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U . S . P O S T A G E P A I D
N M P M E D I A C O R P .
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W A N T A G H , N E W Y O R K 1 1 7 9 3
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Why the Future is Bound to be Paperless
By Rene Rodriguez 28
Going Paperless: The Technology is Ready the People
Are Not By Chris Knowlton 29
Help Clients Go Green With FHA By Jeff Mifsud 30
Three Ways Your LOS Can Help You Go Green
By BJ Bounds 30
The Color of Money is Getting Greener By Dain Ehring 32
Americas Greenest Mortgage Companies 36
In Memoriam: Armand Cosenza
By James L. Nabors, CMC, CRMS 12
Value Nation: Tempering the American Dream
By Charlie W. Elliott Jr., MAI, SRA, ASA 13
The NAMB Perspective 14
The Secondary Market Overview: From Bonds
to Production Things Are Not Always what
They Seem on the Yellow Brick Road By Dave Hershman 16
Leaders on the Frontline: A Critical Value for
Community Building By Stewart Hunter and Jim McMahan 17
Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn By Katrina Lennon 19
NMP Mortgage Professional of the Month:
Chad Jampedro, COO, GSF Mortgage Corporation 20
The Brokers Future: an Overview of
the New Commission Landscape By Steven A. Milner 23
Forward on Reverse: FIT for Reverse Mortgage
Lenders (Part VIII) Out of Pocket Burn-Through Risk
By Atare E. Agbamu 26
Lykken on Leadership: Conviction A Key Ingredient
of Leadership By David Lykken 27
NMP News Flash: April 2011 4
Heard on the Street 8
New to Market 22
Mortgage Heroes 24
NMP Mortgage Professional Resource Registry 40
NMP Calendar of Events 44
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Visit
NationalMortgageProfessional.com.
COMPANY WEB SITE PAGE
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Elliott and Company Appraisers, Inc................... www.appraisalanywhere.com ................................13
Flagstar Wholesale Lending .............................. www.wholesale.flagstar.com ....................Back Cover
Freedom Mortgage .......................................... www.fmbranch.com ......................Inside Back Cover
Frost Mortgage Lending Group .......................... www.frostmortgage.com/nmp ..............................35
GSF Mortgage Corporation ................................ www.gsfprobranch.com ........................................33
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REMN (Real Estate Mortgage Network)................ www.remnwholesale.com ....................................34
Ridgewood Savings Bank .................................. www.ridgewoodbank.com ......................................8
StreetLinks National Appraisal Services .............. www.streetlinks.com/SCORe ..........Inside Front Cover
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United Northern Mortgage Bankers Ltd. ............ www.unitednorthern.jobs................................7 & 31
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Windvest Corporation ...................................... www.windvestcorp.com ........................................19
National Mortgage Professional Magazine
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Special Focus on
Going Green/Paperless
Features
Columns
April 2011 Volume 3, Number 4
A Message From NMP Media Corp.
Executive Vice President Andrew T. Berman
Going green in the mortgage space
Twenty-plus years ago when I first entered the mortgage industry, I never thought Id
hear the word paperless in the same sentence as mortgages. At the time, I was see-
ing files in our shop that were three inches thick at a minimum. As time went on, those
files grew and grew (especially FHA files and at least twice the file size for 203k deals).
Yet here we are in 2011, with a large number of mortgage companies running at 75 per-
cent to 100 percent paperless. You can find some of these companies on pages 36-37 in
our Americas Greenest Mortgage Companies feature.
This months focus on Going Green/Paperless includes some great submissions.
Folks like Mortgage Dashboards Chief Executive Officer Rene Rodriguez writing about the rush to paper-
less being more than just going green, but as a requirement of doing business. Inlantas VP of Technology
and Marketing Chris Knowlton discussing some of the obstacles mortgage companies face when going
paperless. Our FHA expert, Jeff Mifsud, explaining how FHA can help your company cater to borrowers
seeking mortgages for green projects. Calyxs BJ Bounds shares some tools that are available to you as well
as how going green can save you green in your bottom line. The section wraps up with a piece from
CoreLogic Dorados CEO Dain Ehring about all the driving forces that push going green into the forefront
of mortgage companies.
NAMB in action fighting for the mortgage industry
In March, I had the pleasure of attending the National Association of Mortgage Brokers 2011 Legislative &
Regulatory Conference in Washington, D.C. There were more than 200 mortgage professionals from around
the country present to get updates from NAMB and officials from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban
Development (HUD), participate in networking functions, and lobby on Capitol Hill. The most impressive
part of the event was attending the meetings NAMB members had with their elected members of the House
and Senate.
While it seemed that the meetings were all just show and legislators appeasing their constituents,
several of those meetings resulted in letters in support of NAMBs position on the Feds loan origina-
tor compensation rule. Theres more on the NAMB 2011 Legislative Conference on page 14 of this
issue.
Mortgage Professional of the Month Chad Jampedro
I had the pleasure of meeting with Chad Jampedro from GSF Mortgage Corporation for this months NMP
Mortgage Professional of the Month. I really think one of the major factors behind Chads success is his
well-rounded career path. Chad started at the other end of the mortgage industry in the servicing depart-
ment for a big bank. You can read more about Chad on page 20.
Remembering a great friend of the industry Armand Cosenza
Earlier this month, the world lost a truly classy gentleman in Armand Cosenza. I see his face with that
forever grin, the same grin that greeted me when I took my first mortgage convention road trip to icy
cold Cleveland for the Ohio Association of Mortgage Brokers Annual Convention. Armands warm smile
and hospitality was a sigh of relief as we entered the state-specific mortgage publishing business.
Armand was a crucial supporter in helping us see this vision, as we expanded from Ohio into other
states. We got to know the real Armand and his devotion to our profession but more importantly, saw
his dedication to and the pride for his family. He will be missed! Our condolences and sympathies go
out to his family and friends. May he continue to live forever in our hearts as the wonderful memories
of his rich life carry forward.
Until next month
Andrew T. Berman, Executive Vice President
NMP Media Corp.
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April 2011
Volume 3 Number 4
1220 Wantagh Avenue Wantagh, NY 11793-2202
Phone: (516) 409-5555 / (888) 409-9770
Fax: (516) 409-4600
Web site: NationalMortgageProfessional.com
Mortgage
PROFESSIONAL
N A T I O N A L
M A G A Z I N E
Your source for the latest on originations, settlement, and servicing
STAFF
Eric C. Peck
Editor-in-Chief
(516) 409-5555, ext. 312
ericp@nmpmediacorp.com
Andrew T. Berman
Executive Vice President
(516) 409-5555, ext. 333
andrew@nmpmediacorp.com
Domenica Trafficanda
Art Director
domenicat@nmpmediacorp.com
Karen Krizman
Senior National Account Executive
(516) 409-5555, ext. 326
karenk@nmpmediacorp.com
Jon Blake
Advertising Coordinator
(516) 409-5555, ext. 301
jonb@nmpmediacorp.com
Tara Cook
Billing Coordinator
(516) 409-5555, ext. 324
tarac@nmpmediacorp.com
ADVERTISING
To receive any information regarding advertising rates, deadlines and require-
ments, please contact Senior National Account Executive Karen Krizman at
(516) 409-5555, ext. 326 or e-mail karenk@nmpmediacorp.com.
ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS/PRESS RELEASES
To submit any material, including articles and press releases, please
contact Editor-in-Chief Eric C. Peck at (516) 409-5555, ext. 312 or e-mail
ericp@nmpmediacorp.com. The deadline for submissions is the first of
the month prior to the target issue.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
To receive subscription information, please call (516) 409-5555, ext.
301; e-mail orders@nmpmediacorp.com or visit www.nationalmort-
gageprofessional.com. Any subscription changes may be made to the
attention of Circulation via fax to (516) 409-4600.
Statements, articles and opinions in National Mortgage Professional Magazine
are the responsibility of the authors alone and do not imply the opinion or
endorsement of NMP Media Corp., or the officers or members of National
Association of Mortgage Brokers and its State Affiliates (NAMB), National
Association of Professional Mortgage Women (NAPMW), National Credit
Reporting Association (NCRA) and/or other state mortgage trade associations.
Participation in NAMB, NAPMW, NCRA, and/or other state mortgage
trade associations events, activities and/or publications is available on
a non-discriminatory basis and does not reflect the endorsement of the
product 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 compliance
aspects of advertisers, products or services and/or the editorial content con-
tained in NMP Media Corp. publications. National Mortgage Professional
Magazine and NMP Media Corp. reserve the right to edit, reject and/or post-
pone the publication of any articles, information or data.
National Mortgage Professional Magazine
is published monthly by NMP Media Corp.
Copyright 2011 NMP Media Corp.
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Lykken on Lending is a weekly 60-minute show hosted by mortgage veteran of 37 yrs, David Lykken,
along with special guest Alice Alvey & Joe Farr as well as featured special guests. Each week we provide
our listeners with up-to-the-minute information of what is happening in mortgage and housing industry.
Sign-on weekly at nmpmag.com/lykkenonlending
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National Credit Reporting Association Inc.
125 East Lake Street, Suite 200 O Bloomingdale, IL 60108
Phone #: (630) 539-1525 O Fax #: (630) 539-1526
Web site: www.ncrainc.org
The National Association of
Mortgage Brokers
11325 Random Hills Road, Suite 360
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone #: (703) 342-5900 O Fax #: (703) 342-5905
PresidentMichael DAlonzo, CMC
Creative Mortgage Group
1126 Horsham Road, Suite D
Maple Glen, PA 19002
(215) 657-9600 O mjdalonzo@hotmail.com
Vice PresidentDonald J. Frommeyer, CRMS
Amtrust Mortgage Funding Inc.
200 Medical Drive, Suite D
Carmel, IN 46032
(317) 575-4355 O dfrommeyer@amtrust.net
SecretaryVirginia Ferguson, CMC
Heritage Valley Mortgage Inc.
5700 Stoneridge Mall Road, Suite 225
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(925) 469-0100 O hvm1@msn.com
TreasurerJohn Councilman, CMC,CRMS
AMC Mortgage Corporation
2613 Fallston Road
Fallston, MD 21047
(410) 557-6400 O jlc@amcmortgage.com
Immediate Past PresidentJim Pair, CMC
Mortgage Associates Corpus Christi
6262 Weber Road, Suite 208
Corpus Christi, TX 78413
(361) 853-9987 O jlpair@aol.com
Michael Anderson, CRMS
Essential Mortgage
3029 S. Sherwood Forest Boulevard, Suite 200
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
(225) 297-7704 O mikea@essentialmtg.com
Donald Fader, CRMS
SMC Home Finance
P.O. Box 1376
Kinston, NC 28503-1376
(252) 523-5800 O dfader@smchf.com
Deb Killian, CRMS
Charter Oak Lending Group LLC
3 Corporate Drive, P.O. Box 3196
Danbury, CT 06813-3196
(203) 778-9999, ext. 103 O debkillian@snet.net
Olga Kucerak, CRMS
Crown Lending
222 East Houston, Suite 1600
San Antonio, TX 78205
(210) 828-3384 O olga@crownlending.com
Walter Scott
Excalibur Financial Inc.
175 Strafford Avenue, Suite 1
Wayne, PA 19087
(215) 669-3273 O wscott.afcs@gmail.com
Tom Conwell
President
(248) 473-7400
tconwell@credittechnologies.com
Donald J. Unger
Vice President
(303) 670-7993, ext. 222
don@advcredit.com
Daphne Large
Treasurer
(901) 259-5105
daphnel@datafacts.com
Marty Flynn
Ex-Officio
(925) 831-3520, ext. 224
marty@ccireports.com
William Bower
DirectorTenant Screening Chair
(800) 288-4757
wbower@confinfo.com
Mike Brown
DirectorTechnology Chair
(800) 285-6691
mike.brown@ncogroup.com
Susan Cataldo
DirectorEducation & Compliance Chair
(404) 303-8656, ext. 204
susancds@cdsusa.net
Janet Curtis
DirectorNew Membership
& Elections Co-Chair
(212) 224-6121
jcurtis@sarma.com
Renee Erickson
DirectorTenant Screening Co-Chair
(800) 311-1585, ext. 2101
renee@zipreports.com
Nancy Fedich
DirectorConference Chair
(908) 813-8555, ext. 3010
nancy@cisinfo.net
Judy Ryan
DirectorNew Membership
& Elections Chair
(800) 929-3400, ext. 201
jryan@kroll.com
Tom Swider
DirectorLegislative Co-Chair
(856) 787-9005, ext. 1201
tswider@creditlenders.com
Terry Clemans
Executive Director
(630) 539-1525
tclemans@ncrainc.org
Jan Gerber
Office Manager/Membership Services
(630) 539-1525
jgerber@ncrainc.org
President
Gary Tumbiolo, CMI
(919) 452-1529
garytumbiolo@aol.com
President-Elect
Laurie Abshier, GML, CMI
(661) 283-1262
E-Mail: lauriea@gemcorp.com
Senior Vice President
Candace Smith, CMI, CME
(512) 329-9040
csmith@wrstarkey.com
Vice PresidentNorthwestern Region
Jill M. Kinsman
(206) 344-7827
jill.kinsman@usbank.com
Vice PresidentWestern Region
Tim Courtney
(760) 792-5620
desertranchrealty@hotmail.com
Vice PresidentCentral Region
Lisa Puckett
(405) 741-5485
lpuckett@ameagletitle.com
Vice PresidentEastern Region
Christine Pollard
(646) 584-8332
cpollard1046@gmail.com
Secretary
Murielle Barnes, CME
(806) 373-6641
napmw123@yahoo.com
Treasurer
Hulene Bridgman-Works
(972) 494-2788
hulene137@yahoo.com
Parliamentarian
Dawn Adams, GML, CMI
(607) 737-2584
dawnvadams@live.com
NAMB Board of Directors
National Association of Professional
Mortgage Women
P.O. Box 451718 O Garland, TX 75042
Phone #: (800) 827-3034 O Fax #: (469) 524-5121
Web site: www.napmw.org
Officers
Directors
2011 Board of Directors & Staff
National Board of Directors
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FHA Commissioner Stevens
to Replace Courson as
Head of the Mortgage
Bankers Association
The Mortgage Bankers
Association (MBA) has
announced that John A.
Courson, the associations
president and chief exec-
utive officer, will be leaving
the association, effective June 1, 2011,
and will be replaced by David H. Stevens,
Assistant Secretary for Housing and
Commissioner of the Federal Housing
Administration (FHA) at the U.S. Department
of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) in
May. Stevens had announced earlier that he
would be resigning from his position at
HUD, effective March 31, 2011.
John Courson has led MBA through
the most turbulent times that this
industry, and the association, have ever
seen, said MBA Chairman Michael D.
Berman, CMB. John inherited an asso-
ciation facing serious financial chal-
lenges precipitated by the meltdown in
the mortgage market and MBAs deci-
sion to purchase its own headquarters
building in the year leading up to the
Great Recession. He was compelled
from the outset to make difficult finan-
cial decisions, both to bring MBAs
budget under control and to extricate
MBA from the building, but he leaves
MBA with a budget in the black and
having executed the sale of the building
while maintaining MBAs commitment
to it members.
Courson came to MBA as chief oper-
ating officer in August, 2008 and
became the associations president and
chief executive officer in January, 2009.
Prior to joining the MBA, John spent
more than 40 years in the mortgage
banking industry during which time he
was an active MBA member and served
as the associations chairman in 2003.
Stevens joins the MBA after nearly
two years leading FHA through the
same tumultuous times. During his
tenure, Commissioner Stevens imple-
mented a myriad of changes to improve
FHAs risk management to ensure the
programs future viability and to help
FHA weather the storm of increased
losses. At FHA, Stevens has direct
responsibility for oversight and admin-
istration of the FHA insurance portfolio,
which includes multifamily housing,
insured healthcare facilities and well
more than 20 percent of mortgages in
the domestic single family market.
David H. Stevens is uniquely quali-
fied to lead the association in its next
chapter, said Berman. Most recently he
has had a tremendous impact at FHA, as
that program faced its own unprecedent-
ed challenges. He also brings a wealth of
industry experience in mortgage lending
that will help him further build MBAs
position as the industrys leading voice in
advocacy, communications, education
and research.
A graduate of the University of
Colorado, Boulder, Stevens has a strong
background in housing, including expe-
rience in finance, construction, sales,
mortgage acquisition and investment,
and regulatory oversight. He began his
journey to HUD at the dining room
table, where he listened to stories
about the creation of FHA and other
efforts to stabilize the housing market
from his father, who started as a runner
on Wall Street during the depression.
The dining room table soon became the
board room as Stevens started his pro-
fessional career with a 16-year tenure
at the World Savings Bank. He later
held positions as senior vice president
of single-family business at Freddie
Mac, and then executive vice president,
national wholesale manager at Wells
Fargo. Prior to being confirmed at HUD,
Stevens had been president and chief
operating officer of Long and Foster
Companies, the nations largest, pri-
vately-held real estate firm.
FHFA Announces
One-Year Extension
to Refi Program
Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA) Acting
Director Edward J. DeMarco
has announced an exten-
sion of the Home
Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), a
refinancing program administered by
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to June
30, 2012. The program was set to expire
on June 30, 2011. In addition, Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac will make the fol-
lowing adjustments to their programs:
Freddie Mac will exempt HARP loans
from their recently announced price
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adjustments and Fannie Mae will con-
form their eligibility date to May 2009.
The program expands access to refi-
nancing for qualified individuals and
families whose homes have lost value.
HARP has grown over the past year.
Through 2010, Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac have purchased or guaranteed more
than 6.8 million refinanced mortgages. Of
this total, 621,803 were HARP refinances
with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios between 80
percent and 125 percent. This is up from
190,180 in 2009, when HARP began.
Attorneys General
Probe Highlights the
Illegal Practices of
Mortgage Servicers
Responding to wide-
spread evidence of
improper accounting,
unwarranted fees,
false documentation, and arbitrary fore-
closure decisions, the 50 state Attorneys
General are crafting a plan to hold the
mortgage servicing industry account-
able. The plan would address accusa-
tions that banks and servicers have
engaged in illegal and negligent servic-
ing practices that have been a contin-
ued drag on the U.S. housing market
and economy.
When unnecessary foreclosures
flood the market, taxpayers end up
picking up the tab, said Mike Calhoun,
president of the Center of Responsible
Lending (CRL). Loan servicers have
repeatedly broken the law to push fore-
closures through, even when loan mod-
ifications made more sense financially
for everyone, including lenders and
investors.
Based on information that has been
made public, the plan of the Attorneys
General is sorely needed to fix the bro-
ken mortgage servicing industry. The
bulk of the provisions are common-
sense measures that require servicers
to obey the law, stop losing docu-
ments, stop giving homeowners the
runaround, and prevent unnecessary
foreclosures. However, some proposed
provisions raise concerns that the plan
may be inadequate. For example,
there has been discussion of a mone-
tary fine of $20 billion, which repre-
sents only a fraction of the damage
caused by the banks. Other key parts
of the proposal remain under consid-
eration or have not yet been made
public.
So far, banks and mortgage servicers
have objected to the plan, but they
ignore the extraordinary damage they
inflicted on homeowners, the housing
market and the overall economy, and
they also ignore the extensive aid they
received from taxpayers.
The sooner banks and servicers can
move forward and begin to rebuild
trust with the public, said Calhoun,
the sooner we can start to stabilize the
housing market and build a more
robust economy.
Equi-Trax Survey Finds
Nothing Short About
Short Sales
Equi-Trax Asset Solutions
LP has released a survey
of the difficulties real
estate agents face com-
pleting short sales.
According to the survey, 71.9 percent
of respondents reported that a short
sale can take four to nine months to
complete, and they think that is simply
too long, said Guy Taylor, chief execu-
tive officer at Equi-Trax. They would
like to see the time period reduced so
that deals go through faster and are less
costly.
In addition, nearly 10 percent of
short sale transactions require more
than 10 months to complete, though
18.2 percent of deals require less than
three months to complete. The survey
reflects the views of more than 600
real estate agents who responded to
the survey.
When agents are asked to select
ways to make short sales easier, 57.6
percent think lenders should take less
time to close the transactions; 14 per-
cent think borrowers should be better
educated about short sales; and 40.4
percent think both of these changes
are necessary to improve the process.
Respondents to this question could
select as many answers as they
thought were relevant.
One way to speed the process and
help all parties involved in these
deals is to ensure that valuations are
accurate and current, said Taylor.
If they are not, the willingness to
complete these deals will be reduced
and the time they take to complete
will increase. That means unneces-
sary expenses for borrowers and
lenders.
news flash continued from page 4
continued on page 9
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#SPOYt#SPPLMZOt.BOIBUUBOt'BJSmFME
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or email lconstant@ridgewoodbank.com
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A Member of the New York
Association of Mortgage Brokers
Markets may be volatile, but theres one thing you can always count on, the total commitment
of our Mortgage Team. Loyalty, continuity of service and our dedication to protecting the
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Ridgewood understands the needs of its communities and develops specic product benets
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Jumbo Mortgages AvaiIabIe up to $3.5 MiIIion on 1 to 4 FamiIy, Co-ops and Condos
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they can better manage their mortgage
compliance and risk.
Our goal is to continually provide
members with opportunities to expand
and diversify their business, said Scott
Stern, chief executive officer of Lenders
One. Imaging is a process historically
reserved for national lenders, but
DocVelocity provides a platform that is
more feasible for smaller and midsized
lenders to deploy. Our members now
have the ability to create their own
paperless environment, which improves
productivity and reduces costs to
enhance their growth possibilities in any
market.
Lenders One members will benefit
from DocVelocitys simplified online
workflow and 24-hour Web access to all
mortgage loan documents, as well as
options for converting paper into elec-
tronic files. The paperless technology
additionally benefits members with
quicker turn times and lower operating
costs in originating loans due to instant
digital file delivery, searchable long-
term document storage and automatic
filing and naming capabilities. Built-in
audit and compliance logs also allow
Lenders One members to more effec-
tively approach their observance of
regulatory guidelines.
We are excited to partner with an
organization as reputable as Lenders One
and provide its members with the paper-
less tools that are key to progressing their
business, said Jason Dufner, director,
product development at DocVelocity.
DocVelocity is committed to the cause of
making our customers paperless and
helping them realize its associated bene-
fits. Aligning with Lenders One gives us
direct access to a group of top quality
lenders that can incorporate an auto-
mated origination experience to improve
their performance.
Infomercial Icon
Guthy-Renker to Enter
the Mortgage Business
Paramount Equity
Mortgage Inc. has
a nnounc e d i t s
intention to enter
into a partnership
with Guthy-Renker LLC, one of the
nations largest direct-to-consumer
marketing companies, to help the
regional mortgage lender significantly
expand its mortgage and consumer
financial operations. Guthy-Renker will
assume a significant equity position in
Paramount Equity. In addition, Guthy-
Renker will provide its preeminent
direct television marketing expertise
and resources to take Paramount
Equitys message of efficient, service-
oriented home loans and consumer
finance solutions to a national market.
The real estate downturn of the last
several years has created tremendous
opportunities for growth as economic
conditions begin to improve. In our opin-
ion, the opportunity in the mortgage mar-
ket coupled with our value-added services
has never been greater, and Guthy-
Renkers marketing expertise will help us
engage a new set of customers who, oth-
erwise, might be beyond our reach, said
Hayes Barnard, founder and chief execu-
tive officer of Paramount Equity. Guthy-
Renker is unmatched in its expertise, scale
and ability to create awareness for nation-
al products. Combining those factors with
our highly efficient money-saving platform
will redefine the consumer experience for
home loans, energy conservation and
insurance.
Founded in 2003, Paramount Equity
Mortgage has completed more than $8
billion in loans in California, Oregon,
Washington, Arizona, Utah, and Virginia.
Paramount Equity seeks to save families
money on their mortgage, insurance and
electric bills by matching the right con-
Lenders One Partners
With Flagstars
DocVelocity on Paperless
Loan Origination
Lenders One Mortgage
Cooperative has
announced a part-
nership with DocVelocity, a Web-based
paperless solution that simplifies the
mortgage loan origination experience,
as its newest preferred vendor.
DocVelocity is the flagship product of
Paperless Office Solutions Inc., a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Flagstar Bancorp.
DocVelocity provides an online
paperless solution that allows mort-
gage documents to be processed elec-
tronically from start to finish.
Automating the review and sharing of
loan documents gives lenders greater
overall control and transparency so
continued on page 10
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(888) 329-GHMC
ltesoriero@ghmc.com
www.joinguaranteed.com
Call Louis Tesoriero
Today & Find out what
Guaranteed can do for you!
THEY SIMPLY WANT YOUR VOLUME.
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Openings for all mortgage professionals, originators, managers, operations.
MORTGAGE BANKING FOR PROFESSIONALS SINCE 1992
888-329-GHMC
Licensed in: AL, AR, CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV and growing.
EXECUTIVE OFFICES: 108 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 301 White Plains, NY 10604
SEC Files MBS Fraud
Charges Against Radius
Capital Corporation and
Its Owner
The U.S. Securities &
Exchange Commission
(SEC) has announced
that it has filed a civil
injunctive action against
Robert A. DiGiorgio of Cape Coral, Fla.,
and his company, Radius Capital
Corporation, charging them with securi-
ties fraud for making false and mislead-
ing statements relating to Radius
issuance of mortgage-backed securities
(MBS) guaranteed by Ginnie Mae.
The SECs complaint, filed in the
U.S. District Court for the Middle
District of Florida, alleges that from
December 2005-October 2006, Radius
and DiGiorgio offered and sold 15
Ginnie-Mae guaranteed MBS to
investors totaling approximately
$23.5 million. According to the com-
plaint, Radius and DiGiorgio repre-
sented to Ginnie Mae, and to investors
in 15 separate prospectuses, that the
residential loans underlying the secu-
rities were, or would be, insured by
the Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) as required to receive Ginnie
Maes guarantee.
The SEC alleges that Radius and
DiGiorgios representations about the
insurability of the underlying loans
were false and misleading as the vast
majority, more than 100 of the 154
underlying loans, were not, and could
not, be insured by the Federal Housing
Administration (FHA). According to the
complaint, Radius never even applied
for FHA insurance for most of the unin-
sured loans and failed to submit the
upfront mortgage insurance premiums
(UFMIP) it had collected from borrow-
ers at closing to the FHA which were
required for the loans to be insured.
Even if Radius and DiGiorgio had
applied for FHA insurance and proper-
ly submitted the mortgage insurance
premiums, the uninsured loans could
not have been insured because the
borrowers failed to meet FHAs debt-
to-income, credit history, employment
history, and other underwriting
requirements.
The SEC alleges that many of the
mortgages backing Radius securities
quickly fell into default. In October
2006, Radius correspondingly default-
ed on its pass-through payments to
the investors holding the MBS. As a
result, Ginnie Mae was required to
pay investors the remaining principal
balance on each uninsured loan that
was in default, thereby incurring sev-
eral million dollars in losses. In addi-
tion, investors holding the Radius
securities lost interest income due to
the unexpectedly high rate of prepay-
ment of principal (by Ginnie Mae) as
the Radius loans fell into default.
The SECs complaint charges Radius
and DiGiorgio with violations of
Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of
1933 and Section 10(b) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and
Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.
The SEC is seeking permanent injunc-
tive relief against future violations, a
conduct-based injunction preventing
Radius and DiGiorgio from offering
MBS, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains
with prejudgment interest and civil
penalties, jointly and severally,
against Radius and DiGiorgio.
news flash continued from page 6
Your turn
National Mortgage Professional Magazine
invites you to submit any information
on regulatory changes, legislative
updates, human interest stories or
any other newsworthy items pertain-
ing to the mortgage industry to the
attention of:
NMP News Flash column
Phone #: (516) 409-5555
E-mail:
newsroom@nmpmediacorp.com
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are
preferred. The deadline for submissions
is the 1st of the month prior to the target
issue.
SAVE THE DATE
2011 Mortgage
Leader Cruise
Sets Sail
Oct 13th-17th
Visit NMPMag/mlc for details.
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Comergence is preferred by leading lenders nationwide.
2
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ig
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s

