Smart aleck answers
A flight attendant was stationed at the
departure gate to check tickets.
As a man approached, she extended her hand
for the ticket and he opened his trench coat and flashed her.
Without missing a beat, she said,
"Sir, I need to see your ticket, not your stub.
"Marriage is a legal and religious alliance entered into by
a man who can't sleep with the window shut and a woman who can't sleep with the
window open." So said Ogden Nash. Being married matters in taxes. The
current GOP tax reform plan adjusts the respective limits for itemized
deductions and the standard deduction. Specifically, it proposes that all
combined itemized deductions should be capped at $200,000 for married couples
filing jointly and $100,000 for single taxpayers. At the same time, it calls
for a doubling of the standard deduction a filer could take ($30,000 for
married couples filing jointly and $15,000 for single filers) instead of
claiming itemized deductions.
Lender product & company news indicate industry
trends
In product news, Congressional Bank selected Alight for "what-if" scenario analysis and
dynamic forecasting. Industry vet Mike McAuley introduced Congressional Bank's
founder, John Lane, to the team at Alight. "We endorse Alight for
providing strong financial forecasting, modeling, and business planning to
mortgage lenders," McAuley said, "And we knew Alight could help
Congressional in achieving its vision moving forward." Alight Mortgage
Lending is cloud-based, accessible from anywhere, anytime and from any device,
allowing management to optimize operations and make decisions in real time, even
in changing markets. "We're always thinking about where we want to be 2-3
years out and how to move the team in that direction," said John Lane.
"Alight can help us integrate scenario analysis into decision making so
that we may continue to professionalize our financial forecasting and
reporting, and achieve our plans for growth and continued profitability."
Please contact Randall
Crail to set up a demo to see how Alight Mortgage
Lending can help your business!
As of April 1, Mountain West expanded the Fannie
Mae HomeStyle Energy Mortgage to include purchases as well as the existing
refinance option. This product enables borrowers to include energy upgrades to
increase home energy efficiency and reduce utility costs. Borrowers can finance
up to 15% of the "as completed" appraised value of the home for
energy-efficient upgrades when purchasing a home. This option may be a more
affordable financing solution than a subordinate lien, home equity line of
credit, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan, or unsecured loan. An
energy report showing the cost-effectiveness is required for this financing
with the exception of weatherization or water-efficient improvements of $3,500
or less.
PRMG is now offering CHFA Products for Colorado
Wholesale Originations. See its product profiles for all updates and
requirements.
NationStar Mortgage has expanded its mortgage
insurance options. Details are available in NationStar's updated Seller Guide.
iServe Residential Lending a San Diego, CA and
Stamford, CT-based mortgage provider, is debuting a series of
"Non-QM" products designed to provide millions of homeowners with
"responsible non-prime loans", that afford them the opportunity for
home ownership once again. iServe is partnering with Charlotte, NC based Deephaven
Mortgage LLC, a premier provider of private-capital liquidity, to make
these loans possible. iServe shares Deephaven's vision for rebuilding the
non-government mortgage market by making common-sense-driven underwriting decisions
centered around a borrower's ability to repay. Payments are often cheaper than
renting, with programs often providing a needed stop-gap that allows borrowers
to rebuild and seek conventional credit down the road.
NewLeaf Wholesale updated its NewLeaf Home Possible
guidelines to include the HomePossible Advantage program. Home Possible
Advantage Mortgages have the additional flexibility of higher Loan-to-Value
(LTV) and Combined-Loan-to-Value (CLTV) ratio limits, and must comply with all
other Home Possible Mortgage requirements, except when specifically stated.
All the products in PRMG's Non-Agency Niche suit
have been updated across the board. Click here to view its product profile updates.
FBC Mortgage has opened SimpleLoan.com, FBC's
online mortgage application, for the Wholesale/Correspondent division. The same
advancements seen in the retail version of SimpleLoan.com are also offered in
the Wholesale version; in about 10 minutes, a client can upload his/her
paystubs, W-2 forms, and bank statements securely to the site. This is done
using electronic verification from the several employment agencies and
thousands of financial institutions synced with SimpleLoan.com. SimpleLoan.com
can pull credit and run automated underwriting on the spot, making the
pre-approval process even quicker. Brokers can also use it to co-brand their
SimpleLoan.com application.
Effective immediately, including pipeline loans, M&T
will adhere to UES updates. A mortgage that was originated as a Cash Out
Refinance, seasoned less than 6 months, and then refinanced again is eligible
to be classified as a No Cash out/Limited Cash Out Refinance. The requirement
to consider these loans as cash out is no longer applicable.
Pacific Union Financial, LLC will now use AllRegs
to publish Correspondent Loan Program Guides, Quick Reference Guides (QRG),
certain polices and miscellaneous product related documents. Delegated and
Non-Delegated Correspondents will have access to all content in the Pacific
Union library.
