national mortgage professional magazine - may 2012

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NMP MEDIA CORP.1220 WANTAGH AVENUEWANTAGH, NEW YORK 11793

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A Special Look at “Building Relationships”Establishing and Enhancing Your Relationships By Daniel Milstein ..................................................................32Relationships Win Races … And Business By B.J. Bounds ....................................................................33How to Strengthen Client Relationships By Chad Jampedro................................................................34Innovative Relationship Building is Critical to Growthand Industry Leadership By Mark W. Boyer ........................35Growing Your FHA Loan Production ThroughRelationships By Jeff Mifsud ..............................................36Top Five Tips for Building Your Loan Origination Team By Leif Boyd ........................................................................37Make Friends With Top Real Estate Agents By Chris Nordby ..................................................................38Building Relationships Requires Contact Management By Adam P. Smith ................................................................39

FeaturesTrue Marketing By Mary Beth Doyle ......................................4FCRA Certification for End Users: Talk to Your CreditReporting Agency Now By Terry W. Clemans ........................4The Regulatory Burdens of Dodd-Frank By Jonathan Foxx ....8HARP 2.0: Direct Marketing Outlook By Raymond Bartreau ..10The NAMB Perspective ..................................................12Too Many LOs Kill the Sale at Hello By Mark Green ..........14Five Steps to Hiring Successfully By Al Crisanty................16The Secret Habits of Highly-Effective Loan Originators ....22The Dodd-Frank Act: New Mortgage Servicing Rules on the Horizon By Laurie Spira ............................................26The Elite Performer: Solidify Your FoundationBy Andy W. Harris, CRMS ......................................................26Marketing in 2012: Maximize Your Marketing Dollars ..28ValueNation: Usage and Application for Default-Specific Valuation Methods By David Rasmussen ..30Pursuing Excellence: Loan Officers Are Leaders Too By Casey Cunningham......................................30Lykken on Leadership: Are You Getting Weary or Wealthy? By David Lykken ..............................................42Regulatory Compliance Review: Consumer Privacy and Confidentiality By Jonathan Foxx ..................................44

ColumnsHeard on the Street ........................................................6NMP News Flash: May 2012 ..........................................16New to Market................................................................28NMP Mortgage Professional Resource Registry ..........48NMP Calendar of Events ................................................52

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America’s Choice Home Loans .......................... www.achlonline.com ............................................43

Best Rate Referrals, LLC .................................... www.bestratereferrals.com ............Inside Back Cover

Calyx Software ................................................ www.calyxsoftware.com ......................................20

CBC National Bank .......................................... www.cbconnex.com ............................................13

Document Systems, Inc./DocMagic .................... www.docmagic.com ............................................11

Equity Loans LLC .............................................. www.equityloans.com ..........................................15

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. .......................... www.fgmc.com ....................................................21

Frost Mortgage Lending Group .......................... www.frostmortgage.com/nmp ..............................18

Hometown Lenders .......................................... www.whotookmybacon.com ................................41

Icon Residential Lenders, LLC ............................ www.iconwholesale.com ..............................17 & 34

Land Home Financial Services .......................... [email protected] ....................................38

Loyalty Express ................................................ www.loyaltyexpress.com ......................................45

Meadowbrook Financial Mortgage Bankers Corp. .... www.mortgagesalesjob.com ..................................25

Menlo Park Funding ........................................ www.menloparkfunding.com ................................45

Mortgage Brokers Network Corp, Inc. ................ www.mortgagebrokersnetwork.com ......................31

NAPMW .......................................................... www.napmw.org ..................................................6

PB Financial Group Corp. .................................. www.pbfinancialgrp.com ......................................20

Polaris Home Funding Corp. (Branches) .............. www.polarishfc.com/TimeForAChange ....................9

Polaris Home Funding Corp. (Wholesale) ............ www.polarishfc.com ............................................29

REMN (Real Estate Mortgage Network)................ www.remnwholesale.com ......................................7

Ridgewood Savings Bank .................................. www.ridgewoodbank.com ....................................27

Shortsale Speedway.......................................... www.shortsalespeedway.com/freedemo ................19

Streetlinks LLC ................................................ www.lenderx.com ........................Inside Front Cover

TagQuest ........................................................ www.tagquest.com ................................................5

United Wholesale Mortgage .............................. www.uwm.com ........................................Back Cover

Veros .............................................................. veros.com ..........................................................20

National Mortgage Professional Magazine

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MAGAZINE

NMPNMPMay 2012 Volume 4, Number 5 Company Web Site Page

http://www.nationalmortgageprofessional.com

From The Publisher’s DeskMay 2012Volume 4 • Number 5

1220 Wantagh Avenue • Wantagh, NY 11793-2202Phone: (516) 409-5555 • Fax: (516) 409-4600

Web site: NationalMortgageProfessional.comSTAFF

Eric C. PeckEditor-in-Chief

(516) 409-5555, ext. [email protected]

Joel M. BermanPublisher


Andrew T. BermanExecutive Vice President(516) 409-5555, ext. 333

[email protected]

Joey ArendtArt Director

[email protected]

Jon BlakeAdvertising Coordinator(516) 409-5555, ext. 301

[email protected]

Beverly KoondelNational Account Executive


Tara CookBilling Coordinator


ADVERTISINGTo receive any information regarding advertising rates, deadlines andrequirements, please contact National Account Executive Beverly Koondelat (516) 409-5555, ext. 316 or e-mail [email protected].

ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS/PRESS RELEASESTo submit any material, including articles and press releases, pleasecontact Editor-in-Chief Eric C. Peck at (516) 409-5555, ext. 312 or [email protected]. The deadline for submissions is the first ofthe month prior to the target issue.

SUBSCRIPTIONSTo receive subscription information, please call (516) 409-5555, ext.301; e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nationalmort-gageprofessional.com. Any subscription changes may be made to theattention of “Circulation” via fax to (516) 409-4600.

Statements, articles and opinions in National Mortgage Professional Magazineare the responsibility of the authors alone and do not imply the opinion orendorsement of NMP Media Corp., or the officers or members of NationalAssociation of Mortgage Brokers and its State Affiliates (NAMB), NationalAssociation of Professional Mortgage Women (NAPMW), National CreditReporting Association (NCRA) and/or other state mortgage trade associations.

Participation in NAMB, NAPMW, NCRA, and/or other state mortgagetrade associations events, activities and/or publications is available ona non-discriminatory basis and does not reflect the endorsement of theproduct and/or services by NMP Media Corp., NAMB, NAPMW, NCRA,and other state mortgage trade associations.

National Mortgage Professional Magazine, NAMB, NAPMW, NCRA,and/or other state mortgage trade associations do not make any misrepre-sentations or warranties concerning the regulatory and/or complianceaspects of advertisers, products or services and/or the editorial content con-tained in NMP Media Corp. publications. National Mortgage ProfessionalMagazine and NMP Media Corp. reserve the right to edit, reject and/or post-pone the publication of any articles, information or data.

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The building blocks to youRome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was your business. Like the ancient Romanswho can be viewed as the architects of how our major cities are constructed today,time, teamwork, planning and patience are the building blocks that made youwhere you are today. Very rarely in this industry does one become an overnight sen-sation. You must trudge through the lean days at the beginning and establish therelationships which will eventually foster your growth.

This month, our focus is on building these relationships that serve as the build-ing blocks to a profitable business plan. Daniel Milstein of Gold Star Financial discusses various wayson how to begin those relationships and how to maintain a growing base of strong contacts on page32. On page 33, B.J. Bounds from Calyx makes the analogy between growing one’s business and apolitical campaign using loan origination software (LOS) as your foundation. Chad Jampedro of GSFMortgage on page 34 discusses how to cultivate and build your network in his piece, “How toStrengthen Client Relationships.” Mark W. Boyer, CEO of Foundation Financial Group, continues thenotion of establishing key business relationships with his article on page 35, “Innovative RelationshipBuilding is Critical to Growth and Industry Leadership.” Jeff Mifsud of Mortgage Seminars LLC, our res-ident FHA expert, takes a look at enhancing one’s FHA production through establishing strategicalliances on page 36 in his article, “Growing Your FHA Loan Production Through Relationships.” LeifBoyd of American Pacific Mortgage provides five tips on the building blocks to a strong productionteam on page 37 in his article, “Top Five Tips for Building Your Loan Origination Team.” Chris Nordbyof Protelus delves into seeking out your area’s top real estate agents and forging strong bonds withthem in his article on page 38. And wrapping up our focus this month is Adam P. Smith of TheColorado Real Estate Finance Group on page 39 with his article on how a strong database is a solidstart to growing your business in his contribution, “Building Relationships Requires ContactManagement.”

Is regulation ever easy?This month, Jonathan Foxx of Lenders Compliance Group takes a closer look at all 2,319 pages of theDodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act … more importantly, the burdensbrought about by this voluminous document. I concur with Jonathan that this piece of legislation hasmore twists and turns than the latest themed rollercoaster at a Six Flags amusement park. And whatdoes it say when the government releases its own companion Web site, The Dodd-Frank BurdenTracker, to assist with navigating through this piece of legislation? Jonathan reveals the cold, hardfacts of this bill, including the startling statistic that it will take private sector job-creators 24,035,801 hours each year to comply with the first 185 Dodd-Frank rules. Are there even that manyhours in a year?

NAMB Annual Conference set for JuneAs noted in Don Frommeyer’s President’s Corner, NAMB—The Association of Mortgage Professionals,will host its Annual Conference & Board Installation, Friday-Saturday, June 22-23 at the JW MarriottHotel in Indianapolis, Ind. It’s a great opportunity to meet and network with your fellow industry pro-fessionals and get to know the 2012-2013 NAMB Board of Directors who will lead the association overthe next year. For more information, see this month’s NAMB Perspective on page 12.

Until next month ...

Sincerely,

Joel M. Berman, PublisherNMP Media Corp.

National Mortgage Professional Magazineis published monthly by NMP Media Corp.

Copyright © 2012 NMP Media Corp.

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The Association of Mortgage Professionals

2701 West 15th Street, Suite 536 � Plano, TX 75075Phone #: (703) 342-5900 � Fax #: (530) 484-2906

Web site: www.namb.org

President—Donald J. Frommeyer, CRMSAmtrust Mortgage Funding Inc.200 Medical Drive, Suite DCarmel, IN 46032(317) 575-4355 � [email protected]

Vice President—Donald Fader, CRMSSMC Home FinanceP.O. Box 1376Kinston, NC 28503-1376(252) 523-5800 � [email protected]

Treasurer—John Councilman, CMC, CRMSAMC Mortgage Corporation2613 Fallston RoadFallston, MD 21047(410) 557-6400 � [email protected]

Secretary—Olga Kucerak, CRMSCrown Lending222 East Houston, Suite 1600San Antonio, TX 78205(210) 828-3384 � [email protected]

Past President—Jim Pair, CMCMortgage Associates Corpus Christi6262 Weber Road, Suite 208Corpus Christi, TX 78413(361) 853-9987 � [email protected]

Rocke Andrews, CMC, CRMSLending Arizona LLC1996 North KolbTucson, AZ 85715(520) 886-7283 � [email protected]

Fred Arnold, CMCAmerican Family Funding24961 The Old Road, Suite 101Stevenson Ranch, CA 91381(661) 284-1150 � [email protected]

Kay A. Cleland, CMC, CRMSKC Mortgage LLC200 South Wilcox Street #224Castle Rock, CO 80104(720) 810-4917 � [email protected]

Andy W. Harris, CRMSVantage Mortgage Group1596 SW Boones Ferry Road, Ste. 100Lake Oswego, OR 97035(503) 496-0431 � [email protected]

Deb Killian, CRMSGMAC246 Federal Road, Unit C-24Brookfield, CT 06804(203) 778-9999, ext. 103 � [email protected]

Linda McCoyMortgage Team 1 Inc.6336 Picadilly Square DriveMobile, AL 36609(251) 610-0494 � [email protected]

John StevensBank of England d/b/a ENG Lending11650 South State Street, Ste. 350Draper, UT 84120(801) 427-7111 � [email protected]

Donald J. UngerPresident(303) 670-7993, ext. [email protected]

Daphne LargeVice President & Treasurer(901) [email protected]

Tom ConwellEx-Officio & Legislative Chair(800) 445-4922, ext. [email protected]

Nancy FedichDirector–Conference Chair(908) 813-8555, ext. [email protected]

Judy RyanDirector-Strategic AllianceChair(800) 929-3400, ext. [email protected]

Susan CataldoDirector–Education & Compliance Chair(404) 303-8656, ext. [email protected]

William BowerDirector–Tenant ScreeningChair(800) [email protected]

Mike BrownDirector–Technology Chair(800) 925-6691, ext. [email protected]

Maureen DevineDirector–Education & Compliance Co-Chair(413) [email protected]

Renee EricksonDirector–New Membership & Elections Chair(800) 311-1585, ext. [email protected]

Terry ClemansExecutive Director(630) [email protected]

Jan GerberOffice Manager/MembershipServices(630) [email protected]

PresidentLaurie Abshier, GML, CME, CMI(661) [email protected]

President-ElectCandace Smith, CME(512) [email protected]

Senior Vice PresidentJill Kinsman(206) [email protected]

Vice President-Northwestern RegionNita Cook, GML, CME, CMI(360) [email protected]

Vice President-Western RegionLyman King III, CME, CMI(916) [email protected]

Vice President-Central RegionLisa Puckett, CME(405) [email protected]

Vice President-Eastern RegionChristine Pollard(607) [email protected]

SecretaryKatheryn M. Farrell(509) [email protected]

TreasurerJeanne Evans, CME(918) [email protected]

ParliamentarianHulene Bridgman-Works(800) [email protected]

NAMB 2011-2012 Board of Directors

National Association of ProfessionalMortgage Women

P.O. Box 451718 � Garland, TX 75042Phone #: (800) 827-3034 � Fax #: (469) 524-5121

Web site: www.napmw.org

OFFICERS

DIRECTORS

2012 Board of Directors & Staff

National Credit Reporting Association Inc.125 East Lake Street, Suite 200 � Bloomingdale, IL 60108

Phone #: (630) 539-1525 � Fax #: (630) 539-1526Web site: www.ncrainc.org

National Board of Directors 2011-2012

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True Marketingby Mary Beth Doyle, Founder

What does ‘true marketing’ really mean? At a minimum, it’s about consistently cultivating relationships and sharing quality information. Mortgage companies should focus on providing lifelong guidance and advice to customers. As markets fluctuate, timely messages can greatly impact savings & wealth.

Lock-down privacy & compliance standards are very important. This involves creating branded & compliant materials for enterprise-wide access (with integrated opt-out information). Effective marketing requires centralized databases, the ability to mine data, and to deliver intelligent alerts. Reactive (rather than proactive) processes delay access to intelligent, actionable data – and lead to lost business.

Personalization is another key to high-impact marketing. No matter how many contacts are in a database, segmentation against specific business rules is imperative. Targeted messages generate exceptional responses & allow loan officers to connect with customers who need immediate help.

Automation relies on core algorithm-based methodologies that recognize specific database attributes to send targeted communications. It minimizes the need for fragmented marketing. As a result, the organization sends timely & relevant messages to steadily capture business.

Finally, media formats should be diverse. Print, e-mail & telephone campaigns are all relevant. Cross-media allows communication across multiple formats with sensitivity to opt-out requirements. If a customer asks not to receive e-mail, default to other methods.

Relevance and compliance with marketing standards makes a huge difference. Taking shortcuts or thinking that ‘something is better than nothing’ isn’t enough. Rise above the competition, and take marketing seriously. You will be amazed at the impact.

LoyaltyExpress is the leading mortgage marketing company in the nation. For more information:

call 877.938.1175 or visit

www.loyaltyexpress.com.

FCRA Certification for End Users:Talk to Your Credit Reporting

Agency NowBy Terry W. Clemans

Have you talked to your credit reporting agency aboutbecoming Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) certified yet?Like many new programs, the target roll out date wasdelayed; however, the program is now online and certifi-cation is more important than ever.

If you have not already spoken with your credit reportprovider, now is the perfect time to make that call and

start the certification process. It’s free to mortgage originators who are cus-tomers of members of the National Credit Reporting Association (NCRA),which represents approximately 80 percent of the credit reporting agenciesin the U.S. that can produce a credit report that meets Fannie Mae, FreddieMac and U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) stan-dards for mortgage lending.

Late last year, I reported about the new certification program designedfor the users of credit reports (employees of mortgage lenders and proper-ty managers/landlords) by the NCRA. This program was developed to keepup with the ever-increasing regulatory environment. In the months sincethe first report, it is clear by the actions of the national credit repositories,federal agencies, and the consumer litigation trends that this is going to bea more important program than was originally anticipated.

NCRA developed the program specifically to assist the users of consumercredit reports in understanding the various federal laws and national cred-it repository guidelines that regulate their access to credit data. Access toconsumer credit data is critical to their business operations and for con-tinued access, tight compliance with these regulations is crucial.

Those who participate in the certification program will be provided with anonline study guide (printable if you prefer) and the opportunity to take the cer-tification test. A major portion of the test is knowledge of the FCRA. Additionally,the test will cover areas of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTAthe 2003 overhaul to the FCRA), the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLB), the Red FlagsRule, and specific national credit repository requirements that also impact acredit report user’s access to consumer credit data. A solid working knowledgeof the responsibilities of those who come into contact with consumer creditreports is required by federal law. Any company that is granted access to a con-sumer’s credit report data needs to be sure that anyone in their organizationwith access to these reports knows how to properly obtain that credit data andhow they maintain and dispose of it when the transaction is complete.

Due to the unfortunate continued misuse of consumer credit informationwhich results in identity theft and data breaches, some type of FCRA education maybe a requirement for access to consumer credit information in the near future.Don’t be caught with the masses rushing to beat a deadline when that requirementis implemented. Take the initiative to being a better steward of the consumer’sinformation and to protect your company from the problems associated with mis-takes in handling consumer data by getting FCRA certified this summer.

The program is online and features a comprehensive study guide that pro-vides all of the materials needed to be able to learn the information required topass the test. The test features 30 multiple choice and true/false questions thatcan be taken in an open book (if the user prints the study guide) format. Sinceonly 45 minutes is provided to complete the 30 questions, the test taker mustknow the data thoroughly to be able to answer 75 percent of the questions accu-rately and to obtain an FCRA certification. Retesting is allowed (after 24 hours) ifthe person is not successful on the first attempt. After successfully completing thetest, an FCRA Certification will be downloaded to document the successful com-pletion of the program. Retesting is suggested every year to keep up with the lat-est changes in the complex regulatory world in which we operate.

To obtain access to the FCRA certification program, ask your credit reportprovider if they are a member of the NCRA or contact the NCRA atwww.ncrainc.org to locate an agency near you that can sponsor your FCRA cer-tification program today.

Terry W. Clemans is executive director of the National Credit ReportingAssociation Inc. (NCRA). He may be reached at (630) 539-1525 or e-mail [email protected].

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http://www.myfhaleads.com

http://www.tagquest.com

http://www.myharpleads.com

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DocMagic and BlueberrySystems Announce NewLOS CompliancePartnership

Blueberry SystemsLLC has integrated itsRelay loan origina-tion software (LOS)

with DocMagic, a provider of documentproduction and compliance technolo-gies. The integration adds complete doc-ument and disclosure compliance withinRelay’s workflow, keeping all the loandata in one system and eliminatingredundant data entry. Relay seamlesslyintegrates DocMagic’s document compli-ance rules into a single data stream, pro-viding lenders immediate access to dis-closures and documents using data pre-viously entered into the LOS.

DocMagic is designed to keeplenders in compliance with all local,state and federal regulations. Theprovider’s sophisticated technologydelivers a unique combination ofspeed, ease and accuracy to savelenders time and money and keepthem ahead of competition. BlueberrySystems’ Relay offers a complete LOS tolenders, featuring a universal datamodel, providing the most accurateloan production data in the industry.Contrasted with many other systemsthat still employ an outdated datamanagement model, the universal datamodel combines the various systemsand applications involved in the pro-duction process into a single database,eliminating data silos and the need forduplicate or staggered data entry.

“Integrating our solution withDocMagic eliminates the time wasted tore-enter data and the subsequent dataentry errors that inevitably occur,” saidLloyd Booth, president and chief operat-ing officer of Blueberry Systems. “Itstreamlines the entire application-to-closing process and immediately increas-es compliance. The integration gives ourclients more options within our best-in-class system to ensure that disclosuresand documents are accurate and meetall regulatory guidelines.”

Total Mortgage Services Approved to Lend in Kansas

Total Mortgage Services LLC hasannounced that it has received its

Kansas Mortgage Lender License fromthe Office of the State BankCommissioner of Kansas and is nowable to originate residential mortgageloans throughout the state of Kanas.Total Mortgage is licensed as a lenderand broker in Kansas and holdsMortgage Lender License MC.0025126.

“With mortgage rates close to all-time lows, Total Mortgage is excitedabout being able to assist borrowersthroughout the state of Kansas withboth purchase and refinancing transac-tions,” said John Walsh, president ofTotal Mortgage. “Our team of fully-licensed, experienced loan officers isfocused on providing high-quality one-on-one service to help borrowers makethe right mortgage choice.”

Total Mortgage is now licensed in 27states and the District of Columbia withplans to be licensed in all 50 states in thenear future. Total Mortgage offers jumboloans, FHA-insured mortgages, 30-yearfixed-rate mortgages, and adjustable-ratemortgages through its retail and whole-sale channels, and is currently licensed inArkansas, California, Colorado,Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia,Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland,Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey,New York, New Hampshire, NorthCarolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, RhodeIsland, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,Vermont and Virginia, West Virginia andthe District of Columbia.

Quality Mortgage Services Chosen by Top U.S. Lender forRepurchase Defense

Quality Mortgage Services LLC (QMS) hasannounced that a top U.S. bank hastapped the company for quality control(QC) risk mitigation support in defenseagainst investor repurchase claims. Theinstitution has been faced with buyback defense challenges that persisteven after working with other QC ven-dors in the space.

“After phased testing of the technicalexpertise of the QMS quality control riskstaff, we made the cut,” said Tommy A.Duncan, president of QMS “QMS willcollaborate with the bank’s risk staff asa force multiplier in order to neutralizethe investor’s repurchases claims.”

Due to the terms of the agreement, QMScould not release the name of the bank,

NMLS

National Education

National Training

National Networking

NAPMW is a community of nearly 2,000 professionals across the Country who engage in the mortgage / banking industry. Men and women from all backgrounds have joined NAPMW because they want to excel at what they do. Employers who want excel-lence from their employees engage with NAPMW for up-to-date education. Both professionals and employers have found there is a place for them in NAPMW.

To Join NAPMW visit:

www.napmw.org

or call: 1-800-827-3034

Have Questions? Please

feel free to e-mail us at:

[email protected]

Organized for the purpose of providing education to profession-als in all phases of the mortgage industry, NAPMW offers educa-tion via many venues – seminars and workshops held around the country, on-line, and at its National Education Conference held each May.

NAPMW membership gives you exclusive access to timely educa-tion regarding the regulations affecting your career such as a FREE TO MEMBERS monthly webinar on industry updates AND our 8 hour NMLS continuing education class offering (NMLS Provider # 1400309)

If you believe in helping to elevate the educational standards of this industry, or assisting in developing the most competent industry work force, then you believe in NAPMW.

NAPMW is not a women’s organization. But since women make up the majority of professionals in the mortgage/banking profes-sion, our purpose is to help them advance in business, personal, and leadership development.

Coast to Coast Associations

Discounted Services

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Education

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The group is working with a growingnumber of issuers, originators andinvestors on pre-securitization and loanquality projects. It also provides underwrit-ing support to press or defend buy-backclaims. Mark Hughes, a CoreLogic vice pres-ident and 25-year veteran of the mortgagesecurities industry, heads the due diligencebusiness which operates two underwritingcenters in Jacksonville and Sunrise, Fla.

“To attract investors back to private-label mortgage securities, issuers mustdeliver greater transparency and demon-strate that they have employed the bestavailable tools to identify and reduce risk,”said Hughes. “CoreLogic is already a majorprovider of the diligence, valuation andfraud detection services that many lendersand investors use. With our S&P approval

we will now offer unique data-enhanceddiligence/underwriting solutions to identi-fy forensic issues, value portfolios and helporiginate securitizable loans. As private-label mortgage securities issuance returns,we will be there to provide the ‘new dili-gence’ that all market participants willdemand.”

CampusMBA AnnouncesNew CE Requirement forCMB Designation

CampusMBA, the awardwinning education divi-sion of the MortgageBankers Association (MBA),has announced a new

continued on page 10

but said that the firm had been through anumber of QC repurchase defense vendorsand felt it had been over charged by com-panies that underperformed.

“I know which vendors the investors areusing to comb through these files and Iwelcome the challenge of going head-to-head with them for the success of thebank,” said Duncan.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based QMS is a mort-gage loan QC audit and compliance reviewcompany that has been performing repur-chase defense and writing responses toindemnification letters for mortgagebankers for 20 years.

RealtyTrac AcquiresOnline Data AggregatorHomefacts

RealtyTrac has announced the acquisi-tion of online data aggregatorHomefacts in the company’s latestmove to grow its market presence andarm consumers with the informationthey need during the homebuyingprocess. RealtyTrac entered the agree-ment to expand upon its data collectioncapabilities and broaden its data ana-lytics, offering with new products thatwill further enhance the company’svalue proposition. Homefacts offershomeowners and prospective realestate buyers an online due diligenceresource for making informed decisionsregarding property-specific characteris-tics and health, environmental andsafety information that are outlined inreal estate disclosure documents butare not otherwise easily accessible tohomebuyers.

As part of this agreement, HomefactsFounder James Moyle will joinRealtyTrac’s executive team as presi-dent and chief operating officer. Moylepossesses a proven track record as a for-ward-thinking Internet entrepreneur,having grown the popularity ofHomefacts to garner more than threemillion page views per month in theabsence of a marketing budget or exter-nal financing, and previously foundingand serving as president of the promi-nent online vacation rental sales retail-er SkiWest before selling it toOverstock.com in 2005. In his new rolealongside CEO Brandon Moore, Moylewill play an important day-to-day rolemanaging RealtyTrac product develop-ment and consumer-facing teams inaddition to shaping the strategic direc-tion for the business going forward.

“We are excited about the newopportunities that adding Homefacts’incremental data sets allow us toexplore, from new product offeringsand stronger real estate analytics tobetter data collection methodologies,”said Moore. “RealtyTrac’s trusted lead-ership position in the marketplace com-bined with the financial backing of ourstrong ownership team to make strate-gic acquisitions such as this puts us in aposition of leadership to empowerhomebuyers, providing them with theimportant information they need in thehomebuying process.”

S&P Approves CoreLogic as a Third-Party Due DiligenceProvider for RMBS

CoreLogic, a provider ofinformation, analyticsand business services, hasannounced that Standard

& Poor’s (S&P) has approved it as a third-party due diligence provider for residentialmortgage backed securities (RMBS) ratedby that agency. CoreLogic Due Diligenceperforms a full-range of diligence servicesfor residential mortgages and small bal-ance commercial loans, including forensicdue diligence, non-performing loanreviews, acquisition and securitizationreviews, data integrity reviews and qualitycontrol (QC).

http://www.remnwholesale.com

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By Jonathan Foxx

Let it not be said thatregulations are ever“easy enough” toimplement in thesepost-crash times! Ofcourse, this view pre-

supposes that we know which regula-tions to factor in and which ones to fac-tor out. It presupposes that we knowwhich ones are relevant and which onesdo not apply. It presupposes that we arein a position to keep track of new regula-tory requirements, how they impactexisting regulations, and how they super-sede existing regulations. And it presup-poses that we have sufficient time,resources, and focused energy to imple-ment the regulations, without putting adeep drain on the already compressedmargins caused by a real estate marketin free fall and a loan origination marketwith low interest rates that have only oneway to go … up!

The other day, a good friend andlongtime client of ours, when consider-ing all the new regulations his publiclytraded firm is implementing and wouldhave to put in place due to the Dodd-Frank Act, blurted out to me in a parox-ysm of frustration, “What have we doneto deserve this?” Indeed.

So, just how burdensome a burden isthe Dodd-Frank regulatory burden?

Burden? What burden?Having read, outlined and writtenabout the 2,319-page Dodd-Frank WallStreet Reform and Consumer ProtectionAct, I will vouch for the amazing com-plexity and regulatory intricacies thatabound within it.1 If you want a brush-up primer on Dodd-Frank, as it pertainsto mortgage banking, you can readsome of my published articles.2 In addi-tion, my firm has issued numerousnewsletters that we have sent to youregarding Dodd-Frank.3

The Merriam-Webster Dictionarydefines the word “burden” in two basicways: (1) something that is carried, suchas a load, or it may be a duty, or aresponsibility; and (2) somethingoppressive or worrisome. From myadmittedly non-scientific polling, itseems clear to me that the manage-ment of many financial institutionsbelieve that Dodd-Frank satisfies bothdefinition (1) and definition (2).Certainly, management and boards ofdirectors almost universally want to ful-fill their duties and responsibilities;however, what I hear most often is thatthey consider the duties and responsi-bilities that flow from Dodd-Frank to beoppressive and worrisome.

