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N M P M E D I A C O R P .
1 2 2 0 W A N T A G H A V E N U E
W A N T A G H , N E W Y O R K 1 1 7 9 3
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SAFE Smart Testing, Education and Licensing: The
Devil is in the Definition By Paul Donohue, CRMS
Forward on Reverse: HECM at 20: Leaders and Pioneers
in U.S. Reverse Mortgage Series (VII) The Engineers of
Reverse Mortgage Securitization By Atare E. Agbamu, CRMS
FHA Insider: FHA Continues to Drop the Hammer: Is Your
Company Next? By Jeff Mifsud
Fighting Predatory Lending With Automation By Fred Gooch
Value Nation: Is More Regulation the Answer?
By Charlie W. Elliott Jr., MAI, SRA
The Secondary Market Overview: From Bonds to
Production The Good Faith Estimate and Rate Risk
By Dave Hershman
The NAMB Perspective
Ask Tommy: Your QC Expert By Tommy A. Duncan, CMT
NMP Mortgage Professional of the Month: Bruce Lawner,
Senior Vice President of Wholesale, Presidents First
Mortgage Bankers
A View From the C-Suite: Five Keys to Helping First-Time
Homebuyers By David Lykken
Knowledge is King: Embracing First-Time Homebuyers
With eEducation By Cary Reines
Working With First-Time Buyers By Dave Hershman
The Decade of the First-Time Homebuyer
By Mike Lesmeister, CRMS
First-Time Homebuyers Need to Realize the Opportunity
is Now! By Laura Lynn Burke
Trend Spotter: Why Your Attitude Matters
By Gibran Nicholas
Regulatory Compliance Outlook: March 2010Intent to
Proceed and the New GFE By Jonathan Foxx
Experian Announces New Requirements for Brokers and
Net Branch Companies By Terry W. Clemans
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MAIN STREET
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March 2010
Volume 2 Number 3
1220 Wantagh Avenue Wantagh, NY 11793-2202
Phone: (516) 409-5555 / (888) 409-9770
Fax: (516) 409-4600
Web site: www.nationalmortgageprofessional.com
Mortgage
PROFESSIONAL
N A T I O N A L
M A G A Z I N E
Your source for the latest on originations, settlement, and servicing
STAFF
Eric C. Peck
Editor-in-Chief
(516) 409-5555, ext. 312
ericp@nmpmediacorp.com
Andrew T. Berman
Executive Vice President
(516) 409-5555, ext. 333
andrew@nmpmediacorp.com
Domenica Trafficanda
Art Director
domenicat@nmpmediacorp.com
Karen Krizman
Senior National Account Executive
(516) 409-5555, ext. 326
karenk@nmpmediacorp.com
Jennifer Moeller
Billing Coordinator
(516) 409-5555, ext. 324
jenniferm@nmpmediacorp.com
ADVERTISING
To receive any information regarding advertising rates,
deadlines and requirements, please contact Senior
National Account Executive Karen Krizman at (516) 409-
5555, ext. 326 or e-mail karenk@nmpmediacorp.com.
ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS/
PRESS RELEASES
To submit any material, including articles and press
releases, please contact Editor-in-Chief Eric C. Peck at
(516) 409-5555, ext. 312 or e-mail ericp@nmpmedia-
corp.com. The deadline for submissions is the first of the
month prior to the target issue.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
To receive subscription information, please call (516)
409-5555, ext. 301; e-mail orders@nmpmediacorp.com
or visit www.nationalmortgageprofessional.com. Any
subscription changes may be made to the attention of
Circulation via fax to (516) 409-4600.
Statements of fact and opinion in National Mortgage
Professional Magazine are the responsibility of the
authors alone and do not imply an opinion on the
part of NMP Media Corp. National Mortgage
Professional Magazine reserves the right to edit, reject
and/or postpone the publication of any articles, infor-
mation or data.
National Mortgage Professional Magazine is
published monthly by NMP Media Corp.
Copyright 2010 NMP Media Corp.
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A Message From NMP Media Corp.
Executive Vice President Andrew T. Berman
Embracing the first-time homebuyer
As we near the expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, we wanted to share
with you some articles to help you capture the first-time homebuyer. This section starts
off strong on page 32 with an article from David Lykken sharing Five Keys to Helping
the First-Time Homebuyers in his special installment of View from the C-Suite. Davids
article is followed by Cary Reines focus on education as a tool in helping the first-time
buyer attain their dream of homeownership. Dave Hershman also shares his insights on
identifying the needs of the first-time homebuyer and helps connect them with other
experts in your market. Mike Lesmeister, CRMS shares what he sees as trends of the first-
time homebuying market. I think we can all argee with with the trend continuing, based on the Mortgage
Bankers Associations (MBAs) purchase market currently forecasted at $745 billion for 2010, going up to
$907 billion in 2012, as the first-time homebuyer will plays a pivotal role in this market beyond the expi-
ration of the tax credit. The section is wrapped up by a piece by Laura Lynn Burke giving details that every
originator should know about the first-time homebuyer tax credit. Just because the tax credit deadline is
April 1st, it doesnt mean your marketing to the first-time buying market should end as well.
This months Mortgage Professional of the Month
We have been giving a lot of focus to the retail channel in the last few Mortgage Professionals of the Month
columns. Our readers have asked for more wholesale leaders and we have delivered. This month, we spot-
light Bruce Lawner, senior vice president of wholesale for Presidents First Mortgage Bankers in Melville,
N.Y. Bruce is a guy who has had ample experience in the retail channel, from origination to managing large
teams. He has been having great success growing the wholesale channel of Presidents First since its incep-
tion only two years ago. Read more about Bruce on page 26 of this issue.
More reverse mortgage industry leaders share their success ...
We have been featuring the HECM at 20: Leaders and Pioneers in the U.S. Reverse Mortgage Industry Series
by Atare E. Agbamu, CRMS for the last seven issues. Atare has done an amazing job of identifying the indi-
viduals who have shaped the reverse mortgage industry, from the origination end to securitization. This
month, he profiles the deal manager who helped put the first securitization for non-HECM mortgages, Joe
Kelly, and mergers and acquisitions specialist Michael McCully. You can read Atares interview with Joe and
Michael on page 4 of this issue.
How are we as an industry doing?
This month in Tommy Duncan, CMTs Ask Tommy: Your QC Expert feature, you will learn some very
suprising stats on how we are doing as far as the quality of work being done when putting together our
loans from application, to credit, to appraisals, and more. Tommy compares year-to-year data, and bank
versus non-bank to act as an annual quality control report card on the industry. Tommy has given his full
report on his Web site, www.qualitymortgageservices.com, however you can find some highlights of this
report on page 22.
Dealing with negative equity
As the housing market continues to be plagued with negative equity, your attitude matters! This months
installment of the Trend Spotter column by Gibran Nichols focuses on Why Your Attitude Matters, as
Gibran imparts some advice on how to coach your borrowers attitude on negative equity and put it into
a more positive perspective.
Upcoming Webinar with the FREE and LOW-COST lead expert
I have been hearing from a handful of mortgage professionals who have been following national trainer,
Ron Vaimbergs proven strategies on how to generate an unlimited amount of leads on a zero dollar budg-
et. I have known Ron personally for many years, and I called in a favor. I asked Ron to put together a
Webinar for readers of National Mortgage Professional Magazine that will provide them some basic tools
and strategies to start their own free marketing campaigns that will deliver leads within minutes after the
Webinar. Oh, heres the kicker, I asked Ron to make the Webinar FREE for our readers. After hours of talks
and flat out begging, Ron AGREED! So, on Wednesday, April 28 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, Ron Vaimberg will pres-
ent Generate an Unlimited Amount of Leads for $0.00 a Lead. For more details and sign-up info, visit
NMPMag.com/freeleads.
Theres a lot more
Im trying to keep this message to under 600 words, however, thats hard when weve got some great con-
tent that I want to boast about in this letter. More on FHA (the hammer will fall on more companies), cred-
it reporting (big changes that brokers and branches better know about), a strong message from National
Association of Mortgage Brokers President Jim Pair, and much more follow in this months issue.
Sincerely,
Andrew T. Berman, Executive Vice President
NMP Media Corp.
National Credit Reporting Association Inc.
125 East Lake Street, Suite 200 O Bloomingdale, IL 60108
Phone #: (630) 539-1525 O Fax #: (630) 539-1526
Web site: www.ncrainc.org
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The National Association of
Mortgage Brokers
7900 Westpark Drive, Suite T-309 O McLean, VA 22102
Phone: (703) 342-5900 O Fax: (703) 342-5905
Web site: www.namb.org
PresidentJim Pair, CMC
Mortgage Associates Corpus Christi
6262 Weber Road, Suite 208
Corpus Christi, TX 78413
(361) 853-9987
jimpair@namb.org
President-ElectWilliam Howe, CMC, CRMS
Howe Mortgage Corporation
9414 E. San Salvador Drive, #236
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
(602) 200-8100
billhowe@namb.org
Vice PresidentMichael DAlonzo, CMC
Creative Mortgage Group
1126 Horsham Road, Suite D
Maple Glen, PA 19002
(215) 657-9600
michaeldalonzo@namb.org
SecretaryGinny Ferguson, CMC
Heritage Valley Mortgage Inc.
5700 Stoneridge Mall Road, Suite 150
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(925) 469-0100
ginnyferguson@namb.org
TreasurerDon Frommeyer, CRMS
Amtrust Mortgage Funding Inc.
200 Medical Drive, Suite D
Carmel, IN 46032
(317) 575-4355
donfrommeyer@namb.org
Joe Camarena
The Mortgage Source
10120 Southwest Nimbus Avenue, Suite C-7
Portland, OR 97223
(503) 443-1060 O joecamarena@namb.org
John Councilman, CMC, CRMS
AMC Mortgage Corporation
2613 Fallston Road O Fallston, MD 21047
(410) 557-6400 O jlc@amcmortgage.com
Olga Kucerak
Crown Lending
8700 Crown Hill Boulevard, Suite 804 O San Antonio, TX 78209
(210) 828-3384 O olga@crownlending.com
Walt Scott
Excalibur Financial Inc.
175 Strafford Avenue, Suite 1 O Wayne, PA 19087
(215) 669-3273 O waltscott@namb.org
Don Starks
D.C. Starks Mortgage Associates Inc.
141 South Main Street O Bourbonnais, IL 60914
(815) 935-0710 O donstarks@namb.org
Marty FlynnPresident
(925) 831-3520, ext. 224
marty@ccireports.com
Tom ConwellVice President
(248) 473-7400
tconwell@credittechnologies.com
Daphne LargeTreasurer
(901) 259-5105
daphnel@datafacts.com
William BowerDirector
(800) 288-4757
wbower@confinfo.com
Mike BrownDirector
(800) 285-6691
mike.brown@ncogroup.com
Susan CataldoDirector
(404) 303-8656, ext. 204
susancds@cdsusa.net
Nancy FedichDirector
(908) 813-8555, ext. 3010
nancy@cisinfo.net
Sanford (Sandy) LubinDirector
(805) 481-3155
slubin@cbslo.com
Judy RyanDirector
(800) 929-3400, ext. 201
jryan@kroll.com
Tom SwiderDirector
(856) 787-9005, ext. 1201
tswider@creditlenders.com
Donald J. UngerDirector
(303) 670-7993, ext. 222
don@advcredit.com
NCRA Staff
Terry ClemansExecutive Director
(630) 539-1525
tclemans@ncrainc.org
Jan GerberOffice
Manager/Membership Services
(630) 539-1525
jgerber@ncrainc.org
James SuttonNCRA Legal Counsel
(972) 680-2665
james.sutton@prodigy.net
President
Liz Roberts-Fajardo, GML
(702) 498-8020
lvlizrf@aol.com
President-Elect
Gary Tumbiolo, CMI
(919) 452-1529
garytumbiolo@aol.com
Senior Vice President
Sharon Patrick, MML, CMI
(386) 985-1620
howell@cfl.rr.com
Vice President/Northwestern Region
Jill M. Kinsman
(206) 344-7827
jill.kinsman@usbank.com
Vice President/Western Region
Tim Courtney
(760) 792-5620
desertranchrealty@hotmail.com
Vice President/Central Region
Candace Smith, CMI
(512) 329-9040
csmith@wrstarkey.com
Vice President/Greater Northeast
Region
Colleen-Therese McKeever, CMI
(646) 584-8332
colleenmckeever@aol.com
Vice President/Southeastern Region
Jessica Edmonston
(919) 414-3028
jedmon3601@yahoo.com
Secretary
Laurie Abisher, GML, CMI
(661) 283-1262
lauriea@gemcorp.com
Treasurer
Kay Talley, MML
(919) 846-4294
kay.talley@genworth.com
Parliamentarian
Hulene Bridgman-Works
(972) 494-2788
hulene137@yahoo.com
NAMB Board of Directors
National Association of Professional
Mortgage Women
P.O. Box 140218 O Irving, TX 75014-0218
Phone: (800) 827-3034 O Fax: (469) 524-5121
Web site: www.napmw.org
Officers
Directors
2010 Board of Directors
National Board of Directors
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The Devil is in the Definition
Do you know who in your organization must be licensed as a Mortgage Loan
Originator? Its a vital question that will affect processors, underwriters, how
you communicate with your borrowers and how you supervise your employees.
The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act) did away
with our old notions of just who must be licensed. On this point, the devil is deep
in the definition.
The SAFE Act defines a Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) as an individual who,
Takes residential mortgage loan applications and Offers or negotiates terms of
a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain. It broadens the definition
further, stating an originator is an individual who Assists a consumer in obtain-
ing or applying to obtain a residential loan by, among other things, advising on
loan terms (including rates, fees and other costs), preparing loan packages, or
collecting information on behalf of the consumer. This seems clear, until you go
deeper.
Administrative or clerical tasks, are defined to mean the receipt, collection
and distribution of information common for the processing or underwriting of a
loan and communicating with a consumer to obtain this information. Clearly,
a loan processor or underwriter would not fall under the definition of MLO if
they only perform these duties and are employed by a licensed mortgage lender
or mortgage broker. But there is a catch
Loan processor or underwriter, is defined as, An individual who performs
these clerical or support duties at the direction of, and subject to the supervision
and instruction of, a state-licensed loan originator. The first class of originators
I taught this to had these silly grins, like self-important Cheshire cats. Do you
mean we are in charge of our processors and underwriters? they asked. Well,
not so fast. I answered. This means the licensed originator will be held respon-
sible for the work of the processor or underwriter if, in fact, they supervise such
activity. The key concept is that a licensee must directly supervise the processor
or underwriter or they must be licensed.
HUDs proposed rule
The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) recently extended the
public commentary period until March 5 on a proposed rule interpreting respon-
sibilities under the SAFE Act. This rule defines what it means to take an application
and broadens the definition of originator, which impacts:
I Loan modification specialists
I Unsupervised processors and underwriters
I Housing counselors or other third parties influencing a consumers loan decision
I Independent contractors that perform clerical and support duties
HUD interprets the lack of supervision by a licensed originator that triggers the
need for a license. Therefore, all processors or underwriters acting as independ-
ent contractors must be licensed.
A SAFE-Smart tip
Look closely at your employed processors and underwriters. To avoid the need for their
licensure, be certain they are supervised by a licensed originator. Read HUDs proposed
rule to ensure youre in compliance (www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/ramh/safe/safeprule.pdf).
It may be time for your processor, underwriter or those who supervise them, to become
licensed.
Be SAFE-Smart out there.
Paul Donohue, CRMS is a 23-year industry professional and founder of Abacus Mort-
gage Training and Education. Paul served on two NMLS working groups, establish-
ing the new national education protocols. Go to AbacusMortgageTraining.com to
find out more about your obligations for testing, education and licensure, or call
(888) 341-7767.
The Engineers of Reverse
Mortgage Securitization
Lehman Brothers lives in U.S. reverse
mortgage history. The Federal Housing
Administrations (FHA) home equity
conversion mortgage (HECM) has had
Fannie Maes deep pockets as a second-
ary market source of cash for reverse
mortgage lenders since its inception in
1989. And since 2007, Ginnie Mae has
opened HECM to world
investors through its
HECM mortgage-backed
security (HMBS).
For the proprietary
(non-HECM) reverse mort-
gage market to take off, a
strong Wall Street cash
machine was needed.
Lehman Brothers stepped
in and the securitization
of non-HECM reverse
mortgages in the U.S. was
born in 1999.
Among others, the
Lehman securitization
team included veteran
structured finance expert,
Joe Kelly, and mergers
and acquisitions special-
ist Michael McCully, co-
founders of New View
Advisors, a Wall Street
boutique specializing in
reverse mortgages.
A Wharton MBA and frequent indus-
try speaker, Joe Kelly was the deal man-
ager and chief designer of the 1999-
pioneering securitization and four sub-
sequent jumbo reverse mortgage secu-
ritizations through 2007 during a 14-
year career at Lehman Brothers.
During the 1999 securitization
process, it became clear that the deal
lacked a solid legal framework, yet Kelly
successfully structured the transaction as
a FASIT (Financial Asset Securitization
Investment Trust), a rarely used and now
defunct, structuring tool. He later suc-
cessfully lobbied Congress to wrap
reverse mortgages and other HELOCs
(home equity lines of credit) into a real
estate mortgage investment conduit
(REMIC), a common structuring vehicle.
In 2007, Kellys deal was nominated for
the Total Securitizations North American
RMBS Deal of the Year.
Michael McCully was responsible for
the acquisition, manage-
ment and sale of Financial
Freedom at Lehman
Brothers between 1999
and 2004. McCullys exten-
sive portfolio company
management experience
and strategic advice helped
the management team
build the company into
one of Americas largest
originators and servicers of
reverse mortgages by 2004,
when it was sold to
IndyMac Bank FSB.
A Cornell University eco-
nomics graduate, McCully
led teams of investment
bankers to buy, sell and
operate portfolio compa-
nies during the last 10
years of his 20-year career
at Lehman Brothers.
The following are the
reflections of Joe Kelly
and Michael McCully on the first securi-
tization of reverse mortgages in the U.S.
and their roles in it:
At Lehman Brothers in 1999, you pio-
neered the securitization of reverse
mortgages in the U.S. secondary mar-
ket. What attracted you to reverse
mortgages as an asset class, and why
did you commit to them?
We were attracted to the reverse mort-
gage industry because it combined our
multiyear expertise in mortgage
There existed an
opportunity to lend
the credibility of a
global mortgage
franchise in Lehman
Brothers to a
struggling asset class
with unlimited
potential.
Joe Kelly
continued on page 6
HECM at 20: Leaders and Pioneers in the
U.S. Reverse Mortgage Industry Series (VII)
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Score Increasing Tools
Monthly Credit Score Monitoring
(SCORE WATCH)
Instant Credit Reports
Same Day Credit Supplements
Learn more about our services by calling,
Lorenzo Pugliano, President and CEO
at 631-299-2084.
www.platinumcreditservices.com
Heres what our customers are saying:
My loan ofcers have been closing more loans
by running credit reports through PCSs credit
scoring services
FHA Continues to Drop the
Hammer: Is Your Company Next?
Mortgagee Letter 2010-03 contains informa-
tion about the procedures that the Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) will follow for
terminating the underwriting authority of
lenders with a high default and claim rate
(DCR). Many loan officers are unaware of
what a DCR is, let alone and where to find
out what their companys DCR is.
The DCR is the sum of the loans in
default and claim divided by the total loans
originated within a 24-month period (or
what FHA calls a Performance Period).
The compare ratio (CR) is the lenders DCR
divided by the DCR within a U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban
Development (HUD) field office jurisdiction.
To understand how the FHA uses the
CR, here is a quote from the Code of
Federal Regulations 24 CFR 202.3:
A mortgagees default and claim rate
within a HUD field office jurisdiction is com-
pared to the overall default and claim rate of
the entire HUD field office jurisdiction. Before
HUD terminates the underwriting authority,
it will consider mitigating issues raised by a
mortgagee during its informal conference
and in its written response. HUDs evaluation
of mortgagees on the basis of HUD field
office jurisdiction coincides with the manner
in which FHA approves mortgagees to oper-
ate. This method of evaluation recognizes
that local market conditions and events may
contribute to higher defaults and claims.
To view your companys DCR and CR,
go to the Neighborhood Watch Web site
(set up by FHA to make company data
public) at https://entp.hud.gov/sfnw/pub-
lic. Click on the Early Warnings tab and
then on Single Lender. Type in your
companys name and click Submit to
get the data. Any company with a CR of
150 percent or less is considered accept-
able. If, however, your company or the
lender you sell loans to has a CR higher
than 200 percent, be prepared for the
possible termination of underwriting
authority of FHA loans.
By way of example, take Gold Star
Mortgage Financial, a recently named
Inc. 500 company out of Ann Arbor,
Mich. and led by Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Milstein, one of the countrys top
originators. Gold Star originated 2,249
FHA loans in the most recent perform-
ance period and has a 4.45 percent DCR
in a jurisdiction with a 5.03 percent DCR,
so Gold Stars CR is 88 percent (4.45
divided by 5.03). This puts them within
the top percentile in the country, any-
thing under 100 percent is outstanding.
Try looking up some companies that are
known to do risky FHA loans and check out
their CR. Id suspect that since Mortgagee
Letter 2010-03 came out, many companies
in fear of losing their Direct Endorsement
(DE) are working tirelessly on loss mitiga-
tion efforts to get their CR down and to pre-
vent their termination.
A loan officer recently contacted me
about moving to a different lender and
continued on page 10
HUD advances fight
against loan mod scams
through online reporting
tool
The U.S. Department of Housing &
Urban Development (HUD), in partner-
ship with the Loan Modification Scam
Prevention Network, has announced
the launch of PreventLoanScams.org.
The Loan Modification Scam Prevention
Network, a national coalition of public and
private enterprises, is led by the Lawyers
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the
Homeownership Preservation Foundation,
and NeighborWorks America assist the
Lawyers Committee in leading the coali-
tions fight against loan modification scams.
Troubled homeowners lose time and
money when they are tricked by con
artists who promise to help but never
do, said John Trasvia, HUD Assistant
Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity. This initiative combines
the collective energies of public and pri-
vate enterprises to strengthen the ability
of law enforcement to prosecute scam-
mers and protect homeowners.
The Network developed
PreventLoanScams.org to provide
homeowners with a single destination
to report alleged scammers. Complaints
filed online are added to a national
complaint database and forwarded to
the appropriate law enforcement agen-
cies for review. The Network estimates
that the Web site will assist approxi-
mately 50,000 homeowners affected by
scams. Additionally, HUD has directed
its local fair housing and housing coun-
seling grantees to begin reporting
alleged loan modification scams via the
Web site.
Prior to the launch of
PreventLoanScams.org, federal, state
and local government agencies could
not share complaint data with non-
profit organizations. The new system
allows for improved analysis of trends
across jurisdictional lines and will
likely lead to an increase in private
enforcement action filings.
For more information, visit www.hud.gov
or www.PreventLoanScams.org.
FTC proposes rule
barring mortgage relief
companies from charging
upfront fees
The Federal Trade
Commission (FTC)
moved to protect dis-
tressed homeowners
from the promoters of
bogus foreclosure
rescue and mort-
gage modification services by proposing
a new rule that would forbid companies
to charge up-front for these services.
Instead, companies could only collect
payment after providing services.
Homeowners facing foreclosure or
struggling to make mortgage payments
shouldnt have to contend with fraudu-
lent companies that dont provide
what they promise, said FTC Chairman
Jon Leibowitz. The proposed rule
would outlaw up-front fees so compa-
nies cant take the money and run.
According to the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, historic levels of con-
sumer debt, increased unemployment,
and an unprecedented downturn in the
housing and mortgage markets have
contributed to high rates of mortgage
loan delinquency and foreclosure. This
mortgage crisis has launched an indus-
try of companies purporting, for a fee,
to obtain mortgage loan modifications
or other relief for consumers facing
foreclosure. The FTC has brought 28
cases in this area, and state and federal
law enforcement partners have brought
hundreds more. Generally, these cases
charged that companies do not provide
the services they promise and that they
misrepresent their affiliation with the
government and government housing
assistance programs, including the
Making Home Affordable Program.
The FTC notice seeks public input,
particularly from attorneys and other
professionals, on a proposed rule that
would require mortgage relief compa-
nies to make good on their promised
results before charging or accepting pay-
ment from consumers. Under the pro-
posed rule, companies could not be paid
until they had a documented offer from
a mortgage lender or servicer that lives
up to the promises they have made.
Far too many homeowners have
continued on page 6
structuring work involved. We also had
to design a reserve fund feature to fund
the borrower advances. Finally, we had
to use an unusual FASIT tax structure,
as reverse mortgages were not yet eligi-
ble for REMICs.
What is a prepayment curve? What
are the factors that go into its design?
What is a reserve fund feature? And
what is FASIT?
The prepayment curve is a measure-
ment of the rate at which loans pay off
over time. For reverse mortgages, the
most significant variable
is generally borrower
age, but the reverse
mortgage prepayment
curve predicts the rate of
payoffs using empirical
data regarding mortality,
mobility and refinancing.
In a securitization, a
reserve fund is an amount
of cash or securities that
provides cash for the bor-
rowers credit line draws.
FASIT stands for
Financial Asset Securitization
Investment Trust, a tax vehi-
cle designed to accommo-
date the securitization of
revolving asset types, such
as home equity lines of
credit or HELOCs. With a
few exceptions, like the
SASCO 1999-RM1 transac-
tion, the FASIT was rarely
used. In 2004, FASITs were
disallowed by Congress,
and reverse mortgages
and other HELOCs were
allowed, for the first time,
to be securitized using the more popular
real estate mortgage investment conduit
or REMIC tax vehicle.
How informed were investors about
reverse mortgages as an asset class
when you began, and how educated
are they today?
Investors were either uninformed, or
worse, disinclined to invest because of
the bad publicity surrounding reverse
mortgage fees and contingent interest.
But a small number of enlightened
investors were smart enough to grasp
the relative value story of stable pre-
payments and credit protection. The
relatively low LTVs [loan-to-values] of
jumbo reverse mortgages and the very
conservative rating agency criteria also
helped give them comfort. With each
successive securitization, the number of
investors grew a little larger.
How has the secondary market for
reverse mortgages evolved since your
pioneering work? Where is it headed?
No securitized reverse mortgage classes
have suffered any ratings downgrades
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finance, corporate finance and capital
markets with a product that had a clear
and tangible benefit to society. There
existed an opportunity to lend the cred-
ibility of a global mortgage franchise in
Lehman Brothers to a struggling asset
class with unlimited potential. We
believed it would become a main-
stream product with sufficient educa-
tion, secondary markets distribution
and innovative product development.
Do you still hold that belief in the
unlimited potential of reverse mort-
gages? Why?
We still believe that
reverse mortgages are an
essential financial prod-
uct that will grow dra-
matically in numbers and
importance over the next
several years. The recent
financial crisis took away
mortgage alternatives for
seniors and has reduced
wealth, thus increasingly
making reverse mort-
gages the last, best alter-
native to supplement
income. The demograph-
ic wave is too strong and
the need is too great, and
we also believe that
necessity being the moth-
er of invention, the
industry can adapt to the
changes in the financial
markets.
How was the experi-
ence of creating the
first reverse mortgage
securitization for your
investors, for Financial Freedom, for
Lehman Brothers, and for you?
The SASCO 1999-RM1 securitization
required a great deal of work to create
the valuation and credit analysis frame-
work required to securitize a new asset
class. There were no rating agency crite-
ria and very little historical data regard-
ing prepayments, mortality, mobility,
crossover losses and other critical vari-
ables. Investors had to analyze actuarial
risk, territory unfamiliar for most of
them. Financial Freedom had to learn
how to service loans in a securitization
for the first time, while simultaneously
dealing with a major acquisition.
