Does anyone really retire
anymore? Most seem to adapt to re-careers, heading off to other pursuits. But
still plenty of U.S. citizens retire, and are paid a pension - just look at
the expenses incurred by the U.S. Postal Service, or places like Detroit or Stockton.
But where do governments invest the funds used for funding retirements? The
Census Bureau loves this stuff, and puts out a quarterly survey (formerly
known as the Finances of Selected State and Local Government Employee
Retirement Systems Survey). It provides national summary statistics on the
revenues, expenditures and composition of assets of the 100 largest state and
local public employee retirement systems in the United States. These 100
systems comprise 89.4 percent of financial activity among such entities. This
survey presents the most current statistics about investment decisions by
state and local public employee retirement systems, which are among the
largest types of institutional investors in the U.S. financial markets. To
see the financial transactions of these 800 pound gorillas visit PensionStrategy.
On the hiring front, First
National Bank is searching for mortgage loan originators (MLOs) in the
Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore areas as it continues to expand.
First National Bank is an affiliate of F.N.B. Corporation, a diversified financial
services company with over $12 billion in assets and services including
banking, trust, consumer finance, and insurance. The Mortgage Originator
is responsible for the generating residential mortgages, which includes
working with existing customers with residential mortgage needs and
developing new business from external sources. This position will also
need to provide the highest quality of customer service to both internal and
external customers. "We offer a competitive commission structure, 401K,
medical, dental, vision, stock purchase program, and much more!"
Please visit FNB's careers website to complete
an online application.
Once again we can all follow
the inability of our government to come to a decision, or an agreement, about
its fiscal responsibility. What happens to the process of making a home loan
if the government actually shuts down? Too bad the government doesn't produce
a single source, but here is a good start. It will give the patient reader
enough of an idea of what portions of day to day functions can continue and
which cannot, and lenders will be especially interested in the Department of
Housing and Urban Development and IRS: ContingencyPlans.
But I went back to an issue of
the commentary I wrote in April 2011 (remember LO comp?), figuring that much
of it is still applicable. "If
the government shuts down today, every non-essential government employee
should wake up really late and smile. After all, they are lucky. When private
companies have budget problems, the people on the non-essential worker list
don't get a three-day weekend. They get a six-month 'vacation' of filling out
resumes, eating Ramen noodles, worrying about their mortgages, and looking
for a job. In comparison, the furloughed government workers will have some
time to enjoy autumn in D.C."
Back then, Caroline Baum wrote
a notable blurb, "What if the U.S. government shut down and no one
noticed? Even worse (or better, depending on one's point of view), what if
all federal workers went on furlough and the public realized there were
benefits, not just costs, to smaller government? Essential services will be
maintained, including the distribution of Social Security checks. Employees
involved in the military, national security and law enforcement will stay on
the job. Non-essential workers will be furloughed. President Barack Obama
says a shutdown would further reduce confidence in government. Guess what?
It can't go much lower. The approval rating for Congress dropped to 18
percent last month, near the lowest in the Gallup poll's 37-year history of
tracking the trend."
From 2011: "Word has it
that since it doesn't rely on Congressional funds, the Federal Reserve
(central bank) would remain open for business as usual, with normal staffing
levels. The Fed would therefore be able to continue with its day-to-day operations.
The SEC is expected to continue operations as well. But lenders and vendors
were out warning originators about possibilities. CoreLogic told
clients that, "If the government does a shutdown...we will make every
effort to transmit orders to the IRS and SSA as quickly as possible once
received. All SSN orders will be processed during standard business hours and
may not be affected by the shutdown. In the event of a shutdown, we will
still continue to submit all 4506-T Direct and SSN orders but service time is
expected to be affected due to the IRS and SSA being unavailable to
respond."
Also from 2011 research: "NMLS
offices will remain open during any government shutdown and NMLS staff will
continue to report to work...candidates should not expect their appointments
to be cancelled or be affected by a shutdown of federal government
agencies."
In 2011 Franklin American
suggested clients, "Run CAIVRS' checks immediately on all loans that you
want to close in the next week or two in case the shutdown does occur.