The view about Dodd-Frank that Ihave received from management, atfinancial institutions and from industry

leadership, is so pandemically againstthe “burden” of Dodd-Frank that it ishard to make a case for asserting thatnefarious lobbyists in D.C. are deliber-ately misleading the public and tryingto eviscerate this legislation on behalfof financial interests. Everybody agreesthat Dodd-Frank is landmark legisla-tion. But the view is that, in manyaspects of Dodd-Frank, the legislation islike heaving the Hulk’s sledgehammer,when a nimble scalpel would be muchmore effective in providing some need-ed remedies to the financial system.

Keeping trackInterestingly, certain members of the polit-ical class have been pushing back all along,alleging that Dodd-Frank is a burdensomeonslaught that the financial system simplycannot bear. Most recently, on April 17, theHouse’s Financial Services Committee noti-fied the public about a new tool that itdeveloped, called the Dodd-Frank BurdenTracker, which is, to use the Committee’sdescription, “an online resource to help thepublic keep track of all the new govern-ment rules and red tape required by theDodd-Frank Act.”4

Here is the Committee’s analysis, whichI must leave unchallenged for the timebeing, of the effects of Dodd-Frank:

“Dodd-Frank, passed by Congress in2010, mandates that government regu-lators write over 400 new rules andrequirements that will be imposed onthe private sector. Since the law wassigned by President Obama in July 2010,the Dodd-Frank Burden Tracker reveals:

� Regulators have written 185 of the400 rules;

� These 185 rules consume 5,320pages;

� It will take private sector job-cre-ators 24,035,801 hours every year tocomply with these first 185 Dodd-Frank rules.”5

The mathematician in me cannothelp but see these numbers in percent-ages and common ratios:

� The percentage of new rules written ver-sus the total: 46% (46% of the new rules

have been written which, of course, isanother way of saying that 54% of thenew rules are not yet written).

� For each rule, the number of pagesdescribing the rule: 1:28.75 (one ruleconsumes 28.75 pages).

� The number of private sector, annu-al hours to comply with each of thefirst 185 rules: 129,923:1 (the first185 new rules take a private sector,annual labor output of 129,923hours to implement).That last statistic is a bit skewed,

inasmuch as there are only 8,760 hoursin a year. But the number 24,035,801refers to so-called “total man hours.” Ithink you get the point!

Nevertheless, consider those 400new rules: the huge number of dead-lines contained in the 400 rulemakingsrequired by Dodd-Frank is obviouslyoverwhelming the regulatory agenciesas well as the private sector.

And I haven’t even yet mentioned theestimated cost!

The Congressional Budget Office hasestimated that it will cost well over $3 bil-lion over the next five years to implementDodd-Frank. Indeed, in an AtlanticMagazine article published last year, enti-tled “Dodd-Frank’s Derivatives Rules CouldCost Main Street $1 Trillion,” DanielIndiviglio estimated that there could be upto $1 trillion in broader economic costsresulting from Dodd-Frank.6

The Burden TrackerWe can play around with statistics all day,often using them for or against our argu-ments. But the Committee has donesome of the work for us in the form of itsDodd-Frank Burden Tracker—which Ishall call the Burden Tracker. The April 17version is available from our Library, ifyou want to download all 20 pages.7 TheCommittee will update the BurdenTracker periodically.

If you want a sense of the broad rangeof Dodd-Frank, the following is a list of theagencies, by their acronyms, that theBurden Tracker cites as affected by Dodd-Frank’s new rules: FDIC, OCC, FRS, OTS,NCUA, CFTC, SEC, CFPB, FSOC, FHFA, HUD,IRS, FTC, DOE, DO, VA and the FCA.

The Burden Tracker totals the numberof new rulemaking pages associated witheach Dodd-Frank mandate, and the stagesof such rulemaking thus far are interpreta-tions, final rules, proposed rules, interimfinal rules, request for public comment,notice, order, joint notice, notice of pro-posed rulemaking by cross-reference totemporary regulations, interim final rulewith request for public comment, furthernotice of proposed rulemaking, andacceptance of standard.

ConsequencesDodd-Frank actually created 13 newregulatory agencies, and it eliminated

only one: The Office of Thrift Supervision(OTS).

One report I have read, issued bythe Committee, entitled “One YearLater: The Consequences of the Dodd-Frank Act,” states that Dodd-Frank cre-ates more than 2,600 new positions atregulatory agencies, with some agen-cies, like the Office of FinancialResearch, lacking any size limitationson their budgets or staffs.

It seems to me that something isamiss in the way this legislation isbeing implemented, when Rep. RandyNeugebauer (R-TX), Chairman of theCommittee’s Oversight and InvestigationsSubcommittee, can opine that “it willtake businesses more time to complywith Dodd-Frank rules than it took tobuild the Panama Canal.”8

I’ll let you reach your own conclusions.

Jonathan Foxx, former chief complianceofficer for two of the country’s top pub-licly-traded residential mortgage loanoriginators, is the president and manag-ing director of Lenders ComplianceGroup, a mortgage risk managementfirm devoted to providing regulatorycompliance advice and counsel to themortgage industry. He may be contactedat (516) 442-3456 or by e-mail [email protected].

Footnotes1—Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 91, Wednesday,May 11, 2011, Proposed Rules, 12 CFR Part 226,Regulation Z-Truth in Lending Act. [Regulation Z;Docket No. R–1417] H.R. 4173: Dodd-Frank WallStreet Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 111thCongress (2009-2010): “A bill to promote the finan-cial stability of the United States by improvingaccountability and transparency in the financialsystem, to end “too big to fail”, to protect theAmerican taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protectconsumers from abusive financial services prac-tices, and for other purposes.” Sponsored by Rep.Barney Frank (D-MA) and Sen. Christopher Dodd(D-CT).2—Foxx, Jonathan, “Landmark FinancialLegislation: New Rules for Mortgage Originators–Part I: Reformation and Regulations,” NationalMortgage Professional Magazine, August 2010,Volume 2, Issue 8, pages 28-42; “A New Era ofMortgage Reform–Part II: Legislation–Reactive orProactive,” National Mortgage ProfessionalMagazine, September 2010, Volume 2, Issue 9,pages 22-28; “A New Era of Mortgage Reform–PartIII: Consumer Financial Protection-Bureau andBureaucracy?,” National Mortgage ProfessionalMagazine, October 2010, Volume 2, Issue 10, pages22-40.3—For our Newsletters, please visit the Articles andNewsletters section of our Web site:www.LendersComplianceGroup.com.4—Financial Services Committee Unveils “Dodd-Frank Burden Tracker,” House Committee onFinancial Services, Press Release, April 17, 2012.5—Ibid.6—Indiviglio, Daniel, Dodd-Frank’s DerivativesRules Could Cost Main Street $1 Trillion, TheAtlantic, June 30, 2010.7—Download the Dodd-Frank Burden Tracker(April 17, 2012) from our Library/Issuances-2012.8—Dodd-Frank Burden Tracker, HouseCommittee on Financial Services, Press Release,April 17, 2012.

The Regulatory Burdensof Dodd-Frank

“It seems to me that something isamiss in the way this legislation is

being implemented, when Rep.Randy Neugebauer (R-TX),

Chairman of the Committee’sOversight and InvestigationsSubcommittee, can opine that

‘it will take businesses more time to comply with Dodd-Frank

rules than it took to build the Panama Canal.’”

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heard on the street continued from page 7

Continuing Education (CE) requirementfor all Commercial, Residential andMaster Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB)designates. Beginning June 1, 2012, allCMB designates will now be required tocomplete ongoing CE to maintain theirrespective designation. “Since 1973, theCMB designation has been the symbolof respect, credibility, expertise andachievement within the real estatefinance industry,” said JeffreySchummer, MBA’s vice president of edu-cation. “Now, more than ever, with theindustry in a period of rapid change, itis essential that industry leaders contin-ue to advance their knowledge andbuild on this standard in order to setthe bar for excellence in our industry.”

Each CMB will be required to com-plete 30 hours of continuing educationover an ongoing two-year period. CEcredits will be available throughCampus MBA online courses, at selectedsessions during MBA conferences, andthrough special CMB events.

In order to be eligible for the CMBdesignation, candidates must eitherwork for an MBA member company orbe a member of a recognized state MBA.Every candidate for an Executive CMB isrequired to have a minimum of 10 yearsof experience in real estate finance andhold a senior management position atan MBA member company.

CMB candidates must acquire 150points earned through a combination ofprofessional experience, secondary edu-cation, continuing education throughMBA-sponsored events and CampusMBAcourses, as well as participation in MBAat the local, state and/or national level.After accumulating the required pointsand passing a comprehensive writtenexam, candidates must demonstrateindustry knowledge by passing an oralexam conducted by a panel of CMBs.

Bank of America PartnersWith NID-HousingCounseling Agency onForeclosure Prevention

Bank of Americahas formed apartnership with

NID-Housing Counseling Agency (NID-HCA) to help eligible, hard-to-reachhomeowners become aware of theiroptions to have a free independent fore-closure review completed. As part of aconsent order with federal bank regula-tors, the Office of the Comptroller of theCurrency (OCC), the Office of ThriftSupervision (OTS) (independent bureaus ofthe U.S. Department of the Treasury), andthe Board of Governors of the FederalReserve System, Bank of America and theiraffiliates, along with 13 major mortgageservicers and their affiliates, have identi-fied customers who were part of a foreclo-sure action on their primary residenceduring the period of Jan. 1, 2009 to Dec.31, 2010, to make them aware of their eli-gibility to participate in the Independent

Foreclosure Review.NID-HCA will leverage its network of

counselors and partner organizationsacross the country to: Integrate theIndependent Foreclosure Review educa-tion in outreach events it participates in tohelp counsel homeowners; provide appli-cation assistance by holding housing clin-ics designed to assist eligible customerswith completing Request for ReviewForms; and provide information to lead-ers in the housing, minority civic andsocial organizations, and real estate tradeindustry to help inform those in theirsphere of influence.

“NID-HCA has over 25 years of experi-ence providing services in minority andunderserved communities,” saidJacqueline Carlisle, NID’s executive direc-tor. “I’m confident we will have a signifi-cant impact to help homeowners becomeaware of their options. We applaud Bankof America’s continued effort to be proac-tive in this area, and we’re honored topartner with them.”

NID-HCA has been an active partnerwith Bank of America, assisting at-riskclients daily across the country and par-ticipating in face-to-face outreachevents in local communities. Assistingto increase awareness of theIndependent Foreclosure Review willexpand this relationship.

Aurora Financial SelectsREO Allegiance forProperty Preservationand Field Inspections

REO Allegiance hasannounced that it hasbeen selected by AuroraFinancial Group Inc. toprovide Federal Housing

Administration (FHA)-compliant fieldservices, inspection services, and P-260communications. REO Allegiance’senhanced inspection and HUD P-260reporting processes will ensure thatAurora Financial continues to be fullycompliant with all U.S. Department ofHousing & Urban Development (HUD)guidelines for proper maintenance ofproperties throughout the foreclosureprocess and the timely conveyance ofproperties back into the market.

“We understand how crucial compli-ance is in our heavily-regulated indus-try,” said Lisa Sadaoui, president andchief executive officer of REOAllegiance. “The best origination firmschoose partners based on their abilityto help them meet regulatory andinvestor requirements. We feel honoredto be chosen by Aurora Financial to pro-vide these services to them.”

Deborah Johnson, foreclosure spe-cialist at Aurora Financial, said, “We arevery thorough in our search for vendorpartners, and we feel very comfortablewith entrusting our business to REOAllegiance. Our standards are very high,


SPONSORED EDITORIAL

By Raymond Bartreau

Once you have exhausted all of your past clients, contacts and referralpartners with the new Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) prod-uct, what’s next? You will want to start thinking about other forms ofgenerating new business in the marketplace with this program. There aremore than 27 million Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan holders nation-wide who have no idea about HARP 2.0. The goal here is to find youraudience within this large group and get yourself in front of them, or bet-ter yet, get them to come to you. The best way to do this is direct mar-keting, which consists of a few different options and avenues: Radio, TV,cold calling, direct mail and the Internet.

As we all know in the mortgage industry, lenders have guidelines onpretty much every loan product on the market. If you are going to usedirect marketing in the mortgage industry, the first thing you want to dois find the amount of homeowners that fit within your lending capabili-ties, in this case, we are talking about HARP 2.0. Some recent count stud-ies were ran with three of the industry’s leading database compiler/man-agers of mortgage and here is what we came up with:

� There are more than 27.5 million Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loansin America right now.

� There are currently more than 11 million Fannie Mae and Freddie Machomeowners that are upside down on their mortgage (more than 100percent LTV).

� Two states have more than 1.8 million, four states have more than475,000, and another 31 states have 45,000-plus homeowners whocan be helped.

� Of those 11 million, nearly 60 percent of these homeowners are cur-rent right now on their mortgage.

� The other 40 percent-plus could get current and potentially be helpedbefore the end of 2013 if they are educated soon and make the effortsfor the next six to 12 months.

Depending on your specific lender requirements for this program, youwould take these massive databases, and filter them down based uponthe criteria you are looking to lend to. FICO, LTV, loan amount, origina-tion date, late(s), no bankruptcies, and many more filters are availablewhen you are looking to create your perfect audience.

After extreme HARP 2.0 overlay filtering, we end up with a total of 2.3million marketable (outbound with addresses) homeowners who mayqualify for HARP 2.0. Of those, more than 215,000 homeowners are avail-able to be called after we do a Do-Not-Call (DNC) scrub on the database.Since most of these folks have not seen a mortgage offer over the last twoto four years, you should see a pretty good response on any direct mail


11


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Wow, May is here andI hope all of you areexperiencing the samemini-boom that mycompany is experienc-ing. It seems that thepeople looking forhomes are starting to

find them now, and the next few monthsshould be good for all of us.

This is the sixth time I have sat downand started to put things that I thoughtwere important for you and this monthI have decided to talk about member-ship and benefits. So, here is the impor-tant stuff and some clarification for allof you.

In December, the NAMB DelegateCouncil approved a change to the reci-procity rule for memberships. What thismeans is that people can join NAMB—TheAssociation of Mortgage Professionals orjoin their state without having to join theother. It does not mean that NAMB doesnot want members to join the states, butthat it gives an option to those who wantto join one or the other or both. It againgives options to people to go to the NAMBWeb site and join. Now this in no waymeans that we won’t share information.By the 10th day of every month, all of theinformation for new members who joinedNAMB only is sent to every state so thatstates can begin to talk with these mem-bers about joining their state association.

Many of you have called, e-mailed orsent me a letter on the fact that you don’tunderstand why NAMB went to this sys-tem of membership. You have said that itmakes no sense why NAMB would do this.To be very frank, it is about membership.We have tried to increase membership byrelying on the states to increase our mem-bership, and we are still at the sameround number of about 5,100 members.We need to grow this association and it isnot going to do it on its own. We need toget to 25,000 (and that still is only 22 per-cent of the entire licensed and registeredmortgage originators in the United States).This is a way for us to grow. We can thenallow the NAMB Membership Committeeto expand their abilities and go out andget more members. We will always sug-gest that these members join the state inwhich they are registered, but we need toincrease our numbers.

Some benefits that are great for our

members are doing business withNAMB’s Strategic Alliance Partners.

� Sprint is one of our best benefits. A 20percent monthly savings on their stan-dard program is a great deal. And as anNAMB Member, you are a PreferredCustomer. Contact Alex Mohammed,NAMB’s Sprint National Representative,at [email protected] to talkwith him about these outstanding ben-efits and get on the road to savingmoney today.

� Lowe’s is another great benefit ofNAMB membership. You can sendyour customers a coupon good for 10percent off any purchase of Lowe’sproducts or services. There is no costto you for participation in this pro-gram, and with this being the seasonfor home improvement, now is anexcellent time to send your customerone of these coupons. Go towww.lowesnamb.org and beginusing your benefit to help your cus-tomers today.

� Liberty Mutual has been a StrategicAlliance Partner of NAMB for thepast three years. They not only canoffer you a reduction in your insur-ance costs, but they can also helpyour customer. They offer you spe-cials to college graduates with addi-tional discounts. Contact www.liber-tymutual.com/lm/namb to be putin touch with an insurance profes-sional in your area.

� Have you completed your compli-ance with the Red Flag Rule? If not,contact Jim DeGeronimo Sr. atMajestic Security for one of themost comprehensive programs youcan have in your office. The cost isnot overpowering, and Jim will saveyou lots of money from those finesyou would have to pay without thisimportant piece of security. ContactJim at http://majesticsecurityid-safe.com/compliance.htm and letthem help you today.

� We have two other Strategic Alliancesthat are also helpful to all business insaving you money. Office Max and FedExhelp you in your purchasing of office

supplies and your shipping needs.Contact Office Max at www.officemaxso-lutions.com and FedEx atwww.1800members.com/NAMB to takeadvantage of these great specials.

As you can see, NAMB has been work-ing very hard to bring you benefits thathelp you in your everyday business situa-tions. And we are working on some greatnew programs that will benefit all of ourmembers. And we are very close toannouncing a new opportunity that eachmember will be able to benefit from justby answering your phone and gathering alittle bit of information.

I hope that some of you have tried outsome of these outstanding benefits per-sonally. NAMB is always striving toimprove our benefits to all of the mem-bership. We are putting a value on it thatwill expand your cost of the yearly mem-bership, as well as give you the standardinformation from Washington, D.C. andour Government Affairs team.

The cost of this membership is $120 peryear for a Platinum Membership and $50annually for a Silver Membership.Whichever one that you choose, rememberthat you will be an important member ofNAMB who cares about you and will nevergive up the fight to protect you in yourright to originate loans and be respectedfor what you do. Remember, we areNAMB—The Association of Mortgage

Professionals, and we are proud to haveyou as our member.

As a final note, we will be having ourAnnual Conference & Board Installation inIndianapolis this year at the JW MarriottHotel. It will be held Friday-Saturday, June22-23, 2012, and this information will beon the NAMB Web site at NAMB.org. We willbe having a Board Meeting and a DelegateCouncil Meeting while we are there. It is ashort one, but we will make every effort tobe memorable one. On Friday, we will begoing to the Indianapolis Indians baseballgame, and then on Saturday, we will host-ing a session for all new NAMB BoardMembers and Committee Chairs. TheDelegate Council Meeting and BoardMeeting will be in the afternoon, followedby the President’s Reception in the evening.So start making those reservations to cometo Indy for a great time as we make plansfor the upcoming year.

And for those of you who rememberthe last Annual Convention in 2008, wehad a great time in Indy. It is a great townto have a great time in. Come and join usfor a great time.

Sincerely,

Donald J. Frommeyer, CRMS,PresidentNAMB—The Association of MortgageProfessionals

The President’s Corner: May 2012

Save the Dates … Friday-Saturday, June 22-23, 2012

NAMB—The Association of MortgageProfessionals Annual Conference

& Board InstallationJW Marriott Hotel

10 S. West Street • Indianapolis

Featuring:� NAMB Board Meeting� NAMB Delegate Council Meeting� President’s Reception� Indianapolis Indians vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees AAA Baseball Game

(Fireworks Night)� Installation of 2012-2013 NAMB Board of Directors

For more information, call NAMB at (972) 758-1151 or visit NAMB.org.

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one are you most likely to choose?For me, it’s the biggest one at thelowest price possible. Why?Because I’m darn thirsty and theyall taste like water.

� Chinese food: True story, and theinspiration for this article … Ichecked out a new Chinese restau-rant the other day. My $5 chickenwith broccoli must have weighed fivepounds when they brought it out tome. I am not exaggerating when I saythe table buckled when I put itdown. It looked like any other chick-

By Mark Green

Quality orquantity?What’s better? Ofcourse, that dependson what we’re meas-uring, right?

� Bottled water: On a hot summerday, you head into the conven-ience mart. Seventeen differentbrands of bottled water stare atyou. They all look like water … fil-tered, clean and refreshing. Which

en with broccoli. But after I took myvery first bite, I wasn’t too excited totry the second. I’ll be kind and say itwas “unsavory.”

What happens to the 4.99 pounds of leftoverchicken with broccoli?The same thing that happens to half-baked quantity over quality e-mailcontent I see throughout our indus-try. It goes into the trash. What if theChinese restaurant had showed up onmy doorstep, uninvited, rang mydoorbell and shoved a fork-full oftheir chicken with broccoli in my faceas soon as I opened the door? Wellisn’t that what we’re seeing in ourindustry today? The easy refinancesare drying up and loan originators(LOs) are trying to drive purchasebusiness. So they’re sending unwel-come and unsavory chicken withbroccoli to whoever might have ataste. Okay, point made … let’s get tothe solution.

1. Define your USPUSP stands for “Unique SellingProposition.” Most LOs think they haveone: Great service. Have you ever heardan LO get in front of a top-producingreal estate agents and confess below-average service? So, service is not a USP.Neither are “low rates” because some-one can always come in a nickel cheap-er (unless you enjoy working for free).Before you do anything else, identifysomething that is truly different andunique about your approach to yourbusiness.

2. Get permissionChivalry is indeed dead. Well, that’s fan-tastic news for you my fellowPermission Marketer! Use that to youradvantage. Instead of firing off an unso-licited e-mail to a prospective realestate agent, call them first. Here’s a“script” I would use (and I generally dis-like scripts):

“Hi Mary, this is Mark Green with AcmeMortgage. I was about to e-mail anindustry update with some critical newFHA requirements, but I figured you’dappreciate it if I got your permission first.Would you mind if I send this briefupdate your way? If you prefer notreceiving my e-mails at any point, pleasesimply reply, and I’ll remove you imme-diately—no questions asked.”

Of course, this should be a bit moreconversational (which is why I shy

away from scripts), but you get theidea … put good old-fashioned com-mon courtesy to work for you and letyour competition serve up the chickenwith broccoli.

3. Content is always kingWhoever tells you “content doesn’tmatter—just get in front of them” is100 percent wrong. Content meanseverything. That permission phonecall accomplishes nothing if your realestate agents doesn’t see tremendousvalue in what they read once your e-mail hits their inbox. Not just the firsttime, or second time, but every time.

4. Quality trumps quantity in the world of e-mail marketingE-mail is relatively cheap and e-mail isrelatively easy. Therefore, marketersLOVE e-mail. Because marketers lovee-mail, we receive lots of e-mail. Thiscreates clutter and clutter createsnoise. Your objective is to breakthrough the noise and earn top ofmind awareness. There are no short-cuts to achieve this status with a bud-ding relationship.

If you’re not convinced yet, this might do the trickMake sure you’re monitoring open-rates, bounce-backs, opt-outs andspam-markings. If you’ve never ana-lyzed your e-mail performance before,you’ll be shocked to learn how you’rebeing received out there!

The bottom lineHere’s the main idea I’d love you totake away from this article: If a realestate agent won’t give you permis-sion to e-mail them, what makes youthink they’re going to refer their buy-ers your way? Do yourself a big favortoday. Define your USP. Polish it upso it shines and even YOU areimpressed with yourself. Then, andonly then, take the other steps andfollow the path of quality and per-mission. Judge your success in 90-dayincrements and don’t look for instantgratification.

Let everyone else serve up the chick-en with broccoli.

Mark Green is president of Top of MindNetworks, a one-stop shop for mort-gage professionals to handle all oftheir customer relationship manage-ment needs. He may be reached byphone at (404 ) 943-9910, ext. 115 or e-mail [email protected].

Too Many LOs Kill the Sale at Hello

How? Bad chicken with broccoli

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MAY 2012Licenced Mortgage Lender in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,

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MAY 2012

DocMagic CEO Calls forAudits Throughout theEntire Loan Process

Dominic Iannitti,president and chiefexecutive officer ofDocMagic Inc., a

provider of fully-compliant, loan docu-ment preparation and delivery solu-tions for the mortgage industry, hascalled on all loan originators (LOs) tointegrate automated loan file audits intheir workflow throughout the mort-gage production chain, from the timeborrowers submit an application to thetime loan file documents are preparedfor delivery to the secondary market.

“The traditional approach has been toperform an audit at the conclusion of theloan, before closing, but that’s not goodenough anymore,” Iannitti said. “Only bymonitoring compliance at every stage ofthe loan production process—from thetime a borrower submits an application,to the time documents are prepared andpackaged for investors, to every stage inbetween—can we be assured that theloans we originate are going to meetinvestor guidelines and compliancerequirements so that down the road,lenders won’t be plagued by repurchasedemands.”

Compliance remains a serious issue asevidence of problematic loan files in themortgage industry continues to persist.For example, Fannie Mae, the largest pur-chaser of residential mortgages in U.S.,reported in February 2012 that it made atotal of $23.8 billion in repurchaserequests from lenders during 2011. Thatwas an increase from $13.1 billion inrepurchase requests in 2010. In fact,some lenders continue to owe billions toFannie Mae for troubled loans.

Iannitti pointed out that the technol-ogy exists today to check loan files forcompliance at virtually any and everystep in the process.

“In a fraction of a second, DocMagic’saudit engine performs over 1,000 com-pliance, regulatory and investor guide-line checks, and provides analytics tothe user at every step of the way.Additionally, by integrating automatedaudits into production workflows,lenders can eliminate the need for sep-arate compliance vendors,” Iannittisaid. “With many of the loan parame-ters being set at inception, data integri-ty is essential to the entire originationcycle. Not only does a lender need to beaware of data that has changed, butequally important is data that has been

lost along the way. By leveragingDocMagic’s Audit engine throughoutthe process, any degradation of data isdetected automatically.”

Veros Forecasts HousingMarket Set to Accelerate

Veros Real EstateSolutions has

announced its VeroFORECAST realestate market forecast for the 12-monthperiod from March 1, 2012 to March 1,2013. The quarterly report shows thatthe recovery in the housing market isforecast to accelerate. The nationalhome price index (HPI) forecastimproved significantly from last quar-ter’s 1.3 percent depreciation to thisquarter’s slight depreciation of 0.85percent. VeroFORECAST shows fewersignificant drags across an increasingnumber of markets, many of which arebeginning to emerge with initial signsof appreciation for the first time sincethe market’s decline. On a nationallevel, the gradual recovery in houseprices is finally forecast to start acceler-ating, although the forecast projectsthe recovery to be market-by-marketwith not all areas expected to do well.Unemployment and housing supplyremain key discriminators between thetop and bottom 10 markets.

Phoenix is predicted by VeroFORECASTto be the top performing market with aforecasted five percent appreciation. Itsrevival is based on the drastically reducedhousing supply, great affordability and lowinterest rates. Also creating demand isPhoenix’s 7.9 percent unemployment rate,which is less than the national rate of 8.3percent.

For the third consecutive quarter,Bakersfield, Calif. stands at the bottomof the housing market with deprecia-tion of 6.3 percent, which is a slightimprovement from 6.8 percent in theprevious quarter. Unemployment is at14.3 percent and although housinginventory is coming down, the marketis still experiencing a high rate of fore-closure and mortgage delinquencywhich continues to keep the pressureon pricing.

The strongest areas in the United Statescan be still be found in the Great Plains,including regions in North Dakota, Texas,South Dakota, Nebraska and Louisiana.Housing markets that continue to performwell and see improvement include regionsin Washington, D.C.; Hawaii and Alaska.

By Al Crisanty

I have often been asked, “How do you hire and keep great people?”I’ve had the good fortune of working with some outstanding or-ganizations and extraordinary people throughout my career andhave some insight into this subject. Through trial and error and alot of introspection, I’ve identified some interesting patterns in my

hiring approach. I learned that we all view the world through our own set of filtersthat are skewed by experiences and create strong emotions about certain candidatesduring the recruiting process.

Rather than letting our emotions take over, we need to understand that in orderto do what’s best for our organization, team and customers, we must instead remaincompletely unbiased during the decision-making process and focus on five key stepsto ensure we’re hiring and retaining the highest quality team members:

1. Define your target employee Narrow down your prospect list and identify your ideal candidate by creating a de-tailed job description of duties, responsibilities and minimum performance stan-dards. Also, examine your organization’s culture, growth strategy, target customerand the characteristics of your top-performing team members to help determine theideal attributes and qualities you’re looking for.

2. Focus on soft versus hard skillsAs managers, coaches and mentors, we tend to focus on “hard skills,” i.e. sales andunderwriting aptitude, product knowledge, and customer service follow-through.While these are very important skills that successful team members must possess, Ibelieve that soft skills—integrity, work ethic, team/collaborative spirit, and passionare the crucial un-teachable attributes that are the real indicators of future success forthe individual, the team and the organization.

3. Hold multiple interviewsRather than viewing the interviewing process purely as a “sales job,” recognize it forwhat it really is: An opportunity for you and your candidates to make a well-in-formed and correct decision. Have candidates speak with other team members andmanagers who can provide additional feedback that will help identify potential redflags up front. Many candidates make strong positive first impressions, but later re-veal a lack of alignment in some areas, while others may improve or validate your ini-tial impressions, bringing you closer to your final decision.

4. Give employees a strong startSome managers subscribe to the “sink or swim” method when initiating new employ-ees to a job. This method is not only disrespectful, but also sets up new employees forfailure. Instead, take time to ensure that the new employee clearly understands their role,and has clearly defined expectations along with the tools necessary to succeed.

5. Retain employees and create a great work environmentStudies show that the most satisfied employees feel they are a valued and vital partof an organization. Once you have a strong team of employees, create a supportiveand collaborative work environment and provide venues for everyone to feel they’recontributing to organization success.

The ability to attract, motivate, and retain great employees is the single most im-portant skill of a successful leader and manager. In Good to Great, author Jim Collinswrites that the key to building a great company is to, “Get the right people on the bus,the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats on the bus.” InExecution, author Larry Bossidy writes that the key to business success is findingpeople who can execute and get the job done quickly and well.

