The most dangerous statement in the English language is, “But we’ve always done it this way.” Referral business has always been a mainstay in our biz, and is not “against the law,” but oddly enough one topic that has come up a few times here in San Diego at the MBA’s conference is continued talk about MSAs, or Marketing Service Agreements. The CFPB spells out everything in its FAQ site. Attorney Brian Levy also discusses the topic in one of his Musings. One session yesterday included attorneys Mitch Kider and Troy Garris; any questions on the following should be addressed to them. The shorthand notes? Referrals are fine, but paying for them, think twice! RESPA’s been around for decades, the purpose being to discourage kickbacks and illegal referrals. You can’t give someone a thing of value for a referral. You can still do lots of things that you can do with your referral partners! Setting up an MSA? Make sure it is for real servic
Carol K. writes, “Back in my day there was so much cheap toilet paper and eggs that we would throw them at the houses of our enemies.” And then there’s, “Money can't buy you happiness, but you can sure have a good time searching for it.” Speaking of a good time, are you single? Want to make $1,500? Shane Co. will pay you to go on 15 first dates. Search for dates at the grocery store, a dating app, whatever. Many lenders are searching for production, and with that in mind, is your company participating in the FHFA’s Special Purpose Credit Program? Rumor has it that those lenders in the pilot program must pay up to $5,000 per loan… but what do I know? If true, is that added to the $11k the MBA tells us it already takes to do a loan? There’s even a “tool kit.” And of course the CFPB is keenly interested in these types of programs. Any questions about participating or NDAs or procedures should be addressed to you
As Brian B. reminds me, “In the New England you can tell the changing of the seasons by the changing color of the leaves. In Florida you can tell the changing of the seasons by the changing colors of the license plates.” Speaking of moves, geography, and distance, if you’re a lender or a vendor, how’s your 2023 travel and entertainment budget shaping up? I figured. The Mortgage Bankers Association believes (some say optimistically) that total mortgage origination volume will decline to $2.05 trillion in 2023 from the $2.26 trillion expected in 2022. The “pie” will shrink, and every lender is striving to increase customer service. Under the category of “Know your clients,” buyers who bought homes in the year from June 2021 to June 2022 moved a median of 50 miles away from their previous residences, a huge increase. Over the preceding five years it was pretty much flat at a median of 15 miles, which was the highest going back to 200
Do whatever you want to your clock, it doesn’t change the feeding time of your pets! Friday’s a holiday… Want to help out your vet (veteran, not veterinary) clients? There are plenty of good things that businesses and services are offering to veterans… My USN (1942-1962) Dad would have loved them. Check them out. Does your client have an existing VA insurance policy? You can add value by pointing out that with VA's online Instant Loan Approval service, Veterans with certain insurance plans may borrow up to the value of their policy. In our general industry, there’s a lot going on out there. STRATMOR’s current blog is, “Supply and Demand are Still Driving Mortgage Pricing.” Mr. Cooper’s laying off 800 employees. (As always, displaced employees can post their resumes here for free and employers can view for several months for the low fee of $75.) UWM and Rocket released earnings with much fanfare. This week lenders an