Lehman Brothers had to commit a lot of
resources to make it all work, including
the two of us, Craig Corn, Jim Mahoney,
Al Benedetti and many others.
Without a model, what were some
structural challenges you faced, and
how did you overcome them?
The modeling challenges were consid-
erable. The standard structuring model
had no reverse gear. We had to con-
struct a prepayment curve (which
turned out to be very accurate), so
there was a lot of programming and
forward on reverse continued from page 4
continued on page 9
The recent financial
crisis took away mort-
gage alternatives for
seniors and has
reduced wealth, thus
increasingly making
reverse mortgages the
last, best alternative to
supplement income.
The demographic wave
is too strong and the
need is too great
Michael McCully
extension of HARP until June 30, 2011.
In 2009, Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac purchased or guaranteed more
than four million refinanced mort-
gages. Of this total, 190,180 were HARP
refinances with LTVs between 80 per-
cent and 125 percent. The HARP began
in April 2009 and has grown over the
past few months.
For more information, visit www.fhfa.gov.
HUD launches new Office
of Sustainable Housing
and Communities
U.S. Department of Housing &
Urban Development (HUD)
Secretary Shaun Donovan
has announced the launch
of HUDs new Office of
Sustainable Housing and
Communities (OSHC). The office will be
overseen by HUD Deputy Secretary Ron
Sims who won national recognition for
turning King County, Wash. into a model
for sustainable communities. OSHC is
designed to help build stronger, more sus-
tainable communities by connecting hous-
ing to jobs, fostering local innovation and
building a clean energy economy. Funded
by Congress for the first time in HUDs 2010
Budget, OSHC is a key component of the
Obama Administrations Partnership for
Sustainable Communities.
Through our new Office of
Sustainable Housing and Communities,
we will begin to tie the quality and loca-
tion of housing to broader opportunities
such as access to good jobs, quality
schools, and safe streets, said Donovan.
By working with DOT, EPA and other
federal agencies, and with Deputy
Secretary Sims guidance, we will finally
begin to meet the needs of today with-
out compromising the futures of our
children and grandchildren.
Under the management of Director
Shelley Poticha, the OSHC will be the
focus of all of HUDs sustainability
efforts. The average household spends
more than half of its budget on hous-
ing and transportation, which have
become American families two single
biggest expenses. With OSHC as lead,
HUD will work to improve access to
affordable housing and transportation
options, saving money for American
families while allowing them more
time to spend at home and less time
traveling.
The office will also invest in energy-
efficient homes and buildings, in
renewable energy, and in next-genera-
tion infrastructure to lay the founda-
tion for the clean energy economy
America needs to compete and create
jobs in the 21st century. To meet that
goal, OSHC will strengthen HUDs
Energy Efficient Mortgage product and
other energy retrofit financing options-
for both single family homes and
multi-family rental housingthrough
a $50 million Energy Innovation Fund.
paid upfront fees to bad actors who
promised loan modifications but never
delivered, said Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner. I commend the FTC
for proposing a strong set of safeguards
to protect consumers from these
predatory practices.
The proposed rule also would bar
providers from telling consumers to
stop communicating with their lenders
or mortgage servicers, and from mis-
leading them about key facts such as:
The likelihood of getting the results
they want, and how long it will take;
their affiliation with public or private
entities; payment and other existing
mortgage obligations; and refund and
cancellation policies.
In addition, the proposed rule
would require providers to tell con-
sumers that they are for-profit busi-
nesses, the total amount consumers
will have to pay, that neither the gov-
ernment nor the consumers lender has
approved their services, and that there
is no guarantee that the lender will
agree to change their loan.
The proposed rules would apply to
for-profit companies that, in exchange
for a fee, offer to work with lenders
and servicers on behalf of consumers
to modify the terms of mortgage loans
or to take other steps to avoid foreclo-
sure on those loans. The proposed
rules generally exempt entities that
own or service mortgage loans.
Attorneys would have a limited exemp-
tion from the proposed advance fee
ban if they represent consumers in a
bankruptcy or other legal proceeding.
For more information, visit www.ftc.gov.
FHFA announces one-
year extension of HARP
Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA) Acting
Director Ed DeMarco has
announced the exten-
sion of the Home
Affordable Refinance
Program (HARP), a refinancing program
administered by Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac, to June 30, 2011. The program is a
key component of the Administrations
Making Home Affordable Program
announced in February 2009. The HARP
program expands access to refinancing
for qualified individuals and families
whose homes have lost value. The pro-
gram was set to expire June, 2010.
FHFA has reviewed the current
market situation and the state of mort-
gage insurance availability and has
determined that the market conditions
that necessitated the actions taken last
year have not materially changed,
said DeMarco. Accordingly, to support
and promote market stability, and to
encourage lenders and other mortgage
market participants to fully adopt the
HARP program, including the imple-
mentation of the October 2009 expan-
sion of loan-to-value ratios (LTVs) to
125 percent, FHFA is authorizing the
news flash continued from page 5
continued on page 8
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offered to consumers by a representative
sample of creditors for mortgages that
have low-risk pricing characteristics. The
APOR for a broad range of types of trans-
actions is published in a table updated at
least weekly, along with the methodolo-
gy used to derive these rates.
In order to determine which loans are
covered, one must look at the definitions of
consumer credit and prin-
cipal dwelling. Consumer
credit is defined by the reg-
ulation as credit offered or
extended to a consumer pri-
marily for family, or house-
hold purposes. The mean-
ing of principal dwelling is
clarified in the commentary
to Regulation Z and is gener-
ally understood to mean
owner occupied real proper-
ty. Thus loans that are not
extended primarily for fami-
ly or household purposes are
excluded, and so are loans
that are not occupied by the
owner. Construction loans,
reverse mortgages, bridge
loans and home equity lines
of credit are also excluded
from the HPML regulation.
HPMLs are subject to
the following restrictions:
O Repayment ability: Lenders are prohib-
ited from extending credit based on the
consumers collateral without regard to
the consumers repayment ability.
O Prepayment penalties: Prepayment
penalties are prohibited unless the
penalty will not apply until two
years following the closing. A penal-
ty will not apply if the source for the
prepayment funds is a refinancing
by the lender or its affiliate.
O Escrows: A lender may not extend a
mortgage secured by a first lien on a
principal dwelling unless an escrow
account for property taxes and mort-
gage insurance premiums is estab-
lished before closing.
While this regulation is specifically tar-
geting sub-prime loans, since there is no
sub-prime mortgage market to regulate
at this time, the actual impact is another
compliance concern for all lenders.
Disclosing the costs
of a loan
Since the beginning of the year, lenders
have had to use the new Good Faith
Estimate (GFE) for all mortgage transac-
tions subject to the Real Estate Settlement
Procedures Act (RESPA). The rule that man-
dates that GFEs must be delivered to the
borrower no later than three business days
after a lender receives an application has
not changed. However, the contents of the
document have changed significantly.
We have entered a new era of predatory
lending regulation and compliance for
lenders. Since the beginning of 2009, law-
makers have proposed and passed sever-
al regulations that attempt to prevent the
rash of risky, and in some cases, predato-
ry, loans that have rocked the mortgage
industry over the past few years.
The reason for these rules lies in the
emotional nature of a
home purchase. Once a
buyer has mentally com-
mitted to buying a home,
most will follow through
even if fees rise or terms
change between the initial
disclosure and the closing
table. While the vast major-
ity of lenders treated bor-
rowers with fairness and
respect, a few unscrupulous
lenders engaged in these
deceptive practices, know-
ing that most borrowers
would still sign the higher-
cost loan, rather than walk
away from their new home.
New lending regulations
fall under two umbrellas
clarifying what constitutes a
higher priced, high-cost or
predatory loan and reform-
ing the rules to disclose the
costs of a mortgage. To
avoid penalties for inadvertently funding a
high-cost loan or messing up a disclosure,
lenders must understand what the rules
mean. More importantly, they need to
implement systems to reduce the risk of
funding a high-cost loan and improve the
distribution of initial disclosures.
Defining higher priced
loans
On Oct. 1, 2009, the Federal Reserve
implemented a new section of Regulation
Z designed to regulate the closed-end sub-
prime mortgage marketthe higher-
priced mortgage loan (HPML) rule. The
rule establishes triggers for categorizing
loans as HPML and sets forth special rules
and restrictions that apply to loans that
fall into the category. The rule helps pro-
tect consumers from deceptive and abu-
sive lending practices.
HPMLs are defined as a mortgage
where certain annual percentage rate (APR)
thresholds are met. An HPML occurs when
the mortgage for a principal dwelling has
an APR that exceeds the average prime
offer rate for a comparable transaction by
1.5 or more percentage points for loans
secured by a first lien on a dwelling, or by
3.5 or more percentage points for loans
secured by a subordinate lien.
The thresholds are based on the
average prime offer rate (APOR). The
APOR is defined as an APR that is derived
from average interest rates, points and
other loan pricing terms currently
Fighting Predatory Lending
With Automation
Lenders must use
technology that elim-
inates data entry,
provides strong
tracking and report-
ing capabilities and
is updated to comply
with new regulations
at all levels.
By Fred Gooch
While the old GFE was primarily con-
cerned with disclosure of settlement
costs to the borrower, the new GFE sum-
marizes the loan terms and is geared
toward aiding the borrower in shopping
for settlement services.
The purpose of the GFE goes far beyond
the disclosure of settlement charges cur-
rently being disclosed. This new document
is intended to give the borrowers a disclo-
sure of loan terms in addition to the settle-
ment service charges.
Ultimately, the document gives the
borrowers a tool to use in shopping for a
loan. However, it has caused lenders to
change the way they handle disclosures
and comply with predatory lending rules.
Easing the compliance
burden
The challenge lenders face is perfecting
a process that eliminates the risk of fail-
ing to properly disclose the terms of the
loan upfront and catches potential
high-cost loan terms prior to closing.
For easing the cost and time spent on
disclosures, lenders should look into
eDisclosure systems. These systems are
easy to implement and nearly all bor-
rowers have the capabilities to receive,
sign and return the disclosures.
More importantly, from a compliance
standpoint, electronic disclosure systems
offer monitoring and reporting on the
status of all disclosures. These reports
provide a paper trail to verify the receipt
and acceptance of the disclosure.
On the back end, lenders should seek
automated high-cost lending and
predatory lending review systems that
flag suspicious applications prior to
reaching the closing table. This enables
lenders to make corrections to loans
that would trigger HPML regulations, as
well as other predatory lending laws, in
enough time to issue revised disclosures
and ensure the loan closes correctly.
The best systems will pull data direct-
ly from the loan origination software
(LOS) to eliminate time-wasting and
risky data reentry. First Bank Mortgage
from Augusta, Ga. implemented an
automated document and high-cost
loan software because the headaches
associated with manual predatory lend-
ing checks became too much.
The old system was very manual,
said Leslie Kromke, mortgage officer for
First Bank Mortgage. We literally had
to enter everything from the final HUD
report into the system, which created a
huge margin of error. Since the final
high-cost lending and predatory lend-
ing check is run at the closing table, we
had to find a method that would not
leave our customers wasting time wait-
ing on a computer program to run.
The lender now uses a Web-based
tool that compares loan-level data to
applicable laws, regulations and
investor requirements. The system is
also configurable for state and local
regulations in addition to the federal
laws. According to Kromke, the most
significant benefits to using an auto-
mated system to manage predatory
lending compliance are the speed and
accuracy of the checks.
The old system added more than
five minutes to the end of each closing,
said Kromke. With HCL/PredCheck, we
can run the compliance checks and gen-
erate the reports in less than a minute.
Kromke also said the improved
accuracy saves the lender potential
regulatory punishments or loans
returned by investors.
In addition to the regulatory agen-
cies, investors run their own checks to
ensure compliance with HCL and
predatory lending laws, said Kromke.
Our software makes it easy to gener-
ate the reports we need to prove com-
pliance on all loans and improve our
cash flow with increased sales on the
secondary market.
As First Bank Mortgages experience
shows, lenders can still close profitable
loans with the new rules affecting
lenders today. Lenders must use tech-
nology that eliminates data entry, pro-
vides strong tracking and reporting
capabilities and is updated to comply
with new regulations at all levels. The
ones who do will be able to close more
loans and remove the fear of a high
cost loan or improper disclosure slip-
ping through the cracks.
Fred Gooch is general counsel and vice
president of compliance for Idaho Falls,
Idaho-based DocuTech Corporation, a
provider of compliance services and
documentation technology for the mort-
gage industry. He may be reached by e-
mail at fredg@docutechcorp.com.
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Is More Regulation the Answer?
Whether you are a real estate attorney,
agent, appraiser or lender, you have, no
doubt, felt the effects of mortgage loan gov-
ernment regulation, in recent years, and
particularly, in recent months. Even among
those whom have been less affected in the
past, there is the constant threat of addition-
al regulation coming down the pike. Over
the past three or four decades, we have seen
growing government regulation creeping
into our industry at practically every level of
government. Not only is the federal govern-
ment involved, but every
state has also found it neces-
sary to get its finger into the
pie, and some cities are
even beginning to get in on
the act.
Examples of the types
of additional regulation
include, new laws requir-
ing banks to be very specif-
ic about closing fees, even
before all of the facts are
known about the borrower
and the borrowers proper-
ty; regulations prohibiting
mortgage brokers from
ordering appraisals; laws
requiring mortgage bro-
kers to register at the fed-
eral level and attorneys to
follow different guidelines
for closing statements.
Further, national appraisal management
companies (AMCs) are now required to
register, follow strict and varying guide-
lines and pay high fees in many states.
Most states, as well as the federal govern-
ment, are expected to follow suit. For a
national AMC, registering at the federal
level and in each state would require 51
registrations, 51 different sets of rules and
51 sets of fees. The fees alone are expect-
ed to run into the hundreds of thousands
of dollars for each national AMC, which
can only mean higher costs to the con-
sumer. All of this regulation is in addition
to, and on top of, other regulations,
which, if properly implemented, should
already be protecting the consumer.
Why is this necessary?
What is so wrong with our business model
that requires so much government inter-
vention? Is it because there is an overabun-
dance of crooks in the business? Who is real-
ly benefiting from this regulation? Is it those
purportedly being protected? Is the public
benefit commensurate with the cost? Are
government lobbyist culprits gaining exces-
sive control by promoting the special inter-
ests of one group over another under the
guise of protecting the public? We could go
on and on with the whys and about the jus-
tification. When asked, most politicians
claim that it is to protect the
public interest. Suffice it to
say, the system is a mess.
Our system is already bur-
dened with excessive and
ineffective controls, suppos-
edly designed to protect the
public, while costing it an
arm and a leg in unneces-
sary fees and administrative
costs.
Further, the regulations
that we have in place are, in
many cases, not being
enforced case in point
the recent financial melt-
down. With all of the regu-
lation that we have in place,
we are implementing new
levels of regulation with the
same or similar language,
which has not proven to
protect us in the past. It
already is and has been illegal for mort-
gage professionals to commit fraud for
decades, yet many honest and responsible
professionals are being saddled with addi-
tional onerous and burdensome regula-
tion, designed to accomplish the same
objective.
An analogy would be that of the air-
line industry. The honest and faithful
flying public continues to be burdened
with additional inconveniences, such as
that of not being able to carry a bottle
of shampoo on a plane. Meanwhile, ter-
rorists, who pay cash for a ticket, carry no
luggage and have bombs in their under-
wear, are allowed to board, even though
they are on suspected terrorists lists.
What is so wrong with
our business model
that requires so much
government interven-
tion? Is it because there
is an overabundance of
crooks in the business?
By Charlie W. Elliott Jr., MAI, SRA
continued on page 10
Mich.; Dayton, Ohio; Youngstown-
Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.; and
Akron, Ohio.
Five smaller housing markets posted
even higher affordability scores than
Indianapolis, with Kokomo, Ind., which
historically has had a favorable income-
to-house price ratio, outscoring all oth-
ers. In Kokomo, 98 percent of homes
sold during the fourth quarter of 2009
were affordable to median-income
earners. Other smaller housing markets
near the top of the index included
Monroe, Mich.; Flint, Mich.; Lima, Ohio;
and Bay City, Mich., respectively.
New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-
N.J., continued to lead the nation as its
least affordable major housing market
during the fourth quarter of 2009. The
New York metro area has occupied this
position for seven consecutive quarters.
Slightly less than 20 percent of all homes
sold during the final quarter of 2009 were
affordable to those earning the New York
areas median income of $64,800. The
other major metro areas near the bottom
of the affordability scale included San
Francisco; Honolulu; Santa Ana-Anaheim-
Irvine, Calif.; and Los Angeles-Long Beach-
Redwood City, Calif.
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.
was the least affordable of the smaller
metro housing markets in the country
during the fourth quarter. Others near
the bottom of the chart included Santa
Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.; Ocean City,
N.J.; Napa, Calif.; and Santa Barbara-
Santa Maria-Goleta, Calif.
For more information, visit
www.nahb.org/hoi.
MBA: Only 13 percent
of non-bank commer-
cial/multifamily debt to
mature in 2010
The Mortgage
Bankers Association
(MBA) has released
the results of its
2009 Commercial
Real Estate/Multifamily Survey of Loan
Maturity Volumes. The survey indicates
that the volume of commercial and
multifamily mortgage debt maturing in
2010 and 2011 is relatively low. Of the
$1.45 trillion balance of outstanding
mortgages held by non-bank investors,
only 13 percent of the total ($183.9 bil-
lion) will mature in 2010 and seven
percent ($99.8 billion) in 2011. The sur-
vey also found that maturities vary con-
siderably by the type of investor hold-
ing the loan.
Commercial and multifamily mort-
gages tend to be long-term loans, often
for 10 years or more, said Jamie
Woodwell, MBAs vice president of com-
mercial real estate research. The fact
that a disproportionate share of com-
mercial and multifamily mortgages
were made in 2005, 2006 and 2007
means that for most investor groups,
only a fraction of the balance will be
maturing in the next couple of years.
HUD will also make available an
Affordability Index that measures the
costs of where a home is located in rela-
tion to jobs, schools and transportation.
Congress provided $150 million to
HUD for a Sustainable Communities
Initiative. Of that amount, $100 million
is available for regional integrated
planning initiatives through HUDs
Sustainable Communities Planning
Grant Program. To demonstrate HUDs
commitment to listening and learning,
Secretary Donovan also announced
today that a description of the future
grant program is available for com-
ment, including through an interactive
Wiki, on HUDs Web site.
For more information, visit www.hud.gov.
NAHB finds housing
affordability near record-
high levels for fourth
consecutive quarter
Nationwide housing affordability, bol-
stered by favorable interest rates and
low house prices, closed out the year
near its highest level since the series
was first compiled 18 years ago, accord-
ing to the most recent National
Association of Home Builders/Wells
Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
The HOI showed that 70.8 percent of
all new and existing homes sold in the
final quarter of 2009 were affordable
to families earning the national medi-
an income of $64,000, slightly higher
than the previous quarter and near the
record-high 72.5 percent set during the
first quarter of 2009. Affordability dur-
ing the final quarter of the year was up
from 62.4 percent during the fourth
quarter of 2008.
Favorable mortgage rates and slid-
ing house prices that have now started
to stabilize nationally have both con-
tributed to a record year for housing
affordability in 2009, said NAHB
Chairman Bob Jones, a home builder
from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. With
interest rates still hovering at low levels
and the economy beginning to
rebound, the federal housing tax cred-
it will encourage even more first-time
and repeat home buyers to enter the
market and help further stabilize hous-
ing and the economy by creating new
jobs, stimulating home sales and
reducing foreclosures.
Indianapolis was the most afford-
able major housing market in the
country during the fourth quarter, a
position the metro area now has held
for four and a half years. More than 95
percent of all homes sold were afford-
able to households earning the areas
median family income of $68,100. Also
near the top of the list of the most
affordable major metro housing mar-
kets were Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn,
news flash continued from page 6
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We make FHA and HVCC compliance easy
with our tools built around your business
We work with YOUR appraisers
Online automated appraisal ordering
Learn more about our services by calling,
Lorenzo Pugliano, President and CEO
at 631-299-2084.
www.platinumcreditservices.com
Heres what our customers are saying:
PCS appraisal management services allowed
me to create a virtual firewall between the loan
officers and the appraisers, yet still maintain
a high level of quality, fast, and accurate
appraisals
because the rating agency criteria are
very conservative. For example, AAA-
rated reverse mortgage bonds must be
able to withstand a drop in home val-
ues exceeding 30 percent. Had the rat-
ing agencies applied this standard uni-
formly to all rated mortgage transac-
tions, the mortgage securitization mar-
ket would not have experienced any-
thing close to the depth of collapse we
witnessed in 2008.
Because 98 percent of reverse mort-
gages were never securitized, but rather
portfolioed by Fannie Mae, the second-
ary markets are still in their infancy, or
at best, in their adolescence. The market
needs true market-clearing pricing, data
and supply for it to become fully accept-
ed. As HECM mortgage-backed securities
gain broad acceptance and other new
securitization vehicles are introduced,
more investors will take interest in the
asset class. When that happens, we
believe that true secondary markets
pricing and execution will become the
norm for reverse mortgages.
What are some lessons you have
learned about reverse mortgage-
backed securities (RMBS) and investors
attitude toward them?
We learned that reverse mortgages are
not immune to the vagaries of the mar-
ket. Like other asset classes, they can
get a bit frothy. During the height of the
mortgage bubble in 2005-2007, pricing
of HECMs became irrational, and the
whole loan HECM securitizations sold
during the pre-HMBS era did not deliv-
er a lot of value to investors. The mar-
ket lost sight of HECMs inherent value.
What makes Ginnie Maes HECM mort-
gage-backed securities (HMBS) a bet-
ter value proposition for investors?
HMBS provides: (1) a full faith and
credit layer of credit guarantee, (2) the
superior liquidity and execution of the
Ginnie Mae securitization program, and
(3) insulation from other risks (borne by
the HMBS issuer) of tax and insurance
defaults, credit line and other advances.
What prospects and challenges do
you see for RMBS after the Great
Recession of 2008-2009?
We believe the key to success for reverse
mortgages is the establishment of a
lower LTV, low-cost product with zero
upfront fees in exchange for lesser pro-
ceeds. For 20 years, HECM proceeds
have been calculated assuming four
percent annual home price apprecia-
tionit is time for that to be recalibrat-
ed with our current market environ-
ment. The main lesson from the great
recession of 2008-2009 is that we
individuals, corporations and govern-
mentsborrowed too much and now
must deliver. This is also true for reverse
mortgage borrowers. FHAs recent
actions are a first step in this direction.
What is your favorite reverse mort-
gage story?
The first National Reverse Mortgage
Lenders Association (NRMLA) Conference
we attended in Naples in 1999 was par-
ticularly revealing. The following years
conference in Dallas was the first time
we witnessed significant audience par-
ticipation, and it was very good.
Author and columnist, Atare E. Agbamu,
CRMS is director of reverse mortgages at
Minneapolis-based AdvisorNet Mortgage
LLC. A member of the BusinessWeek
Market Advisory Board, Agbamu is
author of Think Reverse! and more than
130 articles on reverse mortgages.
Through his advisory firm, ThinkReverse
LLC, Agbamu advises financial profes-
sionals, institutions and regulators
across the country. In a 2007 national
report on reverse mortgages, the AARP
cited Agbamus work. He can be reached
by phone at (612) 436-3711 or (612) 203-
9434, and e-mail at aagbamu@advisor-
net.com or atare@thinkreverse.com.
Visit author Atare E.
Agbamus blog at thinkre-
verse.com for his thoughts
and insights on the reverse
mortgage marketplace.
forward on reverse continued from page 6
criminal background checks for mort-
gage loan originators. All individuals
applying for a Mortgage Loan
Originator License through NMLS on or
after Jan. 25, 2010 will be required to
submit fingerprints to NMLS and
request a national criminal history
background check with the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of
the application process. Additionally,
all existing state-licensed mortgage
loan originators must provide finger-
prints to NMLS and request a national
criminal background check prior to a
date established by their state regula-
tor. Providing criminal background
check processing through NMLS fulfills
one of the mandates of the Secure and
Fair Enforcement for Mortgage
Licensing Act (SAFE Act).
The SAFE Act requires all mortgage
loan originators to submit fingerprints
to NMLS in order for state mortgage
regulators to obtain criminal history
information. The SAFE Act also man-
dates minimum criminal history stan-
dards be incorporated into state law.
Consistent with the goal of NMLS to
improve mortgage supervision through
the sharing of information between
state regulators, the SAFE Act author-
ized the Conference of State Bank
Supervisors (CSBS) to be a channeller
with the FBI so that a single back-
ground check can be received on a
mortgage loan originator and
reviewed by all states that regulate this
individual. This process is more cost-
effective and greatly improves upon
the current system of criminal back-
ground check review which relies on
each state requesting a separate back-
ground checkoften at different time-
frames and through various processes
that left states reviewing different
information on the same individual.
Through NMLS, all state regulators that
supervise a mortgage loan originator
or are considering an application for
licensure will have access to the most
up-to-date criminal history records
check from the FBI.
As part of the functionality in NMLS
to process criminal history background
checks, NMLS contracted with a firm to
establish a national network of NMLS-
approved electronic fingerprint capture
sites. NMLS has partnered with
Business Information Groups
Fieldprint unit to deliver this nation-
wide coverage. Business Information
Group (BIG) has made more than 700
NMLS-approved electronic fingerprint
capture sites available for mortgage
loan originators to schedule an
appointment through their NMLS
account. Fingerprints captured elec-
tronically are cleaner and have a much
lower error rate which will greatly
reduce the need for mortgage loan
originators to have prints retaken if
they cannot be read by the FBI.
Mortgage loan originators not located
within a reasonable commuting dis-
tance to an NMLS approved fingerprint
capture site will have the option to
MBAs 2009 survey collected informa-
tion directly from servicers on the matu-
rity years of more than $1.5 trillion in
outstanding mortgages, including $1.45
trillion of non-bank commercial/multi-
family holdings. Only small shares of the
commercial and multifamily mortgage
debt held by life insurance companies,
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA, or in
fixed-rate commercial mortgage-backed
securities (CMBS) will be coming due in
2010 or 2011. Greater shares of mort-
gages held in short-term and floating-
rate commercial mortgage-backed secu-
rities (CMBS) and by credit companies,
warehouse facilities and other investors
will mature in 2010 and 2011.
Investor groups maturity schedules
are generally designed to match their lia-
bilities, said Woodwell. Many maturing
mortgages have built-in extension options,
and most investor groups and servicers
have considerable discretion in how they
deal with loans that may not be able to
immediately refinance at maturity.
Based on MBAs survey, of the $1.45
trillion balance of outstanding mort-
gages held by non-bank investors, 13
percent of the total ($183.9 billion) will
mature in 2010 and seven percent ($99.8
billion) in 2011. Commercial/multifami-
ly mortgage maturities vary significantly
by investor group. Just two percent ($4
billion) of the outstanding balance of
multifamily mortgages held or guaran-
teed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA
and Ginnie Mae will mature in 2010. Life
insurance companies will see seven per-
cent ($17.5 billion) of their outstanding
mortgage balances mature in 2010.
Among loans held in CMBS, 12 percent
will come due in 2010, including seven
percent of the $650 billion of loans in
fixed-rate conduit CMBS and 72 percent
of the $54 billion of loans in floating rate
and large-borrower CMBS. Thirty-two
percent ($69 billion) of commercial
mortgages held by credit companies and
other investors will mature in 2010.
