Some things stick with you, some don’t. Many of the topics covered here in Atlanta’s NAMMBA Connect 2021 will stick with folks since they mirror what various companies have their eye on. Social media best practices, modern appraisal technology and new valuation models, leveraging technology, data intelligence, and other tools to change lending in support of affordable housing and credit expansion, creating efficiencies with large budgets, small budgets, and in between to show how machine learning can make an impact at any cost are some of the topics. Others involve the five e-Eligibility factors that influence the digitization of mortgage closings (county land recording, counterparty requirements, title underwriter restrictions, settlement readiness, and eNotarization regulations), along with using process re-engineering, metrics, and workflow automation technology to reduce appraisal turn-times, guarantee compliance, and significantly reduce costs. (The audio version of today’s commentary, available here, is sponsored by Origence, helping financial institutions provide mortgage, consumer, indirect, and home equity loans with greater efficiency and increased scale while also delivering a convenient and personalized experience to borrowers.)

Lender Services and Software

Free ebook: Learn how to become the go-to lender for top real estate agents. Did you know that a whopping 77% of real estate agents regularly refer borrowers to just one lender? That means building a strong agent network is key to reliably filling your pipeline. So what’s the secret to being a lender every agent wants to work with? Digital mortgage platform Maxwell interviewed real estate agents across the country to find out. The result is Winning Agent Business, a comprehensive guide to earning the business of top-performing agents. Learn 4 qualities agents value in their lending partner, 6 agent networking dos (and 4 don’ts), and actionable ways to become the go-to lender for your market’s real estate agents. Click here to download Winning Agent Business: The Lender’s Guide to a Strong Network.

Are you manually printing out and mailing letters such as goodbye letters, insurance transfer notifications, and NOIA’s? Or are you sending lists to a mailing service and losing control and visibility of the process? There’s a better way. Have your Encompass® LOS do it all for you. Yep, with the help of Connector by Velma®, Encompass will automagically print and mail custom letters, at exactly the right time with the right information, while storing a copy in the eFolder for easy audit support. Improve your accuracy, record keeping, and timeliness while eliminating labor costs for a positive ROI. More info here.

"I'm a firm believer that every business funnel needs to have four pillars of business. One of the biggest pillars of business is your past clients. If you use Homebot, it's a true plug-and-play. Turn it on, let it go, and it does the work for you. It's a must-have," says Allie Lord, Branch Manager at Caliber Home Loans. Homebot, the award-winning client-for-life portal, is helping lenders like Caliber Home Loans foster client relationships that extend far beyond the initial transaction. On average, Homebot generates 100 new loans per month for Allie and her team. See the full story here.

Using data algorithms, conversion copywriters, and analytics, Monster Lead Group helped produce over $16B in loans last year. Its direct mail technology can target just the jumbo refis, low loan govies, or anything in between. Plus, Monster can manage the mail stream and handle the creative. That's why Manny Fajardo of Premier Lending Corp. said, "We've basically stopped doing all other marketing and gone 100% with Monster". Learn how Monster can double your lead volume in half the time or schedule a short demo.

Originally intended for his owner’s dinner plate, Mike the Headless Chicken was destined for greater things. He earned roughly $50,000 a month (inflation-adjusted) as a sideshow oddity, seriously maximizing his value to his owner. With Sales Boomerang, the #1 automated borrower intelligence and retention platform, lenders can seriously maximize the value of their databases, turning a single loan into 5 or 6 loans from a lifetime customer. As Phil Denfield of First Heritage Mortgage says, “We’re already a known entity to our borrowers. Sales Boomerang allows us to reduce the sales time because we don’t have to convince the borrower to trust us. With Sales Boomerang alerts, we’re able to get to the needs of the client faster.” Lenders using Sales Boomerang see an average 20-40% lift to loan volume and 65% borrower retention. Contact Sales Boomerang today to start maximizing the potential already in your database.

Here’s a true story about the power of a SmartCRM™: a loan officer we know made the President’s Club… From a hospital bed. On a mortgage company’s production cruise not long ago, a winner slipped near the pool and landed on the back of his head. He was unconscious for 20 minutes, but when he woke up, he felt fine. Turns out he wasn’t fine. In fact, he almost died and spent a year in the hospital. That same year, from his hospital bed, he originated $12 million. How? Great relationships, a great assistant, and automated marketing. His Realtors and clients had no idea he was even sick. They continued to get great service from his assistant and targeted, personalized marketing from Usherpa. According to the Loan Officer, “Without Usherpa, I’d be out of business.” Find out how to originate more loans from anywhere with this free eGuide.

