How can it be that it’s been 14 years since Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication? (A drug that is used for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia.) The world certainly took notice of his death, and moving into mortgage banking, any time the same news story contains words like “FHFA,” “socialism,” “Congress,” and “credit scores” everyone takes notice. People are taking notice of bank and credit union performance in this environment. Unlike non-depository lenders, they’re faring okay in this environment. Personnel can be shifted to other channels within the company, such as auto loans, credit cards, or customer service. They generally have a different set of concerns than independent mortgage banks. For example, how does the referral process work, and who is compensated along the way? How are potential non-mortgage customers identified? How are marketing expenses handled… does the mortgage arm of the bank do its own marketing? How are management costs allocated? What is the reporting structure: who does “mortgage” report to and how? Are mortgage employees actively trained on other bank channels such as auto lending or credit card work? IMBs, of course, must compete with bank and CU comp structures which often involved a salary (let’s say, $5k per month) plus commissions (let’s say, 50 basis points). (Today’s podcast can be found here and is sponsored by Visio Lending. Visio is the nation's premier lender for buy and hold investors with over 2.5 billion closed loans for single-family rental properties, including vacation rentals. Through its top-rated Broker Program, Visio brokers can earn up to 5 percent. Hear an interview with Black Knight’s Frank Poiesz on the current regulatory environment and what parts of the origination cycle AI will likely benefit first.)

Broker and Lender Services, Products, and Software

Whether you're looking to funnel more leads, increase repeat business or forge valuable connections, the Surefire℠ CRM and Mortgage Marketing Engine by Black Knight has got you covered! In its latest ‘Mortgage Marketing Essentials’ quick guide, Surefire breaks down some simple, cost-effective strategies used by many of the mortgage industry’s top-producing loan originators to help you hone your marketing efforts! In today’s difficult housing market, there’s no better time to kickstart your journey to the top of the lending leaderboard. Get a bite-sized overview of proven tactics from loan officers who have perfected their marketing skills by downloading the ‘Top Producer Quick Guide’ today.

Are you a warehouse lender seeking to optimize operations, reduce costs and enhance customer satisfaction? Look no further than ProMerit, the industry’s leading warehouse lending platform brought to you by SitusAMC. As a SaaS-enabled and cloud-hosted system, it offers the flexibility and resilience required to thrive in the ever-evolving technological landscape. Effortlessly manage, track, fund and secure repayments while supporting your reporting, audit, and compliance requirements. Seamlessly integrate with LOSs, general ledgers, wire systems, DDA systems and more, enabling more smooth data flow and streamlining processes. Experience the power of automation, allowing you to schedule and execute tasks, import files, generate reports, and receive notifications of work complete. Elevate your warehouse lending business with ProMerit. Discover a world of enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, and unparalleled customer satisfaction. Contact Anthony Beshara or Rich Berg.

“Do you want to win more business and gain more agents? Then you need Loangendary Marketing, a marketing partner for mortgage companies and loan officers. With the market wreaking havoc on budgets and marketing departments, Loangendary Marketing was created to help you affordably grow and scale your origination business without growing your team. With our customizable contract terms, our lightning-fast turnaround times, and our talented team of mortgage marketing experts, we're here to help your business grow in any market condition. Imagine having a team of the best mortgage marketers in the business focused solely on helping you win more loans and growing your brand. That’s what we do. And with over 20 years of experience working with some of the leading mortgage companies in the country, we know what it takes to help you win more business. Book a discovery call today to see what we can do for your business!”

Cover your staff's time off with Maxwell's on-demand underwriting. As a mortgage professional, you know the value of an uninterrupted workflow. Maxwell Fulfillment services empowers you to seamlessly maintain your operations while your team enjoys time off this summer (and beyond). With direct integrations to your LOS, our experienced onshore team of underwriters provides a seamless, fast, and cost-effective experience. To learn more about Maxwell’s on-demand underwriting or other fulfillment services, click here or schedule a call today.

