The Intersections of Regulation, Politics, and Lending - Never a Dull Moment
A recent MBA Chart of the Week focused on the Independent Mortgage Banks net production income and purchase share. The independent mortgage banks and subsidiaries of charted banks reported a net gain of 67 basis points or $1,522 on each loan they originated in the second quarter of the year, which increased from $1,477 per loan in the first quarter. The purchase share of total first mortgage originations by dollar volume reached 62 percent in the second quarter, up from 51 percent in the first quarter. Starting from Q1 2011 up through Q2 2015, there were eight quarters that had the purchase share over 60 percent and ten quarters when the purchase share was under 60 percent. For quarters when purchase share was over 60 percent, the net production income averaged 32 basis points, whereas the net production income was on average, 78 basis points for quarters that had a purchase share below 60 percent.
There are plenty of things going on in the junction between politics, regulators, and lenders, as well as sessions trying to help lenders decipher what is going on.
A bill by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., to bar the Treasury Department from selling its stakes in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until Congress overhauls housing finance faces a hold. The hold prevents the bill from advancing to a vote by the full Senate.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and 14 other organizations have written an open letter to Congress urging politicians to pass legislation that would provide a cushion to prevent another taxpayer bailout of Freddie & Fannie. The organizations, representing "hundreds of hardworking Americans fed up with government spending and overreach," encouraged members of Congress to quickly pass H.R. 1673, known as the Enterprise Secondary Reserve Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act of 2015 was introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) in March. This bill would create a reserve fund from the GSE profits from which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could draw if necessary rather than depend on the Department of Treasury (taxpayers) for another bailout similar to the $187.5 billion resuscitation they received in 2008.
NAMB is encouraging members and industry professionals to support HR 3393, the Mortgage Fairness Act of 2015 that will allow for greater access to credit for low to moderate income consumers. The bill will allow consumers that have previously been limited in their home buying options due to affordability and small loan amounts afford a home.
This was mentioned in the commentary a while back, but with the new TRID rules looming, is the industry staring down a black hole? The Community Home Lenders Association has called for a formal "hold harmless" provision in the TRID requirements that would avoid punishing originators in cases of delayed closings. What happens when a borrower requests a delay after the closing disclosure has been produced but more than seven business days before the new closing date? Would the lender then be forced to figuratively eat any increased costs associated with the transaction? Good question right? With the TRID effective date right around the corner, there still appears to be a lot of questions without clear, concise answers.
CoAMP and Bill Kidwell are preparing for the ninth (9th) in the series of regulatory compliance webinars. So, mark your calendar for September 23rd from 10AM to 11AM (MDT) and pick up some useful clues about record retention. Federal and Colorado record retention requirements and how the retention requirement varies from regulation to regulation. Included will be coverage of IRS retention requirements as well. Click here for registration information.
Join the New England Mortgage Bankers Conference on September 16-18 in Newport R.I. for its annual three day conference and get the most recent and up-to-date information to help you develop your strategies for success. Register today.
LDWholesale is offering free broker training throughout the month of September on TRID. The next session, entitled TRID - Knowledge is Power, is scheduled for this Thursday, September 17th at 11:00 am PDT. The training will cover important information regarding fee tolerances and service providers. Brokers can register by following this link.
M&T Bank is offering a free introduction to Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure courses. Sign‐in early as these classes are sure to fill up quickly. WebEx on September 30th with event number: 594 969 733, and password: mortgage. Click the link to register for its WebEx on October 1st.
Have you registered for the MERS Western Region Workshop on October 6th, in Irvine? This Workshop gives you the chance to ask questions during a live demo of the MERS® System, discuss common issues, and solve scenarios often encountered by MERS® System Members. Register today for this MERS workshop.
The Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Loan Center (RLC) will be holding two on-site VA Home Loans informational sessions in October. The first session will be in Cleveland, OH, on Friday, October 9 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. The second session will be in Manchester, NH, on October 21 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. These informational sessions will cover the topics of entitlement, eligibility, VA forms, appraisals, funding fees, underwriting, closing costs and post-closing issues, and special circumstances. It is important to note that these sessions will cover some areas related to the appraisal process, but this is not appraiser training. These sessions are perfect for loan officers, processors, underwriters and post-closing individuals. To register, click here. Note that the registration process through EventBrite creates a "ticket" to attend. There is no cost for this ticket and the ticket is not required on the day of the event.