It’s imperative to know what you’re looking for and to dedicate the time and effortnecessary to hire and keep the best. The success of your organization depends on it!

Al Crisanty is vice president of national wholesale production for 360 Mortgage Group andis responsible for overseeing territory sales managers as the company seeks to expand op-erations to all 50 states. Al has accumulated more than 25 years of management andleadership experience in the mortgage industry, holding positions in secondary market-ing, retail, wholesale and correspondent lending. Formerly the national wholesale direc-tor for Caliber Funding, Al was responsible for the development and expansion of Caliber’swholesale production channel. Additionally, Al served as executive vice president of na-tional production for American Home Mortgage, successfully transitioning the 500-mem-ber production team from Capital Commerce Mortgage Company after its closure. Almay be reached by phone at (916) 761-1624 or e-mail [email protected].

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By Dave Hershman

Iget the followingquestion in someshape or form just

about every monthfrom my clients whoare managers …

“I am trying to grow my company,but it is tough to lure top producers,and even the lower-level producersjust want to hear about ourcommission plan. How can I start ameaningful conversation with viablecandidates?”

I am going to begin answering thisquestion by stating the obvious: Youstart a meaningful conversation by hav-ing something more meaningful to say.The conversation cannot be about whatyou want. You need to think in terms ofwhat is important to the candidate.That is the real “value.”

Candidates are interested in twothings: More income and less stress. Nothaving enough income is certainly onefactor which produces more stress, so cer-tainly these two issues are related. On theother hand, they are distinct in mostways, so I will treat them separately.

We will start with this important

Want to Recruit Successfully?Then Start Talking About

the Right Things

question: How are you going to increasetheir income? There are two ways to goabout increasing their income. You caneither increase their commissions or helpthem increase their volume. Increasingtheir commission is a zero sum gamebecause every dollar of increased commis-sion lowers your profits and your ability tohelp them produce more. Lower profitstranslate into less money and time you candevote to the goals of support. So whileyour plan needs to be competitive, it can’tbe so high that they are on their own withregard to increasing their production in away that will be the least stressful. Thus, ifyour solution to the problem is just tothrow dollars at it with the goal of havingthe most lucrative commission plan foryour sales force, then you probably won’tfind this article very helpful.

So we are left with the issue of increas-ing their production. That leads to a fewother questions such as:

� How are you as a coach?I often tell managers who are recruitingthat the most important factor in theprocess is not the candidate’s resume,but the manager’s resume. You need tobe in a position to say—if you workwith me, I can show you how to pro-duce more. This needs to be supportedby your experience and independenttestimony. This is where social proofcomes in … including quotes from oth-ers within the industry you havehelped. This issue also provides quite adilemma because the average managerin this industry is producing and has lit-tle time for support and coaching. Thatmeans you must make the best use ofyour time by implementing synergisticsolutions, something we will talk aboutin future columns. This dilemma alsorequires the provision of easy-to-implement support tools.

� What kind of tools?There are three major categories oftools: Marketing, training and coach-ing. Some of these may involve tech-nology—such as the provision of indi-vidual Web sites. The provision of leadsmay also come under the “marketing”category. Lead generation can encom-pass a wide range of choices, includingthe support of inbound telemarketingloan officers to those who sit in realestate offices, bank branches or buildersites. In-house LOs provide the bestexample of the relation of support tocommission. Those who provide asteady stream of referrals are under lesspressure to offer the most lucrativecommission plans. Unfortunately, asubstantial portion of managers in thisindustry are not in the position to offerin-house leads.

This does not mean that it is not impor-tant to provide tools that will help withlead generation. Coaching and marketingtools must be easy to administer, especial-ly considering the aforementioned timedilemma. Even training on topics, such assphere marketing, is very important. Ofcourse, they also have to be affordable. Ifthey cost hundreds of dollars per month

per loan officer, the solution can increaseexpenses significantly. The goal here isnot necessarily to pour money at a solu-tion, but to have something unique youcan talk about that will make a differ-ence. I am interested in sharing ideas forsolutions you have found that fit thisdescription and can make some recom-mendations as well—just e-mail me [email protected]. If we getenough response or questions, we willaddress in a future column.

The second overall goal involves reduc-ing stress level and is just as important asincreasing revenues. More production andrevenue does not work if you are adding totheir stress levels. Getting loans in the doorand closed is stressful in this industry,especially now. As a matter of fact, if youtalk to loan officers about increasing theirproduction, many of them will be imagin-ing more stress in their lives. Again, thereare solutions that involve throwing moneyat the problem, such as providing top pro-ducing loan officers with personal assis-tants. However, this solution is not for themasses. How can you lower their stress lev-els without dumping money?

For one, you need to make sure thatsystems are in place that can minimize thecauses of stress. Nothing is more stressfulthan an LO not understanding the systemsthey are supposed to operate within. Doyou have an orientation or on-boardingsystem? Do you have a workflow system inwriting which will delineate what are theloan officer’s responsibilities versus theprocessor’s responsibilities? Even trainingis important here. I have found that ham-mering on an LO to take a better applica-tion is a worthless exercise. On the otherhand, if you can teach them how a betterapplication process not only can lessenstress levels, but also increase their leadgeneration activities, then you have a win-ner. This is called “synergy marketing” andis an example from the title topic of one ofmy books, Maximum Synergy Marketing.

Here is the bottom line, if you areunable to move the conversation from“What is your compensation plan” to “HowI can help you increase your revenue andlower your stress-levels?” you will have atough road getting the attention of mostquality candidates. Even more important-ly, answering these questions on your endwill lead to implementing solutions thatwill make your present sales force moreproductive. The more productive yoursales force, the better atmosphere you willcreate with regard to recruiting. High-qual-ity LOs don’t want to work in a companywhere they have to supply all of the posi-tive energy. They want to contribute, butthey want to the company to contribute aswell. Again, I am looking for your feedbackand questions regarding this and othertopics. We make this a better column if youall provide positive energy!

Dave Hershman is a top author in the mort-gage industry with seven books published,as well as hundreds of articles. Dave hasdelivered hundreds of keynote speeches,seminars and schools for the industry aswell. He may be reached by e-mail [email protected] or visitOriginationPro.com.

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Many real estate agents shy away from short sales because of the complexityinvolved in doing it themselves. When they refer the work to an attorney or thirdparty negotiator, they risk losing a great chunk of their commission.

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How Can ShortSaleSpeedway™ Help YOU Trap Real Estate Agents?

Your company can have your very own, private labeled version ofShortSaleSpeedway™ that you offer at no cost to your real estate agents.They will now have the tools provided by your company to be a true short salesspecialist. Now they can negotiate short sales with ease and not have to giveaway their commission to someone else. You’re providing them with a tool thatputs more money in their pocket.

What Do We Provide You?When you have your own ShortSaleSpeedway™, we provide you with the

following:Your own customized private labeled ShortSaleSpeedway™ siteAccess to reporting on all borrowers being put into the systemTraining for you, your real estate agents and a dedicated support teamMarketing materials to promote your ShortSaleSpeedway™ to real estateagentsIn many cases, the setup for the private labeled site costs you nothing!


for our own work and that of those wepartner with. REO Allegiance’s excellentproperty preservation services willensure our continued compliance andfuture success.”

LoanSifter AnnouncesIntegration WithBankrate

LoanSifter Inc. hasannounced an integration with BankrateInc. as a Bankrate Certified TechnologyPartner. The integration enables lendersto automatically post their mortgage ratesand pricing information on Bankrate,straight from LoanSifter’s automated pric-ing engine. The result is additional expo-sure for lenders with minimal effort andmore accurate, up-to-date rates for bor-rowers on one of the most popular desti-nations for mortgage information on theInternet.

For lenders who are looking to mini-mize their efforts to maintain pricing,LoanSifter combines its automated pricingand underwriting content managementwith fee overlays to deliver a seamless solu-tion that requires minimal to zero effort.While LoanSifter offers additional integrat-ed products for lenders, this solution canbe effectively run completely independentof the lenders’ existing workflow.

“LoanSifter’s tools give me the ability todo a one-time set up, quoting in real-timefrom my current investors’ rate sheets.And it gives our company the ability tomaintain the integrity we need to provideauthentic, high-quality, and compliantrate quotes,” said Michael Farrell, presi-dent of Indianapolis, Ind.-basedGrandview Lending.

For lenders looking for maximum tac-tical flexibility over their positioning onBankrate.com, LoanSifter supplementsthe new integration with Bankrate with amanual override option, allowing lendersto quickly adjust final rates and pricingwith minimal effort. LoanSifter also allowslenders to easily manage multiple statesand regions on Bankrate, all from a singleaccount interface.

Stonegate Mortgage toLaunch New FinancialInstitutions Channel

Stonegate Mortgage hasannounced that it is creat-ing a Financial Institutionschannel which will be a newstrategic business unit with-

in the company that will be solely focusedon providing depository institutions withaccess to the secondary mortgage marketon a correspondent and wholesale basis.The strategic business unit will be led byDoug Miller, formerly of GMAC/Ally Bank.Stonegate recently completed a privateequity transaction with Long Ridge EquityPartners, a New York-based private invest-ment firm, and indicated that it plannedto use the capital to expand its portfolio ofmortgage servicing rights and continue itsgrowth in the correspondent and whole-

sale loan origination channels.“We want to provide our financial insti-

tution clients liquidity for their mortgageassets,” said Jim Cutillo, chief executiveofficer of Stonegate Mortgage. “As a privateconduit, we can provide access to the sec-ondary market on a servicing releasedbasis and we can help them manage theirexisting servicing portfolio in a less capitalintensive way. We will bring our expertiseand our dedication to service that we useon a day-to-day basis with our homeown-ers to financial institutions, providing cap-ital and liquidity that fills a critical void inthe marketplace.”

Miller will bring his extensive knowledgeof the industry, as well as nearly 40 year’sworth of mortgage lending experience tolead the Financial Institutions BusinessUnit. Miller has served a senior executiverole with well-respected mortgages lenderssuch as Washington Mutual and Citicorp. Hehas worked the last two years at GMACBank/Ally Bank in Memphis, Tenn. wherehe was responsible for all sales in theCommunity Financial Institution’s Channel.Miller will bring his attuned skill set anddedication to upholding Stonegate’s dedi-cation to excellence in customer experienceand service. Miller will report to SteveLandes, executive vice president of loanorigination for Stonegate.

“Bringing Doug on board will provideStonegate with a leading executive whohas experience, understanding of the mar-ketplace and relationships,” said Landes.“He will be an integral part of ourFinancial Institutions Division’s growthand success and we look forward to hisleadership and contributions to our firm.”

Genpact IntegratesCompliance FunctionsInto Quantum’s MortgageOperating System

Genpact hasannounced

that it has integrated QuestSoft’sCompliance EAGLE into its QuantumMortgage Operating System (MOS) tohelp loan originators (LOs) and lendersautomate and streamline compliancereviews during the origination process.The integration with Compliance EAGLEwill enable Genpact’s Quantum userswith the ability to check complianceand run reports throughout the loanprocess. QuestSoft not only providescompliance checks on national, stateand local laws but also supportsinvestor compliance guidelines. Thesoftware is fully integrated withGenpact’s Quantum MOS, which reduceserrors and improves accuracy, providinglenders a faster and lower cost option toensuring successful loan origination andcompliance.

“It is extremely difficult for lenders tokeep up with every new regulation andlaw being passed at the federal and statelevels,” said Leonard Ryan, president of


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QuestSoft. “Integrating Compliance EAGLEinto Quantum ensures that Genpact usersare always in compliance with the newestregulations. Quantum’s transparent data-focused software platform ensures thatoriginators, closers and secondary mar-keters can all monitor the compliance sta-tus of the loan from the initial applicationthrough closing.”

Genpact’s Quantum MOS uses a data-driven approach to remove the silosbetween origination, closing and second-ary marketing. The software platformcombines automated decisioning andhighly efficient processing, resulting invaluable data and insights for more accu-rate underwriting. The automated qualitychecking combined with ComplianceEAGLE increases the pull through and low-ers loan repurchases due to impropercompliance.

Compliance EAGLE evaluates loan filesagainst a comprehensive suite of compli-ance regulations and standards, includingthe Home Mortgage Disclosure Act(HMDA), NMLS licensing, LEF reviews,RESPA fee tolerances, various exclusionarylists and flood determination require-ments, in addition to the Truth-in-LendingAct (TILA), and federal, state and local con-sumer and predatory lending laws.Additionally, Compliance EAGLE’s reviewsare widely accepted by many secondarymarket investors.

“Having the ability to integrate compli-ance checks into the loan process in everystep of the workflow enables enhancedrisk transparency and reduced costs in col-lecting, analyzing and reporting potentialissues before the loan closes,” said RobPommier, vice president of GenpactMortgage Services. “As a result, an investorwill no longer have to wait until the loanis closed to ensure compliance, and thatenhanced level of risk transparencyenables all parties to maximize pricingand profit potential.”

Mortgage Professionals to Watch� Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc.

(REMN) has announced the additionof Chris Wasinger and Brian Poling asregional managers in REMN’s Floridamarket.

� Eva Sharma and Rob Phillips havejoined Bay Equity Home Loans as

senior account executives, andSpencer Richardson has been namedBay Equity’s director of northwestproduction.

� Don Henig has been named manag-ing director of national sales forWalpole, Mass.-based MortgageMaster Inc.

� James Ryan has joined Wisconsin-based GSF Mortgage as a senior loanofficer.

� Cobalt Mortgage has named Kelly Leeas regional manager of the firm’s south-west, central and eastern Washington,Oregon and Idaho territories.

� Inlanta Mortgage has announced thepromotion of Carla Blazek to under-writing manager, and has announcedthe additions of Sherri Mayer as dis-closure desk analyst and Kerry Heus asclosing specialist.

� Calyx Software has added Jim Dymekto its new account sales team.


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http://veros.com

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Dear Mortgage Broker/Correspondent Lender/Retail Loan Officer

I’m pleased to introduce to you First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation. Some of you may

already know us. Whether you’re hearing our name for the first time, or have been with us for

years, I think you’ll be pleased by the steps we’re taking to help you help your customers.

You may have already noticed that your interactions with us on each transaction are faster,

smoother and more efficient. We’ve refined our process with new technology and a better

workflow, ensuring fewer people need to touch your file before the closing or purchase.

We want you to have time to do what you do best: work with your customer, rather than

processing loans and troubleshooting.

We are also working hard to provide options for our partners. Today’s market requires

maximum flexibility. We’re offering solutions regardless of the space you occupy in today’s

marketplace. Whether you are a mortgage broker seeking a common sense FHA and VA lender

with niche offerings; a flow seller looking to fill the voids with products like 203K or VA

manuals; a banker looking for a mini bulk / bulk buyer with competitive pricing and the fastest

purchase times in the industry to help create cash flow or warehouse line relief; or a retail loan

officer looking for a unique home that will allow you endless opportunities, FGMC offers real

options. We are delivering these every day for clients across the country.

One thing that won’t be changing is our focus. Our core philosophy continues to be the

foundation of what we do. We still believe strongly that borrowers deserve to be evaluated by

experienced, manual underwriting and common sense, rather than a simple DU and FICO

score. We wonder whatever happened to common sense when it comes to mortgage lending. We

exist to put good people into good homes. You deserve that, as do your customers. Your clients

are borrowers, not numbers.

We invite you to learn more about our product lines and services at www.FGMCwholesale.com

(wholesale); www.FGMCcorrespondent.com (correspondent); www.FGMCb2b.com (capital

markets); and www.FGMC.com (retail) so that we can show you exactly how we can help your

business grow. We are always open to your feedback on ways we can improve. The market may

be changing, but that can mean opportunity for you and your customers. We’d like the chance

to prove it to you.

Best regards,

Andrew Peters

Chief Executive Officer

First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation

Andrew Peters

www.fgmc.com (800) 296-2275

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Meet the sponsors …Christopher Delisle Esq.Equity SettlementServices Inc.Christopher Delisle Esq. has been withEquity Settlement Services Inc. since1986. He graduated Touro Law Schoolin 1998 with high honors. During histenure with Equity Settlement Services,he has gained extensive experience inall aspects of bank closings including,but not limited to, residential and com-mercial transactions.

Steven A. MilnerUS Mortgage CorporationSteven A. Milner, founder and chiefexecutive officer of US MortgageCorporation, has nearly 30 years ofexperience in the mortgage industry,having started his career as a loan offi-cer in 1981. Steven spent the first 18years of his professional career as amath teacher on Long Island. It was notuntil 1981 that he first took an interestin the mortgage industry when doing arefinance on his home.

Meet the originators …Barbara Gallagher(McDonald)Welcome MortgageBarbara Gallagher (McDonald) beganher career in the mortgage industry in1987. After working as president ofWelcome Mortgage Corporation, shepurchased the company in 2000 withher business partner, Mark DiLeo. Shehas been a special guest on 89.7 WGLSradio, as well as CN8’s “Real Life” andhas appeared on a number of newsbroadcasts, including NPR.

Anthony J. Gatto, CRMP, CSAMorgan Hill Funding LLCand Reverse ChoiceAnthony J. Gatto, CRMP, CSA is thefounder of Morgan Hill Funding LLC andReverse Choice, Morgan Hill Funding’sreverse mortgage division. Anthonybegan his career in the mortgage indus-try in 1997, and was introduced toreverse mortgages in 2000. He openedMorgan Hill Funding LLC/Reverse Choicein 2010 in order to follow his passionfor reverse mortgages and his dedica-tion to serving the senior community.He was previously a branch manager forAllied Home Mortgage CapitalCorporation from 2000-2010, and AlliedHome Mortgage’s state manager forNew Jersey from 2007-2010, and also

served as their qualifier in New Yorkfrom 2009-2010. Anthony is currently aboard member of the New JerseyAssociation of Mortgage Brokers(NJAMB).

Ed KenmurePrimeSourceEd Kenmure has been in the mortgagebusiness since 1984. Ed was presidentand chief executive officer of UnitedCommunity Mortgage Corporation. Heorchestrated an acquisition merger withPrimeSource, a publicly-traded compa-ny, a little over one year ago.

Edward O’ConnorGeneration MortgageEdward O’Connor is the eastern region-al manager of retail sales withGeneration Mortgage Company and aCertified Reverse Mortgage Professional(CRMP). Previously, he was the presi-dent of Advanced Funding SolutionsInc., a reverse mortgage broker licensedin three states. He has been involved inthe financial services industry for morethan 25 years, having started as a loanofficer and then product manager forChase Bank. Ed owned his own account-ing and tax practice for 16 years prior tobeing in the mortgage industry and is alicensed Enrolled Agent by the IRS. He isalso the co-founder and chairman ofthe Long Island chapter of the NationalAging in Place Council, and is a retiredNassau County Police Detective.

Steven PorterQwest Mortgage Inc.Steven Porter of Qwest Mortgage Inc.has been originating mortgages formore than 32 years. Previously aPlatinum Club Loan Officer for Bank ofAmerica, Steven has been president ofQwest Mortgage Inc. since August of2000. Steven was the very first mort-gage originator licensed by thePennsylvania Department of Banking.

Dave PresselWest Town Savings BankDave Pressel is managing partner ofthe New Jersey Retail Division of WestTown Savings Bank in Manalapan,N.J., a conventional and FHA/VAlender originating in all 50 states.Dave is in his 23rd year in the mort-gage industry, and has been ranked inthe top tier of producing loan officersin the country, averaging $75 millionin personal closed loan productionper year.

Jeff Van NoteJersey MortgageWith 10-plus years of industry experi-ence, Jeff Van Note of Jersey Mortgagehas emerged as an industry leader.Recognized for top-level performance,superior customer service and expert-ise in the industry, Jeff has successful-ly helped clients from all walks of lifeachieve their financial goals andobjectives.

The Secret Habits of Highly-Effective Loan Originators

Roundtable Discussion Held in Atlantic City at Annual Regional Conference of MBAs

As part of the 19th Annual Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations, held in March at theTrump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., seven of the industry’s top originators wereassembled to share what’s making them a success today to discuss the latest industry happenings. Thepanel, consisting of mortgage professionals of varying degrees of experience under their respective belts,all agreed that making it in today’s industry is not about pushing as many apps through their offices aspossible. They agreed that, in order to make it in today’s mortgage landscape, mortgage professionalsmust properly plan, exercise patience and be proactive. In this discussion, these originators share theirsecret habits that make them a success.

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Moderator: What are some of theindustry issues that keep you up atnight?Dave Pressel: Other than the kids … Ithink I’m very fortunate that not toomuch keeps me up at night. After 22years, I am still in love with this indus-try. I love what I do. I’m good at it, andI enjoy it. I get as much out of it as itgives back to me. I think that can besaid for any industry that you have apassion for. I think there’s a differencebetween work stress and not enjoyingyour job, and I tell all my loan officersthe same thing … look at this as acareer and not as a job. If you look atthis as a career, there could be a loveaffair for years and years. You know thething that keeps me up at night is nothaving this industry tomorrow.

Barbara Gallagher (McDonald): Every-body played a part in the downturn ofthe housing market in my opinion. Theborrower played a part, real estateagents played a part, mortgage bankersplayed a part and the securities marketalso played a part. Everybody whothought they knew what they weredoing knew the writing was on the wall.And the big deal, what keeps me up atnight, is that those option ARMs havenot come yet. What is negative hascome from everything else, we have notseen the fallout yet from the optionARMs … they are still in the twos. Ithink we still have that to worry about.

Anthony J. Gatto: I don’t think theoption ARMs are as bad as we perceivethem to be. I think if there had to be avillain in this whole crisis, I would say itwas the big banks. They were the oneswho went to Capitol Hill, they got in thebus, they drove over us back and forth,because somebody had to go down forthis and brokers were the weakest link.The brokers were the weakest targetand they really took the brunt of it.Most of those option ARMs that I seecome across to try to refinance, I can’trefinance them.

Barbara Gallagher (McDonald): Becausethey are still in the twos.

Anthony J. Gatto: Yeah, who wants torefinance a deal that you’re in the twosand threes?

Barbara Gallagher (McDonald): But thatdoesn’t mean that there’s not a conse-quence for that or that it’s …

Anthony J. Gatto: No, you’re perceivinga future consequence. I think a biggerconsequence that we had in our indus-try was that it was overbuilt. There wasmore product available at any giventime that really brought down theentire industry. It wasn’t necessarily thefinancing, it was that the market wassaturated with inventory.

Steven Porter: It was the cause andeffect.

Anthony J. Gatto: Yeah. The buildersjust continued to build and build.

Steven Milner: I find that a big challengeis keeping up with continuing educa-tion requirements. I have backgroundin education. I was a school teacher for18 years before I got into the businesspart-time to make a few extra bucks. Itry to set the example for all of my sales-people. If I can do it, they too can do it.We all know the challenges associatedwith licensing. It’s a challenge we facein all of our organizations.

Barbara Gallagher (McDonald): Anotherthing that worries me is when you arelicensed in 50 states and must keep upwith continuing education. I think that’sdifficult, but what panicked me was theaudit. Getting audited by 50 statesbecause we just went through twoaudits and it was so time-consuming itwas unbelievable. I’m in a 10-personshop, so it’s a huge thing and the billshaven’t come in for them yet. But whatkeeps me up at night is what the futureholds as far as mounting business. Ithink that what we’re not saying is thatwe have had rates below the four per-cent mark for so long, that the housingmarket is eventually going to startcreeping up again. Eventually, it mightnot be right away, but eventually. I’mnot an expert, but it seems to me thatafter 25 years of doing this, I’m thinkingof an equilibrium in the market atabout six or seven percent. Don’t youthink that’s where rates probablyshould be?

Ed Kenmure: With all the sour invento-ry, foreclosures and short sales comingoff the market, the prices are going tostay down, the rates will creep up, it’scyclical. It always happens. It’s a pur-chase market. I’m probably doing halfyour business, but it’s more profitablebecause the loan officers are on com-mission, I’m not spending all thismoney on leads. People look at produc-tion and companies looking to go from$40 million a month to $70 million, butat what cost?

Moderator: What trends do you see inthe current mortgage marketplace?Anthony J. Gatto: There are definitely alot less of us in the industry these days.

I remember when I first took a positionwith Allied, there were 44,000 loan offi-cers in the state of New Jersey alone.

Ed Kenmure: What year was that? Therewere 60,000 loan officers in New Jerseyin 2006. I wonder what that number istoday?

Anthony J. Gatto: I think today, it sits atonly 4,500 to 5,000 in New Jersey.

Ed Kenmure: And that’s a recentincrease … it had been sitting ataround 2,800.

Anthony J. Gatto: I see, even with myown children and their friends, thatthere’s a little bit of a mind shift, achange in thinking as to what this gen-eration expects out of life. I think ourgeneration was a lot more driven.

Ed Kenmure: We’ve made it easy forthem.

Anthony J. Gatto: Well, it’s more a qual-ity of life issue to them than it is to us.To us, we’re tied to our job in morethan one way. It’s more than just aplace to go to make a living, it repre-sents our identity, our ego and so manyother things because I think that’s theenvironment we grew up in. They grewup in an easier environment becausewe made it easier for them, we sentthem all to school and they got greateducations. I went to a community col-lege, I paid my own tuition … we didn’thave that. Not that I’m complainingbecause I think that provided me withthe motivation to go out and want tosucceed, but college may not be foreverybody.

Jeff Van Note: It’s not for everybody.

Anthony J. Gatto: We don’t have enoughengineers in this country as everybodyhas already seen, but we have more arthistory majors than there are museumsin the world.

Jeff Van Note: And too many accountants.

Anthony J. Gatto: Right … so not every-body needs to go to college and spendthat kind of money, but I think themindset of that younger generation isreally going to change a lot of things inour society. People are not looking at itlike “I don’t need that big house.” And I

think the days of the McMansions aregone. Nobody wants to spend themoney on property taxes especially in astate like New Jersey … they’re crazy. Ijust see that as a phase that we’rethrough and how this business is goingto evolve is going to depend a lot onyour generation like Jeff [Van Note] andhow they perceive they want to livetheir life.

Jeff Van Note: In my opinion, I see moreof minority buyers coming out into themarket. I am seeing more Dominican,Puerto Rican and African-Americanfamilies who are coming out to buyhomes. In areas like the Throggs Necksection near the Bronx, and it’s morelike a blue collar society where youhave your Con Ed guys, sanitation guysand members of the New York PoliceDepartment … they’re the ones whoare buying there. They are the oneswho started in sanitation because theirparents said, “Listen, you are going tostart in a New York City job when you’re18-years-old and you’ll be out in 22-25years.” I see that market buying as well.Like everyone else, I’ve done loans forpeople who are my age. They’re saying,“You know what, I don’t want to workfor 30 to 40 years, and want to get outin 25 years with a full pension.”

Barbara Gallagher (McDonald): Therewas a point a few years ago when Iwanted to get out of this businessbecause I was sick of competing againstthe liars and the rates and everybody’spricing. I never thought of myself insales, and I ended up just completelycrazy, but I thought I would be in bank-ing … I never thought of it as sales anda commission, I think of it as …

Ed Kenmure: The deal and providingthe service for someone …

Barbara Gallagher (McDonald): Exactly.I mean, to me, it never seemed like Iwas a salesperson and the first time theperson who hired me called me a sales-person I was almost insulted. It’s a dif-ferent mentality because that’s what Ifelt for a long time. I can honestly tellyou that I have never lost a loan in ayear on price because people don’tprice you when they are a repeat cus-tomer. The most loyal person is arepeat customer and I know they say

Christopher Delisle Esq. of Equity Settlement Services Inc.with Steven A. Milner of US Mortgage Corporation andEdward O’Connor of Generation Mortgage

Steven Porter of Qwest Mortgage and BarbaraGallagher (McDonald) of Welcome Mortgage


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you have to ask them for business, butI’ve never asked a repeat customer forbusiness. I tell them in the beginningthat I work on referrals. Even my officewalls are covered with thank you notesand it puts it in their mind.

Moderator: Can you discuss your busi-ness model and what it takes to make itin today’s marketplace?Jeff Van Note: I have been around thebusiness my entire life. My family hasbeen in it since the late 70s/early 80s, soI’ve seen everything from the booms tothe collapses. The way I was told to dobusiness literally was get dressed up, puton a suit and a tie and get out there. Idon’t care who owns a real estate office,where it is, what part of the neighbor-hood it’s in … I just walk in there, dropoff business cards and stay visible, go toopen houses and work on the weekends.What separates me from everyone else isthat I got in when everyone else was get-ting out. When people experienceddownturns and a slowing of business, ithurt them big time. I was getting in withthe family, I was in the right place righttime. The biggest thing that was said tome was if you don’t work on Saturdaysand Sundays, you’re not going to make itin this business because 99 percent ofyour competition doesn’t work the week-ends. So above and beyond, give out theservice, but don’t over-promise … under-promise and over-deliver. And that’spretty much the foundation of doing anybusiness—properly do it, do it the rightway, don’t pay kickbacks, don’t pay refer-ral fees, go out there and create value foryourself and people will appreciate that.That’s how I’d build my business.

Ed Kenmure: I’m going through anacquisition and a merger, and prior tothat, I was a full-time mortgage banker.We were talking about this before … thedumbing down of America … I don’treally want to call it the dumbing downof America, but I believe there are peoplewho should be working in assemblyplants and out in the field and farmingand whatever, and then they are throwninto a service business. I’m finding that,across the country, when I used to con-trol it and being on the East Coast andmost of my business is in five states onthe East Coast, I can control it and candetermine what the regulations are andwhat the rules are and how to under-write them. Now that I’m part of a largerorganization, underwriting is being done

in either Oklahoma, the Midwest … Ican’t get underwriters to read tax returns… every day it’s something new.