Loan closing news
Land Home Financial Services, Inc. joined a select
group of private mid-market mortgage lenders when it officially announced its
first eClosing via Land Home's Retail origination channel. This initiative was
accomplished in collaboration with MERSCORP Holding, Inc. (MERS eRegistry is
the system of record that identifies who is in control of the eNote) and Fannie
Mae. "Offering eClosing has long been a goal at Land Home as it unifies
the needs and desires of our clients with the regulatory ambition of the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)," Land Home's President/CEO
Brad Waite said. Land Home worked with PeirsonPatterson LLP, a Dallas based
financial services compliance and technology firm; FirstFunding, Inc., a Dallas
based privately held non-depository (non-bank) financial services company; and
Placer Title Company/National Closing Solutions to process, update and secure
its first eClose.
In a letter to the CFPB, the American Land Title Association urged CFPB to issue an
alert warning to consumers about wire fraud schemes attempting to steal funds
for real estate closings. The alert should provide tips on how consumers can
protect themselves and questions to ask to help determine if real estate
professionals have procedures in place to protect their money. The best defense
is to inform customers about the danger. "Unfortunately, these criminals
frequently target homebuyers prior to the title company getting involved in the
transaction," said Michelle Korsmo, ALTA's chief executive officer.
"In many instances, they obtain access to unsecure email accounts used by consumers
or real estate professionals. They use this access to find transaction patters
and details to make their fraudulent communications see legitimate. The
criminals will instruct the buyers to send the funds to a different account and
the money vanished in minutes."
Effective Friday, March 31, 2017, Flagstar Bank's
One-Close Construction program is available. The Conforming One-Close
Construction, Doc. #5717 program incorporates a construction period of 6, 9 or
12 months followed by a fully amortized loan term with a single closing.
Ditech wholesale clients should note that properties with
unexpired redemption periods have unacceptable title defects. If the subject
property was previously foreclosed in a state where a redemption period is
allowed, ditech will not close the Loan until the redemption period has expired
and the foreclosure sale has been confirmed. The purchase of additional
insurance, a redemption bond or similar coverage during the redemption period
does not remedy the title defect.
Franklin American Mortgage's Construction to
Permanent Modifications/One Time Close Transactions are now eligible for
purchase with the use of combined disclosures for both the construction and
permanent phases of the transaction if the construction term is less than or
equal to 12 months. If separate disclosures are used, the construction phase
discloses a Loan Estimate (LE) and Closing Disclosure (CD) describing only the
construction phase of the transaction, and the permanent phase is disclosed on
a separate LE and CD describing only the permanent phase of the
transaction. If combined disclosures are used, one set of disclosures (LE
and CD) is utilized to disclose both phases of the transaction simultaneously.
FAMC will not purchase construction-to-permanent loans in which the
construction phase and permanent phase are disclosed using combined disclosures
and the construction term is greater than 12 months.
Capital Markets
To keep community banks competitive in their local
markets, the American Bankers Association - through its Corporation for
American Banking subsidiary - has renewed its endorsement of Fannie Mae's
secondary market options. Since the partnership began in 2002, Fannie Mae has
helped participating banks effectively compete in their market while managing
their interest rate risk. This endorsement provides for discounts on
application fees and on Housing Finance Institute courses, underwriting
support, customized education, and regular updates to keep lenders current on
critical issues.
Volatility has picked up some during this holiday week.
Yesterday the 30-year bond, the Japanese yen, and gold all ended the session
with substantial gains at multi-month highs. The big event of the day was the
$20 billion 10-year Treasury auction: somewhat "sloppy" but the
buyers were there. Once again, we are seeing news from overseas (geopolitical
headlines related to Syria, North Korea, and French elections) outweighed puny
weekly or monthly U.S. economic news. And when there's unrest overseas,
often there is a "flight to quality" in the form of buying in U.S
government-related securities - including agency MBS. The 10-year note
prices rallied more than .5 and closed yielding 2.30%. Agency MBS prices, and
the 5-year note, improved roughly .375 depending on coupon and maturity.
This morning we've seen last week's weekly mortgage
application activity from the MBA. The survey, which the MBA states covers 75%
or retail originations, showed apps +1.5% last week but still 21% lower than
this week last year. Refis are down 40% from a year ago. We've also seen March
import & export prices (-.2%, +.1% respectively), and later today is a $12
billion 30-year Treasury bond auction. All the while the market continues to
watch FOMC Chair Yellen, who said the Fed is moving away from its efforts to
revive the economy and is shifting to focusing on maintaining the gains made
over the past few years. We start the day with rates a shade better than
last night. The 10-year is yielding 2.29% and MBS prices are better by a few
ticks.
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