“How can you make a comeback when you haven’t been anywhere?” It seems that 3D-printing is going places. NASA awarded five teams $100,000 in a 3D-Printed habitat competition. As the next step, the winners are required to 3D print a one-third-scale model of their design for a chance to win $2 million. And a Russian firm has announced commencement on the world’s largest 3D construction printer, capable of printing an entire six-story building before you can ask, “Where’s the inspector?" I am sure we could use them as polling places in this country.

Fraud

Just the word “fraud” is enough to make people take notice. Some writers won’t even address the topic because they don’t want their name and “fraud” together on the internet! But ignoring it is injurious, so let’s see what’s going on around the industry.

Fannie Mae’s Mortgage Fraud Program has identified several entities listed on loan applications as places of fictitious employment. Freddie Mac lists best practices and red flags.

CertifID, a real time identity management platform that helps protect real estate professionals from wire fraud, released its most recent white paper, “WIRE FRAUD IS EVERYONE’S PROBLEM.” Written by Thomas Cronkright II, CEO and Co-Founder of CertifID, the white paper addresses the recent ruling by the District Court of Kansas in Bain v. Platinum Realty, LLC et al. which heightened the standard of care owed by transaction participants to prevent wire fraud losses. According to the ruling, anyone—including title agents, underwriters and mortgage lenders--involved in a real estate transaction may be held liable where fraud occurs, regardless of the relationship between the parties.

Chase has information for its correspondents on the topic.

Wells Fargo Funding periodically issues Risk Advisory Bulletins to alert clients of fraud trends noted in its pre-purchase review on Loans with higher-risk fraud attributes. “In RAB18-01, dated May 10, 2018, an increase in fraud for convenience, which included forged signatures was referenced. Wells will not purchase a loan where someone has forged another individual’s name on any document. This includes both cut and pasted signatures and documents where someone else has signed another person’s name. Wells Fargo recommends you ensure your processes don’t allow for or require anyone to sign documents on behalf of loan officers or anyone else.

“The second observation deals with business email scams continuing to evolve in which real estate transactions are often targeted. Criminals will impersonate lenders, realtors, title companies, law firms, or other parties to the transaction and direct a homebuyer to wire funds to a fraudulent account. They may also request a change in payment type (check to a wire). It has increasingly noted instances of scammers emailing the lender and impersonating the closing agent to obtain borrower contact information.

“As a recommendation, Wells Fargo Funding suggests you work with your borrowers to prepare for Closing, let them know to be vigilant regarding emails. Some warning signs of “spoofed” emails include: Emails that are poorly written with spelling and grammatical errors, emails that come from nonbusiness, personal email accounts such as Gmail, AOL, or Yahoo instead of coming from “@company.com.” Some sophisticated scammers can spoof an email address making it appear to come from a legitimate company. Advise borrowers not to take any action regarding Closing instructions via email. Ask them to notify you immediately if they receive any such messages. Additionally, victims of imposter fraud should file a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigations Internet Crime Center (IC3.gov).”

American Banker put out several pieces of the topic of “How PSD2 changes the way you fight fraud: A guide for banks.” “The PSD2 (Payment Services Directive) transformation promises to make life better for customers. But will these changes come at a cost? Our free ebook, How PSD2 Changes the Way You Fight Fraud: A Guide for Banks, goes beyond fraud prevention. It examines how the adoption of PSD2 open banking will change the landscape of balancing risk and customer experience as we know it.

“Banks are shoring up their AI-enabled fraud prevention resources, in part by investing in data science teams. Meanwhile, fraudsters are rapidly evolving their tactics. The winners in this adversarial climate will be the banks that combine the best in-house data science with open source tools. And data has created an exposure to vulnerabilities like new fraud patterns, massive fraud attacks, and data breaches. Criminals are capitalizing on the vast amount of data at their disposal and are using it to steal money from financial institutions (FIs) and their customers. How can a large organization like yours stop fraudsters at the door?

“It’s no secret that our push towards technological innovation in digital payments has made fraud a clear and present danger…Download this eBook to learn everything acquirers need to know about modern fraud prevention.”

The Mortgage Bankers Association of New Jersey is hosting a webinar September 11th on the topic. “Please join us for this important webinar on September 11, 2018 to hear Grace Currid and Mary Kay Scully discuss key mortgage fraud schemes impacting mortgage lending today. These include mortgage- related wire fraud, which is an extremely serious problem today with consumers vulnerable when wiring funds for loan closings. Those hacking the system are difficult to detect before a consumer’s money is transmitted out of the country and not traceable.  This webinar will address how to detect and prevent this type of wire fraud.”

Capital markets – They’re Global

Recall that the European Central Bank Governing Council left the stance of monetary policy unchanged at the meeting ending July 26. ECB President, Mario Draghi, reiterated the central bank's commitment to winding down its net new asset purchases by the end of 2018. Maturing existing assets will be reinvested for "a period of time" thereafter. Policy rates are expected to remain at current levels through the summer of 2019. Mario Draghi's term is up at the end of October 2019.

Does anyone lock in a loan on the Friday before a 3-day weekend, or care about rates? Some do, apparently. U.S. Treasuries, and agency MBS prices, ended Thursday on a higher note. Turkey is back in the news after overnight weakness in the lira lifted the dollar/lira exchange rate, notable since the International Monetary Fund has identified an exchange rate that will force Turkish banks to recapitalize, which would become problematic for European banks with exposure to Turkey. The Central Bank of Argentina held an emergency meeting – things are rough there as its central bank raised rates to 60% to try to combat the crippling currency. Fresh from Wednesday’s announcement of Argentina asking the IMF for a $50 billion loan, Latin America’s third largest economy has investors very concerned.

