How can we move forward as an
industry when we can't even agree on how to pronounce the acronym for
Truth-in-Lending? I have heard "TILA" pronounced "tee-luh"
and also pronounced "till-uh." Not only that, but I have seen "RESPA-TILA"
and "TILA-RESPA". I am sure the boys and girls at the Federal Reserve
know how, especially as they'll be hosting a webinar on how the Integrated Rule
will go into effect next August. "Join us on Wednesday, October 1 at 2PM
EDT for a 90 minute webinar to answer some frequently asked
questions about the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule. This will be the
third in a series of webinars to address the new rule as creditors, mortgage
brokers, settlement agents, software developers, and other stakeholders work to
implement it over the next year. In this session, we'll address the loan
estimate form with a focus on questions raised by technology vendors."
On the retail side, you have
seen iServe Residential Lending mentioned previously by me over the
years. In fact, you may recall that I recently participated in a panel
discussion with iServe on VA financing. iServe is a national direct lender licensed in 23
states. "With a complete product menu, a knowledgeable support staff
and a robust marketing/CRM platform, iServe continues to look for
originators and new branches in key markets throughout the country. If
your business model is referral based with Realtors or other referral partners,
iServe understands and embraces the need for best in class service with
creative marketing tools to support your business relationships." For the
Western US, contact Allen
Friedman or Rick
Trew in the East for additional information. They have a
presentation that can be emailed to you that gives some impressive highlights
on the company. "When we talk about retention, the support of sales
teams, and overall value of the client, iServe is one of the leaders of the
pack. I would urge you to make contact."
AmeriSave Mortgage Corporation
has issued a Letter of Intent to CertusBank, N.A. to acquire a large portion of
its mortgage division, including the majority of teammates and facilities.
"AmeriSave has been seeking a strong mortgage originator for possible
acquisition and this agreement will allow the company to expand its footprint
by establishing a traditional retail mortgage origination channel to complement
its online origination platform. CertusBank, headquartered in Greenville, S.C.,
has recently undergone a strategic transition toward a more traditional
community banking business model and identified mortgage as an area with
opportunity for significant changes. AmeriSave's acquisition will include
mortgage offices in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. These branches
currently employ approximately 40 loan officers."
Does everyone deserve a home
loan? Ask anyone in the industry, and the answer will be, "Of course
not." But that doesn't stop lenders from trying to figure out how to
lend to low income borrowers. The latest effort comes from Bank of America.
Here's the story.
But as the months go by, there
is no question that compliance and regulatory burdens are impacting lenders'
ability and desire to lend, which in turn impacts lending, which in turn
impacts borrowers. Some readers might be interested in the following white paper from Tom Showalter at Digital Risk regarding
the increasing regulatory headwinds facing lenders.
(Speaking of regulations and
regulators, when the new stuff starts to die down, they seem happy to continue
on old cases. Regulators continue to unwind Lehman Brothers Holdings six years
after its collapse. About $88.8 billion is expected be recovered for creditors
owed about $341 billion, with Lehman's parent company and its units so far
paying out $57.1 billion to unsecured creditors, excluding Lehman affiliates.)
Everyone wants our opinions
these days. (I can't check out of a hotel without receiving an e-mail asking
how my stay went.) But the Collingwood Group believes your opinion matters and
"we want to bring it to the people that matter. The monthly Collingwood
Group Lender Sentiment Survey measures business confidence in our industry
and the impact of regulation. As a participant you will get inside information
from our survey. Be assured that your privacy is important to us and e-mail
addresses and other contact information that you provide will be kept strictly
confidential." Here is a link to the survey.
Some random lender updates...
Mountain West Financial
Wholesale has enhanced its flipping policy. Pricing adjustment for conventional
and government flip transactions will be reduced as well on locks taken on or
after September 1st.
New Leaf Wholesale has
updated credit requirements per Fannie Mae announcement, updates for
conventional and high balance products. These updates include extenuating
circumstances, bankruptcy, foreclosure, Short Sale, Pre-Foreclosure,
Deed-in-Lieu, Charged Off Mortgage Debt, and Restructured Debt and Modified
Mortgages.
As a reminder, Sun West
Mortgage spread the word that effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or
after 08/04/2014, Sun West is accepting HECM Loans with non-borrowing spouse.
HECM Loans with non-borrowing spouse must comply with all FHA's requirements as
specified in the Mortgagee Letter 2014-07.
FAMC Wholesale website
updates regarding its EMB program were completed on September 1st. The complete
guidelines for EMB delivery requirements are available for review. Power
of Attorney guidelines have been updated to align with agency requirements
located in the loan documentation guidelines, and clarification regarding
electronic signature policy on USDA loans has been revised.
As noted above, Impac Mortgage
Wholesale is offering AltQM Jumbo Loans with DTIs up to 50%. Purchase or
Refi Loans up to $3M, Min 680 FICO, 5/1, 7/1, 10/1 ARMs, I/O allowed (in
applicable states), and LTVs up to 80%.
The CFO of Bankrate has
resigned and the company said its financial statements for 2011 to 2013 should
not be relied upon, amid an examination by the SEC into improper accounting of accruals
and expenses.
Who isn't concerned with wage
growth nowadays? It's an important issue, and as economists have been pointing
out, wages and salaries have been lagging behind for quite some time
(even with recent acceleration it is still below what it should be in the
business cycle). This is a problem. Wells Fargo's Economics Group writes, "The labor
market recovery has shifted into a higher gear in recent months, but concerns
over job quality and weak wage growth linger. Wage growth has improved over the
past year but, at 2.3 percent. Could the composition of job gains and wage
increases be holding back aggregate wage rates?" Ultimately, lagged
effects of the labor market weakness between 2007 and 2009 have contributed to
growth in average hourly earnings. Specifically, some employers may have
restrained wage growth in recent years to make up for the wage cuts they were
reluctant to implement during the depths during that time. Joining with many
economic papers I have read as of late, Wells concludes with, "We
expect to see wage growth pick up gradually over the next year, which should
reassure the more dovish members of the FOMC that the labor market is indeed
tightening. However, unless wages jump unexpectedly in the next few months,
which we do not expect, we believe that the Fed will not feel compelled to
raise rates until mid-2015."
The news yesterday consisted of
Industrial Production, which fell for the first time since January, and
Capacity Utilization (which also fell). The report showed industrial production
softening after strong gains during the spring. July's increase was revised
down to 0.2% from 0.4%. We also noticed the Empire State Manufacturing Survey
which shot higher. The 10-year Treasury note was marked higher by 6+/32,
closing at 2.59 versus Friday's 2.61% close. Some of this was due to the weak
numbers, some due to the increased risk aversion ahead of the Fed announcement
tomorrow.
Inflation has not been a
problem for years. (Eventually it will be, and all those "experts"
warning us of inflation will be "right".) Today we had the Producer
Price Index numbers, measuring inflation at the producer level - they were
unchanged on the headline number. For numbers, since most folks in this biz are
quantitative, we had a 2.61% close on Friday on the 10-yr., Monday was 2.59%, before
& after the PPI numbers we are at 2.56%; agency MBS prices are better about
.125 versus Monday's closing levels.
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