The bank lending market tends to
be distinct from the more institutional
commercial/multifamily mortgage
market represented by life insurance
companies, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,
FHA and the CMBS market. The large
number and diversity of banks and
thrifts also means that while the report
presents information on more than
$100 billion of commercial and multi-
family mortgages held by banks and
thrifts, those results are not believed to
be generalizable. The dollar figures
reported are the unpaid principle bal-
ances as of Dec. 31, 2009. Because
most loans pay down principle, the bal-
ances at the time of maturity will gen-
erally be lower than those reported.
For more information, visit www.mort-
gagebankers.org.
NMLS announces federal
criminal background
check processing for LOs
The Nationwide
Mortgage Licensing
System and Registry
(NMLS) has begun
processing federal continued on page 10
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fha insider continued from page 5
5. HUD will take underserved areas into
consideration and compare a mort-
gagees performance to the field offices
average DCR for similar loans.
6. To lessen the effect this policy will
have on lenders with small volume,
HUD will establish a minimum DCR and
only analyze lenders that exceed this
minimum DCR.
7. Mortgagees may appeal within 30 cal-
endar days of the date of receipt of the
proposed termination notice.
Since FHA is putting the hammer
down, it may have you reeling a bit. But
remember, a healthy and solvent sec-
ondary market, which includes Ginnie
Mae, is vital to your origination practice.
Go FHA!
Jeff Mifsud founded Southfield, Mich.-
based Mortgage Seminars LLC in 2004,
has been an FHA originator for 13 years,
is a contributor to LoanToolbox.com and
is a former FHA underwriter. Jeff may be
reached at (877) 342-9100 or e-mail
jeff@mseminars.com.
Visit author Jeff Mifsuds Web
site at http://mseminars.com
for tips and information on
FHA loans and details from
some of the nations top FHA specialists.
wanted my opinion. I directed him to the
Neighborhood Watch Web site, where we
discovered the lender he was considering
had a CR in excess of 300 percent! Needless
to say, I advised him to look elsewhere.
If youre the owner of a company and
have a low CR, use this as a recruiting tool
to instill confidence prospective employ-
ees that theyll be working for a solid com-
pany that writes good loans. If you have a
high CR, its time to dust off your quality
control plan, update it and get your staff
focused on writing quality loans.
Here are the seven things you need
to know about the changes from this
Mortgagee Letter:
1. The effective date of this policy is
Jan. 21, 2010.
2. This change allows HUD to terminate
the underwriting authority of lenders
with high DCRs. Previously, HUD only
had authority to terminate loan origi-
nation approval authority.
3. Every three months, HUD will review
the previous 24 months of DCRs on all
FHA-insured single family loans and ana-
lyze the performance of every mortgagee.
4. HUD will target lenders with a DCR
that exceeds 200 percent of the DCR
within the geographic area, and also
those which exceed the national DCR.
Is more regulation the
answer?
In a nutshell, the answer to that broad ques-
tion is No. Is better regulation and stricter
enforcement is the answer? Yes. Our govern-
ment has a responsibility to provide simple
ground rules that are fair, not only to con-
sumers, but also to all of the stakeholders in
a transaction. In order to curtail excessive
cost to the consumer and to support some
semblance of a free market, regulation
should be kept to the minimum required to
protect the public interest. Regulation
should be simple and economical.
Processes should be developed not only to
protect the public, but also to do so in a
manner consistent with efficiency and com-
mon sense. The ground rules must not be
developed along the lines of feathering the
nest of special interest. They must only be to
protect the public interest. That means that
if we have too many professionals to service
the legitimate demands of the industry,
some of us should get out. Regulation
designed to encourage the continuation of
making loans to people who do not qualify
for them, just to create a few phony jobs,
makes no sense and should be stopped.
Much more attention should be directed
toward doing a better job of enforcing and
tweaking the regulations that we already
have in place. Up until and through the
mortgage meltdown, all major banks were
being audited, and their mortgage portfo-
lios were being evaluated for soundness.
Unfortunately, much of the new regu-
lation that we are seeing today goes far
beyond that which is required to protect
the public interest, while current regula-
tions are not being adequately enforced. It
is driven far too often by industry insiders,
lobbyists, bureaucrats, labor unions, trade
associations, large corporations or influen-
tial individuals, seeking to protect their
own special interest.
Most, if not all, of the burden of comply-
ing with excessive regulation is borne by the
consumer, taxpayer and small business.
Paradoxically, the very people whom the
regulation is designed to protect usually pay
a hidden price and receive little or no protec-
tion. We are already paying a high price for
protection, which we are not getting. Adding
additional layers of regulation will be adding
insult to injury. We were already paying for
this service as taxpayers. Were we getting our
moneys worth? I would say hardly so.
Charlie W. Elliott Jr., MAI, SRA, is president
of Elliott & Company Appraisers, a nation-
al real estate appraisal company. He can
be reached at (800) 854-5889, e-mail char-
lie@elliottco.com or visit his companys
Web site, www.appraisalsanywhere.com.
value nation continued from page 8
in HUDs housing and community devel-
opment programs to make them more
streamlined, efficient, and accountable.
HUDs budget proposal seeks to
make targeted investments in people
and placesinstead of policies and
programsto effectively support HUDs
mission while being accountable to the
American taxpayer. Approximately $6.9
billion in projected FHA and Ginnie Mae
receipts contribute to the FY 2011 pro-
posed $48.5 billion budget total and to
the administrations deficit reduction
plans. Net of the $6.9 billion in project-
ed FHA and Ginnie Mae receipts the
Budget proposes overall funding of
$41.6 billion, five percent below fiscal
year 2010, and makes difficult deci-
sions to cut funding for a number of
programs.
After a year of progress, we no
longer confront an economy or a
Department in crisis, said HUD
Secretary Donovan. But much work
remains, in much changed fiscal cir-
cumstances. Now that the economic
crisis has begun to recede, President
Obama has committed to reducing the
federal deficit. HUDs fiscal year 2011
budget reflects that fiscal discipline.
With the Recovery Act and fiscal year
2010 funding having stabilized HUDs
programs after years of slow starvation,
the time has come to begin transform-
ing them-to make HUDs housing and
community development programs
more streamlined, efficient, and
accountable.
The targeted investments in the FY
2011 budget will enable HUD programs to:
O House more than 2.3 million families
in public and assisted housing (more
than 58 percent elderly or disabled);
O Provide voucher assistance to
78,000 additional families (more
than 47 percent elderly or disabled);
O Assist nearly 5.5 million households,
over 200,000 more than at the end
of fiscal year 2009;
O More than double the annual rate at
which HUD assistance creates new
permanent supportive housing for
the homeless; and
O Create and retain 112,000-plus jobs
through HUDs housing and eco-
nomic development investments in
communities across the country.
HUDs FY2011 Budget will help
strengthen the nations housing market
to bolster the economy and protect
consumers. The budget will reflect $6
billion in profit for the Federal Housing
Administration (FHA), generated thanks
to the FHA reforms announced by FHA
Commissioner David H. Stevens. Those
policy changes will strengthen the
FHAs capital reserves, while enabling
the agency to continue to fulfill its mis-
sion to provide access to homeowner-
ship for underserved communities and
support the nations housing market
have prints taken in card format and
submitted to BIG for manual scanning.
For more information, visit http://mort-
gage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org.
Embrace Home Loans
raises $20,000 for
Haitian earthquake relief
Newport, R.I.-based Embrace Home
Loans recently organized and held an
auction, in lieu of holding its annual
sales meeting, to raise funds for earth-
quake relief in Haiti. Raising more than
$20,000, contributions will go towards
Partners with Haiti to support Haitian
orphanages.
To raise such a large volume of
money illustrates how giving and car-
ing our employees are, said Dennis
Hardiman, chief executive officer and
founder of Embrace Home Loans. Not
only is the local community very
important to us, but were also devot-
ed to helping those outside our imme-
diate reach to better the lives of oth-
ers, especially those affected by such
devastation as the people of Haiti
have been. As implied by our name,
we continuously embrace the global
community and strive to improve the
quality of life for our neighbors and
friends. Through this event, we hope
that our contribution will help make a
difference.
Auction items were donated by
employees, which included Yankees-
Red Sox tickets, Boston Celtics tickets, a
sport fishing trip in Florida, use of an
RV for a week, use of a vacation home
in Florida for a week, use of convertible
for a weekend, Taylor Swift concert
tickets and more. The company nor-
mally holds its annual company sales
meeting during this time each year.
Given the tragic events that occurred in
Haiti, the company decided to forgo its
annual meeting and instead use it as
an opportunity to raise donations and
create awareness about the dire need
in Haiti.
For more information, visit www.embrace-
homeloans.com.
HUD unveils 2011
budget proposal
U.S. Department of
Housing & Urban
Development (HUD)
Secretary Shaun
Donovan unveiled
the Departments
fiscal year 2011 budget proposal, fol-
lowing President Barack Obamas pres-
entation of his Administration-wide
budget. The HUD budget focuses on fis-
cal discipline, creating jobs and builds
on the administrations first year
accomplishments by proposing reform
news flash continued from page 9
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Our goal is to help Mortgage Profes-
sionals close more loans with our
Credit Reporting Services, Mortgage
Processing Services, and Appraisal
Management Services.
Providing our Clients with Platinum-
Level World-Class Service is our
priority.
Platinum Credit Services, Inc. (PCS)
is more than just credit, with a full
scope of services for mortgage
lenders. At PCS, we pride ourselves
on providing the highest level of re-
spect and deserving gratitude to
our clients.
At PCS you will receive, knowledge-
able, courteous service from our staff
of skilled credit professionals. Our
combined management experience
is greater than 30 years of expertise
in the mortgage servicing industry. In
addition, PCS offers competitive pric-
ing and believes in providing the
client personal attention, in all as-
pects of service.
Learn more about our services by
calling, Lorenzo Pugliano, President
and CEO at 631-299-2084.
www.platinumcreditservices.com
vicers and then providing that cash and
data, through trustees, to investors.
Unless otherwise noted, MBA tabula-
tions that combine different roles do
not double-count loans for which a sin-
gle servicer performs multiple roles.
Wells Fargo/Wachovia Bank,
PNC/Midland, Berkadia, and Bank of
America Merrill Lynch are the largest
master and primary servicers of com-
mercial/multifamily loans in U.S.
CMBS, CDO and other ABS; GEMSA Loan
Services, PNC/Midland, Prudential
Asset Resources, Northmarq Capital,
and Northwestern Mutual are the
largest servicers for life companies;
PNC/Midland, Wells Fargo/Wachovia
Bank, Deutsche Bank and Berkadia are
the largest Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac
servicers.
TriMont Real Estate Advisors ranks
as the top master and primary servicer
of commercial bank and savings institu-
tion loans; GEMSA the top credit com-
pany, pension funds, REITs, and invest-
ment funds servicer; PNC/Midland the
top FHA and Ginnie Mae servicer; Wells
Fargo/Wachovia the top for mortgages
in warehouse facilities; and Berkadia
the top for other investor type loans.
MBA also asked firms to provide
information about CMBS loans on
which they are the named special ser-
vicer, that is, where the firm stands
ready to service the loan should special
problems develop, such as delinquen-
cy. The leading-named special servicers
were LNR Partners Inc., CWCapital LLC
& CWCapital Asset Management,
Centerline and PNC Real Estate.
The MBA survey also collected
servicing volumes for loans on com-
mercial/multifamily properties locat-
ed outside the U.S. Hatfield Philips
International ranks as the largest
master and primary servicer of non-
U.S. commercial/multifamily mort-
gages, followed by Deutsche Bank
and GEMSA.
For more information, visit www.mort-
gagebankers.org.
State Foreclosure
Prevention Working
Group reports
negative trends
A group of state
attorneys gen-
eral and bank-
ing regulators
predict a devas-
tating accelera-
tion of foreclo-
sures unless policy makers step up
efforts to assist homeowners. The State
Foreclosure Prevention Working Group
has issued a report that cited disturb-
ing trends, including a rising tide of
delinquent mortgages outpacing ser-
vicer outreach and loss-mitigation
efforts. The report also offered recom-
mendations for action.
Despite significant state and feder-
al efforts to assist homeowners, more
foreclosures are predicted for this year
than occurred in 2009, said Attorney
General Rob McKenna. Programs to
help prevent foreclosure are jammed
up, while 60 percent of delinquent bor-
rowers arent getting any help.
Servicers must do more.
Findings of the Working Group
Report include:
O Six of 10 seriously delinquent bor-
rowers are not even involved in loss
mitigation efforts. The federal Home
Affordable Modification Program
(HAMP) has helped slow down the
foreclosure crisis, but current efforts
have been insufficient to get ahead
of the problem.
O Both loss mitigation and foreclosure
efforts appear to be backlogged. The
average time to complete a loan
modification for some servicers is
more than six months. Many home-
owners with trial modifications are
not yet qualified to transition to a
permanent loan modification.
O Most modifications result in pay-
ment reductions, but principal
reductions remain rare. Given the
correlation between negative equity
and likelihood of default, the fail-
ure to write down principal in con-
nection with loan modifications is a
glaring flaw in current efforts.
O Prime loans are increasingly driving
the rising delinquency rates. The
foreclosure problem is broad-based
and not isolated to poorly-written or
exotic loan products.
recovery. Due to FHA and Ginnie Mae
receipts, the total HUD budget will be
$48.5 billion, compared to $46.9 bil-
lion in FY 2010.
For more information, visit www.hud.gov.
Wells Fargo/Wachovia,
PNC/Midland and
Berkadia lead MBAs
national rankings of
commercial/multifamily
servicing volumes
The Mortgage
Bankers Association
(MBA) has released
its year-end ranking
of commercial and
multifamily mort-
gage servicers as
of the end of Dec. 31, 2009. On top of
the list of firms is Wells Fargo/Wachovia
Bank with $473.8 billion in U.S. master
and primary servicing, followed by PNC
Real Estate/Midland Loan Services with
$322.9 billion, Berkadia Commercial
Mortgage with $217.9 billion, Bank of
America Merrill Lynch with $131.7 bil-
lion, KeyBank Real Estate Capital with
$128.5 billion, and GEMSA Loan
Services LP with $102.3 billion.
A primary servicer is generally
responsible for collecting loan pay-
ments from borrowers, performing
property inspections and other proper-
ty-related activities. A master servicer
typically serves in a fiduciary capacity
and is generally responsible for collect-
ing cash and data from primary ser-
continued on page 14
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Abacus partners with
Chip Cummings for
SAFE Act training
Abacus Mortgage Training has announced
a partnership with international speaker
and acclaimed national mortgage trainer
Chip Cummings to offer a new, fun twist to
the required 20-hour Nationwide
Mortgage Licensing Systems (NMLS)
Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage
Licensing Act (SAFE Act) training that must
be taken by most loan originators
throughout the country.
Chip has an entertaining yet highly
productive approach to training that
not only yields results, but allows par-
ticipants to walk away with fresh ideas
and strategies for success, said Paul
Donohue, founder of Abacus Mortgage
Training. For these mortgage profes-
sionals, its not just training ... its an
event!
With the new SAFE Act require-
ments, this is really a chance for me to
bring quality information and first-class
origination strategies to thousands of
mortgage originators in a fun new
way, said Chip Cummings, CMC, a
number one best-selling author and 27-
year veteran of the mortgage industry.
Paul and his team have put together
an incredible two-day program
designed to really elevate the level of
professionalism within our industry,
and Im pleased to be able to take it
across the country.
Chip is the president and chief exec-
utive officer of Northwind International
Corporation, a mortgage training and
consulting firm, and an industry veteran
with more than $1 billion in volume
under his belt. He has written seven
books including three number one best-
sellers, and has appeared on numerous
TV shows such as FOX & Friends, Neil
Cavuto Show, NBC, FOX Morning News,
MSNBC and dozens of radio shows. Chip
is past president of the Michigan
Association of Mortgage Professionals
(MAMP), and has received numerous
industry awards. As an international
speaker, he trains thousands of mort-
gage and business professionals every
year.
While there are other NMLS-
approved SAFE Act training programs
available, few provide the level of
expertise and experience that Donohue
and Cummings can bring to the table.
With nearly 50 years of mortgage expe-
rience between them, both are past
presidents of state mortgage trade asso-
ciations and have been active and visi-
ble on the national mortgage education
scene for years.
Abacus training program, Mortgage
Origination Mastery was the first-class
approved for the NMLS, which was
organized under the national SAFE Act,
and is available in a live or a live broad-
cast training format.
Cummings, who is known for his
high-energy delivery and creative
strategies, promises to bring some sur-
prises to each city he visits. Initially
over the first few months, he is sched-
uled to appear in California, Oregon,
Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas.
Paul Donohue founded Abacus
Mortgage Training in 2007, and has
authored over a half dozen courses cer-
tified for continuing education. He is
the past president of the North Carolina
Association of Mortgage Professionals
(NCAMP), and has received numerous
industry awards. Paul is a regularly fea-
tured columnist in several industry
magazines and newspapers, and has
trained over 16,000 loan originators.
For more information, visit
www.AbacusMortgageTraining.com or
www.ChipCummings.com.
NetMore America
engages Comergence
Compliance Monitoring
to enhance TPO approval
NetMore America Inc., an
expanding next-genera-
tion mortgage banker,
announced that it has
contracted Comergence
Compliance Monitoring,
a third-party originator
(TPO) due diligence solu-
tion provider to the mortgage industry,
to manage all reviews and continuous
profile monitoring of all TPOs working
with NetMore.
Comergence, based in Orange, Calif.,
provides mortgage lenders a compre-
hensive alternative to an in-house TPO
approval desk, through an end-to-end
service solution, that provides due dili-
gence, management and compliance
surveillance. Through a standardized
process, Comergence delivers mortgage
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lenders information on mortgage bro-
kers, including a robust background
check of any TPO applying to do busi-
ness with a mortgage lender. The multi-
faceted check includes a 50-state
license status and derogatory review,
industry sanctions reviews, Social
Security Number verification for
authorized principals, Patriot Act com-
pliance, civil and criminal convictions,
business credit, address verification,
bankruptcies, liens, and judgments
search among many others.
NetMore is committed to working
with the highest quality mortgage bro-
kers in the industry in a friction free
manner, said Lisa Schreiber, chief
strategy officer of NetMore. We believe
Comergences centralized platform will
not only mitigate risk and lower our
costs associated with the TPO approval
process, but also accelerate the oppor-
tunity for NetMore to begin working
with quality production partners.
The Comergence online platform is
available 24 hour a day, 365 days a
year, and aggregates and appends pub-
licly available data with its own propri-
etary data which offers mortgage
lenders a richer view of any TPO. All
data is verified by the companys ana-
lysts and made available in a compre-
hensive report, which includes all doc-
uments related to the application. Any
TPO that has been previously vetted by
Comergence for one mortgage lender
can quickly be approved by a new
lender as the profile is current and
readily available.
We are very excited about partner-
ing with NetMore, a company that
clearly understands the power of the
right relationships to drive business,
said James Deane, executive vice presi-
dent of Comergence. Our innovative
solution offers all parties in a mortgage
relationship the foundation to trust one
another by providing an independent,
consistent and comprehensive due dili-
gence review and addresses the key
issues of transparency in the mortgage
process.
For more information, visit www.net-
moreamerica.com or www.comergence-
compliance.com.
AllRegs and Motivity
collaborate on mortgage
marketplace tools
Al l Regs, an infor-
mation provider for
the mortgage indus-
try, and Denver-based
Motivity Solutions
Inc., creators of the
Movation Business Management
Platform, have announced a collabora-
tion to bring sophisticated business
intelligence tools to the mortgage mar-
ketplace. Specifically, the companies
are implementing intelligence around
mortgage lender product and guideline
information.
We are very excited to develop solu-
tions with a company as innovative as
Motivity, said Dan Thoms, senior vice
president for AllRegs. Motivitys plat-
form, Movation, is a perfect match for
AllRegs underwriting guideline con-
tent, and we expect to merge the two
together in the near future.
The AllRegs Information Service,
known as AllRegs Online, is used by
virtually all of the top 100 lenders
and throughout numerous govern-
mental agencies. The Eagan, Minn.-
based company provides mortgage
professionals with subscription-based
access to single and multifamily
underwriting and insuring guidelines,
federal compliance laws and regula-
tions, state compliance laws and reg-
ulations with plain-language analy-
ses, contract publishing services and
training resources through AllRegs
Academy. In addition, AllRegs offers
its LoanLibrary solution, an eligibility
search engine and loan product infor-
mation management service, featur-
ing more than 2,000 unique products
representing 73-plus correspondent
and wholesale investors.
Movation is a business management
platform that focuses on the whole of a
mortgage-based operation, allowing
adopters to maximize efficiencies and
opportunities throughout their organi-
zation. By applying Movation to their
existing technology, companies will
experience real-time access to their
combined data in the form of key per-
formance indicators, scorecards, dash-
boards and on-demand reporting.
Movation also fills the gaps in existing
technology with its leading edge imag-
ing, business rules, activity queues, and
enterprise relationship management.
Partnering with an industry leading
content provider to create products
that are innovative and relevant is
exciting for Motivity Solutions, said
Gabe Minton, chief strategy officer for
Motivity Solutions. The ability to com-
bine our award-winning business intel-
ligence tools with the industrys pre-
eminent content library will create
tremendous value for mortgage compa-
nies and continues to drive our mission
to take the industry to the next level.
For more information, visit www.all-
regs.com or www.movationnow.com.
PriceMyLoan works with
Google on AdWords
Comparison Ads affering
PriceMyLoan has announced a collabo-
ration with Google to provide loan pric-
ing technology for their AdWords
Comparison Ads feature, which helps
users looking for rate quotes on
Google.com to more quickly and easily
connect with mortgage lenders that
meet their specific criteria.
Were excited to assist Google with
our mortgage pricing capabilities, said
Gigi Campbell, national sales director
for PriceMyLoan. Its gratifying to
know that Google considers our loan
pricing technology to be on par with
continued on page 19
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Wells Fargo Wholesale Lending
There is a reason Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
is one of the nations leading wholesale lenders
Wells Fargo Wholesale Lending is well positioned to help you and your borrowers take
advantage of todays market opportunities with a suite of products and programs, including:
FHAloans
VAnancinglarger loan amounts and assumable loans
Reverse mortgagesWells Fargo handles your processing
1
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SM
program
Guaranteed Rural Housing program(brokers do not need to be FHA-approved)
High Balance Conforming loans and High Balance FHA/VAloans
Our PerformanceWorks
SM
plan helps put you in control of your continued business success
And at our Brokers First

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1. Borrowers must be at least 62 years or older. Prior Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
reviewand broker approval are required to originate FHAloans. Additional
approval requirements apply to originate reverse mortgages. Please contact
Wells Fargo Wholesale Lending for details.
This information is for use by mortgage professionals only and should not be
distributed to or used by consumers or other third parties. Information is accurate
as of date of printing and is subject to change without notice.
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
2009 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. #68212 12/09-3/10
Contact us today to learn more.
www.brokersrst.com
payment reductions alone will have
limited success in creating sustain-
able homeownership in states
where a large percentage of mort-
gage loans are significantly under-
water (e.g., loan balance is greater
than the homes market value.)
O Servicers should pay particular
attention to reforming payment-
option ARM loans. If unaddressed,
the payment shock on these loans,
coupled with the high proportion
that are significantly underwater,
will push a significant portion of
payment-option ARM loans into
foreclosure.
O The HAMP program must increase
transparency and reduce paperwork
in order to reach its potential. While
the U.S. Treasury Department has
made positive steps in reducing
paperwork burdens, we believe
more streamlining is necessary to
reduce burdens on both servicers
and homeowners.
O States should consider expanding
homeowner counseling programs or
implementing temporary foreclo-
sure mediation programs or other
such measures. Given the numbers
of homeowners facing foreclosure
or likely to face foreclosure in the
next 12 to 24 months, it is likely that
many will fall through the cracks of
even the best-implemented system
for working out mortgage loans.
O Both servicers and the U.S. Treasury
should provide better options to
keep unemployed homeowners in
their homes. Unemployment and
loss of income are key catalysts to a
mortgage default. While unemploy-
ment insurance partially fills a
short-term gap in income from job
loss, unemployed homeowners face
significant hurdles in keeping their
homes.
The State Foreclosure Prevention
Working Group consists of 12 state
attorneys general (Arizona, California,
Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa,
Massachusetts, Nevada, North Carolina,
Ohio, Texas and Washington), bank reg-
ulators for New York, North Carolina,
and Maryland, and the Conference of
State Bank Supervisors. The group was
founded in 2007 and has issued three
prior reports.
For more information, visit www.csbs.org.
Your turn
National Mortgage Professional Magazine
invites you to submit any information on
regulatory changes, legislative updates,
human interest stories or any other
newsworthy items pertaining to the
mortgage industry to the attention of:
NMP News Flash column
Phone #: (516) 409-5555
E-mail:
newsroom@nmpmediacorp.com
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are
preferred. The deadline for submissions
is the 1st of the month prior to the tar-
get issue.
Recommendations of the Working
Group Report include:
O Servicers should suspend foreclo-
sure proceedings on any loan
involved in the loss-mitigation
process. In some cases, homeown-
ers have lost their homes while
being told they are being consid-
ered for a loan modification.
O Loss mitigation programs must be
improved to prioritize principal
reduction in areas of significant
home price declines. Loan modifica-
tion programs that rely on monthly
news flash continued from page 11
Daily updated mortgage
industry news
Industry blogs
Write your own blog
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of risk is a major risk. Who is to say that
the market does not move by 100 basis
points in one hour while you are in the
loan application? Before this time, you
could always say at the end of the appli-
cation, Now, I will check rates. Now, at
the end of the application, you cannot
say that. You have to honor the quote of
the GFE you have compiled. How much
would the loss be on a $300,000 loan? A
100-basis point loss would be $3,000.
Can you afford that risk on every loan?
Apparently, HUD thinks you can. So
unless HUD comes back to its senses, it is
incumbent upon every loan officer to
stay on top of the markets. You better
know what the markets are doing when
you fill in the form and if the markets are
moving while you are in a loan applica-
tion, you better know that as well.
I asked Eric Holloman, our secondary
expert and chief executive officer of
RateLink, what they do in order to keep
their clients informed. RateLink has been
around for almost two decades, and there-
fore, they were doing such before the
Internet was an option. Here is Erics reply:
Before the Internet and cell phones, we
used pagers to let our clients know that
changes were occurring. Believe it or not,
some of our clients from that period are
still using that technology. Now, when
the markets are moving, loan officers are
more likely to ask us to alert them that a
change is coming via text messaging on
their cell phone. But it is not enough to
alert them that the markets are moving.
We must also give them word of what
economic releases are due the next morn-
ing. Many loan officers take loan appli-
cations at night and they need to know
what may move the markets in the morn-
ing.
In other words, looking on the comput-
er is not enough. You must have a system
that will keep you up-to-date from
moment to moment. For example, one
that will send a text message to your
phone as soon as the markets move a cer-
tain amount. If ever there was a time for
this system to be implemented, the new
GFE seems to have made it mandatory.
Eric has consented to allow our readers a
30-day trial of such a system, just go to
www.RateLink.com in order to try it and
feel free to e-mail me at success@origina-
tionpro.com to let me know what you
think of the system, and more important-
ly, how are you limiting rate risk with the
new GFE. If you have another tool or
method of limiting risk, we need to get
this information out to as many readers as
quickly as possible. Many lenders are not
even aware that N/A is not an option.
