One morning, three Cajuns and three Yankees
were in a ticket line at a train station. The three Northerners each bought a
ticket and watched as the three Cajuns bought just one ticket.
"How are the three of you going to
travel on only one ticket?" asked one of the Yankees.
"Watch and learn,"
answered one of the boys from Louisiana.
All six boarded the train where the three
Yankees sat down, but the three Cajuns crammed into a toilet together and
closed the door.
Shortly after the train departed, the
conductor came around to collect tickets. He knocked on the toilet door and
said, "Ticket, please."
The door opened just a crack and a single
arm emerged with a ticket in hand. The conductor took it and moved on.
The Yankees saw this happen and agreed it
was quite a clever idea. Indeed, so clever they decided to do the same thing on
the return trip and save some money.
That afternoon when they got back to the
station, they bought a single ticket for the return trip and watched, while to
their astonishment, the three Cajuns didn't buy even one ticket.
"How are you going to travel without a
ticket?" asked one of the perplexed Yankees.
"Watch and learn," answered the
three Cajun boys in unison.
When they boarded the train, the three
Northerners crammed themselves into a toilet and the three Cajuns crammed into
another toilet just down the way. Shortly after the train began to move, one of
the Cajuns left their toilet and walked over to the toilet in which the Yankees
were hiding.
The Cajun knocked on the door and said,
"Ticket, please."
"There was once a cross-eyed teacher who couldn't control
his pupils." You think life is tough in teaching, or in mortgage banking?
Try being the thimble in a monopoly set. You just got voted off the game. (Is it wrong that only one company
makes the game Monopoly?)
In appraisal news, MyAMC, a nationwide valuation services provider that
offers a full range of residential products, including origination appraisals,
post-closing QC, compliance audit, and AVM, will appear at the at Ellie Mae
Encompass Experience 2017 Conference, Booth #215, highlighting all their
latest integration into the Ellie Mae suite of products. MyAMC's proprietary
appraiser management software factors in distance, geographic competency, product
competency, exclusionary lists, licensing status, and past performance - as
well as Encompass Integration expanding the already feature-rich platform with
current turn times provided by an Automated Pricing Engine and Robust QC
customizable with lender's business rules, and more. At Experience 2017, the
exclusive conference for mortgage industry professionals, MyAMC will be one of
the exhibitors displaying their full range of products. The Ellie Mae Encompass
Experience 2017 Conference will be held at Wynn Las Vegas March 6-8. Do not
miss the chance to have a live session with their representatives.
Contact: Roy
McGregor VP of Sales.
Green Bank is celebrating its 5th year in
Warehouse Lending, and now is offering a correspondent channel. "2017
will bring fresh correspondent opportunities for hybrid 5&7 yr.
IOs, the return of 80/20's and Non-QM, bolstered by the
'New Electronic Underwriting of Complex Tax Returns.' Introduction of
these new products will provide an answer to a significant pent-up demand from
buyers in need of these new types of products." To find out more on
product and warehousing contact Stan Bomar -Director of Warehouse Finance at Green Bank.
Training & events of note?
Get referrals from Facebook without begging or annoying
your friends and followers. Join National Mortgage Professional Magazine
on Thursday, February 23 at 2PM EST for a 45-Minute complimentary
webinar, presented by The TBWS Group, about getting Facebook referrals without
upsetting friends and family. "How many loan officers do you know that can
say Facebook is a critical referral source? Very few I bet. Yet, per State of
Inbound Marketing, 42% of marketers report that Facebook is critical to their
business. During this webinar you'll get proven strategies to get social media
referrals without selling. Company compliance doesn't allow you to market on
social media? That's OK...that'll be covered too. This might seem
mind-boggling, but they'll even share with you how to get compliance revved up
about social media marketing." Sign up for this complimentary webinar here.
"Don't miss next week's Dave Savage interview with
LEIF BABIN a decorated former Navy SEAL officer and author of Extreme
Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win. This is great leadership for loan
officers and mortgage leaders. CLICK to sign up and be sure to watch with your team on
Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, February 21st, Mountain
West Financial is providing a training webinar on Cyber Security tips.
Register for California MBA's FREE Legal Issues Committee webinar on February 21st.
Time is running
out to register for the Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness
Coalition (GREFPAC) 2017 Annual Fraud Prevention Conference at the Cobb
Galleria on Tuesday, March 7th. Representatives from HUD,
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FBI will be joining Rachel Dollar and others
to provide the latest updates on fraud, fraud trends and ethics. "Get
exposure to excellent speakers at a bargain price plus eligible CE and Ethics
credits. Lunch is included and parking is free. Also, only a couple
of sponsorship opportunities remain. Visit our website to register for the conference or become a sponsor."
Lender &
regulator news
SoFi (Social Finance) is
reportedly close to raising $500 million in fresh funds from an
investor group led by Silver Lake & SoftBank.
