I received some exciting news that I wanted to share with my readers. I received an invitation from a mortgage periodical to receive an award, if I paid $500, as one of the Top 10 lenders in Natrona County, Wyoming, which includes Casper. My guess is that it was a mistake, since I am not a lender, but it reminded me that some honors and list rankings can be had for a price. With my money I’d rather buy a letter from Al Capone (while doing time on Alcatraz) to his son. The price of servicing directly influences lenders holding servicing, and to hold servicing, or not, continues to be a topic at conferences. Potential capital requirements for independent mortgage banks to hold Ginnie servicing will drive servicing away from IMBs. But drive it to whom? The same mega-servicers that are often the target of regulators? Think before you jump! (Today’s audio version of the commentary is available here and this week’s is sponsored by Floify. Loan originators, mortgage brokers, and wholesale lenders, expedite your mortgage process with Floify POS, Floify+, and Floify TPO. Visit floify.com to schedule a live demo of any one of these three powerful loan origination solutions. Today’s features an interview with Floify CEO Dave Sims on the latest from the company.)

Products and Services

“1 UW Touch on 70% of loans!” “Shorter cycle time saves $ thousands on lock fees.” Only Candor can conduct a complete credit risk assessment, including income calculation (W2 & Self-Employed) assets and liabilities, and make the decision to lend. Of course we read Documents and cross check and corroborate data. 1 year and >1,000,000 autonomous underwrites later, Candor’s ROI goes unrivaled. Contact us for a demo. 

Navigate today. Prepare for tomorrow. Curinos is the leading provider of data, technologies and market insights that enable mortgage lenders to understand their competitive performance and proactively manage margins. Born out of the combination of two familiar industry powerhouses, Novantas and Informa’s FBX business, Curinos has the DNA across all mortgage channels including retail, wholesale and correspondent, to deliver real value to your organization. Through access to comprehensive datasets and analytics, intelligent technologies and connected behavioral insights, Curinos is the partner of choice to help you attract, retain and grow more profitable relationships. Learn more here.

Rates and terms don’t differentiate one lender from the next in today’s competitive market. It’s the loan officers that are making the difference. But not just any loan officer. High-performing loan officers have built new habits and found modern, technology-enabled ways to operate more efficiently and provide borrowers with the personalized experience they crave. Join the Sept. 9 webinar as industry experts from Total Expert and Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation share their playbook to empower loan officers to exceed borrower expectations and create customers for life.

“MortgageEducation.com looks out for its partners. As posted in this Commentary on Friday, there are HUGE RISKS in allowing MLOs to choose their own CE provider. “MLOs that renewed their classes through <x org> since 2017 are facing… having to retake their MLS classes, a recommendation that their license be suspended… that the state revoke the LO’s licenses”. www.MortgageEducation.com has a unique, more compliant, and more efficient process to save your org time and money with unique solutions. Plus, the most comprehensive Test Prep in the industry to help new MLOs pass the NST exam on the first attempt- MortgagACE. (Testimonials). We'd love to tell you more. Please contact Dave Olchek or request a demo.”

Monster Lead Group is reinventing mortgage marketing to help lenders and brokers make money. They're the first and only company to use big data & analytics to qualify borrowers. Then, using conversion-centric direct mail marketing, they drive high-quality leads. If you need exclusive mortgage leads for your LOs, talk to the team at Monster. Or take a minute to read how they can help.

PayPal has 392 million active users and had 15.4 billion transactions in 2020. They have nearly perfected online money transfers! What if there was a way to request upfront fees from homebuyers that had a similar user experience? With Fee Chaser by LenderLogix, there is. From within the LOS, loan officers can send borrowers a text message with a unique link to pay their fees. The borrower then opens a web browser, inputs their credit card information into a secure payment processor and they’re done! Once the payment is made, everyone gets a receipt, and it’s automatically uploaded to the eFolder. Schedule a demo with the LenderLogix team to make fee collection easier for you and your team.

Ginnie, FHA, USDA, and VA Trends

When one Agency makes a move, it has a ripple effect through the industry. KBW reports that during the 2nd quarter of 2021, “As of the end of June, mortgage insurance-in-force (IIF) grew by +2.7% QOQ and +9.0% YOY for the private mortgage insurers (PMIs) versus -0.9% QOQ and -3.2% YOY at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). In comparison, total mortgage debt outstanding grew +1.1% QOQ and +4.7% YOY (as of 1Q21, the latest available). The growth gap between PMI and FHA has widened sharply, reaching a level roughly double that of the five-year average pre-COVID-19. Ultimately, Bose George expects this growth gap to revert back to historical levels.”