Homeowners with mortgages, which account for roughly 63 percent of all properties, gained $1 trillion in equity between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2022. Along with this increase in equity, there has been an increase in demand by borrowers to tap into that equity. Join executives from FirstClose, Space Coast Credit Union and HousingWire this Wednesday for a 1-hour for a virtual event that will discuss today’s levels of home equity, and how to successfully help homeowners utilize their equity with different home equity products. Register today!

The CWDL mortgage banking leaders had a great time in California last week, as we co-hosted Power Lunches with Michael McAuley and Joe Garrett of the renowned consulting firm Garrett, McAuley & Co. Mark Wilson and Dustin Pfluger helped to facilitate roundtable discussions with C-level executives of leading lenders in both the San Diego and Bay Area markets, hitting on topics such as getting to breakeven, dealing with margin compression, when/how to acquire other mortgage companies, and strategies for profitability in a hyper-competitive market. If you’re interested in CWDL bringing these Power Lunches to your market in the future, reach out to Kasey English (619-302-0010), and learn more about our industry-specific tax, audit, accounting and consulting services here.

Conventional Conforming Products in the News

Freddie and Fannie’s policies, procedures, underwriting guidelines, and activities in the capital markets impact roughly 3/4 of current production. Let’s see what’s happening in that channel.

FHFA Released 1st Quarter 2023 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report.

Effective August 1, 2023, Freddie Mac is retiring the Loan SellingAdvisor® CTE01 environment. If you’re a current CTE01 user, you’ll need to migrate to the UAT Production Baseline CTE​. All functionality you have had access to in CTE01 will be available in UAT Production Baseline CTE.

Fannie Mae Positive Rent Payment Success Stories.

Fannie Mae June Appraiser Quality Monitoring (AQM) list.

Based on recent GSE feedback and QC findings, Pennymac clarified requirements related to documentation received with the loan file. Regardless of AUS documentation requirements, all documentation submitted with the loan file is subject to review and analysis and may be used for qualification purposes. PennyMac is analyzing the documentation to assess the impact.

All Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AUS Jumbo Product Profiles were recently updated.

In Announcement 23-45, Pennymac provided a reminder regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s condominium project insurance requirements and the importance of ensuring the insurance coverage is adequate to meet GSE requirements as well as protect the project from damage and loss.

Citi Correspondent Lending Bulletin 2023-05 contains credit policy updates regarding Quarterly Depreciating Markets List Update & New Format, Full Review Fannie Mae’s Condo Project Manager (CPM) –and Alternatives for Tax Filing Documents for DU Loans. The bulletin also provides notifications on Batch Funding for loan purchase wires and mandated screening for non-Obligated parties.

Impact of Fannie Mae SEL-2023-05 and DU/DO August Release Notes to AmeriHome Correspondent Products were posted in Announcement 20230606-CL.

PRMG Product Update 23-30: Conventional and Government Products updates include clarification on unique or non-traditional homes (such as barndominiums, tiny homes, geodesic dome, earth homes) are not eligible. Expanded Access clarification that Tax Professional Attestation Form allowed in lieu of written letter from Tax Professional (form ensures borrower’s Tax Professional meets all attestation requirements). Product codes added for High Balance options with repayable DPA on Chenoa Fund FHA. Clarification on requirements for Florida Assist and Florida HLP 2nd mortgage DPA documents.

Capital Markets

We had a little bond market rally in price to close last week as the market responded to releases of flash June Manufacturing and Services PMI readings from major economies which showed a clear trend of weakening activity. (When there isn’t much news, something 2nd or 3rd tier news can move prices in a thin market.)

This weakening activity comes at a time when central banks like the Fed, ECB, and the Bank of England are threatening more rate hikes. Domestically, the S&P PMI surveys for manufacturing and services were both lower, showing that the sector is contracting while growth in services also slowed. Other economic releases of note showed initial jobless claims were unchanged at 264k while the four-week moving average trended higher. While initial claims have been higher as of late, they are currently around the average seen from 2015 to 2017. Meanwhile continuing claims have been near their 2018 - 2019 range, consistent with 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent unemployment. Housing starts were higher than expected and may prove to be a boost to economic activity in the later part of the year. A 27 percent increase in multifamily starts led to the surprise reading. Builders continue to benefit from the lack of resale home supply as would-be sellers remain in place not wanting to give up their historically low fixed mortgages rates. The National Association of Homebuilders' Housing Market Index increased from a revised 50 to 55 in June.

