Bi-Lingual, Subservicing, POS, Warehouse Products; STRATMOR Comp Survey; Freddie and Fannie Changes

I head to Colorado Springs this morning, the scene of $3,000 mountain bikes in bike racks on top of $500 cars. There are roughly 380 bank branches in the city, including mortgage lender NBH. On the flip side, do you work at a non-depository bank, like a mortgage bank or broker? You should know that the Treasury’s Financial Stability Oversight Council voted unanimously to issue (for public comment) new proposed interpretative guidance on the Council’s procedures for designating nonbank financial companies for Federal Reserve supervision and enhanced prudential standards to replace the Council’s existing guidance and describes the procedural steps the Council would take in considering whether to designate a nonbank financial company. This follows the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) proposal to bring more nonbank financial companies under its direct supervision. (Today’s podcast can be found here and is sponsored by LoanCare, a Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) division and award-winning developer of the most sophisticated mortgage servicing portfolio management tool, LoanCare Analytics, built to support MSR investors with a focus on customer engagement, liquidity, and credit risk. Hear an interview with Paul Gigliotti on Mortgage Innovators Conference 2023. Chrisman Commentary LENDERS can attend the Mortgage Innovators Conference for free! Register here.)

Lender and Broker Services, Products, and Software

Optimal Blue is helping credit unions take their secondary marketing strategies to new heights! Join them in the Rockies at the ACUMA Regional Summit in Aurora, CO on May 15 and 16. Optimal Blue is proud to sponsor the event as part of its continued strong relationship with ACUMA and its members. Credit unions across the U.S. rely on Optimal Blue for its unrivaled technology that supports product and pricing, hedging, MSR valuation and more. And while you’re in Colorado, don’t miss Andy Walden, Black Knight’s VP of enterprise research, as he discusses some of the latest trends happening in the mortgage finance and housing markets. We’ll see you at the Summit!

“If you’re headed to the upcoming TMBA 107th Annual Convention in San Antonio, don’t forget to add Axos Bank’s Warehouse Lending team to your agenda. Our team will be available to talk strategy and how our diverse array of Agency, Jumbo, and Non-QM products can give you the flexibility and liquidity you need to be a top producer in today’s market. Plus, our expanded portfolio programs and extended cutoff times (6:15 p.m. ET) make it easy for you to succeed. Simply email Eric Nelepovitz and Justin Castillo to lock in a meeting time; or, if you have questions, feel free to contact the Warehouse Lending team at 888-764-7080. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take your business to the next level with Axos Bank’s Warehouse Lending team. We’re here to help you Ascend!”

“LendingOne, one of the nation’s leading private lenders for real estate investment property loans, expands its wholesale channel with the Hiring of Samuel Bjelac, VP of Third-Party Originations. Mr. Bjelac joins LendingOne with over 20 years of leadership experience in residential/commercial mortgage and financial service industries. The LendingOne TPO Channel provides mortgage brokers with access to fast and reliable capital to increase their revenue and grow their bottom line. LendingOne’s DSCR rental loans are a perfect option for mortgage professionals looking for stable and reliable funding for their investment property clients. You can also meet with Mr. Bjelac and the LendingOne TPO team at this year’s FAMP Broward Gold Coast Tradeshow on April 26th in Coral Springs, Florida at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel & Convention Center. Please stop by our booth and learn more about how you can sign up as a LendingOne broker partner. Click here to learn more.”

“Correspondent Channel at PenFed: Partner today with the 2nd Largest Federal Credit Union! Are you looking for the flexibility of delivering Best Efforts or Mandatory? PenFed Correspondent is pleased to announce we are adding lenders to our mandatory delivery program. Reach out to our dedicated Sales Team or email CorrSupport@PenFed.org to learn more about PenFed’s Mandatory Delivery option. PenFed proudly serves all 50 states and purchases loans up to $3MM, offering an expanded suite of products including Conventional Conforming, Jumbo, Super Jumbo and VA. As the nation’s second-largest federal credit union operating since 1935, PenFed partners win more deals while lending with ease and confidence. Contact us for more information.”

