4.9.21 Housing Changes Under the Biden Administration, Brandie Young on the Future of Underwriting

Thanks to today's podcast sponsor, Candor Technology. Candor Technology offers a dynamic underwriting engine that eliminates the underwriting bottleneck.   https://candortechnology.com/rchrisman-podcast 

Transcript

What’s new out there? Queen Elizabeth’s husband Prince Phillip has passed away this morning at age 99. Wealthy people in New York seem to be fleeing to live in other states with a lower tax rate. Both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae released QM loan information that maps out their policies. Any lender originating Agency loans should be aware of their requirements and their effective dates related to their purchase of loans subject to the Qualified Mortgage (QM) Rule and originated relying on the GSE Patch. And tongues are wagging about the proposed CFPB RESPA Servicing Rule with protections for borrowers affected by the COVID emergency. Industry players are questioning the regulatory authority to issue a blanket prohibition on foreclosure through the end of the year and are concerned that the contractual disruption for investors might lead to lawsuits against the agency. Attorney Brian Levy, in his latest Mortgage Musings, “boldly goes where no man has gone before” with a Star Trek reference-laden questioning of CFPB’s psychoanalysis of the US borrowing public. And lenders are working on a lower cost structure ahead of changing volumes and lower margins: the audio version of today’s commentary is available here, sponsored by Candor, the dynamic, adaptive underwriting engine, and features an interview with CMO Brandie Young on how underwriting productivity can be increased, saving money.

Employment

Indecomm has a National Sales Director opportunity! Are you a high-performing, experienced mortgage automation and technology sales executive? If so, this opportunity is for you! Indecomm is looking for a National Sales Director to help meet its customer acquisition and revenue growth objectives for its Automation Solutions. This remote position will be responsible for developing and executing all key growth sales strategies, tactics, and action plans required to achieve sales goals. Experience selling automation solutions includes, but not limited to LOS, Servicing, data digitization solutions, Robotic Process Automation, Workflow/Business Process Management and Machine Learning. If you are interested in learning more, email Linda Bomar.

“Ready to join a team that values your contributions and celebrates your accomplishments? At Citizens Home Mortgage, we seize every opportunity to recognize our colleagues’ efforts and commitment. Between our annual corporate Home Mortgage Rally and individual business line rallies throughout the year, we make it a priority to celebrate our top performers! Additionally, senior leadership stays connected with colleagues through virtual fireside chats, interactive Q&A sessions, and online presentations, so every colleague has the opportunity to make their voice heard. We are a team of forward-thinking mortgage professionals who are passionate about transforming the way we do business, and we’d love for you to consider being part of our winning team. Visit jobs.citizensbank.com to see all of our openings today!”

Guardian Mortgage is excited to announce and welcome Jay Affleck as the Pacific North West Regional Manager. A 20-year seasoned veteran to mortgage, Jay brings knowledge, expertise, and a passion for helping clients make sound financial decisions. Jay has a wealth of experience and his hiring will help solidify our commitment to the growing Spokane area. Jay will be responsible for leading Guardian’s growing business and tactical plan. He understands that each client has unique financial goals and there are several ways to accomplish their dreams and specializes in a strategic approach to developing client-specific, custom solutions to homeownership. Part of Jay’s success in the mortgage industry is to fully understand loan products and become an expert at specialty programs including construction lending. Jay will lend his extensive expertise and his vast knowledge of structuring transactions providing additional support to the teams in Spokane, West Linn, and Northern California.

“Nations Lending has strengthened its retail growth in the western U.S., now doubling down on our Denver-area expansion. We are proud to welcome two new branches: Darren Hunstad (North Metro, CO) and Andy Scripter & Matthew Collett (Jefferson Park, CO). These new sales partners join our established, high-performing, mile-high teams of Don Riggs (Westminster) and Thurston Rosenlund (Castle Pines). “Together with two of our top-performing branches already established in the Denver area, we believe Darren, along with Andy and Matthew, help us exponentially grow our footprint in Colorado and further west as well,” said Corey Caster, EVP of National Production. Want to be part of our rapidly growing team, provided with the tools and resources to succeed from day one? Contact VP of Recruitment Doug Opdycke (Updike) at (623) 734-5747 or Nino Saso, Division Sales Manager (Western Region) to learn more about branch opportunities at Nations! #JoinTheNation.