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e
s
e
r
v
e
d
.
Ahh yes
the broker
approval desk.
At Comergence, helping lenders holistically manage relationships with their
mortgage broker clients is the most important thing we do. And with FHA
now holding lenders accountable and responsible for approving brokers,
theres no better time than the present to have us show you how we can
help with this important change to your business.
For more information and to schedule an appointment, call 714.740.9000
or visit us at www.ComergenceCompliance.com
Gets you all warm and fuzzy just thinking about having to
approve and reapprove your brokers, now doesnt it?
heard on the street continued from page 8
executive officer of Guthy-Renker. The
offering of mortgage, solar and insurance
delivers a powerful combination that will
enable Paramount Equity to become a
sizeable player in the national market.
CoreLogic Completes Its
Acquisition of Dorado
CoreLogic has announced
that it has completed its
acquisition of Dorado
Network Systems Corporation
in a $32 million all-cash transaction.
Dorado is a recognized leader in col-
laborative cloud computing applica-
tions and architecture to the financial
services industry. CoreLogic previously
held a 38 percent equity interest in
Dorado. With the acquisition, CoreLogic
gains patented cloud computing-based
technology that extends and accelerates
the embedding of CoreLogic decision
management applications into client
operating environments, making trans-
action decisions faster, more automat-
ed, and more accurate.
CoreLogic anticipates expanding these
services to enhance its 360-degree
approach to delivering improved loan
quality and transaction transparency
from point of sale through investor deliv-
ery to the secondary market. Additionally,
CoreLogic will deploy Dorado technology
into its strategic outsourcing business.
The mortgage industry is entering
an era that demands a new watermark
in efficiency and transparency across
all aspects of financial transactions,
said CoreLogic President and Chief
Executive Officer Anand Nallathambi.
The existing capabilities that Dorado
brings to the table, as well as the
potential opportunities that exist to
expand these capabilities, make this a
growth enabler for us. This acquisition
extends our leadership position in
helping clients anticipate, adapt and
respond to their market environment.
The Dorado platform will help shape
our next generation decision manage-
ment applications into solutions that
ensure integrity and quality through-
out the entire lifespan of a loan. It also
enables CoreLogic to customize and
embed solutions directly within the
lender operating environment, provid-
ing increased ROI to our clients.
Dorado, which will operate as
CoreLogic Dorado, provides a compre-
hensive suite of enterprise lending
solutions that automates loan origina-
tion and consolidates internal and
external service integrations into a uni-
fied process, connecting lenders, their
partners and consumers through a col-
laborative, real-time workflow. Dorado
technology not only automates data
handling, but also facilitates the inte-
gration of real-time borrower, organi-
zational and market information into
mortgage finance transactions so that
lenders, servicers, investors, and bor-
rowers experience improved loan qual-
ity and transaction transparency.
Dorado will offer clients a blended
portfolio of cloud-based lending solu-
tions complemented by an enhanced
array of data and analytics. At a time
when financial institutions worldwide
are increasingly adopting sophisticated
analytics as a way to increase the effec-
tiveness, agility and flexibility of their
operations, this transaction strength-
ens our growth trajectory, said Dorado
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dain Ehring.
Lender Processing Services
Announces the Acquisition
of PCLender.com
Lender Processing
Services Inc. (LPS)
has announced that
it has acquired
PCLender.com Inc., a provider of enter-
prise, Web-based mortgage lending solu-
tions and a complete loan origination
system (LOS). The acquisition of
PCLender.com complements LPS state-
of-the-art core loan origination plat-
form, LPS Empower, and expands the
companys reach in the loan origina-
tion market.
LPS Empower will continue to target
large national and regional mortgage
lenders as the optimal solution for its
loan origination platform. PCLender.com
offers a more cost-effective solution for
smaller and mid-sized mortgage compa-
nies, credit unions and community
sumer with the right product, whether its
a purchase or refinance loan, insurance
policy or solar energy system. Paramount
Energy Solutions is one of the largest solar
sales companies in California and is now
poised for national growth and expansion.
Guthy-Renkers history is about team-
ing up with extraordinary people and
companies to get their stories told.
Paramount Equity is a great company
with outstanding employees, a vibrant
culture and passionate vision. Were
excited by the opportunity to give them
the marketing help that they need to
grow, said Ben Van de Bunt, co-chief
continued on page 16
LOS | CRM | MORTGAGE BANKING | CLOSING
2011 by visiting www.MortgageDashboard.com.
I received three new buyers over the
weekend and was able to work on my
my daughters basketball game.
Jeremy Stump, Branch Manager
LeaderOne Financial
On Monday, April 4, Armand Cosenza passed away. For those of you who hadnt
had the privilege of knowing him, let me simply say that its too bad you never
got the opportunity.
First and foremost, Armand loved his family, Judy, Denise and Vickie, and of
course, the grandkids. Many people from the National Association of Mortgage
Brokers (NAMB) and the Ohio Association of Mortgage Brokers (OAMB) think that
they were his family as well, but we werent even close. He loved this family, his
faith, his golf but I know that we were somewhere on this list.
Armand graduated from Cathedral Latin High School and John Carroll University
and began his working career at Society National Bank where he rose to the position
of vice president before leaving to start his own company, Commonwealth Financial
Services. It was with Commonwealth that Armand became a founding member of
OAMB and headed our affiliation with NAMB. As a member of OAMB, he served on
the board of directors from 1993 until 2007, when he decided to dedicate more time
to his new grandchildren. From the beginning with both associations, Armand spe-
cialized in our Industry Partners Program, and starting from scratch, raised more
than $7 million for the benefit of both associations. He served two terms as president
of OAMB and rose to the position of president of NAMB in 2002 when the NAMB
Annual Convention was held in Armands hometown of Cleveland.
If you know Armand, or even if you were one of those who thought you knew
Armand, then you know he was everything above and much, much more. Armand
could be the easiest guy in the world one minute, and the next thing, youd be
pulling him off someone who had made disparaging remarks about his friends, the
association, the Indians or even the Browns. Hed think nothing of giving me his first
class seat and sit back in coach for a long three or four hour flight, then would joke
as we would deplane that if my ass wasnt so fat that he could have had a few Grey
Gooses on the flight for free all with a smile and a hug telling you he loved you.
I could write a book on the things that we did together in both NAMB and
OAMB. He was a dyed in the wool Eastside republican, and I am a Westside liber-
al democrat, yet we always got along. I guess it was that special bond of both
being from Cleveland.
Armand loved to travel, loved to gamble and loved to play golf. If you could
put all three of those things together, it was even better. The Western Regional
Conference, which later became NAMB WEST, was his favorite event food,
drink, gambling, shows, golf and thousands of friends to share it all with. Who
could ask for more? Hed often say that NAMB should hold all of their events in
Vegas, just like the Teamsters. Id point out that itd be a little hard to move the
Legislative & Regulatory Conference from D.C., then hed point out that most of
Congress would probably rather be in Vegas in February anyway. Good point, but
we never could get that to happen.
I last saw Armand about seven weeks ago. We had lunch and he looked great.
He came from work and we spent about two hours talking about our families and
his grandkids. We talked about the battles we all thought hed won with cancer
and Judys battle to. We talked politics and naturally about the thing that first
made us friends, NAMB and the OAMB. Although things had moved in different
directions over the last few years, he still loved the associations and the people
who made it so special. That day he looked just like he did on the cover of The
Mortgage Press or any of the dozens of other magazine covers he had adorned.
The only difference with this lunch was there was no Skyy or Grey Goose. Now it
was iced tea, but we did go
for dessert.
Sitting and thinking the
night I learned of Armands
passing, I thought of hun-
dreds of stories. The great
victories hed accom-
plished, as well as a few
of the defeats that are
just part of the job. Some
things were great, others good, many
might even be considered plain stupid, but they all had one
thing in common working to make things better for the broker industry,
and through that, our families and the association. Having fun made the victories
better and the setbacks bearable.
I was asked to write about Armand for both those who knew him and those
who didnt. I hope that the above gave you some idea of Armand and what he
accomplished and cared about. But, I think not including one personal story for
those who really, really knew Armand is necessary and out of all the possible sto-
ries Id like to leave you with this one. Its the one that makes me laugh every time
I think about it. Of course, its about the brokers and politics.
It was election night in 1994, and we are at the Fingerhut for Congress re-elec-
tion party. We were supporting Eric Fingerhut because of his position on HOEPA
and his influence in keeping a 35 percent DTI ratio out of the bill. Naturally, he
lost to Steve LaTourette who would later become our friend. We sat there listing
to some 18-year-old explain to us how, in the end, Eric would win. Of course he
didnt and later that night, he looked at me and said that we really needed to fig-
ure out what the hell was going on. Losing was not in his plans.
Jump to 1996 and I talk Armand and Jim DeGeronimo into donating our PAC
money to Dennis the Menace who was running for Congress. Dennis Kucinich
the most liberal democrat in the entire world and a Westsider to boot and I
want to give him our money. The guy hes running against actually liked us.
They thought I was nuts, but I pointed out that he didnt like to lose and Dennis
was going to win and so we gave. The night of the election, we are at the
Kucinich election headquarters. Here is Armand, about as Republican as you
can get among all of Denniss supporters. The dancing and conga lines and
finally Dennis comes out to accept his victory and grabs Armand and I to go
onstage while he makes his victory speech. Live on every channel in Cleveland
in on many national broadcasts. Armand should have been in his glory stand-
ing next to the newly elected congressman, in front of a citywide and even
national audience. Everyone seeing his smiling face as Dennis personally thank
him for his support. What could possibly be better? Well, Dennis could be a
Republican to begin with. Maybe even a blue dog democrat. But, Armand and
a liberal democrat and in particular Dennis? Not going to happen. He looked
at me and said that if Judy saw him on TV standing next to Dennis that she
would kill him. That his family would never quit busting on him and that it
wasnt going to happen and it didnt. Dennis grabbed his arm and said come
with me and somehow Armand got untangled between the floor and the stage.
Later, as I laughed, he told me never to let that happen again. Well, we never
went to another democratic election night event, but later were at both Steves
and Bob Neys.
Today, as bad as I feel and I know most of you do. As sad as it is, I just think of
Armand and the election night with Dennis Kucinich and I have to laugh. After all,
he was Armand and he will be missed.
Most of all, I miss my friend. Someone I always felt would be there and I took
it for granted. Cancer wasnt a problem; this was Armand were talking about. If I
had only known I would have tried to be as good of a friend to him as he was to
me. Never did we leave without a hug, and I wish I could get at least one more.
James L. Nabors, CMC, CRMS is past president of both the National Association of
Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) and Ohio Association of Mortgage Brokers (OAMB). He is
currently senior vice president of consumer mortgage at Citizens Bank in Sandusky,
Ohio. He may be reached by phone at (419) 627-4531 or e-mail jlnabors@citizens-
bankco.com.
By James L. Nabors, CMC, CRMS
earnings to better prepare for rainy
days and retirement.
Based upon the above data, little
imagination is required for all of us to
envision a reduction in our housing
costs at levels approaching 10 to 20 per-
cent, while still allowing for state-of-
the-art housing and high levels of
homeownership. We partied hard, buy-
ing homes that were beyond our
means. We then woke up with financial
hangovers, and we have taken our med-
icine. That does not mean that we can-
not get it right this time. The U.S. eco-
nomic engine offers us, as homeowners,
efficiencies never dreamed of by our
ancestors. We can all live in homes that
offer us many times the utility of those
enjoyed by our grandparents, while
staying within our budgets and living
within our means.
Yes, many of us in the United States
and, for that matter, all around the
world, have grown quite accustomed to
living too high on the housing hog. The
time has come for us to exercise better
judgment in investing our shelter dol-
lars. We can own beautiful homes, of
which we can be very proud, while con-
centrating upon spatial efficiency.
Charlie W. Elliott Jr., MAI, SRA, is presi-
dent of Elliott & Company Appraisers, a
national real estate appraisal company.
He can be reached at (800) 854-5889, e-
mail charlie@elliottco.com or visit his
companys Web site, www.appraisalsany-
where.com.
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Tempering the American Dream
The mortgage meltdown was allegedly
caused by mortgage lenders lending
money to people who were not quali-
fied to purchase the homes. Aside from
whatever part fraud had to do with this
calamity, most of us would probably
agree with this statement. I certainly
believe it.
Having made that statement, I am
of the opinion that this accusation can
be carried a step further,
more specifically, to hold
accountable those who
purchased larger homes
than they could afford.
This theory implies that
many, if not most, of the
foreclosures would not
have occurred if the peo-
ple who are losing their
homes, had purchased
smaller, more affordable
homes, within their means.
With this in mind, I exam-
ined national statistical
data, pertaining to historic
average home sizes in the
United States. Based upon
the above hypothesis, I set
out to perform a research
project to determine if we,
as a people, have been liv-
ing higher on the housing hog in recent
years.
My findings included the following.
O In 1900, the average-sized home was
800-sq. ft.
O In 1950, the average-sized home was
1,000-sq. ft.
O In 1980, the average-sized home was
1,700-sq. ft.
O In 2008, the average-size home was
2,473-sq. ft.
O In 1900, the average household size
was 4.6 people.
O In 2010, the average household size
was 2.59 people.
O In 1900, the average home cost
$4,000.
O In 2010, the average home cost
$178,000.
O In 1900, 47 percent of all homes
were owner-occupied.
O In 2010, 67 percent of all homes
were owner-occupied.
O In 1900, average individual income
was $600 per year.
O In 2009, average individual income
was $40,000 per year.
O In 1900, the average worker made $2
per day (.25 cents per hour/48-hour
work week).
O In 2010, the average worker made
$160 per day ($20 per
hour/40-hour work week).
The above data was
assembled using a variety
of resources, including
the U.S. Census Bureau,
the National Association
of Realtors (NAR), the
National Association of
Home Builders (NAHB)
and other sources that I
consider to be reliable.
Due to the lack of ade-
quate and accurate statis-
tical data from the early
1900s, I made estimates
in some cases. I also
rounded off numbers for
the sake of simplicity.
The results of the sur-
vey are quite telling.
While the data was not intended to be
technical in nature, it offers undeniably
antidotal evidence of the excesses we
have enjoyed at the expense of our
economy.
I offer the following as evidence to
support my conclusion:
O In 1900, the average person con-
sumed 174-sq. ft. of living space.
O Today, the average person consumes
935-sq. ft. of living space.
O In 1900, the average cost of a house
per occupant was $900.
O In 2010, the average cost of a house
per occupant was $69,000.
O In 1900, the average worker must
work 16,000 hours or about eight
years, before payroll taxes, to pur-
chase an average home.
O In 2010, the average worker must
work 8,900 hours or about four-and-
By Charlie W. Elliott Jr., MAI, SRA, ASA
We partied hard, buy-
ing homes that were
beyond our means. We
then woke up with
financial hangovers,
and we have taken our
medicine.
a-half years, before payroll taxes, to
purchase an average home.
Today, we enjoy homes with more
sophisticated plumbing, heating, air
conditioning, electrical, appliances,
insulation, kitchens, bathrooms, high-
quality decor and much more than was
in the homes of 1900. We invest fewer
of our working hours to purchase a
home than our forefathers did four gen-
erations ago, and we enjoy the spa-
ciousness of castles, relative to the
bygone days of the early 1900s. Most of
us would be able to enjoy more modest
homes, which would fall well within our
budgets and still be light years ahead of
what our predecessors had to accept.
No, the American dream is not dead; it
is still very much alive. It is up to those
of us doing the dreaming to fashion our
dreams within the realms of reality and
within our budgets.
We can expect the homes of the
future to be smaller, especially those
built for first-time homebuyers. We
can expect more multi-family housing
to be sold. More of us will be sharing
housing with others in an effort to
better capitalize on the efficiencies of
having housemates and extended
family living under our roofs. Low
downpayment loans will still be avail-
able to those responsible people, with
good credit and who are willing to
purchase homes in price ranges that
they can afford. Approaching housing
in a more common-sense manner will
permit all of us to save more of our
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For more information on the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, visit www.namb.org.
of Advocacy; Peggy Twohig, director of the Office of Consumer Protection for the
U.S. Department of the Treasury; and Roy DeLoach of DC Strategies, chief lobbyist
for NAMB.
The hot topic was the Federal Reserve Boards loan officer compensation rule
LO and Dr. Winslow Sargeant received a standing ovation and a huge roar of
applause for his role in the two letters SBA Advocacy issued to the Federal Reserve
Board in asking for a delay in the LO compensation rule. Every session was stand-
ing room only, and the participants were very engaged with great questions for
the panelists. In fact, no one left early during any session. We ended the day by
distributing more than 300 lobby day packets that were to be presented the fol-
lowing day during the trip to Capitol Hill.
Then, we all attended the opening reception with a delicious spread of Italian
cuisine and of course an open bar. The room was packed with everyone engaged
in deep conversations about the panelists, networked and discussed the red hot
topic of the LO compensation rule.
Day two of the 2011 Legislative & Regulatory Conference, better known as Lobby
Day, was certainly a day to remember. Any of the lawmakers were shocked to hear
about the Federal Reserve Boards LO compensation rule, and almost all were com-
mitted to help in any way they could to stop this rule from being enforced on April 1st.
In the end, I think we can all say that the 2011 Legislative & Regulatory
Conference was an event that brought unity and a sense of urgency to all who
attended. If we all stand together as one large voice, we can make a difference,
and for those of you who did not attend, I would strongly suggest you put it on
your list of things to do for 2012.
Mike Anderson, CRMS of Essential Mortgage in Metairie, La. is Government Affairs
Committee Chair of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. He may be
reached by phone at (504) 451-3339 or e-mail mikea@essentialmtg.com.
Scenes From the NAMB 2011 Legislative & Regulatory Conference
March 1415 at the Capitol Skyline Hotel in Washington, D.C.
By Mike Anderson, CRMS
What a conference! The National Association of Mortgage
Brokers (NAMB) 2011 Legislative & Regulatory Conference was
sold out, with 200-plus attendees, great speakers and panelists,
great food and an opportunity for some face-to-face, peer-to-
peer networking.
I would like to start off by giving a huge thank you to Denise
Leonard for doing an absolutely spectacular job with putting this whole confer-
ence together and a special thanks to Olga Kucerak for helping Denise at the con-
ference. The service from the host hotel, the Capitol Skyline Hotel in Washington,
D.C., was exceptionally good and accommodating to our group.
I would like to especially thank Provident Funding for stepping up to the plate
as sponsor of this years Legislative & Regulatory Conference. They demonstrated
their commitment and loyalty to the mortgage broker and truly communicated
their support for our profession.
Its been a long time since weve seen a Legislative & Regulatory Conference as
successful as this one. In fact, we actually made a profit and after all that we are
facing with the April 1st deadline of the Federal Reserve rule on loan originator
compensation, our group joined together with an energy and enthusiasm like Ive
never seen before. The passion of all in attendance was remarkable, and I can
honestly say that the 200-plus attendees were true die hard professionals who
take our profession very serious.
The event was a quick, yet informative, two-day affair, consisting of one day of
speakers and panelists and a second of a lobbying trip to Capitol Hill. Some of our
guests included Vicki Bott, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing
& Urban Development (HUD); Barton Shapiro, director of RESPA for HUD; Dr.
Winslow Sargeant, chief counsel for the U.S. Small Business Administration Office
A Day on the Hill
A look back at the NAMB 2011 Legislative & Regulatory Conference
President Andy Harris (left) and Vice
President Jered Helton (right) from the
Oregon Association of Mortgage Professionals
(OAMP) visit with Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-
OR) (center) during NAMBs 2011 Legislative
& Regulatory Conference in D.C.
Members of the Pennsylvania delegation with
NAMB President Mike DAlonzo (far right) at the
Dirksen Senate Office Building during Lobby Day
NAMB Government
Affairs Committee Chair
Mike Anderson welcomes
attendees to the 2011
Legislative & Regulatory
Conference
Roy DeLoach of DC Strategies,
chief lobbyist for NAMB, discuss-
es the latest on the Federal
Reserves LO compensation rule
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Scenes From the NAMB 2011 Legislative & Regulatory Conference
March 1415 at the Capitol Skyline Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Denise Leonard and NAMB President
Mike DAlonzo pause for a photo
during the networking reception
NAMB President Mike DAlonzo, NAMB Government Affairs
Committee Chair Mike Anderson, NAMB Past President George
Hanzimanolis, Dick Morin from the Maine Association of
Mortgage Professionals, Olga Kucerak, NAMB Director Walt
Scott and NAMB Lobbyist Roy DeLoach
Members of the Pennsylvania delegation met with Sen. Pat Toomey
(fourth from left) in Washington, D.C. to discuss the LO compensation rule
Gregory K. Raven (left) and Kathy Raven
(right) of Raven Financial Services, represent-
ing the Mortgage Professionals of South
Carolina with Dr. Winslow Sargeant, chief
counsel for the U.S. Small Business
Administration Office of Advocacy (center)
Cara M. Britton and Melissa
M. Hayes from First Liberty
Mortgage LLC d/b/a CT Liberty
Mortgage LLC were on hand for
NAMBs Lobby Day represent-
ing the Connecticut Association
of Mortgage Brokers (CTAMB)
Herman Churchwell from Provident
Funding Associates, sponsors of the
NAMB 2011 Legislative & Regulatory
Conference
NAMB Past President Harry Dinham (left)
and Missy MacNaughton from Cole Taylor
Bank (right) representing the Texas
Association of Mortgage Professionals met
with Rep. Sam Johnson (center) during
NAMBs trip to Capitol Hill
Barton Shapiro, Director, Office
of RESPA & Interstate Land
Sales for HUD, was on hand to
provide attendees with updates
to changes with RESPA
Vicki Bott, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Single Family
Programs for HUD, discusses
industry-related issues with
Legislative Conference attendees
Representatives from the Missouri Association of
Mortgage Professionals (MAMP) meet with Rep. Vicky
Hartzler (center) during the 2011 Legislative &
Regulatory Conference
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Jobs, oil, real estate, oh my! And, we
can add snowstorms, earthquakes and
politics. Or should we say pile them
on. Now we know just how Dorothy
must have felt trying to get back to
Kansas as she followed the yellow brick
road. Certainly this recession was one
for the ages. However, the recovery is
proving to be just as challenging.
Everyone predicted a recovery of stops
and starts, but few could envision all
of the factors we would be overcoming.
Certainly, jobs and real estate have
been the focus for years. With close to
10 percent of the nation unemployed,
and 25 percent of the nations real
estate market underwater, there has
been a huge canyon to dig out from.
And we are happy to say that jobs and
real estate are on the road to recov-
eryalbeit a road of stops and starts.
Last months employment report gave
us a glimpse of what could help us
recover much more smoothly, with
192,000 jobs added for a shortened and
wintry month of February. The real sur-
prise was the unemployment rate mov-
ing below nine percent. With weekly
jobless claims coming down significant-
ly in the past few months, it appears
the employment recovery is finally
gaining some momentum.
Have you ever noticed that the
quicker someone drives, the more it
hurts when you hit a pothole? Well,
lets consider the widening world con-
flict causing oil prices to soar as quite a
pothole. Then lets pile on the econom-
ic devastation felt by Japan in the wake
of the most recent tragedy. The effects
of this latest crisis are just being felt as
I write this column.
How about the government? We pre-
viously addressed the end of govern-
ment stimulus becoming a drag on
growth for the coming years. But what
happens if the government shuts down
because Congress cannot agree on a
budget solution? That could mean a
halt to the most popular home loan
programs: Federal Housing
Administration (FHA), Rural Housing
Service (RHS) and the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA). If that hap-
pened even for a few weeks, how much
of a pothole would that be for the
fledgling housing recovery? Quite a
deep and wide one. We are not saying
that this will happenbut anyone
with any sense can see that we dont
need to be creating deeper potholes in
front of our recovery car. Not right
now. The government has run out of
money to patch them.
As tough as this analysis may seem,
I would like to say that things are not
always what they appear to be along
the Yellow Brick Road. Here are two
flying monkeys that have many
alarmed: Higher oil prices and lower
real estate prices. Many are concerned
that we are heading to $4 per gallon
gas and a double-dip in housing prices.
However, we caution observers to look
beyond the headlines.
Lets start with oil. At the onset of
the fiscal crisis, oil prices plummeted.
And they plummeted just after spiking
up to around $130 per barrel. Oil
prices have been rising ever since in
line with the recovery from the reces-
sion. A stronger economy translates
into more demand for oil. However,
with the political turmoil escalating in
the previous two months, the rise in oil
prices has also escalated. Analysts are
not all on board with the permanence
of this escalation. For example, Fortune
reports:
Given that Libya represents less than
two percent of global production and
that the IEA has over 1.6 billion barrels
of oil in storage, clearly the current
price movement is about more than
Libyan disruption. Even if Libyan oil
production were completely turned off,
the IEA has enough oil in storage to
offset that lack of production decline
for a full year. Further, it is estimated
that OPEC collectively has between
four and six million spare barrels of
daily production.
The article concludes that oil is trad-
ing not on fundamentals, but fear.
Things Are Not Always What They
Seem on the Yellow Brick Road
continued on page 18
heard on the street continued from page 10
real estate at Columbia University.
While lenders have addressed many of
the risks of originating new mortgage
loans, such as stated income mort-
gages, they must also consider a bor-
rowers changing circumstances prior
to closing. In the future, lenders should
be keenly aware of new innovations
and solutions that can help them close
loans with better credit controls in
place.
This relationship represents Equifaxs
latest effort to equip the mortgage mar-
ket with a best-in-class solution.
Undisclosed Debt Monitoring is the mort-
gage industrys first platform to monitor
for and notify financial institutions of
new accounts and borrower activity initi-
ated during the quiet period, which
spans from the application date to the
mortgage closing. A solution that is
always on, Undisclosed Debt
Monitoring alerts lenders of borrower
activity that may represent risk associat-
ed with mortgage loans in their pipelines.
By integrating Undisclosed Debt
Monitoring into Interthinxs FraudGUARD
technology, lenders can increase their
ability to address compliance require-
ments with a single platform.
Our research shows that $43 mil-
lion in auto loan payments were poten-
tially overlooked during mortgage
underwriting in the first three quarters
of 2010. Through our relationship with
Interthinx, we have made it easier than
ever before for mortgage lenders to
access unique industry solutions that
help them identify this type of hidden
debt, said Steve Meirink, Equifax
Mortgage Growth Initiatives Leader.
Teaming with Interthinx, a proven
leader in mortgage fraud detection, has
created another way for financial insti-
tutions to make better underwriting
decisions.
Titan Lenders
Corporation and Grid
Financial Partner to
Lower Operating Costs
Titan Lenders Corporation
(TLC) and Grid Financial
Services Inc. have created
a full-service best prac-
tices loan fulfillment service that will allow
mortgage lenders to accelerate market
entry, reduce overhead, and establish
credibility with mission critical partners.
The loan fulfillment service offers
lenders a parallel and variable cost
alternative solution to a fixed overhead
operation. It will provide a consolidat-
ed automation platform and best prac-
tices expertise for mortgage lenders,
picking up the loan file as soon as the
loan officer completes an application.
The TLC-Grid Financial platform will
handle disclosures, processing, under-
writing, closing, post-closing through
final sale to investors. Completely rep-
resented and warranted from the clos-
ing perspective, the TLC-Grid Financial
banks. Both technologies are fully-hosted
ASP solutions, providing greater efficien-
cies, controls and security options for the
mortgage lending industry.
The acquisition of PCLender.com
will accelerate our growth in the loan
origination space by expanding our
solutions suite to address the needs of
all lenders, regardless of size, said
Don Covey, managing director of
Lender Processing Services Origination
Technology Solutions Division. The
addition of PCLender.com gives LPS
the opportunity to support more
lenders with innovative technology to
streamline efficiency, reduce costs and
provide even better customer service.
LPS Empower is an enterprisewide
LOS that provides functionality for
every facet of the origination process,
including consumer, retail and whole-
sale point-of-sale channels; FHA, VA
and Conventional product support;
funding and auditing; product and
pricing; electronic document manage-
ment and imaging; and industry-stan-
dard interfaces. PCLender.coms fully
hosted mortgage Software as a Service
(SaaS) offering allows lenders to elimi-
nate the cost of hardware ownership
and costly upgrades; simplify and
accelerate system implementation; and
benefit from enhanced security and a
centralized data repository.
The combination of both compa-
nies highly successful offerings enables
us to jointly provide the industrys best
end-to-end origination technology
suite, said Cyrus Brinn, chief operating
officer of PCLender.com. We are excit-
ed about this opportunity to join forces
with a well-respected origination tech-
nology provider like LPS and to offer
the expanded technologies, solutions
and support for which LPS is so widely
known to our PCLender.com clients.
Interthinx and
Equifax Join Forces
to Reduce Fraud
Equifax has formed a relationship with
Interthinx to give financial institutions vis-
ibility into the underwriting process.
Interthinx clients can now seamlessly
access Equifaxs Undisclosed Debt
Monitoring solution through FraudGUARD
to address investor and lending require-
ments and uncover undisclosed debta
multi-billion dollar challenge in the
mortgage market. Through this relation-
ship, mortgage originators, investors and
insurers benefit from enhanced risk mit-