“Mortgage servicers must continuously work to ensure procedures and operations keep up with regulatory changes and will pass CFPB reviews. However, mortgage compliance isn't just a set of rules. It's a series of conditions that must be legally satisfied. Best-in-class servicers are proactive and must be prepared to implement changes that ensure regulatory compliance. The expert team at Consolidated Analytics applies a diagnostic approach to risk to ensure effective processes are in place to cost-effectively mitigate regulatory exposure. Let CA customize a change management system that addresses your organization's operational plans while identifying enterprise risk to develop policies and procedures for a more effective and centralized risk management approach. Consolidated Analytics can help your business maintain compliance and meet the challenges of today's market. Contact us to learn more.”

Does it feel like your current point-of-sale vendor has lost focus on mortgage? At Maxwell, mortgage is all it does. Constantly looking to improve the origination experience, Maxwell Point of Sale offers unique features to help lenders stand out including lender configurability, technology that pre-fills the application for the borrower, a complete Spanish language application, payment capabilities, quick pre-approval letters and more. With an average implementation time of less than 2.5 weeks, Maxwell Point of Sale can start working for you and your borrowers quickly. Schedule a call with the team to learn more.

Joey Halligan, SVP of Client Relations at Computershare Loan Services (CLS),and his dedicated team have an unmatched passion for helping their subservicing clients succeed. Joey says, “We engage with clients at pre-implementation to get to know them early and continually build the relationship. By doing so, our relationship managers are well positioned to provide a tailored client experience. In simple terms, we make it easy to work with us.” Learn more about CLS and their unparalleled client care.

According to the CFPB, 75% of borrowers only apply with one lender. Why let your competition capture that business when you and your loan officers could be the #1 go-to-resource in your market? Momentifi launched its personally branded Spring/Summer 2023 Homebuyer Education Content in English and Spanish to help loan officers and mortgage companies attract clients and educate them about today's housing market. The content package includes 150 personally branded articles. Loan officers post the articles daily to social media with the click of a button or use as scripts to record short videos that they post up on their social media sites. Each article is simple to understand with a clear call to action, making it super easy for prospects and referral partners to contact you. Momentifi also offers an enterprise-level plan for banks and mortgage companies who want a company-wide content license. Click here to learn more or subscribe.

STRATMOR Comp Survey

When it comes to hiring and retaining the best people for your organization, compensation matters. Where do you go to find out if you are offering the right amount to attract and keep employees? STRATMOR Group's Compensation Connection® Study. Participants submit data and receive a report comparing their responses to survey averages on key compensation metrics and characteristics for mortgage industry positions. Don't miss this opportunity to have the information you need to build a better compensation plan for your staff. Registration for the spring 2023 study session closes April 30. Sign up today!

Freddie and Fannie Updates

FHFA’s Enterprise Duty to Serve Underserved Markets – Colonia Census Tract Amendments has been posted.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (together, the Enterprises) use models to evaluate the credit risk from borrowers failing to meet their financial or contractual obligations, such as making payments on their mortgages. FHFA’s Division of Enterprise Regulation (DER) is responsible for examining the Enterprises’ models. FHFA, Office of Inspector General, then conducted an evaluation to assess whether DER completed the examination work sufficient to reach conclusions on whether the Enterprises’ credit default models met FHFA’s supervisory expectations. On Thursday, April 20th, FHFA, Office of Inspector General, released its evaluation report.

FHFA posted Fair Lending, Fair Housing, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans Proposed Rule and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Fair Lending Oversight.

Fannie Mae Servicing Guide Announcement (SVC-2023-02) discusses miscellaneous updates related to compliance with requirements and laws; Disaster Response Network™ and Know Your Options™ references; and loan property address changes.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced that the Phase 3 Critical Edits have been split into two subsets and transition dates to help you meet the Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) Critical Edits Phase 3 requirements. Phase 3A (low-firing edits) will transition to critical on May 1, 2023. Phase 3B (high-firing edits) will transition to critical on November 6, 2023. Check out the published resources on Freddie Mac’s UCD web page to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information to meet each transition date and update your schedule accordingly.

Fannie Mae proactively oversees the loan manufacturing process to drive loan quality, helping to ensure that the mortgages purchased meet the requirements. To help monitor appraisal quality, Fannie Mae leverages standardized data and provides oversight similar to other steps in the process of originating loans sold to them. How does Fannie Mae manage appraisal quality? Read the Fannie Mae Prospective Blog and learn more about it.

