|
May 12, 2011: Icon enters correspondent; LO comp musings; Ally buying ING Direct, Morgan selling Saxon? AllRegs ID card product
Rob Chrisman
My
memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Along those lines I bet that all the reverse
mortgage lenders out there didn't know that President John
F. Kennedy designated May 1963 as Senior Citizens Month,
encouraging the nation to pay tribute in some way to older
people across the country. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter
changed the name to Older Americans Month, a time to celebrate
those 65 and older which is around 40 million here in the US
(13% of the population). According to the Census Bureau, and the
reason why there is so much interest in reverse mortgages
(despite their well-publicized issues), in 2050 there will be 89
million people 65 and older, or 20% of the total population at
that time. But will they have equity? http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/summarytables.html
Some companies are
contracting, but in Southern California Icon
Residential Lenders is expanding and opening up a nationwide
correspondent channel. Icon is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Grand Bank, a nationally chartered bank licensed to lend in
all 50 states, and is in the hunt for an Operations Manager
for the team that will handle correspondent loan flow
nationwide. The role is obviously critical, and if anyone out
there knows of anyone with at least 5 years of correspondent
operations management experience and who is interested in
building a team they should send their resumes and letters of
interest to Chris Weir at cweir@iconresidential.com.
Qualified
candidates will be contacted for follow up interviews.
Anyone with a vested interest in probable loan
limit changes on 10/1 would be advised to read the latest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/business/11housing.html?_r2&partnerrss&e.
The light
bulb reminder yesterday prompted one reader to write, "The
real light bulb story is this regulation forced the last light
bulb manufacturer in this country to close its doors, yet
another ‘unintended consequence.’ Wait until the full effects of
Dodd-Frank and the CPFB hit our industry. ‘The American people
will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of
'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist
program, until one day America will be a socialist nation,
without knowing how it happened.’ Another wrote,
“Republicans in Congress are now upset that the government is
deciding the fate of the incandescent bulb rather than the free
market. How about the unintended consequence on Hasbro’s
Easy Bake Oven business? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706933.html.
On a more serious
note one reader wrote, “With regard to the comment of Bank
sellers of REO requiring cross qualification with a
preferred lender, there are reasons beyond building
origination business that it may be required. Whether dealing
with a foreclosure or a short sale, the bank needs to be assured
the buyer is legitimate and will be able to complete the
purchase in a timely manner. Some lenders pre-approving a
borrower on an REO may not be able to meet a tight closing
deadline. A ruse some of the foreclosure rescue companies use is
to provide purchase and sale agreement signed by a fake buyer
with a fake approval letter as a strategy to get a foreclosure
delayed.”
Morgan Stanley, selling its servicer Saxon?
Check it out at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/morgan_stanley_eyes_saxon_sale_ZRzQROGOTQHGg253RK0ZhN.
And Ally is going to buy ING Direct? Here you
go: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/ally_financial_in_talks_to_buy_ing_51hSVWNT6X3Fwoz6wvCJhO.
(Maybe I should obtain all my news from The New York Post - it
has better photos than the WSJ...)
Sometimes originators and Realtors wonder why the number of
companies offering 2nd mortgages has declined. http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_18011666?source%253Dmost_emailed.26978592730A3B8C7F471EACE0DA4EF2.html.
Just as lawsuits seem to be a matter of daily life for mortgage
companies, so do settlements. Whether an investor settles with
an agency, as BofA did with Fannie last year, or XXX Mortgage
does a "global settlement" with an accumulator (such as Citi or
Chase or Wells or BofA), settlements are indeed occurring. The
same is happening, or trying to happen, on the servicing side of
our industry: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/05/11/banks-willing-to-pay-5-billion-to-settle-mortgage-mess/?modgoogle_news_blog.
HUD announced a
conference call for today.
FHA Office of Lender Activities and Program Compliance
Conference Call/Live Meeting from 2-3 EST. “Topics of
Discussion: Audited Financial Statements, Investing Mortgagee
Requirements, Third Party Originations.” E-mail your questions
both in advance of and during the call to OLAPC@HUD.GOV and
to
join use this link: meet:sip:Maria.A.Taylor@hud.gov;gruu;opaqueapp:conf:focus:id:262d0e8fb55945fc9ae0920a6a2a4fcd%3Fconf-keyfCKqlj2D0R03.
Meeting ID: 262d0e8fb55945fc9ae0920a6a2a4fcd, with entry code
fCKqlj2D0R03 or use the conference dial-in number: (800)
260-0718; Confirmation/Participant Number: 201997.
In Northern
California, Walnut Creek to be exact, FHA will
conduct a 1-day class on June 7 on “recent changes,
highlights of underwriting the FHA appraisal, recap of
underwriting & documentation requirements. This training is
for Underwriters, Processors, & Loan Officers. It is free
but registration required at http://www.hud.gov/emarc/index.cfm?fuseactionemar.registerEvent&eventIdˆ9&updateN.