igation, reduced fraud and fewer loan
buybacks.
As we begin to emerge from the
economic downturn, the mortgage
industry must look for solutions to key
factors that led to the mortgage crisis,
including borrower misrepresenta-
tion, said Chris Mayer, a professor of
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By Stewart Hunter and Jim McMahan
When you are building a company, or even a single branch of a company, you
are actually building a community. We can pretend that compensation plans
and human resource recruiters populate our operations, but in reality, people
join a company for the opportunity they think it represents, and stay because
they feel like part of the community that company has created. If they dont
feel a connection to that company and their fellow employees, they cycle
through just as quickly as they came.
Being part of a community means that you share the same core values. Its
the way we build societies, and its the glue that holds groups together when
things get rough. Our industry has certainly seen its darker days over the past
few years. The things that have held our company together and kept it grow-
ing are our values. One of the most important of these we call relationship.
Like many other firms competing in our space, our business is built on a
number of core values, none of which should be considered greater than the
other. All of these values must work in tandem. For us at Benchmark, the re-
lationship is the primary core value.
Every decision we make is based on the relationship we have with those with
whom we work, including the decision to get into a relationship in the first place.
When we choose new employees, business sources and new branch partners, we
carefully evaluate the potential for the future relationship. We find out what the
new person stands for, what they want to be known for, and then determine if it
fits with our own goals and values. Its quite simple, but so important.
We dont waste time trying to determine whether the relationship will always
be trouble-free. We all struggle in our relationships from time to time. Conflicts
occur; nothing is perfect. In a good relationship, these problems get resolved. But
if the core values arent shared between the people in a particular relationship, it
will never work. Because of the importance we place on values and relationships,
we dont hire people casually or keep them if they just do their job, but dont com-
pletely share our values. Our standard is set high and we will not compromise it.
The prime benefit that comes from making the relationship a core value is
that you blur the line that people place between their business and personal
lives. People who live most of their lives in only one of these two worlds are
missing out on the many advantages of living right between them. By living in
the middle, people get the very best of both lives.
We work with people we know and care about. We know each others fam-
ilies. We do things together for fun that enhance our working relationship.
Over time, every employee of our companies comes to the realization that they
are having fun while working. The line between their two worlds has dissolved
and they become fully engaged in the work of building the company, for them-
selves and for the other people they care about.
For example, we often fly our underwriters out to our branches because we
want these professionals to build deeper relationships with the people who de-
pend upon them to get deals done. They are excited about being with the team
that they are supporting every day. Over time, these groups build a strong re-
lationship that quickly solidifies because it is based on common values.
People begin to become emotionally invested in the company. They feel
that they have a home and become unwilling to leave because they are a part
of something more deep and fulfilling than just a job. They trust the people
they work with, because they know them and they know what they stand for.
By adopting the relationship as a core value, and building deeper relation-
ships between employees, a company or branch will attract and keep the best
people. This dynamic of values and relationships creates stronger teams that
are more effective, and a work experience where people love to come to work
and enjoy what they do.
Jim McMahan is president and Stewart Hunter is founding partner and core values
officer for Dallas-based Benchmark Mortgage. You can find them both online at
www.iambenchmark.info.
A Critical Value
for Community Building
Mac in the disposition of their homes,
said Gregg Buckley, chief operating officer
and co-owner of Atlas REO Services. We
are committed to leveraging our years of
expertise and industry leading service to
build a long lasting partnership.
It is an honor to be chosen by
Freddie Mac among numerous qualified
companies to assist with the disposition
of its REO assets, said Christopher West,
chief executive officer of Green River
Capital. We look forward to working
with such a great company dedicated to
maintaining property values and stabi-
lizing communities. Green River
Capitals decades of REO asset manage-
ment experience enables us to support
Freddie Macs efforts and work together
toward the industrys recovery.
Mortgage Professionals
to Watch
O Megan Von Wald has joined
Allonhill as managing director of
credit risk management.
O StreetLinks Lender Solutions has
named Luke Pille, former director of
national programs for LendersOne,
as the companys new national sales
manager.
O Erik Martin has been promoted to
the position of national sales man-
ager of the retail channel for Total
Mortgage Services LLC.
O DocuTech has named Joe Cliver as
an account executive for the north-
east United States.
O The U.S. Department of the Treasury
has announced the hiring of additional
members of the senior leadership team
for the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB), including Catherine
West as chief operating officer, Gail
Hillebrand as associate director of con-
sumer education and engagement,
Dennis Slagter as chief human capital
officer, and David Gragan as assistant
director of procurement.
O Flagstar has appointed Steven J.
Issa to the position of executive vice
president and managing director of
commercial banking, and Michael
J. Tierney was appointed to the
position of executive vie president
and managing director of retail
banking.
O DocMagic Inc. has named Laurie Spira
as its new chief compliance officer.
O ServiceLink has named Marco Brenes
as its new senior vice president, enter-
prise relationships and strategy.
O Prommis Solutions has named
Charlie Piper as the companys new
chief operations officer.
O ICBA Mortgage Solutions has
service is focused on compliance, trans-
parency, salability, and accountability.
Mortgage lenders can grow their
business if they are open to innovation
and to keeping their costs low, said
Titan Lenders Corporation (TLC) founder
and president Mary Kladde. By joining
forces with Grid Financial, we are able
to support mortgage lenders business
models via a professionally disciplined
loan process that we manage according
to their policies and objectives.
TLCs patented, proprietary Web-
based software Cerberyx (CBX) supports
a full suite of fulfillment services,
including: funding, compliance, clos-
ing, post-closing, purchase review for
correspondents and warehouse lenders,
trailing documents, Mortgage Electronic
Registration Systems (MERS) manage-
ment, Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) insuring, and document manage-
ment (imaging). CBXs flexible rules-
based architecture allows TLC clients to
define field level decision trees, priori-
ties, checklists and process manage-
ment specific to an investor product
variance or a cross-investor climate.
We continue to see a growing
demand in the mortgage industry for a
comprehensive loan processing out-
source solution that can support zero-
defect compliance strategies while signif-
icantly reducing mortgage lenders oper-
ating costs, said Grid Financial President
Michael Paul. The TLC-Grid Financial
platform and service offerings are a com-
plete outsource solution that can help
adapt a lenders business to the still
evolving mortgage industry landscape.
Freddie Mac Selects Atlas
REO Services and Green
River to Support
HomeSteps
Freddie Mac has
announced that it
has selected West
Valley City, Utah-
based Green River Capital and San
Diego-based Atlas REO Services to pro-
vide sales and disposition support to
HomeSteps, the companys real estate
sales unit. HomeSteps markets a nation-
wide selection of Freddie Mac-owned
homes through local real estate bro-
kers. Green River Capital and Atlas REO
Services are specialty real estate-owned
(REO) management and loss mitigation
providers for mortgage servicers and
other financial services companies.
Green River Capital and Atlas REO
Services have the experience and capac-
ity to enhance HomeSteps capacity to
compete and excel in todays housing
market, said Chris Bowden, vice presi-
dent of HomeSteps. Their selection
underscores our emphasis to work with
proven real estate professionals who
support our commitment to stabilize
communities and be responsible stew-
ards of taxpayer resources.
Both Green River and Atlas REO will
support HomeSteps core sales and dis-
position functions, such as valuation,
market strategy, listing and closing.
Atlas REO Services is very excited for
the opportunity to partner with Freddie
Megan Von Wald
continued on page 18
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e-mail: sales@calyxsoftware.com
visit: www.calyxsoftware.com
Assuming that Libya stabilizes either
under the present or a new regime, the
country will realize quickly that pro-
ducing oil will help them rebuild. The
result could actually be more produc-
tion of oil, not less. This means that oil
prices could finish the year lower than
where they are now. We are not saying
that is going to happen, but many ana-
lysts believe this to be the case, espe-
cially if the crisis does not spread and
deepen to Saudi Arabia and other oil
producing countries. As a matter of
fact, the initial reaction to the devas-
tating crisis in Japan has been lower oil
pricesand interest rates.
Now real estate. We had similar
bubble which burst in real estate
around the time of the fiscal crisis and
recession. Real estate does not move in
price as quickly as the stock market or
oil and therefore the rise and fall was
more gradual and less pronounced.
Like oil, the price of real estate has
been recovering over the past two
years. However, this recovery was
pumped up by the existence of tax
credits and other government subsi-
dies. Everyone knew that when the tax
credits ended that there would be a
negative effect on the markets.
Therefore, the second half of 2010 saw
the real estate market, including
prices, weaken. Some have said that
this is the beginning of a double-dip
in prices. Again, we caution observers
to keep an open mind. While real
estate will be weighed down by shad-
ow inventory and a steady stream of
foreclosures for some time, the one
factor the real estate market needs to
reverse the slide is a stronger employ-
ment picture. Again, this appears to be
happening with the unemployment
rate and weekly employment claims
sliding. A few stronger months will not
get the economy turned around, but it
appears we are heading in the right
direction. If people can get jobs, kids
will move out from their parents hous-
es and household formulation will
increase. We are not building enough
homes to accommodate this latent
demand. Even those who were fore-
closed upon will need houses to rent.
The conclusion? If the economy contin-
ues to progress thorough 2011, the real
estate market could turn around quick-
er than the doomsayers expect.
So, while the tendency will be to
hang your head low while the flying
monkeys are around, those who lead
this industry in the future will be
ahead of the curve. Recently, it was
reported that sales of million dollar
homes were up significantly in 2010.
Those who are successful do not wait
for the markets to turn around, they
act when others dont. Many loan offi-
cers are scared to make moves with
refinances slowing and the compensa-
tion plans about to be put in place.
What you should be doing getting
ready for the recovery so you are ready
when it comes. That means under-
standing what your customers will
need in the new world. You will need
to be an expertletting them know
what is happening with rates to help-
ing them qualify when others cannot.
More on this later. For now, gain some
long-term vision. Even the Wizard was
not who he appeared to be
Dave Hershman is a leading author for
the mortgage industry, with eight books
and several hundred articles to his cred-
it. He is also a top industry speaker. If
you would like to stay ahead of what is
happening in the markets, visit
www.ratelink.originationpro.com for a
free trial. Daves NewsletterPro
Marketing System can be found at
www.webinars.originationpro.com and
he may be contacted by e-mail at
dave@hershmangroup.com.
the secondary market overview continued from page 16
While real estate will be weighed
down by shadow inventory and a
steady stream of foreclosures for
some time, the one factor the
real estate market needs to
reverse the slide is a stronger
employment picture.
O Resource National Title Agency has
added Donna Betley as an account
executive in the firms retail division.
O TitleVest has named James Leslie
as its new chief financial officer and
Glen Chernick as senior underwrit-
ing counsel.
Your turn
National Mortgage Professional Magazine
invites its readers to submit any infor-
mation, events, passages, promotions,
personal or professional occurrences
that seem appropriate and/or other per-
tinent data to the attention of:
Heard on the
Street/Mortgage
Professionals to Watch
column
Phone #: (516) 409-5555
E-mail:
newsroom@nmpmediacorp.com
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are pre-
ferred. The deadline for submissions is the
1st of the month prior to the target issue.
announced the addition of the follow-
ing regional account managers: James
R. Loving in the Midwest region, Joel
Dulmage in the Central U.S. region,
Diane Keane in the Southeast U.S.,
Carrie Felix in the Midwest region,
Debra Noguera in the South Central
U.S., Whit Brame in the Mid-Atlantic
region and Michael Bender in the
Northeastern United States.
O Kislak Mortgage has named Carlos
Coloma as area manager of the
companys southern Florida region.
O Steve Brunworth has joined Mortgage
Builder Software as western region
sales manager.
O Primary Capital Mortgage (PCM) has
announced the addition of Vicki
Blum as southeast account executive.
O Landmark Mortgage Group has
announced the additions of David
Morris and Todd Galde to the com-
pany as mortgage advisors.
O Platinum Data Solutions has hired
Ray Petta as a consultant focusing
on building the companys brand
building and business development.
heard on the street continued from page 17
Whether youre actively searching for a new job
or not, dont miss what could be your next
career opportunity. Post your anonymous
resume now to start building a better career
in the mortgage industry.
Search the vast number of career possibilities available in
the origination, settlement, secondary & servicing areas of
the Mortgage Business or create a personal job alert to be
notifed of new jobs that match your search criteria.
Be available for your next career opportunity. Post your
resume at FindMortgageJobs.com-
where employers search for mortgage professionals.
Post your resume. Find a job. Be happy.
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www.windvestcorp.com
O Think about creating your own
group
Update your status
frequently
The idea here is you want to keep a steady
LinkedIn presence so your connections
recognize your name. Remember, some
of your connections have never personal-
ly met you before so reminding them
what you can offer them as a connection
is important. Your status
updates show up in their
feed and act as this
reminder.
Explore the
More tab
Once you have successful-
ly done the above, why
not have some fun with
it? LinkedIn has a handful
of applications that you
can add to your profile.
This option is under the
More tab on the top of
your page and then under
Application Directory.
According to LinkedIn,
applications enable you
to enrich your profile,
share and collaborate with your net-
work, and get the key insights that help
you be more effective. My personal
favorite is Tripit, which allows me to
let my connections know when I will be
in town so that we can meet up for a
networking cup of coffee.
Get familiar with
LinkedIn Answers
This is also under the More tab and
then Advanced Answers Search. This
tool allows you to search for topics in
your area of expertise to find a question
Did someone once tell you to set up a
LinkedIn profile? It probably went some-
thing like this; LinkedIn is the profes-
sional Facebook. Its great for business
and networking. You really should be on
there. Did I get it right? So, you took that
leap and created a profile. But now what?
There are many people out there on
LinkedIn who have no idea how to use the
site to their advantage. They think that
simply being on LinkedIn is enough. I am
here to tell you that you are
wrong. If you havent done
so already, you should
learn how to mine the rich-
es that LinkedIn has to
offer. In this column, you
will find a wealth of infor-
mation to help you tap into
LinkedIn and use it to your
advantage.
Complete your
profile
The first step you must
make is to complete your
profile. See that annoying
bar on the right hand side
that says you are only a
certain percentage com-
plete? Do what they sug-
gest in order to get that all the way up to
100 percent mark. One of the things this
requires is asking for recommendations
from other people on LinkedIn. Aim for
four or five people from different areas
(different jobs, a colleague, a superior, a
friend, etc.). Ask for recommendations
from a wide range of people covering
the full span of skills and knowledge you
have acquired throughout the years.
Expand your network
LinkedIn is a networking site, so use it to
its fullest. Search for people you know
with the search box in the upper right
hand corner. Ask them to join your net-
work. Both of you will benefit. In addi-
tion, look at the networks of people to
whom youre connected for people youd
like to know. Ask them for an introduc-
tion. Lastly, check out the people you
may know block youll find on your
home page. Going through this list every
once in awhile will alert you of people
you may know who are also on LinkedIn,
and you can add them to your network.
Join LinkedIn Groups
Another way to expand your network is to
join LinkedIn Groups. These are people
who share common professional inter-
ests or fields of work. There are many
groups out there covering all sorts of
industries and interests. Once in a Group,
you can do any (or all) of the following to
build up your LinkedIn community:
O Participate in discussions
O Create your own discussion thread
O Post an article
O Connect with people in the group
Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn
By Katrina Lennon
If you havent done
so already, you should
learn how to mine the
riches that LinkedIn
has to offer.
you want to answer. Some experts in the
field suggest a few ways to get involved
on LinkedIn Answers. They include:
O Do some research on the person ask-
ing the question to find a way to tie
in a more personalized response;
O Provide all that you can when
answering the question (Web site
links, tips, recommend an expert to
them, etc.); or
O In your answer, give them an invitation
to contact you privately for more help.
Establish meaningful rela-
tionships with LinkedIn
Here are several tips from some of the
best minds in social media:
Watch your timing
O As soon as you make some sort of con-
nection on LinkedIn, dont wait weeks
or even months before interacting with
your new connection. Ask them a ques-
tion, pay them a compliment, ask for
an introduction to someone else etc.
Take advantage of events
O LinkedIn has a feature that allows
you to create an invite to an event.
Keep an eye out on your connections
and what events they might be
attending. You can also look at the
RSVP list of an event. Connect with a
few of those individuals and get in
touch with them before the event
either through a message (if they are
a connection) or an inmail (if a sec-
ond or third degree, or no group
connection). Let them know that you
will be at the event and are looking
forward to meeting them in person.
Sync geography with your travels
O Most of the time, you will have connec-
tions from all over. If you are traveling
somewhere on business click on the
Contacts tab up top and then on the
Locations link on the left. This will tell
you how many of your connections are
in each area. If you have some free time
on your business trip, suggest meeting
up with some or all of your connections
in that area for coffee, lunch or a small
networking dinner.
Dont hesitate to ask for advice
O Reach out to an influential connec-
tion and ask them for advice.
Socialmediaexaminer.com explains
crafting your message as follows:
First, introduce yourself and explain
who you are, reference a common
connection, give a genuine com-
ment, ask for advice with an expla-
nation of why you are asking.
Become a resource
O Find out where you can add value by
keeping an eye on status updates and
group discussions. Your value can be
added insight, advice, finding a new
connection, etc. Once you are seen as
a resource, your connections will clas-
sify you as a valued relationship in
your network.
And for the grand finale, use your URL
to ask people to connect with you on
LinkedIn. You should encourage everyone
you meet to connect with you on
LinkedIn in order to expand your net-
work.
So have I convinced you that sim-
ply being on LinkedIn is not enough by
now? Follow these steps and you will be
the person telling others how wonder-
ful and beneficial LinkedIn is.
Katrina Lennon is an account coordina-
tor at Andrea Obston Marketing
Communication LLC. Katrina brings five
years of public relations, marketing com-
munications and social media experience
to the firm. She manages the firms social
media, including On-Line Newsrooms. In
addition, she is responsible for the organ-
ization of client material, logistics on
projects and all social media both for the
firm and select clients. She may be
reached by phone at (860) 243-1447 or e-
mail klennon@aomc.com.
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Each month, National Mortgage
Professional Magazine will focus on one
of the industrys top players in our
Mortgage Professional of the Month
feature. Our readers are encouraged to
contact us by e-mail at newsroom@nmp-
mediacorp.com for consideration in
being featured in a future Mortgage
Professional of the Month column.
This month, we had a chance to
chat with Chad Jampedro, managing
vice president of GSF Mortgage
Corporation. Chad got his start in the
mortgage industry in 1997 with
National City Bank. A graduate of
Washington & Jefferson College in
Washington, Pa., Chad started off
working in collections as a loss mitiga-
tion representative, helping create for-
bearance plans for customers. In 2001,
he joined GSF Mortgage Corporation as
a loan officer, working his way up the
corporate ladder at GSF as vice presi-
dent of marketing, manager of corre-
spondent pricing and product develop-
ment, to his current role with GSF as
chief operating officer. Chad oversees
the day-to-day functions of the compa-
ny in his position as COO, providing
guidance and leadership to the compa-
nys branches.
Chad Jampedro, COO
GSF Mortgage Corporation
How did you get your start in the
mortgage industry?
I began working for National City Bank
in 1997. This was my first job in the
industry. From a corporate standpoint,
it was quite overwhelming transition-
ing from making pizzas, to working in
a corporate atmosphere. I spent a
tremendous amount of time learning
the protocols, policies and procedures
that drive corporate America. At
National City, I started in the loss miti-
gation loan collections department,
collecting delinquent loans, working
from an automated system. The system
would display the borrowers informa-
tion regarding specific transactions. I
very quickly realized that there was a
human side to each transaction. The
people on the other end of the line
may have been delinquent with pay-
ments, but they are also dealing with
various circumstances stemming from
divorces, deaths in the family, job loss,
etc. At GSF, we realize that we are
building lasting connections with our
clients. While one of our goals is to earn
repeat and referral business, first and
foremost, we strive to be a resource our
customers can access if they are experi-
encing troubles and hardships. We
have constructed our platform to pro-
vide superior service to our clients dur-
ing the transaction and will continue to
advise them long after the transaction
is closed.
Did working on the loss mitigation
side at National City better prepare
you for the current tough times in the
industry and help make you a more
conservative mortgage banker? You
were there at a time where most of
your competitors were making
money by doing sub-prime.
At National City, I had zero input on the
types of loans they were producing and
the qualifications used during the orig-
ination process. When I was hired by
GSF, I was trained to market and origi-
nate conforming and government clien-
tele. As a company, even before I came
to GSF, they were a conforming and gov-
ernment lender, and it made sense. You
have a standardized qualification
process with a standardized rule set
that was backed by automated under-
writing findings. We have all heard the
horror stories of the sub-prime era
the stated incomes, sub standard credit
scores, LTVs exceeding 100 percent and
those transactions just didnt make
sense. For many of the mortgage com-
panies that have made it through the
sub-prime meltdown, it took imple-
mentation of effective policies and pro-
cedures and a little bit of luck a little
bit of luck does not hurt in making it
through those times.
Geographically, GSF is in a more con-
servative market in the Midwest, and
products like the pay option ARM never
really caught on.. Our customers
seemed to be resistant to this type of
debt structure. As a result, sub-prime
and alternate products never became a
systemic choice for us.
The Mortgage Bankers Association
(MBA) is calling for volume to go from
$1.5 trillion to under $1 trillion this
year and remain that way for the next
few years. Do you believe that to be a
valid observation?
I cannot say I agree or disagree with the
numbers because I do not have the
same high level access to the economic
indicators that the MBA does. I do
believe it is going to be in that range.
Refinance activity is going to decrease,
while purchase activity is sure to
increase. Our goal at GSF Mortgage is to
focus on servicing our purchase clien-
tele and ensure that we meet the needs
that stem from this time-sensitive and
delicate transaction.
We have been heavily vested in the
first-time homebuyer market for the
last 17 years, originating the majority of
our business with Federal Housing
Administration (FHA) loans. Regardless
of market factors we still originate most
of our business with FHA. We believe in
the product standards and mission set
by HUD. We can see the first-time
homebuyer making their way into the
market, and the next year or two will
provide great opportunities for them, as
both home prices and interest rates are
at record low marks.
One thing you must do with first-
time homebuyers is educate them on
both the benefits and responsibilities of
becoming a homeowner. A recent rea-
son we are not seeing as much activity
in the first-time homebuyer market is
due to uncertainty that exists in the U.S.
employment outlook. Any time your
unemployment rate hovers around the
nine percent range and so much uncer-
tainty exists, making an investment like
a home purchase is the furthest thing
from your mind.
We are encouraged with recent
improvements in the unemployment
statistics and believe that as the
employment situation continues to sta-
bilize and improve; it will continue to
bode well for the housing market.
Stability in the U.S. housing market
should go hand in hand with rising
employment.
Is there any secret strategy or
approach employed by GSF Mortgage
that seems to work best to attract
first-time homebuyers?
We have had success educating poten-
tial homebuyers on the great deals that
When you are fighting for
survival, you will be at your most
optimal personality you are
smarter, faster and stronger
because you have to be.
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exist in this market as prices are at their
lowest levels in years. We also advise
them of the record low interest rates
that currently exist for qualified bor-
rowers. To get the word out, we are
employing various social media outlets
to reach out to the first-time homebuy-
er market. In fact, we have hired a full
time social media coordinator. We uti-
lize soft e-mail marketing techniques,
not spamming, where you have to opt-
in for information. Im sure we can all
agree that spam is annoying and inef-
fective, and definitely not the way we
choose to approach a potential cus-
tomer. We aim to give as much infor-
mation as possible in ways the first-
time homebuyer wants to consume it,
through outlets such as LinkedIn,
Twitter, Facebook and You Tube.
I personally utilize You Tube for any-
thing that I want to research, both for
business and in general. Say for exam-
ple, I want to learn how to work a par-
ticular piece of technology such as an
iPhone app I log on to You Tube and
view tutorials. I can watch it at 11:00
p.m. or 11:00 a.m., on a Saturday after-
noon in a non-pressurized situation
where somebody is not hard-selling me
on buying the service .This practice
allows me to first learn and understand
the product features and make an
informed decision to proceed with pur-
chase or not. Offering education and
information to consumers in bite-sized
pieces that they can consume at their
own discretion is the new way to mar-
ket financial services.
So its not actually stuffing mailboxes
its about putting information out
there so they can access it when they
feel the need. .
Correct. I still think there is a place in
this industry for direct mail, targeted
direct mail to past customers and refer-
ral partners are still a great source of
originations. It is a highly effective
practice to consistently check in with
past customers and let them know you
are available to answer questions and
serve their mortgage needs. This is even
more important considering the nega-
tive press that currently surrounds the
industry. Example message: I am sure
you are hearing a lot of things in the
news about the mortgage industry.
Most of its negative. Im here to tell you
its not all negative, some of its positive.
Give me a call and we can discuss.
Short, simple and honest, direct mail
with quality content to someone you
have established a relationship with is
well-received and will strengthen your
relationship over time.
What has been your greatest accom-
plishment to date at GSF Mortgage?
The greatest accomplishment for me
personally here at GSF has been devel-
oping and maintaining our funding
department. Rightfully, the credit
belongs to our employees and manage-
ment team. It has been great to watch
this group grow and adjust to just
about any market and massive amount
of change on all fronts. We started out
as a mortgage broker and then became
a mortgage banker. We made that tran-
sition at a time when the market was
still booming for the broker and bro-
kering was how you conducted business
as a mortgage originator. This process
made for many sleepless nights leading
up to making the decision to become a
mortgage banker and when we made
that transition, we lost approximately
20 percent of our sales staff.
We have since rebuilt our sales staff
with committed and capable profes-
sionals. As a result of this transition we
have been able to produce more trans-
actions per loan officer. We feel the
support of the funding company adds
the needed service levels to remain suc-
cessful through the industrys ups and
downs. Navigating through the day-to-
day mountain of information and regu-
latory changes and producing a high-
quality product on the back-end, while
maintaining high service standards is
something I am extremely proud to be
a part of.
What are some of your biggest fears
about the current state of the industry?
I think my greatest fear is the mass
amount of regulatory changes the
industry is facing in the short term . This
headwind of regulatory change ulti-
mately benefits the consumer, but you
have to be able to maintain a consistent
business model as you work through
implementation of your compliance
plan. A good example is the loan origi-
nator compensation rule imposed by
the Federal Reserve Board. On paper,
the goal of this LO compensation rule is
to benefit the consumer, but in some
cases, that may not be the case. Risk
retention or the Qualified Residential
Mortgage (QRM) is something that we
look at as dangerous to the consumer
and would be difficult for a mid-tier
mortgage lender to deal with. continued on page 22
All indicators point that the costs
associated with completing a mortgage
transaction are rising, and that is detri-
mental for the housing industry, the
economy and our overall business. We
are constantly trying to find that bal-
ance of How can you keep your opera-
tions viable and profitable? which is
what we all need to do, while still offer-
ing a great service and a product that
makes sense.
How has the quality of the loans been
that GSF Mortgage has seen over the
past few years?
The focus is on the 3 Cs: Credit, Capacity
and Collateral, and all areas have
increased in quality. Median credit
scores have increased , and the depth
of credit required to achieve a mort-
gage loan has increased.. Capacity to
repay and the evaluation of those
details have definitely become more
stringent as well. We look at income in
a much different light than in the past.
With unemployment being what it is
today, capacity is highly scrutinized.
With the Home Valuation Code of
Conduct (HVCC) coming into play, it has
impacted collateral. The quality of
appraisals has definitely improved with
