Tropical Storm Harvey is very slowly creeping back toward the Gulf of Mexico but it was moving at only three miles per hour as of early Monday, so Southeast Texas, where Harvey made landfall, is still in danger. At least five deaths, and many more injuries, have been attributed to the storm. With Harvey expected to remain around Southeast Texas for the next several days, cumulative rainfall in isolated parts of Texas could reach 50 inches. Put another way, Harvey isn’t finished, but if the estimated rainfall in Southeast Texas and the greater Houston area (as of 12 p.m. Sunday) was collected, you’d have a cube of water two miles wide and two miles tall.

Disaster Updates

As always, customers should review the seller guides of individual investors! A complete list of the affected disaster areas can be found at www.fema.gov.

"The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and state bank regulators recognize the serious impact of Hurricane Harvey on the customers and operations of many financial institutions and will provide regulatory assistance to affected institutions subject to their supervision. The agencies encourage institutions in the affected areas to meet the financial services needs of their communities.

"Bankers should work constructively with borrowers in communities affected by Hurricane Harvey. The agencies realize that the effects of natural disasters on local businesses and individuals are often transitory, and prudent efforts to adjust or alter terms on existing loans in affected areas should not be subject to examiner criticism. In supervising institutions affected by the hurricane, the agencies will consider the unusual circumstances they face. The agencies recognize that efforts to work with borrowers in communities under stress can be consistent with safe-and-sound banking practices as well as in the public interest.

Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): Financial institutions may receive CRA consideration for community development loans, investments, or services that revitalize or stabilize federally designated disaster areas in their assessment areas or in the states or regions that include their assessment areas. For additional information, institutions should review the Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment here.

Freddie Mac's disaster relief options will be available to borrowers with homes in presidentially-declared Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs are made available to affected individuals and households. Until then, servicers may leverage Freddie Mac's forbearance programs to provide immediate mortgage relief to borrowers affected by the storm.

"We strongly encourage the many American families whose homes or businesses are being impacted by Hurricane Harvey to call their mortgage servicer if the Federal Emergency Management Agency's declaration is announced," said Yvette Gilmore, Freddie Mac's Vice President of Single-Family Servicer Performance Management. "Relief -- including forbearance on mortgage payments for up to one year -- may be available if their mortgage is owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac."

Freddie Mac disaster relief policies authorize mortgage servicers to help affected borrowers in presidentially declared Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs have been extended. Freddie Mac mortgage relief options for affected borrowers in these areas include suspending foreclosures by providing forbearance for up to 12 months, waiving assessments of penalties or late fees against borrowers with disaster-damaged homes, and not reporting forbearance or delinquencies caused by the disaster to the nation's credit bureaus.

Lenders are reminded that Fannie Mae has selling and servicing policies to assist impacted borrowers (or potential borrowers) following a disaster, such as the hurricane on the Gulf coast. Refer to Assistance in Disasters for information on where to find Fannie Mae's policies for providing assistance to borrowers impacted by a disaster. View the press release.

Due to the potential impacts of Hurricane Harvey to the southern Texas coast, at this time, and until all affected areas have been identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other sources, Pacific Union Financial, LLCwill temporarily suspend the funding of loans secured by properties in impacted areas.

AmeriHome, with FEMA's DR-4332, reminded clients that policies vary based on program and re-inspection requirements for transactions with and without appraisals. Sellers are reminded that they are responsible for determining potential impact to a property located in an area where a disaster is occurring or has occurred, irrespective of whether the property was included in an area covered by a disaster declaration. Sellers are also reminded that appraisal waivers and reduced appraisal types, such as Fannie Mae's PIW and Freddie Mac's ACE, are not eligible in areas impacted by disasters. See the respective Agency requirements for details.  

AmeriHome reminded clients that for loans on properties involving transactions with appraisals for Fannie, Freddie, VA, and USDA, if the appraisal is dated on or before incident period end date, including on-going disasters where an incident end period date has not yet been declared then the re-inspection date must be May be prior to the declared incident period end date.

For non-agency, Core Jumbo, or FHA, if the appraisal is dated on or before incident period end date, the re-inspection date must be after declared Incident period end date. (In other words, re-inspection may not be completed until after the declared incident period end date).

For properties without an appraisal, a property inspection is required if no incident period end date has been declared and Loan Purchase is on or after incident period start date, or the incident period end date has been declared and Loan Purchase is on or within 90 days after incident period end date. Re-inspection type can utilize any of the property inspection types in Seller Guide Section 10.10.7.1., AND include an interior inspection with photos.

Sellers must follow Wells Fargo standard Disaster Policy for all properties located in ZIP codes that Wells Fargo Funding has determined were impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Precautions must be taken for Loans originated within affected areas. Regardless of whether FEMA has formally declared a disaster, all transactions showing any indication of damage to the collateral should comply with the published Disaster Policy Guidelines as outlined for customers here.

Customers of Chase can visit the Correspondent Site for more information on appraisal requirements, and re-inspection requirements.

And the same with SunTrust - it is spelled out in SunTrust's seller guide.

NewLeaf Wholesale reminded its brokers that If the subject property is located in an impacted area, with a completed appraisal dated prior to the incident start date, a 1004D re-inspection completed by the Appraiser must certify that the property is free from the applicable natural disaster damage. For appraisals in an impacted area dated during the incident period, the Appraiser must: Comment on the condition of the property and any effects on the marketability AND add detailed language into the body of the appraisal confirming that the property is free from the applicable natural disaster damage OR provide a 1004D re-inspection to certify that the property is free from the applicable natural disaster damage. For appraisals in an impacted area dated after the incident end date, the Appraiser must: Comment on the condition of the property and any effects on the marketability AND add detailed language confirming that the property is free from the applicable natural disasters damage into the body of the appraisal.