Moderator: Have you noted any particu-lar trends in the hiring of loan officers?Edward O’Connor: That is one of thingsI’m concerned about … how do youattract now and keep competent loan offi-cers? If you want to come and work forme, you are coming because you are look-ing for a career in this industry. If you justwant a job and a payday, you probably willdo better at a being broker because theywill pay you more, but you’re not going toget all the other benefits and support andeverything else I can possibly offer. I wantpeople who I can bring on now in a com-fortable market that I know are going tobe competent enough to stick aroundwhen it gets different. I won’t say “bad,”but it’s going be different … a year or twofrom now it’s going to be very different.The question is how do you find andattract people who understand some ofthese things, for this to be a career, notjust a payday?

Steven Milner: We know the characteris-tics that go into a good salesperson soyou just have to evaluate, as quickly aspossible, whether or not that a candi-date has the ability to make it. You mayhave to go through 10 candidatesthrough your training program, youreducation program, your motivationprogram, which is important, to end upwith someone who may excel. I thinkthere should be more emphasis on thenewbies. What we try to do is really tryto show them the income potential andbreak it down and get very granularabout it. We ask them how much theywant to make at the end of the year?Want to make $50,000 … want to make$100,000? Well, how many loans do youhave to close? How many applicationsdo they have to take? How many creditreports do you have to take?

Edward O’Connor: I have found, in thelast four years attending various con-ventions, I said to my associates, “Lookaround, what’s different?” They’d agreethat there were a lot less vendors.“That’s obvious … what’s next? Tell mewhat you don’t see?, I’d ask. There areno more big company outings and par-ties, not many flashy gimmicks, etc. …we’re back to the guys like us. We start-ed 20 years ago. Most of the people atthis convention now [the 29th Annual

MBA Regional Conference of MBAs], inmy opinion, haven’t been on the flooryet today because they have yet to setup their own booth … they are theowners and managers. This is the way itused to be when I first got into theindustry in the 1980s. We went throughthat period of craziness and it’s actuallyback to that point where I can sit withsomeone and they can show me whatthey have and how it works.

Christopher Delisle Esq.: From ourapproach, we are recognizing also whatEdward [O’Connor] just mentioned, whenwe see a much more quality loan officerin the industry today. We have found thatcustomer satisfaction has increasedtremendously, and we are beginning tosee the evolution of a better and brighterloan originator. We’re seeing that thequality of the product and the serviceoffered is vastly improving.

Jeff Van Note: I think we should focuson attracting new employees withvalue, not with dollar amount. Anyonecould pay somebody, anyone could buysomebody, but if you upgrade the valuethen they stay loyal to you, because I’veseen it at Jersey Mortgage.

Dave Pressel: If I’m up against 10 people,I go into it thinking... and I have the samerate and similar costs, I think I get theloan 70 percent of the time. That’s notconceit, that’s not ego, it’s confidence.And that’s bred from many, many yearsof doing business. Have I lost deals?Absolutely. Look, me personally, over thelast three years, I’ve probably closed close$275 million dollars myself. No otherloan officers, just my business. It does notmake me any better a loan officer thanany person in this room. It just meansthat I do a lot of business. There are plen-ty of people, it’s like any other industry,there are plenty of people out there whodo a lot of business that have the intelli-gence of a brick. And there are peopleout there who are incredibly intelligentand don’t do a lot of business. It’s basi-cally a matter of drive, it’s a matter ofapplication, ethics, integrity, and learn-ing your craft and knowing your trade.

Moderator: Where do you see the futureof the industry headed?Jeff Van Note: If you look at a mortgagebank that has been in business for 20years, you’ve been through ups anddowns and are still here … that’s pretty

solid. If you’ve been around for three tofive years, you really haven’t seen any-thing yet.

Edward O’Connor: There were peoplewho got into this industry in the middleof the boom and could barely knowhow to fold a napkin, but they mademoney in the industry. And now, therules and the NMLS [NationwideMortgage Licensing System] has proba-bly gotten rid of about half those peo-ple and there are still some left. Theyare the ones who still want to makefour points on every deal.

Edward Kenmure: Can’t do it. The newblood can’t do it because it doesn’teven make sense as they’re never goingto write lower loans. I found peoplewhen they got to a point to renegotiatethe agreement, they always did less.Why? Because they made more. Well, Ionly have to do this many loans andthey got that big check. I had guys whoI wouldn’t see for 30 days after theyclosed three loans in a month.

Edward O’Connor: I call them “BigWatch Guys” because the first thing theydid was they got this big check and theywent out and got this fancy watch and aboat, they had the car with the $700 amonth payment.

Jeff Van Note: You would see people inthis business where it’s almost insult-ing. You see somebody and you’redoing great at $100,000 a year and yousaw the used car salesman and the usedshoe salesman who comes in are mak-ing $200,000 and you think to yourself,“I know more than him, I do things bet-ter than him, I’ve been around longerthan him, he’s just overcharging peo-ple, he’s making more money thanme.”

Steven Milner: I believe that when peo-ple perceive that rates are going up,they make a decision to purchase,which is the opposite of what most peo-ple think. They get off the fence. Supplyand demand will increase values. That’sEconomics 101.

Anthony J. Gatto: It’s a different worldtoday, and I jumped on the technologyexpress a long time ago and I’m a firmbeliever in it. I think what I’ve seencome from it has really been leaps andbounds over suit and tie. I mean thereis a place and time for that, but I thinkto open a market you really have to goin from the technological standpointand start developing what you think isgoing to bring in business. I don’t relyas much on personal relationships withRealtors and I see they tend to, overtime, unless you develop a deep per-sonal relationship with them, thatRealtors are not very loyal in my opin-ion, and you know loyalty is a hardthing to find.

Dave Pressel of West Town Savings Bank withSteven A. Milner of US Mortgage Corporation

Anthony J. Gatto of Morgan Hill Funding LLCand Reverse Choice and Edward O’Connor ofGeneration Mortgage

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Have you ever tried to balance a tri-angle upside-down? You’ll find thatit’s not only difficult, but impossible

because there is no foundation to supportit. Many of us find ourselves trying to bal-ance upside-down triangles in our busi-ness. Instead of always trying to tem-porarily make up for a weak foundation,we need to take time in our planning toslow down and realize that some thingssimply won’t work without a strong foot-ing. How do we turn these “upside-downtriangles” around?

As a mortgage loan originator, you arerushed and pressured from all sides to getthings done. It can range from delays inour highly-regulated lending climate, to aRealtor setting a closing date two weekstoo short without seeking counsel. Eitherway, being rushed is never an excuse totreat your career as a game of Jenga. Weneed to carefully take the time to ensurethat all sectors of our business start with astrong foundation so that the pieces don’tcome crashing down. With a strong foun-dation built around effective systems, youwill naturally become proactive ratherthan reactive.

A foundation in business can be smallor large. For example, on the smallerscale, if you don’t have written goals andobjectives prioritized each day in writing,there is no foundation to build a produc-tive day from. On a larger scale, you needa true vision and mission for your busi-ness to effectively develop the founda-tions which you plan to build from. Yourbusiness will be unable to grow and trulysucceed if you do not take the time to

Solidify Your Foundation“We need to carefully take the

time to ensure that all sectors ofour business start with a strong

foundation so that the pieces don’t come crashing down.”

Sponsored Editorial

The Dodd-Frank Act:New Mortgage Servicing

Rules on the Horizon

By Laurie Spira

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and ConsumerProtection Act imposes several new requirements relatedto the servicing of mortgage loans. These new require-ments will take effect automatically on Jan. 21, 2013,

unless the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issues final rulesprior to that date. On April 9, the CFPB offered a sneak peek at its planto formally propose mortgage servicing rules this summer and finalizethem by January 2013.

The proposed rules under consideration were announced by the CFPBunder the banner of “Putting the Service Back in Mortgage Servicing: NoSurprises, No Runaround.” To accomplish this goal, the proposed rulesbeing considered would require servicers to provide:

� Monthly mortgage statements that break down principal, interest,fees, escrows and due dates.

� Disclosures before adjusting interest rates on adjustable rate mort-gage loans.

� Notices prior to charging the borrower for force-placed insurance,plus special procedures for borrowers with escrow accounts and rulesfor terminating force-placed insurance.

� Same-day crediting of monthly payments, with special rules for par-tial payments.

� Timely response to borrower notification of possible errors, and fordelinquent borrowers, early information about options for avoidingforeclosure.

� Direct, ongoing access to staff who are dedicated to servicing troubledborrowers.

The rules being considered would also require servicers to establishinformation management policies and implement procedures designedto minimize errors and facilitate quick corrections.

Also on April 9, the CFPB published an outline prepared for a SmallBusiness Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) panel, which pro-vides a preliminary assessment of the potential benefits and costs to thetypes of small business and other small entities that would be subject tothe proposals being considered, including community banks, creditunions, independent servicers, small non-profit organizations, andpotentially, small government jurisdictions. Included in the outline wereprototype periodic statements, adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) resetnotices, and force-placed insurance notices that have been tested withconsumers in different parts of the country. Also attached was a detaileddescription of procedures being considered for error resolution andresponding to borrower inquiries.

Accordingly, servicers and lenders that act as either the master ser-vicer or sub-servicer for mortgage loans may wish to monitor develop-ments with this proposed servicing rule.

Laurie Spira is chief compliance officer with Torrance, Calif.-basedDocMagic Inc. She may be reached by phone at (800) 649-1362, ext. 6446or e-mail [email protected].

focus on the most important part of thestructure. You need this solid footing tokeep the walls strong during the stormsour industry tends to face.

If you feel that you’re lost, start over.Develop your business plan and objec-tives, and determine what is most impor-tant to help meet these goals and objec-tives. This might include recreating entireoperating systems already in place bymaking sure that each hole is filled andeach crack is sealed. Or maybe some areworking effectively, but you need to makesome changes. Either way, without sup-port, things tend to fall over. Don’t rely ontemporary short-term “fixes” in business,and instead, focus on the long-term low-est supporting layers.

Tip of the month …Smile. You’ll be surprised on howrewarding it can be to yourself and oth-ers around you.

Andy W. Harris, CRMS is president andowner of Lake Oswego, Ore.-based VantageMortgage Group Inc. and 2010-2011 presi-dent of the Oregon Association of MortgageProfessionals. He may be reached byphone at (877) 496-0431 or e-mail [email protected] or visitAndyHarrisMortgage.com.

• Daily updated mortgage industry news

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national events• Get access to video

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we’re committedto brokers!

IN:

Call Bijan Farassat at 917-731-4870or email [email protected] ID# 646654

IN:

Call Lisa Constant at 516-640-8375or email [email protected] ID# 646655

A Member of the New York Association of Mortgage Brokers

Markets may be volatile, but there’s one thing you can always count on, the total commitment of our Mortgage Team. Loyalty, continuity of service and our dedication to protecting the integrity of our relationships are just a few of the things that set us apart.

Ridgewood understands the needs of its communities and develops specific product benefits to meet those needs.

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nmp news flash continued from page 16

Although not ready yet ready to crackthe top 10, hard hit housing markets inFlorida are starting to see signs ofappreciation.

Inland California and Nevada mar-kets make up seven of the top bottom10 markets. Recoveries in these areaswill be a long time in coming due toextremely high unemployment ratesthat vary between 11 and 16 percent, aswell as high foreclosure and mortgagedelinquency rates. Additionally,Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle arethree big cities not expected to fare wellin the next year.

NAMB Joins CoalitionSeeking Clarity FromCFPB on QM Definition

NAMB—The Association of MortgageProfessionals has announced that it hasjoined a coalition of trade associations andhousing interest groups with ties to themortgage industry in submitting a letter toRichard Cordray, Director of the ConsumerFinancial Protection Bureau (CFPB), con-cerning the implementation of theQualified Mortgage (QM) that addresses,among other things, the borrower’s ability-to-repay.

“NAMB supports a broader QM defini-

tion that establishes strong consumer pro-tections while promoting mortgage liquid-ly and affordability to the consumer seek-ing mortgage financing,” said Donald J.Frommeyer, president of NAMB. “We needto be careful when defining a borrower’s‘ability-to-repay.’”

NAMB believes that verifying a con-sumers’ income, assets and employment isimportant, but it makes the QM rule nar-row. Under the QM rule as written, manypotential borrowers do not qualify for amortgage. A narrow definition of a QM maycreate higher rates and fees and less accessto credit to potential homebuyers.

The current definition of a QM as it iswritten per the Dodd-Frank Act also limitsthe availability of credit to consumers dueto the three percent cap and fees rule. Thecurrent cap and fees limit of three percentincludes escrow account deposits, lendercompensation, and affiliated escrow andtitle fees, thus hurting particularly low- tomoderate-income buyers where homeprices and loan amounts are lower.

“Our primary concern is for the overallhealth of the national economy,” saidJohn H. P. Hudson, Government AffairsCommittee chairman of NAMB. “If the ‘qual-ified mortgage’ is too narrowly defined withitems that really do not measure a con-sumer’s ability-to-repay, then consumerswill simply not have access to credit whichwill further perpetuate the economic woes continued on page 40

this country faces. Imagine what the econo-my would look like if the nation’s auto man-ufacturers lost the ability to finance theirproducts? There are better ways to measurea consumer’s ability-to-repay, such as resid-ual income requirements.”

CFPB Seeks to EnhanceConsumer Protections byTargeting the MortgageServicing Sector

The Consumer Fi-nancial ProtectionBureau (CFPB) hasoutlined rules that

it is considering to help protect mortgageborrowers from being hit by costly surprisesor getting the runaround from their mort-gage servicer. The CFPB plans to formallypropose rules during the summer and final-ize them in January 2013. The CFPB expectsto publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemakingthis summer, which will be followed by apublic comment period. The rule will befinalized by Jan. 21, 2013. The CFPB can pro-vide up to one year for implementation, buthas not yet decided how long of a transitionperiod is necessary.

“The mortgage servicing rules we areconsidering reflect two basic, common-sense principles—no surprises and norunarounds,” said CFPB Director RichardCordray. “For too long, mortgage servicershave not been held accountable to theircustomers, and the result has been pro-foundly punishing to homeowners in dis-tress. It’s time to put the ‘service’ back inmortgage servicing.”

The rules under consideration by the

CFPB are aimed at tackling two underlyingservicing problems: A lack of transparencyand lack of accountability. To bring greatertransparency to the servicing market, theCFPB is considering rules that would pro-vide consumers with clear and timelyinformation about changes to their mort-gages so they can avoid costly surprises.

“The reforms that Director Cordray out-lined appear to closely track the issues wehave talked to him and the CFPB staffabout and MBA looks forward to workingwith the CFPB and other policymakers andstakeholders to ensure that the processused to develop the standards includes ser-vicers of different sizes and business mod-els,” said David H. Stevens, President andCEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association(MBA). “It is important that the final rulesdon’t give preference to one business typeover any other, nor should they inhibitinnovation or discourage new companiesfrom entering the marketplace.”

In developing the proposed mortgageservicing rules, the CFPB plans to engageextensively with consumers and industry.The documents that the CFPB will be shar-ing with a Small Business Review Panel forfeedback include an overview of the rulesunder consideration and a list of questionsfor input. The Small Business Review Panelwill provide its comments and the CFPBwill consider them when formulatingproposed rules. The CFPB will also beconducting other outreach to gatherfeedback from consumer groups, indus-try, and other agencies.

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United WholesaleMortgage Announces theAddition of USDA Loans

United Wholesale Mort-g a g e ( U W M ) h a sannounced the addi-tion of USDA (United

States Department of Agriculture) loansto enhance its existing government plat-form of Federal Housing Administration(FHA) and U.S. Department of VeteransAffairs (VA) loan programs. UWM is cur-rently recognized throughout the bro-ker community as a top governmentlender and one of the largest-producingwholesale lenders in the country.

“Adding USDA to our portfolio ofproducts gives our brokers the ability toexpand their client base and capturemore market share,” said Mat Ishbia,president of UWM. “Our goal is to helpbrokers grow and maintain their busi-ness by providing them with a widearray of products and cutting edge tech-nology. We want brokers across thecountry to think of UWM as their one-stop shop for success.”

UWM attributes their purchase vol-ume growth to their understanding ofthe importance of hitting purchase con-tract dates for mortgage originators,borrowers and real estate agents.

“The USDA product is a substantialpart of the purchase business in manyareas throughout the country, andthese loans offer incredible benefits toborrowers,” said Ishbia.

Details of UWM’s USDA productinclude: A 30-year fixed rate; zero per-cent down; financed closing costs; com-petitively low rates; and financed appli-ances with minimal restrictions.

Calyx Launches Point and PointCentral 7.6

Calyx Softwarehas announcedthe launch of

Point and PointCentral 7.6. This latestversion updates compliance functional-ity and offers improved integration withinterface vendors to help clients furtherstreamline mortgage operations. Inresponse to client requests and compli-ance needs, Point 7.6 introduces aUniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP)screen for efficient delivery of UniformAppraisal Dataset (UAD) files to FannieMae and Freddie Mac. The UniformLoan Delivery Dataset (ULDD) reporting

functionality, which Calyx offers at noadditional charge, has been enhancedwith additional fields in the XML file. Anew RegulatorConnect report will helpCalyx users submit e-Exam data to audi-tors. In an effort to further streamline useroperations, Calyx enhanced the interfaceswith closing doc vendors with additionalfields. Additionally, interfacing withLoanScoreCard is streamlined with short-cut buttons in multiple locations.

PointCentral 7.6 offers users strongersecurity with password managementand administration of file operationsfor specific users or user groups. It alsogives administrators the ability toassign other user’s files to another useror user group. PointCentral administra-tors will also experience greater flexibil-ity using business rules with additionalcomparisons to rules definitions.

“We’ve been looking forward tolaunching 7.6 because it offers numer-ous new features and updated forms,”said Jody Collup, director of marketingfor Calyx Software. “While there are afew compliance updates, functionalityand upgrades were our main focus forthis release and we’ve been able toaddress our most popular clientrequests. Many of our users will benefiteven further with the May 10 WebCasterupdate that powers the neweDisclosure feature in Point 7.6 andmakes automated document request,collection, and storage a very conven-ient reality.”

Mortech LaunchesMarksman Marketplaceto Enhance LeadGeneration Efforts

Mortech Inc. has announced the launchof Marksman Marketplace, a mortgagequoting product specifically designedfor Web site owners. MarksmanMarketplace’s rate platform allows Website visitors to view, compare and shopreal-time mortgage rates from mort-gage lenders nationwide. After submit-ting loan criteria, consumers are servedinstant mortgage information from mort-gage bankers. Rate data is pulled directlyfrom participating MarksmanLMP Lenders,allowing for current, company-specificmortgage information. Web site publisherscan easily incorporate an additional

Marketing in 2012: Tips to Maximize your Marketing Dollars

Follow the trendsIf the big word in the industry is HARP 2.0, don’t try to go against the grain and marketfor something else. The public is well-aware of the changes in the mortgage industry, andis keeping up on buzzwords like “FHA STREAMLINE” and “HARP.” Find a marketingmeans that works for you and your budget and get to work.

Don’t try to reinvent the wheelWhen you go to trade shows or speak with colleagues about how great their own cam-paigns are working, go after the same thing! The marketing is working because the marketis accepting it. Anyone who tries to tell you that they are the best marketer because they justknow, isn’t worth your time. Find a marketing firm that follows the trends, and then followthem yourself. The market will always show you how to best offer your products.

Test, measure, test againMany people begin a new marketing campaign with a new marketing firm and thinkthat they should be setting records right away. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Infact, in most cases, the first campaign is only the beginning. Campaign number three orfour is where they really start paying off.

Talk to others who are successfulPeople who successfully market commit the resources necessary to find a campaign thatworks for them. This can be exhausting, but once you find your niche, it will pay divi-dends; and you must exploit it. This is the campaign that gives you the return-on-investment (ROI) you need while being versatile enough to change as guidelines do.

Find a sales approach that works for youMany people have had less than profitable results trying their own marketing at one pointor another. Chances are that this is because one of three things has happened:

1.) Wrong campaignYou must find a marketing campaign that works with your own sales ability.

2.) Wrong companyThere are plenty of quality marketing firms to work with. Don’t try to manage yourown marketing. Let the professionals help you. You’ve got loans to close or an officeto run. A professional marketing firm can make your year, while managing yourmarketing and saving you valuable time and resources.

3.) Market the product that your most comfortable withAll too often, salespeople want to jump onboard with a marketing campaign just be-cause they talked to a colleague who made it work well. Find a product that you’rean expert on. Credibility is key to all sales and marketing, and if you don’t fully un-derstand what you’re selling, it’s going to be hard to build that credibility. Take the low-hanging fruit first.

Tips for 2012� Direct mail responses are up. If you haven’t tried direct mail in a while, it might be time

to give it a try again. � Internet leads work if you work them. Don’t expect to make an easy buck … those days

are over. If you must use them, make sure you get exclusive Internet leads, and notthose $10 (sold 10 times) ones.

� Live transfers are a thing of the past. With as many as 90 percent of the population onthe Do-Not-Call List, telemarketing just isn’t what it used to be.

� New data files are available specifically for the mortgage industry. You don’t have toget set up with credit bureaus to get qualified data anymore. Mail houses won’t haveit, but good marketing firms will.

� Trigger leads are still being sold by the credit bureaus. Stay aware of what methodsyour competitors are using. Whether you are using them or not, it’s a reality that mustbe dealt with.

� FHA is going to be BIG next month, get started early. Chances are, your competitionhas already got something in the works.

� Last, but not least, ride the HARP 2.0 wave! This has been the biggest thing to hit themortgage industry since 2009!

Medford, Ore.-based TagQuest is a full-service marketing firm created specifically forthe ever-changing business world. TagQuest assists companies with their direct mar-keting, advertising and branding needs, and knows what it takes to generate qualitycustomers and, most importantly, how to retain those customers for years to come.TagQuest brings forth a unique opportunity to utilize our experience and expertise invarying consumer sales and marketing environments. For more information, call(888) 717-8980 or visit Tagquest.com.

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Marketing in 2012: Tips to Maximize Your Marketing Dollars

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#1 USDA RD lender in multiple states

Quality FHA/VA lender Innovative technologyDirect access to your underwriterInstant closing docs

www.PolarisHFC.com616-667-9000

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source of revenue, while providingadded value to Web site visitors.

Lenders gain access to borrowerswhile they are in the buy zone.Interested consumers are sent directlyto the lender, creating an extremelyhigh caliber of leads. Lenders canquickly move borrowers through thesales process by directing them to amortgage application within theirMarksmanLMP account to continue thequalification process.

“We all know borrowers are turningto the Internet for real estate and mort-gage information,” said Don Kracl,president of Mortech. “Our goal withthe Marksman Marketplace is to assistthese sites with their traffic flow andintroduce the consumer to a reliablelender. It cultivates the relationship alender can build with a motivatedgroup of consumers, increasing thelikelihood mortgage shoppers will con-vert into closed loans.”

Lenders ComplianceGroup Announces NewMortgage Broker and LOCompliance Service

Lenders Compliance Group Inc. (LCG)has announced the formation ofBrokers Compliance Group, a newmortgage compliance service exclusive-ly devoted to offering regulatory com-pliance support to mortgage brokersand loan originators (LOs).

“My colleagues and I feel that mort-gage brokers and loan originators havebeen traditionally underserved by com-pliance professionals,” said JonathanFoxx, LCG’s president and managingdirector. “We are able to offer cost-effective, high-quality compliance sup-port to this important group that is inmuch need of timely, reliable, andessential compliance guidance.”

In addition to a presence on Twitterand Facebook, Brokers Compliance Grouphas established the following free commu-nications portals, as part of its new launch:Brokers Compliance Group Web site;Brokers Compliance Group SocialCommunity; and the Brokers ComplianceGroup LinkedIn Group.

Brokers Compliance Group will offercompliance support services designed formortgage brokers, including: Policies andProcedures; Due Diligence Reviews;Ongoing Compliance Administration;Direct Access to Compliance Experts;Disclosure Reviews; Training andEducation; Three Economical Plans;Regulatory Hotline; and a Weekly Column.

The Brokers Compliance GroupLinkedIn Group is an Open Group devotedto sharing updates, news, and views aboutthe unique mortgage compliance needs ofresidential mortgage brokers and mort-gage loan originators. The SocialCommunity venue is a Closed Group, avail-able only to mortgage brokers and LOswho are interested in mortgage compli-ance news and solutions. LCG will main-tain the community, monitor discussions,

and encourage feedback.There are three service plans, depend-

ing on the client’s compliance needs. Largeand small mortgage brokers will be served,with smaller mortgage brokers being per-mitted to form cooperatives to receivecompliance services as a group. LCG willeven act as an ombudsman to place small-er brokers into cooperative arrangements,where necessary.

“Our focus is on the unique complianceneeds of mortgage brokers and loan origi-nators, who want to know as much as pos-sible about the compliance requirementsrelating to originating residential mortgageloan products,” said Foxx. “If you are amortgage broker or a loan originator, Ihope you will contact us to take advantageof the initiatives offered by BrokersCompliance Group.”

ClosingCorp and MortechPartner to EnhanceSmartClosing MortgageCalculator

C l o s i n g C o r p h a sannounced a partner-ship with Nebraska-based Mortech Inc., amortgage technology

software company specializing in solu-tions for mortgage banking operationsand secondary market teams. Mortech’smortgage quoting platform, MarksmanMarketplace, will be integrated withClosingCorp’s SmartClosing MortgageCalculator to provide mortgage data,giving borrowers that use the calculatorthe ability to shop for mortgage ratesfrom lenders nationwide.

Because the calculator also includesClosingCorp’s accurate closing cost data,borrowers can estimate total closingcosts for any residence in the U.S. TheSmartClosing Mortgage Calculator canbe posted on real estate listing sites,real estate agent and brokerage sites,consumer-oriented real estate sites, IDXsites, blogs and social media sites, giv-ing consumers the ability to quickly andeasily compare loan offerings anddetermine closing costs before makinga home purchase decision.

“Our promise and commitment is toprovide the most comprehensive, accu-rate mortgage and closing cost data aswell as unbeatable technology forindustry professionals and consumersto access that data,” said Paul Mass,president of ClosingCorp. “Today’s bor-rowers demand tools that empowerthem to shop for the best rates. In part-nership with Mortech, we have trulyenhanced our SmartClosing MortgageCalculator, enabling consumers toquickly and easily evaluate rates whilealso giving lenders and real estateagents an opportunity to attract manynew borrowers and clients.”

The SmartClosing Mortgage Calculatorprovides instant mortgage rate shopping,APR, monthly mortgage payments, closingcosts, property-specific recording fee andtransfer tax costs and cash-to-close esti-mates. The rates are pulled from lender’sMarksmanLMP accounts and delivered

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By David Rasmussen

Industry statistics are starting to point to stabilizationin the housing market. We are seeing more of a bal-ance in performing and underperforming markets;however, properties still in or on the verge of defaultpose a significant challenge to the recovery of thehousing industry.

As of February 2012, it was reported that 3.8 millionhome loans were 30 or more days delinquent, but not yet in foreclosureand 2.1 million properties were in foreclosure. This means nearly six mil-lion properties were delinquent or in default, all of which need immedi-ate attention and updated valuation data to minimize loss. How dostakeholders, mainly servicers and lenders, practically and economicallyobtain an accurate valuation on a default property to help quickly moveit off the books? The answer is an REO AVM.

Valuing a real estate-owned (REO) property can be difficult because ofthe many variables, including housing inventory, employment trends,and current and estimated interest rates that impact the property value.Additionally, there are specific valuation-related challenges broughtabout by distressed assets, increasing foreclosure rates, and expandingREO portfolios. Two of the biggest obstacles include the volume of fore-closures in the neighborhood/immediate area and the condition of theproperty. Typically, an inspection is required to verify property condition.Given the complexities of these variables, specialized REO valuation mod-els should be used to most accurately estimate the value of an REO prop-erty and determine the next appropriate course of action.

In the next three columns of ValueNation, I will explore the benefitsof an REO AVM:

• What Goes into a Good REO AVM• REO AVMs Compared to Other Valuation Methods • An REO AVM Used Alongside an Inspection Report

A good REO AVMThe goal of an REO manager is loss mitigation and to get the highest pricepossible from the sale of a foreclosed property. Although the originalloan amount may not be recoverable, loss severity can be minimizedwith an accurate valuation through a REO AVM. It will greatly lessen thechance of it being undersold. As a side note, it is important to remembernot to make the assumption that a property is in poor condition justbecause it is in default or foreclosure.

The ultimate function of an REO AVM is to provide realistic values forthe foreclosed property in question. It should provide a complete analy-sis of neighborhood properties, including notices of default, notices oftrustee sales, and foreclosure sales. This data can be used to develop an

SPONSORED EDITORIAL


Usage and Application for Default-SpecificValuation Methods

By Casey Cunningham

Great leaders makegreat things happen.Whether you have thetitle or not, you are aleader in your busi-ness. I’m not a leader

you ask? Not true … you lead your pro-duction into greatness, into the ground orsome place in between. You lead yourcustomers through an incredible cus-tomer service experience, a “key your car”type of experience or somewhere inbetween. You lead the entire productionteam devoted to your production intowinning the war, jumping off the ship orsomewhere in between. Good, bad orindifferent, you lead your team. I’m goingto assume you want to sidestep the bad orindifferent, so if you are ready to leadyour entire business, production andteam into greatness, it begins with theway in which you lead your team.