the implementation of the HVCC stan-
dards.
The originator is the first point of the
securitization process. An example, if a
loan originator is not taking a full and
complete 1003 application, then I feel
the loan originator is not beginning this
process effectively. It starts with the
fundamentals of full and complete
information gathering and processing..
In the past, the loan originator took the
application and expected someone else
to clean it up. The application would go
from a processor, then on to underwrit-
ing, then maybe to a quality control
person. It has come to the point where
the LO must really dot the Is and
cross the Ts.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD
want to see that its being done right at
the beginning of the transaction when
the originator sits down with the bor-
rower. When a bond purchaser is pur-
chasing a bond securitized by a mort-
gage, they want to know everything has
been done absolutely perfectly, in
accordance with the guidelines.
How does your wholesale relation-
ships and relationships with brokers
stack up to your retail side?
The two are very similar, although on
the retail side, there is a more opera-
tional flexibility because our loan
processors actually work in the same
building with our underwriting and
funding groups. We have also com-
bined processing and quality control
duties to create a seamless experience
for the customer that ultimately results
in a smooth efficient transaction.
Theres also some flexibility because
you can offer more product options to
your retail side than you can wholesale
just from an investor standpoint.
There are overlays on third-party-
originated business that exists, as a
result of a risk perception, and we have
no choice but to follow those parame-
ters. For the most part, the originators
that are still in our industry, whether
they are part of GSFs retail side or
whether they are part of GSFs whole-
sale network, are high-quality individu-
als. You could not make it to this point
and still have a viable position in the
mortgage industry if you are not excep-
tional at what you do. On the broker
side, they really want to do the right
thing, not only by their customers, but
by their investors as well. Recently
some of the larger wholesalers have
exited this line of production. However,
there are still regional and middle-tier
wholesale companies out there ready
to serve the brokers needs.
Brokers reach out to us to get infor-
mation proactively now more than
theyve ever done in the past. A good
example of that is in regard to the 203k
loan. We spent a lot of time developing
the 203k product in our business, and
we firmly believe in it. We think its a
very good product for both our retail
and wholesale channels. Before a bro-
ker submits one transaction, we nor-
mally interact with them three to four
times. We talk to their processors and
their Realtors and educate them on the
203k product. We recently hosted a
conference call for training on the 203k
product where we had around 1,000
participants on the call. We had many
broker partners on the call and they
were inviting their Realtor partners as
well. In the past, you had conforming
specialists and FHA specialists, and I
think youre going to see more diversity
in what products the broker offers as
those products are made available to
them. I can see loan officers getting
licensed in multiple states. A good loan
officer in one state is going to be a good
loan officer in another state, depending
on the perspective of the individual. A
good loan officer may not be able to
show up at a closing in another state,
but with technology these days, they
can get them right up until that point
and build a very good relationship with
their borrower and still maintain a high
level of service even though they are
originating the loan outside of the state
they are living in.
Which of GSFs business channels,
your branch network, the wholesale
side or retail side, do you feel has the
greatest potential for growth?
I think the channel that has the great-
est potential for growth is on the retail
At GSF, we realize that we are
building lasting connections with
our clients. While one of our goals
is to earn repeat and referral busi-
ness, first and foremost, we strive
to be a resource our customers can
access if they are experiencing
troubles and hardships.
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mortgage professional continued from page 21
side. From an origination standpoint, I
think there is more flexibility on the
retail side than on the wholesale side..
We want to support the branches in our
network, not just from an accounting
and technology standpoint. We bring
our branches marketing and product
development. We teach those in our
branch network things that can diversi-
fy their business offerings 203k
loans, USDA Rural Development loans,
etc. We want to develop that knowledge
and experience in them, and we feel
that we do a great job doing that from
a retail perspective.
The wholesale market continues to
be viable and there are some great
opportunities in wholesale with select-
ed business partners. We are not doing
business with just any broker partner.
We want to work with partners whose
business plan and ideals align with that
of GSF. Our goal with the correspondent
market is to work with regional banks
and credit unions that have not mas-
tered the delivery process to the sec-
ondary market and we can again bring
some expertise to them in a capacity
that will be a little more work-intensive
on our end, even though the volume
might not be significant.
With good reason, the large aggrega-
tors, such as Bank of America, Wells
Fargo, Citi and Chase, work with larger
producers and the smaller producers
does not get quite as much attention
from the larger companies. We are
happy to service this customer and help
them deliver quality investment grade
product to the market.
Are there are any books, business
philosophies or mentors that you
have followed that have shaped and
guided your career?
There is a book that was actually
referred to me by one of the owners of
GSF, Phil Siebert, called The 33
Strategies of War by Robert Greene. Its
very similar to Sun Tzus The Art of War,
which is a favorite of GSFs other
owner, Jim Guzanick. There is one spe-
cific part of this book I come back to
pretty often. Its a passage that discuss-
es creating a sense of urgency and des-
peration, and its called The Death
Ground Strategy. Its all about when
you are really facing your highest chal-
lenges in life and are fighting for sur-
vival. This is fitting for mortgage profes-
sionals since our professional lives are
on the line every day. This passage talks
about the idea that you are never more
than your best than at that period of
time. When you are fighting for sur-
vival, you will be at your most optimal
personality you are smarter, faster
and stronger because you have to be.
To survive, you have to be at your
fullest, highest human potential, and I
think that this section of the book con-
tinues to be relevant. I read it a few
years ago, and I keep coming back to
The Death Ground Strategy, as I feel
like some days we are facing such try-
ing times building and maintaining our
businesses that we have no choice to
put everything we have into what we
do and be at our optimal human
potential.
What is encouraging about many of
the originators Ive had the chance to
meet recently is that they are survivors
and are now implementing new plans
to grow and thrive in this new environ-
ment. I firmly believe they will imple-
ment change and meet the challenge of
producing higher-quality borrowers.
They will meet the challenge of making
sure that the loans they produce, from
a technical standpoint, are of an invest-
ment grade. They will meet the chal-
lenge of implementing new regulatory
changes.
What do you think makes a good
leader in the mortgage industry?
Listening. We can get locked behind our
phones and computer screens and you
look at data constantly, but listening to
what originators are saying, listening to
what borrowers are saying, and listen-
ing to what your investors are saying. As
a leader, you have to be able to take
that information in, validate it, and
then implement it into your business.
What do you do when not in the office?
I am lucky to have a wonderful family. I
have a beautiful wife, Kelly, and two chil-
dren, six-year-old Rocco, and three-year-
old Mia. The challenging times that exist
in mortgage industry have helped me
focus more on the little things outside of
the office that mean the world to me. It
is great to live in the moment with fami-
ly. I am confident in the mortgage indus-
try and feel lucky to be a part of GSF.
There are real challenges in our
industry. Dealing with those challenges
have helped me to really appreciate the
time spent with my loved ones and real-
ize just how lucky I am to share time
with them. Whether it is playing video
games with my son, painting pictures
with my daughter or having a glass of
wine with my wife life is good.
Icon Residential Launches
IFIRST Relationship
Management Tool
Icon Residential Lenders
has announced the
launch of IFIRST, an
innovative program designed to foster
positive relationships between new brokers
and the firms internal operations team. As
the industry continues to recover, better sys-
tems will be required to adequately serve
front-line mortgage originators, the compa-
ny said. This new program was designed to
ensure that the quality of the customer serv-
ice and support for Icons clients never falters
and, even more importantly, is delivered in
a consistent fashion, without exception.
We are dedicated to providing new
brokers with a high-touch experience
one that exceeds their expectations and
demonstrates every day that our clients
are the top priority, said Philip J.
Giunta, chief operating officer at Icon
Residential Lenders. Through this new
program, a member of our team will be
in constant touch with our brokers dur-
ing the setup, underwriting, account
management, and funding phases of
the loan origination process. We will
make sure that everything is going well,
answer any questions they may have,
and do anything we can to help them.
Real Info Launches AVM
Plus Property Condition
Report to Meet
Interagency Guidelines
Real Info Inc.,
a n a t i o n a l
t e c hnol og y
provider of real estate data and auto-
mated valuation models (AVMs), has
announced that it is offering AVMs with
property condition reports designed to
meet new regulatory appraisal and
evaluation guidelines. Real Info has
contracted with Cleveland, Ohio
based, Safeguard Properties, one of the
nations largest privately held mortgage
field services companies, as their
provider for third-party condition
inspection reporting with full photo
documentation.
The recently published interagency
guidelines recommend that lenders
should consider obtaining verification
of a propertys current physical condi-
tion when utilizing AVMs. By supple-
menting its existing AVMs with external
property condition reports and subject
photos, Real Info is assisting lenders in
achieving compliance with the new
requirements and ensuring accurate
results. The process is seamless and
provides the end user the opportunity
to request a condition report as a stand
alone product to accompany any AVM,
including Real Infos i-Val and
realAssessment reports.
Our collaboration with Safeguard
Properties enables lenders to not only
meet, but exceed valuation guidelines
in as little as two days, said Jim
Kirchmeyer, founder and chief execu-
tive officer of Real Info. By using a con-
dition report in conjunction with an
AVM, any potential issues are caught
early in the process which makes an
accurate valuation much more credi-
ble. By working with the leading
provider of inspections, Safeguard
understands the importance of up-to-
date information so that users can
properly verify the physical condition of
a property quickly and efficiently.
Real-Info provides three proprietary
AVMs: i-Val, realAssessment and Q-Val,
which utilize the knowledge database
through rules-based, expert system
models to arrive at a predicted market
value for a particular residential prop-
erty. The companys licensing partner-
ships with nationally recognized AVM
developers provide an extensive menu
of valuation products for clients.
Advantage Systems
Commission Calculation
Module to Assists Lenders
With New LO
Compensation Rules
Advantage Systems, a
provider of accounting
and contract manage-
ment tools for the
mortgage and real
estate industries, has announced that
its Commission Calculation Module
assists lenders with simplifying adher-
ence to pending loan officer (LO) com-
pensation rules that are now in effect.
The Commission Calculation Module of
the Accounting for Mortgage Bankers
(AMB) accounting system enables
lenders to automate the calculation of
commissions and bonuses in both retail
continued on page 24
When a bond purchaser is
purchasing a bond securitized by
a mortgage, they want to know
everything has been done
absolutely perfectly, in accordance
with their guidelines.
Our goal at GSF Mortgage is to
focus on servicing our purchase
clientele and ensure that we meet
the needs that stem from this time-
sensitive and delicate transaction.
Success Relationship Dynamic Excellence
Positive
Attitude
www.IamBenchmark.info | 800-236-1824
Success Relationship Dynamic Excellence
Positive
Attitude
www.IamBenchmark.info | 800-236-1824
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Become a NationalMortgageProfessional.com Blogger!
It's free and easy. Just head on over to NMPMag.com, register and
follow the link in the upper right hand side of the page to
become a blogger on our site today!
Got an opinion? Want to share your
thoughts on the industry?
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Major East Texas Mortgage Fraud Scheme: Out of Florida
203(k) Rehab Loan Program: Foreclosures Present Challenges, Opportunity
NMLS and State Testing for Mortgage Professionals
As a result of the new legislation that takes
effect on April 1, 2011, mortgage broker-
age firms and their loan officers (collec-
tively known as brokers) will be faced
with the game-changing decision of how
to receive compensation going forward.
There will be two options offered:
O Receive compensation only from the
lender in the form of a fixed per-
centage fee per loan
(the broker will choose
from multiple fixed
percentage tiers);
O Receive compensation
only from the con-
sumer in the form of an
origination fee (points).
Both of these compen-
sation options come cou-
pled with serious draw-
backs and issues unique
to the broker.
In addition to the
above choices, compen-
sation to the broker will
no longer be able to vary
with the terms or condi-
tions of the loan (interest
rate). This means that
brokers will no longer be
able to earn additional
compensation from up-
selling an interest rate
to a consumer, nor will
they have the ability to charge more for
loans that require additional work or
time spent originating them.
Lastly, the broker will be forced to
comply with the new anti-steering provi-
sions which were designed to prevent
them from directing or steering a con-
sumer to consummate a transaction
based on the fact that the broker will
receive greater compensation versus
another type of loan they could have
offered.
To comply with this rule, brokers will
be required to disclose three pricing
options per loan to the consumer:
O The lowest interest rate;
O The lowest interest rate and point
combination; and
O The lowest rate with the least risky
features.
The unfortunate but inevitable con-
clusion of this legislation is that the bro-
ker model will no longer be able to exist
in its current format, if at all. In fact, a
broker will be at a significant disadvan-
tage to a lending institution (mortgage
bank), since lending institutions are
shielded from the anti-steering prohibi-
tions and can continue to receive com-
pensation tied to the interest rate from
selling the loans in the secondary market.
Receiving compensation
from the consumer only
The legislation clearly defines the loan
originator and the mortgage brokerage
firm as the same entity (e.g. the broker =
loan originator = mortgage brokerage
firm). Why this is an issue is that if the bro-
ker decides to operate under the model of
receiving compensation only from the
consumer (origination
points), they are forbidden
from passing along that
income to any of the loan
originators working in the
brokerage firm.
Proposed 226.36(d)(2)
would provide that, if a
loan originator is compen-
sated directly by the con-
sumer for a transaction
secured by real property or
a dwelling, no other person
may pay any compensa-
tion to the originator for
that transaction.
To reiterate, if the con-
sumer pays the brokerage
firm origination points,
then the brokerage firm
cannot share that payment
with any of its loan origina-
tors. This is because the law
prohibits sharing compen-
sation and further considers the loan orig-
inators LOs can only receive a payment
outside of origination income collected by
the brokerage firm, such as a salary.
Receiving compensation
from the lender only
The Lender Only Model also comes
riddled with challenges for the broker.
This is due to the margin of compres-
sion created from the anti-steering pro-
visions and disincentive the lenders
have to maximize profits for the broker.
The issue is seen more clearly if you
examine it from the standpoint of the
Lender. For this example lets consider
Lender A and Lender B.
In our example, Lender A initially
decides to keep their brokers as motivated
as possible by offering them the highest
fixed percentage tier per loan of 2.5 per-
cent. Lender B however, caps their highest
fixed percentage tier at 1.5 percent.
By default, in our example, Lender B
will have more competitive interest rates
for the consumer than Lender A.
Consequently, Lender As volume will dra-
matically suffer, forcing them to provide
more competitive rates to the consumer.
To do this, Lender A will have to offer a
lower fixed percentage tier to brokers, a
tier structure that is likely in line with that
of Lender B. This all leads to margin com-
pression for the broker.
When you couple this fact with the
anti-steering provision that is going to
require the broker to reveal the lowest
rate to the consumer, the broker and the
consumer will always default to Lender
B. This will further encourage Lender A to
reduce its payout and lead to additional
margin compression for the broker.
In effect, if you are Lender A, by agree-
ing to pay a broker more, you reduce your
ability to create a product that will be
competitive with the other lower cost
options being shown to the consumer
from Lender B. Hence, over time, the
competitive pressures both lenders face
will minimize the compensation to bro-
kers so as to minimize costs to the con-
sumer and maximize volume for the
lenders.
In addition, brokers themselves will
not be able to take the highest margin
alternative offered by a lender since
the broker will find themselves in an
anti-competitive position versus other
brokers who might have chosen a
lower fixed percentage tier. This, com-
bined with anti-steering provision
which requires brokers to show the
lowest interest rate option to the con-
sumer, will make it quite difficult for
the broker to elect the highest fixed
percentage tier from the lender, thus
requiring them to take a lower com-
pensation plan.
Additionally, for the broker who
chooses to get paid by the lender, in a
competitive situation, the broker will
be at a serious disadvantage. This is
because the broker cannot change their
compensation model on a deal by deal
basis to match the pricing from another
broker who has previously decided on a
lower compensation model, and unless
they violate the anti-steering provi-
sions, they will lose the consumer.
How to survive?
Unfortunately, it would appear the
only way to survive as a broker is to
have a high volume, quick turnaround
time, no overhead costs, and no other
loan originators at the brokerage firm.
The brokerage firm inevitably becomes
a one-man-shop for two reasons:
O A result of the margin compression
is that a brokers earnings will con-
tract to a point where even just the
overhead costs associated with run-
ning a brokerage firm will prove to
be unbearable; and
O Since the broker cannot split origi-
nation points with its loan origina-
tors, its ability to retain any of its
loan originators will be put into
jeopardy. More likely than not, any
of its quality LOs will leave to join
a lending institution where an
opportunity to earn a reasonable
income will still exist.
Additionally, the broker is going to
find the ability to abide by the anti-
steering provisions to be very over-
whelming, which will lead them to
reduce the number of lenders they work
with to as few as possible. This, in effect,
defeats the added value the mortgage
broker brings to the table, and puts
into question their very existence.
Recently, I was speaking to the head
of a 20-year-old brokerage firm who
expressed his frustrations to me by say-
ing, I would rather close up shop
because of something I did than some
regulations the government imposed.
So much for survival of the fittest
Update 04/06/11: With the passage of
the law and the recent lift of the stay
of the LO compensation rule, there will
be an opportunity for those who created
a fair compensation plan to benefit
from the turmoil in the industry. U.S.
Mortgage Corporation takes pride in
knowing that our new compensation
plan which we are referring to as the
Freedom Plan, is both fair, simple and
equitable. Change always has a silver
lining and the clear goal is to take full
advantage of it.
Steven A. Milner has nearly 30 years of
experience in the mortgage industry,
having started his career as a loan offi-
cer in 1981 in New York. Currently,
Milner is the founder and chief executive
officer of U.S. Mortgage Corporation
d/b/a Mortgage Concepts, a highly
esteemed new York State-licensed mort-
gage banking corporation he founded in
1994. He may be reached by phone at
(631) 580-2600 x114 or e-mail
steven.a.milner@usmortgage.com.
The Brokers Future
By Steven A. Milner
Unfortunately, it
would appear the
only way to survive
as a broker is to
have a high volume,
quick turnaround
time, no overhead
costs, and no other
loan originators at
the brokerage firm.
An overview of the new commission landscape
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the following article do not necessarily represent the
views of National Mortgage Professional Magazine or the associations we represent.
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Pioneer Services
steps up to help out
Pioneer Services, the Military Banking Division of MidCountry Bank,
has worked exclusively with military families for 25 years, offering
unique solutions and industry-leading financial services to more than
1.5 million military families during that time. One area Pioneer Serv-
ices had not entered, however, was the VA Loan marketbut with 27
million veterans and active-duty service members eligible for VA loans,
a glut of available and affordable homes, and historically low interest
rates, it was actually a great time for military families to think about
homeownership.
The company joined
USA Cares Certified Mil-
itary Family Housing Spe-
cialist program as an
integral part of their strat-
egy to promote VA Loans. While their team members had more than
500 years of combined military experience, the program bolstered the
knowledge they already had and even provided some new information.
Having worked with USA Cares so often in the past, we knew this
program would focus on the families first, said Randy Freese, director
of marketing. It has allowed us to give our customers the most accu-
rate and useful information out there, while also helping to prevent any
surprises during the application process.
Theres a lot of paperwork and documents involved in getting a VA
Loan, so its vital to make sure everything is in order, and then com-
municated well and in a timely manner, said Loan Officer Steve Flom.
Setting up our process this way has really made things easier on the
families who apply.
Pioneer Services positive brand awareness in the military mar-
ket and great customer service has resulted in some memorable
phone calls over the past several months. One of the more memo-
rable ones for Flom was from a Soldier who called specifically be-
cause, in his words, "I really like Pioneer! The fact I might be able
to get a VA loan with their help is like this big weight has been lifted
from my chest."
I have to admit I got a little choked up, said Flom. I told him
that his appreciation cant possibly
match our appreciation for the sacrifice
hes made for our nation."
That appreciation is why all of their
frontline associates and loan officers
have goneand will continue to go
through the USA Cares Military Family
Housing Specialist program, and why
they will continue to find ways to change
lives, one military family at a time.
Contact Military Family Housing Education (MFHE)
Program Manager at Beverly.Frase@usacares.org to be
our next Mortgage Hero. Take the free MFHE course of-
fered online by USA Cares and tell us how youre helping
our military men and women. We want to recognize you!
new to market continued from page 22
and wholesale environments. This is
especially important as lenders adjust
to interpretations of the Federal
Reserve Boards (LO)compensation
guidelines. Through the tool, lenders
have the flexibility to define how these
amounts are calculated based on their
own business rules.
The April 1 deadline for compliance
with the loan officer compensation rules
is a pain point for many of our cus-
tomers, said Brian Lynch, president of
Advantage Systems. To ensure accuracy,
it is vital for lenders to automate this
area of their business. With the
Commission Calculation Module, they
have the ability to implement and
change compensation models as needed,
and as it is part of the accounting system,
a traceable audit trail of transactions is
available.
The Commission Calculation Module
utilizes the loan-level accounting capa-
bility of the AMB software to minimize
user input and increase accuracy.
Cogent Announces the
Release of Version 3.0
of CogentQC.NET
Cogent QC Systems,
a developer of loan
quality control
and compliance solutions for the financial
services industry, has announced the
release of Version 3.0 of its CogentQC.NET
platform, which includes ServicingQC.NET
for quality control of servicing processes
and ProductionQC.NET for quality control
of loan originations.
The new release includes: Enhanced
audit findings feedback functionality;
new enterprise level security features;
additional controls over data elements
displayed, user activity permitted, audit
environment behavior and audit activi-
ty tracked.
We have been working closely with
our clients over the past year to find ways
to leverage the power and flexibility of
the CogentQC.NET architecture, said
James Robinson, president of Cogent QC
Systems. This has resulted in the
enhancements you see in Version 3.0, as
well as the extension of the Cogent solu-
tion beyond the mortgage world to QC
and compliance testing of consumer
loans and other financial products.
Cogents CogentQC.NET systems uti-
lize Microsofts .NET Service Oriented
Architecture (SOA) and Microsoft SQL
Server to offer the most efficient, flexi-
ble and powerful QC and compliance
solution available.
Stewart Lender Services
Launches New FHA
Qualification Package
Stewart Lender
Services (SLS), in
conjunction with
Spectrum Field Services, has announced
that it is now offering a Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) Lending
Qualification Package. The package
provides investors with a comprehen-
sive analysis of options available for
maximizing loss recovery for real
estate-owned (REO) assets. With the FHA
Qualification Package, investors can
receive upfront validation for their
vacant assets. The program will deter-
mine if the asset meets the minimum
lending requirements for an FHA pro-
gram, if the asset is eligible for a limited
scope rehabilitation option or if the asset
can be backed by FHA financing and sold
as is.
This package includes a full range
of services for analyzing the propertys
current status, rehabilitation costs and
market expectations, said Jason
Nadeau, president of SLS. It takes
existing services and packages them
into a sensible flow that will certainly
accelerate the time to market the REO
properties.
Moodys Launches New
Mortgage Portfolio
Analyzer (MPA)
Moodys Analytics,
a provider of enter-
prise risk manage-
ment solutions, has announced the
release of Mortgage Portfolio Analyzer
(MPA), a new risk management and
capital allocation tool to help retail
portfolio managers analyze and man-
age the credit risk of their mortgage
portfolios. MPA is a full-featured credit
risk management, stress testing and
capital allocation tool, designed from
its inception to provide retail credit
portfolio managers with a transparent
view into the risk of their mortgage port-
folios. Featuring a range of customizable
models and forecasting tools, MPA gives
retail credit and fixed-income portfolio
managers the information they need to
hedge or rebalance their portfolios using
techniques similar to those widely used
for corporate credit risk management.
MPA analyzes newly originated, sea-
soned and delinquent loans, providing
a single framework for analysis of all
mortgage assets. It is fully integrated
with Moodys Structured Finance
Workstation (SFW), allowing institutions
to use the same framework to analyze
the whole-loan and securitized portions
of their portfolios. MPAs analytic out-
put can also be formatted for use with
other waterfall and cashflow products.
MPA is a breakthrough product that
brings loan-level analysis detail and
enhanced transparency to mortgage
portfolios, similar to the products that
Moodys Analytics offers for corporate
bond and loan portfolios, said Roger
M. Stein, president of Moodys Research
Labs. MPA simplifies and streamlines
core credit portfolio risk management
activities, such as capital allocation,
monitoring and transfer pricing, bring-
ing them together within a single, pow-
erful product.
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And the REAL customer is???
Red Flag Compliance
is the LAW!
State Auditors and Examiners are now asking you to show
them your Red Flag Compliance.
In order for Lenders to remain compliant, their Broker
Vendors must be compliant. Lenders are now asking for
proof of compliance in order to continue a relationship.
~ A customized written F.A.C.T.A. Red Flag Policy
~ A Red Flag Checklist to simplify identifying Red Flags
~ A Gramm, Leach, Bliley International Security Policy
~ A customizable Vendor Compliance Letter
~ An Incidence Response Plan in the event of lost data
We are the Preferred Provider of Compliance Solutions
for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers
all for only $349.00
A simple 5-minute call is all it takes.
888-331-2332
You can also order directly from our website:
www.majesticsecurityidsafe.com/nmp.htm
Majestic Security, LLC will professionally produce
everything you need to be compliant:
Are you prepared?
Protect your firm from Fines and Penalties.
National Association of Mortgage Brokers
R
Enforcement of the
Red Flag Rule has Begun!
Also Available:
Quality Control Policies
SAFE Act Policies and Procedures
continued on page 26
MPA also includes robust simulation
tools to model loan-level and portfolio-
level performance as they evolve, and
to project defaults, prepayments and
severity dynamics. In addition, MPA can
explicitly model the effect of mortgage
insurance at the loan level. Portfolio
managers can stress-test portfolios by
using macroeconomic scenarios and by
shocking default, prepayment and
recovery rates directly. Macroeconomic
stress-tests may be run using either
Moodys Analytics macroeconomic fore-
casts or user-defined macroeconomic
scenarios. MPAs models use key macro-
economic data at the national, state
and MSA levels including home price
changes, unemployment levels and var-
ious interest rates. This macroeconomic
data is provided by Moodys Analytics
and is refreshed quarterly.
Fiserv Announces New Web
and Mobile Self-Service
Channels for Loan Servicing
Fiserv Inc. has announced
the availability of a new
module that gives lenders
the ability to offer borrowers two high-
demand self-service channels, which can
help lenders enhance customer relation-
ships and realize efficiencies. Through
the new module, LoanServ: LoanLink
from Fiserv, consumers are able to access
and update their loan information in
real-time via the Internet or an Apple
iPhone or iPad application.
Providing borrowers with self-service
channels gives lenders the ability to cater
to customer expectation, while managing
costs, as the self-service portal can help
reduce the volume on other, more
expensive channels. Additionally, with
LoanLink, lenders can customize the
module to address the specific needs of
their borrowers choosing from services
such as: Account cross referencing, loan
payments, payoff requests, payment his-
tories, address and contact information
updates, customer financial information,
and information about loan modification
and alternate options.
One of the most compelling compo-
nents of the LoanLink module is the
application, which gives borrowers a way
to view their lending life from an iPhone
or iPad. Consumer demand for banking
services on a mobile device has grown
rapidly over the past few years as the
prevalence of smart phones has steadily
increased. The LoanLink iPhone/iPad
application from Fiserv enables lenders to
take advantage of this new high-demand
channel that can help improve customer
acquisition and retention rates.
LoanLink allows lenders to offer cus-
tomers 24/7 access to their loan records
and pulls information directly from the
LoanServ platform in real time, avoid-
ing the typical data-sync issues associat-
ed with batch processing.
New XINNIX Course
Teaches Entire Mortgage
Lead Conversion Process
XINNIX has announced
the availability of its
Lead Conversion train-
ing program for loan officers. With
home purchases currently being down,
it is critical that loan officers focus on
converting each qualified lead they
receive into a loyal customer. XINNIX
Web-based training program, Lead
Conversion, consists of two 90 min. live
Webinars that provide a step-by-step
