Sometimes things can be misleading, or don’t tell the whole story. For example, a 15-oz. bottle of Naked Green Machine juice smoothie has more sugar in it than 5 Krispy Kreme original glazed donuts. (Yup. 53 vs. 50 grams. But what is more nutritious?) Employment data is often accused of being misleading, but hiring always picks up during the holidays and United Parcel Service is adding 95,000 seasonal workers for the holidays. The company expects holiday season deliveries will rise 5 percent, to 750 million. On an average day, UPS handles 19 million packages, a figure that roughly doubles around the holidays. And, like Paul Ryan, UPS drivers rarely turn left. And Jeb Hensarling, staunch opponent of financial regulation, is retiring. What's up with that?

Lender Events for Brokers

If you are a mortgage broker, banker or Realtor in Orange County, CA and you're looking to expand your product offering, join Pacific Union Financial on November 8th! Management is inviting you to learn about the new PacificPlus down payment protection program and FlexKey Non-QM product suite. The event will be held Wednesday, November 8th from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Costa Mesa Westin Hotel. For more information, please email Greg Armstrong, call 714-492-8899, or RSVP online.

Considering your business plan for 2018? Finance of America Mortgage's Wholesale division, FirstFunding, Focus Fulfillment and FACo are teaming up to offer a series of live "B.Y.O.B Power Workshop" events around the country. Brokers and non-delegated correspondents are invited to hear about new trends in business models for the small business owner. Topics include steps to Become Your Own Banker. A bonus session will be presented on "Fix and Flip" and Portfolio rental products. Learn how you can earn residual income originating commercial loans and lines of credit. Here you go: November 7 Sacramento, CA, November 8 Glendale, CA, November 9 Santa Ana, CA, December 4 Saddle Brook, NJ, December 5 Mt. Laurel, NJ, December 6 Orlando, FL, and December 7 Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Volume on the Rise

Whose volume is actually increasing? Large U.S. banks more than doubled their borrowing from the Federal Home Loan Bank System in the past decade in the aftermath of stricter regulations to avert a global credit crisis, per a report from the Office of Financial Research. As a reminder, the FHLB System, which are made up of 11 regional FHLB banks, funds the mortgage market by making loans called advances to its members that include banks, credit unions and insurers. At the end of June, its advances totaled $706 billion or 65 percent of its assets. U.S. banks with more than $250 billion in assets (like Chase, Wells, and Citi) accounted for about 30 percent of FHLB advances in June. The funding comes from multiple FHLBanks because the three have subsidiaries that are members of multiple FHLBanks. Under current liquidity coverage ratio requirements, FHLB advances receive easier regulatory treatment than those in private markets, stoking demand from banks for them. The FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency), which oversees the FHLB together with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is taking steps to reduce the FHLB's reliance on short-term funding.

Doc, CD, and TRID-Related Changes Continue

M&T has a new procedure for reconciling POCs (paid outside of closing) and any Renovation fees paid at closing on the CD at loan close out. The Lender is always responsible to HUD/FNMA borrowers if there are discrepancies on over/under payments etc. M&T will not monitor these payments if paid POC or in cash on the CD. When a renovation fee is not POC or on the CD, M&T will hold this money in the Draw Department. Contact M&T for the procedures when the fee is POC or on the CD as being paid.

WesLend Portfolio Lender Fee Buy Out Option is available on the rate sheet and Broker Connection as of Friday, September 29, 2017.

Ellie Mae has been busy...Three recent announcements are as follows: The company released enhancements to Encompass 17.4 along with tools, resources and training support client preparation for regulatory changes including the 2018 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and Regulation C (HMDA) collection and reporting changes, as well as the Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) requirements that went into effect on September 25, 2017. Ellie Mae has partnered with Digital Risk. The partnership will replace manual tasks with automation for added quality, compliance and efficiency, as part of the company's mission of automating everything automatable for the residential mortgage industry and advancing the true digital mortgage experience. Ellie Mae has also launched its "Dream Big, Win Tiny" Sweepstakes. Mortgage industry professionals can win a chance to own a tiny house by showing how they help power the American Dream of home ownership.

LendingTree has integrated TCPA Guardian from Jornaya to manage compliance risk associated with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). This integration provides lenders with ability to validate that the consumer was shown necessary and approved disclosures, including monitoring the size, text, and overall visibility of the necessary TCPA disclosure. What's more, the solution documents the proof of that consent, allowing both LendingTree and its lenders to deter and help defend the costly and rising number of TCPA complaints.

Effective back on September 5th, when Plaza sends out its initial disclosures, it will be requesting borrowers to e-sign. Additionally, borrowers may be asked to electronically complete certain state required disclosures.

Caliber Home Loans has made enhancements to its H2O Originations System. Complete with LE checkboxes, DocuSign tags, automatic broker signatures and more. Visit its  Wholesale Training Video web site and log in with the password WeLoveBrokers. Or Go to All Regs > Resources > H2O Release Notes.

Wells Fargo Funding notified clients that, "As clarification to Newsflash C17-048bp, dated September 25, 2017, Sellers are reminded they represent and warranty compliance with Freddie Mac's selling program. This includes adherence to the Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) mandate to submit UCD XML files to Freddie Mac's collection solution for all bifurcation Loans with Notes dated on or after September 25, 2017. Sellers unable to submit UCD files or obtain a successful submission response must work with Freddie Mac to remediate the issues as soon as possible, and no later than April 1, 2018. Wells Fargo Funding is aligned with Freddie Mac's current requirements specific to the UCD mandate, remediation, and future enforcement. This means the UCD mandate remains September 25, 2017, as communicated by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the GSEs). Loans without successful UCD submissions continue to be eligible for purchase by Wells Fargo Funding. However, for Wells Fargo Funding to meet Freddie Mac delivery requirements associated with this change, UCD noncompliant Loans must be delivered to Wells Fargo Funding on or before February 1, 2018. This date is subject to change pending further instructions by the GSEs. Bifurcation Loans that do not comply with Freddie Mac's UCD mandate must be delivered to Wells Fargo Funding on or before February 1, 2018.