Despite being a slower week for economic releases last week, the sparse data points, as well as Fed comments, provided insight as to the strength of the U.S. economy. Fed Chair Powell reiterated the modest economic expansion that is being driven by consumer spending indicates that more work is needed to bring inflation down to the FOMC’s 2 percent target. Housing, which accounts for roughly one third of CPI, is being buoyed by limited supply as well as demographics which are keeping demand steady even with higher interest rates. Single-family permits increased for the fourth straight month and multifamily units under construction tied a record high. There was a slight uptick in resale home inventory last month as available homes increased to a still low 3.0 months’ worth. Single-family home prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in May to a median price of $401,100 due to low inventory and stabilizing demand.

This week concludes with month and quarter-end trades on Friday. Data includes regional Fed surveys, housing data, durable goods, consumer confidence, and final Q1 GDP before concluding with May PCE on Friday. Fed Chair Powell is scheduled to appear on Wednesday before the ECB Forum on Central Banking. Today’s calendar kicks off with the non-market moving Dallas Fed Texas manufacturing for June and a Treasury auction of $42 billion 2-year notes. We begin the week with Agency MBS prices better .125-.250, the 10-year yielding 3.68 after closing last week at 3.74 percent, and the 2-year is at 4.70 for no real reason, although there is some talk of the Russian political scene’s unrest.

Employment and a Retirement

Ready to take your career to the next level? Making certain borrowers have a smooth experience is vital in today’s competitive market, which is why Mortgage One provides all the tools you need to succeed. Through its partnership with Lender Toolkit, the Michigan-based lender helps its loan officers streamline the underwriting process with AI Underwriter™️ , which automates and applies underwriting conditions in 60 seconds. With just one click, you can review credit reports, income, assets, appraisals, loan data, fraud reports and more. "Research shows that consumers don’t like being asked for documents more than once, and AI Underwriter makes sure that doesn’t happen," says Mortgage One CEO Mark Workens. "By moving underwriting upstream, we’re able to deliver a better customer experience, giving our loan officers more repeat and referral business from satisfied borrowers." If you’re looking for a company that invests in your success, check out Mortgage One’s careers page today.

A Mortgage Boutique, the wholesale division of First Community Mortgage, has several zero or low down payment options: Conventional up to 97 percent, USDA 100 percent, VA 100 percent, FHA 100 percent CLTV, and HomeZero just announced NO income limitations! A Mortgage Boutique is looking for skilled Account Executives nationwide to join its team. Committed to delivering exceptional service to clients and partners, A Mortgage Boutique considers top talent as a crucial element in achieving this goal. If you are passionate about excellence and seeking to join a thriving team, consider a career with A Mortgage Boutique. Contact DJ Ziggas to learn more.

FHA job opportunity to make up to $166k per year: Director in its Real Estate Owned Division. Duties include reviewing technical reports of property damage, coordinating the completion and processing of necessary documents, and overseeing the preparation of deeds and mortgages and close sales.

“Liz Scott, Regional Managing Director with National MI has decided to retire from National MI after serving 11 years with the company. Her career has spanned more than 30 years in the mortgage industry, and we are deeply and sincerely grateful for Liz’s contributions. She was one of the first salespeople hired at National MI during its founding stage, and she helped craft our customer development strategy. She steadfastly believes that achieving homeownership offers the ability to improve families’ quality of life and has held the privilege of fostering broad and deep relationships with customers and members of the industry she considers partners and friends. She has built and led a best-in-class team of exceptional National MI sales advisors in the western territory who will continue to serve our clients with the highest standard of service. Liz looks forward to spending more time with her family, enjoying international travel, and soon welcoming her first grandchild to her family. We are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Liz and wish her the best in her retirement as she begins a new life chapter.”