“Having plans sounds like a good idea until you have to put on clothes and leave the house.” Capital markets teams have plans, and STRATMOR’s current blog is titled, “Capital Markets: Protecting Margins and Assets.” At the other end of the mortgage food chain, as originators fight for every deal right now, those with the best survival skills will come out on top. To survive and thrive in the current market, LOs need to the embodiment of a Swiss Army Knife, well-versed in a wide variety of loan product options, underwriting guidelines, and risk/reward analysis. In his new July Customer Experience Tip, STRATMOR Group’s Mike Seminari offers tips for originators on adding tools to their toolboxes that will help them survive in this competitive environment. Check out, “The LO Survival Kit 2022” on the STRATMOR Group website. (Today’s podcast is available here and has an interview with Marty Green, Principal at Polunsky Beitel Green, on pathways for the Fed and what to expect from the FOMC meeting next week. This week’s is sponsored by EarnUp, an award-winning, consumer-first technology payments platform where originators and servicers can provide a borrower experience with flexible payment options that reduce risk and improves overall financial health.)

Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services

Don’t let closing delays happen to you! While seamless closings are ideal for everyone involved, life doesn’t always work that way. There are a number of roadblocks that can delay the closing process, and sometimes there’s just no way around it. The good news is that many of the problems that can arise are actually things you can control. Read Radian’s article, 4 Home Loan Closing Delays & How You Can Avoid Them, to learn about the most common problems lenders and borrowers face and how each can be avoided.

Save 21 BPS per loan with Maxwell Point of Sale. To improve efficiencies and save money on each loan, it’s vital to leverage solutions that provide a measurable impact on your bottom line. The over 300 lenders using Maxwell Point of Sale slash their time-to-close by 13+ days and save an average of 21 BPS in costs per loan. Maxwell Point of Sale integrates seamlessly with the LOS, enabling your team to spend less time on organizational tasks and more time on growing loan volume. Beyond its integration with the LOS, Maxwell connects with hundreds of partners, from eClosing and pricing to credit and verifications. Maxwell brings the services your teams use every day into one place, customizing the workflow to fit your specific situation and saving money along the way. Schedule a call with our team to see how Maxwell Point of Sale can improve your bottom line.

Make loan quality your top priority before it’s too late. With the purchase market, the ramifications of inflation, and the Fed’s rate changes all in full swing, predictions for 2022 are changing rapidly. It is more important than ever before to consider looking to your servicing revenue to carry you through the current down cycle. In this playbook, you’ll discover the three key lines of defense for maintaining servicing loan quality and how you can refine each to optimize asset performance, maintain compliance, and deliver superior customer service. Read Today.

Production. People. Profitability. In the latest episode of Expert Insights from Total Expert, ‘Comfortable in the Uncomfortable,’ Joe Welu, CEO, sits down with Melissa Wright, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer from American Pacific Mortgage, to discuss her real estate and entrepreneurial journey. From the impact of living through market shifts, finding her strengths in marketing, and bringing business units together, Melissa shares her advice to leadership and sales. Watch now to learn more!

Accelerate mortgage approvals with The Work Number®, the industry's largest commercial source of consolidated income and employment information. Many changes are happening in the market right now, but one thing remains constant: When consumers need loans, they often want them fast to ensure they can lock in interest rates. That's why lenders need data-driven insights and solutions to quickly approve loans while minimizing risk. A recent Equifax study found that 55 percent of mortgage applicants have had multiple jobs within the past three years. The data shows the need for multiple years of income and employment history to understand affordability better. The new Mortgage VOE and Mortgage VOI solutions from The Work Number provide data updated within the past 36-months, including current and prior income and employment data. This data may suggest income or earnings potential that indicates better continuity and ability to pay, increasing a lender's confidence to say "yes" to more consumers. Learn more here.

The CFPB’s recent leadership changes have led to a crackdown on convenience fees, aka “junk fees,” which will likely result in a large drop in fee revenue for mortgage servicers. The CFPB is taking a broader view of all fees, including origination and title fees at the start of the mortgage loan process and fees for convenient payment options for ongoing mortgage payments. The bottom line is that all mortgage related fees, not just convenience fees, are being closely scrutinized. Clayton’s Servicing Oversight Group tests for these convenience fees through our loan-level testing offerings to help financial institutions reduce the risk of enforcement actions related to charging these fees. To learn more, contact Josh Fieldgrove, Clayton's VP-Servicing Oversight or 303-928-3647.

“At Selene, we believe that our clients are at the center of everything we do. We deliver solutions tailored to maximize investment, while providing consistent communication with our clients so that they understand their options. Our team specializes in helping clients with their business purpose loan servicing needs. Selene offers a loan advisor model, proprietary technology, and customized reporting. For more information on how Selene is now offering specialized business purpose loan subservicing please reach out to Robert McKinley.”

Non-QM, Jumbo Loan Products

A&D Mortgage, together with its Imperial Fund Mortgage Trust, recently received significant rating increases from S&P Global Ratings for three of its six securitization transactions issued in 2020. “According to S&P Global, the upgrades primarily indicate deleveraging because the related transactions reflect the following benefits: low or zero accumulated losses to date, high prepayment speeds to date, increasing percentage of credit support to the rated classes.”

Ellington Financial started marketing a new offering Tuesday. The $345.7 million offering will be the third expanded-credit deal from Ellington thus far, with three months between each transaction, reports Inside Mortgage Finance. “Like previous deals from Ellington, the security is largely stocked with residential collateral originated by LendSure Mortgage, an originator the REIT owns a 49.9% stake in. Servicing will be handled by Rushmore Loan Management Services. Loans have seasoned for an average of 3.0 months, which is consistent with the age of mortgages in the other MBS from Ellington this year. The collateral is largely represented by fixed-rate non-QMs with an average coupon of 5.31%. Some 66.7% are purchase mortgages. About half are for primary residences, 42% for investment properties and the balance entails second homes.”