Here is some insight into a topic whichdramatically impacts your business andwhere you may not be giving enoughattention: Your relationships with yourprocessors, underwriters, etc.

Processors who have been in mortgagelending for many years suggest there arethree things you can do to inspire them tobe true partner … partners who are actu-ally excited and anxious to see you suc-ceed. Can you imagine that?

1. Paint a complete pictureWhen you meet and speak with yourclients, get the whole story. Ask all theright questions, obtain all the documenta-tion available and document the promis-es and expectations you’ve set. Somethingas simple as using a conversation log ifyour loan origination software (LOS) does-n’t have one or sending an e-mail witheach file could alleviate delays in filesbeing underwritten, last-minute closingnightmares. And the “you against thembattles” so many of you find yourselvesfighting might dissolve away into an occa-sional skirmish. Just as in any significantrelationship, communication is key.

2. Complete files andapplicationsYes, your job is to bring in the business,but you also have an obligation to yourclients, referral sources and teammates toturn in complete packages. An essential

Loan Officers Are Leaders Too

“How do you get your team to passionately serve you?

You must passionately serve them.”

part of the “complete application” is toclearly outline and communicate who isresponsible for what action regarding thefile. One of the biggest time-wasters I seetoday is loan officers and processors whodo not have clearly-defined roles andeveryone is tripping over one another. Itcertainly is a huge waste of time and doesnot send a message of confidence to theborrower when more than one person iscalling about the same issue. Create a sys-tem so that everyone in the processingchain has a clear idea of their responsi-bilities. This empowers the next person inthe system to be effective and supportssmooth closings. Everyone wins!

As a business owner, there is simplynothing outside my scope of responsibili-ty, sweep the floors, do dishes, etc. Myteam knows I will do anything and every-thing in order to get the job done. As aresult, they do the same. Now, the realityis my team also knows the best use of mytime is on the frontlines … as is probablyyours. My team and I have defined theitems that are “off limits” for me in orderto optimize our business growth opportu-nity. How do you get your team to pas-sionately serve you? You must passionate-ly serve them. If you want them to be a“10” (the best) in processing, then youmust lead them by turning in files with aquality rating of a “10.” In other words… lead by example. Show respecttowards your team in the quality of whatyou do and you will receive quality andloyalty in return. Spend 15 to 30 minutesmore on a file ensuring that it is well-documented before you turn it in andyou will see a significant improvement inthe service you provide, the referrals yougain and the team’s overall attitudeabout you.

3. Remember, processorsare people tooHave you taken the time to get to knowyour Processor? They, like your referralsources, are instrumental to your success.A simple handwritten note, a caring ques-tion about their family, an interest intheir hobbies and an understanding oftheir life goals will create a support part-

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ner who is motivated with you in buildingyour business. They are deserving of ourrespect and appreciation. The better yourrelationship with your processor, the bet-ter your production … guaranteed.

If you had any blow-ups or unneces-sary stresses during last month’s closings,stop for a moment and think. Did youmake the time to communicate often andclearly? Did you spend time getting toknow your processor as a person andshow that you really care? Did you care-

fully complete your applications? The verynext application you take, invest a littleextra time and you may find you have anawesome person on your side. Life cantruly be sweet and you can reach thoseunlimited earnings when you are theleader of your team!

Casey Cunningham is president of XINNIX,a provider of mortgage sales and leadershipdevelopment programs. She may bereached by phone at (678) 325-3501 or e-mail [email protected].

to the Marksman Marketplace plat-form. The streamlined process will giveborrowers a simple, real-time rateshopping experience, as well as anaccurate expectation of total closingcosts, which are not provided by anyother competing mortgage calculator.

Coester Adds AutomatedAppraisal ReviewTechnology to Its CloudControl Product

Coester Appraisal Group has announcedan enhancement to it Cloud Controlappraisal management technology byadding C-Data, the company’s automat-ed appraisal review technology. C-Dataautomated review technology provides acomprehensive and thorough review byelectronically evaluating every field in anappraisal report; identifying potentialfraud, errors, discrepancies and missinginformation; and availing its extensivefindings both online and in printedreports. Every appraisal managed withCloud Control, and every appraisal pro-vided by Coester Appraisal Group, is sub-jected to a thorough automated reviewby the C-Data review system.

“C-Data is like a virtual quality con-trol inspector, except that it takes onlya few minutes, it’s tireless, flawlesslyconsistent and expansive,” said BrianCoester, chief executive officer ofCoester Appraisal Group. “C-Data’s find-ings integrate MLS sales, AVM data andeven mapped out comparables, all onone screen. And the best part is thatwe’re providing C-Data completely freeof charge to all Cloud Control users.”

Coester launched Cloud Control, builton the award-wining platform ofSalesforce.com, in March and in doingso, raised the standard for appraisalmanagement technologies. CloudControl offers a virtually limitless level ofcustomizability, a feature that to date isunmatched by other appraisal manage-ment technologies. Cloud Control evenoffers Salesforce.com’s ability to createbusiness-unique sales and marketingrules that can help companies generatenew business in addition to enhancingcompliance and efficiency.

“People don’t expect the best tech-

nology to be free, but we’re breakingthe mold,” said Coester. “The currenttechnology offered for lenders is noteven close to the current technologybeing used by regular people, everyday. At Coester, we won’t wait forappraisal technology providers to openthe door. We’ll do whatever’s neededto elevate the way this industry lever-ages technology.”

Interthinx Adds Street-Level Imaging Via GoogleMaps to FraudGUARD

In response to its own findings thatproperty valuation mortgage fraud riskhas risen significantly since 2006,Interthinx has integrated Google Mapssatellite images to help lenders decreaseloan processing time and quickly identi-fy external issues with properties. Theinclusion of satellite image data withinInterthinx’s FraudGUARD can improveloan quality, provides users with a morecomprehensive fraud prevention report,and enables a more concise overall riskreview.

“According to our findings, propertyvaluation fraud risk has more than dou-bled since 2006, which could exposelenders to buyback requests that couldcripple their companies,” said IanAnthony, director of product manage-ment at Interthinx. “Our product teamrecognized the threat and alerted ourcustomers. They responded by compar-ing photos from appraisal reports orBroker Price Opinion (BPO) photos tosatellite images through multiple steps.Since Google’s database already had theimages, it made sense for us to integratethem into our FraudGUARD reports, sav-ing our customers time and money.”

Interthinx’s FraudGUARD softwarecontacts the Google Satellite imagedatabase in real-time, which returns a360-degree external view of the proper-ty from the street level. There is no addi-tional cost to use satellite images inFraudGUARD. The new Interthinx prod-uct enhancement can also highlight riskassociated with borrower employmentand intent to occupy. Satellite images

new to market continued from page 29


http://mortgagebrokersnetwork.com

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Establishing and Enhancing Your Relationships

By Daniel Milstein

Developing long-term, effective rela-tionships with customers, prospects,strategic partners and others should bea primary goal for all loan originators(LOs). Many originators place a high pri-ority on this critical part of buildingtheir business, while others tend to for-get. Of course, it is an ongoing processand all mortgage professionals mustcontinue adapting to changes in theirsphere of influence and marketplace.

Key guidelinesI consider the key components of estab-lishing relationships to be:

� Providing something of valueOriginators should not have an over-ly commercial focus when dealingwith their key audiences; and refrainfrom always discussing the lowestrates, the refinance opportunitiesand so on. Obviously, this is an ele-ment of creating relationships, butso is offering educational informa-tion and other support that the cus-tomer/other considers important, toassist with their personal planningand/or to do their jobs better.

� Showing that you careCustomers appreciate their originatorsand their team members demonstratean interest in their welfare. Thismeans asking about the customer’sfuture plans, family members, hob-bies and related areas.

� Timely responseNo matter how busy we are, it is criti-cal to respond to customers’ andstrategic partners’ calls and e-mails assoon as possible. Even if you cannottake the time for a lengthy phone dis-cussion, you (or your assistant) can atleast send an e-mail or make a quickcall to advise someone that you willcheck back as soon as you’re able.

� Ongoing contactIt is essential to maintain an appro-priate level of contact so that weremain visible. You have to remindthem that you are still available to

help with their future home financ-ing needs.

Customers firstOf course, the most crucial relationship iswith your past customers. All successfulLOs have a “customers for life” mindset.Establishing solid relationships with cus-tomers ensures that you will get theirfuture business, as well as their referralsto others. This sounds so simple, yet thekey is to actually follow-through.

It begins with first impressions andcontinues through ongoing contact. Westrive to generate a positive initial impres-sion by making customers feel welcomein our office, spending the right amountof time to explain their options, listeningcarefully to their questions and concernsand emphasizing that we will help themevery step of the way.

Originators rely on a variety of waysto maintain post-closing visibility withtheir past customers. Whether it be e-mail newsletters, postcards, holidaygreetings or birthday cards, the key is tobe consistent. I send customers let-ters/other mailers at least six times ayear and make frequent calls as well. Iinclude a “call to action” in every con-versation, by asking how I can helpthem with a new loan or if I can be ofservice to a friend or family member.

I am a strong advocate of providinguseful, educational information, suchas “how to” guides. Customers andprospects should believe that you trulycare about helping them better under-stand home financing. This has becomeespecially important following themortgage industry’s “meltdown” andsubsequent tightening of credit andrelated guidelines. Customers needmore direction as to what is possible.

Real estate agentsWe know that during heavy refinanceperiods, relationships with real estateagents are often ignored, which, ofcourse, is a huge mistake. If you aren’tmaintaining contacts with your market’sbest agents, someone else is. During refi-nance boom of 2004, many LOs were toobusy to spend time with their favorite

agents. When refinanceactivity began to slow,their overall productionsuffered because they werenot getting much businessfrom real estate agents.However, those who had apurchase/long-term focusand had maintained con-tact with agents saw theirbusiness increase in 2005.

Again, there are so manydifferent ways to strengthenyour bond with agents, but Ibelieve one of the mosteffective methods is toensure their clients getthe best possible service.Accurate pre-approvals,timely closings and regu-lar communications to avoid uncertain-ty/delays can make a major difference indemonstrating that you have their bestinterests in mind. I know that one of thereasons agents appreciate working with usis that we strive to make every transactionseamless and trouble-free.

Another critical element of relation-ships with real estate agents is the shar-ing of referrals. Many originators developa one-sided relationship with agents,with a tendency to ask for referrals ratherthan to offer them as well. One of myearly strategies as an LO was to provideseveral referrals to agents without askingfor any in return. They saw that I wastruly interested in building a solid, long-term relationship. It became a win-winsituation for all as they soon began pro-viding me with their referrals.

I also believe it is beneficial to developrelationships with newer agents, as wellas the more seasoned top-producingagents. If you cultivate contacts withagents who appear to be proactive andotherwise on the path to success, theywill usually be among your most loyalsupporters as they gain more experienceand sales.

Other industry profes-sionalsCPAs, attorneys and business managersare all great sources of business andoffer an opportunity to expand yourprofessional sphere of influence. At theheart of these mutually beneficial asso-ciations is the offer to share informa-tion that will assist these strategic part-ners and benefit their clients.

For example, when I first make contactwith a CPA or attorney, I’ll explain that I

can assist their clients byproviding my expertise witha purchase or refinance, aswell as support the strategicpartner in other ways. Idon’t ask for referrals, butrather suggest that if wehave similar business andcustomer service approach-es, we should do whateverpossible to help each other.

Teachers, firepersonnel andmoreMost LOs have estab-lished one or more nich-es with key groups, suchas teachers and fire/safe-ty personnel. Two of my

early niche groups were immigrantsand professional athletes. The first wasbased on my own background as aSoviet Union (Ukraine) immigrant whocame to America as a youth. As a newLO, I realized that I could be of specialservice to other immigrants, whichincluded assisting them with finding anapartment and obtaining a driver’slicense. Immigrant groups are generallyextremely loyal. When you considerdeveloping such a niche, it is importantto understand the culture—includingthe group’s homebuying attitudes—butit isn’t absolutely necessary that youspeak their language. By the time theyare ready to purchase a home, mostpeople have at least a basic grasp of theEnglish language. I later assisted a pro-fessional hockey player and graduallydeveloped a strong base of professionalhockey players and other athletes. Inorder to create effective relationshipswith such niches, you have to find outwhat is most important to them andthen be certain to provide that.

Social mediaMortgage lending has changed dramat-ically during the last five to 10 years.One of the major developments hasbeen the role that social media plays inestablishing customer/other relation-ships. Previously, we were limited tosnail mail and face-to-face meetings todevelop our relationships, which welater enhanced with e-mail andInternet communication.

An ever-increasing number of LOs areadapting Facebook and LinkedIn strategiesto reach out to their sphere of influenceand stay connected with new groups. It is

“Of course, the mostcrucial relationship

is with your past customers.

All successful LOshave a ‘customers for

life’ mindset.”

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Relationships Win Races ... and BusinessWhat we can learn from politics

By B.J. Bounds

It’s a common theme that runs throughany “winning at selling” course: Peoplebuy from a person, not a company. It’s asolid theory, and as a consumer, I fullyembrace it as truth. I want to know whoI’m dealing with, and I expect most of youdo as well. Let’s face it, if we’re not buyingsomething at the lowest cost as we wouldat Wal-Mart or Target, we want to knowand like the person who is getting ourhard-earned dollars. When we purchase ahome, the best that many of us can do iswork with a broker who has earned ourtrust and our money.

The same is true for political candi-dates. So often, people will go to the pollsto vote and just pick the name they rec-ognize, most likely the incumbent.Whether they believe that’s the bestchoice or not, that is what they know. Theburden on any candidate running againsta long-time incumbent is to ensure thatthe name most recognized—and mosttrusted—is theirs. What they do thatworks and what doesn’t, makes a differ-ence at the polls … and it will make a dif-ference in your business as well. Whilethere are many tactics that candidates canemploy, the following four marketingideas are simple, yet can make the mostimpact when building relationships andyour business.

SignsSigns may not be the first thing a candi-date uses during a campaign, but it is

often the first thing we notice. As colorfulsigns begin appearing in residentialyards, business lots and along well-trav-eled roads, we start learning the names.We may not know what they’re runningfor, but we see their names in big, boldprint. That’s how it begins for most of us.

Strategically, it makes sense for politi-cal candidates to initiate a focus on namerecognition. It can be hard to justify eco-nomically, but it’s still a prudent move.Now for the mortgage industry, yardsigns are just a metaphor. Of course itwouldn’t make much sense to spendthousands of dollars on yard signs, butfor brokers and loan officers seeking toincrease business and revenue, namerecognition is very important. Your“signs” are all the things you do to putyour name where it counts. Begin withpromoting your business through yourown customized Web site, but make sureyou also have a presence where millionsof potential clients are hanging out—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

The biggest “sign” for your business,however, is the tried and true method of“word of mouth.” Your past clients canbe your biggest fans and cheerleaders. Ifyou want name recognition and thepotential for exponential growth, you’llneed to get on the phone or e-mail. Youalready have a consolidated database ofcontacts and personal information—useyour LOS to make contact. If you arepressed for time, use your LOS to create

and send e-mails eitherasking for referrals orrepeat business. That putsthe ball in their court andyou have time to focus onother activities.

Personal networkingCandidates spend count-less hours walking aroundneighborhoods knockingon doors. It’s the mostpersonal way to discusstheir platform, explainwhy they are the bestchoice, and ultimately askfor votes. Here you have severaloptions. The concept is the same, butyour neighborhood selection isn’t tiedto a voting district and you don’t reallyhave to walk door to door. The equiva-lent for business owners is the impor-tant activity of networking. Network viae-mail, phone calls, face-to-face interac-tion and attend local events.

Here’s where your LOS will come inhandy again. Pull up some of your pastsales and check out the neighborhoods.This is a great time to pull up some of thepersonal information on your past clientsfrom your LOS and use it to select the per-fect time to get the e-mails flying out thedoor and the phones ringing off the hook.You can time your activities near the bor-rower’s birthday or even a child’s birthdayor event. Documenting this type of infor-mation in your LOS builds up the type ofdatabase you can use for all of your mar-keting needs.

Door-knocking or networking, is veryeffective for political candidates and isdefinitely worth looking into. If you areintroverted, begin by working your wayout of shyness by joining Toastmasters oranother similar organization. It’s also agreat way to get to know other businessowners in your area. Have fun with it—and leave something behind for whomev-er you meet. You just never know whenthey’ll decide they need you!

LiteratureThey’re called a myriad of differentthings: Brochures, flyers, leave-behinds,bird-cage liners, etc., but whatever youcall them, you need to have them. Itdoes little good to talk to people with-out giving them something to remem-ber you by. You don’t need to spendmoney on house-shaped keychains orimprinted tape measures. Those are great;

however, saving moneywhenever possible is thegoal here.

You also don’t needexpensive graphic pro-grams to design your owncreative materials. You caneasily find free templatesfor Microsoft Word or anyother Microsoft programyou like to use. If youchoose a template fromWord, you can also use yourLOS to customize with yourcompany information andeven use the two to create amail merge document you

can send to your database contacts.You need to build your arsenal of liter-

ature to leave with potential clients andeven with businesses willing to supportyour efforts. As your networking activitiestake you by local stores and restaurants,make it a point to go in and build rela-tionships there. Many small businessesare more than happy to support othersmall businesses in the area. It’s a goodway to become more involved in thosecommunities.

Community involvementBesides learning the local routes andbusinesses, you can churn up interestby participating in various communityevents. Just about every town inAmerica has at least one special daythat allows businesses to promote theirwares in inexpensive ways.

Spend the money to have a booth ortable at your local fair, trade-days,Founder’s Day or whatever comes upnext. I know a local insurance agent thatalways has a table at the National NightOut (for safety) in our town. She buys her-self a place on the event t-shirt and makesure she has plenty of materials to handout. She gets involved in all communityevents and her name is well-known.

Just like the insurance agent, ourlocal political candidates are shakinghands and handing out literature atevery event they can. They’re doingeverything they can to get their namefront and center in the minds of every-body they meet, wherever they go—community events, social organizations,trade organizations and chambers ofcommerce. That’s what you should dotoo, if you really want to build yourname recognition—and your business.

“Your database of LOS contacts

should be in constantgrowth mode.”

a timely way to communicate with yourcustomer base—especially with the“younger” generations of buyers and oth-ers accustomed to communicating viasocial media outlets. The challenge is tostay abreast of the rapid marketing-techadvancements, but that is just one more ofthe LO’s new responsibilities.

The common elements in all of ourbusiness-related associations are serv-ice, communication and support. Thoseare the basics that make customers,real estate agents and others want to

work with us. As all mortgage lendingprofessionals know, it takes time tocement meaningful customer/strategicpartner relationships so we should dowhatever possible to maintain andimprove them.

Daniel Milstein is founder and chief execu-tive officer of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based GoldStar Mortgage Financial and the author ofthe award-winning The ABC of Sales,Lessons From a Superstar. He may bereached by phone at (734) 971-9900 or e-mail [email protected].

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How to Strengthen Client RelationshipsCultivating a loyal, repeat customerbase is the key to the success of anybusiness … big or small

By Chad Jampedro

Struggling to build clientrelationships can be com-parable to rolling a boul-der uphill. But once youget that force of loyaltybehind you, you will findthe uphill battle gets easi-er. Like with everything inbusiness, strengthening aloyal customer base takestime. It doesn’t happenovernight at networkingevents. A pocketful ofbusiness cards isn’t goingto do the trick.

Consistent connec-tion and value are whatdrive and support clientrelationships. You canachieve this feat byincorporating the fol-lowing tactics into your client-build-ing approach:

1. Focus on building your networkWho is your network? Your network iscomprised of your professionalpeers, colleagues, acquaintances,partners, vendors, contractors, con-sultants, association members, com-munity members. Don’t forget exist-ing and prospective clients, friends,family and other relatives. In thisbusiness, you understand the mean-ing of investment. Think of network-ing as a long-term investment. Youare connecting with people who arepotentially waiting for you to meettheir needs. Keep adding value to theinitial relationship to strengthen itand watch for results.

2. Open the lines of communication early and oftenYou were enthusiastic and convincingat your business association’s happyhour. But don’t expect that one-timeimpression to take you to grandplaces. These types of relationships

carry an expirationdate. Don’t expect aone-time event to govery far in building rela-tionships. Follow upand follow up again.Think of this way, whena person is ready to buya home or know ofsomeone else who’sshopping for a lender,will you be at the top ofhis or her mind? Notunless you take the timeto stay in touch and offereducation and value inthe relationship.

3. Recognizeyour loyal customers,

and they will reward youIt’s a proven fact that your most prof-itable customers are repeat cus-tomers. Are you doing enough toencourage them to recommend youand work with you again? Are youstaying in touch and giving themsome value? It doesn’t need to be awhole lot—nuggets of helpful infor-mation or money-saving tips go along way.

4. Loyal customers are your brand ambassadorsConcentrate on growing your net-work and following up. E-mail mar-keting is an effective way to reachthem without a lot of cost. Socialmarketing is also very effective inreaching clients and potential clientsto deliver valuable information whileengaging with them to evaluate theirneeds.

Chad Jampedro is chief operating officerof Brookfield, Wis.-based GSF MortgageCorporation. He may be reached byphone at (888) 834-6655 or [email protected].

“Think of networkingas a long-term

investment. You are connectingwith people who arepotentially waiting

for you to meet their needs.”

Get those votesBusiness owners can learn a lot frompolitical candidates. It’s all about mar-keting yourself to the public and usingthe tools you have at your disposal foroptimal exposure. That’s how they getvotes, and that’s how you can growyour business.

Candidates are hungry, and they’rewilling to get beyond their comfort zoneto earn votes. Challenge yourself to talk tostrangers in the grocery store if you areshy. Hand them your business card. It’sactually easy to engage customers stand-ing in line with you; just do it! Use yourLOS to find old clients, business partners,applicants that dropped out, anybody youcan approach for referrals.

When your database is tapped, builda new one by marketing yourself. Your

ICON RESIDENTIAL is GROWING in markets across the country.Top producing Account Executives are joining us because we offer:� Compensation Above Industry Standard

� Excellent Employee Benefits

� Customer Service That Exceeds Expectations

� Competitive Pricing

� Paperless Solution

� Bank Subsidiary

If you’re a top producing Account Executive please take a minute toexplore how ICON RESIDENTIAL can help you take your career to thenext level. We have opportunities in markets across the country.

For immediate consideration, please send resumes to:

[email protected]

relationships win races continued from page 33

database of LOS contacts should be inconstant growth mode. Get personalinformation from everybody you meetand you’ll always know the right oppor-tunity to approach them with your mar-keting tactics. Be one of the hungryambitious candidates that are ubiqui-tous in election years, and build yourrelationships to get those votes!

B.J. Bounds is senior marketing communi-cations specialist for Calyx Software. Inaddition to media relations and copywrit-ing, BJ is a contributing author to the CalyxSoftware blog, CalyxCorner. She has morethan 10 years of experience in sales and cor-porate marketing with a focus on technolo-gy that spans several industries. She may bereached by phone at (800) 362-2599 or visitwww.calyxsoftware.com.

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Innovative Relationship Building is Critical to Growth and Industry Leadership

By Mark W. Boyer

As a chief executive officer spending longhours guiding my company throughgrowth and a challenging business envi-ronment, it’s good to set aside time eitheralone or with family to pursue a personalpassion.

In my case, that passion is fishing andsometimes it’s an opportunity to givethought to areas of life other than work,while other times it’s a chance to bring anew perspective to work subjects in theserenity of a tranquil environment. On arecent fishing outing, I took some time toreflect on the broad philosophy and moredetailed elements that have helped drivemy company to become one of the nation’sfastest growing full-service financial servic-es companies.

Taken at a high-level, it can all be cate-gorized under the theme of building rela-tionships. At a bit more granular level, theidea of building relationships can be seg-mented into three key areas: Employees,customers and communities.

Employee relationshipsThe cornerstone of any successful compa-ny is exceptional employees who under-stand the company vision, live it every dayin the workplace, and reflect it in their per-sonal lives whether discussing work withfriends and family or giving time to goodcauses the company supports. This requiresbuilding meaningful, trusting relationshipswith employees from the start of theiremployment, establishing a clear vision forthe company and proliferating it to staff inmultiple ways throughout the year. Thisstarts with the interview and on-boardingprocesses and should be delivered on aconsistent basis as a core value.

Give consideration to adopting the fol-lowing growth and relationship buildingstrategy that many executives would deemunusual. Rather than basing our growthmodel on decisions about geographicregions, we focus on existing relationshipswith great people, because we know theywill generate business, reflect well on ourcompany, earn higher positions and leadothers. Don’t pick a market first and endup with the fourth or fifth best person,rather pursue the best people so you willhave top talent in all markets you enter.

Build relationships across industriesand consider that the best people couldvery well come from outside your industry.While it may be enticing to go after candi-dates with years of experience in your field,there are two sides to the coin. These peo-ple often have pre-set, outmoded ways ofdoing things that could run counter toyour culture and beliefs. It’s most impor-tant to identify those who are driven to bepart of something bigger than their ownself-interest.

Create positive policies, programs andethics in the workplace to reinforce goodrelationships between management andall employees, and among employees. Thefounder of our company, FoundationFinancial Group, Paul Scott, was raisedwith a blue collar work ethic that didn’tallow for excuses, and that philosophy isreflected in the culture of the companyand is viewed as highly positive by employ-ees. It rewards performance, placing allemployees on equal footing and incen-tivizing excellence.

There are tremendous opportunities forcreativity and innovation in developingpolicies and programs that solidifyemployee relationships. Our company cre-ated a university for professional develop-ment and growth from mid-managementto the executive level.

There are many ways to build relation-ships with employees, making them feelvested in the company’s success such thatthey give maximum effort each day. Areasto consider include: Education/professionaldevelopment, health and wellness, andenvironmental sustainability. The result ofyour employee-focused philosophy shouldbe satisfied, motivated employees who earngood incomes, grow your business and tellthe world that it’s a great place to work.

Customer relationshipsOne of Jack Welch’s Six Rules for SuccessfulLeadership is: “If you don’t have a compet-itive advantage, don’t compete.” An essen-tial element of building customer relation-ships and generating success is demon-strating a tangible competitive advantagethat helps bond the customer to yourproduct or service.

As simple and critical as Welch’s rule is,

many companies do nothave a well-defined com-petitive advantage, or ifthey do, it’s not well-com-municated internally orexternally, oftentimes ren-dering it less effective. Ifpossible, identify your com-petitive advantage at theoutset of the company, as itwill help build stronger cus-tomer relationships fromthe outset and will be moreeasily internalized by initialand subsequent employees.

Companies that go intobusiness to address a needin the market are more like-ly to organically create andinternalize a competitive advantage. In ourindustry’s case, loan closing times wereaveraging 45 days and the market had aneed for significantly lower closing times,which we reduced to less than 17 days.

Also be aware that focusing too exclu-sively on accepted industry practices inbuilding relationships can be counter-pro-ductive. Those who rely too heavily onbuilding relationships with real estateagents or others as a main source of busi-ness may forego more innovative and pro-ductive methods of business development.For example, today’s technology allows formuch greater efficiencies in identifying andcommunicating directly with large groupsof individuals or companies who arepotential customers.

Tout your successes to the outside worldthrough a public relations campaign. Issuenews releases to the media, industry experts,existing customers and potential customerswhen you land new business, grow into newgeographic regions, hire key staff membersand reach major milestones. Make certainyour presence on social media is properlyupdated and if you are not handling it your-self, make certain a responsible and diplo-matically astute professional is in charge, asmistakes on the Internet often cannot beerased and can do lasting damage.

Take the temperature of your customerrelationships from time to time, whetherthrough surveys or other methods of keep-ing in touch that both remind them theyare important to your business and provideopportunities to discuss their needs andyour solutions.

Community relationshipsBecome integrated into the communitiesyou serve based on the right reasons andnot as a calculation of business success.

Seek to build relationshipswith organizations andcharitable groups thatreflect causes of impor-tance to you, or your col-leagues/employees.

Take the pulse of yourteam to see what’s impor-tant to them and build acommunity relationshipand charitable programaround it. If you have mul-tiple locations be aware ofregional differences thatcould require a tailoredprogram for each area.Don’t be afraid to askemployees to commit per-sonal time for the cause,

and include their families if they wouldlike to, but show that you are equally inter-ested in doing so. Lead by example.Consider serving on the board of a charita-ble organization and encourage the samefrom your others in your organization.

Each of our locations participates in atleast one philanthropic event per quarterwith staff members volunteering time andthe company making a cash donation.However you decide to structure a pro-gram, show employees and the communi-ty that it’s an ongoing commitment andnot a hit-and-miss proposition. Be nimbleand ready to move quickly if a suddenneed arises. This type of responsivenessoften fills an important void when govern-ment agencies and other organizationstake time to respond to emergencies.

Effectively combining employee, cus-tomer and community relationship-build-ing into the fabric of your company isessential to growth and industry leader-ship. Observe and implement provenstrategies in these areas, but be innovativein creating your own methods that workbetter or provide a new dimension.

Getting back to my mention of fishing,take time to pursue your personal passionas a way to diversify your life away from theoffice and encounter new environments. Inaddition to personal enjoyment, it couldlead to great relationship building ideas foryour business when you least expect it.