FHA issued partial waivers to address the mortgagee’s timeframes and borrower eligibility for a required review or re-review for the COVID-19 ALM and the COVID-19 Recovery Options.

Mortgagees are encouraged to thoroughly review the two waivers as well as the COVID-19 ALM and COVID-19 Recovery Options policies outlined in ML 2021-15 and ML 2021-18, respectively.

Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issuance volume was $74.29 billion in July 2021. Ginnie Mae MBS issuance reflects the liquidity of the program and its value in meeting the mortgage needs of homebuyers and rental property owners. Approximately 274,882 homes and apartment units were financed by Ginnie Mae guaranteed MBS in July 2021. Ginnie Mae's total outstanding principal balance as of July 31 was $2.121 trillion, up from $2.112 trillion in the prior month, and up slightly from $2.115 trillion in July 2020. For more information on monthly MBS issuance, UPB balance, REMIC monthly issuance and global market analysis visit Ginnie Mae Disclosure.

Finally, a DPA for FHA, the LoanStream Mortgage MaxONE Down Payment Assistance Program. Highlights include 100% CLTV, FICO Down to 580, No DTI Overlays, Minimum Overlays and 2 Units Allowed.

USDA’s July 23 Bulletin announced new COVID-19 Special Relief Measures and Existing Guidance for Servicing Impacted Borrowers. An advance copy of the updated handbook is available for review on the USDA LINC Training and Resource Library. The COVID-19 Special Relief Alternatives include an option that target a 20% reduction in the borrower’s monthly principal and interest payments by offering a combination of interest rate reduction, term extension and mortgage recovery advance.

Flagstar Bank announced guideline updates removing various overlays on VA, FHA, and USDA loans, and then updated it Government Guidelines removing various overlays on FHA, VA, and USDA products. And then Flagstar implemented new FHA/VA Loan Amount LLPAs that improve the price. But wait… Flagstar is removing the overlays from the Government Underwriting Guidelines.

Citi Correspondent Lending Bulletin 2021-10 covers temporary policy updates on income & VOE requirements for Agency, Non-Agency, FHA, and VA Transactions.

VA issued VA Circular 26-21-11 announcing that a Certificate of Eligibility is no longer required for Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans (IRRRLs). Effective immediately, this change can be applied to Caliber Home Loans Correspondent Lending’s existing loans in the pipeline with application dates on or after July 15, 2021. For more information, reference: AllRegs > Government Program Summary > VA Program Summaries > VA Fixed and ARM.

PRMG Product Profile Updates 21-42 includes information on FHA Streamline, Chenoa FHA Edge, and FHA Rate Advantage. And PRMG Product Profile Updates 21-43 includes Retail Only product updates on Gold Jumbo, Maryland Conventional, SC Housing FHA and Conventional, TSAHC FHA and Conventional, WHEDA Conventional. PRMG Product Profile Updates include HomeReady, Texas Home Equity, Standard and High Balance FHA Products, USDA Products, VA IRRRL and Ruby Jumbo.

Mountain West Financial Wholesale posted information regarding CalHFA’s MyHome Increase. MyHome now provides the lesser of 3% (Conventional), 3.5% (FHA) of the purchase price or $15,000. As a reminder, the following will be exempt from the $15,000 cap: School employees - teachers, administrators, school district employees, staff of a California public school (pre-K-12) or public school district, charter, and county/continuation schools. Firefighters – firefighters, administrators, other federal local and tribal department employees. New construction, manufactured housing and SFRs with an ADU.

loanDepot’s announcement provides information on Quality Control Awareness – WVOE and VVOE Matrix, Jumbo Advantage EXPRESS, FHA Lending Guide Updates, VA IRRRL Certificate of Eligibility and Fee Exemption updates.

For VA Mortgage Loans delivered for purchase to AmeriHome Mortgage, Sellers must provide a copy of the VA Form 26-1899, Loan Guaranty Certificate (LGC) within 60 days from close or prior to the Mortgage Loan becoming 30 days delinquent, whichever occurs sooner.

On July 20, 2021, USDA issued a GovDelivery Bulletin advising lenders that the SFHGLP is in the process of updating HB1-3555 Chapter 11: Ratio Analysis. The revised handbook chapter will become effective on the date the related Procedure Notice (PN) is published by the Agency. AmeriHome will announce any impacts to its guidelines and requirements once the USDA publishes the PN providing an effective date for the changes.

FAMC has updated the VA IRRRL COE requirements. Recent enhancements in WebLGY provide more accurate funding fee exemption information at the time the new IRRRL case number is requested. This update will expedite the overall process for IRRRL transactions. A COE is not required for IRRRLs. The IRRRL assignment screen from WebLGY indicating the funding fee status must be included in the file.