Dave Hershman is a leading author for the
mortgage industry with eight books and sev-
eral hundred articles to his credit. He is also
head of OriginationPro Mortgage School
and a top industry speaker. Daves Certified
Mortgage Advisor Program can be found at
www.webinars.originationpro.com. If you
would like to stay ahead of what is happen-
ing in the markets, visit ratelink.origination-
pro.com for a free trial or e-mail
success@hershmangroup.com.
There is no doubt that one of the
biggest changes a typical loan officer is
dealing with today is implementing the
new and revised Good Faith Estimate
(GFE). That is saying a lot because there
are so many changes that are being
implemented in this challenging envi-
ronment. These examples include the
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
tightening up their policy significantly
to include a minimum credit score of
580 for those who are using a 3.5 per-
cent downpayment, lower seller contri-
butions to three percent, higher upfront
premiums and an audit system that is
going to make every lender scared of
running afoul of FHA guidelines. It also
includes a National Licensing and
Registration System that will result in
fingerprinting, credit reports and test-
ing for loan officers across the nation.
There is certainly a lot on the plate for
every loan officer this year.
The new GFE brings several
changes. For one, it is a standardized
form like the HUD-1 (and there is a new
HUD-1 as well). In the past, the form has
taken many formats, varying from
lender to lender and software platform
to software platform. It is also expand-
ed to three pages and includes a lump
sum for all lender charges. For brokers,
it will make the use of a yield spread
premium (YSP) transparent by showing
the applicant how the YSP gets credited
to their closing costs, which includes
the brokers charges.
We could spend four pages talking
about the new GFE. However, this is a
column on the secondary markets
and how these markets affect the
production and revenue of loan offi-
cers. So, we will focus on one little-
noted, but very important, part of
this form. This is Line 1 of the first
page of the form:
1. The interest rate for this GFE is avail-
able through________. After this time,
the interest rate, some of your loan orig-
ination charges, and the monthly pay-
ment shown below, can change until you
lock your interest rate.
This may not seem like a very impor-
tant part of the form, but let us exam-
ine two very important points:
1. Most applicants will be floating when
the GFE is made out.
2. The U.S. Department of Housing &
Urban Development (HUD) has made it
clear that the loan officer can only put
N/A in the blank when there is no lock
available for the program. If there is a
lock available, a date must be placed in
the blank.
In other words, the loan officer is going
to have to take the risk on a floating loan
every time a GFE is issued. How much risk?
It may be hours (or even a day or more) for
the form to be delivered to an applicant.
Here is the good news. HUD will let us not
only put a date in the formbut also a
time. The following is a direct quote from
HUDs Real Estate Settlement Procedures
Act (RESPA) office
The regulation does not prescribe the
amount of time the interest rate must be
available in the first box in the
Important Dates Section on the initial
GFE. That is why you can put a date and
a time in the box. It cannot be zero, and
must be an actual date and time.
David L. Friend Esq., office of RESPA and
interstate land sales, U.S. Department of
Housing & Urban Development (HUD)
Therefore, N/A is not appropriate
and zero is not appropriate. It must be
an actual date and time. Theoretically,
since the date could not be expired
when the applicant receives the form (or
it is sent out if mailed), even two hours
The Good Faith Estimate
and Rate Risk
So unless HUD comes back to its
senses, it is incumbent upon
every loan officer to stay on top
of the markets. You better know
what the markets are doing when
you fill in the form and if the
markets are moving while you
are in a loan application, you
better know that as well.
2010 Inlanta Mortgage
Approved to do business in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota...and growing.
Minnesota License Inlanta Mortgage, Inc. #MO 20373610 Not an offer to enter into an interest rate lock-in agreement under Minnesota law.
Illinois Inlanta Mortgage An Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee #MB.0006190 Inlanta Mortgage is regulated by the State of Illinois Department
of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Banking located at 122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1900, Chicago, IL 60603. Phone #312-793-1409.
Dear Mortgage Bankers,
If youre motivated to take your mortgage company to new heights,
consider joining Inlanta Mortgage through a strategic partnership or
acquisition. Established in 1993, we provide stable nancial backing,
a wide variety of products, an experienced team, and outstanding
support services marketing, compliance, processing, human
resources, training, technology, accounting, legal, in-house funding,
and underwriting.
As an Inlanta partner, youll function as a true mortgage banker
without concerns about warehouse facilities. If youd like to grow with
us, Id like to talk to you. Please call me at 262-513-9853 or email
partner@inlanta.com.
W229 N1433 Westwood Drive, Suite 105 | Waukesha, WI 53186 | www.inlanta.com
JEAN BADCIONG
Chief Operating Ofcer
Grow with us
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1. Go to www.ruralhomeloan.com
2. Pick a low xed rate for your borrower
3. Enjoy an easy closing, and then relax!
Innovative Rural Financing since 1993
Lending in TX, NM, and OK
Fighting the fight for the
broker nation
A Message From NAMB President Jim Pair, CMC
Many of you have asked if the National Association of Mortgage
Brokers (NAMB) has changed its position regarding the Home
Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). The answer is a resounding
No! We still believe that the HVCC is harmful to the consumer,
to the mortgage broker, to the independent appraiser and to the
economy.
NAMB was the first to recognize the harm that HVCC would cause to the con-
sumer and the industry when the agreement was initially announced. NAMB, on
its own, filed a lawsuit against Director James B. Lockhart and the Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to stop the HVCC. The suit was filed Feb. 23, 2009
For more information on the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, visit www.namb.org.
before HVCC was implemented. Later, the suit was withdrawn when NAMB
learned that since Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were in conservatorship, the suit
could not be adjudicated in a court of law.
As NAMB members, you have supported the efforts of your association to
change the HVCC. You contributed to the Legal Defense Fund to bring the
lawsuit against the FHFA. You signed petitions against the HVCC and provid-
ed information on how HVCC was harming the consumer, the industry and
the economy.
Through the efforts of NAMB and the National Association of Realtors (NAR),
HR 3044 was introduced which called for an 18-month moratorium on HVCC. To
date, more than 200 representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill
thanks to your efforts.
NAMBs efforts to stop HVCC did not end there. On Oct. 15, 2009, NAMB
sent a letter to Congress requesting that they support an amendment to HR
3126 that would sunset HVCC within 90 days of enactment of the bill. The
amendment was accepted and attached to the bill and passed by the full
House.
NAMB is currently working to have the same amendment attached to the
Senate bill that will be passed in the Senate Banking Committee. However, the
mechanism to implement the sunset provision is the creation of a Consumer
Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) which is in question of surviving the legislative
debate.
NAMB has one big concern even if our efforts to sunset the HVCC are suc-
cessful or the HVCC expires Nov.1, 2010. HVCC has become so ingrained with
most wholesale lenders that it will continue to be the predominant system for
ordering appraisals. It will take many months before the smaller wholesale
lenders using a different system will cause a substantial change in the way
appraisals are ordered.
NAMB believes the random appraisal system will ensure the following:
O The consumer is not charged additional fees since the appraisal is portable.
O Appraisers are paid a fair value for their professional services.
O Investors in mortgage broker-originated products have confidence that there
was pressure applied to reach a certain valuation.
O The mortgage broker will be allowed to order the appraisal in their name.
NAMB is working with Olde City Lending Solutions to have the government-
sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
approve a random appraisal system. We hope this template for appraisal order-
ing takes root and is adopted by other parties. Additionally, the net profits
from this venture will go toward funding NAMBs legislative efforts in
Washington, D.C., another portion will go towards building a better communi-
cation system with our membership and non-members, and the remaining
portion will go toward reducing the amount of dues that members pay to
NAMB. Many trade associations have for-profit ventures, and NAMB is on its
way to creating its own.
Again, NAMB has not abandoned its original position regarding the HVCC.
We are committed to having it overturned and completely removed from the
appraisal ordering system. That will take time and the random appraisal order-
ing system is a stopgap until that happens. NAMB is creating a mortgage bro-
ker-centric appraisal ordering system that saves consumers time and money.
HVCC is like having a drug in your system and we all know that it takes time for
a drug to be completely flushed out. In the meantime, the random appraisal
system will give the consumer protection against increased costs that the HVCC
does not do.
Jim Pair, CMC is with Mortgage Associates Corpus Christi and is president of the
National Association of Mortgage Brokers. He may be reached by e-mail at jim-
pair@namb.org.
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Scenes From the
2010 NAMB Legislative & Regulatory Conference
February 21-24 at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Ken Markison, AVP and regulatory counsel for the Mortgage
Bankers Association (MBA); Jennifer Smith, assistant chief counsel
for economic regulation and banking, Office of Advocacy for the
Small Business Administration (SBA); and Paul Mondor, senior
attorney, division of consumer & community affairs for the Federal
Reserve Board, take part in the Regulations on Originator
Compensation in 2010 session
Many thanks to NAMBs Jon Otto, assistant director of government
affairs, and his staff for coordinating a very successful 2010 NAMB
Legislative & Regulatory Conference
FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens (center) paus-
es for a photo with NAMB Director Walt Scott (left)
and NAMB Vice President Mike DAlonzo (right)
Denise Leonard (right, at podium) with NAMB Director John
Councilman (left, seated) during the FHA Changes in 2010
session
NAMB Past Presidents Neill Fendly and James L.
Nabors smile for a photo in D.C.
NAMB Secretary Ginny Ferguson
takes part in the Q&A portion of
the Regulations on Originator
Compensation in 2010 session
NAMB Board members take part
in the Delegate Council Meeting
NAMB President-Elect
William Howe moderates the
Delegate Council Meeting in
Washington, D.C.
NAMB Chief
Executive Officer
Roy DeLoach
introduces speak-
ers during the
NAMB Delegate
Council Meeting
NAMB Treasurer Donald
Frommeyer addresses the
crowd during the 2010
Legislative & Regulatory
Conference in D.C.
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Scenes From the
2010 NAMB Legislative & Regulatory Conference
February 21-24 at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
FHA Commissioner David H.
Stevens delivers his keynote
presentation during the 2010
Legislative & Regulatory
Conference
Donald Fader from
North Carolina with
NAMB Past
President and current
Government Affairs
Committee Chair
Harry Dinham from
Texas
NAMB VP of Government Affairs
Mike Anderson discusses the
importance of the Political Action
Committee
NAMB Secretary
Ginny Ferguson
with Rep. Gary
Miller (R-CA)
President Nichole Browning and Past President
Chuck Anderson proudly represented the Idaho
Association of Mortgage Brokers
Califiornia Rep. Gary
Miller discusses the latest
housing issues on Capitol
Hill during the 2010
NAMB Legislative &
Regulatory Conference
FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens is welcomed to the
NAMB Legislative & Regulatory Conference by Deb
Killian and Donald Derespinis from Charter Oak Lending
in Connecticut
Ivy Jackson, director of the Office of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales for
HUD; Phil Schulman, partner with K&L Gates LLP; and Matt Dolan,
director of the Federal Policy Group take part in the RESPA
in 2010 session
NAMB Directors Walt
Scott and Donald Starks
take part in the Delegate
Council Meeting in
Washington, D.C.
Ron Smith, president-elect, and Kimberly Ward,
statewide president, proudly represent the Texas
Association of Mortgage Professionals during the
NAMB Delegate Council Meeting
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Leads360 offers Web-based lead
management software to improve sales
organizations and increase profitabili-
ty. The software is flexible enough to
accommodate the unique workflow
and needs of any sales organization in
any industryand is specifically
designed to address the needs of the
mortgage industry. Leads360 has been
working with mortgage businesses to
increase profitability and scale effi-
ciently since 2004. Currently, 2,800
mortgage companies use Leads360s
software to receive, distribute, contact,
follow-up with, and convert more leads
into funded loans. Further, the compa-
nys software platform is integrated
with more than 1,200 Internet lead
sources including LendingTree,
Quinstreet, Zillow and Lowermybills.
For more information, visit
www.leads360.com.
Bank of America
becomes first servicer to
sign contract for Home
Affordable Second-Lien
Modification Program
Bank of America announced that it has
become the first mortgage servicer to
sign an agreement formally committing
to participation in the pending second-
lien component of the federal govern-
ments Home Affordable Modification
Program (HAMP). The formal action fol-
lows a verbal commitment to the pro-
gram made by Bank of Americas Chief
Executive Officer Brian Moynihan dur-
ing a meeting with Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner.
Bank of America has systems in
place to begin implementing the
Second Lien Modification Program
(2MP) with the release of final program
policies and guidelines by federal regu-
latory agencies. 2MP will require modi-
fications that reduce the monthly pay-
ments on qualifying home equity loans
continued on page 21
their high standards. Were really look-
ing forward to the new business oppor-
tunities that AdWords Comparison Ads
can generate for our clients.
When users perform searches on
mortgage-related terms like mortgage
rates, Comparison Ads will give users
the option to enter their specific mort-
gage loan parameters, such as loan
amount, loan-to-value and credit
scores. Users are then presented with a
list of advertisers who match the speci-
fied requirements, and their offerings
can be compared across a variety of
attributes to help them find the ones
that suit them best. If the user requests
a connection, Google notifies the
lender and provides an anonymous
phone number through which that user
can be contacted.
PriceMyLoan will supply loan pricing
data for this new mortgage pricing fea-
ture. Lenders using PriceMyLoan are
eligible to have their companies appear
in the AdWords Comparison Ads tool
with the most current rates and pricing
that they offer.
For more information, visit www.price-
myloan.com.
Leads360 assists Google
on new Comparison Ads
function
Leads360 has announced that it is
working with Google to help power its
AdWords Comparison Ads feature. Since
its first offering as a beta in October,
Google Comparison Ads has enabled
users of Googles search engine to
quickly and easily find comparative
mortgage quotes from participating
lenders. Leads360 will be used by mort-
gage originators to manage inquiries
that are generated from Google
Comparison Ads. Leads360 worked
closely with Google during the develop-
ment stages of the new Comparison
Ads. Leads360 has integrated their lead
management software with Google to
provide mortgage lenders with an
online lead management service that
streamlines the process, enables timely
follow-up and greater sales results.
We have watched and assisted
Google with the development of their
feature for some time and have been
extremely impressed, said Dan
Morefield, chief executive officer of
Leads360. The volume and quality of
leads that Google is able to generate is
likely to attract significant new lead
buyers into the market. In addition,
consumers are provided with a more
reliable and speedy method for obtain-
ing comparative mortgage quotes than
has previously been available. We are
very pleased to be a Google collabora-
tor and are excited to see the results
our customers are able to achieve with
this new category of leads.
heard on the street continued from page 13
EXECUTIVE OFFICES:
108 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 301, White Plains, NY 10604
CALL: Kelley Berkheiser at (443) 418-7213 or
Louis Tesoriero at 888-329-GHMC.
www.joinguaranteed.com
Branch Program for Professionals
IT'S ALL WE DO.
You've Decided to Make a Move...
5 Questions You Must Ask!
1. Have they been branching for nearly 2 decades or did they just start yesterday?
2. Are they more concerned with replacing fallen retail origination than in working with
you to expand your business?
3. Will they support your marketing eorts or simply wish you luck?
4. Are they going to license your branch in multiple states or simply tell you to refer your
out-of-state loans to home oce?
5. Will they pay you next day or are you going to hear, "we'll get back to you"?
Call Louis Tesoriero or Kelley Berkheiser today and nd out why Professionals Join Guaranteed.
20
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A PRMI Company
If you would like to learn more about our BranchPartner business model, please inquire:
info@gregfrost.com
"I looked and looked. The numbers were better than
any I could nd. The transition was professionally
handled. We are in business, funding loans and have
already added another Branch.
- Chuck Walden, Dacula, GA
"We felt that the Frost/PRMI business model was the
most competitive out there, as we planned to transition
from brokering to banking. So far, everything has been,
as advertised. Very strong training and branch support.
- Ronnie Ray, Greenwood Village, CO
I've never worked for a lender with such a hard work-
ing closing department. I really appreciate all they do
to help keep my business running smoothly.
- Ryan Morrow, Palmdale, CA
"I was ready to ink a deal with a commercial bank. I
heard about the Frost/PRMI business model, ran the
numbers and signed up. Greg has been out here help-
ing me recruit, just as he promised. We have already
added 2 Branches and have 2 more in the hopper.
- Myles Hubers, Solana Beach, CA
"I've known Greg since 1992. After an exhaustive
search, I found the Frost/PRMI business model to be the
very best. I should easily double my income in 2010."
- Robert Shaffer, Lancaster, CA
I can't tell you how different this whole experience
has been. I'm now going out to celebrate; not that I
funded a loan, but that I didn't have to process the
le or beg the funder to review my conditions and
hope that it funded on time.
- Tim Ross, Valencia, CA
Regulation and Licensing Department, Financial Institutions Division #621 Branch License #00621
Multiple National Lenders
RESPA/Compliance Training
Weekly Production Training
Multiple Warehouse Lines
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#
Presidents First is a multi-state, full-service home mortgage
Banker dedicated to offering quality mortgage solutions with an
unwavering commitment to service. Having years of experience in
the mortgage industry, we understand whats important.
Presidents First is dedicated to providing our customers with
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tion offered by Ellie Mae within the
next 12 months.
For more information, visit www.ser-
vice1inc.com or www.elliemae.com.
Wells Fargo approves
Loan-Scores AUS interface
with FHA TOTAL Scorecard
Loan Score Decisioning Systems, an
enterprise-class pricing and automated
underwriting solution provider, has
announced that Wells Fargo is officially
accepting Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) loans that have been determined
as eligible through Loan-Scores auto-
mated underwriting system (AUS),
which interfaces with FHA TOTAL
Scorecard.
In a statement issued by Wells Fargo
on January 11, 2010 in its lender news-
flash bulletin, Wells stated: Wells Fargo
Funding is pleased to announce that
effective immediately, sellers approved
to deliver FHA loans, when FHA eligibil-
ity results have been obtained using
Loan-Scores integration with FHA
TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard. All FHA
loans eligible for AUS submission must
be submitted to FHAs TOTAL Mortgage
Scorecard using one of the following eli-
gible AUSs: Freddie Macs Loan
Prospector (LP), Fannie Maes Desktop
Underwriter (DU), Loan-Score or
www.LoanSCORECARD.com.
In 2009, Loan-Score completed a
direct system-to-system interface
between its AUS and the Federal
Housing Administrations TOTAL
Scorecard platform for lenders to
receive eligibility results on FHA loans.
Loan-Score offers connectivity to
Scorecard by: Utilizing Loan-Scores
comprehensive PPE, AUS and cus-
tomer-facing Web portals; using Web
services to transparently connect to
Loan-Scores AUS; and using the
continued on page 22
and lines of credit under certain condi-
tions, including completion of a HAMP
modification on the first mortgage on
the property.
For many homeowners facing severe
financial difficulty, decreasing the pay-
ment on the first mortgage without a
reduction in the payment on the second
lien may not produce an affordable
combined mortgage payment, said
Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of
America Home Loans. We continue to
work with elected officials and policy-
makers on sound approaches to helping
struggling homeowners keep their
homes in these difficult economic times.
Signing this contract ahead of the
release of the final program guidelines is
a continued demonstration of Bank of
Americas strong overall commitment to
homeownership retention and to the
Making Home Affordable program as the
centerpiece of these efforts.
As one the nations largest mortgage
servicers with nearly 14 million loans,
including approximately three million
second liens, Bank of America will
modify eligible second liens regardless
of whether the first lien is serviced by
Bank of America or another participat-
ing servicer.
2MP will become a valuable addi-
tion to Bank of Americas broad toolkit
of potential solutions for customers fac-
ing financial difficulty and will increase
our ability to help even more home-
owners, said Desoer.
Using non-government programs,
Bank of America modified more than
57,000 second liens to assist financially
strapped homeowners over the last two
years.
For more information, visit www.banko-
famerica.com.
Service 1st joins the Ellie
Mae Network
Service 1st Valuation and Settlement
Services Inc. has signed on with the
Ellie Mae Network. As a result of the
Service 1st integration, Service 1st will
be available as an independent
appraiser on the Ellie Mae Network and
available to all users of Encompass360.
Service 1st is a national appraisal
management company (AMC) commit-
ted to developing the highest level of
customer service in the appraisal man-
agement industry.
Service 1st is committed to achiev-
ing superior customer service by deliv-
ering fast, reliable, efficient and service
oriented appraisal management and by
joining the Ellie Mae Network, it only
strengthens our abilities, said Mark
Oliver, chief executive officer of Service
1st Valuation and Settlement Services
Inc. As Service 1st grows, we look for-
ward to expanding our offering by uti-
lizing the custom technology integra-
heard on the street continued from page 19
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What can loan officers learn from the 2009 Year-End Review for
Quality Control?
For starters, loan officers can learn to be responsible for the items in the loan process
that reflect directly to loan officers work. The Application 1003 initial and final is a
good place to start.
When comparing non-supervised mortgagees (non-bank lenders) and supervised
mortgagees (bank lenders), the initial Application 1003 ranks number one in problems
with non-bank lenders at 11.14 percent in 2008 and 14.48 percent in 2009, a 3.34 per-
cent jump. Bank lenders showed a 13.42 percent reading in 2008 and a 23.89 percent
reading in 2009, a jump of 10.47 percent. Across the board, loan officers have per-
formed poorly in meeting the standards on completing the initial 1003. However, bank
lenders had a significant increase from 2008 to 2009 as compared to non-bank lenders.
I must congratulate both loan officers who originate for non-bank entities and
bank lenders for their good work in reducing errors on the initial Truth-in-
Lending (TIL) and Good Faith Estimate (GFE). The initial TIL and GFE placed
eighth for non-bank lenders and seventh for bank lenders. The non-bank lenders
won that race in ranking; however, they went from 12.06 percent in 2008 to 7.19 per-
cent in 2009, with a 4.87 percent improvement. The bank lenders went from 10.28
percent in 2008 to 6.91 percent, a 3.37 percent decrease. Bank lenders won the rank-
ing as per the lease amount of problems by less than one percent, but non-bank
lenders showed the greatest improvement on issues with the TIL and GFE for 2009.
Non-bank lenders did better than bank lenders on the final 1003 Application.
Non-banks placed sixth, with a 7.75 percent reading in 2008 and 9.19 percent in 2009
with an increase of problems by 1.44 percent, and bank lenders placed third with
13.16 percent in 2008 and 12.43 percent in 2009, a 0.73 percent improvement. Even
though bank lenders improved their percentages in problems, their percentages with
problems were higher than non-bank lenders.
When comparing the same documents from non-supervised loan correspondents
(brokers) to supervised loan correspondents (bank brokers), the number are just as
surprising. Both the broker and bank broker had the initial 1003 Application rank as
the number one problem area. Brokers went from 11.77 percent in 2008, to 18.91
percent in 2009, a 7.14 percent increase in problems. But the bank broker went from
15.13 percent in 2008 to 23.5 percent in 2009, an 8.37 percent increase. The bank
broker maintains the highest problems with the initial 1003 Application.
Both the broker and bank broker initial TIL and GFEs ranked sixth, and the per-
centiles remained somewhat consistent. However, brokers made slight improvements
by 1.35 percent and bank brokers showed a slight increase in problems by 0.26 per-
cent. Even though the brokers made improvements, they had a slightly higher per-
centile than the bank brokers.
Brokers ranked seventh on the final 1003 Application, coming in at 10.98 per-
cent in 2008 and 7.35 percent in 2009, an improvement by 3.36 percent, where
bank brokers final 1003 Application ranked second for having highest quality
control problems. Bank brokers went from 11.84 percent in 2008 to 14.29 percent
in 2009 with a 2.45 percent increase in problems.
As the numbers speak, there is room for improvement, as loan officers and man-
agement need to take steps in improving the quality of the loan process. This can be
done by requiring excellence in what one does and in training. Quality Mortgage
Services offers full mortgage compliance solutions and releases The 2009 Year-End
Review. You may obtain a copy of this report by visiting www.qcmortgage.com.
By Tommy A. Duncan, CMT
Sponsored by
Tommy A. Duncan, CMT is executive vice president of Quality Mort-
gage Services LLC. For answers to your QC and FHA questions, please
contact Tommy at (615) 591-2528 or e-mail taduncan@qcmortgage.com.
You may also visit Quality Mortgage Services LLC on the Web at
www.qualitymortgageservices.com.
becomes the third largest retail mort-
gage lender in King County, Wash.,
behind Wells Fargo and Bank of
America.
Coulombe and Evered has been a
high quality mortgage company in the
Seattle area for over a decade and has
established a solid reputation for great
service and integrity in lending, said
Keith Tibbles, president of Cobalt
Mortgage. This acquisition is part of
Cobalts strategic plan to expand its
market presence in Washington state.
At a time when many mortgage lenders
have decreased their loan availability,
Cobalt has sustained and grown its cus-
tomer base. Its this business strategy
that has led Cobalt to become the
states largest independent lender. The
mortgage industry now has more
opportunity for well-run, well-capital-
ized companies than anytime in the
past 10 years. Most of the national
companies are simply not focused on
providing great service to their cus-
tomers and communities, which is our
focus everyday.
We are ecstatic to be joining the
Cobalt family, said Brad Evered, prin-
cipal of Coulombe and Evered. Cobalt
has fantastic operations, support struc-
ture and cutting edge technology that
will greatly improve our efficiencies
and service to our clients.
For more information, visit www.cobalt-
mortgage.com.
OpenClose collaborates
with Google on new
Comparison Ads
OpenClose Mortgage Software, devel-
opers of Web-based, end-to-end mort-
gage loan origination software, is work-
ing with Google to provide loan rate
and fee data feeds for Googles
AdWords Comparison Ads for mort-
gages. The new advertising feature will
change the way borrowers search for
loan product and pricing information
and how mortgage lenders currently
generate quality leads via the Internet.
Users searching for mortgage on
Google.com may see Comparison Ads
that prompt them to select the type of
loan to compare various rates.
OpenClose will be providing lender
data through its loan product and pric-
ing engine, DecisionAssist. They can
choose directly from the offers listed or
further refine their search by providing
additional information like income,
home value or other parameters. They
can also call the lender directly or
request a quote. By using the direct
feed from OpenClose, borrowers
receive accurate, up-to-date rates
empowering them to make informed
decisions.
continued on page 24
www.LoanSCORECARD.com Web portal
as a standalone solution.
For more information, visit www.loan-
score.com.
Mortgage finance and
investment vets launch
RMBS loan level data
company, BlackBox
Logic LLC
A team of mortgage finance and invest-
ment management veterans have
announced the formal launch of a new
company, BlackBox Logic LLC, providing
a database of loan level collateral under-
lying non-agency residential mortgage-
backed securities (MBS) for investors, bro-
ker/dealers and researchers. BlackBox
Logic also announced the availability of
its loan level data aggregation service,
called BBx Data, which covers the jumbo
A, sub-prime and Alt-A mortgage mar-
kets. It includes more than 7,200 residen-
tial MBS, 21 million loans and nearly 600
million remittance records, dating back
to 1999.
Headquartered in Denver, BlackBox
Logic has offices in New York and
Bethesda, Md. The company is majori-
ty-owned by Braddock Holdings
Company, the private equity affiliate of
Denver-based Braddock Financial
Corporation. Braddock is a Security &
Exchange Commission (SEC)-registered
investment advisor.
The BlackBox Logic management
team has more than 50 years of experi-
ence in designing, building and manag-
ing information technology systems for
the securitized mortgage market. The
team is led by Larry Barnett, chief exec-
utive officer; Wyck Brown, director of
marketing and new business develop-
ment; Bill Pugh, chief technology offi-
cer; Marty Schwartz, lead data modeler;
and Dmitri Raskes, director of e-com-
merce solutions.
BlackBox Logics BBx Data offers the
highest-quality payment data available
on non-agency residential mortgage-
backed securities, said Barnett. We use
proprietary data cleansing logic to clean
and verify each origination and payment
record. The result is more complete,
more accurate data, to meet even the
most demanding users needs.