A CAIVRS' problem is likely the most immediate impediment to obtaining
insurance once the loan the program is reinstated. Remit any collected MIP as
FHA Connection will not be available if a shutdown occurs. Complete the
insuring of any closed FHA loans. If the government does shutdown, we expect
FHA to publish a FAQ and answers on their website to address program
operations. However, we wanted to give our lenders some notice of items
they could do to avoid any penalties or process interruption of their
government loan production."
Back then Plaza Home
Mortgage told producers, "We have been advised that VA will continue
business as usual during the shutdown. Therefore, we anticipate that the WEB
LGY (formerly TAS) system used to order VA Case numbers and Appraisals will
be available, and so will the issuing of VA Loan Guaranty Certificates."
And Stearns Wholesale warned brokers, "To best prepare in the
event the government moves to enforce a temporary shutdown, Stearns strongly
recommends that any pending Case Number, LDP, GSA, CAIVRS, 4506T, and SSI
Validation be ordered as soon as possible. If a shutdown does occur, FHA
Connection and VA Information Portal may or may not be available, 4506T, IRS
Transcript processing and SSI Validation will not be available. To avoid any
delay in closing your loans, we strongly recommend you ordering any pending
FHA, VA, IRS, or Social Security items today."
But this is all 2 ½ years
old... there is still a lot of jawboning to be done by politicians,
regulators, and the press. What a great use of our energy! I am sure the
agencies, and investors, will be forthcoming with 2013 policies and
procedures as the time nears for them to kick the can down the proverbial
road again.
Let's continue to catch up on
investor, lender, vendor, and agency changes. These will give you a sense of
the trends out there, but as always, read the actual bulletin for details.
Stearns Wholesale is now
allowing LTVs of up to 95% on Conforming and 90% on Super Conforming 5/1 and
7/1 ARM transactions, both of which have a maximum adjustment of a fixed 60
months. Cap structures for 2/2/5 for 5/1 loans and 5/2/5 for 7/1 loans.
Private MI company Essent
let clients know that for MI apps received after October 21 it is updating
its underwriting guidelines and rate cards. Eligibility Expansion and Rate
Change Highlights include the elimination of DTI overlay and restrictions on
Florida condominiums within Essent's Clear2Close guidelines, improved eligibility
and pricing for properties in Alaska and Hawaii with loan amounts greater
than $417,000, eligibility for Construction-to-Permanent transactions for
loan amounts greater than $417,000, publication of new BPMI Refundable
Singles rates, and the introduction of its new Affordable Housing Program -
Effective November 4, 2013. Details of these changes can be found in the full
announcement.
First Mortgage reminded its
correspondent clients that it offers minimal overlays on government loans: FHA
and VA loans with maximum financing down to 580 FICO, 90% LTV on FICOs down
to 500, FHA 'streamline' refinances with no overlays to 4155, i.e. No FICO,
no appraisal and no AVM (mortgage rating on subject property
only), non-traditional credit borrowers (zero FICO), property flip loans
< 90 days-even those with over 120 percent appreciation that meet FHA
guidelines, FHA manufactured home loans, and 4506 W2 validation only for wage
earners unless construction workers, truck drivers, sales, commission earners,
etc. This West Coast investor buys closed loans in the following states: AZ,
CA, CO, ID, IN, NV, NM, NC, OR, TX, UT & WA. (For more information
contact Sharon Magnuson at smagnuson@firstmortgage.com.)
Just what we need - yet another
report to follow! LendingTree announced the release of its
"Credit Accessibility Report." This report, measured monthly,
measures the likelihood of borrowers gaining access to credit for home loans
based on LendingTree data. According to the report, borrowers had an easier
time accessing mortgage credit in August compared to prior months. Doug
Lebda, founder and CEO of LendingTree, observed, "Lenders are easing
down payment and credit score requirements while still adhering to conforming
loan guidelines. And as the private securitization market starts to bounce
back, borrowers who didn't qualify in the past may now have that
opportunity."