approach on executing an optimal
response strategy and a proven sales
process for loan officers. The classes are
designed to gain every leads trust and
confidence, while vastly improving
every sales opportunity. Loan officers
walk away from XINNIX Lead
Conversion course with the confidence
to reach out, follow-up and close
potential leads.
Every lead is extremely valuable
in todays economy, said Casey
Cunningham, president of XINNIX. A
successful loan officer must master
the ability to convert every lead they
receive. Our Lead Conversion pro-
gram will provide loan officers with
sales knowledge that will immediate-
ly increase their conversion percent-
age and help maximize their lead
channel.
The two Webinars provide loan offi-
cers the skills to guide customers
through the loan process and help
them make better decisions. The class-
es include steps on foreshadowing, trial
closes, how to emotionally connect
with a customer, how to build on a
relationship with a customer and how
to follow-up accordingly with a cus-
tomer who is not committed.
Lead Conversion outlines for loan
officers the steps of a proven sales
process along with precise sales tech-
niques needed to uncover customers
needs, present transaction details and
enhance the closing process. By
approaching every lead in the same,
methodical but flexible manner, it will
be easier to identify what is being
done correctly and what can be
improved. Loan officers will gain the
ability to identify buying signs, imple-
ment active listening strategies, devel-
op a lead contact strategy, implement
a process to confidently speak to
clients, effectively answer common
client questions and build rapport
with leads.
InHouse Announces the
Launch of New BPO
Ordering Capability
InHouse Inc., an
appraisal management
company (AMC) and
provider of appraiser management tech-
nology for banks, lenders, servicers, cred-
it unions and other mortgage originators,
has announced that its Connexions
appraisal management system now fea-
tures technology to manage multiple bro-
ker price opinion (BPO) vendors, including
BPO companies, appraisers and individ-
ual real estate agents and brokers.
Connexions provides ease of BPO order-
ing online and the ability to change
BPO vendors with the click of a button.
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Everyone knows there is no medical
underwriting in reverse mortgage lend-
ing. So there are no health-related risks
in reverse mortgages for seniors and
investors, right?
Wrong! For seniors with self-report-
ed poor health, there are risks.
However, we address just one financial
risk in this article: Out-of-pocket
healthcare costs burn-through risk.
In Part VII of our FIT for Reverse
Mortgage Lenders series, we defined
burn-through risk in reverse mortgages.
Lets review our definition:
Burn-through risk is the chance that sen-
iors will use up their reverse capacity
faster than usual and put in doubt their
ability to stay at home over time and meet
borrower obligationstaxes, homeown-
ers insurance and home maintenance.
Now the out-of-pocket part: Out-of-
pocket healthcare costs are costs not
covered by insurance that seniors must
pay from their own funds. They may
include insurance premiums, co-pay-
ments, deductibles and other gaps in
any benefit package.
A February, 2010 study by the Urban
Institute, Will Healthcare Costs Bankrupt
Aging Boomers? says we can expect these
out-of-pocket healthcare costs to rise,
especially for lower-income seniors and
for seniors without retiree health benefits.
And why are out-of-pocket health-
care costs expected to rise? Here are
some reasons from the study:
O Rising federal and state govern-
ments debts are already resulting in
cuts to entitlement programs, such
as Medicaid, which help low-income
seniors with serious health problems
to stay at home;
O Runaway healthcare costs over the
last 35 years could continue, which
would further increase premiums
and co-pays for Medicare;
O Possible Social Security reform could fur-
ther reduce or limit retirement income;
O Tax increases could cut take-home
pay and reduce cash for out-of-
pocket expenses;
O Healthcare and retirement costs risk-
shifting trend from employers and
governments to workers continues;
O Slowing to declining income growth
among seniors (no recent cost of living
increases to Social Security benefits).
What did the study say about out-of-
pocket health care costs for boomers?
Some highlights follow:
O Between 2010 and 2040, out-of-
pocket healthcare costs will more
than double from $3,300 to $7,800;
O For people 65 and older, share of
household income spent on health-
care will jump from 10 percent in
2010 to 19 percent in 2040;
O People 65 and older who spend
more than one-fifth of their income
just on healthcare will increase from
18 percent in 2010 to 35 percent in
2030 and 45 percent in 2040;
O If employers eliminate retiree health
benefits, the number of seniors with
rising out-of-pocket healthcare costs
will leap to 52 percent by 2040;
O For seniors at the bottom fifth of the
income scale, healthcare costs will
jump from 21 to 39 percent of their
income between 2010 and 2040.
With out-of-pocket healthcare costs
increasing more rapidly than incomes,
the study says, the financial burden of
healthcare will increase for older adults
over the next few decades.
This is why out-of-pocket healthcare
costs for reverse mortgage prospects
with self-reported poor health are
risk factors. It is yellow flag number
six in the FIT process. Originators
FIT for Reverse Mortgage Lenders:
Part VIII
Out-of-Pocket Burn-Through Risk
continued on page 38 continued on page 33
new to market continued from page 25
InHouses software platform enables
lenders and servicers to target BPO ven-
dors based on geographic competency
and it manages specific state credential
guidelines for BPOs, ensuring compli-
ance. There are no barriers to entry,
upfront integration fees, or long-term
contracts for companies to order BPOs
on the Connexions platform. Lenders
and servicers can manage the alloca-
tions and quality of their BPOs on one
level playing field with Connexions and
replace the use of excel spreadsheets for
determining BPO rotationa common
practice in the industry. Connexions
also enables lenders and servicers to
configure their service level agreements
in the system to better manage their
BPO vendors.
As more bank-owned REO proper-
ties come onto the market, lenders, ser-
vicers and investors require a system for
ordering BPOs that is fast, accurate and
compliant, said Jennifer Creech, presi-
dent of InHouse. InHouse offers the
only technology platform that empow-
ers lenders, servicers and investors to
make data-driven BPO decisions and
appropriately allocate the use of their
BPO resources. All of this can be accom-
plished in real-time with the click of a
mouse.
Equator Launches Three
New REO Products
Equator (EQ), a soft-
ware provider of
default servicing solu-
tions, has announced that it is offering
lenders and servicers three new modules:
Loan Segmentation, REO Segmentation
and Invoice Management.
With the velocity and frequency of
loans flowing into the foreclosure bucket
this year, the need for servicers to adopt
a Delinquent Loan Segmentation module
is paramount, said Chief Operating
Officer John Vella. By using Equators
new Loan Segmentation module at the
60-120 day bucket of delinquency, ser-
vicers will be able to route the right loan
to the right person early on in the delin-
quency to insure optimal outcome for
the loan.
Within the Loan Segmentation mod-
ule, servicers will also be able to analyze
key data variables from the loan and
the borrower and combine it with mar-
ket data and history, so that loans can
be channeled through a retention or
liquidation strategy. The end result is
the optimum workout path based on
the borrower, market and loan data
accompanied by an NPV.
With an increase in REO expected in
2011, Equator is offering an REO
Segmentation module which can be
used for managing disposition strate-
gies for REO properties by analyzing
market and property data, and produc-
ing the desired disposition path such as:
Rental, hold, quick sale, repair, donate
or auction. From there, the module
determines the expected net proceeds
per disposition strategy to support its
recommended disposition method.
Equators third new product, an
Invoice Management module, is now
available for all existing Equator clients
as well as companies seeking to lever-
age Equators industry expertise. Users
will benefit from a full investor-based
rules engine, enhanced communication
between parties and a complete end-to-
end paper trail which provides unprece-
dented audit control. Users can also set
auto-approval thresholds for the system
to immediately approve invoices that
fall within the pre-specified parame-
ters, saving time and money.
LPS Applied Analytics
Introduces
Condition-Adjusted
Valuation Model
Lender Processing
Services Inc. (LPS) has
announced the release
of t he Val ueSure
Condition Adjusted (VSCA) valuation model
by its LPS Applied Analytics division. The
model is among the first automated valu-
ation model (AVM) products to comply
with the U.S. Department of the Treasurys
Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation
Guidelines (IAG).
The ValueSure Condition Adjusted val-
uation model is unique to the market in
that, upon receipt of an order for a valu-
ation, a licensed real estate agent is dis-
patched to physically review the property
to determine whether or not its condition
is consistent with that of neighborhood
norms. Only when the licensed agent has
made a judgment as to the propertys rel-
ative condition can the AVM be
processed, and that information is taken
into consideration to create a condition-
adjusted valuation. In some cases, the
property condition can be so poor as to
disallow the use of an AVM at all.
The ValueSure Condition Adjusted
valuation model goes beyond simply
bundling a photograph of a property
with a standard AVM, said Dan Berman,
president of LPS Applied Analytics. And
with regard to the new IAG, thats just
not sufficient. An AVM cannot simply
assume that a given property is in aver-
age condition. To our knowledge, LPS
Value Sure Condition Adjusted valuation
model is the only AVM on the market
that fully complies with the IAG.
BrokerPriceOpinion.com
Announces the Release
of Repair Estimate
With BPOs
BrokerPriceOpinion.com,
a provider of customized
valuation solutions, has
announced the avail-
ability of a new online repair cost esti-
mator with its broker price opinion
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When is conviction an important
component of leadership? I guess you
could ask the question this way: When
is it not? The later is more rhetorical
in nature. In times of uncertainty, who
wants to follow some wishy-washy
indecisive leader? That is an oxy-
moron if there ever was one an
indecisive leader. This is especially
true when uncertainty gives way to
anxiety, fear and some level of panic.
Times of crisis demand strong decisive
leadership.
I am writing this article the very
week that the new Fed rule regulating
loan originator compensation is sched-
uled to go into effect. I cannot think of
a single issue that has stirred up more
frustration, anger and anxiety than the
Feds changes to loan originator com-
pensation. Federal Reserve officials,
who are supposed to provide leader-
ship and guidance, have done nothing
to help sort out this vaguely written
convoluted ball of tape new rule.
Their handling of this matter has been
absolutely abysmal.
Loan originators have been under-
standably concerned whether or not
they can make the same level of
income as they have in times past.
Business owners and executives have
had concerns that if they do not come
up with the right compensation plan,
they may lose their whole loan origi-
nation staff and watch their businesses
fail. As a result of poor leadership from
the Federal Reserve, there have been
elevated levels of anxiety on both ends
of the spectrum.
As I pointed out in the January issue
of National Mortgage Professional
Magazine, our industry is in a serious
leadership crisis. In February, I wrote
about the importance of leadership as
it relates to successfully launching the
new loan originator compensation
plans. In that same February article, I
predicted that the success or failure of
any future LO compensation plan will
have more to do with leadership
(rolling out the plan) than the LO com-
pensation plan itself. And as we have
watched various companies roll out
their respective compensation plans to
their LOs, we have seen this to be an
accurate prediction.
For example, one rather large com-
pany made the decision to invite not
only their own loan officers to the
meeting where they rolled out their
compensation plan, but they opened
up the meeting and invited every orig-
inator in that city to come and listen to
their compensation plan. Think about
it, what a bold and confident state-
ment this made in that market.
Whether or not their plan was in fact
the better plan, the way they rolled it
out (it was done with conviction and
confidence) was very well-received by
all and established them as leaders in
their particular market. Not only that,
but they presented their plan in such a
convincing way that not only were
their own LOs sold on the plan, but a
fair number of LOs outside of the com-
pany began to wonder if they shouldnt
consider making a move to this com-
pany. This is a good example how
strong leadership led to a successful
outcome and that it was more about
leadership than the plan itself. Their
gutsy way of rolling out their plan in
full view of everyone in that market
demonstrated their character and con-
viction. It further established them-
selves as leaders in that market. Mixed
in to all this was an element of creativ-
ity that you have to admire.
Now let me contrast the above story
to what I see many are doing in the
industry as it pertains to developing
and rolling out their own compensa-
tion plan. Many, if not most, executives
have been more concerned about try-
ing to figure out what their competi-
tors are doing rather than studying the
regulation for themselves (vague as it
may be) and arriving at a plan that will
work for their loan originator all the
while staying true to their own compa-
nys goals and objectives. Can you see
the difference? One is trying to estab-
lish a consensus, versus arriving at a
conclusion and boldly leading with
conviction.
I am sure you have seen how many
executives manage by consensus build-
ing believing it is the best approach.
Management schools and books have
taught the importance of listening to
everyones point of view and mirror-
ing their thoughts. But trying to get
everyone on the same page and
marching to the same drum isnt
going to cut it when the Feds provided
no leadership or guidance. While there
is a time and place for vetting things
out and trying to gain a consensus,
there also comes a time when a deci-
sion has to be made and that decision
has to be executed with conviction and
confidence. Too many are operating in
fear of losing their LOs, so they are
slow to act with conviction and are
always trying to build a consensus.
Strong people recognize strong leader-
ship and will gravitate to strong lead-
ership, especially in times of uncer-
tainty. Those executives who portray
strong character and strong convic-
tions will draw the stronger LOs to
their company. Those who lead by
following a consensus will realize their
fear by losing their better LOs.
True leaders are not afraid of con-
flict! Leadership, almost by definition,
involves conflict. An avoidance of con-
flict inherently implies a lack of lead-
ership, or at a minimum, poor leader-
ship. One way to detect weak leader-
ship is recognizing when someone is
trying to still arrive at a consensus
when it is time to take action.
As a way to dramatically depict the
differences between leadership by con-
viction versus consensus, I am going to
use a classic movie, The Poseidon
Adventure. This movie in and of itself
is a leader. It was the first of a series of
disaster movies. In it, Gene Hackman
and Ernest Borgnine portray the
importance of dealing with conflict
while sticking to your convictions.
There were some great lines in it.
Another great example of a strong
leader leading with conviction were
the fables and legends of the Scottish
folk hero/leader William Wallace as
portrayed in the movie Braveheart.
History provides us with other well-
known lessons in leadership by those
that were led by strong personal con-
victions the best of which might be
George Washington. For example, did
Washington try to build consensus
amongst his troops, or did he com-
mand with the conviction? Of course, it
was his convictions that led the way to
victory, not a consensus amongst his
troops.
I am writing all of this to help you to
recognize a harsh reality of our world
today. Leaders today, more than ever,
must have conviction; and managers
must adopt those convictions as their
own. While the strength of a conviction
for any idea is vetted through some
level of conflict (arguments, analysis
and testing), once a decision has been
reached, managers of that which has
been decided must command others
with the same conviction as if it were
their own. The bigger/larger your
organization is (i.e. the greater the lay-
By David Lykken
Conviction: A Key Ingredient of Leadership
continued on page 38
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Why the Future is
Bound to be Paperless
My body had long since exhausted all its
energy, but it went on running just the
same. The physical overdraft came only
from greater willpower. This was the crucial
moment when my legs were strong enough
to carry me over the last few yards, as they
could never have done in previous years.
With five yards to go, the tape seemed
almost to recede. Would I ever reach it?
Roger Banister describing his four-
minute mile.
You cannot run a mile in under four
minutes and the world is flat
are two very oft-cited examples of
beliefs that were at one point in time
believed to be true. I believe that in the
near future, companies will look back
and say, How did we ever survive with
all that paper to manage?
When I counsel companies about
becoming more successful, I tell them
that every step they take along the sales
process must involve a deadline and a
result. There is an outcome that must
occur before we can call that step in the
sales process complete. And until all of
the steps have been completed, there is
no sale. Not knowing the outcomes and
managing the organization toward
them leads to a lot of failure. In fact, I
think thats why the mortgage industry
isnt completely paperless already.
Lenders have known the benefits of
paperless lending for years now. Studies
have shown that paper in the mortgage
lending process is one of the key drivers
of higher costs and lower borrower sat-
isfaction. We pay to buy paper, print on
it, staple it to other sheets of paper and
then file it away. We pay more when we
have to replace the paper we cannot
find or duplicate it to share with other
parties. When sensitive borrower data is
printed on the paper, we pay even more
to have it shredded.
And its not just money that lenders
lose when they rely on paper, its time
as well. Paper in the lending process has
been shown to slow down the mortgage
origination process by up to a week. We
can calculate the cost of that in a differ-
ent article. On the servicing side, the
millions of pages of paper that have
flooded into these firms from borrowers
hoping for a loan modification have
completely clogged up the system.
Even the government-sponsored enter-
prises (GSEs) have been pushing lenders to
get rid of the paper. Both Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac have been offering electronic
mortgage products for years but, have had
very little luck getting lenders to originate
without paper. More recently, Fannie Mae
has required that certain loan modifica-
tions be delivered electronically, using its
SmartDoc Version 3.
But the industry knows all of this.
Lenders and servicers dont want the
paper any more than their investors
want it. And yet, its still here. Why?
Before I answer that, let me ask you a
question: What is the outcome of a
paperless process? If you say an elec-
tronic mortgage, then you must be a
lender, servicer or origi-
nator. Borrowers dont
know about electronic
mortgages, and they hon-
estly dont really care
about them.
Whats the outcome of
a paperless mortgage for a
mortgage borrower? An
electronic signature pad, a
handshake and a couple
hundred thousand dollars
in debt? Not a very attrac-
tive outcome from that
perspective, is it?
The reason we have
three to five inches of
paper in the typical loan
file is to convince the bor-
rower that they are getting
a fair deal and to prove to
regulators that all of the
information has been dis-
closed to the borrower
before the loan was
closed. In fact, the reason that regulators
require more paper disclosures in each
loan file is because they believe lenders
cannot be trusted to be honest with bor-
rowers without the paper. Why would a
borrower give this up?
For years, the industry has argued
that more paper disclosures do not
make for a better lending process any
more than it guarantees that bad actors
wont take advantage of borrowers.
After the financial crash, that message
may have finally hit home. While its
not yet clear what regulations the new
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) will require, one thing is sure
the government is putting a watchdog
on our industry because it believes we
cannot be trusted. This will eventually
lead to a paperless lending process.
Lenders havent gone paperless in the
past because the paper was the govern-
ments method of keeping the industry
honest. If the borrower didnt walk out of
the closing room with that stack of paper,
they couldnt really be sure that the gov-
ernment had done its job, that the lender
had done its job and that they hadnt just
made a bad deal. That freedom from
buyers remorse is a critical and important
outcome for the borrower.
From the borrowers perspective, our
industry has never done a good enough
job of building trust on the
part of the borrower. When
the CFPB comes online, the
government will step in as
the primary protector of the
borrower in financial trans-
actions.
When that happens, it
will quickly become clear
that while a borrower may
be able to read through a
few dozen disclosures before
signing at the closing table,
the CFPB will not be capable
of reading through the
many millions of loan files in
order to ensure that con-
sumers are being protected.
Of course, they wont have
to.
MortgageDashboard and
the other leading loan orig-
ination software (LOS)
providers can easily send
electronic loan files to the
CFPB for review. In fact, I wouldnt be sur-
prised if the government makes it manda-
tory that loan origination systems provide a
window into their databases for govern-
ment access. In fact, the GSEs have already
begun making data standards available to
make that easier to accomplish.
If borrowers know that the govern-
ment is watching every transaction,
theyll feel as confident about taking
out a loan as they do about buying a
new deck at a home improvement
store. When that happens, an electron-
ic keypad and a smile is all theyll feel
like they need to finance their next
home and the high cost and lost time
that comes with paper-based lending
will go away.
Rene Rodriguez is chief executive officer
of MortgageDashboard, a Web-based, on-
demand loan origination software built
on the Software as a Service (SaaS) model.
Rene is a renowned behavioral, leader-
ship and organizational change expert,
world-class sales trainer and dynamic
keynote speaker. For more information,
visit www.SeeReneSpeak.com.
By Rene Rodriguez
Lenders have known
the benefits of paper-
less lending for years
now. Studies have
shown that paper in
the mortgage lending
process is one of the
key drivers of higher
costs and lower bor-
rower satisfaction.
Paper is a nuisance today tomorrow, its
likely to be a compliance problem
Daily updated mortgage industry news
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Going Paperless: The Technology
is Ready the People Are Not
By Chris Knowlton
in the wrong hands. He also pointed
out the customers need to have access
to a high tech scanner or fax machine
to get those documents to the right
people.
However, Davis isnt too worried
about his day-to-day operations even
with a paperless system.
He still believes people
are going to want to meet
face-to-face and have the
security of knowing who
they are dealing with and
making sure all of their
options are explored. He
explained how our indus-
try is very similar to our
friends in the real estate
business. Customers can
now go online and look
at photos of a house and
see where it is, but in very
few cases will someone
buy a house without
actually being inside and
seeing it in person. We
can become very techno-
logically advanced, but in
his mind, the old school
version of the mortgage
process will still be the
same.
In order to get a complete range of
opinions on this subject, its impor-
tant to also talk to the future of this
industry, those who are just starting
in the business. As someone who is
new to my company, Teresa Flores is
already, as you can imagine, a big
supporter of idea of paperless.
She believes as the younger gener-
ations start to become homebuyers,
appealing to their tech savvy ways is
only going to help in gaining that
competitive advantage. However, she
does see the obstacle of teaching an
old dog new tricks to her fellow sea-
soned originators, but stands by the
opinion it will make life easier for
everyone.
The process, once you learn it, is a
lot quicker and more efficient because
you dont have to mail or overnight a
document to a customer and wait for
them to get it and return it, Flores
said. Ultimately, it will
help the loan get pushed
through much quicker.
Ultimately, she thinks
the reluctant side of this
debate will realize that
the customers are getting
younger and they use
technology much more in
their everyday lives, they
will want to work with
someone who will appeal
to their lifestyle and orig-
inators will have no
choice if they want to
stay in business.
Going paperless is
easy, on paper. As you
can see, both sides have
pros and cons, which
make it even harder. Just
make sure your plans fit
your business model and
you will have some suc-
cess, keep the long-term
goal in mind, and remember that this
is a generational change, not a turn-
key process that you can drop into
place in a short time.
Chris Knowlton is vice president of tech-
nology and marketing of Inlanta
Mortgage. He manages all aspects of the
companys IT infrastructure, building the
company up from four local branches in
1996 to a regional mortgage company.
He manages more than 150 users in 28
offices in 13 states with a staff of two help
desk analysts. He may be reached by e-
mail at chrisknowlton@inlanta.com or
call (262) 672-4575.
I could set up a paperless mortgage
shop for you if youd like one. I have all
kinds of tools at my disposal. Adobe has
made massive strides in the past few
years and I can use bar codes, e-folders,
iPads, tablets, netbooks, secure docu-
ment sharing and turning a widescreen
monitor sideways is one of my
favorites. I can set up your copier/scan-
ner/fax/printer so that never spits out a
single piece of paper again toner is
for suckers!
Yes, I could do that all for you and
yes some of your team will embrace it
and use it and probably become
mostly paper-free. Year to date, I
have only printed 23 pages, an office
joke that is kept as a tally sheet near
one of our many printers, printers
that crank out hundreds, if not thou-
sands, of pages per day. The rest of
your team is going to keep printing
and printing and printing. Stopping
them would be a bad idea for your
business.
There are two main things prevent-
ing you from going paperless. The first
is your employees and the second is
your customers. Pushing a paperless
process on either of those groups if
they are not ready will hurt your pro-
duction. You have to take this slow, and
as a techie, I have come to this conclu-
sion the hard way, but I think it is the
correct approach.
I started going to mortgage indus-
try conferences when I joined this
business about 15 years ago and
there were sessions talking about
going paperless and e-signatures.
Fifteen years later, there are still the
same sessions talking about how to
do the same thing. We are still having
this same conversations, in fact, this
very magazine is still asking if its
possible, and asking if e-mortgages
are a myth.
Make no mistake, going paperless is
entirely possible, you just have to do it
slowly (and we sure have that mas-
tered as an industry), and you have to
do it on an individual basis. You need
to gage the willingness of your
employees, especially the sales and
processing departments, to use the
tools that make a paperless mortgage
possible. Understand that you might
be working against the muscle memo-
ry of a 20-year mortgage sales veteran
who will only see this as something
that slows them down. On the other
hand, your more tech-savvy employ-
ees might love to be used as paperless
test pilots. Be prepared to have a sys-
tem that can accommodate both.
Pairing up an old school salesperson
with a tech wiz processor is a great
way to move your office in a paperless
direction without alienating your top
producers. Think the plan through and
talk it over before unplugging the
printers.
An even more difficult factor to
asses is your customers desire to
deal with a paperless process. In my
experience, it is best to ask upfront,
make this part of your sales pitch,
letting the customer know you can
take care of them either way. A
younger first-time homebuyer might
love to hear that they can upload all
of their documents to your Web site
24 hours a day. Your older buyers
might see this as a less trustworthy
way of processing a transaction of
this magnitude. If you are able to
easily accommodate both these types
of customers, it will only serve to
bring you more business.
The mortgage company I work for is
no exception to that mix of loan offi-
cers who believe and embrace a paper-
less system and those who dont quite
accept it yet.
Loan Officer Allen Davis has been in
the business for 28 years and is some-
what of a skeptic. Hes not completely
against it and he did admit that he can
see it working in the future, but it will
take some major improvements to the
system.
One major problem Davis runs into
is the actual technology aspect of the
whole process. To him, relying on fax
machines to send in documents can
create unwanted problems. This is
problem number one when it comes to
a paperless world.
Before we get totally into this, we
need to get partners or these compa-
nies we work with to be into it, Davis
said. And the problem is not all the
partners in the system are set up to go
paperless.
Problem number two comes from
the other side, customers. He has run
into customers who are hesitant to
send their personal information that
appears on those documents over the
Internet, for fear that it could end up
Make no mistake,
going paperless is
entirely possible, you
just have to do it
slowly (and we sure
have that mastered
as an industry), and
you have to do it on
an individual basis.
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When you think of going green with
mortgages you likely wouldnt think of
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
loans. So it might come as a bit of a surprise
that FHA can, in fact, be
used as a great tool, giving
your clients a real advantage
if they want to be a green
homeowner (GH)!
There are two aspects
to going green. The first
is with respect to the con-
servation of energy; the
second is with the use of
non-toxic building mate-
rials. The conservation of
energy saves on heating
and cooling costs, while
the use of non-toxic
materials is very impor-
tant for health and envi-
ronmental reasons. On
the other hand, an energy
inefficient home increas-
es overall costs, while the
use of toxic materials can
damage health and actu-
ally create serious health
problems like asthma, allergies, skin
issues, headaches, eye irritation and
dizziness. Needless to say, if these con-
ditions are pre-existing, such materials
will only serve to exacerbate them. It is
quite synchronistic that, as I was writ-
ing this section on toxic materials, I was
experiencing a slight headache, irritat-
ed eyes, lethargy and quite a bit of
sneezing. I couldnt figure out why, as I
clearly didnt have a cold. When I
opened the door of my office, I discov-
ered that the building management
had torn down drywall in the offices
surrounding mine, and the drywall
dust was circulating through the vents!
So I can personally vouch for the accu-
racy of those statements!
With these two green paths, the FHA
has two programs that can assist a GH:
The Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM),
and the 203k Rehabilitation loan. The
purpose of this article is not to train
you in the EEM or the 203k, but rather,
give you an idea of how these loans can
help your FHA clients go green with
homeownership.
The FHA Energy Efficient
Mortgage
The EEM is designed to help homebuyers
or homeowners save money on energy
costs by allowing them to finance them
the costs of installing energy-efficiency
systems (to a new or existing home)
through a purchase or refinance. The
EEM allows either constructing a home or
retrofitting a home, with high-efficiency
heating and cooling systems, insulation,
windows, doors and roofing, any of
which will result in energy
conservation.
This is a truly remarkable
program for homeowners
who wish to weatherize their
home to make it more ener-
gy efficient. For example, if
your clients are purchasing a
home, they can finance the
cost of new storm windows,
storm doors, thermostats
and insulation. However
this program isnt a free for
all; it has to make sense (and
cents), and the energy pack-
age must be determined by
a Home Energy Rating
Systems (HERS) report (this
can be performed by a local
utility company). Though
this may seem like a compli-
cated program, youll discov-
er it really isnt once you
study the guidelines more
thoroughly and work with an underwriter
with experience reviewing EEMs.
The 203k Rehabilitation
mortgage
FHAs 203k Rehabilitation mortgage
allows a borrower to purchase or refi-