Capital Markets

Potentially a market mover, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index increased and hit its highest level since December 2000. It seems that upbeat attitudes about the current job market factored prominently in the elevated reading, which is a hopeful indication for stronger consumer spending activity.

But it is "Steady as she goes" out there, despite the Federal Open Market Committee meeting going on. No one is expecting any bold changes today when the results are announced, and in fact yesterday longer-dated U.S. Treasuries and agency MBS spent the entire session nearly unchanged (10-year: 2.38%). Yield curve watchers, however, noted that the 2s10s spread compressed to 78 bps from Monday's 81 bps due to the month-end index needs with the Fed today.

This morning we've had the usual weekly MBA Mortgage Index. After a solid drop in apps the week before, last week they fell again (-2.6%). Refis were -4.5% while purchase apps dropped .8%. (This has the index at the lowest level since February.) We've also seen the October ADP Employment Change (+235k, stronger than expected), and next week's quarterly refunding amounts for the Treasury auctions. Coming up are October's ISM Index and September Construction Spending. We commence Hump Day with rates higher versus last night: the 10-year is yielding 2.39% and agency MBS prices are worse .125.

Jobs, Business Opportunities, and Promotions

"Okay, originating commercial mortgage loans isn't currently part of your business model. But what about those commercial mortgage loan leads that your loan officers are being offered or the commercial needs of past clients in your database? This is "money left on the table." What if there was a simple way to create revenue from these opportunities without distracting everyone's residential effort? Silver Hill Funding, LLC, a subsidiary of Bayview Asset Management, LLC, has developed a program that enables residential mortgage bankers to easily tap into the commercial marketplace, generating income and expanding their residential production as well. It's no secret that your loan originators would love the ability to say 'yes' to commercial loan opportunities and receive the additional income. And, for your company, it becomes an added loan officer recruitment tool your competitors aren't offering. You must check this out. Contact Ski Swiatkowski."

"Are you pining away for the good old days, when compliance and regulation didn't eat up all your time and profit? Are you a broker, mini corr, retail branch, or independent closing $10M a month or LESS in the Northeast or Florida? Is it worth your investment of time and money to get FHA approved, or delegated when you can join a dynamic lender who offers top operations, technology and passionate leadership. We are owned and operated in NE, a direct Fannie seller, going direct to Ginnie, fully delegated with a large complement of investors, we have an excellent servicing platform and we are ready to invest in you. If you want to increase your offerings without having to increase your net worth, this is a great opportunity to combine forces with a strong partner and still have a voice. Send a confidential email to Amy Tierce, VP of Sales and Marketing at Mortgage Equity Partners."

Thousands of miles away, "If you have an existing production team of $2 million or more in the Southwest United States, you will want to read this. A growing nationwide lender has a very unique opportunity in this market for the right team. You will have greater control over your business and be working with a company that will help you recruit and grow your existing branch.  Better pricing, more influence, local operations and an opportunity to earn corporate bonuses on top of branch revenue make this something different. Contact Ron (480-204-1812) to be confidentially & directly put in touch with the CEO."

Joining Informative Research's ever-expanding team, Claudia Dorman is now IR's newest Vice President of National Sales. An extreme talent in the industry known for her unwavering commitment to clients, Dorman worked previously as CoreLogic's National Account Director of Global Mortgage Services for over 4 years and excelled as an account executive for both DataVerify and CBCInnovis. In this new role, Dorman will be tasked with growing Informative Research's presence in the Northeast, which is critical to IR's mission to expand and offer their future-proof solutions on a more national level. "Informative Research has the momentum to bring this industry into the future," remarked Dorman. "Their dedication to improving the lender and consumer experience is what drew me to this opportunity and I'm excited to be able to have the chance to offer their unique solutions and service model with my entire client base."

A quick congrats to Timothy Gough. He is the new CEO of Maryland's Bay Capital Mortgage. Bay Capital has been lending along the Eastern Seaboard for 20+ years.

M&A for Lenders, Builders, and Banks

In Minnesota, TCF Bank, a subsidiary of TCF Financial Corp., is going to acquire Rubicon Mortgage Advisors. The Wayzata-based bank said it hopes to complete its acquisition of Minnetonka-based Rubicon by the end of the year. The move is being done primarily to boost TCF Bank's residential mortgage services and increase its presence in Minnesota and North Dakota where Rubicon has branches.

Also announced was a big marriage in the homebuilder space: Lennar and CalAtlantic will merge which will create the US's biggest homebuilder by revenue. 

Bank M&A announcements continue. The First ($1.8B, MS) will acquire First Community Bank ($398mm, AL) for about $60mm in cash (40%) and stock (60%) or about 1.66x tangible book. In the northeast Bangor Savings Bank ($3.7B, ME) will acquire Granite Bank ($262mm, NH) for about $45mm in cash (100%) or about 1.85x tangible book. In Ohio Peoples Bank ($3.6B) will acquire American Savings Bank ($294mm) for about $39.6mm in cash (15%) and stock (85%) or about 1.53x tangible book. In Montana Glacier Bank ($9.7B) will acquire First Security Bank ($1.0B) for about $173.4mm in stock (100%) or about 2.17x tangible book. On the other end of the teeter-totter, Customers Bancorp ($10.9B, PA) will sell its BankMobile division to avoid Durbin amendment issues. BankMobile will combine with Flagship Community Bank ($125mm, FL) and become majority owned by Customers shareholders.