HUD also reminded
FHA/VA producers that “claim-related payments to HUD must be
made through the ‘Claim Remittance’ feature in the FHA
Connection. This feature can be accessed through the FHA
Connection by selecting Single Family Servicing, Claims
Processing, and Claim Remittance. Banking information can be
entered securely using one of two methods: (1) the one-time
cash flow account setup process, using the Cash Flow Account
Setup module in FHA Connection, establishes a banking account
that can be used for frequent and recurring remittances, and (2)
banking account information can be entered at the time of each
remittance. By request to allow a longer transition period, the
closing date for the Single Family Claims Lockbox has been
extended to May 31, 2011. There will be no further extensions.
Any checks received after May 31, 2011, will be returned to the
sender and mortgagees may incur interest and – or penalty
amounts on delinquent debts. Guidance on this can be found at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/comp/premiums/arsclaims.cfm
.
AllRegs has released a database showing popular ID
cards. "AllRegs ID Card Database, a comprehensive, online
resource that contains card images and details of the most
actively used driver’s licenses from all 50 states across the
U.S., military IDs and passports. For each ID card, you can
access what the card looks like with illustrated details of
security features, layouts, and other discerning information
that confirms the authenticity of the ID card." http://www.allregsmortgage.com/pages/AllRegs-Releases-Identity-Document-Database.html
I have had the pleasure of sitting in on two large-group
discussions about LO compensation in the last
three weeks. The only thing that appears to be certain is... nothing appears to be certain. The discussion
leaders would ask, "Who here is doing something this way?" and
half the group would gamely raise their hands, and then the
leader would ask, "Who here is doing something the other way?"
and the other half would raise their hands. Of course, the big fear is that their company will be made an
example of, either by regulators or by class action attorneys.
And still others point to firms, none of whom will be mentioned
in this commentary, who not only seem to be ignoring or skirting
the generally-accepted regulations but are also using their comp
policies as a recruiting tactic.
Lenders continue to
adjust their comp plans. In San Francisco, for example, Bay Equity told its brokers of “enhancements to
the Lender Paid Compensation Plans…which offer our Broker
partners greater flexibility and a competitive edge and are
programmed into EDGE, Bay Equity's Decision Generating Engine.
Bay Equity offers a new add-on which allows our Broker Partners
to include a flat fee on top of their current Tier. Bay Equity
is offering add-ons in the amount of $495, $595, and $695. The
flat fee will be included in the total Lender Paid Compensation
for each transaction” assuming certain documentation and
procedure guidelines are met. The company also told its brokers
that, “Bay Equity will include contract processing fees as an
allowable 3rd party fee” assuming other requirements are met.
Wednesday the
volatility in our markets continued to pick up slightly.
Treasuries and other fixed-income securities opened lower but
buyers came into the market and prices gained steadily through
the day. Equities sold off sharply on lower commodity prices and
increased economic worries. When all was said and done the new
10-year note rallied about .250 in price and down to a yield of
3.16%. Mortgage banker selling was in the mid-to-upper end of
its range of $1 to $1.5 billion, and agency MBS prices finished
better by .125-.250, resulting in some intra-day price
improvements.
Ok, so a few months
ago, using SkyMall on the airplane, I picked up 12 inflatable
pink flamingos. Due to that, along with sales increases in
building materials, gasoline stations, and restaurants, Retail
Sales rose .4% in March. Today we learned that Retail Sales for
April were +.5%, due in part to my purchase of SkyMall’s “Teach
Your Cat to Use Your Toilet” Program. We also learned that last
week’s Jobless Claims dropped from 478k to 434k, with continuing
claims about unchanged but the 4-week moving average heading
higher, and that the Producer Price Index was +.8% with the core
rate +.3%. For the year producer prices are +6.8%.
Later, at 9AM CST,
Business Inventories for March (expected higher) along with the
last of this week’s Treasury auctions. Perhaps of more interest
will Chairman Bernanke testifying before the Senate Banking
Committee on "Dodd-Frank Implementation: Monitoring Systemic
Risk and Promoting Financial Stability" beginning at 10 EST. With all of this going on we find the 10-yr yield
about unchanged at 3.17% and MBS also about unchanged.
Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and asks the first
man he meets, "Do you want to go to heaven?"
The man said, "I do, Father."
The priest said, "Then stand over there against the wall."
Then the priest asked the second man, "Do you want to go to
heaven?"
"Certainly, Father," the man replied.
"Then stand over there against the wall," said the priest.
Then Father Murphy walked up to O'Toole and asked, "Do you want
to go to heaven?"
O'Toole said, "No, I don't Father."
The priest said, "I don't believe this. You mean to tell me
that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?"
O'Toole said "Oh - when I die yes. I thought you were getting
together a group to go right now."
|
