Lender and Broker Products and Services

“Brokers are our whole universe! In celebration of Customer Appreciation Day, Orion Lending will be waiving underwriting fees on all loans uploaded to Orion Lending from today, Friday, May 21, through Monday, May 24, 2021! We are serious about our brokers! Ready to start submitting but are not approved with Orion Lending? Click Here to get approved today so you can start submitting on May 21st! You’re not just another broker. We’re not just another lender.

In case you missed it, Symmetry Lending again reduced margins earlier this month! With rates as low as 3.99%, the Symmetry HELOC is an excellent alternative to jumbo financing. Challenged with reserve requirements? Need to use gift funds? Short on tradeline requirements? Need to use income from a departing residence? For all of these obstacles and more, learn how a Symmetry HELOC is the solution you need. Even without these challenges, strategically utilize this HELOC to give your borrowers the best of both worlds: provide the very best 1st mortgage terms, following with a stand-alone Symmetry HELOC that closes within 120 days of the 1st, and still get the benefit of a Piggyback! Or as we call them, Post-Close Piggybacks. Check out Symmetry’s New Pricing Guide and Contact your Area Manager today to learn more! And as always, connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for our ongoing updates.

Fully remote digital closings are the future of the mortgage industry but positioning your business to provide digital loan transactions can be a lengthy and complicated process due to the cost and logistics of implementing Remote Online Notarization (RON). In Radian’s latest insight report, Building a Foundation for eClosings, learn more about how you can move your business toward a fully digital experience and how hybrid closings can help lay the groundwork.

In a hot purchase market, brokers need to have as many arrows in their quiver as possible to win more business. Rocket Pro TPO is leveraging its immense size and scale, being part of the nation’s largest mortgage lender, to provide its partners’ clients with industry-leading mortgage insurance rates. For example, a client with a 760 FICO who puts down 5% on a $400,000 loan will only pay $70 per month for MI. This is $56 lower than the industry average of $126 for the same loan characteristics! That results in MASSIVE savings of more than $5,500 in just five years. The number that impacts homeowners’ budget is the monthly payment, not their interest rate. Effective brokers will explain how much money these low MI rates can save their clients. Compare the mortgage insurance from Rocket Pro TPO for yourself and set yourself apart from others who are only selling rates.

Today is National Talk Like Yoda Day, and even people who have never seen a single Star Wars film will be using the Jedi Master’s most famous quote today: “Do or do not. There is no try.”  Interestingly, lenders could say the same about their servicing operations policies and procedures. You either do or do not follow them, there is no try. MQMR has developed a Servicing Risk Assessment to help lenders determine if these policies and procedures are being followed, and if so, to what extent. Once a lender has completed the Servicing Risk Assessment, MQMR’s Jedi council will provide personalized and actionable recommendations. Take the Servicing Risk Assessment to start your Jedi training today.

FEMA’s Been Busy

FEMA released the “COVID-19 Pandemic Operational Guidance: All-Hazards Incident Response and Recovery,” a document aimed at helping emergency managers plan for disaster response and recovery, while adhering to public health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Lenders across the nation base their disaster policies off of FEMA’s disaster declarations. The drought in the West, a possible stronger-than-usual hurricane season, the recent spate of tornadoes in the South have lenders watching.

Tennessee counties of Davidson, Williamson, and Wilson are declared major disaster areas by FEMA. For loans submitted to Sun West Mortgage with an appraisal dated on or before the incident period end date of April 3, 2021, or for those submitted without an appraisal, Sun West will require an interior and exterior inspection prior-to-funding or purchase of any loans with subject properties that are determined to be at risk. Access the Sun West Seller Guide under the HELP section in sunsoft for requirements.

FEMA issued a disaster declaration for Davidson, Williamson, Wilson counties in Tennessee incident period date of March 25, 2021, through April 3, 2021. Loans delivered for purchase to Caliber on properties located in these counties with the appraisal completed prior to impacted date listed above, a standard disaster inspection is required to confirm that no damage has occurred to the subject property. Consult Caliber’s Sellers Guide for reinspection requirements and disaster policies.

Due to the declared disaster in Tennessee, Flagstar Bank is requiring satisfactory re-inspections. Review memo 21067 for more information.

On May 12th, First Community Mortgage updated information on the Oklahoma Severe Winter Storms in Disaster Announcement DA-21-03.

First Community Mortgage addressed the tornadoes in Tennessee with Disaster Announcement DA-21-07.

 revised Announcement 3-21C in regard to Oklahoma Severe Winter Storms.

Mortgage Solutions Financial posted Announcement 07-21C in regard to Tennessee tornadoes.

loanDepot’s Weekly Announcement addresses Alabama and Kentucky disaster announcements and FHA’s Temporary Partial Appraisal Waiver.

As a reminder, Built Technologies has created a tool within its system that allows lenders to track construction projects in their portfolios which are in counties where FEMA has declared a disaster. Referred to in the Built system as the FEMA Disasters Dashboard, the tool enables lenders to sort their projects according to variables such as the total number of impacted loans, total credit exposure and total funded and unfunded loan commitments. The data is updated every week, and lenders can view historical data going back up to three years. Each project is also linked to the actual FEMA disaster declaration, so lenders can obtain the latest information. The goal of the dashboard is to provide lenders with the visibility they need to proactively mitigate risk on projects that may be affected.

