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Real estate agents love it when loan officers give them referrals. That’s not always easy. Is giving a real estate agent a book on becoming a productive and well-respected real estate agent a RESPA violation? How about an all-expense paid trip? Attorney Brian Levy points out in his latest Mortgage Musings (chock full of Rolling Stone song references) how it matters whether the “thing of value” is offered in return for referrals or is just ordinary business promotional activity. LOs know that working with real estate agents is a numbers game. (How many loan officers contact the listing agent when a property goes on the market to ask for a referral?) Did you know that on any given day there are about 61,000 people in airplanes above the United States? (I think that number is light.) I mention this because Heathrow Airport in London is taking the unconventional step of capping the daily number of passengers at 100,000 per day for the rest of the summer. Heathrow was h
What guy hasn’t wanted to usher a gal through to a club like Ray Liotta did, masterfully filmed without cutting away? Unfortunately, breaking the spell of the video, I received this note. “Rob, what have you heard regarding a miscalculation of credit scores by Equifax in late March and early April on a sizeable portion of their pulls?” I have indeed heard rumors, and indeed heard rumors that it potentially impacted thousands of borrowers across the United States, possibly influencing the loan programs and pricing that those borrowers received. Something to do with a coding issue introduced during a technology change to Equifax's legacy online model platform (OMS) possibly resulting in the potential miscalculation of certain credit attributes. Given the seriousness of these rumors, and the potential legal implications of an error of this magnitude, you should definitely reach out and ask Equifax, or ask your credit reporting agency for more information. But
May the 4th be with you! Without the lisp, there are many forces tugging at lenders and vendors. Forget 2020 and 2021. Recruiters are asking LOs what their numbers were in 2018 and 2019. Prequals are running amok, and with them costs for any vendor services like credit verification. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Marina Walsh tells us that the cost per loan has gone up six quarters in a row, despite all the “cost saving” automation. Meanwhile, in the secondary markets, life isn’t much better… and what happens there directly impacts rate sheet pricing for borrowers. Liquidity in higher coupon securities backed by mortgages (MBS) has been poor to say the least with very wide bid/offers or simply no price discovery. As a result, some higher rate combinations may simply not be available yet. (Keep in mind that any rate over 6.125% would have to be delivered into a UM30 5.5, which are not yet trading in any material amount.) So LOs looking for premium
Notes to start off the week?! First off, there are some darned clever people around, and this ditty (thank you to John H. for sending) sung to “American Pie” and lamenting the loss of the refi biz, ranks right up there for quality! (“… I can’t remember if I cried, when I read my client’s DTI, now considered too damn high…”) Second, lumber prices have dropped as the mortgage market has slowed. Lumber now comes in at $829 per 1,000 board feet, down 39 percent from its 2022 high of $1,357 in March. (To keep your perspective, today’s price is still nowhere near pre-pandemic levels of $300 – $500; One can always increase timber cutting on Federal land or reduce tariffs on Canadian lumber.) For bad news, last week investors focused on inflation with Treasury yields climbing higher, and back-to-back inflation reports showed prices posting record advances. On Thursday, the benchmark risk-free 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ramp