Get smart fast on mortgage blockchain: In the non-mortgage finance world, blockchain topics and infrastructure went mainstream in 2021. Mortgage blockchain is next, so get smart now with this HousingWire recording on when mortgage blockchain will go mainstream. In it, Sagent’s Dan Sogorka, Figure’s Mike Cagney, and The Basis Point’s Julian Hebron describe how the next phase of disruption (aka innovation!) is fundamental improvements to industry structure across originations, servicing, and securitization. They describe exactly how mortgage blockchain works, where the industry is on adoption, how much money it saves in which areas, and how it improves customer experience. We all must stay up to speed as this megatrend evolves, and this briefing will keep you ahead. Here’s the recording, which includes contact info for questions! 

Loan Products

Lenders, are you offering GSFA Down Payment Assistance Programs? What are you waiting for? Down payment assistance (DPA) is a game-changer when it comes to helping homebuyers in California purchase a primary residence with little-to-no money out of pocket. Participating in DPA programs can provide lenders a whole new revenue stream. GSFA down payment assistance is available up to 7% of the loan amount, with FICO score requirements as low as 620, flexible DTIs and NO first-time homebuyer requirement. FHA, VA, USDA, and Conventional Loan financing is available. Plus, GSFA delegates the loan process to the Participating Lender so no additional compliance review from GSFA is necessary, making the process simple and easy for both borrower and Lender. Ready to start closing more loans?? Join us for free online Lender Training and/or visit us at www.gsfahome.org for more information.

Symmetry Lending is excited to introduce Symmetry Solutions, a new series of short, educational videos from your HELOC experts. These videos will provide helpful hints on how mortgage originators can close more loans by utilizing the Symmetry HELOC. “Our first episode focuses on how Symmetry follows agency guidelines with limited overlays. Click Here to join Taylor, as she walks you through this valuable information. After watching the video, please be sure to connect with your Symmetry Area Manager so they can answer any questions you have about the many solutions we provide.”

FHA and VA News

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision that invalidated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) eviction moratorium, FHA issued a Message on Safeguarding Renters.

The message states that HUD and its partners are taking a broad range of actions to help prevent evictions using every tool at its disposal to help safeguard the millions of the nation’s individuals and families now in danger of losing their homes. FHA further discusses that HUD also has a responsibility to assist landlords, owners, public housing authorities, and all of its stakeholders in weathering this public health crisis.

Additionally, and in lieu of the Industry Update Webinar, a new video message from Julienne Joseph, FHA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for the Office of Single-Family Housing, is now available for viewing. Julienne’s message, in which she introduces herself, addresses the pre-submitted questions that were received for the originally planned COVID-19 Recovery Loss Mitigation Options Industry webinar. The video is posted on HUD’s YouTube channel, access by clicking here.

FHA’s new COVID-19 Recovery Loss Mitigation Options training webinar as announced in FHA INFO 21-61 is now available. The new on-demand ML 2021-18 COVID-19 Recovery Loss Mitigation Options training webinar, designed to help servicers and other interested parties better understand the details and nuances of the ML, is now available for viewing on the 

FHA Servicing & Loss Mitigation Classroom and Webinar Training page on hud.gov.

Flagstar Bank implemented a new FHA FICO LLPA effective for new locks as of Friday, September 10. And “Flag” updated some existing Government MSR Loan Amount FICO LLPAs. The State LLPAs will remain unchanged. As of September 18, 2021, DU will use an average median credit score for all borrowers on the transaction for casefiles with more than one borrower, as described in the DU Version 11.0 Release Notes.

Information on current Government COVID-19 updates and flexibilities are available in the First Community Mortgage Announcement CV-21-2.

PRMG Product Update 21-45 includes updated delayed financing requirements on Agency LP Fixed, FHLMC Super Conforming. Clarifications regarding the refinance of modified mortgages on FHA Streamline, VA, VA IRRRL, VA IRRRL High Balance, and clarifications on its Ruby Jumbo product related to decreased minimum credit score and reserve requirements.

AmeriHome updated its loan amount buckets on its Governments Rate Sheet, beginning with rate sheets issued on and after Tuesday, September 7, 2021. The loan amount buckets for Best Efforts changes include the addition of a new loan amount bucket, 225k < Bal <= 250k and its top loan amount bucket revised, now Bal > 250k. Log into AmeriHome’s SellerWeb to view these changes.

Mountain West is offering its continued .25 bps price improvement on FHA and VA loans through the month of September. For details, view Mountain West Financial September Special Announcement.