Arcus Lending, one of the best hybrid banker/broker mortgage companies in America is excited to further expand its team of mortgage professionals. As one of the fastest-growing companies in the country, Arcus has been recognized as one of National Mortgage News' 2021 Best Mortgage Companies to Work For along with being National Mortgage Professional’s Top Mortgage Employer in 2021. At Arcus, operations, technology, and training are custom-designed by CEO Shashank Shekhar, one of the top 15 Loan Officers in the country. Arcus’s unique hybrid model means a bigger paycheck for loan officers by way of more lender options and the control of in-house underwriting, processing, and closing. Ready to transform your career? Get in touch at careers@arcuslending.com or check out www.arcuslending.com/work-with-arcus/. For more information on Arcus Lending, contact (650) 793-6833. For licensing information, please click here.

JPMorgan Chase has appointed 17-year Chase vet Bhavesh Patel to its Correspondent Lending division as the Director of Client Management, moving in from responsibility for coverage of non-bank mortgage originators, mortgage REITs and mortgage servicers throughout the nation. Bhavesh will lead the client-facing teams that support Chase clients every day. (Terry Lindsey is the head of Correspondent Lending for Chase.)

Lender and broker services & products 

At this very moment, nearly 20 million Americans are strong candidates for a financially advantageous refi. Each is an opportunity to capture repeat business… Or lose out to a competitor, as happens a shocking 82% of the time. In a new white paper, Sales Boomerang studies how 19 lenders have cracked the code to borrower retention, turning refis from a game they mostly lose to one they mostly win. Get your free copy and find out how a borrower intelligence system can keep loans in your pipeline, too.

For some lenders, developing a comprehensive servicing risk management strategy feels like finding a unicorn: impossible. But everyone knows rhinos are just unicorns in hiding. And in honor of National Unicorn Day today, MQMR has some tips and tricks in this free white paper for lenders looking to track down servicing unicorns. By combining servicing/subservicing operational reviews with loan-level servicing quality control (QC), lenders can create a powerful risk mitigation program that not only ensures compliance with even the most stringent of regulatory requirements, but also delivers the exceptional level of customer service expected by regulators and consumers alike. For more information on how to find your servicing unicorn and developing a comprehensive servicing risk management strategy, join MQMR’s Julie McCurley and Lisa Butler for a TMConnect Webinar titled, “Cover Your Assets,” on April 13 at 4 p.m. ET.

2021 has already been a year of uncertainty, especially in the lending space. Lenders need to prepare for all scenarios including, early signs of distressed borrowers, uncovering undisclosed liabilities (including HOA) and preparing for an uptick in new purchases, let alone finding the right partner to work with. How can lenders keep up when the lending landscape is constantly changing? Join First American Data & Analytics experts as they share how our industry-leading solutions leverage public, private and proprietary data sources to uncover early indicators of risk, research discrepancies and verify borrower and property information in a free DataDriven webinar: 3 Tools Lenders Need to Navigate an Ever-Changing Environment.

Curious how Connector by Velma® can solve your ECOA - Adverse Action headaches? Learn how Connector reduces risk, rescues at-risk prospects, eliminates hassles, and saves time for your sales and operations teams. Oh, and you will never need to print out and stuff another NOIA letter again!