For more information, visit www.bbx-
logic.com.
Cobalt Mortgage acquires
Coulombe and Evered LLC
Cobalt Mortgage
has acquired the
mortgage broker-
age firm, Coulombe
and Evered LLC.
With this acquisition, Cobalt Mortgage
heard on the street continued from page 21
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24
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sent to borrowers as required by the
Real Estate Settlement and Procedures
Act (RESPA). Wolters Kluwer can also
print and mail paper disclosures to
Fifth Thirds borrowers when needed
through the companys mail fulfillment
center.
As mortgage lenders continue to
comply with updated regulatory
processes, weve found Wolters Kluwer
Financial Services SDX service benefi-
cial both for our customers and for
Fifth Third Mortgage Company, said
Cindy Manser, senior vice president and
national operations and fulfillment
manager for Fifth Third Mortgage
Company. The SDX service is another
product that is bringing the Mortgage
Company into the digital age.
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services is
very excited to help Fifth Third
Mortgage Company become even more
competitive in todays challenging
lending marketplace with our SDX serv-
ice, said Jason Marx, vice president
and general manager, mortgage for
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.
For more information, visit www.53.com
or www.WoltersKluwerFS.com.
Mortgage Professionals
to Watch
O Tommy Duncan, CMT, executive
vice president of Quality Mortgage
Services LLC, has announced the
hiring of Sherrie Reed to head up
the companys new mortgage servic-
ing division, QMS Servicing.
O Resource Title has promoted Andrew
Rennell to the position of chief oper-
ating officer.
O Douglas Moritz has been appointed
by the Mortgage Bankers Association
(MBA) as associate vice president of
multifamily.
O Bank of America Home Loans has
named Matt Vernon short sale and
real estate-owned (REO) executive of
the company.
O George Phelps, executive managing
Today, Internet users turn to Google
for any and all questions they have
from early stage investigation to final
decision makingmortgages includ-
ed, said Jason Regalbuto, chief execu-
tive officer of OpenClose. AdWords
Comparison Ads show targeted offers in
less than a second with no long forms
to fill out. There are no teaser rates or
bait and switch offers, just standard-
ized information presented to users,
making it easy for them to sort and
compare offers on a side-by-side basis.
Lenders are only able to contact the
user via an anonymized (non-trace-
able) phone number if the user explic-
itly requests more information about
an advertisers offer. Google is setting
the standard for how borrowers will
interact with mortgage lenders moving
forward.
Lenders interested in being included
in Comparison Ads can work with
OpenClose or one of a few loan pricing
engine developers also providing data.
OpenClose sets itself apart from other
technology by offering a loan origina-
tion system in addition to a product
and pricing engine. That way, lenders
who receive interest from an online
borrower can immediately funnel that
lead directly into its mortgage software.
Borrowers, in turn, benefit from the
accurate transfer of data and elimina-
tion of repetitious questions and
requests.
For more information, visit www.open-
close.com.
Fifth Third Mortgage
enhances borrower
experience using Wolters
Kluwer Financial
Services SDX Product
Fifth Third Mortgage Company, a sub-
sidiary of Fifth Third Bank, announced
that it is using Wolters Kluwer Financial
Services Secure Document Exchange
(SDX) service to securely and electroni-
cally deliver home loan application dis-
closures and appraisals to borrowers.
The SDX service makes it more con-
venient for Fifth Third Mortgage
Company customers to receive disclo-
sures and appraisals. It does so by deliv-
ering these documents to them in min-
utes electronically versus the days it
would take by mail. Borrowers also
have the option of securely
eConsenting and returning disclosures
to Fifth Third Mortgage Company
through SDX.
Additionally, the SDX service helps
Fifth Third Mortgage comply with send-
ing disclosures to borrowers within 72
hours after application. As a result,
Fifth Third is better equipped to docu-
ment that required disclosures were
heard on the street continued from page 22
continued on page 28
Sherrie Reed
Andrew Rennell
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Credit Plus to offer single
price credit report
Credit Plus Inc. has announced that it
will offer a single-price credit report,
the price of which will be based upon a
lenders business model. The new pric-
ing option will assist lenders and mort-
gage brokers in achieving compliance
with regulatory changes, effective Jan.
1, 2010, that were made to the Real
Estate Settlement Procedures Act
(RESPA) by the U.S. Department of
Housing & Urban Development (HUD).
The new rules require lenders and bro-
kers to provide customers with a standard
Good Faith Estimate (GFE) that clearly dis-
closes all loan terms and closing costs.
Closing agents are then required to pro-
vide borrowers with the new HUD-1
Settlement Statement that clearly com-
pares consumers final costs with the orig-
inally quoted costs. The final price for sev-
eral services, including the credit report,
must be within 10 percent of the quoted
price or lenders may face penalties begin-
ning May 1, 2010.
Offering the option of a single-price
credit report provides much-needed flexi-
bility in todays mortgage environment,
said Greg Holmes, national director of
sales and marketing at Credit Plus Inc. We
believe the single pricing structure will
facilitate compliance with the new HUD
regulations, particularly the GFE.
The Credit Plus single-price credit
report will include: Supplements that
lenders can customize; potential score
improvement alerts; unlimited second-
ary use fees; and unlimited Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac reissue fees.
The new standard GFE requires that
lenders and mortgage brokers clearly dis-
close the loan term and type, interest rate,
whether there is a pre-payment penalty
and/or balloon payment, and itemized
closing costs. The new standard HUD-1
Settlement Statement enables a borrower
to compare an itemized list of all fees from
the GFE with actual closing costs.
Lenders and brokers who do not
wish to purchase single-price credit
reports will continue to have the ability
to purchase credit reports within Credit
Plus traditional price structure. Credit
Plus offers scoring tools, Tax Return
Verifications, flood reports and other
services in addition to credit reports.
For more information, visit www.credit-
plus.com.
LendingTree releases new
iPhone app
Lendi ngTree
has announced
the launch of its
first-ever iPhone
App, the Mortgage
RateFinder, now
available at the Apple Store. This free
application allows a user to get up-to-the-
minute loan offers without any personal
information being shared. Mortgage
Ratefinder App is extremely user friendly.
You simply enter information about the
loan you would like. The App then per-
forms a quick search of participating
lenders and instantly provides users with
customized loan offers. Users can choose
to receive up to 30 different offers. Once
an offer is found, the user clicks to be con-
tacted by that lender and move forward
with the loan request.
Whether refinancing or purchasing a
home, todays consumer demands greater
speed and accessibility to competitive
mortgage offers and we are very excited to
now provide instant access to offers on
your iPhone, said Doug Lebda, founder
and chief executive officer of LendingTree.
LendingTree was the first company to
deliver transparency and efficiency to the
mortgage process by forcing banks to com-
pete for your business and we hope to
build upon our success with our expansion
into the smartphone market.
LendingTree is committed to protect-
ing the privacy of all its customers.
Mortgage RateFinder users personal
information is not shared in order to
receive customized loan offers. Only
once the consumer requests to be con-
tacted by a lender is their information
transmitted to that specific lender.
For more information, www.lend-
ingtree.com/appstore.
AllRegs and FICO
introduce new FICO
National Certification
AllRegs, a publish-
er of guidelines
for the mortgage
industry, and FICO, a provider of analytics
and decision management technology, have
introduced a new FICO National Certification
program: the Certified FICO Professional (FICO
Pro). This program is designed to recognize
individuals who have a strong understanding
of FICO scores and how the FICO score
impacts both the lender and the consumer.
continued on page 29
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Each month, National Mortgage
Professional Magazine will focus on one
of the industrys top players in our
Mortgage Professional of the Month
feature. Our readers are encouraged to
contact us by e-mail at newsroom@nmp-
mediacorp.com for consideration in
being featured in a future Mortgage
Professional of the Month column.
This month, we had a chance to chat
with Bruce Lawner, senior vice president
of the wholesale division for Melville,
N.Y.-based Presidents First Mortgage
Bankers. Presidents First opened its
doors in March of 2008. Bruce works on
a daily basis with quality mortgage bro-
kers to expand the wholesale division.
Under Bruces leadership, Presidents
First has experienced steady growth over
the past two years.
Bruce draws upon his 20-plus-year
career in the mortgage and housing
finance industry to lead Presidents First
Mortgage Bankers.
He began his career with a Mineola,
N.Y.-based mortgage broker in 1986 as
a loan officer, taking applications and
specializing in condominium and co-op
conversions. In 1989, he began his long
journey into the mortgage banking
world and joined Arbor National
Mortgage in Westbury, N.Y. as a senior
loan officer. Earning great achievements
such as the companys Presidents Club
for high volume of originations and
closings with his tenure there. He
remained with Arbor until the company
was sold to Bank of America in 1993,
when he then moved to a mortgage
banker in Melville, N.Y. in his first of
many management roles as sales man-
ager, responsible for all recruiting and
the training of sales staff for the com-
pany. Bruce helped grow the company
by working with all members of the
operations staff on improving turn-time
and increasing quality customer service.
It was there that he began learning all
facets of the mortgage banking indus-
try. In 1995, Bruce became vice presi-
dent of operations for a Westbury,
N.Y.-based mortgage banker, obtain-
ing his Direct Endorsement (DE) from
the U.S. Department of Housing &
Urban Development (HUD), oversee-
ing all members of the operational
staff, including processors, closers,
funders and secondary marketing rep-
resentatives.
In 1996, he furthered his career as a
sales manager for Roslyn Heights, N.Y.-
based PMCC Mortgage Corporation, a
publicly-traded company. Bruce man-
aged the companys retail sales produc-
tion team and was instrumental in
increasing originations to over $1 bil-
lion. He was later promoted to executive
vice president of sales.
In 1999, Bruce became vice president
of sales for Sterling National Mortgage
in Great Neck, N.Y., managing the com-
panys retail sales department and spe-
cializing in the growth of FHA and Alt-A
originations.
In 2002, Bruce was recruited by pres-
ident and chief executive officer,
Frederick Assini, to join Franklin First
Financial Ltd. in Melville, N.Y. as vice
president of branch banking. He super-
vised 25 of the companys branches,
overseeing more than 500 employees in
the retail division.
At that time, there was only one last
challenge in his career that had to be
met, so in 2006, he partnered up as co-
owner and chief operating officer of
Garden City, N.Y.-based Mortgage Source
LLC, a Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) direct lender.
In 2008, Bruce returned to Franklin
First Financial d/b/a Presidents First
Mortgage Bankers as senior vice pres-
ident of the wholesale division.
Presidents First is a multi-state, full-
service mortgage banker that prides
itself on its dedication to providing its
customers with mortgage products at
aggressive rates and industry-best
service levels.
How did you first get involved in the
mortgage business?
After graduating from SUNY College at
Old Westbury in 1986 with a bachelors
degree in business administration, I start-
ed working in the family business, an
import/export brokerage based out of
John F. Kennedy Airport. After about a
year-and-a-half of doing that, I real-
ized that working for the family might
not be the best future for me. One of
my friends at that time had a mortgage
broker company. He told me how he
was taking a lot of mortgage apps, and
asked if I was interested in helping out
on the weekends, taking applications
on-site at condominium conversion
projects, and offered to pay me to do
so. Seeing how easy it was and the fact
that I was making money on the week-
end, I started to inquire more and
more about the mortgage business and
decided to leave the family business in
1988 and enter into the world of mort-
gage and housing finance.
Do you feel that when you first start-
ed in the mortgage industry, you
were working on deals that might not
make sense?
Yes and no. In the late1980s and early
1990s, I specialized in co-op and condo
conversions, and there were bushels of
them. Some of the lenders back then,
such as Citi Corp., Columbia Federal
Savings Bank, Dime and some of the
others, had these phenomenal prod-
ucts for people already living in a
condo or co-op complex. They were
offering 100 percent financing with no
money down. So, it was fairly easy if
someone had good credit and employ-
ment to get them these mortgages.
Banks didnt even qualify their borrow-
ers because there were many no-
income check programs available. Even
though I had my own apprehensions
that the applicants qualified, they were
ultimately the final decision-maker.
Were there any points in your career
where you didnt have the luxury of
having a captured audience like you
did with the co-op conversion market?
Absolutely. When that particular prod-
uct and market dried up, we had to
develop other areas to specialize in or
other niches to market to. And thats
what we did.
There were many new investors
coming into the market, and they all
wanted to gain market share; hence
the birth of Alt-A, stated-income, no
doc, etc. The LTVs kept rising higher
and higher. to a point of 105 percent.
That made the originators job a no
brainer.
Bruce Lawner, Senior Vice President of Wholesale,
Presidents First Mortgage Bankers
Right now, it is more challenging
than ever to stay in this business.
Some people love challenges in
their life and some people thrive
on pressure, while others may
simply fold.
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You do business in one of the East
Coasts capitals of the mortgage mar-
ket, on Long Island and in Melville,
N.Y. to be exact. Are there others in
this area who may have influenced
you and have provided guidance
throughout the years?
My parents were a big influence on me.
They were very hard-working individu-
als who worked crazy hours, and I idol-
ized them for that. In fact, I believe that
work ethic is hereditary and was passed
down to me. They didnt make a lot of
money, but were good providers. As hard
as they worked, they always found time
to make themselves available to me
early in my childhood when I was grow-
ing up they came to all of my ball
games. Ive taken many of these values
to my work ethic and management
style.
Early in my career as a
retail loan originator
the first seven to eight
years of my career I
was just originating
loans. I worked for some
very good companies and
took pride in my knowl-
edge of the companys
products and offerings.
In 1989, I started
working for my first mort-
gage banker, American
Mortgage Banking, which
l at er became Ar bor
National Mortgage. The
companys owner and
chief executive officer, Ivan
Kaufman, sold the compa-
ny to Bank of America in
1993 for approximately
$60 million. He is still oper-
ating Arbor Commercial
Mortgage to date. He was
one of the guys who defi-
nitely influenced me as a young man in
this industry. One of the most fascinat-
ing things about Ivan is that he was just
a regular guy who did some amazing
things which keeps me motivated to
this date.
My current employer, and a man
who I consider a good friend, who has
treated me like a brother for some
eight years, Fred Assini, has been a
major influence and mentor as well.
We have learned a lot from one anoth-
er, compliment each other and always
maintain positive energy in the work
place. His work ethic is second to
none and it shows in the success of
the company.
What keeps you in the industry?
I think what keeps me in this business
is the challenge. Right now, it is more
challenging than ever to stay in this
business. Some people love chal-
lenges in their life and some people
thrive on pressure, while others sim-
ply fold. I like to think I am up for the
challenge of surviving in todays mort-
gage marketplace. These last few
years were unquestionably the biggest
challenge in my mortgage career. I
like to say that Presidents First
Mortgage Bankers is still here and we
are surviving, paying our bills and
hoping that this current phase of the
industry will be a thing of the past,
and the industry will get back on track
with the help of politicians and the
investors.
What do you say to mortgage brokers to
urge them to stay in business with all of
the obstacles facing them today? What
is your advice to the bro-
ker community, a com-
munity that is facing
issues such as legislative
and regulatory pressures,
the Home Valuation Code
of Conduct ( HVCC) ,
mounting negative media
coverage, etc.?
Whether you are a mort-
gage broker or mortgage
banker, we have many sim-
ilar obstacles lately to over-
come. I know we are in the
first year of change to
guidelines of the Real Estate
Settlement Procedures Act
(RESPA) and the many other
industry changes that have
come across. Ive been in
this business for a long
time, and ever since I can
remember, there has
always been a mystique
about mortgage brokers.
Theyve been trying to ban
mortgage brokers for many years, and
they have yet to be successful. A lot of
brokers are still around who are compli-
ant and have a good book of business,
and there are different ways of marketing
to that book of business.
In the old days, I used to pound
the pavement and get my deals
straight from real estate brokers, real
estate attorneys, certified public
accountants (CPAs), and by word of
mouth. I feel that this is still a very
good and viable way of getting busi-
ness, as well as being confident with
doing some traditional marketing.
You have to be diversified in order to
survive in this current state of the
marketplace.
There is still this perceived matter
of the bad aura of mortgage brokers
being responsible for the downfall of
the mortgage business, which I do not
agree with at all. I truly feel that
mortgage brokers were not part of
any market demise; they just origi-
nated and followed the banks guide-
lines, which happened to be very lax
at that moment in time. That is part
of the reason why there is this mys-
tique brokers are not empowered
to make the loans, they are just the
third-party seeking the best deal for
the customer. Ultimately, its the
banks and their lack of quality con-
trol procedures, and greed and out-
doing each other that led to the mort-
gage crisis.
I think we learned a very valuable
lesson during this recent mortgage and
housing crisis, and if and when things
do ease up, I think the housing finance
industry will still be a viable industry to
earn a good living in.
What does Presidents First Mortgage
Bankers do for the mortgage broker?
What do you offer the mortgage bro-
ker that the big banks cannot?
I think that part of not being one of the
big boys, we offer great personal cus-
tomer service, in addition to our great
turn-times. We personally know these
brokers who deal with us locally.
Especially at this stage in the mort-
gage market, with RESPA, regulatory
changes and so forth, we work with bro-
kers through the red tape and the chal-
lenges they are facing, along with other
obstacles. We have the ability to make
phone calls that are more personable
than the big banks on working
through these issues facing the bro-
kers. Sometimes, the reps at the big
banks are difficult to even get on the
phone. Even if you do get them on
the line, they are not going to neces-
sarily have all the answers for you. That
sort of personable service will continue
to help us, and that personal attention
that Presidents First gives to them
shows that we have our finger on the
pulse of the industry as far as turn-
times are concerned to compete in this
marketplace. We pride ourselves on our
turn-times, and pride ourselves on our
aggressive rates and quality product
offerings.
A lot of the bigger banks have closed
shop in their wholesale divisions.
There is a significant amount of vol-
ume going to the big banks that are
left, and they are facing a backlog
based on all of this volume. Part of our
corporate strategy is that weve already
received approval for is becoming a
Fannie Mae Seller/Servicer, something
that we are looking forward to working
with this year.
We are also actively trying to make
the right types of loans in this chal-
lenging economy, and when the time
is right, apply for our Ginnie Mae
Seller/Servicing License as well. This
way, we are not at the mercy of the
big boys left who are buying the loans.
We are holding our own and are opti-
mistic that, in the next few months,
we will be in a position to continue in
this marketplace and continue to
grow our company.
What can mortgage brokers do to get
a leg up on the competition from the
big banks?
Mortgage brokers, unfortunately, have
to work within the confines of the
guidelines of the HVCC. That is some-
thing on the conventional end we
have been following very closely. I
dont think the brokers have suffered
much from turn-time issues, they
have been okay.
Brokers may use things like the SAFE
Act [Secure and Fair Enforcement for
Mortgage Licensing Act] and things like
licensing requirements to their advan-
tage when telling a borrower that,
because of the SAFE Act and licensing
requirements, they had to learn more
about compliance and their business.
This shows the borrower they are deal-
ing with a more ethical and knowledge-
able individual. The borrower can feel
comfortable in dealing with a broker, as
opposed to somebody who works for
federally-chartered banks who may not
have the answers to the questions a bor-
rower may have. Reps in federally-char-
tered banks havent been asked to brush
up on any SAFE Act or RESPA require-
ments because they are exempt from it.
In this industry, I have seen it all. I
have been a broker and a banker, Ive
spent time on the retail side, and now,
in wholesale, so Ive experienced all
the channels of loan origination.
Some of the products that these
investors came out with, looking back
in retrospect as we were all in the
midst of enjoying the financial
rewards from these products, you
have to think about who actually
came up with these guidelines and
just how did the industry let itself go?
There were no governing factors
involved that looked at these products
to realize what the repercussions
would be down the line. Whoever
came up with these guidelines did not
have the foresight to really think
these things through clearly enough.
That is why we have all of these feder-
al regulations coming forth these
days, so that something as catastroph-
ic as the recent mortgage and housing
crisis does not repeat itself.
Mortgage brokers are just an exten-
sion of the banks. It is ultimately the
lender who has to do their due dili-
gence and perform quality control
checks on that file brokers do not
approve these loans. Whether it was an
80/20, 100 percent, stated-income deal
for a W-2 employee as they felt a jani-
tor could make $150,000 and approved
that loan; it was the doing of the major
lending institutions, not that of the
broker. Things like that will likely never
happen again in this marketplace.
Mortgage brokers are
just an extension of
the banks. It is
ultimately the lender
who has to do their
due diligence and
perform quality
control checks on that
file brokers do not
approve these loans.
I like to say that Presidents First
Mortgage Bankers is still here to
stay and we are thriving, and
confident that this current phase
of the industry will be a thing
of the past.
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Visit UnitedNorthern.Jobs, email info@UnitedNorthern.Jobs
or call (888) 600-8808 ext 1.
United Northern is Seeking Highly
Qualied, Experienced Mortgage
Professionals To Grow as We Grow
Operations Manager
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Virtual Mortgage Loan Ofcers (VMLOs)
In-House Mortgage Loan Ofcers
(MLOs)
Team Leaders/Sales Managers
United Northern Mortgage Bankers, Ltd. Corporate NMLS ID# 7230 New York State Banking Dept. - Licensed Mortgage Banker License #100724 New Jer-
sey Dept. of Banking and Insurance Mortgage Lender License #L0046623 Pennsylvania Dept. of Banking Mortgage Lender License #20887 Connecti-
cut Dept. of Banking - Mortgage Lender - License #20372 Massachusetts Div. of Banks and Loan Agencies - Mortgage Lender & Mortgage Broker License
#MC5070 North Carolina Commissioner of Banks Mortgage Lender License #L140365 South Carolina State Board of Financial Institutions Supervised Lender
License #S7,461 Florida Dept. of Financial Institutions - Mortgage Lender - License #ML0700679 Senior Security Home Advantage is a lending area of United
Northern Mortgage Bankers, Ltd. Direct FHA Endorsed Lender
companys new senior managing
director.
O Mortgage Services III LLC has
announced that Brian Boyles has
joined the company as senior vice
president of business development.
O Advanced Funding Solutions Inc.,
a provider of reverse mortgages, has
added Kenneth Connolly as reverse
mortgage advisor and Rick
Cashman as director of business
development.
O USA Funding Corporation has
announced the additions of Mark
Rossetto as a mortgage consultant
and Darnisha Cleveland-Davenport
as a call center representative.
O Michael J. Langenkamp has joined
strategic planner CCG Catalyst as a
partner.
Your turn
National Mortgage Professional Magazine
invites its readers to submit any informa-
tion, events, passages, promotions, per-
sonal or professional occurrences that
seem appropriate and/or other pertinent
data to the attention of:
Heard on the
Street/Mortgage
Professionals to Watch
column
Phone #: (516) 409-5555
E-mail: newsroom@nmpmediacorp.com
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are pre-
ferred. The deadline for submissions is the
1st of the month prior to the target issue.
director of Primary Capital, has
announced the addition of Jan
Wagner and her team from the for-
mer Canton Street Mortgage.
O Morris|Hardwick|Schneider has
named Natalie Hardwick, Cristina
Hunt and Jeffrey Sandler as partners.
O Raymond A. Redlingshafer Jr. has
joined Clayton Holdings LLC as the
heard on the street continued from page 24
Natalie Hardwick
Cristina Hunt
Jeffrey Sandler
5HDFK3UH4XDOLHG%RUURZHUV
244 Fifth Avenue Suite P 206 New York, NY 10001-7604
Toll Free: 888-833-5478 Direct Line: 718-502-6563 Fax: 212-710-4326
www.WallStreetList.Com
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STREET LIST
D A T A & D I R E C T M A I L
Can't Miss Event For Anyone Involved In Credit!
Don't miss this HIGH OCTANE training conference cover-
ing crucial topics such as Advanced Sales, Marketing,
Client Support, Qualifying Prospects, FICO Scoring, Time
Management, Compliance...and MORE!
Did you know? Majority of businesses that we consult
with are out of compliance.
Network with other credit professionals at the Welcome Reception on Friday
night and the NACSO Banquet lunch on Saturday.
Make sure to stay for our bonus business coaching session for a "Question &
Detailed Answer Panel." This session will last as long as it takes!
Space is limited at the resort
Do not delay registration!
www.NACSO.org/conference
Avoid big mistakes most
companies make.
Maximize client satisfaction.
Qualify prospects efficiently.
Understand scoring cards.
Be profitable and be compliant!
AND MUCH MORE!
Learn How To:
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TOP TEAM LEADERSPRODUCING LOAN OFFICERS
PERSONAL SERVICE RELATIONSHIP DRIVEN
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ASK ABOUT REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Steven A. Milner
President & CEO - MORTGAGE CONCEPTS
GET FAMILNER WITH US YOULL BE GLAD YOU DID!!
BRANCH SUPPORT
BRANCH MARKETING
BRANCH TRAINING
BRANCH LEADS
THE PARTNER BRANCH ADVANTAGE

If You Fail To Plan, Then You Plan To Fail!

CONCERNED ABOUT YSP REFORM?
CONCERNED ABOUT RESPA REFORM?
Contact Us For An Immediate Response at
tarena@mortgageconceptsonline.com or
call 1-800-562-6715, ext. 150
NATIONWIDE FHA LENDER
OFFERS
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Thursday, June 24, 2010
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Rooms are $99 per night, and will
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AAMB welcomes NAMB to beautiful Phoenix! Come see the new
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participating in some great networking opportunities. State delegates
can also participate in the NAMB Delegate Council Meeting.
Visit www.NAMB.orgfor details.
In order to receive this certification,
candidates must agree to a code of
ethics and successfully complete three
one-hour online courses delivered by
AllRegs Academy: Exploring FICO
Scores, Analyzing the Credit Report, and
Communicating Credit Information.
Certified FICO Professionals (FICO Pro),
based on FICO scores and other credit and
lending criteria, will understand how
FICO scores are created, the categories
and data utilized in the credit report and
the impact of FICO scores on consumers.
We are excited to partner with FICO to
offer this unique national certification to
professionals in the mortgage industry
and other credit industries, said Dan
Thoms, senior vice president of AllRegs.
The FICO Pro certification provides a
knowledge benchmark for individuals
who assess credit risk and how that risk
impacts their company and customers.
Registration in the program includes
access to all three required courses. FICO
Pro certification candidates have 12
months to complete the program from
the date of enrollment.
Because extending credit always
involves risk, FICO scores play a pivotal
role for both lenders and borrowers in
most credit decisions, said Robert
Duque-Ribeiro, vice president and general
manager of Scores for FICO. Thats why it
is crucial that lenders, mortgage profes-
sionals and their service representatives
understand how FICO scores do their work
of assessing credit risk. The knowledge
provided by the new AllRegs curriculum
gives financial services professionals the
foundation they need to discuss FICO
scores confidently and accurately with
their borrowers and applicants.
For more information, visit www.all-
regs.com or www.fico.com.
RES.NET launches
Accelerated Management
Platform (AMP)
RES.NET (Real Estate Systems), a wholly-
owned subsidiary of U.S. Real Estate
Services Inc., has announced the launch of
its Accelerated Management Platform
(AMP). AMP was designed to improve oper-
ational efficiencies by managing tasks, stor-
ing data, organizing prospects and contacts
and provide global oversight of listings and
historical data. This platform will also give
real estate brokers and agents maximum
exposure to industry service professionals
within the RES.NET community.
RES.NET, a software application company
established in 2003, by its parent company,
U.S. Real Estate Services, created a real estate-
owned (REO) management application for
asset managers to manage real estate assets
and connect with the entire supply chain.