Capital Markets

What do all the suspended PSPA provisions, including 7 percent caps on investor/2nd homes, mean for originators? Overall it is positive. We will likely see reduced private label security (PLS) issuance of Agency-eligible investor deals in the medium term. Larger originators with significant investor loan pipelines are likely to prefer diversified sources of financing and should continue to issue both across PLS and GSE channels. For investor (NOO) loans, some execution on the PLS side is better price-wise versus Agency execution, and PLS is more attractive as LLPAs increase. Smaller originators are likely to continue to access the GSE channel as reps and warrants, warehouse costs, and risk retention requirements impose some fixed costs. As a result, the changes announced this week are likely to be neutral to slightly positive for PLS investors with higher CRT (credit risk transfer) issuance going forward mitigating any impact from reduced Agency-eligible investor deal issuance.

Looking at the bond market, usually good news for the economy is bad news for rates. And here’s some good news for the U.S. economy: consumers are spending. Retail sales blew past expectations to advance 0.7 percent in August, indicating a strong appetite for goods even with the delta variant and supply chain challenges posing issues. That positive report was released alongside a stronger-than-expected Philadelphia Fed Survey and a slight increase in initial claims that didn't disrupt the improving trend in jobless claims data evidenced by the improving four-week moving average. So positive data may lead the Fed to withdraw stimulus more quickly. Who knows, as the opposite could happen with Congress descending into a debt ceiling standoff which could lead to market turmoil.

This week’s economic calendar closes out with preliminary September consumer sentiment later this morning, which is expected to see a small uptick. The Desk of the NY Fed will be in buying up to $4.7 billon across UMBS 15s and 30s. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices are unchanged and the 10-year yielding 1.34 after closing yesterday at 1.33 percent.

Employment

A large retail-only independent mortgage banker is seeking a Controller. “If you prefer working from home and to have a daily commute as short as the distance between your bed and your desk, have the CPA designation and have extensive mortgage banking experience, you want to consider our open position! We are a retail only independent mortgage lender with annual origination of about $5B, we have our agency approvals, offering QM, non-QM jumbo, conventional, government and state bond loan programs over 40+ states. You, as our Controller will be responsible managing a high-performing and dedicated team of 14 accountants. As part of your daily activities, you will be providing financial oversight, insight, direction to timely financial reporting with emphasis on conformity, compliance with US GAAP and Sarbanes-Oxley and contribute to our ongoing projects. Experience with LoanVision is a huge plus. There is no reason to wait, contact Anjelica Nixt for more information!”

Industry-leading compensation & turn-times. Recently named among Top 6 Best Large Mortgage Companies to Work For by National Mortgage News and #1 Mortgage Lender on Ranking Arizona’s consumer poll, Geneva Financial Home Loans is filling Branch Manager and Loan officer positions in 45 states. Close in as little as 10 days. Large volume branches can opt for same-day Underwriting with in-branch Ops option. P&L includes zero fees for credit reports, AUS, LOS, CRM, technology fees, employer taxes (commissioned employees), VOEs, 4506Ts, and warehouse costs. See why Geneva Financial has a 5-star Google rating with over 2,000 verified borrower reviews!

PHH Mortgage, one of the largest U.S. servicers and an emerging leader in originations, is looking to hire a Director of Sales focusing on New Customer Acquisitions. This person will report to the VP of Sales and will play a pivotal role in developing a new customer acquisition platform in a call center environment. They must have a proven track record of success with building an online acquisition platform, developing strong partnerships with third party product leads, and driving originations volume! It’s an exciting time at PHH with record growth, new client signings, and new career paths across the entire mortgage lifecycle. This position is open to any location across the continental U.S. Interested candidates may send their resumes & questions to Heather Nehmer or visit jobs.ocwen.com to view the full job description.

New American Funding exclusively offers Buyer Accepted! Building stronger communities and preserving resale opportunities. Home inventory is at all-time lows and cash buyers and institutional investors are making cash offers outbidding the market. Preserving the integrity of neighborhoods is more important than ever but can be challenging when competing with cash and institutional investors. With Buyer Accepted we are leveling the playing field. Through this program, Buyer Accepted will purchase the buyer’s new home with cash and sell it back to them for the original purchase price plus a small convenience fee added to the purchase price of the home. With this program enjoy more and faster closings, plus there is never a fee or commission reduction to the Real Estate Agent. Don’t lose out to cash or institutional buyers and let’s build strong communities together. For more information contact Caroline Isern, VP Special Projects at 949-447-5301 today!

Evergreen Home Loans announced the addition of Crystal Adair as its new VP of loan fulfillment where she will oversee several key departments and workflows in processing, underwriting, funding and post-closing, as well as the management of technology initiatives that support goals for automation and efficiency.