nance a home, while at the same time,
financing the costs of renovation to the
property. While you may not think about
the K as being a green mortgage, the fact
is its what the investor or homebuyer
does with the money that determines its
status. For example, the renovation can
utilize non-toxic building materials such
as non-VOC (volatile organic compounds)
paints; sealants that contain polyether
rather than urethane or silicone bases;
plywood that is free of formaldehyde; and
natural clay plaster for walls instead of
drywall (gypsum board). In this way, the
K can become the Green K, and help a
borrower create a much healthier envi-
ronment for the family living in the prop-
erty. As more research comes to light con-
cerning the impact of the toxic materials
used in building materials, consumers will
be opting to go greener when the time for
renovation comes along.
The 203ks potential in this market is
huge. In my opinion, it is one of the
most important products available to
help the housing industry recover.
With high foreclosure numbers, the
203k is THE LOAN which can significant-
ly reduce the time required to purge the
Help Clients Go Green With FHA
By Jeff Mifsud
market of real estate-owned (REO) and
bank-owned stock. Not only would the
REO stock move faster, but the banks
could sell their REOs for higher prices.
How? The condition of a typical REO
property is often quite poor, and the typ-
ical homebuyer doesnt have the cash to
fix it up. As a result, the banks need to sell
the property for a serious bargain in order
to attract investors with the cash to reno-
vate it. Enter the K. Now, a homeowner
can move into a totally renovated home,
the bank gets full market price for their
REO, and thus, mitigates the loss they
have to take on the current mortgage. (In
February 2007, I wrote an article about
the 203k loan making the same claim. I
realize this is a tangent from the green
topic, but I mention it whenever I can to
create more awareness among mortgage
loan originators and lenders about the
potential impact the 203k can have on
our housing market!)
From a marketing standpoint, imagine
if you became expert in these programs.
Consider how you would stand out from
your competition! You could walk into any
real estate office and talk about these
products and create real excitement
because of the great benefits these loans
offer homebuyers. However, a word of cau-
tion! If you want to make this an FHA niche
for yourself, do not do this alone; team up
with an experienced MLO who can guide
you through the learning curve! Most real
estate agents and buyers have nightmarish
stories to blog about because they worked
with incompetent MLOs who had no idea
what they doing! If you dont have some-
one in your office that knows these loans,
then do a Web search for experts outside of
your market, and pay them to mentor you
in these powerful programs. Your invest-
ment will more than likely pay for itself
quickly as you establish yourself as an
expert in your market.
Go FHA!
Jeff Mifsud is founder of Michigan-based
Mortgage Seminars LLC, a former FHA
underwriter with 15-plus years of experi-
ence originating FHA loans, an FHA
expert for LoanToolbox.com and creator
of The FHA Originator, a monthly FHA
newsletter. Jeff may be reached by
phone at (248) 403-8181 or visit
www.MortgageSeminars.com.
With high foreclo-
sure numbers, the
203k is THE LOAN
which can significant-
ly reduce the time
required to purge the
market of real estate-
owned (REO) and
bank-owned stock.
Like the meteoric growth of social
media, paperless loan origination and
processing is no longer a vision for the
future. Its happening now. More and
more elements of a mortgage loans life
cycle are relegated to hard drives and
cyberspace. The efficiencies of a paper-
less loan go beyond speed and organi-
zation; enabling compliance with con-
stantly changing industry regulations is
very important. Become a green mort-
gage office, or even just a semi-paper-
less office, is just a few clicks away.
Your LOS can help you go green with
three significant, yet simple, features
that will keep you efficient, compliant
and organized.
Electronic document
management
For mortgage professionals with a cur-
rent LOS platform, making the move
toward the green spectrum can start
with using the electronic document
management system within the plat-
form. Great advances have been made
to make it easier to scan documents or
receive them by e-mail and get them
assigned to the right loan and in an
Three Ways Your LOS
Can Help You Go Green
As the nation strives to conserve its natu-
ral resources, the push for paperless
offices has spanned many industries. The
mortgage industry is not immune to this
push. In the past several years, we have
seen the development of electronic signa-
tures along with the technological
advances in loan origination systems (LOS)
that reduce the need for hard storage.
For many of us, losing the tactile
comfort of papers in stacks of file fold-
ers is like a child learning to go without
a treasured security blanket we just
dont want to let go. But like the initial
torture and gradual nodding accept-
ance of a new healthy diet, going
paperless is a smart lifestyle choice.
Eventually, even if we are not ready
for it, technology catches up to all of us.
Just look at the statistics on social
media sites such as Facebook or
Twitter. Facebook users aged 55 and
over were the fastest growing demo-
graphic from January 2009 to January
2010. According to an istrategylabs.com
report, the growth for that age group
was 922.7 percent! At the same time,
growth for new Facebook users 25-34
was 328.1 percent.
By BJ Bounds
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United Northern Mortgage Bankers, Ltd. Corporate NMLS ID# 7230 New York State Dept. - Licensed Mortgage Banker - License #100724 New Jersey Dept. of Banking and Insurance - Mortgage Lender - License
#L0046623 Pennsylvania Dept. of Banking - Mortgage Lender - License #20887 Connecticut Dept. of Banking - Mortgage Lender - License #20372 Massachusetts Div. of Banks and Loan Agencies - Mortgage
Lender & Mortgage Broker - License #MC5070 North Carolina Commissioner of Banks - Mortgage Lender - License #L140365 South Carolina State Board of Financial Institutions - Supervised Lender - License #S7,
461 Florida Dept. of Financial Institutions - Mortgage Lender - License #ML0700679 Senior Security Home Advantage is a lending area of United Northern Mortgage Bankers, Ltd. Direct FHA Endorsed Lender
order that makes sense. The ability to
organize and instantly access files at
any time and from any place speaks
volumes about the convenience and
efficiency of a paperless office.
Document management within your
LOS can be so much more efficient than
maintaining paper files.
Dragging documents from
your hard drive, or even
your e-mails inbox, and
dropping them directly into
your LOS ensures you have
the most current documents
ready to go at a moments
notice. Documents can be
arranged in multiple partic-
ular orderspackaged in
any order for convenience
or necessity. Underwriters
can flag documents as
approved for easy sorting
and processing later.
Keep up with docu-
ments already received as
well as documents you
still need from your bor-
rowers using tracking and
checklist capabilities. You
can then e-mail directly
from your LOS to request
the needed documents
and that will be recorded
also. You always know
whats going on within
your loan pipeline, and
you never have to drive
back to the office to find a
fileits all right there at your fingertips!
Third-party service
providers
And whatever is right at your fingertips
is going to be the most efficient for you.
Such is the case with third-party ven-
dors built into your LOS. Theyre right
there; they save you time and effort;
and they require no additional paper!
What more can you ask for?
Using the services providers that
interface directly with your LOS is one
of the most green things you can do
with your LOS. Besides saving paper,
youre saving countless annual hours
in rekeying data and correcting errors.
Sending loan data from your LOS
means that you can order your closing
docs, flood certifications, your tax ver-
ifications, and your credit scores
whatever you needwithin seconds.
No re-typing loan data; no faxing back
and forth; no wasted time; and you
have visible documentation within
your software that your orders were
placed, when they were placed and by
whom. Almost all of your loan pro-
cessing can be done through inter-
faced vendors without paper. Saving
your cabinet space for the few federal-
ly mandated original signature forms
will make audits a breeze. Its all
about efficiency.
The efficiency you get from ordering
services directly from your LOS is two-
fold. You are saving yourself time and
effort and a few trees.
When you order through
your LOS, you save the
same things for your ven-
dorsand you get every-
thing back into your LOS
and in the appropriate
loan file. So you also gain
efficiency in organization
as well. No filing neces-
sary! Using your built-in
interfaces increases the
effectiveness of your docu-
ment management system
because your documents
are packaged in one place
for you to see and
processand in the order
you need it for each stake-
holder who expects to
receive it. The conven-
ience is amazing.
Effective green
marketing
Convenience is the prem-
ise behind the third appli-
cation of your LOSeffec-
tive, green marketing.
Marketing does not have
to be time-consuming or
cumbersome. You dont
necessarily need boxes of flyers printed if
theyre going to be sitting in your office
waiting for the right time or opportunity
to be distributed. Your LOS can be the
tool you need for fast and effective mar-
keting.
Just as e-mail communications with
your borrowers and vendors has
become the expected avenue, there is
no reason your marketing cannot fol-
low the same progress. Receiving color-
ful print materials in this technological
age is nice, but some generations now
just dont expect it, or particularly have
an affinity for it. Green marketing
begins with a personalized Web site
that offers online applications. Enable
online applications on your Web site
that link directly to your LOS and you
have paperless 1003 Applications that
drop directly into your LOS as a new
loan file. An integrated system also
allows you to communicate status to
your borrowers without the need for
printing or mailing. Bi-directional com-
munication is quick and easy.
For personal and direct marketing
outreach, all you need is your LOS and
Microsoft Word. You can create your fly-
ers or newsletter templates in Word as
usual, but instead of printing them out,
you can simply import them into your
LOS and e-mail them to the contacts in
your databasealso stored within your
LOS! Sometimes it is easy being green.
Green saves green
Even if the thought of saving trees isnt
enough incentive to pursue a green
office, the financial and business advan-
tages to going paperless are undisput-
ed. Technology has sped up our lives
making even the most mundane tasks
into the merest of annoyances that can
be dispensed within minutes. Think
about how we used to job hunt. The
days of purchasing expensive linen
paper, trying hard to produce an error-
free typed history, and buying hundreds
of stamps, are long gone. Today, its a
matter of hitting the send button on
multiple job postings on the Internet.
No more paper needed.
Similarly, running a loan office does-
nt need to be a lesson in office supply
jail. With an updated LOS, it is no longer
essential to spend your money on file
folders, cabinets, ink/toner, paper,
sticky notes, and highlighters. Instead,
with a paperless, green office, you can
For many of us, los-
ing the tactile com-
fort of papers in
stacks of file folders is
like a child learning
to go without a treas-
ured security blanket
we just dont want
to let go. But like the
initial torture and
gradual nodding
acceptance of a new
healthy diet, going
paperless is a smart
lifestyle choice.
actually save money, time, and as an
added bonus, the environment.
Often, we think of the upfront expense
of going green in our personal lives. The
first things that may come to mind are
solar panels, windmill projects and other
initiatives that can be particularly cost-
prohibitive. With the mortgage industry,
its quite the opposite. Becoming a paper-
less or semi-paperless office has no
upfront costs if you already have an LOS.
And most of your clients will appreciate
the opportunity to do business with you
in the manner in which they accustomed
in all other aspects of their lives. Going
green with your LOSits simply more
convenient, efficient and cost-effective.
B.J. Bounds is senior marketing commu-
nications specialist for Calyx Software. In
addition to media relations and copy-
writing, BJ is a contributing author to the
Calyx Software blog, CalyxCorner. She
has more than 10 years of experience in
sales and corporate marketing with a
focus on technology that spans several
industries. She may be reached by phone
at (800) 362-2599 or visit www.calyxsoft-
ware.com.
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Theres an old joke that nothing gener-
ates more paper than plans to take an
officeor an industrypaperless.
Theres more than a little truth to that
cruel irony as the mortgage industry,
no doubt one of the worlds most
paper-intensive businesses, can attest.
Yet at present, the world is aligning in
such a way as to suggest that real progress
is possible. Today, e-mortgages, wholly
electronic and digitally signed loans, are
gaining traction. Fannie Mae currently
owns more than 150,000 e-mortgages,
and while that number is still small in the
universe of all outstanding mortgages,
there is industry momentum building. In
the past two years, four major banks and
a host of industry pundits and organiza-
tions aside from Fannie Mae have come
onboard to support the adoption of the
fully paperless mortgage. Not only is it
good business, but an absolute necessity
in an era where the amount of data being
handled is increasing exponentially with
each new regulation.
But e-mortgages still have a ways to
gonot on the technology and con-
sumer demand sidebut on the legisla-
tive infrastructure side. The fact is that
e-mortgages are still not legally recog-
nized in most states. So what are banks
doing in the meantime to achieve the
transparency, efficiency and lower costs
required in a post-meltdown era?
There are three significant drivers
flowing out of the crisis that provide con-
siderable support for advocates of a
mortgage origination process that is, if
not paper-free, at least more stream-
lined.
First is the simple matter of efficiency.
Banks have seen the margins on many of
their products eroded by markets and
regulatory reform, and are being pres-
sured on all sides to manage costs. In an
era of vanilla loans and increasing trans-
actional complexity, staying in the mort-
gage lending business is becoming virtu-
ally impossible for all but the best capi-
talized, or the tenacious and innovative.
If your margins have been cut in half, but
so have your costs, then you are staying
competitive. Shave off another half-
point due to efficiencies, and the lender
is not only surviving, but thriving. Less
paper equals less overhead and a
smoother process from lead to funded
loan, all the way to securitization. Fewer
warehouses, fewer people, shorter
auditsthe benefits are significant.
Second is the need to look at the big-
ger picture. As the crisis revealed, having
divergent risk profiles within the bank
can not only take down the house, but
the entire world economy. Today, the
retail side of the house is going to ensure
that mortgage operations are in line with
the overall bank in terms of its risk pro-
file. Particularly for the big banks, brand
matters and mortgage operations will be
scrutinized closely for any practices that
could hurt the retail sides relationship
with the consumer. As such, a wholly
electronic and paperless process enables
not only a faster and easier way to process
data and transaction services, but also
provides the bank with a centralized and
transparent view of what is actually going
on in the organization. Add to that the
ability to analyze the data on different
levels to assess your risk profile, the flexi-
bility to implement regulatory changes
through the entire supply chain, and the
value of a completely digital process
becomes evident and priceless.
Third is the increasing globalization
of the worlds financial markets and the
distributed workforce. Today, a lender
can have loan officers and other mort-
gage agents in all 50 states. Tomorrow,
its not unreasonable to believe that
this same lender will have offices in
Canada and in the United Kingdom and
beyond where the officers are process-
ing loans into the U.S. market. This sce-
nario means multiple regulations
across multiple cultures/languagesa
paper pushers nightmare or a seamless
process in an electronic world.
Benefits of the cloud
Smart documents and other technolo-
gies that support an electronic transac-
tion world continue to emerge. But the
platform by which all of these solutions
can be combined seamlessly, served
and consumed can only live in the
clouds. The sheer scale of the data, ana-
lytics and distributed workforce would
make any wired solution unworkable. It
may seem that cloud-based computing
is being held out as a solution to nearly
every problem, everywhere. But while
there has no doubt been a surfeit of
hype in some quarters, the cloud can
nonetheless be a powerful tool and has
a significant role to play in the greening
of the mortgage industry. Moving to the
cloud has the effect of increasing effi-
ciencies all along the value chain, from
origination through secondary market-
ing, eliminating paper and improving
The Color of Money is
Getting Greener
By Dain Ehring
workflow, to say nothing of the vastly
enhanced fraud detection and con-
sumer protection methods that can be
added to a cloud-based system.
Moreover, cloud solutions can be con-
sumed economically by lenders large and
smallin a private cloud model for large
banks with custom sys-
tems, and in a multi-ten-
ant model for lower-tier
lenders.
Because cloud-based
data can be made available
anywhere, anytime, agents
are no longer compelled to
go into to the office every-
day, cutting down on travel
time. Documents can be
shared electronically across
departments and regions,
cutting down on the need
for faxing and overnight
shipping.
Further impetus for
dramatic change is provid-
ed by the foreclosure prob-
lems currently bedeviling
lenders. Here, the benefits
that accrue from creating and capturing
an electronic audit trail are potentially
huge. While the headlines surrounding
the foreclosure process have been unre-
lentingly negative, exactly what percent-
age of foreclosures is afflicted by poor
paperwork is unclear, though it is likely to
be relatively modest when all is said and
done. Nonetheless, the inability to find
original loan documents and to be able to
verify signatures is creating major
headaches for the industry. The present
process is both paper- and labor-inten-
sive, involving boxes of documents and,
in many cases the need to send agents
out to warehouses and storage facilities
to physically retrieve and copy files.
Origination systems exist now that
can generate both time- and role-
stamped electronic documents for the
lender. This greatly facilitates the ability
to reconstruct both the timeline and the
steps involved in a loan, while assigning
individual responsibilities for each
phase of the lending process. These doc-
uments are stored electronically, rather
than as reams of paper, and, like other
cloud-based materials, can be accessed
securely from anywhere by individuals
with the appropriate clearance.
There are further, less obvious, poten-
tial green benefits from moving to the
cloud. It becomes, for example, much eas-
ier to integrate quality control and other
analytics right into the lending process.
Again, this saves time, money, energy, and,
frequently, paper when the lender avoids
generating multiple iterations of loan doc-
ument to correct mistakes.
Once the current foreclosure crisis is
put to rest, an investment in cloud-based
processes will continue to pay dividends
and save treesas loans are packaged
and sold in the secondary market.
The next generation of
borrowers
The digital generation continues to age
and increase in influence,
disrupting all manner of
business models along the
way. Music, books and
newspapers have all felt
the extraordinary impact
of individuals who have
been raised on computers
and are just as comfort-
able online as they are off.
A-26-year-old billionaire
runs a cloud-based service
that is used by an estimat-
ed eight percent of the
worlds population. Any
business that fails to rec-
ognize these trends and
adapt to them will be
steamrolled.
There is no reason to
believe that mortgage
lendingor all consumer lending or
indeed the entire financial services uni-
versewill be any different. While the
nature of the purchaseits magnitude
and its centrality to psychological well-
beingmakes a home loan unique,
future borrowers are likely to be much
more comfortable with doing business
electronically than their predecessors
ever were and may, in many cases, view
as archaic those lenders that continue
to rely on a paper-based process.
Will buyers find a cloud-focused
green lender to have a more com-
pelling sales proposition than one of its
less eco-friendly counterparts? Perhaps
not on its own, but in tandem with other
actions a lender may be taking it can
serve to create a differentiated position
in the marketplace. As noted, this is like-
ly to have particular appeal to the up
and coming generation of borrowers.
That, of course, is where the future lies.
Dain Ehring is chief executive officer and
founder of CoreLogic Dorado. Before
founding Dorado, Ehring was director of
market development and strategic sales
for JavaSoft, Sun Microsystems Internet
company. Prior to joining JavaSoft, he
was VP of worldwide sales and services
at Lighthouse Design Ltd., an applica-
tions developer later acquired by Sun.
Ehring has also held a variety of senior
management roles at NeXT Computers,
IBM and Unisys. He holds a masters
degree in space physics from UCLA and
worked at NASA before moving to the
private sector. He may be reached by
phone at (650) 227-7300 or e-mail com-
petitiveadvantage@dorado.com.
Less paper equals
less overhead and a
smoother process
from lead to funded
loan, all the way to
securitization.
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www.GSFprobranch.com
new to market continued from page 26
(BPO) services. Available as an add-on to the
BPO, this turn-key tool generates accurate
repair estimates in minutes for real estate-
owned (REO) properties, short sales and
other properties. Currently, all BPOs have a
section for repair costs, which means that
real estate brokers conducting a BPO are
expected to have the knowledge to make
estimates of repair costs. This results in
hundreds of thousands of dollars being
lost because of poor repair estimates.
The online BPO tool covers the full
range of interior and exterior repair cost
and maintenance estimates for bank-
owned properties, including lawn mow-
ing, winterization, board-ups, replace-
ment of appliances, debris removal,
and patio and driveway repairs. It cre-
ates consistent repair and maintenance
reports with prices for labor and mate-
rials localized down to five-digit zip
codes. The tool meets or exceeds
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
and U.S. Department of Housing &
Urban Development (HUD) compliance
guidelines for local repair cost estimates
and is compliant with new government-
sponsored enterprise (GSE) and inter-
agency valuation requirements.
With the repair cost estimate add-on, we
can provide our clients with a more com-
prehensive inventory of repairs that will help
them determine accurate short sale and
REO pricing, said Walt Coats, chief executive
officer of BrokerPriceOpinion.com. REO
inventories will continue to swell for many
months ahead as more foreclosures emerge
from the shadow inventory. Banks, investors
and other institutions quickly need to get a
handle of their REO repair and maintenance
costs that apply to the diverse properties,
neighborhoods and markets represented in
their portfolios.
ISGN Integrates Its
LoanSifter Product Into
MORvisions LOS
ISGN, a provider of
end-to-end technol-
ogy solutions and
services to the U.S.
mortgage industry, has partnered with
LoanSifter, a provider of product and
pricing technology for community banks,
credit unions, mortgage bankers and
mortgage brokers to offer MORvisons
first integrated loan product and pricing
engine through the MORvision Plug-In
Partner Network. LoanSifter provides
lenders with automatically updated, real-
time pricing, adjustments and eligibility
guidelines on over 160 correspondent
and wholesale investors.
The unique bi-directional integration
enables MORvision customers to set up and
maintain loan originator compensation
plans, meeting the latest Regulation Z
requirements, and obtain loan product and
pricing information directly from within
MORvision. The integration results in loan
originator (LO) compensation compliant
investor product and pricing data,
improved efficiencies, and reduced errors.
LoanSifters product and pricing engine
(PPE) ensures that MORvision lenders deliv-
er the most competitive loan offer to bor-
rowers without cutting corners on accuracy.
The integrated solution also leverages
LoanSifters extensive secondary marketing
platform to allow for locking loans, apply-
ing lock extensions, etc., which is all reflect-
ed in MORvision in real-time.
Prior to this integration with
LoanSifter, MORvision customers faced
the challenge of maintaining control of
originating, pricing and locking loans in a
market that is sometimes volatile, while
trying to avoid duplicate data entry
between the loan origination system and
the loan product and pricing engine. The
LoanSifter integration facilitates effective
communication between loan officers
and secondary marketing professionals
with a suite of tools to include a web-
based portal, pipeline management, loan
eligibility and pricing, secondary lock desk
and rate sheet generator for accurate
pricing and product information.
DRI Management Systems
Releases New REO
Management Solution
DRI Management
Systems Inc., a
provider of default
process management software, has
announced the release of Version 1.4 of
its flagship technology, adding new
functionality with several new modules
to help servicers achieve increased suc-
cess in servicing defaulting mortgages.
Previously known by its development
code name Rincon and now officially
relabeled DRI Office, the platform
represents the next level in technology
specifically created to relieve mortgage
servicers workloads and dramatically
improve their results.
Until now, DRIs platform had modules
providing automation for loss mitigation,
bankruptcy, foreclosure and real estate-
owned (REO) properties. The new version
of DRI Office includes: A litigation module
and model office workflow; an administra-
tion module with the ability to track any
process with a servicers custom workflows;
a services ordering module for automated
ordering of credit, valuations (such as
AVMs, BPOs and full appraisals), field serv-
ices, IRS Form 4506-Ts, Social Security
Number verifications and other services;
an enterprise content management system
referred to as the Bulletin Board, which
can display important messages and store
notes indexed to workflow or specific doc-
uments, as well as handling other critical
documents and images; and DRI Broker,
which integrates an online communica-
tions capability with the DRI Office plat-
form to address the needs of both the asset
manager and the R/E Broker.
In addition to the current volume
of delinquencies and defaults, capaci-
ty planning issues have made life
continued on page 34
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Pulling your hair
out with other
lenders?
WE ARE REMN WHOLESALE
REMNs Sales and Operations team
gives you - and your loans - the time
and attention you deserve. Even better,
at REMN, same-day approvals are
guaranteed.* You can rely on us to get
the little, yet vital, things taken care of
on time. When you have REMN to send
your loans to, why pull your hair out
with other lenders?
www.remnwholesale.com
*Same-day decisions guaranteed if file is received by 11 a.m. EST.
new to market continued from page 33
more complicated for servicers, said
Fred Melgaard, DRIs executive vice pres-
ident. DRI Office takes a huge burden
off servicers by accelerating processes
and keeping their most experienced
people from getting bogged down.
DRI Office is the result of 25-plus
years of experience with default man-
agement technology, and was engi-
neered to solve real-world problems
being faced every day by mortgage loan
servicers. To achieve this next-genera-
tion level of productivity, workflow
processes had to be built based on solid
domain expertise and with robust capa-
bilities for servicer customization. User-
defined business rules and task
automation had to be easily crafted to
reflect preferred business practices
among each servicer, whether handling
primary loan service functions or highly
niched ones such as those performed by
specialty servicers.
Main servicing platforms were never
designed to provide specialized default
processes, and servicers need sophisti-
cated capabilities to deal with defaults
more than ever before, said Duke
Olrich, DRIs founder and chief executive
officer. Fortunately, these technology
tools servicers require have evolved
greatly, culminating with this release of
DRI Office.
Essent Guaranty
Announces New Clarity of
Coverage Transparency
Program
Essent Guarant y
Inc. has announced
that its mortgage
insurance (MI) coverage will be enhanced
by Clarity of Coverage. Clarity of Coverage
is an endorsement to the companys new
master policy that gives insured lenders
and policy beneficiaries unprecedented
confidence that mortgage insurance
claims will be processed in a transparent
manner and evaluated fairly. Clarity of
Coverage reduces lenders exposure to
MI claims being unfairly denied for
immaterial misrepresentations, under-
writing errors, and missing documents.
Essents Clarity of Coverage is applicable
to every loan the company insures for
the life of the coverage. Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac have approved the Essent
Master Policy with Clarity of Coverage
endorsements for use in connection with
loans sold to them.
Weve listened to lenders concerns
that they want to be confident that
their mortgage insurance claims will be
handled fairly and paid timely by
Essent. Our fresh approach to doing
business includes early identification of
risk issues, an exceptionally strong cap-
ital base to stand behind our policies,
and now Clarity of Coverage, said Mark
Casale, president and chief executive
officer of Essent Guaranty. By offering
Clarity of Coverage as an endorsement
to our master policy, we have made a
binding commitment to fair practices
in mortgage insurance. With Clarity of
Coverage, lenders can be confident that
the benefits of Essent insurance will be
there when needed.
United Mortgage Services
Expands Its Offerings
With New Collateral
Valuation Report
United Mortgage Services
(UMS) has announced
that it will be offering its
clients the new Collateral Valuation
Report (CVR). The CVR, developed by
Bradford Technologies, is a unique valu-
ation product that is as accurate as a tra-
ditional appraisal, but can be produced
quicker and at a lower cost. Expanding
its service offerings to include the CVR
allows United Mortgage Services fran-
chise affiliates to further expand and
diversify their client base, in addition to
better meeting their existing clients on
going needs of reducing risk and expe-
diting overall process times.
Lenders are beginning to realize
the financial risks of using real estate
agents and brokers to provide property
valuations, said Mark Megehee, chief
executive officer of UMS. The CVR
doesnt carry those risks because it is
performed by rigorously trained, inde-
pendent, state-approved appraisers
with thousands of hours of local expe-
rience. This product will be a big risk
reducer for the lending community.
The CVR is a statistically supported
property appraisal report that incorpo-
rates regression analytics. Up to 500
sales with a three-year sales history
may be analyzed during this process.
The report may only be completed by a
licensed and trained appraiser using
Bradford Technologies new computer-
aided appraisal software. The most
recent version of the CVR, to be
released in March, now includes an
interior inspection option. It is a fully
compliant with the Uniform Standards
continued on page 39
A PRMI Company
If you would like to learn more about our BranchPartner business model, please inquire:
http://FrostMortgage.com/NMP
After eight months of researching dozens and dozens
of potential Lending Partners, I found that Frost had
the best tools out there.
- Daren Crockett, Pocatello, ID
We picked a company who shared our "core values"
of nding the best mortgage solutions for our clients.
Frost has what we need.
- Roxanne Baggett, Lake Charles, LA
We were plugging along at $1.5M a month for years.
Greg offered to help me recruit and has joined me in
Nashville for several days in the the last few months.
Our branch production is up 300%.
- Shane Atwell, Nashville, TN
My experience with Frost Mortgage has been as
advertised. Our recent MasterMind Meeting in Al-
buquerque was one of my best learning experiences
Ive had since entering the mortgage business.
- Loren Winzeler, Santa Rosa, CA
Greg promised to put an Underwriter in my ofce
when I hit my numbers. I did, he did, and we could-
nt be happier. This local decision making ability gives
my team a decisive advantage over our competition.
- Robert Shaffer, Lancaster, CA
In my 7 years of Branch Management I have never
seen such a well oiled management team as I have
working with Frost. I cant wait to see my teams pro-
duction numbers in 2011!
- Mark Sipe, Cincinnati, OH
Regulation and Licensing Department, Financial Institutions Division #621 Branch License #00621
Multiple National Lenders
RESPA/Compliance Training
Weekly Production Training
Multiple Warehouse Lines
36
A
P
R
IL
2
0
1
1
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te