And there are reports that President Trump could authorize the initiation of tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China next week. These tariffs were recommended by the president on June 18, but the office of the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has until September 6 to provide comments on the recommendation.

Today’s scheduled news is light with just August Chicago PMI and Michigan sentiment – not important 5:30AM PT numbers. We start Friday with the 10-year yielding 2.83% and agency MBS prices better by nearly .125.

Products and Services for Lenders

In March 2018, Caliber Home Loans, Inc. launched a mobile platform that features three phone apps customized for borrowers, the Caliber sales force and their business associates. Caliber recently enhanced the CaliberH2O mobile app, allowing users to extend a lock up to 30 days and view an improved Pricing Summary. The Pricing Summary screen is improved to show more lock information and to better match the web-based version of Caliber LOS, H2Online. The CaliberH2O mobile app is available to Caliber Loan Consultants and Account Executives – as well as approved brokers of Caliber Wholesale and non-delegated clients. CaliberH2O is available for download on Google Play and the App Store. Brokers can reach out to their Account Executive for more details, and those interested in becoming an approved Caliber business partner, you can download the broker package on www.caliberwholesale.com or send them an email.

Despite how often things change in the mortgage business, one thing has remained constant – Comerica Bank. Since 1965, Comerica Bank has been a warehouse partner with mortgage bankers across the country. Comerica Bank takes pride in its unwavering commitment to mortgage warehouse lending. Offering lines from $5 million to over $100 million, Comerica continues to grow year over year. If you are seeking a reliable, flexible and consistent warehouse partner, Comerica Bank is still here for you. Comerica Bank will customize your warehouse line to meet your needs, including construction financing, non-QM, and second liens. With state-of-the-art technology, Comerica Bank funds loans within seconds, ensuring satisfied borrowers and happy loan officers. Warehouse lenders come and go, but Von Ringger, Department Manager of Mortgage Banker Finance at Comerica, and his team are committed to mortgage banking. To see how Comerica Bank can raise your expectations of what a bank can be, contact Von Ringger at (313) 222-9285. Member FDIC. Equal Opportunity Lender. Loans subject to credit approval.

E Mortgage Management (EMM) recently announced a partnership with Blend, an automated digital home buying platform. Kevin Crichton, EMM President and Chief Operating Officer, said, “Our partnership with Blend allows our customers to experience digital technology that significantly accelerates our time to market through industry-lending automation. Crichton explained that the partnership between EMM and blend allows for an expedited delivery of customer information that enables our licensed loan agents the necessary time to provide excellence to our customers throughout the entire mortgage journey. Additionally, we will reduce the document-intensive procedures that weigh on both customers and mortgage sales professionals. “EMM, which is a growing mortgage lender in the United States, is expanding its footprint,” added Dan Williams, EVP of Sales. “Blend focuses solely on technology to build the best possible product. Their aptitude in this area allows us to deliver the simplest solution for our customers and our sales team.”

From the private mortgage insurance world comes news that Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) has created “The Loan Officer Hub.” Knowing that in many companies loan officers make the MI decision, the site is designed to be an all-inclusive resource for top loan officers. It includes everything a loan officer needs for business success including loan officer resources, strategies, tips and programs created exclusively for you. MGIC’s goal is to help loan officers succeed in all facets of their business. “From developing marketing strategies to educating first-time homebuyers to growing your real estate agent referral partnerships — we have all the loan officer tools you need to increase your business and close more loans.”

Since going live with Loan Vision in 2016, radius financial group inc. has streamlined many accounting processes which has enabled a rightsizing of its team member resources. Jim Harnett, Controller at radius explained, “We’ve been able to cut down our personnel. As a member of the team left, in the interim, I became more hands on with that person’s process. With doing our accounting in Loan Vision, through this change, I didn’t miss close that month and since then we decided we don’t have the bandwidth for another person… I’ve been able to streamline our close to probably six business days, if not less.” Read the case study to see how Loan Vision can bring significant efficiencies to your finance team or contact Carl Wooloff to schedule a demo.

Employment Opportunities

Homespire Mortgage Corporation Named to Inc. 5000 List for Second Consecutive Year Inc. magazine has named Homespire Mortgage Corporation to its Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies for 2018 for the second consecutive year. The list represents an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The company’s position at #1306 places Homespire Mortgage Corporation among an elite group of companies that achieved remarkable and sustained three-year growth and expansion. “To be named to this prestigious list for the second consecutive year is an incredible honor for Homespire Mortgage. It is a true testament to our sustained growth, our culture and our greatest strength of all, our people,” said Michael Rappaport, President & CEO. Since its formation, Homespire Mortgage Corporation has expanded its presence into 29 states and the District of Columbia. The company plans to expand its presence into new markets, including a national call center next year.

“Are you looking for a new kind of opportunity? Where innovation is celebrated and thinking out-of-the-box is at the heart of it all? Then it’s time to look at Motto Franchising, LLC. As the very first national franchised mortgage brokerage model, we offer something completely unique. Own your own business while taking advent age of an out-of-the-box mortgage company solution. We streamline the process of starting your own business by providing a strong wholesale lender mix, franchisee setup support, LOS training, licensing, marketing tools and more. Opportunity awaits. To learn more about this innovative model, contact our team at mottomortgage.com/franchises or 866.668.8649.”