What will buildable land in Las Vegas set you back? The math is pretty easy: Toll Brothers has acquired 10 acres of vacant land at a once-bankrupt Summerlin condo complex for $10.3 million. But that is just the start of expenses, right? In neighboring California, more stringent building-code requirements add roughly $47,000 to a typical 1,400-square-foot home, and building impact fees account for 20% of costs. And we want housing for first-time home buyers? In California, the percentage of home buyers who can afford to buy a median priced home stands at 29%.
TRID & closing table requirements
How much do closing table surprises hurt the lender? Back in the pre-TRID days, borrowers often walked into their closing with unclear expectations. While TRID has improved communications with borrowers,STRATMOR Group's MortgageSAT National Benchmark data (sample size 60,000 year-to-date) shows that 11 percent of borrowers still say they did not close at expected rates and fees. Customers who have a negative experience are more likely to share their experience than happy ones, and negative borrower experiences with surprise rates and fees can lead to unflattering social media reviews and worse yet, BBB or CFPB complaints. Look at this month's MortgageSAT Tip. MortgageSAT Director Mike Seminarisuggests three steps your organization can take to help avoid closing table rate and fee issues.
Effective for all Agency loans with Note dates on or after September 25th, 2017, Fifth Third Mortgage Company will require the following in support of the Uniform Closing Dataset. Correspondents must: Submit the UCD file to both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ensure all fatal errors or critical warning messages are addressed and cleared, deliver both the Fannie Mae UCD Findings Report and Freddie Mac Loan Closing Advisor feedback certificate with the closed loan package.
Mortgage Solutions Financial has made changes in its correspondent process regarding communication contacts and process flow.
Based on Pacific Union Financials' agreement with AllRegs, revisions to its Program Guides and certain other documents will no longer appear in red font. Changes to PDF documents however will continue to be appear in red font.
Lending license changes within the states
New Hampshire's Bill, effective August 28, 2017, allows the Banking Commissioner to conditionally approve a license for a mortgage loan originator of a person who is licensed in another state with certain findings. These findings include that the applicant has never had an M.L.O license revoked, and demonstrated financial responsibility, character, and general fitness. An applicant must also have completed at least twenty hours of education and two additional hours of training related to lending standards for the non-traditional mortgage marketplace is required and two hours of New Hampshire mortgage law education, if the person did not previously pass a written test specific to New Hampshire mortgage laws.
The Commissioner may conditionally approve an application for a mortgage loan originator license if the applicant is currently licensed as a loan originator in another state and has met the previously described requirements and passed a written test as required. The written test must measure the applicant's knowledge and comprehension in ethics and federal and state laws and regulations pertaining to mortgage origination, including instruction of fraud, consumer protection, the non-traditional mortgage market place, and fair lending issues.
Effective July 3, 2017, Maryland adopted amendments to change requirements for loan originators and mortgage lender licensee numbers. Essentially, Maryland is allowing substituting state requirements for licensee number identifications with the use of federally required NMLSR numbers. Specifically, the first change allows mortgage lender licensees that appear on notes or agreements for mortgages secured by security instruments to use either the mortgage lender licensee number or the NMLSR number. The second change is the same as the former; however, it applies to mortgage loan originators. The last change affects foreclosure notices. An individual who is sending a foreclosure notice which must include a mortgage lender licensee/loan originator license numbers may use the NMLSR as a satisfactory substitute. It is important to note that all three changes allow for a substitution of the state required numbers.
The state of Hawaii has recently passed Senate Bill 951, effective September 1, 2017, which updates the state's mortgage loan origination law regarding licensing requirements. The first major revision relates to presumption of control. Specifically, which individuals, dependent upon position, are presumed in a position of control. The updates also address the issue of a change in control. The Commissioner may approve a change of control if, after investigation, he or she is able to determine that three conditions are met. Another revision states that each licensed mortgage loan originator company must designate a "qualified individual" to fulfill various duties and responsibilities. The title qualified individual as well as the duties required are specified.
An additional update relates to the requirements for becoming licensed as a mortgage loan originator in Hawaii. An applicant must submit to NMLS his or her fingerprints, and provide his or her personal history and experience. If the applicant is not an individual but an entity, the bill addresses these requirements as well.
The state of Rhode Island has recently amended Section 34-27-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-27,which relates to mortgage foreclosure and sale. The updated provisions provide for an increase in penalties for financial institutions that fail to promptly record foreclosure deeds, and fail to promptly pay outstanding taxes. The law first deals with the issue of recording, stating that in the event of a public auction made according to the provisions of any mortgage of real estate. The other issue that the update addresses is the payment of outstanding taxes. The provisions increase the monthly penalty from per month for violations of either of these sections. However, a maximum aggregate penalty of $2,000 has been added.
Finally, the provisions add that any mortgagee that is not licensed as a financial lending institution, but that is holding a mortgage by private agreement with another party, is exempted from these penalties.
Capital markets
It sure seems as if U.S. economic news (continuing to show an economy doing well) and news from the Federal Reserve (rate change in December, reducing their balance sheet in the autumn) are taking a back seat to geopolitical affairs and U.S. politics. Trump is still managing to surprise the markets and the population. As one Wall Street firm put it, "The latest incredulity-inducing episode came Tues afternoon when Trump veered violently off-course during a press event ostensibly dedicated to 'infrastructure' and doubled-down on his original 'many sides' explanation for the violence in Charlottesville over the weekend... the president
continues to undermine the Republican pro-growth agenda by alienating important
constituencies.