Did you know that the average American homeowner consumes 100,000 gallons of water annually? You can help homeowners conserve water and ultimately save money with energy-efficiency renovation financing, like Freddie Mac GreenCHOICE Mortgages®. Additionally, you’ll receive a $500 credit to credit fees in price for each GreenCHOICE Mortgage you deliver, which may be applied to reduce the borrower’s costs.

Freddie Mac May Loan Product Advisor® (LPASM) releases are available. Find out what’s coming in May to encourage new growth to your business faster than your competitors: Retirement of COVID-19 temporary overlay feedback message. New high needs rural region or rural area indicator messages.

Capital Markets: FOMC Meeting Incoming

The consensus is growing amongst market participants that the FOMC will raise the Fed Funds Rate 25 basis points (.25 percent) next week and that raise will be the last rate increase of this tightening cycle. Recent data on inflation and jobs indicate both remain hotter than the committee prefers.

But wait! Signs are emerging that things may be beginning to soften, such as an uptick in jobless claims as more companies announce layoffs. The Leading Economic Index fell 1.2 percent in March, the highest drop since April 2020. Existing home sales fell 2.4 percent in March following February’s 13.8 percent pop due to briefly lower mortgage rates. Higher rates are cited as a reason many homeowners are staying put and keeping supply of available homes sparse. This has created room for builders to fill the gap and single-family starts rose 4.7 percent in March. Builder perceptions have improved since last fall and are optimistic about future sales. Meanwhile, there are currently 958k multi-family units under construction, the highest number since 1973.

Switching gears to this week, the data includes regional Fed surveys, several housing-related releases, consumer confidence, durables goods, the first look at Q1 GDP (estimated at 2.0 percent) with PCE and Michigan sentiment in addition to index-related trades for April month end on Friday. The Fed will be in its blackout period ahead of next week’s FOMC meeting, though Sweden’s Riksbank will be out with its latest decision on Wednesday followed by the BoJ on Friday. FDIC, via BlackRock, will continue to liquidate the holdings from failed SVB and Signature Bank’s portfolios. Today’s calendar is relatively light on data with a couple regional metrics: the non-market moving Chicago National Activity Index for March and Dallas Fed Texas manufacturing for April. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices slightly improved from Friday evening, the 2-year is hovering around 4.16, and the 10-year yielding 3.54 after closing last week at 3.57 percent.

Employment, and a Goodbye…

“SWBC Mortgage would like to congratulate all our top loan officers who qualified for our 2023 President's Club, which is hosted annually in a beautiful destination to celebrate the year's success. This year we will be visiting sunny Santa Barbara, California. While earning a spot in the President’s Club is always an impressive feat, we are especially proud of the 69 qualifiers in this year's group after such a tumultuous year. You overcame every challenge and are truly the best-of-the-best, and we are honored that you have chosen SWBC Mortgage as your home. Interested in learning more about a company that promotes you and your future and celebrates your accomplishments? Contact James Clark, Director of Strategic Growth. To learn more about why SWBC Mortgage was awarded #5 Best Large Mortgage Companies to Work For in 2021, visit here.”

FHA is hiring a Senior Advisor for Risk Management and Regulatory Affairs in Washington D.C. reporting to the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Risk Management and Regulatory Affairs (RMRA) and will serve as a principal advisor to the DAS on RMRA issues and programs. The incumbent is required to keep abreast of conceptual RMRA issues which may have an impact on current or future missions.

FHA is also looking for a Senior Underwriter, announcement number 23-HUD-1510-P. Candidates will serve as an expert-level resource within his/her Office on matters relating to Underwriting and other Direct Endorsement issues and be responsible for analyzing the risk inherent in the issuance of mortgage insurance on mortgages for one-to-four family loans.

A reminder that life is short came late last week with the death of Scott Eggen, retired SVP of Capital Market at PrimeLending. Good, common-sense people in our business are valuable, and Scott fell into that category. He was looking forward to a long, retired life with his wife Jennifer, who had retired from Wells Fargo’s correspondent division, when he unexpectedly died. I could go on and on about him, knowing him as I did through our capital markets connection and his reputation, but a glance at the social media posts will tell you the tremendous impact he had on those around him.