Ready for a WAMP event? October 1st and 2nd, NW Mortgage Expo and Real Estate Summit will be held at Tulalip Resort & Casino in Marysville, Washington. The first 100 Realtors register online for free. Interested in more WAMP event information? Click here.
Remain compliant by staying on top of the latest Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) supervision and enforcement trends in mortgage origination, UDAAP, RESPA Section 8 and other areas. Sponsored by ClosingCorp, on September 24th, Dodd Frank Update will provide an in-depth webinar for mortgage lenders and settlement service providers looking to stay compliant and prepare for increased CFPB scrutiny. There are 3 available ways to access Dodd Frank Update webinar, click here for details.
Interested in join Plaza for its September 16th webinar to learn more about its VA loan programs? Click here to register.
We're about halfway through with the June 1 - November 30 North Atlantic hurricane season. (Although six hurricanes hit the Atlantic region last year the last major hurricane occurred in October 2005 when Hurricane Wilma hit Southwest Florida. There are currently 185 coastline counties and 58,662,907 people most threatened by Atlantic hurricanes.) The season ends in late November, which is, historically, the time when Freddie & Fannie (through their conservator the FHFA) announce their loan limits. Which reminded me of this note a while back: "NAR believes that a single price index does not account for the broad nature of the housing market through the housing cycle and could limit access to credit, counter to a principal duty of the FHFA Director. Rather, NAR believes a price index or methodology that recognizes the multifaceted market dynamics is a better choice for setting the conventional loan limits."
There is certainly a group out there that thinks housing has so much pent up demand it will forge ahead no matter what. And there are those that say housing isn't enough to help our economy.
The
topic of real estate bubbles is as old as the dirt that lays the
foundation for home building worldwide. The Los Angeles Times recently
posed the question focusing on Los Angeles.
William Yu, economist at
the UCLA Anderson School of Management, weighed in on the topic stating
"Real estate blogs add to the hysteria by pointing to the most
ridiculous listings, the million-dollar bungalows in need of a complete
renovation, the $3-million teardowns. "But the data suggest that the
market is not, in fact, on the brink of collapse." That data is the
house price index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency for Los
Angeles that suggest LA's price cycles last 12 years on average. The MPA's "Broker Bubble" article is just a click away.
These bond markets have been pretty stable. Are successful loan officers and CEO of lenders making bets on what happens with the Federal Open Market Committee later this week? No. But they do know what they're going to regardless of what happens. And regardless of what happens to short term rates, long term rates - like mortgages - won't be directly impacted unless the psychology of the market changes.
Today we'll take a look at August Retail Sales, September Empire Manufacturing, and August Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization. For numbers the 10-year settled Monday at 2.18% and in the very early going, prior to the Retail Sales figures, we're unchanged, as are agency MBS prices.
Jobs and Announcements
For anyone interested in sales management, Allied Mortgage Group Inc., headquartered outside Philadelphia, is looking for a National Retail Sales Manager. Allied is a 22 year old company with a proven track record of success. The candidate will be responsible for planning and directing sales and recruiting efforts as well as overseeing retail branch management in multiple offices. "Additionally, we look for forward thinking and creative people who can add value to a strong organization. Allied is expanding due to our exceptional pricing/product matrix, client focused attitude, superior marketing systems and tenured management team." For a confidential interview, please contact Bob Wexler or click here.
For retail LOs, First Capital Mortgage is in search of experienced, proven mortgage loan professionals providing financing to our partner Coldwell Banker and Sotheby's International Realty offices in West LA and surrounding areas. RMR Financial DBA First Capital is a subsidiary of PHH Home Loans, a joint venture between PHH Mortgage Corporation and Realogy Holdings Corporation. Interested candidates may send their resumes/questions to Recruiter Sakinah Higgs or visit www.phhjobs. com to view a full job description and office locations. You may view more information about the companies at www.princetoncap. com and www.mortgagecalifornia. com.
USAA Mortgage today announced it is relocating about 120 positions in its Addison office to its offices in Phoenix and Tampa, Florida. USAA Mortgage said it is shifting mortgage processor and closer positions from Addison to Phoenix and Tampa, where the company's mortgage originators work. The company said this shift to a new mortgage-staffing model will allow it to "better serve its members looking to buy a home."