RES.NET recognizes the real estate
agent as the core element in any real
estate transaction, said Todd Mobraten,
U.S. Real Estate Services chief operating
officer. Offering a full scale application to
the agent was key in continuing to build
RES.NETs community not only for todays
business, but for tomorrow as well.
For more information, visit www.RES.net.
Cogent Road launches
Roohmz Mortgage Enterprise
to monitor workflow
Cogent Road, a provider of Web-based
mortgage technologies that facilitate
communication between lenders and
borrowers, has announced the launch
of Roohmz Mortgage Enterprise, an
Internet-based workflow management
system that manages the progression of
loan applications from origination to
closing, enforces compliance and pro-
vides a robust communication platform.
Roohmz Mortgage Enterprise creates
transparency in the loan origination
process for both borrowers and lenders by
continually monitoring application status,
providing real-time updates and ensuring
each step is completed in full compliance.
Through Roohmz Mortgage Enterprise,
each loan file is digitized and rules are
applied to its path to closing, guarantee-
ing that each prerequisite is met before
Roohmz moves the loan to the next sta-
tus. Once the status is attained, Roohmz
Mortgage Enterprise automatically deliv-
ers the loan file to the next employee in
the workflow, and alerts the appropriate
stakeholders that the step is complete.
Roohmz Mortgage Enterprise also
ensures full conformity with Equal Credit
Opportunity Acts (ECOA) Regulation B,
Truth-in-Lending Acts (TILA) Regulation Z
and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures
Acts (RESPA) new Good Faith Estimate (GFE)
disclosure requirements. The system will
automatically warn originators when files
are about to fall out of compliance and be
withdrawn. Roohmz Mortgage automatical-
ly delivers all adverse notices the moment a
file is withdrawn or declined, either elec-
tronically or via first-class mail, and creates
an audit trail for compliance officers.
Roohmz Mortgage Enterprise acts as
a train track for the lenders specific
mortgage origination process, ensuring
origination happens as expected and
within compliance timelines, said
William DiPaolo, chief executive officer
of Cogent Road. The loan application
is moved along this predetermined
track, with checkpoints completed
along the way, without depending on
individuals and managers to make it hap-
pen. Using this system empowers origina-
tors with the knowledge as to why loan
workflow is suspended and how it can be
corrected, and it also gives them
enhanced communication tools to effec-
tively explain any delays to the borrower
in a way that they can understand.
Along with intuitive workflow manage-
ment and assured compliance, Roohmz
Mortgage Enterprise offers loan applicants
new to market continued from page 25
continued on page 40
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W E A R E R E M N W H O L E S A L E
At REMN, we understand that mortgage
companies perform best when they focus on
whats important: their customers. We are
industry veterans and FHA specialists who
understand that every application is precious.
We treat each file with the respect and
urgency it deserves. Even better, at REMN,
same-day approvals are guaranteed.*
Real Estate Mortgage Network, Inc. is located at 499 Thornall Street, Second Floor, Edison, NJ 08837. NMLS #6521. This information is for use by mortgage professionals only and should not be distributed to or used by consumers or third
parties. Information is accurate as of date of printing and is subject to change without notice.
* Same-day decisions guaranteed if file is received by 11 a.m. EST.
Learn more at www.remnwholesale.com
Its about
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You dont need to be a credit expert to
start your own Credit Repair business
Fortunately, with HTDI Financials Credit Services Or-
ganization (CSO) program, you will be able to handle
ALL aspects of your business except having to do the
actual repairs; we do that for you! We will train you on
how to handle these customers and you will have the
support you need every step of the way. We will make
you look like a Fortune 500 company even if you work
from home! YOU control how much money you make.
In fact, through our CRM, we give you the tools and
resources to harvest leads, manage prospects and mon-
itor their progress.
You dont have to spend tens of thousands of
dollars for start-up costs for your own Credit
Repair Company
Once you are set up in our system, you will get access
to software and tools that HTDI has spent over $1 mil-
lion on research and development. You dont need to
spend an arm and a leg to start building your own
credit repair business. Here is a quote from a mortgage
company located in upstate New York who spent
months of research before choosing HTDI:
Until last year, I owned a large mortgage com-
pany in upstate NY with over 125 employees. We
got hit hard during the mortgage industry crash
and had to close our doors. I was stuck in a posi-
tion with thousands of leads and customers that
couldnt get qualified for anything. I decided to
start looking for a way to capitalize on my left
over resources and help people in the process. I
called many other credit repair companies and
was very unimpressed. One west coast based
company was charging $15,000 and had nothing
but negatives written about them on the Internet.
Then I found HTDI. They helped me to get
started at the beginning of this year and it has
been great. I have not only made great money
helping people to repair their credit, but I have re-
financed 8 of them and helped 6 buy houses that
would have never qualified with the new guide-
lines. The software is very user friendly and all of
my clients, affiliates and Brokers have increased
business because of it.
Get those impossible to close deals
CLOSED!
As the number of loan programs are shrinking, the bar
on credit scores keep rising. This program will allow
your borrowers to become Mortgage Ready as soon
as 45 days. As one of our CSO stated:
I have many loan officers that are now able to
send their clients through the credit repair, raise
their scores, and then close the clients loan that
they couldnt close before due to bad credit! It
means more loans and more revenue for my loan
officers. Even better than that, it is very reward-
ing to be able to help a client regain their credit
and be able to get the loan they need.
Get started in a business that is booming
and shows no signs of slowing
The credit industry, as a whole, is one of the most pow-
erful and profitable industries in existence. With
loans, insurance and even employment taken into con-
sideration individuals credit picture, the credit indus-
try is getting bigger every day.
Inside the credit industry, Credit Services is helping by
assisting consumers with getting back on track by re-
moving unverifiable and inaccurate negative items
from their credit reports. As a CSO, you can benefit in
being in a profitable industry and helping clients with
their futures.
Ive been in the mortgage business over 22 years.
A year ago, as the mortgage crisis worsened, I
began trying to find a way to help clients who
needed a better credit profile in order to get a
mortgage. Fortunately for both me and my
clients, I stumbled on HTDI. After a year of ex-
perience, I can honestly say the success rate is
100% and client satisfaction is through the roof.
All of my clients have seen significant improve-
ments, and some have experienced breathtaking
jumps in their credit scores, even on the first
round!
From Day One you can be sure your back of-
fice (HTDI) has you covered. They will execute
their part of the job seamlessly, with precision,
on time, and with total consistency. All you have
to do is SELL the service! Just sign people up, col-
lect the money, and send HTDI the paperwork
they need to get started. If you simply focus on
selling the service, you will make lots of money,
the work will get done, and you will never have
to worry about unhappy customers.
Although I got into it as a part timer, I now realize
this is an excellent full time business opportunity.
(Frankly, these days its probably a better business
than the mortgage business!) You could easily make
six figures in the first year with a minimal invest-
ment of money. How many opportunities like this
exist these days? What you must invest is your time
SELL, SELL, SELL & SELL some more! Ulti-
mately, what you are selling is the professionalism
of HTDI, which is why this really rocks as a busi-
ness opportunity.
We average one of the highest fix/deletion rates in the indus-
try for the first 45 days of service. Shown below, in real-time,
is the average percentage of fix/deletes per round.
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Thursday, June 24, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
AAMB welcomes NAMB to beautiful Phoenix! Come see the new NAMB President and the
new NAMB Board installation, while participating in some great networking opportunities.
State delegates can also participate in the NAMB Delegate Council Meeting.
Phoenix Airport Marriott

Rooms are $99 per night, and will be honored

at the same rate if you wish to extend your stay.
Hotel toll-free: 1-800-228-9290
Visit www.NAMB.org
for details.
A View From the C-Suite
The American Dream of owning a home
is never more alive and exciting than
for the first-time homebuyer. And, like
any first in our lives, that first home is
often the most memorable home well
ever own. It brings back memories of
when we were first starting out back
at a time when life seemed simpler,
exciting and filled with optimism.
Oh, how things have changed! Many
today are struggling to make the pay-
ment on that bigger house they moved
up to and now cannot afford. Some find
themselves wishing for those good old
days of the lower home payments on
that first house. More than one person
has thought, If I had only held on to
that first house, I would nearly have it
paid off by now I wouldnt be feeling
so stressed out!
The role of the mortgage lender is
critical in making the American dream
of homeownership a reality, especially
for the first-time homebuyer. But many
mortgage lenders have forgotten (or
never learned how) to embrace the
first-time homebuyer.
Here are Five Ps that will help you to
transition your business to successfully
work with first-time homebuyers
1. Position
Get yourself in position to work with
first-time homebuyers. For many
lenders today, the bulk of their busi-
ness has been refinance activity. They
have never developed the necessary
business relationships to come in con-
tact with first-time homebuyers. Here
are some ideas to help you:
O Realtors: Excuse the obvious, but for
many the obvious is easier said than
done. This is especially true of lenders
who only have experience with refi-
nance transactions. I cannot tell you the
number of lenders who have contacted
our consulting firm asking us to teach
them how to successfully work with
Realtors. We have been able to help
many of them make the transition, but
again, most of them underestimated
how much time and effort is required to
successfully make the transition. Keep
in mind, there have been a number of
lenders who have been working with
Realtors successfully for years and have
well-established relationships that are
not easily unseated. But it can be done
if you employ the right strategy.
O Builders: Just like Realtors, working
with builders that build homes targeted
for the first-time homebuyers seems to
be an obvious strategy. However, it is
substantially different than making a
loan to a consumer who already owns a
home. And to complicate matters even
more, many well-established builders
own their own mortgage company. They
do their best to capture as many of their
own sales as possible. While on the sur-
face, this would seem like game over
for any outsider trying to get their foot in
the door, it can be done. Again, our con-
sulting firm has successfully been able to
help originators transition their business-
es to be successful in get-
ting business referrals
from builders. Keep in
mind; the number one
mission for builders is to
get their homes sold. In
the end, whoever is most
successful in accomplish-
ing this objective wins.
O Referrals: Believe it or
not, your existing data-
base is a potential source
for first-time homebuyer
referrals. The key to this
strategy is to have well-
planned marketing cam-
paigns to your past cus-
tomers. It doesnt neces-
sarily matter how long it
has been since you last
contacted them. Of
course you will be more
successful if you have
continued to stay in touch with your
previous customers. Dont fret con-
sulting firms can help you get a plan in
place. Just make sure anyone advising
you has a proven track record. An
unemployed mortgage person turned
consultant (at least until they can find
their next job) may be affordable, but
not necessarily have the experience
necessary for your situation.
O Internet: As many have come to
know, more and more consumers are
researching loan programs on the
Internet. Therefore, the Internet is an
excellent source of first-time homebuy-
er leads. Consider this, first-time home-
buyers are typically younger, and there-
fore, already very comfortable and pro-
ficient at using the Internet to do their
research. In fact, more and more stud-
ies reveal that an increasing number of
consumers are going to the Internet to
research loan programs before contact-
ing a mortgage professional. If you are
considering buying Internet leads, keep
in mind that the key to successfully
working with Internet leads is speed!
The advantage goes to the first loan
originator to speak to a consumer after
they have hit the Enter key on their
keyboard. We have clients who have
wisely moved their entire office to be
on a fast Internet service so that when
the consumer hits the Enter key, they
received the lead a few seconds faster
than the competition.
Again, he who talks to the
consumer first has an
overwhelming advantage
over the second, third or
fourth originator that
calls the consumer.
Another important issue
you should consider is
whether or not you are bet-
ter positioned to help
first-time homebuyers as a
mortgage broker, as a net
branch of a larger entity or
as a mortgage banker. It is
getting increasingly more
difficult to survive as a
mortgage broker. The
advantages brokers once
enjoyed are diminishing.
Many brokers have made
the decision to convert and
become a mortgage banker.
This strategy allows them to continue to
remain autonomous, which gives them the
best advantage of all to best serve first-time
homebuyers.
2. Products
If there was ever an area where the
playing field has been leveled, it would
have to be with loan products. In
todays generic world, the products
offered to first-time homebuyers by
one mortgage originator are about the
same as another.
So, in a vanilla world how do you
differentiate yourself? In a word, mar-
keting it comes down to how well
you market your loan product versus the
next guy. We have clients who we have
helped create some amazingly successful
marketing campaigns designed to get the
attention of the first-time homebuyer. It
can be as simple as giving your products
unique names. Features and benefits of
some programs are more beneficial to
first-timers. Yes, having the right prod-
By David Lykken
Dealing with some
first-time homebuy-
ers is like managing
a guillotine it is
essential that you
keep your head when
all those about you
are losing theirs!
Five Keys to Helping First-Time Homebuyers
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it is essential that you keep your head
when all those about you are losing
theirs!
5. Persistence
Ah yes, another virtue persistence
that dogged determination required in
any endeavor worth pursuing. If you
are going to successfully embrace a
business model of working with first-
time homebuyers, you have to keep in
mind that if it was easy, everyone
would be doing it. Persistence is an
essential key to building a successful
first-time homebuyers business model.
The reason I recommend this model is
that it will provide you with a steady
stream of business, regardless of inter-
est rates and market conditions.
Beyond that, I can personally attest to
the fact that few things in life are as
rewarding as helping someone success-
fully buy their first home and the
more challenging the circumstances
surrounding the loan transaction, the
more rewarding it is!
I would recommend that you make
this your professional objective/mission
to facilitate the American dream of
homeownership by providing reason-
able and affordable financing options
for consumers so as to promote sensible
long-term homeownership options. And
keep in mind what I have been saying
more wealth will be created in the
next five years in mortgage lending than
all the wealth created in the previous 25
years in our industry. One of the best
ways for this to happen is to successful-
ly embrace the first-time homebuyer.
I hope you have enjoyed reading the
articles written by my business partner,
Andy Schell, over the past couple of
months. I want to thank National
Mortgage Professional Magazine for
giving us the opportunity to write to
you each month in this column A
View From the C-Suite.
David Lykken is president, mortgage
strategies and managing partner with
Mortgage Banking Solutions. David has
more than 35 years of industry experience
and has garnered a national reputation.
David has become a frequent guest on FOX
Business News with Neil Cavuto, Stuart
Varney, Liz Claman and Dave Asman with
additional guest appearances on the CBS
Evening News, Bloomberg TV and radio.
He may be reached by phone at (512) 977-
9900, ext. 101 or e-mail dlykken@mort-
gagebankingsolutions.com.
To listen to author David
Lykkens online radio show, log
on to www.blogtalkradio.com
and type in Lykken on
Lending in the Search box on the right-
hand side of the page.
ucts is important, but how you market
those products and your services can
make all the difference in the world.
3. Preparation
You may have heard that the definition
of luck as opportunity met with prepa-
ration! Never is this truer than when the
opportunity presents itself to work with
first-time homebuyers. If you do not
understand the unique needs of the first-
time homebuyer, you can forget every-
thing I have written to this point. I dont
care if you have positioned yourself
extremely well with all the Realtors and
builders in your area, and if you have the
best priced products and marketing
machine on the planet. If you do not
know how to work with first-time home-
buyers, you are DOA (dead on arrival)!
Here are a couple of things to keep
in mind:
I Be prepared to explain your loan
products in non-industry terms.
I Be prepared to invest the time to
answer questions. Having a
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
sheet can help save time, but theres
no substitute to spending the time
talking with them and answering all
their questions. See this as a market-
ing opportunity.
I There are more parties that need
good communication as to the sta-
tus of what is going on with the loan
once it is in process. Those that have
only had to communicate with bor-
rowers in refinance transactions fail
to realize how important it is to
communicate with the Realtors (the
buyers and sellers) and the seller if
they are a builder.
It is in these simple basics that many
fail, which can provide that is your
open door.
4. Patience
If you have heard that patience is a
virtue in life, well let me tell you that
patience is a necessity when dealing
with first-time homebuyers and their
Realtors. They can sorely test your
patience, but you must be patient and
kind, or you will never make it when
dealing with first-timers. That is not to
say that you are not in control, but the
one you first have to be in control of is
your own emotions. It will only be a
matter time before your patience will
be severely tested. Realize that every
opportunity to demonstrate patience is
an equal opportunity to market your
services. Stress levels are typically at
their max with those buying a home for
the first time. Your ability to manage
circumstances will determine your level
of success. I heard it explained this way:
Dealing with some first-time home-
buyers is like managing a guillotine
As April 1 nears and buyers race to beat
the deadline for the first-time home-
buyer tax credit, lenders and Realtors
have taken out the racing flags to carry
them in. Real estate industry statistics
suggest that approximate-
ly 1.8 million people are
expected to receive the
federal first-time home-
buyer tax credit. They also
indicate that the rebate
has currently spurred
approximately 350,000
home sales.
With literally millions
of potential first-time
homebuyers who qualify
for the tax credit, mort-
gage professionals contin-
ue to work hard to sell.
But what is the best way
to embrace this group,
and with what? The
answer is education.
Hold education
seminars for
first-time
homebuyers
As mortgage profession-
als, its our responsibility
to get information to the
right people. If possible, hold educa-
tion seminars in your local communi-
ties for potential first-time homebuy-
ers. This provides an excellent forum
to educate this group on the benefits
of owning a home, the purchasing
process, how much they can afford
and so on.
For a Peachtree City, Ga. branch of
Embrace Home Loans, a national lender
based in Newport, R.I., seminars have
been key to originating leads for years
even before the federal tax credit.
According to branch manager Joy
Millard, the branch made a strategic deci-
sion to target first-time homebuyers many
years before the tax credit. In doing so, they
built relationships with downpayment assis-
tance programs like the Georgia
Department of Community Affairs that
enabled them to cultivate a pool of first-
time homebuyers to target. But where they
generated these leads was through semi-
nars held by the downpayment associations
throughout Atlanta. Members of the branch
would join the seminars, and afterwards,
make themselves available to answer any
questions and to pre-qualify potential buy-
ers on the spot.
We would often leave with 30 or 40
leads after each seminar, said Millard.
But this was before the current economy
and the tax credit offer. Now, the branch is
also answering questions about how to
qualify for the tax credit and what the guide-
lines are. According to Millard, this is just one
more incentive they can dis-
cuss at these seminars.
Educate yourself
and know your
target market
In any selling situation, its
imperative to identify and
know your target market.
And right now, who better
to target than recent col-
lege graduates with secure
jobs?
With more than 30,000
students, North Carolinas
largest university, North
Carolina State University,
is located in the heart of
Raleigh, N.C. Raleigh also
has an unemployment
rate much lower than the
national average with
businesses in multiple
industries such as pho-
tonics, biotechnology, IT
and communications,
and computer and video
gaming, all looking for talent. This com-
bination makes for a lot of potentially
great lending opportunities for mort-
gage professionals.
According to Jan Sylvester, branch
manager for Embrace Home Loans
Raleigh, N.C. branch, now more than any
other time, they receive numerous direct
calls from recent graduates looking for
advice on purchasing their first home.
Many of these individuals are unsure of
the process and simply need guidance.
We make certain were available to
advise this group, said Sylvester. This
group is new and inexperienced in buy-
ing a home; therefore, its expected
theyll have lots of questions and we
want to be there to answer them.
Sylvester continued, Whats different
about now is that theres a lot more of
them to advise. Weve experienced a new
wave of potential buyers calling, so were
not as active in directly marketing.
But its more than just knowing your
target market. Its also critical to know
what other offers are being available in
addition to the tax credit. For instance, the
Georgia Homebuyer Tax Credit offers up
to $1,800 in tax credits to Georgia home-
Knowledge is King
By Cary Reines
Embracing first-time homebuyers with eEducation
statistics suggest
that approximately
1.8 million people are
expected to receive
the federal first-time
homebuyer tax cred-
it. They also indicate
that the rebate has
currently spurred
approximately
350,000 home sales.
continued on page 34
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Web: www.appraisalsanywhere.com
actually afford. This can often be a con-
fusing and cumbersome process that
would justify being a permanent resi-
dent of an apartment complex. But
there are benefits, and these need to be
made clear.
Additionally, education is critical for
mortgage professionals, too. Knowing
your target market and their hesitancies
of buying a home are important. And
obviously knowing everything about the
federal tax credit is essential as well as
knowing other opportunities available.
But according to Millard, it may be
too late for some lenders and mortgage
professionals to jump on the first-time
homebuyer wagon.
Weve been targeting this market
segment for many years, said Millard.
When others in the industry were turn-
ing their noses up at the idea of lending
to first-time homebuyers because it
wasnt as profitable, we were. We sup-
ported and built relationships with
down payment assistance programs
because we saw a need to reach first-
time homebuyers. Now, everyone
wants to because there is a profit.
Unfortunately, were hearing from dif-
ferent assistance programs that many
mortgage professionals missed the boat
by not participating earlier.
But there will always be a demand
from first-time homebuyers. And even
after April 1, interest rates and home val-
ues are likely to still be low for some time;
therefore, it would be wise for mortgage
professionals to begin building relation-
ships in their local communities now, even
after the tax credit is no longer offered,
and keep themselves aware of other
opportunities available to this market.
Cary Reines is executive vice president of
Embrace Home Loans, a direct lender for
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, approved
by the Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) and the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), and an issuer for
Ginnie Mae.
buyers via a credit on their state income
tax. This is in addition to the $8,000.
Its critical that lenders and other
mortgage professionals are aware of all
opportunities available to homebuyers
in their area, said Millard. By combin-
ing the Georgia and the federal tax
credits, this can be a very powerful
incentive for potential homebuyers.
Educate your sales force
Lets face it. Lenders arent the only
ones selling; its in large part the
Realtors. So do them a favor and keep
them current on tax credit updates and
other news that could help them
encourage potential first-time home-
buyers to purchase.
Today, were in an economic state
where now really is the time to buy. Not
only has the tax credit provided an incen-
tive, but also interest rates are at an all-
time low and home values have plum-
meted, making this a prime time to own a
home. Yes, its been rumored that the fed-
eral tax credit will be extended again, and
some industry experts even believe the
tax credit will be available for a very long
time until the economy fully recovers.
Even if thats the case, the combination of
the tax credit, historically low interest
rates and low home values will probably
not be available for a very long time, and
mortgage professionals need to make cer-
tain that potential homebuyers realize
this. Let this group know and understand
to ensure theyre comfortable with the
idea of owning a home. Build relation-
ships with realtors in your community and
send emails, newsletters and alerts when
news breaks. Its critical to give this group
the tools necessary to sell and to sell well.
Lessons learned or is it
too late?
To truly engage potential first-time
homebuyers, education is key. For this
group, owning a home might be a com-
plete mystery from the lending process
all the way down to how much they can
The market for first-time home buyers
is as hot as it has ever been. With the
government offering tax incentives,
home prices down and interest rates
low, homes are more affordable than
they have affordable in history. Most of
the recovery of the real estate market in
the past year has been
focused upon the lower
end of the market.
Whether you are a real
estate agent, insurance
agent, tax professional,
loan officer or other pro-
fessional, it is hard not to
be impacted by this mar-
ket. On the contrary,
many are stepping up to
focus upon this segment
of the market. This is not
a short-term gold rush.
Even when the market
normalizes, first-time
buyers typically comprise
close to one-half of the
purchase market.
It is not enough to say
that you are going to
focus upon this segment
of the market. Those who
are going to service
renters must understand
that these people have special needs.
The home buying experience will be
their most significant financial transac-
tion and it is important for the experi-
ence to be a positive one instead of a
nightmare.
What are these needs? They need
someone to learn from. That means
you should not focus upon this mar-
ket unless you are an expert. You
should anticipate the questions they
have and be ready for answers. As a
matter of fact, it would be a great
idea to provide them with a sheet of
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in
your area of expertise. There is so
much information being thrown at
these people that they are not likely
to remember what you tell them.
Dont limit this information to FAQs.
Also include printed information
about the processincluding dia-
grams and graphs that demonstrate
the flow.
You must think of yourself as a
teacher as well as a businessperson.
When they see you as a teacher
rather than someone trying to sell
them something, they are more like-
ly to listen to your advice. How many
times have transactions gone awry
because people went off in the wrong
direction because there was not
enough of a level of trust? People
trust teachers.
One characteristic of a teacher is
someone who has a great deal of
patience. Expect that questions will be
asked repeatedly. Expect your clients to
not always follow through the way you
would like. All through
these bumps and bruises,
you will need to exercise
an extraordinary amount
of patience. You are not
their parent. You cannot
get angry with them. You
are their teacher.
Help them prepare.
You have heard this a
million times: An ounce
of prevention is worth a
pound of cure. Nowhere
is this saying more
appropriate than with
regard to the home pur-
chase process. For exam-
ple, having them spend
time with a loan officer
getting a pre-approval
will not only give them
more confidence to pur-
chase, it will remove a
significant amount of
stress from the process.
Questions will be answered, issues
will be resolved and now, the search
can occur with a focus on the goal of
finding the right home instead of two
processes that are occurring at once.
During the process, do not
assume that the clients understand
what you are saying at all times. Do
not use technical language and jar-
gon that may be common to your
profession, but foreign to them. For
example, when you speak about
rates fluctuating, do not assume that
the clients know exactly how that
affects their payments. They are
even more likely not to know how
rates shifting may affect their pay-
ments after the tax factor is figured
into the equation. They might not
even understand what the mortgage
payment is comprised of and other
areas they will be responsible for,
such as home maintenance.
If you are an expert in your indus-
try, you must also align yourself with
other experts. The first-time buyers
will be looking for recommendations.
Going back to the tax issue, they may
want to speak with a tax professional
who may also be able to help them
file forms to take advantage of the tax
credit if the state and/or federal gov-
ernment is offering one for which they
Working With First-Time Buyers
By Dave Hershman
How many times
have transactions
gone awry because
people went off in the
wrong direction
because there was
not enough of a level
of trust? People trust
teachers.
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high level relationships should increase
your business in the long run. A strong
referral starts you out in a position of
trust, which again, is imperative if you
are going to lead first-time buyers
through a successful and stress-free
transaction...?
Dave Hershman is a leading author for the
mortgage industry with eight books and
several hundred articles to his credit. He is
also head of OriginationPro Mortgage
School and a top industry speaker. Daves
Certified Mortgage Advisor Program can
be found at www.webinars.origination-
pro.com. If you would like to stay ahead
of what is happening in the markets, visit
ratelink.originationpro.com for a free trial
or e-mail success@hershmangroup.com.
qualify. Referrals of other profession-
als removes more stress from the
transaction because once again, they
can focus on the purchase instead of
shopping for all of the services associ-
ated with the transaction.
In addition, referring them to other
experts also makes it more likely they
will experience a smoother transac-
tion. On their own, they are more like-
ly to obtain the wrong information or
hook up with service providers who
dont provide the best customer serv-
ice. Referring experts such as yourself
with good service records should be
the least you can contribute to the
transaction.
Of course, these referral relation-
ships should go both ways and these
Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey
League Hall of Famer, once told a
reporter, A good hockey player plays
where the puck is. A great hockey play-
er plays where the puck is going to be.
This philosophy should
be no different for a
mortgage loan originator,
since we too must adapt
to the market environ-
ment around us. Where
do you think the puck is
going to be over the
course of the next year (or
10) and how have you
positioned yourself to
take advantage of it?
Clearly, much of the
mortgage market over the
past year has been driven
by refinancing and first-
time homebuyer purchas-
es. The refinancing mar-
ket has been as depend-
able as the seasons for
the past couple of
decades. You could rest
assured that every few
years would bring a rate
reduction that would
drive homeowners to the
refinancing table as pre-
dictably as geese migrat-
ing south for the winter.
However, the future economic environ-
ment will challenge this cycle and likely
change the dynamics of our business
significantly. One thing we will continue
to be able to count on, however, is the
strength of the first-time homebuyer
market.