Mark W. Boyer is chief executive officer ofFoundation Financial Group, which special-izes in mortgage lending, property and casu-alty insurance, life insurance, retirementservices, personal taxes and corporate taxservices. He may be reached by phone at(866) 334-1001 or e-mail [email protected].

“Build relationshipsacross industries andconsider that the bestpeople could very well

come from outsideyour industry.”

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Growing Your FHA Loan ProductionThrough Relationships

By Jeff Mifsud

There are four relationship pillars that canplay a pivotal role in any loan originator’s(LO’s) business plan. Those who have beenin the business for more than15 years haveseen many ups and down in the industry,and understand the importance of havingmultiple income streams within your busi-ness to help cushion the impact of thoseups and downs. If you don’t have sufficientand multiple referral sources working foryou, then it’s time to get out of your com-fort zone and open up some new channelsof business by building some new relation-ships. Let’s explore these four pillars…

1. Capturing more business from real estate agentsIf you want to build your pipeline with pur-chase business, then it goes without sayingthat real estate agents are a natural sourcefor purchase referrals. A great way to createand maintain agent relationships is withwhat I call “The Three P Strategy.” I men-tioned this strategy in a 2010 article, and it isworth repeating here. The Three P Strategystands for “Prepare, Promote and Present.”

Challenge yourself over the next 30 daysand make a commitment to Prepare ashort PowerPoint presentation on FederalHousing Administration (FHA) loans thatincludes information that is relevant to realestate agents. Give the presentation acatchy title like “The Five Things All AgentsNeed to Know about Purchase Contractsand FHA Loans.” If PowerPoint isn’t yourstrong suit or you’re too busy to do themyourself, you can subscribe to “The FHAOriginator” by MortgageSeminars.com andcustomize any of the many ready-madepresentations available there.

The next step is to Promote the presen-tation until you get appointments with 10real estate offices. You’ll likely need tomake about five calls to get one appoint-ment, so be prepared to make a total ofaround 50 or so phone calls.

Now, you are ready to Present. Keep inmind that the goal of your presentation isnot only to provide the real estate agentswith valuable information, but to presentyour content in a way that engages themand elicits questions from the audience. Irecommend just printing the PowerPoint

slides as handouts since this will help youto better engage the audience.

2. Expanding your sphere of influencethrough family and friendsThis may seem elementary, but the fact isthat a very high percentage of LOs do notleverage their familial spheres of influence.Bob Burg, author of several best-sellingbusiness books says that “People do busi-ness with people they know, like and trust.”I would add to this that “People refer theirco-workers, friends and family to peoplethey know, like and trust.” So as long as yourfamily knows you, likes you and trusts you,they are the ideal sources of referrals (and ifthey don’t, you’ve got a bit of work to dothat’s outside the scope of this article!).

If you have not worked your familialsphere of influence into your marketingplan, then now is the time. Tonight, take thetime to write down at least 10 family mem-bers that you feel would be good potentialreferral sources. Once you’ve done that, goback through your list and next to eachname, write down the types of referralsources you think they might be able to pro-vide. You might be surprised at how muchpotential business you have been overlook-ing for so many years.

3. Getting the most from your wholesale representativesLOs often take for granted the relation-ships they have with their wholesale rep-resentatives. The truth is that to be a suc-cessful FHA originator, you need to devel-op and maintain good relationships withat least two FHA wholesalers. I havetrained thousands of LOs in FHA over theyears, and I’ve heard far too many storiesfrom LOs who get loans denied becausethey are working with a wholesaler thatcrushes their loans in underwritingbecause there are so many overlays to theFHA guides.

My favorite FHA wholesalers are what Icall “FHA Boutique Lenders.” These arelenders that do business on a regional leveland underwrite almost entirely accordingto FHA guidelines. One lender that hasremained true to FHA guides is a Michigan-

based company called RossMortgage Corporation. Rossis a company with a strongmid-Western footprintfounded in 1949 that trulyunderstands how to under-write FHA loans the way theyare supposed to be under-written. It is clear from mydiscussions with MLOsaround the country thatmany lenders do not possessa thorough understanding ofthe guidelines, and fewerstill understand how to applythem over a broad range ofloan scenarios.

FHA is the original loanprogram for hard-workingAmericans who present avast array of credit profiles. The guidelinesare written in a way that allows the FHAunderwriter to use common sense whenreviewing a loan. LOs who know the guideswell can attest to the fact that there are alot of FHA underwriters who have no com-mon sense when it comes to loans withunique circumstances. If you do a lot ofpurchases and have a wide range of bor-rower profiles, it is absolutely critical thatyou have this type of lender. Aside fromsaving a lot of time, hassle and headache,this will improve your FHA closing ratioand help you grow your FHA business.

For LOs who specialize in FHA purchas-es, there is nothing more embarrassingand detrimental to a real estate agent rela-tionship than having a make-sense FHApurchase loan get denied—resulting in theagent having to refer the buyer to anotherlender who then gets the loan closed. Ifyou don’t have this type of lender relation-ship for your FHA loans, I strongly suggestyou get one in order to achieve more suc-cess with your FHA loans.

4. Becoming a trustedresource for attorneys and accountantsTraditionally, FHA originators may nothave spent much time developing rela-tionships with these professionals becausethe typical referral would be a convention-al one, but since the tightening of conven-tional credit guides and the rise of FHAloans, these are great resources for FHAbusiness. Divorce attorneys specifically areoutstanding FHA referral sources becausewhen a divorce occurs, there are often twotransactions that need to take place: Thespouse who is keeping the home has torefinance to cash-out the exiting spouse,

and the one leaving has tobuy a new home. The real-ity of many divorce situa-tions is that credit is oftenblemished so the scores arelower, thus resulting in theneed for FHA loans.

Accountants and CPAstraditionally have a highpercentage of self-employedclients, and prior to themortgage industry crash,these clients had easyaccess to home financing.However, since the tighten-ing of conventional guide-lines and given FHA’s gener-ous self-employed guides,FHA has become an idealloan for many of these peo-

ple. For example, FHA allows self-employed income to be used if havingbeen received a minimum of one year (aslong as the borrower has two years of priorexperience as a wage earner in the same orrelated field). FHA will also allow a mini-mum of one year of self-employmentincome if the borrower had one year ofprevious employment along with formaleducation or training in the same or relat-ed field (see 4155.1 4D.4.c).

The other advantage of creating rela-tionships with these professionals is thatthey are not commonly receiving callsfrom other LOs, so it’s likely that you won’thave much if anything in way of competi-tion. To take action in adding these pro-fessionals to your FHA referral sources,start with identifying attorneys and CPAsamong family and friends, and then workon creating those lists I mentioned abovein Pillar Number Two.

Create new referral sources and workon maintaining those in addition to yourexisting sources. Over time, these relation-ships have the potential to help you toclose an extra 10 loans a year or so.Relationships are everything in this busi-ness, and it’s always a good time to addsome more good people to your sphere ofinfluence. Take action today!

Go FHA

Jeff Mifsud is founder of Michigan-basedMortgage Seminars LLC, a former FHAunderwriter with 15-plus years of experienceoriginating FHA loans, an FHA expert forLoanToolbox.com and creator of The FHAOriginator, a monthly FHA newsletter. Jeffmay be reached by phone at (248) 403-8181or visit www.MortgageSeminars.com.

“Relationships areeverything in thisbusiness, and it’s

always a good time toadd some more goodpeople to your sphere

of influence.”

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Top Five Tips for Building Your Loan Origination Team

By Leif Boyd

Over the last few months, Ihave written a series ofarticles that I hope loanoriginators (LOs) are enjoy-ing and learning from.This month, I continue theseries with five tips thatwill help when you wantto start building a success-ful team. Although everybusiness is different, theseare strategies that I haveused and have seen othersuse. Implementing thesetips has helped to makemy business and otherssuccessful.

1. Know yourbusiness modelinside outBuilding a successful teamstarts with knowing whatyou do. Simply put, if you don’t know whatyou do, it’s nearly impossible to hire theright people with the right skills to help.

LOs should start by carefully document-ing each step in their processes, from busi-ness development and meeting withclients to starting the loan process, closingand follow-up. It may take a few days oreven a few weeks to clearly layout everystep. Once processes have been clearlydefined, an LO can go through and revieweach process asking themself, “If I person-ally do not do this, will it cost me money?”If it will cost the LO money, then thatprocess cannot be delegated, if it will notnegatively impact the bottom line, then anindividual can be hired for those tasks.

It is important to note that every step inthe process is important. Attention to detailis essential for a loan to close on time. Thatsaid, the difference lies in what tasks helpincrease the bottom line and which tasks justtake time. For all of the time-consumingtasks that do not help generate revenue, findan individual who can fill that need. Hiringfor these processes will help give the LO timeto focus on profit generating activities.

2. Determine what you can give upSimilar to step one, this step involves a lit-

tle bit of journaling. Spendone or two weeks docu-menting each unique actionyou take. Are you makingoutreach calls? Following upon referrals? Asking forreferrals? Attending net-working events? Filing loandocuments? Meeting withclients? Talking with a realestate agent? Makingcopies? Write it all downand don’t forget anything.No task is too big or toosmall to include on the list.

When every task hasbeen written down, the LOcan then go through andreview the list using a spe-cific labeling system to cate-gorize each task. For exam-ple, I use a three-tieredapproach:

� A: High Value, High Touch� B: Low Value, High Touch� C: Low Value, Low Touch

First, notice I did not include “HighValue, Low Touch.” Although it is a validcategory, most tasks are better situated inthe categories listed above. Once all of thetasks have been ranked by the LO, separatetasks labeled “B” and “C.” Tasks labeled “B”and “C” can be delegated to another teammember or to a new hire. An LO can evenwrite a job description based off the taskswith these labels. Tasks with an “A” labelshould be done by the LO.

3. Understand that it takesmoney to make moneyIt is an age-old phrase, but many LOs andother business leaders often feel that it doesnot apply to them for some reason. There isa good reason why Fortune 500 companiesdo not have a staff of one. They haveboards, vice presidents, managers, analystsand staff. These companies have realizedthat their jobs cannot be done alone andthey are better, more efficient and moreproductive as a team.

There are many fantastic LOs out therethat need help, but some cannot fathom

giving up income or reducing their incometo obtain help. No matter how hard an LOworks, there are still 24 hours in a day andseven days in a week. The only way to reachout to more clients and get more work doneis to hire additional staff members to helpwith some of the tasks.

I often tell LOs that hiring additional staffis not a cost, but an investment in their busi-ness. A busy LO cannot thrive or achievetheir full potential without assistance. LOsneed to focus their time on networking andprospecting for new business. If they are toobusy closing loans, they do not have thetime necessary to effectively grow their busi-ness. They can choose to hit a plateau andstay there for the rest of their career or theycan choose to grow their business by hiringadditional staff.

4. Have a plan, don’t waituntil it’s too lateEvery house starts out with a blueprint,then a foundation is laid, walls are erectedand eventually it takes shape and becomesa home. Why should an LO not follow thesame basic principles? Start with a plan,build a firm foundation and eventually athriving business will take shape.

Sometimes, I see that LOs are so busywith their day-to-day workload that theyhave neglected to plan or build a solidfoundation before erecting walls and put-ting on a roof. These business models oftenfail, the walls (support) were not put in theright spot, the foundation crumbled andthe roof had nothing holding it up.

In a perfect world, an LO would start hisor her business with a plan in mind of whatlevel they would need to get to in theirbusiness before hiring. Once they hit thepredetermined level, they would alreadyknow what tasks that person would helpwith and immediately hire that person,knowing their job description and knowingwhat skill set they were looking for. My rec-ommendation is that when an LO noticesthat they have very little time to prospecton a daily or weekly basis, it’s time to hireimmediately. Waiting two or three monthsis far too long. Prospecting is the mostimportant part of an LO’s job, and stoppingit for even a week or two could result in asignificant loss of potential income.

5. Figure out how muchmoney you are leavingon the tableA good LO is almost always a good prospec-tor. Take a look back at the last few monthsof prospecting. How many people andevents did you go to before getting a new

referral source?Let’s say that a successful LO needs to

attend four events per week, meeting tennew people at each event for each newreferral source. If the LO ends up missing oneevent a week because they are in their officedoing paperwork, they have cost themselvesone new referral source per month.

Now, the LO must ask themselves whatis one referral source worth? What couldthe LO do with 12 more referral sourcesover a year? My guess is that 12 new refer-ral sources and the revenue they helped tocreate would far surpass the investment ofhiring staff to handle some of the tasks thattake an LO away from prospecting.

6. Commit to working onyour business, not just inyour businessThis is a bonus tip and goes directly backto the focus of my April 2012 articlefor National Mortgage ProfessionalMagazine, “The Top Five Things to ImproveYour Existing Business.” In order to grow abusiness and make it successful, you needto take a step back, see what worked andwhat did not work and put a plan in placeto grow the business. This can be donewith careful reflection or with a businesscoach, but it must be done and must bedone honestly. Also, once an LO hires staff,they need to train them. Training helpsestablish what an individual’s role will be,who they should go to with questions andwill help them do their jobs correctly thefirst time. Mistakes will be made, but eachmistake offers a new learning experiencefor both the LO and their staff members.

Utilizing these six strategies can helpmany LOs take their business to the nextlevel. Hiring the right staff for the right taskscan lead to increased profit and even a bet-ter work/life balance. When done correctly,it can also reduce stress on the LO, givingthem the ability to perform the tasks theylove and excel at, while giving some of theother necessary tasks to a staff member.Finally, remember this: being successfultakes a team of talented individuals work-ing together to achieve a common goal.

Leif Boyd is senior vice president of produc-tion for American Pacific Mortgage. Sincejoining American Pacific Mortgage, Leif hastaken an active role in overseeing all aspectsof mortgage origination, including the over-sight of the production department and114-plus branches. He may be reached byphone at (916) 960-1325 or [email protected].

“Every house startsout with a blueprint,then a foundation is

laid, walls are erectedand eventually ittakes shape andbecomes a home.

Why should an LOnot follow the samebasic principles?”

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Make Friends With Top Real Estate Agents

By Chris Nordby

At a certain point, perhaps in the nearfuture, the refinance boom that has cap-tivated our industry is going to cool off.New loan programs introduced by theFederal Housing Administration (FHA) likeHARP 2.0 have extended this period but itcan only go on for so long. A market shiftfocusing on purchase transactions is com-ing and it’s important that you have aplan in place for capturing and fosteringrelationships with real estate agents.Reaching out via direct mail, e-mail andsocial marketing are all viable strategies.However, it is important to understandthat industry surveys show that the topcomplaint of both borrowers and realestate agents about the mortgage loanprocess is that they did not receiveenough information between the applica-tion being taken and the loan closing.Before you put in place any marketingstrategies for real estate agents, you needto cover their basic need: A good flow oninformation while the loan is in process-ing. This is their number one need!

Adding progress reporting and infor-mational emails on the status of loanswill enhance both the agents’ and bor-rower’s experience. You may often hearloan originators (LOs) claim that provid-ing more information while the loan isin progress generates more phone callsand confusion, but there are no objec-tive studies or industry expert opinions

that support this belief. In fact, studiesshow the opposite—the more informedthe client and business partners are, themore they can accurately communicatetheir needs, and the more willing theyare to purchase.

Many of today’s marketing and under-writing systems have the capabilities tocreate status updates on loans in thepipeline, but often require real estateagents to sign into multiple Web sitesmanually, or rely on LOs and underwrit-ing staff to manually send them out. Top-producing agents may be juggling multi-ple transactions at once, and memorizingWeb site log-in information for varioussites can be burdensome.

A system that can deliver automatede-mails directly to the inbox of the realestate agents allows them to stay on topof clients’ transactions with no effort ontheir part. Our own experience has beenthat providing this information to agentshas led to a substantial increase in pur-chase business. While many real estateagents are not high value referral sourcesas individuals due to their low deal vol-umes, the top producers place a greatvalue on having an automated systemthat keeps them up to date on all theirdeals in the pipeline. These top produc-ers place such a high value on this fea-ture, that they will assertively push theirclients to use the LO who can provide this

valuable information. Thesystem must deliver theinformation to them inreal-time reliably andwithout requiring anyaction on their part.Recent research has shownthat real estate agentshave difficulty differentiat-ing LOs. This means theyare somewhat arbitrary intheir choices. This alsoimplies a lower level ofcommitment to their cur-rent choice. They arerarely approached directlyby LOs with a coherentvalue proposition. This isat a time when they havean increased need for areliable source of financ-ing for their clients.

By providing agents a system theyknow will deliver important informationconsistently to their inboxes, you candevelop a stream of purchase businessthat will continue to grow as the markettransitions away from refinances.

Today, most real estate agents do notbelieve LOs really differentiate them-selves from one another. It is importantin this upcoming environment that youdeliver a level of information and serv-ice that is unexpected. If you exceed thereal estate agent’s expectations, againwith real-time transaction information,particularly for the top producers whohave a higher need for information dueto their volume of transactions, you willset yourself apart from competitors.

LOs often feel automated messagesto borrowers and real estate agents donot deliver the level of personalizationthey’ve grown accustomed to providing.However, the value that these agentsreceive from automated messages is notthe wording of the message, but itsguaranteed arrival and accuracy. EricWiley, chief operating officer of PacificResidential Mortgage, provides insight:

“Some LOs feel they must infuse theirown personality and/or own personaltouches to their loan status reports. Ourexperience shows that such personaliza-tion serves no useful purpose and in fact,Realtors and clients love the simple,automated status reports we send them.The reason? These reports happen elec-tronically, without fail, on every transac-tion as checkpoints are reached. The LOis misallocating valuable time by trying

to personalize each one ofthese messages. Rule ofthumb in managing thistechnology: Deal person-ally with exceptions, notthe rule.”

It is important tounderstand that the sell-ing agent isn’t the onlyimportant real estateagent involved in a trans-action. Listing agentstend to have strong rela-tionship with their sell-ers, allowing them toinfluence the seller’sdecision on a mortgageprovider when they buytheir replacement home.Being involved with list-ing agents also brings the

LO into the transaction much earlierand gives them an opportunity to alsopick up the buyer and selling agent as aclient and/or referral source.

A fundamental determinate of themarket value of business is repeat busi-ness as a percentage of overall business.A company that has a high percentage ofone-time transactions is viewed as havingmuch less predictable and stable futurerevenue. Since the primary valuation toolfor an established company is discountedfuture earnings, a lower discount rate,and therefore, a higher valuation, will beapplied to repeat revenue relative to firsttime revenue. Companies highly relianton first-time transactions will also have ahigher expense structure compared tocompanies with well-established recordof low cost, high value, repeat clients.

The mortgage industry is experiencinga rapid increase in the adoption of auto-mated technology, primarily to addressoperational and compliance require-ments and efficiency. Larger gains maybe available now through automationthat increases revenue rather than seek-ing to further decrease expenses.Meeting the number one need of bothreal estate agents and borrowers shouldbe a critical goal to position LOs andcompanies as the purchase transactionbecomes a staple of our industry.

Chris Nordby is president of Protelus, aprovider of marketing automation anddata services exclusively for the mortgageindustry. He may be reached by phone at(800) 585-0207, ext. 100 or by e-mail [email protected].

“Before you put inplace any marketing

strategies for realestate agents, youneed to cover theirbasic need: A good

flow on informationwhile the loan is in

processing.”

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Contact AMX at: [email protected] 800-349-4172

Unlock Your Earning Potential with AMX!• Advanced technology, personal service, and

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Building Relationships Requires Contact Management

By Adam P. Smith

Relationship building is key to being asuccessful mortgage loan originator (LO).That also holds true for real estate agents,insurance agents, financial planners andanyone else who has a direct-to-consumer relationship and works in somesort of financial capacity. If we are expect-ed to be entrusted with the largest trans-actions of people’s lives, then we must bewilling to build a relationship with themfirst. And don’t be mistaken … whetherit’s a first-time homebuyer purchasing orrefinancing a $50,000 condo, or DonaldTrump purchasing or refinancing a newManhattan skyscraper, it is the biggesttransaction of their lives. So whether youare seeking business from new clients orreferrals from other sources like realestate agents and attorneys, you need tospend the time building a relationship toprove two things. First, that you have thecompetency to do the job well, and sec-ond, that you have the character to beentrusted with that job. I have heard thatit takes at least six to eight interactionswith a person to prove those things, and ifyou want to do hundreds or thousands ofdeals in your career, you have a lot ofwork ahead of you.

Solid contact management is a greatway to build relationships and is verymarketing budget-friendly. Good contactmanagement requires a few things to getstarted like … contacts.! Everyone youmeet, or even hear about, is a potentialcontact. If you hear a neighbor talk abouttheir cousin who needs to refinance theirhome, are your ears open enough tomake a note of such and put the cousininto your contact database? Advocatesare also great. Are there real estate agentsand financial planners in your contactmanagement system? They should be.How about defunct colleagues? Howmany former LOs and real estate agentsare out of the business now? They stillneed to buy, sell, finance and refinancetheir properties. And of greatest impor-tance, your past clients. If you are not intouch with your past clients, they are nowsomeone else’s prospects and shame onyou. I cannot emphasize that enough.This is an amazing source of referral busi-ness and I would say the majority of our

business at any given time is from repeatclients and client referrals.

Meeting new contacts is obviously animportant thing to do, as well. There areonly so many referrals you can gain fromyour current clients, and you cannot putthe burden of all the prospecting on yourreferral partners. You do need to referbusiness to them as well. How do yougain new contacts? Do you go to net-working events? Do you know how to“net-weave,” and not just network? Doyou participate in social events? Thereare probably great groups in your ownneighborhood that would provide a greatsocial atmosphere and probably give youan opportunity to do something good foryour community. Do you participate inany charity groups? Sitting on the boardof a non-profit or volunteering for a char-itable organization is a great way to meetnew contacts and to give back. These arealso great ways to prove your character.How about your favorite watering hole,sporting events or the restaurant whereyou order “the usual?” The point is thatthere are always people, everywhere yougo, and they are your contacts … or atleast they could be.

Obviously, once you have contacts,another important piece of the contactmanagement puzzle is a contact manage-ment database. There are a ton of optionsfor this that range from very robust andexpensive, to adequate and completelyfree. I have used Act! and Goldmine, andthey are both great, but they both cost atidy sum and I am all about minimizingcosts. I like and use Outlook, but there aremany great cloud-based options fromMicrosoft, Google and the like. As long asit has the ability to store contact data likephone numbers and e-mail addresses,has a calendar so you can keep your con-tact management on a good schedule,and the ability to take notes when you dohave contact with people, then it works. Itdoesn’t need to be the most complex cus-tomer relationship management (CRM)tool out there, it just needs to help youbuild relationships.

There are a ton of tools available,beyond a CRM that will be helpful inbuilding up and maintaining a contact

database, as well. Do youhave a business card scan-ner? It might save you aton of time doing dataentry after a networkingevent. There are a ton ofgreat options for smart-phones these days whereyou need only to take apicture of a business cardand it is automaticallyentered into your contactdatabase. Do you reallyknow how to find goodrapport-building data onthe Internet? The Web site411.com is a great sourcefor contact informationand integrates withOutlook, as well. If someone mentionedtheir cousin needing to refinance, Icould look up the cousin, see wherethey live, check out the values and evenvisit netronline.com, a complete andfree database of public records, to seewhen they bought the house, howmuch they spent, and so on. Now I evenhave great data for the cousin when wedo finally get in touch.

The actual contact management isthe key in all this to the relationshipbuilding, though. You have to be intouch with people. You have to makesure that your contacts are not fallingthrough the cracks and that requiressome serious effort. You have to main-tain the database just like changing theoil in your car if you want it to run right.I “prospect” every day no matter whatelse I have going on in my business, liketaking time out to write the occasionalmagazine article. You cannot let thatprocess fall through the cracks either.When you are busy with deals and clos-ings, you tend to prospect less and thenyou haven’t been completing a totalrelationship building cycle and you cansee a rollercoaster effect in your workload. You must manage your contactsand build relationships all the time tohave a consistent business.

I tend to do most of this contactingand relationship building via the tele-phone. However, e-mails, social mediapostings or anything you want to do tostay in contact, and to remain in thefront of people’s minds is what it takes.I literally have a couple dozen phonecalls, set months in advance, on my cal-endar every morning just to stay intouch with people. These interactionsare usually very social and we typically

have very casual conver-sations. How are you?The wife and kids? Gladto hear it … let your con-tacts do the talking.People love to talk andthey will really tell youtheir needs, goals, etc. ifyou are really listeningand reading between thelines. This is a greatopportunity to prove thatyou have the character tobe trusted. All the while,the subtext of the conver-sation is that I am still inthe mortgage business anddon’t forget about me. Forsome reason, it is ingrained

in our DNA that with new contacts, peoplealways ask what you do for a living, sodon’t feel like you need to force that infor-mation down anyone’s throat. They willeventually ask. It is also a part of our psy-ches to ask somewhat familiar contactshow work is going, so don’t worry. Theywill ask that too. And when they ask whatyou do for a living or how work is going,walk through that door they opened andtalk about your business then. This is anopportunity to prove that you have thecompetency to do the job and that youreally know your business.

I think that the listening aspect, andnow, the reading aspect with the modernsocial media world, is one of the mostimportant contact management and rela-tionship building tools out there. Peopledo want to let it out. They want sympathyfor their problems and issues, and we allknow misery loves company. So listen, orread in the case of Facebook and othersocial media outlets, and you will learn alot about your contacts and become moreand more trusted and can even be a prob-lem solver. We have all heard about thedifferences between being someone’s bro-ker versus being a trusted advisor or evenbeing a trusted authority. Good listening,good sympathy and good problem solvingon a personal level will help you becomea trusted authority and you have thenproven that you have the competency andcharacter to be trusted with their transac-tions. That can only result in a well-builtrelationship.

Adam P. Smith is president ofGreenwood, Colo.-based The ColoradoReal Estate Finance Group Inc. He maybe reached by phone at (866) 423-0564or e-mail [email protected].

“Solid contact management is a

great way to buildrelationships and is

very marketing budget-friendly.”

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� Residential Finance Corporation (RFC)has announced the addition of LeslieBondy as director of operation ofRFC’s new Charlotte, N.C. operations.

� The StoneHill Group has announcedthe appointment of Wade Hamby asbusiness development manager.

� Ed Delgado has been named newchief operating officer of WingspanPortfolio Advisors.

� Eric Smith has been named manag-ing director of Loan Value Group LLC(LVG).

� Kevin Grey and Sara Shappell havejoined mortgage industry softwareprovider Blueberry Systems LLC, Greyas lead implementation specialistand Shappell as lead sales supportspecialist.

� ISGN Corporation has hired TimAnderson, former senior vice presi-dent of Lender Processing Services

Inc. (LPS), as director of corporatetechnology strategy, and has alsoannounced the addition of bothJennifer Fulks and Matthew Mesmeras associate general counsels.

� DocuTech Corporation has namedGregg Holsapple as vice president ofproduct management and has alsonamed Sandra Griebe as director ofintegrations.

� Kelly Dobbs has joined ChurchillMortgage as the firm’s newest homemortgage consultant, and PeterOreziak and Mike Gonzalez havejoined Churchill as home loan spe-cialists.

Your turnNational Mortgage ProfessionalMagazine invites its readers to submitany information, events, passages, pro-motions, personal or professionaloccurrences that seem appropriateand/or other pertinent data to theattention of:

Heard on theStreet/Mortgage

Professionals to Watchcolumn

Phone #: (516) 409-5555E-mail:

[email protected]

Note: Submissions sent via e-mail arepreferred. The deadline for submissionsis the 1st of the month prior to the tar-get issue.

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Judge Approves $25Billion ServicingSettlement as JosephSmith OverseesSettlement Requirements

U.S. District Court Judgefor the District ofColumbia Rosemary

Collyer has signed documents and hasapproved the $25 billion mortgageservicing settlement with the nation’stop mortgage servicers, Bank ofAmerica, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase,Citigroup and Ally Financial.

“The court approval of the historic$25 billion mortgage servicing settle-ment is a victory for American home-owners,” said U.S. Department ofHousing & Urban Development (HUD)Secretary Shaun Donovan. “We knowthat when we work together and putpartisanship aside we can accomplishbig things for the American people. Andwhile we applaud yesterday’s actions bythe court, we know that now the realwork begins to hold these servicersaccountable and ensure that the nearlytwo million homeowners who areexpected to receive help and relief

actually get it.”After the ink was dry on the signing

of the settlement, Joseph A. Smith Jr.,the former top regulator of banking inNorth Carolina, officially assumed hisposition as the monitor of the mortgageservicing settlement. In this role, Smithwill work to ensure that the banks fol-low the requirements outlined in thesettlement agreement through the for-mal creation of the Office of MortgageSettlement Oversight (OMSO), the bodySmith has set up to facilitate his work.

Participants in the settlement unoffi-cially named Smith as their choice inearly February when news of the agree-ment became public, but both the set-tlement and Smith’s appointmentbecame official when Judge Collyermade final consent judgments affectingeach of the banks.

“The mortgage settlement is a bipar-tisan achievement that holds promisefor millions of people,” said Smith. “Ournation depends on its home financingsystem not only to function properly,but also to inspire confidence in thepeople who use it. By itself, this settle-ment will not remedy every problem

that system faces. But trust in our mort-gage system can move forward if we usethis opportunity to show fairness, trans-parency and accountability. This is aresponsibility I take seriously.”