Capital Markets

U.S. Treasury and Agency MBS prices rallied yesterday, nudging rates a little lower. Why? Investors digested tapering remarks from the Fed minutes and the latest jobless claims figures helped. Wednesday's massive $294 billion reverse repurchase operation was followed by an even bigger $351 billion operation yesterday, suggesting that banks are struggling to absorb additional reserves from the Fed's asset purchases, which could be why the FOMC minutes hinted at a taper.

The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index (LEI) increased 1.6 percent month-over-month in April, beating expectations as strength among the leading indicators remains widespread, which should spell continued economic growth. The labor market improvement and buoyant financial markets overpowered supply chain restraints, which means that real GDP should follow suit and overtake pre-pandemic levels in Q2. The Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac for the week ending May 20 saw the 30-year fixed rate return to 3.0 percent after rising 6 bps with the 15-year fixed rate 3 bps higher to 3.29 percent.

Black Knight reported that, for just the second time in the past 12 weeks, the number of homeowners in active forbearance rose this week. Volumes were up by 16k, in line with the typical mid-month behavior we’d come to expect, but which had been suppressed in recent months due to strong declines around expirations. Forbearance plan starts were up this week driven primarily by an increase in restart activity. This too is common behavior for the middle of the month, especially given the large volume of removals seen in recent months.

Today’s economic calendar has yet to begin, but does have the potential to be market moving in the form of preliminary May Markit PMIs and existing home sales for April. With the Atlanta, Dallas and Richmond Feds jointly hosting a conference on the impact of labor markets and monetary policy from technology disruptions, in poker parlance this would be four of a kind: Dallas Fed President Kaplan, Atlanta Fed President Bostic, and Richmond Fed President Barkin are all set to deliver remarks. Also scheduled to appear today is San Francisco’s Daly who will speak on wage dynamics. The MBS purchase schedule by the Desk of the NY Fed is a repeat of Monday and Wednesday’s, in terms of coupons and sizes, with the NY Fed Desk scheduled to purchase $5.2 billion 30-years. We begin Friday with Agency MBS prices a shade better/up and the 10-year yielding 1.62 after closing yesterday at 1.63 percent.

Jobs

“Rushmore Correspondent Lending Services (RCLS) announces the recent hire of DJ Ziggas as Correspondent National Sales Leader. DJ brings over 20 years’ experience of Correspondent Lending and sales management to this role. Prior to joining RCLS, DJ spent his time in serving in several senior level roles managing sales teams in the Northeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the country. We are excited to have DJ lead our Sales team and work with our Correspondent clients. DJ is looking to expand the current team and we are looking for Correspondent Account Executives to help manage and expand our client base in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Western regions. If any Correspondents would like to learn more about what RCLS has to offer and how to become an approved seller to RCLS, please reach out to DJ Ziggas. If you are an Account Executive interested in an opportunity with RCLS please forward a copy of your resume to DJ Ziggas.”

PennyMac, one of the top 5 lenders in the country, is seeking Licensed Loan Officers for its offices in Plano, Texas, Roseville, California, and Tampa, Florida. With over 6,000 employees, PennyMac’s solid, steadfast business model has cast its national footprint leading to stable and successful growth. The company provides a pipeline of warm inbound leads, uncapped earnings potential, and offers plenty of opportunities for career advancement. To learn more about what it’s like to work for a top lender, please click here. 

“From 2018 to 2020 NewRez was the ‘Fastest Growing Mortgage Originator.’ Due to our exponential growth, NewRez is actively seeking for a Director of Non-Agency Securitization out of Fort Washington, PA. Primary function: Oversee all aspects of deal structuring and transaction management for all Non-Agency sales or securitizations. The ideal candidate will have 5-10 years of mortgage experience with at least 5+ years of experience in structuring private label securitizations and transaction management. Come be part of our growth! Click to apply today or contact our recruiting team: Director of Non-Agency Securitization; recruitingteam@newrez.com.”

A successful, growing mortgage bank is seeking a candidate to fill an opening for a Mortgage Servicing Manager. The Mortgage Servicing Manager is accountable for the day-to-day operations of the Mortgage Servicing department and has the responsibility of loan servicing of both internal portfolio loans as well as investor loans, post-loan administration functions such as modification, subordinations and partial releases, compliance management, payment processing, escrow, insurance, and reporting. Additionally, the Mortgage Servicing Manager will be responsible for successful management of the mortgage servicing team and providing leadership, guidance, training, and support while maintaining compliance with all company, investor, federal and state requirements, policies, and procedures. This is a remote position with some travel required. If interested, please send your resume to Chrisman LLC’s  Anjelica Nixt and specify this opportunity.

Out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, comes word that Peggy Bodinaku, a 20-year financial industry veteran, has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer at Amerifirst Home Mortgage and will be responsible for strategic oversight of Amerifirst's national brand, marketing, communications, and sales support initiatives.