Now, many of you will argue that the
first-timers who accounted for roughly
50 percent of all home sales last year
was an anomaly; that this new record
was driven purely by the temporary
fix of the first-time
homebuyer tax credit.
But before you go back to
your desk and pick up the
phone to buy more refi
and loan modification
leads, lets take a look at
some facts.
First, every major con-
sumer trend in our history
has been driven by our
demographics, most notably,
the Baby Boomer Generation
which drove the sale and
development of everything
from disposable diapers to
mutual funds. As these
Boomers age and move
into their non-income
earning years, the con-
sumer effect of Boomer-
related cohorts will begin
to diminish. Who, if any-
one, will take their place?
The growth of our popula-
tion, and the characteris-
tics of the consumer, will
be driven once again by
immigration as it was for
the early part of the 20th Century. Unlike
many industrialized countries, the U.S.
still benefits greatly from immigration.
While our birth rate is roughly the popu-
lation replacement rate, our population
growth rate of one percent is at or above
the world average, which is significant
The Decade of the
First-Time Homebuyer
By Mike Lesmeister, CRMS
the average age
of first-time buyers is
33, we should feel
confident that as this
population segment
ages, they will be
looking for homes,
just as the Baby
Boomers did, provid-
ing fertile ground for
homeownership
opportunities for a
decade or more.
for a nation of more than 300 million
people. According to the U.S. Census
Bureau, fully one-third of our popula-
tion growth can be attributed to immi-
gration, with Hispanic and Latino
Americans representing more than half
of that growth. They also had the
fastest-growing rate of homeownership
of any racial group over the last 10 years.
These immigrants will be the homebuy-
ers in the decades to come.
Beyond simply the growth of our pop-
ulation, we are also seeing that while our
overall population is graying due to
our aging Baby Boomers, people under
age 20 make up more than a quarter of
the population. If, as Elliot Eisenbergs
study of First-Time Homebuyers found,
the average age of first time buyers is 33,
we should feel confident that as this pop-
ulation segment ages, they will be look-
ing for homes, just as the Baby Boomers
did, providing fertile ground for home-
ownership opportunities for a decade or
more.
Beyond the long-term trends that favor
first-timers, there are also tactical reasons
to focus at least part of your marketing
effort on this client profile because the
financial incentives for purchasing a
home are considerable. In addition to the
first-time homebuyer tax credit, there are
also downpayment assistance programs
and other first-time homebuyer programs
sponsored by state and local governments
that can assist buyers in getting into their
first home. Far from the seller-funded
shell games of the past, these organiza-
tions provide valuable resources at a time
when virtually every privately-funded
concern is tapped out and credit has
become tight, to say the least. These pro-
grams can provide assistance in amounts
of $30,000 or more depending on your
area. To be fair, there is certainly bureau-
cracy associated with downpayment assis-
tance programs, and they are not for
everyone, but lenders who hope to pene-
trate this market should become familiar
with what is available in their market.
With possible Federal Housing
Administration (FHA) changes that include
higher downpayments and reduced seller
concessions, these programs will take on a
great importance.
Lastly, as a result of the housing
slowdown, home affordability is at its
highest level in decades. According to
the Center for Economic Policy
Research, median home prices aver-
aged 15 times annual rent for decades
until the housing bubble. In some
parts of the country, this factor
reached 25 times rents and only now
are we seeing the averages approach
equilibrium again. As we continue to
work our way through the glut of hous-
ing supply, the monthly debt service on
a mortgage will become more econom-
ically attractive than comparable rents,
driving those renters who can qualify
to homeownership.
If indeed, the first-time homebuyer
represents the backbone of the housing
market for years to come, how will you
capitalize on this trend? Here are some
simple strategies a mortgage originator
can pursue to position themselves as an
expert:
1. Familiarize yourself with first-time
homebuyer assistance programs in your
state and align yourself with lenders
that embrace these programs. Many
lenders dont want to invest the time
and money understanding and partici-
pating in these programs.
2. Introduce yourself to the leaders of
the various Community Development
Corporations (CDC) in your area. These
are the organizations holding the purse
strings of the first-time homebuyer and
downpayment assistance programs, so
they are certainly good people to know.
3. Determine who the real estate agents,
builders and developers are that special-
ize in entry-level housing. If this is where
the buyers will be looking, you want
them to find you. Perform online search-
es for agents that work with first-timers
and see who is conducting first-time
homebuyer seminars in your area.
4. FHA and VA loans are the overwhelm-
ing financing choice for these buyers, so
become intimately familiar with these
programs and the ongoing changes with
them. Hosting Realtor and homebuyer
seminars that focus on the intricacies of
government loans programs will posi-
tion you as an expert in the field.
In the ever-changing mortgage mar-
kets, the successful mortgage originator
has to be nimble. Relying on strategies
that worked in the last few years wont
necessary help you survive in a market
that is expected to further contract over
the next couple of years. Maybe you
have more high-end purchase business
than you can handle, but if you dont,
seeing yourself as too good for the
entry-level buyer may end up costing
you more than just a loan or two.
Mike Lesmeister, CRMS, is a licensed
mortgage loan originator and managing
partner with Home Loan Specialists Inc.
based in Houston. He has more than 20
years of financial services experience
and is also the founder of Blue Ribbon
Agents, a Realtor marketing program for
Houston area real estate agents. Mike
may be reached by phone at (832) 286-
1600, or by visiting www.hlstx.com. You
can also follow him at twitter.com/mike-
lesmeister or connect with him at
linkedin.com/in/mikelesmeister.
36
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where it should be the bank maybe more
apt to accept the second offer coming in
at the same price, because they now
know, they have just lost a previous buyer
by asking for more.
Jennifer has also stated that she to is
seeing many investors trying to lowball
the sale of the homes because they are
offering cash. She said it is not out of the
norm to see a cash offer of $250,000-
$350,000 come in on a $500,000 listing.
The investors are hoping for an aggressive
bank or seller willing to accept their cash
offer for well below the market rate.
Appraisals are starting to come in slightly
higher than sales prices.
Regardless, it is a great time for the
first-time homebuyer to be out there
looking to purchase their first home,
whether it is a condo, townhouse, cooper-
ative (co-op), single-family home or a two-
unit this still is the best time. The first-
time buyers income tax credit from the
IRS may go away. I dont believe they will
extend it again. I am not sure all first-time
buyers realize what a fantastic opportuni-
ty this is. They can still buy a house with
3.5 percent down, ask for seller-paid clos-
ing costs, and receive a non-taxed, no
interest, no repayment credit from the IRS
for up to $8,000 (certain restrictions
apply). That is phenomenal. If they only
thought about the time and energy they
would have to put forth to save $8,000. In
todays employment climate and stock
market fluctuations, savings and profit are
down. So taking advantage of this oppor-
tunity is an American opportunity not to
be brushed off.
Lets review the credits available:
First-time homebuyer
credit programs (2008
and 2009)
This credit was available from April 9,
2008 through Dec. 31, 2008. This cred-
it was a refundable credit putting hard
cash into the hands of the first-time
homebuyer. This could also be claimed
on your 2008 (as an amended return)
or 2009 tax return. This credit must be
repaid over a 15-year period.
Both programs for 2008 and 2009 are
for first-time homebuyers. This credit is
only for first-time homebuyers. A first-
time homebuyer is someone who has
never owned a home in the past or who
has not owned a home in the past three
years. Once you have met the first-time
homebuyer profile, then the following
requirements must also be met:
O Home needs to be your primary res-
idence.
O Cannot be acquired/purchased from
a related person; a related person
for this first-time homebuyer tax
credit is a spouse, parent, grandpar-
ent, children or grandchildren, a
corporation or partnership that is
50 percent-owned by any above rel-
ative. Brothers, sisters, aunts,
uncles and step relatives are not
considered a family member for
this credit.
O Home cannot be acquired as a gift
or inheritance.
O No vacant land.
O No rental property.
O Property can be a single family
home, multi-family home one- to
four-residence, condo, co-op,
mobile home, house trailer or boat.
O Closed on the purchase of qualified
principle residence during qualifica-
tion period and prior to claiming
the credit.
O Meet income limitations, phase out
begins at $75,000-$95,000 for single
taxpayers or $150,000-$170,000 for
married filing jointly.
O Non-resident aliens are not eligible
for this credit.
O New construction closing date is
determined by the later of; either
closing date or first date owner-
occupied.
O Proper completion of IRS Form
5405.
For 2008, the maximum credit is
$7500, 10 percent of the purchase price
with maximum set at $7,500. For exam-
ple, if you paid $55,000 for a primary
residence, then you could get a $5,500
first-time homebuyer tax credit. If you
purchased a $150,000 home, you could
get the maximum amount of $7,500.
Only the 2008 credit must be repaid. It
is repaid back to the IRS over a 15-year
period, with repayment installments
beginning in 2010. The repayment period
of 15 years equals $500 per year. This will
be an additional tax-owed by the tax
payer. Use Form 5405 for this credit.
If a single taxpayer should die, then no
repayment would be incurred. If married,
filing jointly, then the surviving spouse is
only responsible to repay their half. If
property is transferred due to a divorce,
the person transferred to is responsible
for making any and all repayments.
If the home ceases to be primary
residence, then full repayment is due.
Full repayment is due the year the
home ceased to be the primary home.
The full repayment is due the year the
home becomes a rental or business use.
The qualifying time period for 2008
was between April 9, 2008 and Dec. 31,
2008.
Even though this tax credit must be
repaid, it is still a great deal. Its like get-
ting a $7,500 lump sum cash allowance
that has to be paid back over 15 years at
zero percent interest. You are free to
spend the money any way you want, no
strings attached, it is yours.
In the Midwest, first-time homebuyers
are spurring on the market, and we
are seeing some out of the norm
first-time buyers. I am working with a
lady who has rented a home for 30
years, and because of the tax credit,
has decided to take the plunge into
homeownership and buy her first
home. She is excited to be able to
choose how she wants to decorate,
have a little vegetable garden and
some flowers of her own.
As the time winds
down to take advantage
of this fabulous credit,
Realtors are seeing more
action.
Many potential home-
buyers are actively pursuing
homeownership more than
ever before. I have Realtors
working long hours trying
to find them the right
home. Some are purchas-
ing two units (duplex). This
allows them to spend more
than they qualify for with a
single family home, thus
becoming a determining
factor if they can find some-
thing in their price range.
In our market, we are
seeing the investor with
disposable cash gobbling
up the lower-end homes
that potential first-time
buyers are trying to bid
on. When going up
against the investor, they typically have
3.5 percent down working with a
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
loan, and often asking for closing cost
assistance. So when going up against a
cash offer or an offer with 20 percent
downpayment, they are not winning the
bid. Banks and sellers are choosing the
investors first.
Gloria Spencer, managing broker of
Baker Spencer Realty noted that a major-
ity of her first-time homebuyers are pre-
approved for a home that is priced right
for the area, based on other short sales
and foreclosures. Investors are snatching
up these properties so fast making the
experience for the first-time homebuyers
an unfavorable one. Sellers can count on
their short sales and foreclosures to be
purchased by these investors offering
cash. It is my understanding that blanket
loans are becoming a big thing for
investors making it even harder for the
Realtors and the first-time homebuyers to
find an acceptable property and get an
offer accepted.
As a Realtor, I am writing multiple
offers in hope that at least one of them
gets accepted. I am working harder for
less of a commission on these proper-
ties. The lenders should find a way to
make the process a little simpler for
the first-time homebuyers, especially if
minimal repairs are needed.
I have spoken to
numerous other Realtors
and they are experiencing
similar issues. Melissa
Gray of Remax One Team,
has noted more difficulty
in dealing with the short
sales. Listings arent being
entered at what banks are
willing to accept. She has
written contracts at full
price only to find out they
are countered with a sub-
stantially higher-than-ask-
ing price counters. So the
buyers you showed homes
to and took the time to
write offers for dont qual-
ify for the house you just
wrote an offer on. It is
frustrating to both the
Realtor and the first-time
homebuyer, not to men-
tion, the loan officer who
has spent the time pre-
qualifying them and offer-
ing a prequalification
lender, waiting for contract approval
only to find out the counter is more than
they can afford.
It is happening in both the suburbs, as
well as in the city. I had another scenario
on a home in the city. The first-time
buyer submitted an offer to purchase
and she was putting 25 percent down
and was countered at more than $10,000
more. When she refused to match the
counteroffer, the Realtor put the listing
back in the MLS as an active listing back
at the original list price, knowing full well
this offer was just declined.
In speaking to other Realtors, Jennifer
Barrett also of the Remax One Team
explained to me that this is the way they
have to work with the banks on the short
sales. She said she has seen this happen
time and time again, but the Realtor is
conditioning the bank for, What the
market will bear, so by sending in the
offer and then re-listing it realistically
First-Time Homebuyers Need to
Realize the Opportunity is Now!
By Laura Lynn Burke
Investors are snatch-
ing up these proper-
ties so fast making
the experience for the
first-time homebuy-
ers an unfavorable
one. Sellers can count
on their short sales
and foreclosures to be
purchased by these
investors offering
cash.
37
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www.qcmortgage.com
800-939-5383
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residence on or before April 30, 2010.
The transaction for this home must
close before June 30, 2010. The tax-
payer can still claim 10 percent or
$8,000 maximum for married filing
jointly, or $4,000 married filing sepa-
rately, single or head of household.
The taxpayer is also allowed to take
the credit on either 2009 or 2010. An
updated Form 5405 will be used. The
tax return cannot be filed electroni-
cally as additional documentation is
required to be attached. The IRS is
requiring a settlement statement,
signed HUD be attached to the return.
Long-time residents of the same
house can now also qualify for a
reduced credit of up to $6,500, mar-
ried filing jointly, or ($3,250 married
filing separately) or 10 percent of
the purchase price, whichever is
less. The long-time resident must
have lived in the same house for any
five consecutive years during an
eight-year period that ends on the
date the new home is purchased.
The settlement date must be after
Nov. 6, 2009 through the April 30,
2010, closing by June 30, 2010.
O Both the first-time homebuyers and
long-time residence credit cannot be
used for homes that have a purchase
price that exceeds $800,000.
O The purchaser must be 18 years old,
and if married, one must be 18 years
old.
O A dependent cannot claim either
credit.
In the case of an audit the following
documentation is required:
O Copy of closing HUD-1 Settlement
Statement must be signed by (at
minimum) the buyers.
O Most recent monthly mortgage
statement.
O Occupancy permit, showing date if
new construction.
O Cash sale; proof taxpayer paid for it,
front and back of cancelled check.
A minimum of two of the following
items:
1. Current Drivers License or other
state-issued identification.
2. Recent pay stub (within the last two
months showing name and new
address).
3. Recent bank statement (within the
last two months showing name and
new address).
4. Current automobile registration.
If you closed on a primary residence
during the correct time frame on 2009,
you can claim your credit on either your
If you closed on a primary home in
2008 and met the qualifications, but did-
nt claim the First-Time Homebuyer Tax
Credit, there is still time to do so. You
would need to file an amended return.
The American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 made the follow-
ing changes to the First-Time Homebuyers
Tax Credit: The maximum amount was
increased to $8,000, 10 percent of the pur-
chase price with max set at $8,000 and
there is no repayment required.
The qualifying dates would be Jan. 1,
2009 through Nov. 30, 2009. They must
close on or before Nov. 30, 2009. The
credit was raised to 10 percent of the
purchase price with a maximum of
$8,000. No repayment is required, only
a refundable credit. This credit was
allowed to be taken on either their
2008 tax returns as an amended return
or on their 2009 return, due April 15,
2009. Use From 5405 for this credit.
There are some instances that would
trigger the 2009 First-Time Homebuyer
Tax Credit to be repaid. The repayment
would be due with the tax return filed
when the event occurs. The following
are repayment triggers:
O If you sell the home to an unrelated
person for a gain.
O Sell the home to a related party.
O Convert the home to a rental or
business use.
O If the home is disposed of through a
foreclosure, repossession or aban-
donment.
O Still own the home, but no longer
use as a main home.
O Transfer home to ex-spouse due to
divorce settlement.
O Home was destroyed, condemned or
disposed of under condemnation
threat.
If any of the above cause a repay-
ment to be triggered and the taxpayer
should die, no repayment is to be
made; however, if married, filing joint-
ly and spouse dies, then surviving
spouse must repay their half.
No repayment is required if you
keep the home as your primary home
beyond three years from the date of
purchase, sell the home to an unrelated
person, with no gain, or if the home is
transferred to an ex-spouse in a divorce
settlement (the repayment require-
ments are then passed to the ex-
spouse).
The new credit, The Worker,
Homeownership and Business Assistance
Act of 2009 was signed into law Nov. 6,
2009. The new version of the First-
Time Homebuyers Credit was revised
with this law. The dates were extend-
ed; you must buy or enter into a bind-
ing contract to purchase a principle
2008 tax return you filed in 2009, or your
2009 tax return to be filed in April of 2010.
If you didnt claim it on your 2008
return, but already sent it in, not to
worry, the IRS will allow you to do an
amended return to get your tax credit
refund now versus waiting until April
15, 2010. Seek the advice of a tax pro-
fessional to determine which way is the
best way for you to claim the credit.
Some common questions
related to the first-time
homebuyer market
What if one taxpayer owned a home and
the other has not?
1. If not married, the tax payer that is
eligible may claim the refund.
2. If married, neither tax payer may take
the credit.
What about rental agreements with rent-
to-buy options, to purchase the home?
The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
does not kick in until the taxpayer actu-
ally is transferred to the title; therefore,
a rental agreement is not a purchase.
No closing takes place.
What if the taxpayer
owns other property?
As long as the taxpayers other property
isnt a primary residence. The taxpayer
can own a vacation home or a rental
property prior to or during the purchase
of their primary residence.
The IRS has stated that they are
watching the First-Time Homebuyer
Credit with caution. They feel it has the
potential for a high risk of fraud.
Common errors the IRS has seen:
O First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
claimed prior to closing or prior to
taking occupancy.
O IRS Form 5405 completed incorrectly
or incomplete.
O Married filing separately taxpayers
each incorrectly claim either the
$7,500 or the $8,000 credit on each
separate return.
O The taxpayer has owned a home in
the past three years.
O Married filing jointly for the First-
Time Homebuyer Tax Credit when
one spouse was a prior homeowner.
O No purchase on rent-to-own agree-
ments.
O Credit is claimed before the pur-
chase date on IRS Form 5405.
O Splitting the First-Time Homebuyer
Tax Credit and exceeding the maxi-
mum allowed.
O Claiming more than 10 percent of
the purchase price.
I hope first-time homebuyers realize
what a fabulous offer this is and really take
it seriously. Waiting until the summer or
until next year is not a smart move, if the
credit goes away. The opportunity is now!
Laura Lynn Burke has been selected
from a nationwide search to be featured
in Stepping Stones to Success, a highly
successful book series. The book features
best-selling authors Deepak Chopra (The
Power of Purpose), Jack Canfield
(Chicken Soup for the Soul), Dr. Denis
Waitley ( featured in The Secret) and
Laura Lynn Burke (Networkolog) who
are joined by other well-known authors
each offering time-tested strategies for
success in frank and intimate inter-
views. Laura is also the CEO and founder
of Footprints International d/b/a The
Mortgage Institute, a training and con-
sulting company designed with you in
mind. For more information, call (708)
692-6199 or e-mail llynn145@aol.com.
Visit author Laura Lynn
Burkes Web site at
www.lauralynnburke.com
where she arms you with
the information to Prepare today for
tomorrows changes, and you will stay
one step ahead of the competition.
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problems. Your mission, should you
choose to accept it, is to simply do
more business with CPAs and financial
advisors, and you will get your share of
business from the 23 million home-
owners with at least 25 percent equity
in their homes. CMPS certification gives
you the training, tools, and resources
to do just that.
#2: Your attitude
on origination
opportunities
The Mortgage Bankers
Association (MKBA) report-
ed that total origination
volume in 2009 was in
excess of $2.1 trillion. This
represented $1.368 trillion
in refinance volume and
$740 billion in purchase
volume. The estimated
total origination volume
this year is expected to
decline to $1.27 trillion.
This represents $529 bil-
lion in refinance transac-
tions and $745 billion in
purchase transactions. In
other words, while pur-
chase volume is expected
to remain stable, refinance volume is
expected to decline by a whopping 61
percent or $839 trillion!
Again, you have two choices here:
O Choice #1: Take the attitude that a
61 percent decline in refinance
opportunities is an excuse for you to
have a mediocre year
O Choice #2: Take the attitude that a 61
percent decline in refinance opportu-
nities may be a problem for your com-
petition, but you are going to capture
a bigger piece of the pie when it
comes to purchase opportunities in
your marketplace
You might ask, how can I capture
more purchase business? Again, lets
think this through together. When peo-
ple (who have money) are looking to
buy a home, what do they do? Some
people contact their CPAs and financial
advisors and ask their advice. In fact, 81
percent of investors said they want
advice from their financial advisors on
more than just investments. Other peo-
ple start shopping for a home and con-
tact various Realtors in their market for
information. Still, others talk to their
family, friends and co-workers.
A record number of originators con-
tinue to exit the mortgage industry.
Yet, many originators are experienc-
ing record numbers in their origina-
tion volume. What gives? Why are
some originators going out of busi-
ness, while other originators are mak-
ing record profits?
A big part of this difference in suc-
cess rates is the attitude and perspec-
tive of the originators involved.
Depending on your attitude and per-
spective, this is either the best time or
the worst time for you to be in the
mortgage industry. There is plenty of
truth to these words of Henry Ford who
once said, If you think you can, or if
you think you cant, you are right. In
fact, here are two examples that illus-
trate why your attitude matters, and
how you could transform industry
chaos into your opportunity to make
record profits in 2010.
#1: Your attitude on
negative equity
According to First American Core
Logic, approximately 29 percent of all
residential properties in the United
States are either in or within five per-
cent of a negative equity situation.
According to the latest report, which
reflected market conditions as of the
fourth quarter of 2009, Negative
equity continues to be concentrated
in five states: Nevada, which had the
highest percentage negative equity
with 70 percent of all of its mort-
gaged properties underwater, fol-
lowed by Arizona (51 percent), Florida
(48 percent), Michigan (39 percent)
and California (35 percent).
On the one hand, this seems like
very bad news. On the other hand,
what about the other 71 percent of
homeowners who are not in a negative
equity situation? There are even home-
owners with equity in the five hardest
hit states! In Nevada, 30 percent of all
homeowners with a mortgage have
more than five percent equity, followed
by Arizona (49 percent), Florida (52 per-
cent), Michigan (61 percent) and
California (65 percent).
In fact, this very same report goes
on to state that, More than 23 mil-
lion, or 49 percent of all homeowners
with a mortgage, have at least 25 per-
cent equity in their home and over
12 million have at least 50 percent
equity in their home. This is consis-
tent with the Federal Reserve Boards
Flow of Funds report that shows that
American homeowners
have $6.2 trillion of
home equity remaining
even after the record
downturn in housing
prices over the last few
years.
The bottom line here
is that you have two
choices:
O Choice #1: Take the
attitude that nega-
tive equity is a prob-
lem for you as an
originator, and use it
as an excuse to have
a mediocre year
O Choice #2: Take the
attitude that nega-
tive equity may be a
problem for your
competition, but you are going to
take this opportunity to do some
brisk business with just a small
fraction of the 23 million home-
owners who have at least 25 per-
cent equity in their homes.
The choice is yours. The attitude you
take about negative equity in your mar-
ket will spell the difference between
success and failure.
You might ask, where can I find
the all these homeowners that dont
have a negative equity problem?
Well, lets think this through. If I am
a homeowner who has done a really
good job of managing my money and
building wealth over time, where
might I be found? Would I use a CPA?
What about a financial advisor or
money manager?
Bingo! Thats your sales strategy!
Find CPAs and financial advisors and
you will find homeowners that dont
have a negative equity problem. Im
not saying that all homeowners who
have a CPA or financial advisor dont
have negative equity problems. What I
am saying is that all CPAs and financial
advisors have homeowners that they
know that dont have negative equity
BY GIBRAN NICHOLAS
Why Your Attitude Matters
All of this points to three strategies
that would result in you capturing more
purchase business:
O Strategy #1: Have a systematic way
of reaching CPAs and financial advi-
sors in order to add value to them
and their clients who may be in the
market to purchase a new home.
O Strategy #2: Have a systematic way
of adding value to Realtors in your
market by solving their problems
that they are facing, reaching the
buyers in their prospect list, and
motivating fence-sitters to take
action.
O Strategy #3: Have a systematic way
of adding value to your own client
database and transforming your
clients into a referral-generating
sales force.
Again, Certified Mortgage Planning
Specialist (CMPS) certification gives you
the training, tools, and resources to
implement these three strategies. Lets
face it. Some people get burned out,
lose heart, and go personally and finan-
cially bankrupt in troubled times. Other
people find heroic strength, inspire
those around them, and make their
personal and financial fortunes.
What kind of person are
you?
If you are ready to transform unprece-
dented chaos into unprecedented
opportunity and make 2010 your best
year ever, its time for you to become a
Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist!
Gibran Nicholas is the founder and
chairman of the CMPS Institute, which
administers the Certified Mortgage
Planning Specialist (CMPS) designation.
The CMPS Institute has enrolled more
than 5,500 members since its founding
in 2005. Gibran is also the chairman of
Published Daily, a customizable online
magazine, newsletter and marketing
service that helps professionals trans-
form their clients and prospects into a
referral-generating sales force. He may
be reached at (888) 608-9800, ext. 101 or
e-mail gibran@cmpsinstitute.org.
Visit author Gibran Nicholass
blog at http://gibranni-
cholas.com where he shares
his insights on economics, real
estate and financial issues, including
the current mortgage and credit crises.
The choice is yours.
The attitude you
take about negative
equity in your mar-
ket will spell the dif-
ference between suc-
cess and failure.
39
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Copyright 2010 Emigrant Mortgage Company, Incorporated (Emigrant). All rights reserved. Emigrant is a subsidiary of Emigrant Bank, Member FDIC and is an Equal Opportunity Lender. All product names, company names and
logotypes are servicemarks or trademarks of Emigrant in the United States and other countries. The information, products and services contained in this advertisement are believed to be correct but may include inaccuracies,
typographical errors and/or omissions. Emigrant does not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained herein. This information is intended for mortgage and/or real estate professional use only and should not be distributed or
presented to consumers or any other third parties. This is not an offer or guarantee to extend consumer credit. Program guidelines, terms and/or conditions are subject to change by Emigrant without notice. All loans are subject to
submission of a complete application, underwriting review and credit and property approval by Emigrant. Not all products and/or programs are available in all states and/or localities and/or for all loan amounts. Certain products /
program are offered through third parties. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. New York Licensed Residential Mortgage Lender: Exempt. Emigrant is registered or licensed with the Banking Departments or Divisions in CT,
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attestation, and contains the following
verbal affirmations:
O The initial GFE was provided to the
applicant(s) within three business
days of the application date (busi-
ness days, excluding Sundays and
specified, legal holidays).
O The applicant(s) received the initial
GFE.
O The applicant(s) intend to proceed
with the loan application based on
the initial GFE.
O Other than a credit report fee, no
fees were charged to the applicant(s)
prior to receiving the GFE.
It is important that a statement on
both the applicant(s) Certification
and Loan Originator Certification
Forms include, but not be limited to,
further indicating that the subject
form itself is not a loan commitment;
the loan originator cannot guaranty
acceptance into any loan program,
specific loan terms or conditions; and
the loan application is subject to
credit approval, acceptable property
appraisal, title report, and satisfacto-
ry completion of conditions stated in
commitment or approval letter.