Smith will receive periodic reportsfrom the settlement participants andoversee bank compliance with theagreement. The Monitor will thenreport his findings, determinations andactions to the Court and a MonitoringCommittee of state and federal govern-ment representatives. The Monitor isempowered to work with non-compli-ant institutions to establish correctiveplans, or, if necessary, to recommendpenalties or to seek injunctive relief toenforce the settlement.

GSEs Take Measures to Streamline the Short Sale Process

The Federal HousingFinance Agency (FHFA)has directed the gov-ernment-sponsored

enterprises (GSEs)—Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac—to develop enhanced andaligned strategies for facilitating shortsales, deeds-in-lieu and deeds-for-leasein order to help more homeownersavoid foreclosure. The effort will comein stages with the first taking place thisJune. The new, aligned timelinesinclude the requirement that mortgageservicers review and respond to requestsfor short sales within 30 calendar daysfrom receipt of a short sale offer.

“FHFA and the enterprises are commit-ted to enhancing the short sales anddeeds-in-lieu process as additional toolsto prevent foreclosure, keep homes occu-pied and help maintain stable communi-ties,” said FHFA Acting Director Edward J.DeMarco. “These timeline and borrowercommunication announcements set mini-mum standards and provide clear expec-tations regarding these important foreclo-sure alternatives.”

With the alignment, servicers will berequired to do the following: Review andrespond to requests for short sales within30 calendar days from receipt of a shortsale offer and a complete borrowerresponse package; provide weekly statusupdates to the borrower if the short saleoffer is still under review after 30 calendardays; and make and communicate finaldecisions to the borrower within 60 calen-dar days of receipt of the offer and com-plete borrower response package.

By the end of 2012, Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac will announce additionalenhancements addressing borrower eligi-bility and evaluation, documentation sim-plification, property valuation, fraud miti-gation, payments to subordinate lienholders, and mortgage insurance (MI).

Survey Finds Nearly Onein Five Lenders Lookingfor New LOS Systems

According to a surveyconducted by com-pliance software pro-vider QuestSoft, of461 lenders sampled

nationwide, 18.7 percent of mortgage

lenders are considering changing theirloan origination software (LOS) in thenext 12 months. This is the highest per-centage looking to switch in the sixyears QuestSoft has been conducting itsannual survey. When QuestSoft beganconducting its annual compliance andtechnology survey in 2008, the numberof lenders considering replacing theirLOS remained consistently around 10percent each year (22 of 207 lenders inthe survey’s first year). However, last year,the percentage of lenders jumped to17.75 percent, with a new high of 18.7percent looking to change this year.

“One of the factors in seeing more LOSchanges is the reduced expense of imple-mentation and conversion offered byhosted software companies,” saidLeonard Ryan, president and founder ofQuestSoft. “Another factor may be theresult of acquisitions. As LOS vendorshave merged, acquired customers maybe using the change as an opportunity toevaluate their platforms.”

Ryan added that many lenders alsosaid they place a high priority on LOSproviders that have comprehensive com-pliance functionality. QuestSoft currentlyintegrates with more than 40 leading LOSplatforms, and the LOS systems inte-grated with QuestSoft’s flagship prod-uct, Compliance EAGLE, are able to pro-vide a simple interface that automatesthe evaluation of a loan file against acomprehensive suite of more than 300federal and state compliance regula-tions representing more than 10,000pages of standards.

Mortgage Fraud SuspiciousActivity Reports See 31Percent Year-Over-YearRise in 2011

The Financial CrimesEnforcement Network(FinCEN) has released itsfull-year 2011 update ofmortgage loan fraud

reported suspicious activity reports (MLFSARs) that shows financial institutionssubmitted 92,028 MLF SARs last year, a31 percent increase over the 70,472 sub-mitted in 2010. The increase can prima-rily be attributable to mortgage repur-chase demands. Financial institutionssubmitted 17,050 MLF SARs in the 2011fourth quarter, a nine percent decreasein filings over the same period in 2010when financial institutions filed 18,759MLF SARs. While too soon to call a trend,Q4 of 2011 was the first time since thefourth quarter of 2010 when filings ofMLF SARs had fallen from the previousyear. FinCEN also updated its SAR datasets used in the report.

The report also provides clues thatthere is significant improvement inmortgage lending due diligence sincethe height of the housing bubble. Forexample, 40 percent of MLF SAR narra-tives, where SAR filers provide details ofwhy an activity appears suspicious,indicated the filing institution turneddown the subject’s loan application,short sale request, or debt eliminationattempt because of the suspected fraudreported in the SAR.

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“The FinCEN report shows we’re see-ing financial institutions spotting activ-ity that appears to be fraud before ithappens and in the process, helping toprevent it,” said FinCEN Director JamesH. Freis Jr. “Even though we’re seeingthe market work through its backlog ofthe book of business now in default,FinCEN data is revealing possible fraudthat institutions are using to helpdefeat scammers.”

In 2011, 84 percent of reportedactivities occurred more than two yearsprior to filing, compared to 77 percentin 2010. In Q4 of 2011, 80 percent ofreported activities occurred more thantwo years prior to filing, compared to82 percent in 2010 fourth quarter.

FinCEN also released per capitarankings of MLF SARs subjects by stateand by county. The top five countiesranked per capita and by MLF SAR sub-jects in 2011 were Santa Clara County,Orange County and Riverside County,Calif.; Broward County, Fla. and LosAngeles. The top five states ranked byper capita and by SAR subject in 2011were: California, Hawaii, Florida,Nevada and the District of Columbia.

Senior Home EquityIncreases by $30 Billionin Q4

Data released by theNational ReverseMortgage LendersAssociation (NRMLA)

shows that senior home equityincreased by $30 billion in the fourthquarter of 2011. Seniors have $3.22 tril-lion in home equity available accordingto the most recent NRMLA/Risk SpanReverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI)report.

“Our nation’s demographic and eco-nomic trends suggest that the reversemortgage market will continue to grow,”said Peter Bell, president and chief exec-utive officer of NRMLA. “This data furthervalidates that reverse mortgages are afundamental tool to help fund longevityat a time when many Americans mightface limited options.”

The NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mort-gage Market Index (RMMI) showed con-tinued stabilization in Q4 of 2011,increasing to 153.48, up 0.9 percentfrom the third quarter. The increasewas driven by increases in senior hous-ing values (up 0.6 percent) and a dropin mortgage debt (down 0.3 percent).Senior mortgage debt levels fell for the11th straight quarter to $1.01 trillion,leaving seniors with $3.22 trillion inequity.

“Many seniors face the possibilityof losing their homes based on ashortfall in cash each month and thereverse mortgage can be a great finan-cial solution,” said Bell. “Home equityis a key component to financial pros-perity for American seniors.”

The RMMI has tracked reversemortgage market opportunity since2000 by analyzing and reporting ontrends in senior home values andhome equity levels and is updated ona quarterly basis.

Commercial MortgageLending ContinuesRebound as OriginationsHit $184.3 Billion in 2011

Commercial andmultifamily mort-gage origination vol-umes increased 55

percent in 2011, with mortgage bankersreporting $184.3 billion of closed com-mercial and multifamily loans, accord-ing to the Mortgage BankersAssociation’s (MBA) 2011 CommercialReal Estate/Multifamily Finance: AnnualOrigination Volume Summation. FannieMae, Freddie Mac and the FederalHousing Administration (FHA) were col-lectively the leading investor group forwhom loans were originated in 2011,responsible for $57.6 billion of thetotal. Life insurance companies andpension funds saw the second highestvolume, $49.3 billion.

In terms of property types, multifami-ly properties saw the highest originationvolume, $77.4 billion, followed by officeproperties with $34.4 billion of origina-tions. First liens accounted for 93 percentof the total dollar volume closed. Lendingfor retail properties saw the largest per-centage increase among the major prop-erty types, followed closely by multifami-ly and industrial properties.

Origination volumes for Fannie Mae,Freddie Mac and FHA each hit new recordsin 2011. Despite their record volumes,faster growth in multifamily lending byother investors led the market share of thegovernment-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)to decline in 2011. Loans originated forFannie Mae and Freddie Mac accountedfor 57 percent of multifamily volume in2011, down from 63 percent in 2010 and85 percent in 2009.

“Commercial mortgage lending con-tinues to rebound from its 2009 lows,”said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s VP of com-mercial real estate research.“Originations for life companies, FannieMae, Freddie Mac and FHA were allstrong, and banks, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issuers and oth-ers also saw strong growth. With interestrates still low and stability returning toreal estate fundamentals, the rebound isexpected to continue in 2012.”

Wells Fargo Named TopCommercial/MultifamilyOriginator in 2011

Wells Fargo was thetop commercial/mul-tifamily mortgageoriginator in 2011,

according to a report from the MortgageBankers Association (MBA), CommercialReal Estate/Multifamily Finance Firms—Annual Origination Volumes. Other origi-nators in the top 10 include HFF LP,Meridian Capital Group LLC, CBRE CapitalMarkets Inc., PNC Real Estate, MetLifeReal Estate Investments, Deutsche BankCommercial Real Estate, PrudentialMortgage Capital Company, NorthmarqCapital LLC and JP Morgan (CMBS).

By dollar volume, the top five origi-


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By David Lykken

Some questions can just be downright irri-tating? The title of this article is one ofthose questions that has irritated and frus-trated me for years. Why, because I neverliked my answer(s). For the longest time, itseemed as though the harder I worked,the more weary than wealthy I became. Allthe while, I was putting on a good face“fighting the good fight.” Beneath the sur-face, I was one frustrated guy. Sadly, manyin our industry are where I was at for years.At the end of this article, I will provide youthree quick and easy action steps that will,if acted upon, end weariness and get youpositioned for increasing wealth.

Let me first start off by saying that Ibelieve that those of us in the mortgageindustry should be some of the happiestand most fulfilled professionals on theplanet. Why you may ask … because weare financing the American dream ofhomeownership. Buying a home for mostpeople is the biggest transaction of theirlives. While the American dream for manybecame the American nightmare, it does-n’t negate the fact that owning an afford-able home with common sense financingcan be one of most rewarding transactionsof our lives. Owning a home can bring sta-bility to families in a way that few thingscan. Consumers need us more than everbecause a home they cannot afford is asurefire recipe for disaster both from afamily perspective, as well as a financialperspective. The idea of buying that biggerand more expensive house that was goingto make them happier has collided withthe reality of foreclosure and has resultedin disillusionment. Many who have losttheir home to foreclosure have wished forthe “good old days” when they owned thatsmaller house with a smaller mortgagepayment. As the saying goes, “Life is notalways greener on the other side of thefence or on the other side of the tracks.”Americans are getting a harsh lesson in

what real wealth is all about and what is tobe valued … but that is another topic foranother day.

So, if you find yourself more weary thanwealthy, this article is for you. What I wantfor each of you reading this article is tobecome rewarded and wealthy while havinga lifestyle that is fulfilling instead of filledwith tiredness and weariness. That’s one ofmy passions in life, to help people becomesuccessful … I mean truly successful.

There are many definitions and mean-ings of the word “successful,” but I wouldsuggest you consider this one. A successfulperson is someone who is enjoying life tothe max … someone who loves what theydo and has a deep sense of accomplishmentthat they are making a difference in the livesof others. This is someone who is able to dowhat they want, when they want and in thestyle in which they want to do it. Does thatdescribe you? If not, keep reading.

Success is not, as some have jokinglydefined, as “He who dies with the most toyswins.” While I may not agree with all thatthe German philosopher Eric Frommwrote, he sure got it right when he said:“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhauststhe person in an endless effort to satisfy theneed without ever reaching satisfaction.”

I have come to learn that true successis more about being “fulfilled” thanbeing “filled-full” of “things.” And don’tmake the mistake of getting stuck in theditch on the other side of the road bysaying, “Having things is a bad thing.”Monasteries are populated by peoplewho have that attitude. I like the saying,“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor … it isbetter to be rich.” Where is the balance?I am going to ask you to consider that itis not about being rich or poor. It’s aboutbeing fulfilled! It’s about focusing onhelping others achieve their goals andnot focusing on selfish gains. We allprobably know people who are wealthy

and miserable. Why do so many who haveso much take their own lives? I look forexamples of those who are that are happy,fulfilled and wealthy. When I find them, Isee one common denominator— they allput others’ interests ahead of their own.

I love stories like the one of John D.Rockefeller Sr. who, at the turn of thelast century, was considered the wealth-iest person in the world. He started hisprofessional life as a poor young man inan office with little formal education.By the time he retired, he had amasseda fortune close to $1.5 billion … quitean accomplished back in the early1900s. After he retired, he experiencedsome serious health issues and was toldthat he did not have long to live. As helaid there on what he thought wasgoing to be his deathbed in the hospi-tal, he started contemplating all that hehad accomplished and the legacy thathe would be leaving. He realized thathe would be remembered as the great-est “getter” of wealth, but not the great-est “giver” of wealth. He thought, “Whata horrible legacy to leave behind!” Itwas at that moment, he made a life-changing decision. He discovered a rea-son to live longer. He wanted to rede-fine his legacy and be known more forhis “giving” than his “getting.” If Iunderstand his story correctly, he gotout of his hospital bed and walked toone of the busier streets in New YorkCity and started putting coins down onthe centerline of the road. You can onlyimagine how crazy that looked. Here’sthe wealthiest man in the world in hos-pital clothes bending over laying downmoney on the center line of a busy

street. Certainly everyone thought theold man had lost his mind, but some-thing unexpected happened. As hewalked along the center line of thestreet laying down money, he startedgetting excited. He got a new vision forlife and was healed of that “terminal”disease. His legacy was transformedfrom being the biggest “getter” to thebiggest “giver,” and he went on to livefor a number of more years but he saidthat his later years of giving were somuch more fulfilling than the manyyears he spent “getting.”

As a consultant to the mortgageindustry, I routinely get a phone callsfrom executives who have been success-ful, but now are weary and worn out.They want out! They want our firm tosell their business. Many times I won-dered how someone who is so success-ful can be so miserable. I often discoverthat they have lost their joy of doingwhat they’re doing and have long sincelost sight of why they got in the busi-ness in the first place. The dream ofowning a business has become a night-mare. The business now owns theminstead of them owning the business.

When I get a call from someone whowants to sell their company, I immedi-ately start probing as to why they wantto sell, especially when I see such aHUGE opportunity on the horizon formortgage company business owners. Iask questions like, “What drew you tothe mortgage industry?” “What is it thatyou loved about it, and what is it nowthat you hate about it?” “What was theoriginal motivation for you starting thebusiness that you now want to sell?”

Are You Getting Weary or Wealthy?“Consumers need us more than ever because a home they cannot afford

is a surefire recipe for disaster both from a family perspective, as well as a financial perspective.”

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...the freedom to

originate!

finally

Don’t take our word for it, read what our Rising Starsat America’s Choice Say about us!

“I started with America’s Choice as StateManager at the beginning of 2011 and I’mglad I made the move. ACHL is an excel-lent company to be associated with. Thiscompany offers many of the opportunitieswe had at previous companies and evensome of the same people we’ve all worked

with prior to coming to ACHL.”

Dan Palumbo25 years in business

I’m very pleased that I chose ACHL. They understand the importance of

customer service and a team environment.The underwriting and closing departments

are responsive and quick. With our excellentmanagement, HR, and accounting team, we

have a family working together for a common goal – to Close More Loans!!

Denise Alcorn20+ years in business

“Your team is ABSOLUTELY THE MOSTAWESOME, EFFICIENT, HARDEST

WORKING TEAM I HAVE EVERWORKED WITH. YOU ALL ARE JUST

AMAZING. I’M SITTING HERESTUNNED AND DEFINITELY USING

CAPS ON THIS MESSAGE!!!!! WOWSER, OPA!!!!!

Jane Stathas25 years in business

“I really like this organization. My only regret is that I didn’t find

you sooner!”

Jim Patterson9 years in business

America’s Choice gives you the tools you needso you can Originate, Close and Get Paid!

www.achlonline.com

Give Jonathan Fowler, Director of National Production ofAmerica’s Choice Home Loans a call at

713-821-9750to learn how you can have a better, more rewarding career

“When was the last time you enjoyeddoing what you’re doing?”

There is no question that today’sbusiness environment is more challeng-ing than ever and the risks are certain-ly greater, but so are the rewards! Ifsomeone will work with me and let meget the joy/fulfillment back into theirlives, they often will end up wanting tokeep the business and not sell! Theyrealize they really didn’t want to sell.They just wanted to have a new reasonfor living. The more they start helpingothers achieve their objectives, themore energized and excited theybecome about being in business. This isalso true of many mortgage profession-als whether or not they are businessowners. Francis Bacon, the 17th centu-ry English philosopher, nailed it whenhe said, “Money is a great servant, but abad master.”

So here are three basic things that, ifacted upon, will give you more energy,eradicate any weariness you may be feel-ing, bring you true fulfillment, and alongthe way, will increase your wealth:

1. Remember why you got into the busi-ness: Another way to say it is rediscoveryour passion for the business.

2. Find ways to focus on others needsrather than your own: In other words,help others get what they want rather

than what you want by making yourcareer about helping others get into theright home with the right financing.

3. Give back to the industry and to yourcommunity: There’s a million ways inwhich you can do this and make a hugedifference in the lives of others. Givingshould be 10 percent about givingmoney and 90 percent about giving ofyourself!

If you do these three things, it willpositively impact your life, your careerand your bank account!

I always love reading e-mails givingme feedback about what I have written.It is a way that you can start giving backnow. Do it … I ‘d love to hear from you!

David Lykken is president of mortgagestrategies and managing partner withMortgage Banking Solutions. He hasmore than 35 years of industry experi-ence and has garnered a national repu-tation, and has become a frequent gueston FOX Business News with Neil Cavuto,Stuart Varney, Liz Claman and DaveAsman with additional guest appear-ances on the CBS Evening News,Bloomberg TV and radio. He may bereached by phone at (512) 977-9900, ext.10, or e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].

valuenation continued from page 30

REO adjustment for a property and thefinal value can be compared to tradition-al sales with the REO adjustment factoredin. A good REO AVM provides the advan-tages of providing all of this informationquickly to shorten the time the propertysits. It gives stakeholders the ability todiligently review portfolios on a regularbasis and determine next steps.

It is important to understand yourmarket and know when you need touse a default valuation model. The

practice of using traditional and REOAVMs is a highly effective strategy inmanaging residential real estate assetsin today’s climate. Next month, we willdelve into a comparison of an REO AVMto other valuation methods and howthey can be used in conjunction witheach other.

David Rasmussen is senior vice presidentof operations at Veros Real EstateSolutions. For more information, call(714) 415-6300 or visit Veros.com.

harp 2.0 continued from page 10

or outbound call campaign. We are cur-rently seeing more than 2.5 percentresponses with marketing campaigns tocurrent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loanholders. Once this new plan launches infull force and major news outlets beginreporting on the program, the excitementshould drive direct mail responses up wellover the three percent mark.

The above-stated numbers provideus with a couple important things toconsider. First, there will be at least 11million homeowners (that you canhelp) that may be searching online forHARP rates at any given time from nowuntil the end of 2013. It is your job tocapture that search, either by your own

page or through a company that canhelp you capture those leads. Second,the above numbers also let us knowhow many people you can market tothrough direct mail campaigns, as wellas cold calling campaigns.

If you set up your direct marketingprograms correctly with the right part-ners, HARP will be bigger than youcould have imagined!

Raymond Bartreau is chief executive offi-cer of BestRate Referrals, and founderand chief executive officer of www.harp-mortgageleads.com. He may be reachedby phone at (800) 811-1402 or [email protected].

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By Jonathan Foxx

Last month, I dis-cussed the announce-ment made by theConsumer FinancialProtection Bureau(CFPB) regarding the

confidential treatment of informationobtained from persons in connectionwith its exercise of authorities underfederal consumer financial law.1 Ioffered an Action Plan that a financialinstitution, bank or non-bank, shouldimplement in preparation for a CFPBexamination, with respect to protectingthe confidentiality and privilege of doc-uments and information.

This month, I would like to discussnew consumer privacy protectionupdates at the Federal TradeCommission (FTC), the watchdogenforcement agency charged with pro-tecting consumer privacy, as the FTChas issued sweeping revisions to its pri-vacy rules. In this article, we will take alook at the FTC’s call for companies toadopt best privacy practices.

These best practices include makingprivacy the “default setting” for com-mercial data practices and giving con-sumers greater control over the collec-tion and use of their personal datathrough simplified choices andincreased transparency.

OverviewOn March 26, 2012, the FTC issued a finalreport of 112 pages, setting forth best prac-tices for businesses to protect the privacyof American consumers and give themgreater control over the collection and useof their personal data.

In the report, “Protecting ConsumerPrivacy in an Era of Rapid Change:Recommendations for Businesses andPolicymakers,” the FTC also recommendsthat Congress consider enacting generalprivacy legislation, data security andbreach notification legislation, and databroker legislation.2

The Report follows a preliminary staffreport that the FTC issued in December2010. The preliminary Report proposed aframework for protecting consumer priva-cy with respect to the new communicationtechnologies of this century.

Like this Report, the framework urgedcompanies to adopt the following prac-tices, consistent with the Fair InformationPractice Principles first articulated nearly40 years ago:

� Privacy by design: Build in privacy at

every stage of product development.� Simplified choice for businesses and

consumers: Give consumers the abil-ity to make decisions about theirdata at a relevant time and context,including through a Do-Not-Trackmechanism, while reducing the bur-den on businesses of providingunnecessary choices.

� Greater transparency: Make infor-mation collection and use practicestransparent.

Privacy by designCompanies should build in con-sumers’ privacy protections at everystage in developing their products.These include reasonable security forconsumer data, limited collection andretention of such data, and reason-able procedures to promote dataaccuracy.

Simplified choices for businesses and consumersCompanies should give consumers theoption to decide what information isshared about them, and with whom.This should include a Do-Not-Trackmechanism that would provide a sim-ple, easy way for consumers to controlthe tracking of their online activities.

Greater transparencyCompanies should disclose detailsabout their collection and use of con-sumers’ information, and provide con-sumers access to the data collectedabout them.

What has changed?The Report changes the guidance’sscope; that is, the preliminary reportof December 2010 recommended thatthe proposed framework apply to allcommercial entities that collect or useconsumer data that can be linked to aspecific consumer, computer or otherdevice, but now, this final Report con-cludes that the framework should notapply to companies that collect anddo not transfer only non-sensitivedata from fewer than 5,000 con-sumers a year.

The Report also responds to com-ments filed by organizations and indi-viduals that, with technologicaladvances, more and more data couldbe “reasonably linked” to consumers,computers or devices. Thus, theReport concludes that data is not“reasonably linked” if a companytakes reasonable measures to re-iden-

tify the data, commits not to re-iden-tify it, and prohibits downstreamrecipients from re-identifying it.

Furthermore, the Report refines theguidance for when companies shouldprovide consumers with choice abouthow their data is used.

It states that whether a practiceshould include choice depends on theextent to which the practice is consis-tent with the context of the transactionor the consumer’s existing relationshipwith the business or is required orspecifically authorized by law. Thesepractices would include product fulfill-ment and fraud prevention.

Finally, the Report contains impor-tant recommendations regarding databrokers. It notes that data brokers oftenbuy, compile, and sell highly personalinformation about consumers. The FTCobserves that consumers are oftenunaware of their existence and the pur-poses to which they use the data.

Therefore, the Report makes two rec-ommendations to increase the trans-parency of such data broker practicesby first reiterating the FTC’s prior sup-port for legislation that would provideconsumers with access to informationheld by data brokers, and, secondly, bycalling on data brokers who compileconsumer data for marketing purposesto explore the creation of a centralizedwebsite where consumers could getinformation about their practices andtheir options for controlling data use.

Future issuesOver the course of the next year, the FTChas stated that it will work to encourageconsumer privacy protections by focus-ing on five (5) main action items:

� Do-Not-TrackThe FTC commends the progressmade in this area: browser vendorshave developed tools to allow con-sumers to limit data collection aboutthem, the Digital AdvertisingAlliance has developed its own icon-based system and also committed tohonor the browser tools, and theWorld Wide Web Consortium stan-dards-setting body is developingstandards.

� MobileThe FTC urges companies offeringmobile services to work towardimproved privacy protections,including disclosures. To that end, itwill host a workshop on May 30,2012 to address how mobile privacy

disclosures can be short, effectiveand accessible to consumers onsmall screens.

� Data brokersThe FTC will call on data brokers tomake their operations more trans-parent by creating a centralizedwebsite to identify themselves, andto disclose how they collect and useconsumer data. In addition, thewebsite should detail the choicesthat data brokers provide consumersabout their own information.

� Large platform providersThe Report cited heightened privacyconcerns about the extent to whichplatforms, such as Internet ServiceProviders (ISPs), operating systems,browsers and social media compa-nies, seek to comprehensively trackconsumers’ online activities. The FTCwill host a public workshop in thesecond half of 2012 to explore issuesrelated to comprehensive tracking.

� Promoting enforceable self-regula-tory codesThe FTC will work with theDepartment of Commerce and stake-holders to develop industry-specificcodes of conduct. To the extent thatstrong privacy codes are developed,when companies adhere to thesecodes, the FTC will take that intoaccount in its law enforcementefforts. If companies do not honorthe codes they sign up for, theycould be subject to FTC enforcementactions.

Jonathan Foxx, former chief complianceofficer for two of the country’s top pub-licly-traded residential mortgage loanoriginators, is the president and manag-ing director of Lenders ComplianceGroup, a mortgage risk managementfirm devoted to providing regulatorycompliance advice and counsel to themortgage industry. He may be contactedat (516) 442-3456 or by e-mail [email protected].

Footnotes1—Foxx, Jonathan, Regulatory ComplianceReview: The CFPB’s Treatment of Confidentialityand Privilege, National Mortgage ProfessionalMagazine, April 2012, Volume 4, Number 4, pages30-31.2—Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of RapidChange: Recommendations for Businesses andPolicymakers, Recommendations for Businessesand Policymakers, Federal Trade Commission,March 2012.

Regulatory ComplianceReview

CONSUMER PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY

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— the industry’s leading marketing company.

Leading the Industry with IntelligentMarketing Solutions


nators for third parties in 2011 wereWells Fargo Bank, HFF, Meridian CapitalGroup, CBRE Capital Markets andNorthmarq Capital. The top five lendersin 2011 were Wells Fargo, MetLife RealEstate Investments, PNC Real Estate,Deutsche Bank Commercial Real Estateand Prudential Mortgage Capital.

Former Taylor Bean andWhitaker CFO PleadsGuilty to Role in $2.9Billion Fraud Scheme

Delton de Armas, formerchief financial officer ofTaylor Bean & WhitakerMortgage Corporation(TBW), has pled guilty to

making false statements and conspiring tocommit bank and wire fraud for his role ina more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme thatcontributed to the failures of TBW andColonial Bank. De Armas of Carrollton,Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. DistrictJudge Leonie M. Brinkema in the EasternDistrict of Virginia, and faces a maximumpenalty of 10 years in prison when he issentenced on June 15, 2012.

“As TBW’s chief financial officer, Mr. deArmas concealed a massive $1.5 billiondeficit in TBW’s funding facility and anotherlarge deficit on TBW’s books,” said AssistantAttorney General Lanny A. Breuer of theCriminal Division. “He tried to conceal thegaping holes by falsifying financial state-ments and lying to investors as well as thegovernment. Ultimately, Mr. de Armas’criminal conduct, along with that of his co-conspirators, contributed to the collapse ofTBW and Colonial Bank. With today’s guiltyplea, Mr. de Armas joins seven other defen-dants—including the former chairman ofTBW, Lee Farkas—who have been convict-ed of participating in this massive fraudu-lent scheme.”

According to court documents, deArmas joined TBW in 2000 as its CFO andreported directly to its chairman, LeeFarkas, and later to its Chief ExecutiveOfficer Paul Allen. He admitted in courtthat from 2005-August 2009, he and otherco-conspirators engaged in a scheme todefraud financial institutions that hadinvested in a wholly-owned lending facili-ty called Ocala Funding. Ocala Fundingobtained funds for mortgage lending forTBW from the sale of asset-backed com-mercial paper to financial institutions,including Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas.The facility was managed by TBW and hadno employees of its own.

According to court records, shortly afterOcala Funding was established, de Armaslearned there were inadequate assetsbacking its commercial paper, a deficiencyreferred to internally at TBW as a “hole” inOcala Funding. De Armas knew that thehole grew over time to more than $700million. He learned from the CEO that thehole was more than $1.5 billion at thetime of TBW’s collapse. De Armas admittedhe was aware that, in an effort to cover upthe hole and mislead investors, a subordi-

nate who reported to him had falsifiedOcala Funding collateral reports and peri-odically sent the falsified reports to finan-cial institution investors in Ocala Fundingand to other third parties. De Armasacknowledged that he and the chief execu-tive officer also deceived investors by pro-viding them with a false explanation forthe hole in Ocala Funding.

De Armas also admitted in court that hedirected a subordinate to inflate anaccount receivable balance for loan partic-ipations in TBW’s financial statements. DeArmas acknowledged that he knew thatthe falsified financial statements were sub-sequently provided to Ginnie Mae andFreddie Mac for their determination on therenewal of TBW’s authority to sell and serv-ice securities issued by them.