PennyMac has
updated its selling guide to clarify the types of Power of Attorney documents
that it will accept for purchase. These include Durable Power of
Attorney; Military Power of Attorney; Specific, Special, or Limited Power of
Attorney; and General Power of attorney. All POAs must indicate that
the mortgagor is appointing an attorney in fact, the name of the attorney
being appointed, and that the appointed attorney is the same person signing
the note on behalf of the borrower; be signed and dated by the borrower and
notarized in turn; take effect prior to or on the document date of the note;
be recorded prior to or concurrent with the security instrument; and contain
both a statement of the borrower's name as it appears on closing documents
and a recorder's stamp if previously recorded. Attorneys-in-fact may
not be the seller, appraiser, broker, etc. or have any other financial
interest in the transaction. For VA loans, the POA must contain the
borrower's written consent to the specifics of the loan, and the lender must
verify that the borrower is indeed alive and not missing in action using
PennyMac's verbiage (available in the selling guide). As a reminder,
Power of Attorney cannot be used for Jumbo transactions or properties held in
a trust.
PennyMac has clarified its
guidelines for acceptable forms of trusts, which include Inter Vivos Revocable,
Family, Living, and Revocable Living Trusts. These may be used in
connection with all property and occupancy types; for primary residences, at
least one trustor/settlor must occupy the security property in order to sign
the loan documentation. The loan file should include a copy of the
trust agreement or Trust Certification that discloses the identities of the
grantor/trustor/settlor, beneficiaries, and trustee; the powers given to the
trustee; that the property is held as part of the trust; the revocability of
the trust; that the trust was created and became effective during the
lifetime of the original grantor/trustor/settlor; that the primary
beneficiary of the trust is the settlor; and that one or more trustees will
hold legal title to and manage the subject property. Irrevocable,
Qualified Personal Residential, Institutional, Corporate, Testamentary, Land,
and Blind Trusts will not be accepted; nor will Survivor Trusts that are no
longer revocable or trusts established under the laws of any entity other
than 50 states or Washington DC.
Yesterday the MBA confirmed
what many lenders out there knew: residential mortgage apps were up last week
5.5%. It reported that the average loan size for refis jumped from $186k to
$200k, which should bode well for HARP. Conventional refis increased by 6%
and GNMA refis fell by 1.5%. Overall, the 90-day moving average only declined
4% week over week.
On top of that, we saw mixed
Durable Orders data. August Durable Orders rose 0.1% from July, which was
slightly above the consensus. The results fell short of expectations,
however, when the volatile transportation component is excluded. And as a
reminder, any government shut down will have a negative impact on GDP,
which in turn will push rates lower. Should we be rooting for that?
Regardless of your preference, agency MBS prices did very well yesterday,
rallying about .250 in price and the 10-yr closing at 2.61%.
Today we will be savoring
weekly Initial Jobless Claims, second quarter GDP revisions, and Pending Home
Sales. And the results from the 7-yr Treasury auction will come out at 1PM
EDT. In the early going rates are nearly unchanged from Wednesday's close.
Researchers for the
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority found over 200 dead crows near greater
Boston recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian
Flu.
A bird pathologist examined the
remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem
was definitely NOT Avian Flu.
The cause of death appeared to
be vehicular impacts!
However, during the detailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of
paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws. By analyzing these paint
residues it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact
with trucks, while only 2% were killed by an impact with a car.
MTA near Boston then hired an Ornithological Behaviorist to determine if
there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus
car kills.
The Ornithological Behaviorist very quickly concluded the cause: when crows
eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow in a nearby tree to warn of
impending danger. They discovered that while all the lookout crows could
shout "Cah", not a single one could shout "Truck."
If you're interested, visit my
twice-a-month blog at the STRATMOR Group web site located at www.stratmorgroup.com. The current blog is,
"Reverse Mortgages: Companies Need to Know What is Changing". If
you have both the time and inclination, make a comment on what I have
written, or on other comments so that folks can learn what's going on out
there from the other readers.
Rob
(Check out http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/default.aspx or www.TheBasisPoint.com/category/daily-basis. For
archived commentaries or to subscribe, go to www.robchrisman.com.
Copyright 2013 Chrisman LLC. All rights reserved. Occasional paid job
listings do appear. This report or any portion hereof may not be reprinted,
sold or redistributed without the written consent of Rob Chrisman.)
|
No comments:
Post a Comment