"Expectations for realization of the pro-growth agenda have declined dramatically since the initial post-election euphoria but they probably need to fall even further following the events of the last few weeks." Regarding the infrastructure build, Politico wrote that the $1 trillion plan is as elusive as ever, and that, "the administration has actually done very little to bolster spending on this front and it doesn't look like substantive action will ever take place."
Tax reform? Same thing - not going anywhere. While Rep. Kevin Brady is still hopeful of striking a tax deal, others are growing more doubtful. Republicans have yet to coalesce around a specific plan and Trump isn't doing the effort any favors. While the initial GOP blueprint has been tempered, the party is prob. still too ambitious in its objectives. Corporate lobbyists and independent experts think Congress and the White House are far apart on critical issues.
Rate-wise, sure we had a little North Korea rally last week, but this week bonds, and thus interest rates, have settled back into not doing much: yesterday we gained what was lost on Tuesday and closed the 10-year at 2.23%. Yesterday bond prices began climbing shortly after the release of a weaker than expected July Housing Starts and Building Permits. The minutes made a September announcement regarding the beginning of tapering of reinvestments, which is expected to start in October, very likely.
In the early afternoon when it was reported that President Trump will end the Manufacturing Council and Strategy & Policy Forum after several CEOs announced their departures from the two groups. The termination of the president's outreach to business leaders, suggests that Mr. Trump is becoming increasingly isolated, which could get in the way of pushing through highly-anticipated tax reform, and keep rates low. Few are seriously talking about the $1 trillion infrastructure build to spur the economy.
This morning for scheduled potentially interest rate moving news we've had the weekly initial jobless claims (-12k to 232k) and August's Philadelphia Fed (down slightly). Coming up is July Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, July Leading Indicators. We begin Thursday with the benchmark 10-year yielding 2.24% and agency MBS prices worse a shade versus yesterday's close.
Jobs, personnel, and products
"You spend your time, talent, and expertise getting loan applications and taking care of your borrower. You've earned their trust. What you need now is a company that will back you up; a company who understands what it takes to get where you are now. A company that knows how to get loans closed on time. That's Assurance Financial, a full-service mortgage lender. We're growing, and we're looking for the best and brightest to grow with us. We hire the best, and we compensate well. If that's you, call Sales Recruiting Manager Paul Peters, CMB at 225-239-7948 or visit LendTheWay.com/Careers. It's just a phone call, but Assurance Financial could change the way you think about your career."
In MI job news, Essent Guaranty continues to grow and is looking for an Account Representative in Louisiana. "Essent Guaranty, a leader in the mortgage insurance industry and a great place to work, is looking for a results-driven Account Representative to call on mortgage lenders, banks, and credit unions. Essent offers a very competitive compensation and benefits package and makes it easy for serious professionals to transition. As an Account Representative, you will drive profitable mortgage insurance business using a risk centric approach and a goal of delivering value and added credit enhancement solutions. If you have an undergraduate degree and a minimum of 1-3 years of relevant business development experience within the financial services, mortgage, secondary markets, capital markets or mortgage insurance industries, this may be the job for you. If you are interested in joining our team, please send a resume to Careers@essent.us.
loanDepot's extended product spectrum and flexible lending solutions go beyond standard conventional loans. This lending powerhouse offers borrowers avenues such as Renovation Loans, VA Renovation Loans, Builder Products, Jumbos and even Personal Loans to help their originators tackle the housing inventory crunch. The company's ability to manage its renovation loans completely in-house, including all draw functions to ensure top tier service is attractive to the client. They recently announced they're offering reduced FICO scores (as low as 520) on FHA and VA loans. FHA 203K and Fannie Mae HomeStyle are popular for buyers looking to turn a fixer upper. These few areas that make loanDepot unique. Joining forces with homebuilders has also provided consistent volumes, funding almost $4 Billion in builder business last year alone. As many smaller lenders start to follow loanDepot's footsteps, the company will continue to solidify its builder book of business. Contact Shane Stanton (sstanton@loandepot.com) to learn more!
Following another record month in July, Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions is continuing its aggressive hiring spree by looking to add Wholesale Account Executives in markets across the country, specifically in Baltimore, Nashville, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Northern CA and Northern VA. To continue to deliver an extraordinary customer experience while realizing record monthly volumes, it is also hiring underwriters and other operations positions in its Atlanta headquarters. With a new Asset Qualifier program recently launched, there is no better time to join the nation's top non-QM lender. Visit JoinAngelOak.com or learn more about what it's like to work for Angel Oak by watching the Top Mortgage Employer's interview from the Mortgage News Network.
"REMN Wholesale has long believed that reno loans remain one of the most potential-filled product categories on the market, which is just one reason why they are a critical part of the top producing reno lender in the country, according to HUD's August 203(k) Endorsement Summary Report. Not one to rest, REMN continues to invest in helping brokers and bankers with their renovation lending needs, as evident by Stephen Rizzetta's promotion into the newly created role of Renovation Account Manager whose focus is to help REMN's customers close these loans as quickly as possible. Across the country, productive account executives are thriving as a part of the REMN team. In addition to an entrepreneurial culture and leadership in the reno space, they offer same-day turn times (year-round), along with exceptional training and support programs. REMN is constantly looking for exceptional account executives to grow with them and interested applicants should email aerecruiting@remn.com.
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