Looking for solutions to add to your tech stack that can help streamline your mortgage process? Calyx has your covered. Spring into action at this year’s virtual MBA Spring Conference & Expo and discover Path, Point Central, and Zip. Calyx’s solutions are developed by mortgage professionals, for mortgage professionals, and designed to improve the loan process experience and enhance your results. Contact sales@calyxsoftware.com to schedule a meeting and stop by the Calyx booth for your chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card or a PhoneSoap Pro UV phone sanitizer.

Luxury Mortgage Corp.®, a leader in Non-QM lending, is at it once again! This time it's a real game changer with the official launch of their brand new, full doc agency eligible program with agency compatible pricing, "SimpleMae" for investment properties and second homes. Don't let the agencies recent announcement limiting these properties continue giving you the winter blues. It's a bright new day and Spring is here with SimpleMae for both Wholesale and Correspondent. Click Here to inquire about becoming an approved wholesale broker or correspondent seller.

A quick note that Equilibrium Solutions will be sponsoring today’s Mortgage Collaborative’s Rundown with Rich and Rob, this week’s featuring Paul Campbell. Rich Swerbinsky, the COO of The Mortgage Collaborative, Paul, and I will be discussing current events in the mortgage market for 30 minutes starting at 3PM ET: “The Rundown with Rob and Rich.”

Politics

The changes that are being made by the FHFA, and carried out by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, go against a portion of what the Biden Administration has promoted. During the campaign Joe Biden certainly addressed housing, along with publicizing plans directed at affordable housing. For example…

The Biden Administration is planning to help ease the housing shortage by providing incentives to local governments to permit apartment buildings in areas zoned for single-family residences only. Essentially, if local governments ease zoning restrictions, they will get grants from the Federal government for building schools, etc. Seeking to “ease” (there’s really no “ending” is there)  a national affordable housing shortage by pushing local governments to allow apartment buildings in neighborhoods that are currently restricted to single-family homes.

It’s not just about existing supply but also about creating new housing opportunities. The Biden Administration including housing in the overall Infrastructure bill. As Jeremy Potter puts it, “I’ve often said housing IS infrastructure because of the role housing plays in stable communities. First-time home buyers are reliable consumers. Want to support small businesses? Create more customers. Stable housing is economic stimulus and economic development for all businesses. The Biden infrastructure plan appears to focus on affordable housing units, housing supply and public-private partnerships. While there are details to work out, housing as infrastructure is an economic driver.”

Capital markets

Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities ended Thursday with a modest rally on the back of scant news. Sentiment was dominated by a dovish Fed. Fed Chairman Powell delivered remarks during a virtual G-20 summit of central bankers and finance ministers, but provided no new insight, but saying he would like to see a string of positive payrolls reports and reiterating he expects any inflationary price pressures to be temporary. Initial jobless claims actually increasing, instead of declining, by 16k to 744k showed the U.S. economy still has a long way to go before the Fed will become any less accommodative.

Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported slight a decrease in fixed mortgage rates after seven consecutive weeks of increases. The 30-year rate fell 5 bps to 3.13 percent, but remains nearly .5 percent above the survey low in early January. The Mortgage Bankers Association released its monthly Mortgage Credit Availability Index for March which recorded slight easing in lending standards. While the index remains well below 2020’s pre-pandemic high, it is nearly 6 percent above August’s print that showed the tightest conditions since February 2014.

It’s just a couple economic releases to close out the week, starting with the Producer Price Index (PPI) for March being delayed for technical reasons. Of note, beginning in this report the year-over-year numbers are going to be impacted by comparison to the pandemic’s initial 2020 impact. Later this morning brings wholesale inventories for February and remarks from a sole Fed speaker, Dallas’ Kaplan. Today’s MBS purchase schedule sees two operations by the Desk for $5.3 billion across GNII and UMBS30 2.0 percent and 2.5 percent. We start the last day of the official workweek with Agency MBS prices worse/down .250 and the 10-year yielding 1.67 after closing yesterday at 1.63 percent.

Are you as confused as I am by the various “cookie” notices every time you visit a website? You’re not alone, as shown in this humorous, short video.