Are you looking for an VA IRRRL? PCF Wholesale offers No income, no appraisal - 2.50% (2.32) and 2.625% (2.642) and 2.75% (3.136).

Capital Markets

AmeriHome announced that Bulk AOT Commitments will be available beginning Wednesday, September 1st. Sellers may contact their sales representative to request approval to conduct Bulk AOT Commitments with AmeriHome. Details are available in announcement 20210810-CL located in AmeriHome SellerWeb.

Interest rate-wise, not much news to report from yesterday. It is often an unremarkable week leading up to the monthly jobs number, and this time around we have the August payrolls data on Friday providing one more data point towards the Fed’s tapering timeline. Pending home sales unexpectedly declined (1.8 percent in July) for the second consecutive month. Higher prices and limited inventory deterred some homebuyers. Separately, MBA’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey was unchanged relative to the prior week at 1.6 million.

Today’s economic calendar gets under way shortly with Redbook same store sales, followed in rapid succession by June home prices from both S&P/Case-Shiller and FHFA, Chicago PMI, and consumer confidence for August. The day rounds out with Dallas Fed Texas services. The Desk will conduct two MBS purchase operations targeting up to $4.6 billion of conventionals. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged from Monday’s close and the 10-year yielding 1.29 after closing yesterday at 1.29 percent.

Employment and Recruiting

Enact (formerly known as Genworth MI) is hiring a Field Sales Account Manager in Colorado. This role is key in creating new customers and maintaining or increasing MI market share with current customers and is ideal for a person who thrives by taking on unique business challenges and enjoys contributing directly to the bottom line of the business. To learn more about the position and apply please visit or you can contact Erin Kirkeeng.

“New American Funding is closing the gap in lending to minorities. New American Funding is the largest Hispanic-owned mortgage company in the U.S. and is a leader in bringing homeownership opportunities to underserved communities. In 2020, 36% of New American Funding’s home purchase loans were to minority borrowers. We are the #1 lender to Hispanic borrowers, with a higher percentage of loans going to Hispanic borrowers than any other lender in the top-25 largest mortgage companies in the U.S. based on the 2020 HDMA data. We are committed to lending $45 billion in new mortgages over seven years to Hispanic and Black borrowers, mirroring our communities with a 45% minority workforce (23 percent Hispanic) and New American Funding is empowering underserved communities to build wealth through homeownership. Our Latino Focus and New American Dream initiatives were created to build consumer confidence through home buying education, accessibility to credit, and mortgage industry career opportunity awareness. If you are looking for a rewarding career while helping build the dream of homeownership reach out to Kellie Hester, Senior Talent Acquisitions Manager, (951-824-1609).”

Recognized for the sixth year in a row as a Great Place to Work® by FORTUNE Top 100 Best Companies to Work For,® National MI is hiring for two positions on the Marketing team, Digital Marketing Manager and Senior Marketing Specialist. The Digital Marketing Manager will develop, execute, and own digital email campaigns, building and analyzing lead generation strategies, and identifying opportunities to optimize social platforms & company website to further promote the National MI brand. The Senior Marketing Specialist will create marketing communications, develop creative graphic designs, manage customer event planning, and oversee promotional materials for the company’s virtual store. For a full description of each position and to apply please visit www.nationalmi.com.

How many recruiting opportunities do you think you've lost due to lack of follow-up? Felt that painful feeling of seeing your recruit update their LinkedIn and join a competitor? How much time has been wasted sourcing candidates, and the wrong ones at that!? (Hint: It’s an average of 13 hours per week!). Just as you track files in your LOS, you should have that same power in your recruiting pipeline. Teams should be able to collaborate and work together to build and maintain healthy pipelines without spending hours each week jumping between different platforms and duplicating effort. Most importantly, you should be in a position to access meaningful market information in a simplistic view and turn that into actionable data. Model Match is on a mission to modernize the way our industry acquires talent and to empower teams to find a better, less painful way to grow. Let us show you what you’re capable of - Model Match.

“PHH Mortgage continues to grow with 2021 volume up more than 350% over last year according to Inside Mortgage Finance. The latest news related to our growing business is the addition of Tony Millis as VP, Central Division Sales for Correspondent Lending. Tony is a great addition to our rapidly expanding team and will be a wonderful asset as we continue to grow our Corresponding Lending program. PHH Mortgage is growing and hiring sales executive roles across the country! If you want to join an up-and-coming leader in the Correspondent business, then check out our openings and apply at jobs.ocwen.com/ where you will fill find sales roles and much more. If you would like to become a client, please visit the contact us page of our website.”