Effective with AmeriHome announcement 20220606-CL, the Portfolio Express, and Portfolio Expanded 30-year fixed-rate interest-only product is available in MD, MA, TN, UT, and VA. View AmeriHome’s Announcement for details.

First Community Mortgage Wholesale posted Guideline updates to its Non-Conforming Jumbo Summit/Peak Products per FCM Announcement 2022-35 and its Non-Conforming Jumbo Elite AUS/Elite Plus AUS as posted in FCM Announcement 2022-34.

Mountain West Financial is no longer offering NON-QM products associated with specific investors. The bank statement program specifically is currently suspended pending market and investor review. View MWF Wholesale Bulletin 22W-059 for more information.

The Loan Stream Mortgage NaNQ program offers Bank Statement Programs with options, both 12 & 3 month available. Use 100 percent of deposits on Personal Statements or up to 85 percent of deposits on Business Statements. LoanStream's NaNQ / Non-QM Programs are proprietary programs specifically created to fulfill mortgage program options for its brokers with non-prime programs.

Get your Borrowers the right loan at the most competitive rate with loanDepot’s new Jumbo Advantage Express SELECT program. A subset of its existing Jumbo Advantage Express with sharper pricing. Visit the loanDepot website to view the program parameters.

Citi Correspondent Lending posted Bulletin 2022-09 containing credit policy updates on Non-Agency verification of rent, Cryptocurrency, continuity of obligation, payoff of delinquent taxes on Agency Rate / Term Refinances, and LPA automated collateral evaluation eligibility. Additionally, the July 15 bulletin clarifies information related to Non-Agency updates, pro-rated real estate tax credits, documentation requirements on Co-op project reviews, and subordinate financing.

Capital Markets

We saw rates rise yesterday following a story that European Central Bank policy makers were considering a 50-basis point hike at its meeting tomorrow. The pullback in bond prices/increase in rates came despite the release of a weaker than expected Housing Starts and Building Permits report for June which revealed that housing starts were down 2.0 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.559 million. Building permits, a leading indicator, were down 0.6 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.685 million. There was an upward revision to housing starts in May, but permits for single-family homes declined across all geographic regions.

We also saw homebuilder sentiment plummet in July, according to the NAHB / Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. “Production bottlenecks, rising home building costs, and high inflation are causing many builders to halt construction because the cost of land, construction, and financing exceeds the market value of the home,” said NAHB chairman Jerry Konter. 13 percent of builders in the survey reported reducing home prices in the past month to bolster sales and/or limit cancellations, another sign of a softening market. Fears of a recession, along with high prices and rates are causing potential buyers to put plans on hold for the moment.

Today’s economic calendar began with mortgage applications decreasing 6.3 percent from one week earlier, the third straight week of declines, according to data from MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (That comes despite the 10-year yield sliding 17-basis points and the Mortgage News Daily's 30-year rate 12-basis points lower to 5.72 percent during the reporting period.) We’ll have June existing home sales and a Treasury auction of $14 billion reopened 20-year bonds. The Desk will purchase up to $832 million UMBS30 4 percent through 5 percent. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices better by .250 and the 10-year yielding 2.96 after closing yesterday at 3.02 percent.

Careers

AmeriSave Mortgage Corporation, one of the fastest-growing privately-held mortgage lenders in the nation, has expanded its traditional retail footprint through its partnership with the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America (NAMMBA). Through this partnership with AmeriSave Mortgage Corporation, NAMMBA will roll out a comprehensive strategy to engage AmeriSave's employees via access to focused training, new hire programs, and leadership development. This will simultaneously position the organization to support the communities in which they currently conduct business by creating economic opportunity that focuses on business development for minority mortgage professionals while meeting the housing needs of underserved areas. "NAMMBA and their leadership team have a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, and representing all the communities in which they do business." Said Leif Boyd, Chief Production Officer, Retail Sales at AmeriSave. "Our Traditional Retail loan officers and the communities we serve will benefit greatly from our partnership with NAMMBA." For more information, please contact Peter Schwartz 916-770-0053.

“Ready to take your pipeline to new heights? We’ve got you covered! Coast One Mortgage, a part of the Newrez Family of Companies, is looking to grow its team with more ambitious Loan Officers in Florida, Michigan, and Ohio and Area Sales Managers in Port Charlotte and Port St. Lucie, Florida. ‘Coast One Mortgage is committed to creating a top-tier experience for our borrowers and to growing core markets by leveraging our Joint Venture Real Estate partner and other strong local real estate professionals. Our platform offers a wide product breadth, including but not limited to Non-QMs (Jumbo, Self-Employed, Investor, Non-Warrantable Condo’s), Jumbo loans with only 3.5% down payment, no mortgage insurance, and all the traditional financing options,’ said Marty Garrity, President of Coast One Mortgage. Join our team of experienced Loan Officers and Area Sales Managers today! For more information on Coast One Mortgage or Newrez, get in touch with Marty Garrity or our recruiting team.”

“At Acra Lending, our focus is on being the best-in-class Non-QM lender by providing competitive mortgage lending programs. We are looking for people to join our team who are as excited as we are to help customers achieve their goals in investing and purchasing property. Acra is actively looking for experienced Wholesale Account Executives, Fix and Flip Account Executives, Correspondent Sales, and more! Being able to provide industry leading programs to meet the needs of our customers is what we do best. If you or anyone you know are interested apply at JoinAcra or email us.”