Bank Statement Programs; Upcoming Events; A Look at the Economy

By: Rob Chrisman • Mon, Jul 30 2018, 8:54 AM

“Buy land – they’re not making any more of it.” Don’t tell that to Hawai’i. While California continues to burn, 2,400 miles to the southwest Hawai’i has a different heat. In less than three months the state’s volcanic activity has created more land than in the last 35 years. Since 1983, the volcano Kilauea’s vent Puu Oo has added 443 acres of land by dumping lava into the sea. In the three months the fissures in Leilani Estates added at least 760 acres of new land: an estimated 50 to 150 cubic meters of lava flow per second compared to the sustained 3 to 4 cubic meters of lava flow from the 35-year-old vent. Of course, most lenders don’t lend in a lava region. But this is much more interesting than dumping garbage off the coast until land forms, like some nations do.

Webinars and Trainings

As July wraps up (already?!), let’s see what events, conferences, and learning opportunities are ahead.

As mentioned above, Insellerate is offering a session for LOs to, “Ramp up revenue and close the year out strong. Join Wednesday’s webinar to learn, in 30 minutes, how Insellerate gives top lenders the boost they need to not only achieve but EXCEED revenue goals.”

Join the California MBA in San Diego for the 23rd Annual Western States Mortgage Technology and Loan Servicing Conference, August 5-7. There’s a keynote Q&A featuring Rocket Mortgage's Shawn Krause, as well as a panel of the nation's top servicers, a look at the latest in mortgage tech, and more! Registration discounts include a 50% discount for California MBA members, and the 3Under35 program (members can send up to 3 young employees for free!).

Join Indecomm on Tuesday, August 7th for its complimentary “Ask Me Anything” webinar with Krista K. Sabol and Joy K. Gilpin taking on the topic of social media and mortgage compliance. You can send your questions in advance.

There is an upcoming Collateral Risk Network meeting in Reston, VA on August 8th. In addition to a Valuation Compliance Workshop on August 7th to benefit chief appraisers, vendor managers and compliance, Steve Cannon, counsel for the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board in the FTC action, will bring folks up-to-date with this pivotal legal case. Jim Park, ASC Director, will discuss the AMC Registry and many of the issues around AMC enforcement.

Join AzAMP Central Chapter Luncheon on August 8th with luncheon speaker, Congressman David Schweikert. Reservations and prepayment are required. Online Registration and payment accepted through Wednesday at 10AM before the luncheon.

The Lenders One 2018 Summer Conference will be in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 5-8, at The Grand America. Attendees will be able to select from 16 curated education sessions led by industry experts.

On Thursday, August 9th, get Your TRID Questions Answered by Richard Horn, Partner with Garris Horn PLLC, during an upcoming webinar hosted by October Research, LLC. The October 1st deadline is right around the corner, register to learn what you need to comply and what you can expect from the CFPB heading into 2019.

From Hawai’i, MBAH’s Connecting to Close Workshop on August 9th is an interactive session. Gain a deeper understanding of EI and the critical role it plays in creating the right connections with your customers and referral sources.

Join Buckley Sandler on August 9th to discuss what’s in the new California Consumer Privacy Act and what it means for businesses. The webcast will focus on the scope of the act and the compliance and operational requirements businesses will face, as well as enforcement and litigation implications.

Join the California MBA on August 14th in San Francisco at the offices of Blend from 5-7pm for a free networking event for residential industry pros.

The Mortgage Collaborative will be holding its 2018 Summer Conference at the fabulous Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, IL from Sunday, August 19th through Tuesday, August 21st. For more details, visit TMC or contact TMC COO Rich Swerbinsky.

FHA underwriter training? August 21, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM, FHA is hosting a free instructor led, on-site training in Salt Lake City. And then the next day, in SL UT, Register for FHA Underwriting the Appraisal Training.

With so much at stake and few opportunities to advance the legislative priorities of the local housing finance community, register for the first ever NALHFA Legislative Conference to be held in Washington D.C. from October 2nd-4th, hosted by the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency. NALHFA will bring members of the United States Congress, HUD, the Treasury Department, Congressional offices, and industry leaders will discuss the driving issues HFAs need to know.

Capital Markets

Housing and jobs drive the economy, but, despite higher prices not being an issue in decades, recall that earlier in July we had an inflation measure. The headline Consumer Price Index increased by 0.1 percent in June, which paled in comparison to the 0.3 percent gain in the headline Producer Price Index for June. Stronger producer prices are not yet pushing hard on consumer prices despite increasing import tariffs, energy, and tight labor market conditions contributing to inflationary pressures. Deflationary forces are still in effect too, and expectations are for more pressure on both upstream and downstream prices through year end. These pressures should motivate the Federal Reserve to increase the fed funds rate 25 basis points two more times this year, once in September and once in December, for a total of four rate hikes in 2018. The implied odds of a fourth fed funds rate hike on December 19 have increased to about 55 percent.

Both existing and new home sales sagged in June, pointing to a cooler residential real estate market as higher land prices, lumber prices, labor costs and mortgage rates are all working to reduce housing affordability. Added to that, tax reform may be working against some markets, as the regional component of tax reform may be influencing both buyer and seller behavior on the West Coast. New home sales fell by the most since October 2017, and despite the Northeast seeing big gains at 36.8 percent for the month, the Midwest lost 13.4 percent, the South was down 7.7 percent, and the West saw its third consecutive monthly decline at -5.2 percent. The months' supply of new homes ticked up to 5.7 months' worth, which should help new home sales for the rest of the summer. Existing home sales decreased in June for the third consecutive month. The inventory of existing homes for sale notched up to a still-tight 4.3 months' worth in June, and the median sales price of an existing home was up by 5.2 percent over the previous 12 months.