Submit your questions
Do you have a regulatory compliance
issue that youd like to see addressed in
the Regulatory Compliance Outlook
Column? If so, e-mail your issue or con-
cern to Jonathan Foxx at jfoxx@lender-
scompliancegroup.com.
Jonathan Foxx, former chief compliance
officer for two of the countrys top pub-
licly-traded residential mortgage loan
originators, is the president and manag-
ing director of Lenders Compliance
Group, a mortgage risk management
firm devoted to providing regulatory
compliance advice and counsel to the
mortgage industry. He may be contacted
at (516) 442-3456 or by e-mail at
jfoxx@lenderscompliancegroup.com.
(2) The loan applicants notification of
an intention to proceed with the loan
covered by the GFE.
It is not until both conditions are sat-
isfied that a loan originator may collect
fees from a loan applicant for services,
other than the cost of obtaining a cred-
it report.
Thus, a loan originator must issue a
GFE no later than three business days
after the loan originator receives an
application or information sufficient to
complete an application and must be
notified of the loan applicants intent
to proceed before collecting fees, with
the exception of the credit report fee.
There is a remedy and we have coun-
seled our clients to implement it for
their residential mortgage loan applica-
tions. Either by written or verbal meth-
ods, our clients now use a form, enti-
tled Intent to Proceed With Mortgage
Loan Application. The written form,
subtitled Applicant(s) Certification, con-
tains the following written affirma-
tions, is signed by the loan applicant,
and returned with the application pack-
age (alternatively, the loan applicant
may contact the loan officer to offer
verbal affirmations):
O The initial GFE has been provided
within three business days of the
application date (business days,
excluding Sundays and specified,
legal holidays).
O The initial GFE was received.
O I/We intend to proceed with the loan
application based on the initial GFE.
O Other than a credit report fee, no
fees were charged prior to receiving
the GFE.
The fourth bullet contains the
essential words about the applicants
intention to proceed with the loan
application based on the initial GFE.
The verbal form, subtitled Loan
Originator Certification, is used by
loan officers and requires their signed
Since the introduction of the new Good
Faith Estimate (GFE), several readers of
this column have written to me about
their concern regarding the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban
Developments (HUDs) new require-
ment for a waiting period to elapse
before collecting fees from the con-
sumer, other than the credit report fee.
HUD has taken the recently-revised
Federal Reserve Board Truth-in-
Lending (TILA) regulationswhich limit
fees, charged in connection with early
disclosures, and defines the timely pro-
vision of the disclosuresand incorpo-
rates this rule into a way of permitting
the borrower to shop for a mortgage
loan without paying upfront fees that,
in HUDs view, impede shopping. That
TILA rule, simply stated, is that credi-
tors are not permitted to impose a fee
on a consumer in connection with the
consumers application for a mortgage
before the consumer has received the
TILA disclosure. The Federal Reserve
Board makes an exception that allows
imposition of a fee that is bona fide
and reasonable in amount for obtain-
ing the consumers credit history. (73 FR
44522, July 30, 2008)
HUD has a public policy goal of cre-
ating a circumstance where con-
sumers can shop for a mortgage loan
without paying significant upfront fees
that may impede shopping.
Consequently, HUD has, in effect,
adopted the Federal Reserve Boards
rule, limiting the charge originators
may impose on consumers for delivery
of the GFE. Specifically, HUD is limiting
the fee for the GFE to the cost of a cred-
it report, and a loan originator is
expressly not permitted to charge, as a
condition of providing a GFE, any fee
for an appraisal, inspection or similar
settlement service. To be clear, the loan
originator may not accept payment
from the consumerexcept for the
payment of a credit report feein any
form whatsoever, such as by a post-
dated check or an unprocessed credit
card impression, or any other kind of
payment method which could consti-
tute constructive receipt of payment.
Furthermore, and of greater signifi-
cance, HUD has imposed an additional
requirement that affects the collection of
fees from a consumer: The loan origina-
tor may collect fees beyond the cost of a
credit report for origination-related serv-
ices only after a loan applicant both
receives a GFE and indicates an intention
to proceed with the loan covered by the
GFE. Note the two requirements:
(1) The delivery of the GFE to the loan
applicant; and
Intent to Proceed and the New GFE
Disclaimer: The views, opinions and advice expressed in the following piece
should not be taken as legal advice and do not reflect the views of National
Mortgage Professional Magazine, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers
(NAMB), the National Association of Professional Mortgage Women (NAPMW)
or the National Credit Reporting Association (NCRA). You should consult your
own legal counsel for professional advice.
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Come network and learn at
Mortgage Revolution in San Francisco
on Thursday, May 6 and Friday, May 7, 2010.
We're featuring a rst rate education from over
20 speakers on a variety of hot topics - all in a
"spam-free" environment.
The kicker - we're donating all prots to charity.
Our goal for Mortgage Revolution San Francisco...
$70,000.
This is an event being hosted for mortgage
professionals by mortgage professionals. We feel that
now, more than ever, we need to come together as an industry.
We're planning lots of fun networking events
for everyone too.
Would you like to lend a hand to the Revolution?
If so, please email us at info@mortgagerevolution.info
or volunteer online.
You'll get lots of information and updates via email upon
registering. And be sure to become a fan of our Facebook
Fan Page for exclusive MRev news and content!
See you in San Francisco!
Just The Facts:
Where: Hyatt Regency SFO San Franciso, CA
When: May 6-7, 2010
Price: $149 Before March 31
(special 10% discount for National Mortgage
Professional Magazine readers using code NMP)
Learn more and register
at MRev.org
(remember, save 10% with discount code NMP)
a personalized, collaborative online work-
space called a Roohm. The Roohm serves
to proactively guide consumers through
the mortgage loan application process by
showing how the application is progressing
and upcoming required steps such as what
documents are needed and which need to
be signed. Within the Roohm, the applicant
can e-sign documents, upload digital docu-
ments and collaborate with appropriate
mortgage lender employees and third-
party partners such as title agents, real
estate agents, appraisers and notaries.
Lenders also have access to their version
of the Roohm, where an expanded view
provides a snapshot of their application
pipeline, current statuses and pending steps.
Within a file, the Roohm provides one-click
ordering of state specific loan disclosures
and closing documents and automatically
organizes each one by name for underwrit-
ing and investor delivery purposes.
One of the most common consumer
complaints about the mortgage process is
that they never know what they need to do
next, the current status of their loan or if
they are on track for completion, said
DiPaolo. With Roohmz Mortgage
Enterprise, the borrower is given a real-time
view of their loan status and what steps are
required to move it along. This, along with
continuous communication with their
lender, shortens origination times and
increases loyalty with consumers.
Roohmz Mortgage Enterprise is avail-
able in a Software as a Service (Saas)
model. All software and loan documents
are secured in Cogent Roads SAS 70 com-
pliant data center that undergoes third-
party security audits each year. The data
center is staffed 24/7 and contains bio-
metric scanning, a waterless fire preven-
tion systems, a 100 percent power uptime
guaranty and multiple redundancies.
For more information, visit www.cogen-
troad.com.
ARES launches
Foreclosure Guard tool
Advanced Real Estate Systems (ARES) has
created Foreclosure Guard, a tool for real
estate professionals and investors who are
working with clients to complete short
sales and mortgage loan modifications.
Ive been working in the default market
since 1989 as an investor, real estate broker,
consultant, and most recently as a speaker
recognized by the National Association of
Realtors, said Phil Tesoriero, co-creator of
Foreclosure Guard, Ive taught that the
short sale proposal is a necessary and
painstaking process. But with Foreclosure
Guard I can do higher quality proposals in
significantly less time. I am proud to say
that with Foreclosure Guard, that process
has been reduced down to mere minutes.
Foreclosure Guard allows for a single
point-of-entry where the user enters in the
necessary details on the default property.
It then creates all of the necessary docu-
ments for either a short sale or loan mod-
ification proposal. Foreclosure Guards
high quality documents include many of
the most commonly requested bank docu-
ments. In addition to that, it produces
numerous supporting documents to help
defend ones proposal and move the trans-
action along to the closing table.
Foreclosure Guard is one of the only
systems of its type that is compliant with
the new U.S. Treasury Guidelines effec-
tive April 2010, as well as online short
sale platforms used by major lenders.
For more information, visit www.foreclo-
sureguard.net.
PriceMyLoan announces
interface with FHA TOTAL
Mortgage Scorecard
PriceMyLoan (PML) has announced the
completion of their interface with the
Federal Housing Administrations (FHA)
TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard loan approval
platform. Lenders using PriceMyLoans
automated underwriting and pricing
engine now have direct access to FHA eli-
gibility and credit scoring, providing a
more efficient and cost-effective method
for approving FHA loans.
FHAs Technology Open to Approved
Lenders (TOTAL) Mortgage Scorecard is a
system developed by the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban
Development (HUD) that evaluates bor-
rower credit worthiness for FHA loans.
PriceMyLoans approval to interface with
FHAs TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard gives
lenders a fast and cost-effective way of
approving FHA loans. With the interface
to FHAs TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard,
PriceMyLoan becomes an all-in-one plat-
form for lenders to originate, underwrite
and price FHA loans. All aspects of the
approval processFHA insurance eligi-
bility, investor guideline eligibility and
real-time pricingare handled through
a single, Web-based interface.
PriceMyLoans ability to interface with
HUD for FHA decisions is important both for
lenders and borrowers, said Gigi Campbell,
national sales director for PriceMyLoan.
FHAs decision to allow more vendors like
us to interface with TOTAL Mortgage
Scorecard makes FHA lending more accessi-
ble. Lenders can use our technology to
improve the speed and accuracy of their
FHA loan decisions, and borrowers benefit
from lower costs and faster approvals.
For more information, visit www.price-
myloan.com.
Nationwide Title Clearing
releases ReleaseLINK 2.0
Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC), a docu-
ment and services provider for the residen-
tial mortgage industry, announced that the
new version of its ReleaseLINK Web service
has been working perfectly for NTCs lien
new to market continued from page 29
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Information, Schedule and Registration
release clients since its soft launch on Jan. 4.
The company is now making the new Web
feature available to all company clients.
This is an important release that
adds a lot of functionality to the soft-
ware and convenience to our cus-
tomers, said Jeremy Pomerantz, senior
vice president for marketing and sales
at NTC. Our customers now have much
more control over their processes and
access to better automation. Were very
glad we could enhance our services at
no additional cost to our clients.
The newly enhanced Exception Queue
feature, which allows NTC lien release
clients to view additional types of excep-
tion loans mid-process and then allows
them to resolve the issue online or flag the
loan for various complex curative actions.
Clients can also use the new tool to rush an
order, place the order on hold or cancel it.
At a time when firms that entered
this space to garner other lucrative serv-
ices are leaving the business, Im proud
that were investing in technologies to
help our customers be more efficient,
Pomerantz said. Weve been in this line
of business for almost 20 years. It takes
investment and focus on core competen-
cies like this to remain a market leader.
For more information, visit www.nwtc.com.
New GPS for mortgage
pricing tool released by Fair
Mortgage Collaborative (FMC)
A new tool, available at
FairLoanCertification.com,
is part of the ongoing cam-
paign by the non-profit Fair
Mortgage Collaborative
(FMC) to promote fair and safe mortgages
in the wake of the twin crises in predatory
lending and mortgage foreclosures. The
new FMC resource, entitled Fair
Mortgage Cost Check is a tool that will
allow homebuyers to determine if
mortgage pricingincluding interest
rates and closing costsis significant-
ly out of line with the local market-
place. A consumer who has an offer
from a mortgage lender can go to the
site and use the tool to compare what
he or she is being offered with average
local rates and quotes. The Fair
Mortgage Cost Check encourages con-
sumers to go beyond just looking at
interest rates to the fees that can be
inflated and needlessly cost thousands
of extra dollars.
We hope that consumers will use
this highly localized information for
home mortgage decision making in
the same way that they use GPS or
MapQuest to plan a trip, said Howard
Banker, executive director of FMC.
Responsible lenders will have noth-
ing to fear from empowering con-
sumers with more and better informa-
tion. However, this is decidedly bad
news for the new generation of preda-
tory lenders who are abusing con-
sumers in the pricing of mortgages,
including the interest rate and closing
costs. The Fair Mortgage Collaborative
was created to help encourage fair
and safe mortgage lending practices
and also to help restore homebuyer
confidence, which had been shredded
by predatory lending abuses and the
many horror stories associated with
the mortgage foreclosure crisis. We
see todays announcement as a major
step in that direction.
The new FMC tool maintains real-
time loan pricing with all standard
risk-based (agency and government)
pricing down to the zip code level. No
other tool of this sort provides zip
code level specifics and none includes
settlement costs, which is an area that
is increasingly being exploited by
some lenders.
FMCs Fair Mortgage Cost Check is
not a prospecting tool; it respects the
privacy of visitors, who are not
required to provide personally identi-
fiable information. Further, the FMC
resources also completely avoids the
bias that is inevitable when a tool of
this sort is underwritten or ad-support-
ed on a commercial basis by lenders,
who then get clients sent to them.
Instead, the Fair Mortgage Cost
Check resource provides information
about FMC-certified lenders to individ-
uals who by using the system to check
loan pricing have identified them-
selves as possibly having excessively
high mortgage pricing terms. If they so
wish, the homebuyer or homeowner
can then contact FMC-certified lending
organizations and check for better
pricing. However, the Web tool pro-
vides no information to any lender or
other organization.
Launched in June 2009, the Fair
Mortgage Collaborative certifies that
lenders meeting its rigorous Fair and
Safe Standards, which ban predatory
products and practices. Certified lend-
ing organizationssuch as BECU
(Boeing Employees Credit Union),
Prime Alliance Solutions, Direct
Lending Family, Federation of
Appalachian Housing Enterprises,
Inc., and Clearinghouse CDFI now
operate from coast to coast. FMCs cur-
rent certified lending organizations
provides mortgages currently totaling
more than a billion dollars per year.
That level is expected to double or
more in the first year of the program,
with further growth anticipated in out
years as the demand for mortgages
that are certified as being non-preda-
tory takes hold.
For more information, visit www.fair-
loancertification.com.
Your turn
National Mortgage Professional Magazine
invites you to submit any information
promoting new niche loan programs,
new products or any other announce-
ment related to the introduction of a
new program, to the attention of:
New to Market column
Phone #: (516) 409-5555
E-mail:
newsroom@nmpmediacorp.com
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are
preferred. The deadline for submissions
is the 1st of the month prior to the tar-
get issue.
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Generate an unlimited
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will be on the net branch mortgage
companies. These firms will be required
to submit separate contracts and inde-
pendent site inspections and photo-
graphs of each different net branch
location. These independent site
inspections must be conducted by one
of the on-site inspection companies
that is approved by Experian. There are
hard costs associated with these new
rules, as well as new contracts for
review. The fee for an
independent site inspec-
tion with photographs
average about $75 per
location and can exceed
$100 per site, pending the
location.
While this new rule will
first impact only mortgage
brokers and net branch
companies that contract
with a new credit report-
ing agency after April 1,
2010, all mortgage brokers
and net branch companies will be subject
to the new requirements within a year to
continue to have access to credit reports
from their current provider. The corpo-
rate location for the mortgage broker or
net branch company will also need to
acknowledge that they are responsible
for the access of credit reports from each
branch in accordance to the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA) and all other appli-
cable laws and Experian policy. Finally,
the corporate office must agree that a
violation for non-compliance to the new
policy, the FCRA, or any of the other laws
by a net branch, is a potential reason for
the suspension or termination of credit
report access.
Watch for further information about
these new requirements from the credit
reporting agency that you do business
with sometime in the near future.
Terry W. Clemans is the executive director
of the National Credit Reporting
Association Inc. (NCRA). He may be
reached at (630) 539-1525 or e-mail tcle-
mans@ncrainc.org.
Visit the National Credit
Reporting Association Inc.
(NCRA) on the Web at
www.ncrainc.org.
Effective April 1, 2010 mortgage brokers
and mortgage net branch companies
will have new requirements to fulfill
before they sign up with a credit report-
ing agency to access credit reports. All
mortgage brokers and net branch com-
panies with access to mortgage credit
reports that contain Experian credit
data (which is currently all credit
reports for mortgage purposes due to
the repositories own requirements) will
need to be re-valuated by
their current credit report
provider to assure com-
pliance with the new
requirements. This is
mandatory to continue to
receive credit reports.
These new rules from
Experian are due to the
transitory nature of the
mortgage business and
that the recent changes in
the industry have raised
concerns about the quali-
ty of due diligence of some mortgage
brokers or net branch operations. The
new requirements are intended to miti-
gate the risks that credit data will end
up being used improperly and to make
sure that these firms understand the
responsibilities associated with credit
access. Along with the new require-
ments, a reminder is also present that
misuse can result in the termination of
Experian credit data access.
The new rules focus on the contract-
ing and physical inspections of all end
users of the credit reports. The term
end users is defined in the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA) as the person who
accesses, or uses the credit report
data. In this case, the end user for a
mortgage loan is the mortgage origina-
tor and the actual mortgage lender that
will fund the loan. As in previous policy,
all of these firms are in the chain of end
users and need proper documentation
for disclosure to the consumer. The new
rules will specifically address and
require independent physical inspec-
tions, copies of state issued photo iden-
tification cards of certain employees at
each different location in which credit
reports are accessed and more restrict-
ed access to the credit report data.
The greatest impact of the new rules
Experian Announces New
Requirements for
Brokers and Net
Branch Companies
By Terry W. Clemans
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Atare Agbamu is one of only a handful of people in the reverse mortgage arena
who possesses a commanding understanding of the reverse mortgage industry.
As an originator, he has hands-on experience educating seniors and their advisors.
As author of the Forward on Reverse column in The Mortgage Press since 2002,
Atare Agbamu communicates nationally with the housing finance community,
bringing the unique insights and experience of an ardent reverse mortgage expert
into a wider business context.
This book combines Atares keen insights and know-how with extensive research to create a first
of its kind resource for the reverse mortgage industry. It offers a comprehensive overview of the indus-
try plus detailed information on marketing and originating reverse mortgages.
Present and future reverse mortgage professionals and senior advisors will profit from
decades of experience skillfully woven into this book. If you plan to succeed in this industry, this
book is the place to start.
Sarah F. Hulbert, President, Senior Financial Corporation and former four-term Co-Chair of NRMLAs Board
of Directors
When I first began reviewing the contents of this book, I became quite jealous ... Atare Agbamu
has set down an impressive amount of information ... And he delivers it in an easy-to-read, simple-
to-understand style that will make this book essential reading for all reverse mortgage
professionals.
from the Foreword by Jim Mahoney, Co-Founder and Former Chairman, Financial Freedom Senior Funding
Corporation, and former four-term Co-Chair of NRMLAs Board of Directors
The stories [Chapter 15: Profiles in Satisfaction] are the best vehicle to increase understanding and
acceptance of reverse mortgages among us laypeople. They are very compelling ...
Therese Cain, Executive Director, Minneapolis/St. Paul Chapter of Little BrothersFriends of the Elderly
This book should be required reading for all new loan consultants originating reverse mortgages and
is recommended for experienced ones as well. This book provides excellent insight and information
on preparing ahead to provide the service our seniors deserve, to ensure a smooth loan process and
shorten the time to closing. Most of the problems caused in the processing and closing of reverse
mortgages come from inadequate preparation.
Deanne Opstad, AVP, Senior Underwriter, Generation Mortgage Company
Think Reverse!
Table of Contents
Part I:
The new pillar of retirement security
Part II:
Marketing reverse mortgages: Its all about education
Part III:
Originating reverse mortgages
Part IV:
Enhancing freedom: The essence of reverse mortgages
Part V:
A new frontier in mortgage lending
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44
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APRIL 2010
Wednesday-Thursday, April 7-8
Maryland Association of Mortgage Brokers
2010 Conference & Exposition
MAMP: A New Game
Baltimore Convention Center
1 West Pratt Street Baltimore
For more information, call (410) 752-6262
or visit www.mdmtgpros.org.
Sunday-Wednesday, April 25-28
Mortgage Bankers Association National
Technology in Mortgage Banking
Conference & Expo
Hyatt Regency Chicago
151 East Wackler Drive
Chicago
For more information, call (800) 793-6222
or visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
MAY 2010
Monday-Thursday, May 3-6
Tennessee Association of Mortgage
Professionals 2010 Convention & Trade
Show, Tried, Tested & True
The Hotel Preston
733 Briley Parkway Nashville
For more information, call (615) 302-0001
or visit www.tnamp.com.
Thursday-Sunday, May 13-16
National Association of Professional
Mortgage Womens 46th National Education
Conference & Annual Meeting
Marriott South Austin
4415 South IH-35
Austin, Texas
For more information, call (800) 827-3034
or visit www.napmw.org.
Sunday-Wednesday, May 23-26
Mortgage Bankers Association
Commercial/Multifamily Servicing and
Technology Conference 2010
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers
811 7th Avenue
New York, N.Y.
For more information, call (202) 557-2790
or visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
Sunday-Wednesday, May 23-26
Mortgage Bankers Association National
Secondary Market Conference & Expo 2010
Hilton New York
1335 Avenue of the Americas
New York, N.Y.
For more information, call (202) 557-2790
or visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
JUNE 2010
Thursday-Friday, June 24-25
National Association of Mortgage Brokers
2010 Mid-Year Meeting
Phoenix Airport Marriott
1101 North 44th Street Phoenix, Ariz.
For more information, call (703) 342-5900
or visit www.namb.org.
JULY 2010
Wednesday-Saturday, July 7-10
Florida Association of Mortgage
Professionals 50th Anniversary Annual
Convention & Trade Show
From FAMB to FAMP 50 Golden Years
Rosen Shingle Creek
9939 Universal Boulevard
Orlando
For more information, call (850) 942-6411
or visit www.famb.org.
AUGUST 2010
Wednesday-Friday, August 18-20
California Association of Mortgage Brokers
2010 Annual Convention & Grand Exposition
Hyatt Regency Long Beach
200 South Pine Avenue
Long Beach Convention Center
300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, Calif.
For more information, call (916) 448-8236
or visit www.cambweb.org.
SEPTEMBER 2010
Thursday, September 16
Iowa Association of Mortgage Brokers
2010 Annual Convention
White Oak Vineyards
15065 Northeast White Oak Drive
Cambridge, Iowa
For more information, call (515) 210-4675
or visit www.iowamortgagebrokers.org.
OCTOBER 2010
Tuesday-Wednesday, October 19-20
Utah Association of Mortgage Brokers
2010 Annual Expo
Location to be determined
For more information, call (801) 787-6611
or visit www.uamb.org.
Sunday-Wednesday, October 24-27
Mortgage Bankers Association 97th Annual
Convention & Expo
Atlanta Georgia Congress Center
285 Andrew Young International
Boulevard NW
Atlanta
For more information, call (800) 793-6222
or visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
To submit your entry for inclusion in the National Mortgage Professional
Calendar of Events, please e-mail the details of your event, along with
contact information, to newsroom@nmpmediacorp.com.
COMPANY WEB SITE PAGE
Abacus Mortgage Training and Education .......... www.acethesafe.com ......................................4 & 41
ACC Mortgage .................................................. www.weapproveloans.com ....................................12
Calyx Software ................................................ www.calyxsoftware.com ........................................25
Elliott and Company Appraisers, Inc................... www.elliottco.com ..............................................34
Emigrant Mortgage Company ............................ www.emigrantmortgage.com ................................39
Entitle Direct Group.......................................... www.entitledirect.com ..................Inside Front Cover
First Source Capital Mortgage, Inc. .................... www.fscmortgage.com ..........................................16
Franklin First Financial .................................... www.franklinfirstfinancial.com ............................12
Freedom Mortgage .......................................... www.fmbranch.com ................................Back Cover
Frost Mortgage Banking Group .......................... info@gregfrost.com ..............................................20
Gateway Mortgage Group, LLC .......................... www.gatewayloan.com ........................................44
Guaranteed Home Mortgage.............................. www.joinguaranteed.com ....................................19
HTDI Financial ................................................ www.htdifinancial.com ........................................31
Inlanta Mortgage.............................................. www.inlanta.com ................................................15
Mortgage Concepts .......................................... www.mortgageconceptsonline.com ........................29
Mortgage Now, Inc. .......................................... www.mortgagenow.com ........................................23
Mortgage Revolution ........................................ www.mrev.org ....................................................40
MortgageProShop.com...................................... www.mortgageproshop.com ..................................43
NAMB.............................................................. www.namb.org..............................................29 & 32
NAPMW .......................................................... www.napmw.org ..................................................24
Platinum Credit Services, Inc............................. www.platinumcreditservices.com ............5, 7, 9 & 11
Presidents First Mortgage Bankers .................... www.presidentsfirst.com ......................................21
Quality Mortgage Services ................................ www.qcmortgage.com ..................................22 & 37
REMN (Real Estate Mortgage Network)................ www.remnwholesale.com ....................................30
Ron Vaimberg International, LTD....................... www.NMPMag.com/freeleads ................................42
Titan Lists ....................................................................................................................................13
United Northern Mortgage Bankers Ltd. ............ www.unitednorthern.jobs ...... 28 & Inside Back Cover
Wall Street List ................................................ www.wallstreetlist.com ........................................28
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.............................. www.brokerfirst.com ............................................14
Xetus Mortgage Corporation.............................. www.xetus.com ....................................................25
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Qualifed Candidates with a proven track record will get:
Guaranteed Salary
Full Benefts Package
Bonus based on proftability of branch offce.
Assistance with recruiting and training team.
Call Dane Basham today 888-544-0034
If I was in the market to become a branch manager or work as a loan ofcer,
Dane would be on the short list of friends I would contact. His positive attitude
is infectious. You cannot have a conversation with Dane and NOT be motivated.
November 28, 2006
Andrew Berman, Executive Vice President, The Mortgage Press
was a consultant or contractor to Dane at Gateway Mortgage Group LLC
At United Northern, we give you the freedom to originate and succeed with our winning team.
About working with United Northern Mortgage Bankers
Ongoing training and consultation with top industry executives
Access to in-house marketing services
Pricing support desk to ensure maximum profitability on each
loan, while maintaining a competitive advantage over the street
Proven leading-edge technology (built on Encompass 360
technology)
Virtual office support
Licensing and regulatory compliance services
An in-house team to monitor SAFE Act compliance
In-house underwriting
Most loans underwritten in 24 to 48 hours
Multiple valuation tools to research value
In-house valuation desk to help ensure accurate
values and responsive turnaround time
Multiple established warehouse lines
Limited room available for established Team Leaders and
Licensed Mortgage Originators. Become part of an
established 30-year Mortgage Banker with
a proven track record and success.
Learn about the great opportunities
available by making an appointment with
United Northern Mortgage Bankers Executive
Vice President Julio de Cardenas by calling
888-600-8808, ext. 1 or by e-mailing info@unitednorthern.jobs.
United Northern Mortgage Bankers, Ltd. Corporate NMLS ID# 7230 New York State Banking Dept. - Licensed Mortgage Banker License #100724 New Jersey Dept. of Banking and Insurance Mortgage Lender License #L0046623 Penn-
sylvania Dept. of Banking Mortgage Lender License #20887 Connecticut Dept. of Banking - Mortgage Lender - License #20372 Massachusetts Div. of Banks and Loan Agencies - Mortgage Lender & Mortgage Broker License #MC5070
North Carolina Commissioner of Banks Mortgage Lender License #L140365 South Carolina State Board of Financial Institutions Supervised Lender License #S7,461 Florida Dept. of Financial Institutions - Mortgage Lender - License
#ML0700679 Senior Security Home Advantage is a lending area of United Northern Mortgage Bankers, Ltd. Direct FHA Endorsed Lender