In addition, de Armas admitted to aidingand abetting false statements in a letter theCEO sent to the U.S. Department of Housing& Urban Development (HUD), throughGinnie Mae, regarding TBW’s audited finan-cial statements for the fiscal year ending onMarch 31, 2009. De Armas reviewed andedited the letter, knowing it containedmaterial omissions. The letter omitted thatthe delay in submitting the financial datawas caused by concerns its independentauditor had raised about the financing rela-tionship between TBW and Colonial Bankand its request that TBW retain a law firm toconduct an internal investigation. Instead,the letter falsely attributed the delay to anew acquisition and TBW’s switch to a com-pressed 11-month fiscal year.

“With our nation in a housing crisis, deArmas, as chief financial officer of TBW,one of the country’s largest mortgagelenders, papered over a gaping hole in thebalance sheet of TBW subsidiary OcalaFunding and lied to regulators andinvestors to cover it up,” said ChristyRomero, Deputy Special Inspector General,Office of the Special Inspector General forthe Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIG-TARP). “The fraud provided cover to othersat TBW to misappropriate more than $1billion in Ocala funds and sell fraudulent,worthless securities to conspirators atColonial BancGroup. SIGTARP and its lawenforcement partners stopped $553 mil-lion in TARP funds from being lost to thisfraud and brought accountability and jus-tice that the American taxpayers deserve.”

Your turnNational Mortgage Professional Magazineinvites you to submit any information onregulatory changes, legislative updates,human interest stories or any other news-worthy items pertaining to the mortgageindustry to the attention of:

NMP News Flash columnPhone #: (516) 409-5555

E-mail:[email protected]

Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are pre-ferred. The deadline for submissions is the1st of the month prior to the target issue.

http://www.loyaltyexpress.com

http://www.menloparkfunding.com

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new to market continued from page 31

from the Occupancy Map help pinpointpotential misrepresentations ofemployer location. In addition, thevisual support allows for quick identifi-cation of the distances between thesubject property, borrower’s currentresidence, and employer location.

Short Sale EnhancementsAdded to DataQuick’sRiskFinder DistressOffering

DataQuick hasa n n o u n c e dthe addition

of several key content and performanceenhancements to its RiskFinder Distresssolution, including enhanced tracking ofshort sales. These additional features pro-vide investors, lenders and servicersexpanded distressed property reviewsbased on a new data algorithm andextended customization. Released earlierthis year, RiskFinder Distress delivers anexhaustive monthly tracking of distressedproperty trends and statistics at thenational and local levels.

RiskFinder Distress users can now accu-rately track short sales in addition to realestate-owned (REO) liquidation and auc-tion sales through expansive nationwideand local sales information. DataQuickalso revamped the logic engine drivingRiskFinder Distress to provide more accu-rate overall tracking of distressed proper-ties, resulting in more current and usabledata and analysis for users.

RiskFinder Distress now also features anenhanced reporting interface, which pro-vides more flexibility and customization inany output that’s required. These enhancedcustomization features enable users tomake use of new metrics, layouts andreporting technology to create detailedreports tailored to meet their specific needs.

“Short sales can make up as much as aquarter of all sales in a geography,” saidJohn Walsh, president of DataQuick. “Withthe addition of short sale tracking andmore reporting into RiskFinder Distress,lenders, investors and servicers have avaluable tool to evaluate their market orportfolio and make the decisions neces-sary to enhance profit or reduce risk.”

DataQuick’s RiskFinder Distress allowsusers to track and analyze key distressevents throughout the life cycle of theloan, resulting in a complete picture of dis-tressed property trends. This capabilityprovides investors and lenders with valu-able information needed to effectivelyevaluate risk, determine the impact of dis-tress sales on loss severity estimates, driveloss mitigation strategies and zero in onmarkets that are starting to recover.

Quandis Announces New Vendor Connectivity Module

Quandis Inc. hasannounced the

launch of a solution that connectsmortgage service companies with a

nationwide network of real estate ven-dors. The module provides a centralizedWeb portal that creates a medium forvendors to list the services and expertisethey provide, and for mortgage compa-nies to locate vendors based on theirbusiness needs. Mortgage servicers,lenders, escrow firms, outsourcers andpreservation companies have an ongo-ing need to hire vendors to help com-plete transactions such as valuations,short sales, inspections and others.Quandis’ Vendor Module allows mort-gage companies to gain access to ven-dors like real estate agents, real estatebrokers, appraisers, property inspec-tors and notaries.

The solution eliminates the labori-ous process whereby vendors areforced to visit multiple mortgage com-panies’ Web sites to do business withthem. Suitable vendors can be quicklylocated and once engaged with, ven-dors can return to the site to monitorthe status of orders placed. Vendorsare able to list their specific services,expertise, track record, reputation,markets, zip codes served and more.

“In order to efficiently completereal estate transactions associatedwith servicing processes such as valu-ations and short sales, mortgage com-panies must be able to quickly findthe best vendors offering servicesthey are looking for in a specificarea,” said Scott Stoddard, chief exec-utive officer of Quandis. “Our vendormodule works by allowing individualvendors to list their services and spe-cialties in our national database, andprovides a medium for organizationsto easily search for and engage withthem. Often, this is a manual processfor both parties, as vendors must addand re-key their information intodozens of different Web sites whileorganizations in turn must use sever-al different methods by which tolocate vendors. Our vendor moduleeliminates these cumbersome func-tions for both parties.”

New CoreLogic ConsultingServices Team to StampOut Industry Fraud

CoreLogic has announcedthe launch of its Fraudand Risk ConsultingServices that address the

needs of mortgage lenders, servicersand credit card issuers by helping opti-mize fraud tools and risk strategies toimprove fraud detection and minimizefraud-loss. CoreLogic created these serv-ices in response to the growing demandfrom resource-constrained financialinstitutions for skilled professionalswith specialized fraud and risk expertisewho can holistically examine technolo-gies and processes. With guidance fromthe deep industry experience availablefrom CoreLogic Fraud and RiskStrategists, clients can uncover opportu-

nities for process improvement, opera-tional efficiencies and cost reduction,and act on these opportunities withconfidence to bolster profitability.

“While financial institutions valuethe impact that results from integratingrisk management products within themortgage loan origination and servicingprocess, they are also telling us theywould benefit from experts that helpoptimize their risk management solu-tions based on a thorough understand-ing of their business,” said Tim Grace,senior vice president of product man-agement at CoreLogic. “The CoreLogicteam of fraud and risk strategists pro-vides superior, hands-on consultingthat delivers measurable fraud lossreduction. Our goal is to enable theseorganizations to be prepared now andfor the future.”

Leading financial institutions havealready experienced success using con-sulting services from CoreLogic. In arecent engagement, one U.S. mortgagecompany improved fraud detection andreduced false positive rates that led tothe company reviewing 42 percent lessloan applications while increasing thefraud detected overall, which resultedin a significant production cost savingsfor the organization.

CoreLogic currently offers two levelsof service aimed at helping clientsincrease fraud detection and optimizerisk management—advisory consultingservices and comprehensive perform-ance services. Advisory ConsultingServices include introductory level serv-ices that help clients re-examine andbenchmark their current environmentand expose opportunities to combatidentified fraud and risk challenges.This level of service includes FraudReduction Analysis, which fully details aclient’s fraud preparedness; expertise ofa CoreLogic Fraud Manager for Hire,which provides a highly trained expertfor a specified period of time; andProduct Support which provides cus-tomized services for specified products.These services can produce significantvalue for financial organizations, byaddressing a range of circumstancesfrom stand-alone, specialized projectsto the identification and resolution of afraud crisis.

Georganne Rosenberger, seniordirector at CoreLogic, leads the teamand brings more than 25 years of spe-cialized experience leading fraud andrisk management initiatives for majorconsumer and business lenders.Formerly a vice president with WellsFargo Bank, Georganne succeeded inachieving seven consecutive years ofreduced fraud losses. She also led fraudcontrol initiatives and held leadershippositions at Bank One and Mellon Bank.

Clear Capital Examines QC and Risk With NewClearQC Offering

Clear Capital, aprovider of

data and solutions for commercial andresidential real estate asset valuations,has announced the availability of

ClearQC, a fully-hosted service to auto-mate the review of broker price opin-ions (BPOs) and appraisal reports. Thesystem brings new levels of speed andintelligence to the valuation reviewprocess, with refined business rulesand multiple data perspectives to cre-ate the most progressive automatedreview service available from any ven-dor. ClearQC finds the “needles in thehaystacks” for internal review teams.It allows loan originators, servicers,and investors to run all of their valua-tion reports from any providerthrough an automated process tohighlight complete and well support-ed valuations, and also flag thoseneeding further attention.

“To ensure our appraisals andBPOs consistently lead the market inquality, we’ve spent the last decadedeveloping and refining an advancedinternal system to analyze our ownvaluations prior to human review,”said Kevin Marshall, president and co-founder of Clear Capital. “We werefrequently asked by clients if we couldrun non-Clear Capital valuationsthrough our system as they recog-nized the lift in quality that ClearQCprovides. Now for the first time, weare excited to offer these automatedreview technologies directly to ourcustomers as a hosted service for anyBPO or appraisal, helping create amuch more powerful and efficientreview process.”

ClearQC’s advanced rules evaluateareas of the report such as selectionof comparables, price conclusions,the effect of market trends, and thecompleteness and validity of data.The company provides a full set ofpre-defined rules based on best prac-tices learned over a decade of valua-tion experience, and will also workwith customers to develop cus-tomized sets of rules to meet theirspecific business needs.

The data used by ClearQC to sup-port the analysis includes MLS data,including sales and listings data, pub-lic records, Clear Capital’s HDI (HomeData Index) market data, and thecompany’s proprietary market andcomparable database built up over 11years. This data powers evaluations ofvalue ranges, selection of compara-bles, and appropriate vendor proxim-ities and behaviors.

Your turnNational Mortgage Professional Magazineinvites you to submit any informationpromoting new “niche” loan programs,new products or any other announce-ment related to the introduction of anew program, to the attention of:

New to Market columnPhone #: (516) 409-5555

E-mail:[email protected]

Note: Submissions sent via e-mail arepreferred. The deadline for submissionsis the 1st of the month prior to the targetissue.

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In discussing the role of a receiverappointed over a distressed realproperty, it is apparent that many

financial institutions and services stillhave a misunderstanding as to what areceiver truly is, what he or she does,and why the receiver is necessary in cer-tain circumstances. Here are the mostcommon questions a receiver is facedwith along with comprehensiveanswers that should clear up some ofthese misunderstandings.

What is a receiver? The receiver is an agent of the court,not of the parties, and the receivershipestate is under the control and supervi-sion of the court. The appointment ofthe receiver is an ancillary proceedingconcerned with the preservation of theproperty subject to a dispute in litiga-tion pending the outcome and disposi-tion pursuant to a final judgment inthat litigation. (CCP 564)

A receiver is to take custody and con-trol of an asset (thus, creating areceivership estate), and is entrusted toprotect and preserve that asset. In areceivership proceeding, the mainfunction of the court through thereceiver is to manage or dispose of theestate in the best manner possible andfor the best interest of all of the partiesconcerned.

Who appoints the receiver?As stated above, the receiver is appoint-ed by the court, acts as an agent of thecourt and acts on behalf of the court inprotecting and preserving the assetsthat make up the receivership estate.The appointment is sought, usually by alender or secured creditor, in a court oflaw. After appointment, the receivertakes custody and control of thereceivership estate as directed by thecourt. The court grants the receiversuch authority as the court considersappropriate to protect and preserve theproperty. This authority may be nar-rowly or broadly tailored dependingupon the scope and breadth of thereceivership.

It should be noted that, by Californialaw, the receiver serves the court anddoes not work for either the plaintiff orthe defendant. The receiver does have afiduciary duty to all parties having aninterest in the property.

What are the qualitiesand skills that a receivermust possess?Above all, the receiver must be honest

and be a person of integri-ty because the receiverhas a fiduciary obligationto the parties, he musthave the ability to operatetransparently.

Due to the contentiousnature of a receivership,the receiver must main-tain their poise and havethe ability to act withoutbeing adversely impactedby the parties’ challenges.A large amount ofpatience is required indealing with the partieswho will sometimes bebelligerent and irritatedas in those cases wherethey are fighting for sur-vival. The receiver mustdeal with the parties with-out taking their criticismpersonally.

In saying this, keep inmind that the defendant,in most instances, hastheir heart and soul inthe property not to men-tion enormous financialcommitment to the proj-ect. The defendants areangry with the plaintiffand make the assumption(wrongly) that the receiv-er is the plaintiff’s repre-sentative. On the otherside, the plaintiff is notvery happy that it may benecessary for it to putmore money into analready distressed proj-ect. It is up to the receiverto navigate these trou-bled waters and maxi-mize the value of thereceivership estate for thebenefit of all.

Importantly, the receiver must havethe knowledge and experience in man-aging the type of asset over which theyare being appointed. It’s important thatthe receiver have a seasoned staff thatcan help manage and monitor complexprojects. This can be both efficient andcost-effective to the receivership estate.The staff needs to include accountingpersonnel with an understandableaccounting system.

The receiver must have the ability toanticipate problems and be preparedwith solutions. It’s important for thereceiver to have the capability to beable to ask the right questions when

evaluating a project—this will save both timeand money in the longrun. The receiver musthave the ability to payattention to detail whileseeing the big picture.

Does the lenderalways need tohave a receiverappointed? The short answer to thisquestion is, not always,but there are certain con-siderations that a lenderneeds to understandwhen contemplating aforeclosure versus havinga receiver appointed. Asit relates specifically tocondominium or othertypes of residential proj-ects, the constructiondefect liability issues arecomplex and should beconsidered both from ashort-term and a long-term risk perspective.Receivers can exercisetheir equitable positionto assist in resolving manyof these concerns andissues.

The perils of SB 800Consider the following …in 2003, Senate Bill 800was enacted in anattempt to limit the num-ber of actions resultingfrom residential construc-tion defect litigation. InCalifornia, the homeown-er or homeowners associ-ation has up to 10 yearsto file an action for con-

struction defects. SB 800 provides forthe developer to have an opportunity toinspect the property with the allegedconstruction defect and attempt to rem-edy it, as well as for the homeownersand developer to meet in order tomediate any unresolved constructiondefect issues, and hopefully, resolvethose issues prior to filing an action, allin an attempt to avoid costly litigation.

The perils of a lender taking the title throughforeclosure By the lender foreclosing on a property,the lender now enters the chain of title

and exposes itself to potential liabilityfor any construction or design defectsin the future. It’s important for anylender to understand the potentiallong-term issues relating to being onthe title, including, but not limited to,exposure under SB 800, detailed above.

California courts have not ruled onthe issue of lender liability in the eventof foreclosure in an SB 800 context.However, it is likely that plaintiffs’attorneys will file suit and name com-mercial lenders who have foreclosed oncertain residential properties if, for noother reason, than they are a deeppocket and the original developer hasno ability to respond to the damages.The case for holding lenders responsi-ble for construction defects becomesstronger the moment a lender takescontrol of the physical assets andmakes any effort to complete construc-tion of any unfinished improvements.

By appointing a receiver, the lenderlimits its liability by preserving itscapacity to that of a lender and notstepping into the shoes of theowner/developer, and therefore doesnot open itself up for litigation in thefuture as a result of being on the chainof title. The appointment of a receiverto complete and sell a residential proj-ect keeps the developer entity in placeas the responsible party in the event ofa construction defect claim, and keepsthe lender off the title and at arms-length from any construction issues,thereby creating a layer of liability pro-tection.

Other risks of ownership are avoidedby a lender if a receiver takes custodyand control as well, including entitle-ment concerns, environmental hazardsand personal injuries at the property.

All in all, in some circumstances theappointment of a receiver is an idealsolution for a lender to resolve an out-standing loan, by avoiding certain lia-bilities and risks.

James N. Guthrie Jr. is managing directorof Charter Equities Group LLC and is anexperienced receiver and a member ofthe California Receivers Forum. He maybe reached by phone at (714) 434-8554or e-mail [email protected]. Richard P. Ormond Esq. is ashareholder in Buchalter Nemer’sLitigation Practice Group, Chair of theFirm’s Pro-Bono Committee, and servesas the Firm’s Hiring Partner. He may bereached by phone at (213) 891-5217 or e-mail [email protected].

The Role of a Real Property Receiver:

How a Receiver Assists Parties

From Taking on Unnecessary Risks

and Exposure

By James N. Guthrie Jr. and Richard P. Ormond Esq.

“Above all, the receiver must be honest and be a

person of integritybecause the receiver

has a fiduciary obligation to the

parties, he must havethe ability to operate

transparently.”—James N. Guthrie Jr.

“It is up to the receiver to navigate

these troubled watersand maximize the value of the

receivership estate forthe benefit of all.”

—Richard P. OrmondEsq

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Appraisal Management Company

Appraisal Management Company

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StreetLinks Lender Solutions provides an innovative andcomprehensive suite of valuation and service solutions used bylenders, servicers and appraisers nationwide to improve everydaybusiness operations.

StreetLinks industry-leading products include LenderPlus™ full-service appraisal management, LenderX™ lender-executedappraisal management software and SCORe™ appraisalreviews and a series of valuation analysis tools for services.Our commitment to quality and service, embodied by ourpartnership approach to clients and appraisers, continues toset us apart as the nation’s premier lending solutions partner.For more information, visit www.streetlinks.com.

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Accounting and Audit

A full service CPA firm specializing in the needs of the mortgageindustry. Providing monthly bookkeeping services,FHA andfinancial statement audits , corporate tax preparation and con-tract CFO services. Contact us today to learn more.

Compliance Consultants

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Direct Mail

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DocVelocity is an end-to-end paperless solution designed tosimplify the loan origination experience. Imagine having all yourdocuments in the loan process as electronic files, all online, frompre-approval to closing. DocVelocity provides: Fast and easy loandelivery to any lender … Automatic doc sorting, naming and filing… Real-time online document sharing for anyone you choose …Friendly and intuitive user interface … No start-up fees, and freetraining and support. DocVelocity addresses importantcompliance issues while giving your office the competitiveadvantage of being paperless. It streamlines all aspects of themortgage process and most important, it does so in one easy-to-use and inexpensive package. DocVelocity is the flagship productof Paperless Office Solutions, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary ofFlagstar Bancorp. Visit www.docvelocity.com to find out more.

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FHA Audit and Licensing

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TagQuest is a full service marketing firm created specifically forthe ever changing mortgage business. We have tested and provencampaigns for FHA -VA - HARP - CONVENTIONAL loan types.TagQuest knows what it takes to generate quality leads whetherthrough direct mail marketing, telemarketing, internet leads, datalists, tracking systems, or any combination thereof. TagQuest willbrand your company, prepare targeted marketing campaigns thatgenerate interest in your company, and most importantly, showyou how to turn sales leads into repeat customers.

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Leads

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Calyx Software, the #1 provider of mortgage solutions is dedicatedto offering reliable and affordable software that streamlines, inte-grates and optimizes the loan process. Find out how PointCentralcan streamline your business and create compliant processes today.

Calyx Software 800-362-2599

[email protected] www.calyxsoftware.com

Mortgage Forms

• HUD Settlement Cost Booklets• CHARM Booklets• Uniform Residential Loan Applications• HUD Case Binders

www.LendingForms.comSame Day Shipping (orders placed prior to 3pm et)

24/7 Secure e-Commerce SiteSave 33-50%

Regulatory/Compliance

Comergence Compliance Monitoring is the mortgage industry’s onlyComplete broker desk management software and outsource solutionfor TPO management and monitoring. We can supplement lenders in-house management and monitoring resources departments.

Comergence Compliance Monitoring, LLC630 The City Drive South, Suite 205 • Orange, CA 92868

Office: 714-740-9000 www.ComergenceCompliance.com

Are you a broker/owner or current branch manager looking toexpand your business into Mortgage Banking with FHA capabilities?Then our PARTNER BRANCH ADVANTAGE© program is perfect foryou. We are offering you all the benefits of partnering with an estab-lished lender while still enjoying your independence. US MortgageCorporation is a nationwide FHA Direct Lender with a 16 year longreputation of excellence.

YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR SUCCESS!

For more information contact THOMAS R. SIRICO, VicePresident of Business Development at (917) 923-1472 or emailat [email protected].

We look forward to sharing our services with you!

(800) LOANS-15www.usmortgage.com

Retail Branch

#1 USDA RD lender in multiple states with strong FHA/VA/CONVproduct lines as well. Don't be held hostage by a captive brancharrangement. Bank it or broker it. Have a business name/identityyou don't want to give up? We allow DBAs (subject to state rules).

Polaris Home Funding Corp.616-667-9000

[email protected]/timeforachange

Reach affluent and creditworthy consumers who are in-market andready to transact. Bankrate is a consumer direct Web site, NOT alead aggregator. Qualified leads for every sized budget, and payonly for performance. No set up fees! No contracts! No risk!

Founded in 2005, Best Rate Referrals has grown into one of thefastest growing marketing firms in the nation. By combining newtechnology with traditional direct marketing methods that produceprofitable results.

Best Rate Referrals is the direct marketing leader in the mortgageand banking industry.

• Mortgage Direct Mail & List Services• Mortgage Live Transfers• Mortgage Internet Leads• Mobile Marketing

Best Rate ReferralsThe Leading Direct Marketing Company

for Mortgage Professionals800-811-1402 • www.bestratereferrals.com

Wholesale/FHA

Icon Residential, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grand Bank N.A.,is one of the nation’s leading Conforming, Jumbo, FHA and VAwholesale lenders. Our strength, success and longevity isderived from delivering customers service that exceeds ourvalued business partners expectations. With deep industryknowledge, financial stability and innovative technology weprovide the solutions for our business partners to fund loanswhile avoiding risk.

• Direct Access to Underwriters• Competitive Pricing• Innovative Technology• Paperless Solution• Bank Funding

Icon Residential Lenders(888) 247-4207

www.iconwholesale.com

Reach affluent and creditworthy consumers who are in-market andready to transact. Bankrate is a consumer direct Web site, NOT alead aggregator. Qualified leads for every sized budget, and payonly for performance. No set up fees! No contracts! No risk!

• Reach self directed, highly qualified consumers that are activelysearching for mortgage loans• Geo-targeting – reach the right consumers in the right markets• Our proprietary Advertiser Portal gives you complete controlover your campaigns, budgets, and performance reports.• YOU determine your daily/weekly/monthly budget• Pay only for consumers who click on your listing• NO cancellation fees

Try us risk-free! Call 561-630-1257or visit www.bankrate.com/cpcprogram/ for more details.

Internet’s Leading Consumer Mortgage MarketplaceAttracting over 8 million unique

consumers every monthwww.Bankrate.com • 561-630-1257

Hard Money/Private Lending

ACC Mortgage, Inc.932 Hungerford Drive #6 • Rockville, MD 20850

240-314-0399 • 240-314-0336 faxWeApproveLoans.com

We are doing traditional subprime lending, fix & flip lending andhard money lending.

Windvest Corporation ............................877-285-0777Specializing in rehab loans for property investors in So. CA.Up to 60% ARV, 12.99% fixed rate, 3.5-5 points, 1 yr. term.Fast & professional service since '94! Visit windvestcorp.com!

AAA Refi Leads.....AAA Refi Leads.....AAA Refi LeadsLearn how I went from failure to success by mailing cheap refiletters from home, closed 71 loans & made $248,954.62 last yr.I’ll show you exactly how I did it. Go to: www.Refi-Leads.NET

Leads

Loanbright helps mortgage companies capture and close morebusiness through its marketing and software tools. An INC. 500awardee, Loanbright has helped thousands of companies since1999 by providing them with well over 3 million qualified sales leads.

Loanbright27902 Meadow Drive, Suite 375

Evergreen,CO 80439866-391-2709 • www.Loanbright.com

Sign-on weekly at nmpmag.com/lykkenonlendingThe Lykken on Lending Radio Program

Wholesale/Residential

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Wholesale Reverse Mortgages

Bookmark this!Access these listings

online atnmpmag.com/directory_list

For Licensed Mortgage Brokers in NY, NJ, CT, PA and FLNo HUD Approval Required – Live Help DeskWill Provide Training at Our Office or Yours48 Hour Underwriting - Get Paid Within 48 Hours of Funding

NATIONWIDE Equities

Nationwide Equities Corporation201-529-1401

www.nwecorp.com

• Arizona • Nevada • Texas • California • New Mexico • Utah• Colorado • Oregon • Washington

88 Kearny Street, 3rd FloorSan Francisco, CA 94108

Phone: (415) 632-5150 • Fax: (925) 226-1938www.bayeq.com

CBC National Bank is one of the nation’s fastest growingwholesale lenders offering Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA.The most important aspect of being a leader in today’s market isthe ability to build and maintain a meaningful relationship witheach customer. We understand that these meaningful relation-ships coupled with competitive pricing and efficient technologyare the pillars of today’s lending environment.

We are now hiring Account Executives in AL, TN, KY, VA, & MD.

Contact Stu Ehrlich in our HR department at

[email protected] for further details.

Big Enough to MATTER…Small Enough to CARE

CBC National Bank3010 Royal Boulevard South, Ste. 230

Alpharetta, GA 30022888-486-4304

Now Wholesale Lending in:

AMX/Land Home Financial ..................800-349-4172 AMX/Land Home Financial Services Wholesale LendingDivision - Great Rates, Great Programs, Great Service.Offering financing options that work in today's market.

Veros Real Estate Solutions is a premier technology leader in the mort-gage industry and proven leader in enterprise risk management andcollateral valuation services. Veros combines the power of predictivetechnology and data analytics for advanced automated solutions.

Veros Real Estate Solutions2333 North Broadway, Suite 350 • Santa Ana, CA 92706

(866) 458-3767www.veros.com • @verosres (Twitter)

• Paperless! Quick and Easy!• Top Tier Account Executives• Committed to Wholesale• Operations that Earn Your Business

TMSfunding Wholesale Lending326 W Main Street • Milford, Ct. 06460

888.371.2989 • WWW.TMSFUNDING.COMYour Partner in Success!

We offer competitive pricing and fast turn-times for FHA, VA,Conventional, and USDA programs without having a retail pres-ence in the industry. We are a wholesale lender with 22 years ofexperience and believe in exceptional service.

Terrace Mortgage4010 W. Boyscout Blvd., Suite 550

Tampa, FL 33607866-934-4631 • www.terracemortgage.com


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MAY 2012Sunday-Wednesday, May 20-23

2012 Commercial/MultifamilyServicing & Technology Conference

Hilton Anatole2201 North Stemmons Freeway

DallasFor more information,

call (800) 793-6222 or visitMortgageBankers.org.

Sunday-Wednesday, May 20-232012 Legal Issues/Regulatory

Compliance ConferenceLa Quinta Resort & Club49-499 Eisenhower Drive

La Quinta, Calif.For more information,


Tuesday-Wednesday, May 22-2328th Annual Mortgage Bankers

Association of Alabama Convention“Staying the Course”

Wynfrey Hotel1000 Riverchase Galleria

Birmingham, Ala.For more information,

call (334) 260-8197 or visitMBAAL.org.

Wednesday-Friday, May 30-June 12012 Hawaii Association of

Mortgage Brokers Annual Conference

“Get Your Eight in the 808”Sheraton Waikiki Hotel 2255 Kalakaua Avenue

Honolulu, HawaiiFor more information,

call (808) 783-4442 or visitHAMB.org.

JUNE 2012Monday-Friday, June 4-8

MISMO June 2012 Trimester MeetingDoubleTree by Hilton Hotel

201 East MacArthur BoulevardSanta Ana, Calif.

For more information, call (800) 793-6222 or visit

MortgageBankers.org.

Friday-Saturday, June 22-23NAMB—The Association of

Mortgage Professionals AnnualConference & Board Installation

JW Marriott Hotel10 S. West Street, Indianapolis


NAMB.org.

Sunday-Tuesday, June 24-26Mortgage Bankers AssociationChairman’s Conference 2012

The Breakers1 South Country Road

Palm Beach, Fla.For more information,


JULY 2012Wednesday-Saturday, July 11-14

Florida Association of MortgageProfessionals (FAMP)

2012 Convention & Trade Show“Stay on Track”

The Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay2900 Bayport Drive

Tampa, Fla.For more information,

call (850) 942-6411 or visitFAMB.org.

Sunday-Tuesday, July 29-31CoreLogic’s 24th Annual RiskSummit

St. Regis Monarch Beach1 Monarch Beach Resort

Dana Point, Calif.For more information,

call (415) 536-3525 or visitCoreLogic.com/RiskSummit2012.

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 [email protected].

AUGUST 2012Tuesday-Wednesday, August 2-3

Louisiana Mortgage LendersAssociation (LMLA)

2012 Educational ConferenceNew Orleans Hilton Riverside Hotel

2 Poydras StreetNew Orleans, La.


LMLA.com.

SEPTEMBER 2012Sunday-Tuesday, September 9-11

Mortgage Success Source 2012 Mortgage Leadership

Today ConferenceThe Mirage Hotel & Casino

3400 Las Vegas Boulevard SouthLas Vegas


MortgageSuccessSource.com.

Monday-Wednesday, September 10-12

2012 American Mortgage ConferenceRaleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley

4500 Marriott DriveRaleigh, N.C.


NCBankers.org.

OCTOBER 2012Sunday-Wednesday,

October 21-24Mortgage Bankers Association 99th

Annual Convention & ExpoThe Hyatt Regency

151 East Wacker DriveChicago


MortgageBankers.org.

NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

calendarOF EVENTS

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http://www.bestratereferrals.com

http://www.uwm.com

national mortgage professional magazine - may 2012

Documents

new look

new york

powerful new features

new mortgage servicing

loan officers

appraisal processwith

appraisal management

loan origination team