Harvey isn't the only recent disaster.

On 8/2/2017, with DR-4326, FEMA announced federal disaster aid with individual assistance for 4 Michigan counties, Bay, Gladwin, Isabella and Midland in the areas affected by severe storms and flooding from 6/22 to 6/27/2017.

As a result of severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and Flooding in Missouri, FEMA declared a major disaster area (DR-4317) in several counties. Properties located in these areas must follow Plaza's Natural Disaster Policy, GD-PO-008.

Because of severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides in West Virginia (DR-4331), FEMA declared a major disaster area for Harrison, Marion, Marshall and Wetzel counties for an incident period of July 28, 2107 - July 29, 2017. FEMA declared and communicated the major disaster on August 18, 2017. 

Capital Markets

Rates are certainly behaving themselves. It appears that the focus of LOs has, in part, shifted away from hoping for lower rates (the 10-year hit 2.16% Friday, closing at 2.17%) and into making tough deals work. That aside, U.S. Treasuries, and with them agency MBS prices, ended last week on a higher note - perhaps due to a weaker-than-expected Durable Goods number. It wasn't due to speeches by Fed Chair Janet Yellen or European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi, as neither provided little new information.

Ahead of the long Labor Day holiday weekend our calendar of scheduled news is packed. We start today with July advanced economic indicators including the goods trade balance ($65.1 billion) and wholesale inventories (+.4%), along with a $26 billion 2-yr note auction and $34 billion 5-yr note auction. Tomorrow, for those that care about two-month old real estate price information, we'll see the June Case-Shiller 20-city Index, August Consumer Confidence, and a $28 billion 7-yr auction. Wednesday is the MBA's application survey results, August ADP Employment Change, and the 2nd estimate of GDP.

Thursday has the August Challenger Job Cuts, weekly Initial Claims, July Personal Income and Spending/Consumption, core PCE Prices, August Chicago PMI, and July Pending Home Sales. Friday is all the August job data as well as July Construction Spending, August ISM Index, and final August Michigan Sentiment. We begin the week, grappling with the economics of Hurricane Harvey, with the 10-year yielding 2.18% and agency MBS prices unchanged versus Friday's close.

Jobs and Personnel

Gateway Mortgage Group's Correspondent Lending Division welcomes its newest Regional Sales Manager covering the Rocky Mountain markets, Ryan Renz.  With 18 years of experience in mortgage banking, Ryan has served the industry in many roles throughout his tenure including - senior account management, origination, processing and secondary marketing. Ryan brings a wealth of experience and a commitment to correspondent lending which perfectly aligns with Gateway's strategic initiatives and platform. Gateway's Correspondent Lending Division, an arm of one of the largest privately held mortgage bankers in the country, offers a wide array of programs, competitive pricing and a unique alternative to the correspondent channel for small and mid-sized financial institutions as well as independent mortgage companies. For more information, please contact Jared Edmonds.

Paramount Equity Mortgage today announced a series of executive appointments designed to assist in the company's aggressive growth plans in retail lending. The appointments include Rhonda Dalton as Senior Vice President of Operations and Bridget Clark as Vice President of Marketing. "It's an incredibly exciting time for Paramount right now. The strength in our business and the momentum we are experiencing is putting us on a steep upward trajectory," said Mike Berte, President of Paramount Equity. "The arrival of Rhonda and Bridget in these leadership roles will be key to our continued growth in retail lending and help us build efficiencies in the pivotal areas needed to offer consumers and our retail partners a best-in-class mortgage experience." For career inquiries regarding opportunities in Sales and Operations, please contact our Recruiting Manager, Tara Gomes (916.218.7076).

"Fresh off adding two more top 20 lenders as clients, Title365 is growing and searching for a national and a regional sales executive. Title365 National Solutions is a title and settlement company known for its innovation, technology, and strategic disruption in the title industry. As our Sales Executive, you will acquire, build, and maintain long-lasting client relationships with top mortgage banks, lenders, and credit unions.  The ideal candidate has a consultative sales approach with a broad knowledge of mortgage lending, must have sales experience with a proven track record of exceeding goals, and be self-motivated to succeed in a fast-paced, competitive environment. Interested candidates should send resume to Marlena Diaz."

Bill Sohan and Brooke Anderson at Academy Mortgage are "excited to announce that John Ranieri, a proven leader in our industry, is now running our first Branch located in Southern, NJ.  Please welcome Aimee deVries, Danielle deVries, Kristen Clarke, Barbara Owen, Frank DiMichele and Emily Rohm to the Academy Mortgage Family! If you would like to learn more or become part of an amazing Team, please contact Brooke Anderson (609-500-1520).

Wil Armstrong, the chairman of Colorado's Cherry Creek Mortgage Co. Inc., has resigned a day after Cherry Creek said it was changing its previous policy of denying health-insurance benefits to same-sex couples in the wake of a lawsuit. In his brief announcement, Armstrong said he had resigned Thursday as chairman and a member of the board of directors, "effective immediately." In his statement, Armstrong made no mention of the same-sex benefits issue, nor did he give a reason for his resignation.

Zillow, on the other hand, received some good news as a judge dismissed a plaintiffs' complaint against the online real estate firm that alleged that its estimates amounted to unlicensed appraisals and made their properties hard to sell.