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ly
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.
LeaderOne Financial Corporation
committed to going Green 10
years ago by seeking new
technology. LeaderOne
Financial Corporation has
long held the stance that
being environmentally
conscience is an impor-
tant responsibility. That
thinking leads to the uti- lization of new and every improving technology.
Technology today leads
to improved efficiencies,
less waste and a secure environment.
O
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te
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c
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ro
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its

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e

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$
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illio
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lo
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n
s d
u
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ith

to
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.

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, w
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ith
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-sq
. ft.
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Going green isn't an optionit is a
responsibility and a moral require-
ment. We believe that our
environmental footprint isn't
just ours. We have a moral
responsibility in our actions
that are inclusive to
everyone around us. By
going "green," we'll do
our part. We're not
completely paperless
in our green efforts,
but we're diligently
making many efforts to
become so.
Since 1996, Green Mill Mortgage has
always used the time's prevailing
technology to be eco-friendly. As
our name implies, Green Mill
Mortgage has always strived
to be eco-sensitive based
on available technology
since 1996. Starting from
recycled paper to now
Web-based applications,
scanned in loan files for
underwriting and paper-
less closings, we strive
to be an earth friendly
corporate citizen.
VanDyk Mortgage Corporation
strives to be paperless and
allows some employees to
work remotely from home
further helping their indi-
vidual footprints. Paper is
used minimally as all
transactions are web
based and many offices
are 100% paperless.
MLS Mortgage Group went Green
because we believe we should leave the world better than we found it. MLS Mortgage Group strives for a com-
plete paperless process.
When paper is required,
we use 100% recycled
paperprinted on both
sides. We are always
looking for new ways
to cherish the envi-
ronment. We use
vendors that pur-
chase wind credits.
We encourage clients
to take advantage
of EEM's.
W
e

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file
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.
Green M
ill M
ortgage
www.greenmillmortgage.com
Ease of access and storage capability. Cut on costs and wasted paper. Remote secure paperless access. Technology used to our
advantage and for speed
and "helping" the envi-
ronment. Shared work-
stations, server, etc.
Each file is paperless
from submission to
closing. We have found
that most lenders are
also now paperless.
H
o
m
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u
n

F
in
a
n
c
ia
l
w
w
w
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flo
a
n
s
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o
m
Foundation Financial Group
www.ffg.com
VanDyk Mortgage Corp.
www.vandykmortgage.com
B
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C
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c
o
m
LeaderOne Financial Corporation
w
w
w
.leaderonefinancial.com
MLS Mortgage Group
www.MLSMortgageGroup.com
Vantage Mortgage Group, Inc.
www.vantagemortgagegroup.com
37
N
a
t
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l
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to
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tifu
l p
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e
to
liv
e
.
NAM is progressive, self-aware and
proudly in the leading edge of
the mortgage industry. We
live in a paperless environ-
ment and all of our loan
processes are Web-based
paperless exchanges. We use a Web-based payroll platform, as well as a Web-based accounting system. We strive to have a minimal impact on our environment while serving our clients.
1
0
0
%
o
f o
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r file
s
a
re
s
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C
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n
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e
liv
-
e
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to
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ltim
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te
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ve
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rs a
s
p
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s
.
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in
c
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o
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file
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in

in
e
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ss o
f 2
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p
a
g
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s, w
e
a
re
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o
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a
t c
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p
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to

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p
ie
rs, w
e
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re
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m
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re
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g
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c
o
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p
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n
ie
s in
th
e
m
a
rk
e
t.
Green Internet marketing allows us to
reach a targeted audience with lit-
tle to no cash investment. Many
assume that to be "green"
means you're some envi-
ronmental activist. Being
green in our case means
embracing technology
and cloud computing to
streamline our business.
Sure, we save plenty of
trees being paperless,
we are also faster,
more efficient and
more effective serving
our clients.
PREO Mortgage helps to minimize our
carbon footprint, climate change &
be a leader in living green.
PREO Mortgage is dedicated
to Living Green by operating
our office in ways to help
the future of our planet.
We have taken the
responsibility with our
furnishings, energy and
water efficiency into our
daily operations. Helping
the environment and liv-
ing green shows our
years of business to
come.
Total Mortgage has transformed
itself into a paperless opera-
tion. We replaced all incan-
descent light bulbs with
energy efficient and
environmentally friendly
fluorescent light bulbs.
All electronics, such as
computers, monitors,
printers and cell
phones are responsi-
bly recycled.
We have gone green to be good corporate citizens and
improve efficiencies. In an
effort to ensure that we
are 100% paperless, we
are developing our LOS
system for loan appli-
cations to be taken
and signed electroni-
cally on an iPad.
T
h
e

F
r
e
e
m
a
n

W
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b
b

B
u
ild
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w
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ly

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ig
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ir
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e
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.
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a
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b

B
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in
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it
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E
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is
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!