Friday, we learned that GDP registered as-expected (+4.1%) for Q2, the strongest since Q3 2014 with the strong annualized rate of growth underscoring the path of the Federal Reserve’s policy at a time when central bank decisions are highly scrutinized by investors. The Q2 reading was strong enough to support the belief that the Federal Reserve will remain undeterred from steady tightening, which will eventually weigh on growth. The market will receive the latest FOMC Statement this week, but a rate hike is not expected due to the lack of a press conference after the policy meeting. The only concerns surrounding the report are that the rate of growth may not be sustainable given that export growth was based off pre-tariff activity.

In Japan, reports suggested BOJ officials are debating ways to reduce the side-effects of their yield-curve control policy. The European Central Bank said Thursday that it will stick to its plan to end bond purchases and pledged to keep interest rates unchanged “at least through the summer of 2019.” Next week will also be unusually busy on the central banking front, considering the market will receive the latest policy statements from the Bank of Japan (Tuesday), Reserve Bank of India (Wednesday), Federal Reserve (Wednesday), Central Bank of Brazil (Wednesday), and Bank of England (Thursday).

Aside from a lot of Central Bank news, there is other scheduled news in the U.S. this week. Today’s only release is June Pending Home Sales (prior -0.5%) at 10AM ET. Things swing back into gear tomorrow with the Q2 Employment Cost Index, June PCE Prices, PCE Prices – Core, Personal Income, and Personal Spending, May S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, June Chicago PMI, and July Consumer Confidence. Wednesday sees the usual Weekly MBA Mortgage Index but will also feature July ADP Employment Change, June Construction Spending, July ISM Index, and the August FOMC Rate Decision (look for unchanged). Thursday, we receive Weekly Initial Claims and Continuing Claims, and June Factory Orders. The week closes with July Nonfarm Payrolls, the July Unemployment Rate (prior 4.0%), Average Hourly Earnings, and July ISM Services. Monday starts with rates higher versus Friday’s close with the 10-year yielding 2.98% and agency MBS prices worse .125.

Lender Products, Jobs, and Promotions

Impac Mortgage Corp. is Introducing Bank Statement Premier – a new program for borrowers who have shown exceptional money management skills and deserve to be rewarded for it with enhanced pricing and a floor rate of just 4.99%. With loan amounts to $3M and unparalleled pricing, Bank Statement Premier uses flexible underwriting guidelines making it easier to qualify than your traditional full doc loan program and is available for all occupancy types. “Since our launch, Bank Statement Premier has quickly proven to be the program our clients need and want to grow their NQM business platform with tremendous feedback and exponential growth in both wholesale and correspondent channels. Click here for more on this innovative program.”

It’s time for a mid-year check: Are your numbers where they should be? It isn't too late to have a record-breaking year! Ramp up revenue and close the year out strong. Join Wednesday’s webinar to learn, in 30 minutes, how Insellerate gives top lenders the boost they need to not only achieve but EXCEED revenue goals. Learn how to: Convert more leads with smart lead distribution and better lead management; Accelerate sales and reduce missed opportunities with workflow management and team collaboration; Improve LO performance by tracking activity effort and effectiveness; Generate repeat business with automated marketing and a robust content library; Turn more leads into live inbound calls with artificial intelligence and big data. Register for the 8/1 webinar: Sign Up Here!

Is your auditor just “checking the box” on their subservicer reviews? Demand more! A review that goes deeper than “just the facts” can uncover tremendous opportunities for improvement in the service your subservicer provides to both your organization and your borrowers. Subsequent QC, sister company to mortgage risk management and compliance services provider MQMR, conducts multiple on-site reviews of all the major subservicers throughout the year to assess multiple facets of subservicers’ operations, including process control effectiveness, vendor oversight, regulatory/investor compliance AND alignment with operational best practices. By doing more than simply “checking the box,” Subsequent QC delivers a more comprehensive assessment of the risk a subservicer’s operations pose to the master servicer. Our team has uncovered numerous servicing exceptions during our subservicer audits, which have translated into direct value for our clients. For more information on Subsequent QC’s subservicer audit program, contact sales@mqmresearch.com.

FinLocker, a financial data and analytics company, has issued a press release announcing the approval of its third patent, further innovating their proprietary analytics engine and digital vault functionality. This most recent patent complements the FinLocker’s patent strategy, locking in its distinct capabilities and substantiating the uniqueness of the technology. The FinLocker platform generates high-quality leads, and dramatically reduces lender costs, data errors and processing timelines. The patent framework protects their advanced technology and validates the uniqueness of the FinLocker lending solution. This third patent protects the complex methods developed to enable complete interactive control over workflows, hierarchy, access, and rules-based analytics of sensitive financial information. This patent adds to the analytics foundation with machine learning, natural language processing, and heuristic analysis. FinLocker advancements in secure financial data management and analytics enable lenders to create a true “customer for life/lender for life” relationship.

Guardian Mortgage, a division of Sunflower Bank, N.A., has announced that Todd Boeding has joined the organization as the Regional Manager for Texas. Boeding will oversee origination operations in Texas and will focus on recruiting, growth and market development for the entire state. Boeding has an established background in mortgage sales management with leading companies in the industry and will channel his efforts toward expanding the Guardian Mortgage profile in Texas. Todd is a past President of the Dallas Mortgage Bankers Association and a board member for Carry The Load, a non-profit dedicated to honoring and celebrating our nation’s heroes – our military and first responders and their families. “Todd’s addition is a huge boost to achieve our growth strategy and production goals in Texas” said Guardian Mortgage president Mischelle Weaver. Guardian Mortgage is enjoying rapid growth across the country and is always looking for top performers. Please visit its website.