Bloomberg reported that during an earnings call this week Blackstone
Mortgage Trust plans to expand construction loan business. With plenty of
undeployed equity at Blackstone, CEO Steve Plavin observed that it is a challenging
environment for banks to compete and there is still demand from developers, and
that BXMT has a unique opportunity. Banks "are not really in it" and
BXMT wants to fill void. He believes that higher rates can produce a "very
attractive ROI."
At the other end of the spectrum shares of PHH Corp
fell as much as 20% yesterday. Apparently, investors are disappointed it did
not announce a sale on the investor/earnings conference call. KBW analyst Bose
George says the earnings call "raised concerns about future expenses and
the timeline to capital return" and wondered how much money PHH could lose
over next couple of years. From the company's perspective, it sees operating
losses in its servicing segment until it hits a break-even in 2018, profitability
in 2019.
And another stock took a tumble of over 20%. Headline
earnings from Altisource Portfolio Solutions (ASPS -22.2%) beat some forecasts,
but the company suggests 2017 earnings will be much less than previously
forecast. This week Altisource also disclosed that the CFPB is considering
potential enforcement action over violations concerning certain technology
services provided to Ocwen Financial. "Our biggest concern would be a
compromising of the relationship between Ocwen and ASPS due to regulatory action,"
says Piper Jaffray's bearish Kevin Barker.
Bloomberg's Matt Scully writes, "Altisource Portfolio
Solutions SA said the CFPB is weighing an enforcement action over mortgage
technology services that the company provided to its former parent, Ocwen Financial
Corp. Altisource received the warning in November and responded in December
that it doesn't believe an enforcement action is warranted, per a securities
filing Thursday. The matter involves an alleged violation of federal law
related to 'certain technology services provided to Ocwen,' the company said.
Altisource said it's 'committed to resolving any potential concerns of the
CFPB' and premature to estimate any financial impact." Remember that
Ocwen, a mortgage servicing giant, spun off Altisource in 2009.
In FHA news, there is change afoot with the
National Homebuyer Fund (NHF) highlighting the maze of overlapping state vs. federal
rules governing lenders. Last Friday, FHA Headquarters staff started calling
lenders to advise them of FHA's concerns with the origination of loans using
NHF programs. FHA has told lenders that the issue pertains to questions about
NHF's "not for profit" status and its eligibility to offer down
payment assistance programs. Apparently in 20 counties in California, NHF is
considered an instrument of the local government.
Respected consulting firm Potomac Partners noted, "This issue apparently stems
from a HOC loan review that was then escalated to FHA Headquarters. FHA's
management reviewed the transaction and apparently concluded that the NHF
programs did not comply with the law (thereby precipitating the FHA phone calls
to lenders). We understand that NHF obtained a legal opinion from a reputable
law firm justifying their position, and NHF also sent an email to lenders on
Monday night."
NHF's email said, "It has come to our attention that
HUD has reached out to several NHF's client lenders indicating that, under
certain circumstances and depending upon the location of the underlying
property, NHF's DPA program loans may not be eligible for FHA insurance. This
is surprising and we disagree with HUD's position. We are reviewing this
issue with HUD cooperatively and will report back on our progress soon."
Of course, any lender who originates this product should
contact their FHA or HUD office with questions about the NHF program.
Supposedly for loans in the pipeline, while FHA has told lenders that they will
not be "punitive", there is the risk of FHA requesting
indemnification if the loans are reviewed.
Lenders reacted. For example, Freedom Financial's retail
division was on top of it, and sent out, "The NHF Sapphire program was
suspended on February 15th. Freedom does not want this suspension to affect
borrowers in the active pipeline who need the Sapphire grant money to close
their loan. Sapphire loans currently in the pipeline with an Encompass status
of Initial Disclosures Finished or greater will be permitted to close. These
loans must be registered with NHF and locked by the close of business Friday,
February 17th. No new NHF registrations or locks will be accepted after Friday,
February 17th."
The Mighty Capital Markets
No one can reliably predict the future with precision. Any
LO out there paying for rate forecasts should save their money - they'd learn
just as much from asking the local used car dealer or contractor how business
is. But there is a growing consensus among bond traders that US Treasury
yields will experience a downswing before rising again. The prediction could
change if inflation forecasts of about 2% turn out to be wrong.
In terms of the bond markets, which set interest rates,
prices improved Thursday, and agency MBS prices improved relative to Treasury
prices. ThomsonReuters observed that, "Of interest...as the noticeable
shift in demand as 4.5% and 4% saw much more buying than 3%, which remain one
of the largest components of the MBS Index." The 10-year note hit a low
yield of 4.44% but closed at 4.45% rallying almost .5 in price. The 5-year note
and MBS prices improved about .250, depending on coupon and security.
Besides Leading Economic Indicators at 10AM ET there is no
scheduled news today of any consequence, and although there is no early close
ahead of Monday's holiday (the bond markets are closed) things could get quiet
after lunch Eastern time. We find rates better this morning: the 10-year is
at 2.40% and agency MBS prices better by .250 vs. last night.
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