O
u
r

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a
lm
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ig
it
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in
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p
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a
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c
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C
a
p
it
a
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p
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s

it
s
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lf

o
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d
u
c
a
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p
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t
a
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a
n
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v
a
lu
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s
!
!
PREO Mortgage LLC
www.preomortgage.com
N
ew
Am
erican M
ortgage
w
w
w
.new
am
erican.com
Easy Orange has a Pajama
Guaranteechoose the entire elec- tronic processwe send you pajamas!!! Our Easy Orange
mortgage was spefically
designed so that a
Customer
could
go
through the entire process
electronically. Do it from
your sofa - in your paja-
mas! Ultimate end goal
is to be 100% paperless
for all of our mortgage
products. The Customer
wins via the experience,
we both save our
money!
Total Mortgage Services
www.TotalMortgage.com
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ING DIRECT www.ingdirect.com/easyorange
Broadview Mortgage
Corporation
www.HomeownershipUniversity.com
University Lending Group
www.universityhomeloans.com
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Bay Equity
celebrates a record 2010!
Now lending in 10 western
states and growing, Bay
Equity ofers brokers the
programs, technology and
service to prosper in todays
mortgage environment.
Bay Equity is hiring qualifed, experienced and motivated Account Executives
and Sales Managers. Email cover letter and resume to hr@bayeq.com
Currently lending in:
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should discuss it at the loan interview.
How should you begin this delicate yet
necessary conversation? Lets try this
question:
Mrs. Akuna, at FreeFloat Bank, helping
you think through financial issues is a
priority. The FIT paper from counseling
says out-of-pocket healthcare expenses
will eat up your cash. How about look-
ing into ways to stretch cash from your
reverse mortgage so that you can stay at
home longer?*
This question could get a reality-test-
ing conversation going and give the
prospect and the loan officer opportu-
nity to revisit how out-of-pocket health-
care costs could burn-through her cash,
as well as solutions to the out-of-
pocket problem.
Lets say the prospect came to the
loan interview leaning toward a fixed-
rate product for its promise of interest-
rate stability. The conversation could
help both prospect and loan officer to
look at the growing-creditline/variable-
rate HECM option, where the growth
feature might act as a cost-inflation
hedge.
While health or ill-health is not a
factor in reverse mortgage underwrit-
ing, there are ill-health-related finan-
cial risks that seniors and lenders
should be aware of. Out-of-pocket
healthcare costs burn-through risk is
one of them.
*Please give me your feedback on the
strengths and weaknesses of this question as
well as your suggestions for improvement.
You may post your comments or send me
an e-mail to atare@thinkreverse.com.
Thanks, Atare
Atare E. Agbamu is author of Think
Reverse! and more than 140 articles on
reverse mortgages. Since 2002, he writes
the nationally-distributed column,
Forward on Reverse. A former director
of reverse mortgages at Minneapolis-
based AdvisorNet Mortgage LLC, Agbamu
has years of hands-on experience market-
ing and originating reverse mortgages.
Through his advisory, ThinkReverse LLC,
Agbamu advises financial professionals,
institutions and regulators across the
country. In a 2007 national report on
reverse mortgages, AARP cited Agbamus
work. He can be reached by phone at
(612) 203-9434 and e-mail at
atare@thinkreverse.com.
Visit author Atare E.
Agbamus blog at thinkre-
verse.com for his thoughts
and insights on the reverse
mortgage marketplace.
forward on reverse continued from page 26 lykken on leadership continued from page 27
ers of management), the greater that
challenge senior C-level executive
leadership has in communicating and
transferring down through the rest of
the organization the convictions of the
top executives. The level of effectiveness
in communicating/transferring convic-
tions from the top of an organization to
the rank and file of an organization is
a way to measure leadership levels in
an organization. It is essential that defi-
ciencies be addressed and changes be
made in order for an organization to
survive in the days ahead. I do a whole
seminar on this topic.
True leaders have core convictions
that guide them in times of uncertainty
and nothing could be more uncer-
tain than the state of the mortgage
industry after the LO compensation
rule takes effect after April 1st. Again, I
repeat my prediction that the success
or failure of any LO compensation plan
rolled out by a company will have more
to do with leadership ability and skills
than the comp plan itself.
It is for this reason that I made the
decision to write a series on leadership.
I outlined the seven characteristics or
the 7-Cs of Leadership which serve as
the framework for this series of articles.
The 7-Cs of Leadership are character,
conviction, confidence, charisma, clari-
ty, communication and compassion.
Last month, I wrote about the impor-
tance of character, and if you didnt
read that article, I would encourage
you to go online, download and read it.
The bottom line about character is that
with character, youre on a solid foun-
dation, and without character, youre
ultimately doomed to failure. This
month, I wrote about leading with
conviction and next month, I will be
writing about leading with confi-
dence. While the two are closely relat-
ed, they are distinctly different.
As always, I welcome your feedback,
comments and ideas for future articles.
David Lykken is president of mortgage
strategies and managing partner with
Mortgage Banking Solutions. He has
more than 35 years of industry experi-
ence and has garnered a national repu-
tation, and has become a frequent guest
on FOX Business News with Neil Cavuto,
Stuart Varney, Liz Claman and Dave
Asman with additional guest appear-
ances on the CBS Evening News,
Bloomberg TV and radio. He may be
reached by phone at (512) 977-9900, ext.
101 or e-mail dlykken@mortgagebank-
ingsolutions.com.
To listen to author David
Lykkens online radio show,
Lykken on Lending, log on
to www.lykkenonlending.com.
While there is a time and place
for vetting things out and trying to
gain a consensus, there also comes
a time when a decision has to be
made and that decision has to
be executed with conviction
and confidence.
SAVE THE DATE
2011 Mortgage
Leader Cruise
Sets Sail
Oct 13th-17th
Visit NMPMag/mlc for details.
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Complete Mortgage Solutions
Introduces Our
REVERSE MORTGAGE
WHOLESALE PROGRAM
Become a Reverse Mortgage Partner Today!
Call Samara Gabbay 201-529-1401
or email: samara@nwecorp.com
Work for yourself, not by yourself
For Licensed Mortgage Brokers in: NY, NJ, CT, PA and FL
No HUD Approval Required
72 Hour Broker Approvals
Great YSP Pricing
Will Provide State of the Art Training at Our Location
or Yours
48 Hour Underwriting
Live Help Desk to Assist You Throughout the Loan
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Get Paid Within 48 Hours of Funding
Member of NRMLA
Equal Housing Lender. 2010 Nationwide Equities Corporation. Trade/service marks are the property of Hamilton Management Group and/or its subsidiaries.
Some products may not be available in all states. NMLS Company ID:1401, Licensed Mortgage Banker: CT: License# 12304, FL: License# ML0701076, NJ:
License# L046060, NY: License# B500883, PA: License# 22104
new to market continued from page 34
of Professional Appraisal Practice
(USPAP) summary appraisal report.
The CVR is a game-changer in that it
offers speed and accuracy at a lower
cost and is produced by an appraiser
with local market knowledge. There is
no other product like it on the market
today, said Jeff Bradford, chief execu-
tive officer of Bradford Technologies.
Mortgage Contracting
Services Launches REO
Check Inspection Service
Mortgage Contracting
Services LLC (MCS) has
announced the avail-
ability of REO Check, an inspection service
to assist servicers with ongoing, independ-
ent on-site assessments of their foreclosed
inventory throughout the REO lifecycle.
REO Check provides real-time, on-site
inspections of bank-owned properties, which
can be performed from the time of asset
acquisition until it is sold to a third party,
including properties already entered into
the portfolio but perhaps are still in an
eviction or redemption status. Whether
done on a monthly, bi-weekly or weekly
basis, MCS REO Check provides informa-
tion about each propertys overall interi-
or and exterior condition, noting such
things as the presence of any hazardous
conditions or posting of code violations.
The service ultimately ensures clients
that each property is kept secure, well
maintained and readily marketable to
show prospective buyers.
MCS REO Check acts as a dual quali-
ty control mechanism for the real
estate agent and field services provider.
Many servicers will rely on the assigned
real estate agent to coordinate all
inspection services. However, growing
REO volumes leave some agents
unavailable to inspect every property
as often as they would prefer. REO
Check serves as an additional and inde-
pendent review of the services provided
by the assigned listing agent and cur-
rent field services company.
Routine REO inspections are the ideal
preventative measure to avoid incurring
significant structural damage, threats to
safety and expenses for repairs or fines,
said Caroline Reaves, chief executive officer
of MCS. One of our goals with REO Check
is to educate this industry on the value and
relevance of implementing a regular
inspection procedure on their REO portfo-
lios. We strongly believe that this inexpen-
sive, upfront investment far outweighs the
alternative.
DepotPoint to Offer Code
Violation Checks on
Defaulted Property
DepotPoint Inc., a
provider of Web-
based default man-
agement, short sale and real estate-
owned (REO) workflow solutions, and
Code Violation Services Inc. (CVS), a
provider of code violation disclosure
reports and vacant property registra-
tion services, have entered a strategic
partnership through which users of
TrackPoint, DepotPoints technology
platform for managing default transac-
tions, will be able to perform code vio-
lation checks on their properties.
Unresolved code violations are a
huge obstacle to distressed property
sales, said Joe Filoseta, president and
chief executive officer of DepotPoint.
Our partnership with Code Violation
Services will help banks, asset managers
and other parties find and resolve cur-
rent violations, as well as work proactive-
ly to prevent new ones. The result is a
reduction in loss severity and distressed
sales that move forward unimpeded.
Code Violation Services will analyze and
identify unrecorded, municipal code viola-
tions on defaulted property managed
through TrackPoint, saving TrackPoint
users costly fines from unresolved viola-
tions and reducing the timelines for the
sale of REOs and other distressed property.
The skyrocketing foreclosure rate
over the past several years has resulted
in an extraordinary number of code
violations nationwide, which has made
it extremely difficult to return nonper-
forming properties into homes for
deserving families, said Rudy Krupka,
president and chief executive officer of
CVS. I know we share DepotPoints
commitment to reversing this trend,
and look forward to working together.
Your turn
National Mortgage Professional Magazine
invites you to submit any information
promoting new niche loan programs,
new products or any other announce-
ment related to the introduction of a
new program, to the attention of:
New to Market column
Phone #: (516) 409-5555
E-mail: newsroom@nmpmediacorp.com
Note: Submissions sent via e-mail are pre-
ferred. The deadline for submissions is the
1st of the month prior to the target issue.
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Appraisal Management
Company
We are a premier National Appraisal Company since 1970.
We have a complete product line for your entire organization.
We guarantee HVCC and FHA regulatory compliance.
Let our experience work for you. The way valuations should be.
Coester Appraisal Group
7650 Standish Place, Suite 107 Rockville, MD 20855
www.coesterappraisals.com
(888) 485-1999 Ext. 2
Branch Recruitment
Branch Manager
Branch Manager
Freedom Mortgage Corporation, The BEST Branch Solution, Period.
Freedom Mortgage Corporation
www.fmbranch.com
info@fmbranch.com
800.220.9498
iServe offers a complete product mix - aggressively priced, with
hassle-free service & turntimes. Branching & Loan Offcer
opportunities available nationwide. For a change, focus on
production, quick closes & a good night's sleep!
iServe Residential Lending
www.iservelending.com
afriedman@iservelending.com
415-298-2500
Be in business for yourself, but not by yourself. Join GSF Mortgage's
Professional Branch Network. Enjoy freedom and stability and reap
the rewards. Signing bonus for Branch Managers, retain 100% of
your commissions. Absolutely NO files fees, NO splits
GSF Mortgage
15430 W Capitol Dr. Brookfield, WI 53005
1-877-494-4448
www.gsfprobranch.com
Find out what Guaranteed can do for you.
Branch Program for Professionals. It's what we do.
Guaranteed Home Mortgage Company, Inc.
108 Corporate Park Drive, Ste 301
White Plains, NY 10604
888-329-GHMC www.joinguaranteed.com
Established in 1993 and headquartered in Waukesha, Wisconsin,
Inlanta Mortgage is a multi-state mortgage banking company com-
mitted to delivering superior service to our branch clients.
For more information, call 262-513-9853 or visit www.inlanta.com.
Inlanta Mortgage
W229 N1433 Westwood Drive, Suite 103
Waukesha, WI 53186
www.inlanta.com 262-513-9853
United Northern Mortgage Bankers......888-600-8808
Limited room available for established Team Leaders and
Licensed Mortgage Originators. Become part of an established
30-year Mortgage Banker with a proven track record and success.
RealEstateBestJobs.com....................201-489-0256
Currently working with various bankers & federally chartered banks.
Seeking established, new branches & Loan Officers Nationally. We
are a top recruiting firm handling all types of mtg positions.
Church Financing
Church Purchase & Construction $100,000 to $2,500,00
Church Refnance & Cash Out Churches all 50 states
75% of Appraised Value 20 Yr. Fixed Rate
CONCORD CHURCH FINANCE
NATIONWIDE FINANCING FOR CHURCHES
ONLINE Pre-qualify@ConcordAcceptanceCorp.com
800-926-0399 Fax: 858-756-8108
Brokers United ........................................877-710-0948
Consulting & Branch opportunities. Exclusive opportunities with a
top Federally Chartered Bank, Mortgage Banker and/or Mortgage
Banker/Broker Platform. Email Jeff Flees at jeff@brokersunited.net.
Closing Gifts
Increase your Loans,Get the Edge & Generate More Referrals!
Offer your clients a 5 Day 4 Night Cruise certificate for Two to Mexico,
the Bahamas or the Western Caribbean (up to a $1798.00 value) only
when they close a loan with you. Only $159.00 per certificate!!
Cruise4Two-Loan Incentives
1-866-541-8077
www.Cruise4Two.com
Compliance Consultants
The first full-service, mortgage risk management firm
in the country, specializing exclusively in mortgage compliance.
Pioneers in outsourcing solutions for mortgage compliance.
Our Compliance Team Will:
Leverage your existing employees.
Improve your productivity.
Collaborate on projects.
Make the most of your current technology.
Bring innovation to your company.
Be a strong cultural fit.
Free you to focus on your core competencies.
Give you access to world-class expertise.
Lower your total operational costs.
LENDERS COMPLIANCE GROUP
167 West Hudson Street - Suite 200
Long Beach | NY | 11561 | (516) 442-3456
www.LendersComplianceGroup.com
StreetLinks Lender Solutions provides an innovative and
comprehensive suite of valuation services and lending technology
solutions used by lenders and appraisers nationwide to improve
everyday business operations.
StreetLinks industry-leading products include LenderPlus
full-service appraisal management, LenderX lender-executed
appraisal management software, BPOs, SCORe appraisal
validation reviews and more. Our commitment to quality and
service, embodied by our partnership approach to clients and
appraisers, continues to set us apart as the nations premier
lending solutions partner. For more information, visit
www.streetlinks.com.
StreetLinks Lender Solutions
(800) 778-4920
www.streetlinks.com
sales@streetlinks.com
We help you Meet & Exceed UMDP enforced by the GSEs
We Improve your evaluation of collateral with REALview
TM

Appraisals submitted in a MISMO/XML or PDF format.
Weve raised the bar for Appraisal Management Services!
HVCC Appraisal Ordering
National Appraisal Management Center
www.HVCCAppraisalOrdering.com
Please call 866-396-6260
Contact Management/CRM
WorkCenter CRM ....................................877.498.6888
A CRM & contact management solution designed for mortgage
professionals. Automated campaigns & LOS synchronization make
WorkCenter an intuitive timesaver for staying in touch with clients.
Call 888-409-9770 ext 4.
to register your company.
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Education
North Lake College - Specialized Education In Mortgage Banking.
Earn An Associates Degree in Mortgage Banking From the First Fully
Accredited Mortgage Banking Degree Program in the U.S. For
Information About Our 30 Year Program email:kbaker1@dcccd.edu.
North Lake College
5001 North MacArthur Blvd, Room T-231-C
Irving, TX 75038
(972) 273-3467 http://www.northlakecollege.edu/
Direct Mail
Specializing in Official Snap Packs for Greater Open Rates
Envelope Mailers, Business Reply, Postcards and Much More
Targeted Mortgage Lists with Many Selects
Complete Design, Printing and Mailing Services
Your Complete Mortgage Marketing Solution.
Call Us Today!
(800) 922-9860
www.envisiondirect.net/catalog/mortgage.htm
Document Preparation
Document Preparation (SaaS)
ProClose provides compliant closing documents and software for
Residential Mortgage Lending. Created with closers in mind,
we help make a lenders staff more efficient and supported.
Mortgage Banking Systems - ProClose
1360 Beverly Rd. Ste 200, McLean, VA 22101
800-783-2283 sales@proclose.com
www.ProClose.com
Mortgage Loan Closing Document Preparation & Compliance Services
Fulfillment Services Including Pre-Funding Review & Post-Closing
Interfaces with Leading Loan Origination Software Systems
Foreclosure Loss Mitigation Services
Robertson | Anschutz
800-343-7160
sbertrand@radocs.com
www.radocs.com/info.html
Mortgage Loan Closing Document Preparation & Compliance Software
Loan Documents and Compliance Web-based/SaaS Easy to Use
Intuitive Secure and Reliable Integrates with Leading LOS
Free Setup and Support Extensive Compliance Audits
Docs on Demand
800-343-7160
stephen.bertrand@docsondemand.net
www.docsondemand.info
Errors and Omissions
Insurance
Doc Management
DocVelocity is an end-to-end paperless solution designed to
simplify the loan origination experience. Imagine having all your
documents in the loan process as electronic files, all online, from
pre-approval to closing. DocVelocity provides: Fast and easy loan
delivery 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 free
training and support. DocVelocity addresses important
compliance issues while giving your office the competitive
advantage of being paperless. It streamlines all aspects of the
mortgage process and most important, it does so in one easy-to-
use and inexpensive package. DocVelocity is the flagship product
of Paperless Office Solutions, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Flagstar Bancorp. Visit www.docvelocity.com to find out more.
DocVelocity
www.docvelocity.com
(877) 362-8356
sales@docvelocity.com
Events
The Expo for Real Estate Professionals"
For ongoing Networking Events throughout the year please visit
www.nycnetworkgroup.com.
NYC Real Estate Expo LLC
Anthony Kazazis - Director
apkazazis@optonline.net www.nycrealestateexpo.com
646.210.2545 914.763.8008
Hard Money/Private Lending
ACC Mortgage, Inc.
932 Hungerford Drive #6 Rockville, MD 20850
240-314-0399 240-314-0336 fax
WeApproveLoans.com
We are doing traditional subprime lending, fix & flip lending and
hard money lending.
CB Malaga Insurance Services LLC......877-245-5887
Insurance broker providing errors & omissions (E&O)
insurance to mortgage brokers and bankers. All loan types.
Available in 22 states. www.CBspecialty.com
Windvest Corporation ............................877-285-0777
Specializing 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!
Time is running out...are you ready?
Pass the S.A.F.E. Act Test, meet your 20 hours of Pre-licensure,
and complete the 8 hours of Continuing Education you need
The Ultimate Test Prep Kit and Test Prep Boot Camps Cover
everything to pass the S.A.F.E. Act Test on your frst try.
20-hour Pre-licensure - Packed with everything to successfully
complete your pre-licensure requirements.
Continuing Education - Exciting, NMLS approved courses that
meet your Continuing Education needs and build your business.
MSS Learning Center
(800) 963-1900
www.MortgageSuccessSource.com
Email: info@MortgageSuccessSource.com
Best Rate Referrals ............................................800-811-1402
Mortgage marketing company with decades of combined expe-
rience providing quality leads, mailers, lists and dialer products.
www.bestratereferrals.com & www.mortgageleads.org
Bookmark this!
Access these
listings online at
nmpmag.com/directory_list
Continuing Education
NMLS approved 20 hour Prelicensing Education
NMLS approved Continuing Education
Live Classroom Instruction, Web Delivery and Private Events
The SAFE-Smart ExamCram, Powerfully Innovative Test Prep
Abacus Mortgage Training and Education
PO Box 780
Summerfield, NC 27358
888-341-7767 www.GetYourEd.com
Does Advertising in the Resource
Registry Work?
It just did!
Call 888-409-9770 ext. 4 to
Register your company.
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Retail Branch
Are you a broker/owner or current branch manager looking to
expand your business into Mortgage Banking with FHA capabilities?
Then our PARTNER BRANCH ADVANTAGE program is perfect for
you. We are offering you all the benefts of partnering with an estab-
lished lender while still enjoying your independence. US Mortgage
Corporation is a nationwide FHA Direct Lender with a 16 year long
reputation of excellence.
YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR SUCCESS!
For more information contact THOMAS R. SIRICO, Vice
President of Business Development at (917) 923-1472 or email
at tom.sirico@usmortgage.com.
We look forward to sharing our services with you!
(800) LOANS-15
www.usmortgage.com
Regulatory/Compliance
Mortgage Forms
Comergence Compliance Monitoring is the mortgage industrys only
Complete broker desk management software and outsource solution
for TPO management and monitoring. We can supplement lenders in-
house management and monitoring resources departments.
Comergence Compliance Monitoring, LLC
630 The City Drive South, Suite 205 Orange, CA 92868
Office: 714-740-9000
www.ComergenceCompliance.com
Secondary Marketing Consulting
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can streamline your business and create compliant processes today.
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sales@calyxsoftware.com
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Xetus ....................................................877-GO-XETUS
XetusOne is a powerful, easy-to-use loan management system
that streamlines loan processing. Our affordable SaaS applications
are lenders #1 choice for origination, subordination & modification.
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Income Verication Services
Advanced Data
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Advanced Data is a leading national provider of data services,
streamlining income and employment verification with proprietary
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Wholesale/Residential
Wholesale/Residential
Flagstar Wholesale Lending, a division of Flagstar Bank, is one of
the nations largest wholesale and correspondent mortgage
lenders, providing the technology, products, service and support
that independent mortgage brokers, correspondents, and bankers
need in todays mortgage arena. In the ever-changing environ-
ment of mortgage banking, Flagstar takes pride in accommodat-
ing the specific needs of each customer. At Flagstar, we under-
stand that you need every available advantage to stay ahead of
the competition. This is why we provide multiple technology
options to meet your needs to register, lock, underwrite, close,
fund and deliver your loans. Our wholesale website
(wholesale.flagstar.com) and the loan processing tool Loantrac
provides our customers with the functionality that make it easier
and faster to close loans, saving you time and money! Visit whole-
sale.flagstar.com to learn more.
Flagstar Wholesale Lending
www.wholesale.flagstar.com
(866) 945-9872
WLSC@flagstar.com
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 of
experience and believe in exceptional service.
Terrace Mortgage
4010 W. Boyscout Blvd., Suite 550
Tampa, FL 33607
866-934-4631 www.terracemortgage.com
Wholesale Reverse Mortgages
For Licensed Mortgage Brokers in NY, NJ, CT, PA and FL
No HUD Approval Required Live Help Desk
Will Provide Training at Our Office or Yours
48 Hour Underwriting - Get Paid Within 48 Hours of Funding
NATIONWIDE Equities
Nationwide Equities Corporation
201-529-1401
www.nwecorp.com
Call 888-409-9770 ext 4.
to register your company.
Arizona Nevada Texas
California New Mexico Utah
Colorado Oregon Washington
88 Kearny Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 632-5150 Fax: (925) 226-1938
www.bayeq.com
Now Wholesale Lending in:
Wholesale/Residential
Title
Intracoastal Abstract Co. Inc. ................516-358-0505
Privately owned & operated full service title insurance agency
in NY, NJ and FL, with affiliates throughout the US & Canada.
Escrow Agent in Florida. www.intracoastalabstract.com.
Wholesale/Correspondent
BankFinancial ..........................................800-894-6900
We have money to lend for apartments, $250M to $2MM, up to
75% LTV. We offer competitive rates, fees & terms. Were com-
mitted to helping you and your clients close the deal. Call us.
Paperless! Quick and Easy!
Top Tier Account Executives
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888.371.2989 WWW.TMSFUNDING.COM
Your Partner in Success!
Lykken on Lending is a weekly 60-minute show hosted by mortgage
veteran of 37 yrs, David Lykken, along with special guest Alice Alvey
& Joe Farr as well as featured special guests. Each week we provide
our listeners with up-to-the-minute information of what is happening
in mortgage and housing industry.
Sign-on weekly at
nmpmag.com/lykkenonlending
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APRIL 2011
Thursday, April 28
Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals
Miami Chapter 2011 Trade Show
Only the Strong Survive
Don Shulas Hotel & Golf Club Ballroom
6842 Main Street Miami Lakes, Fla.
For more information, call (305) 491-1433 or
visit www.fampmiami.org.
MAY 2011
Sunday-Wednesday, May 1-4
Mortgage Bankers Associations National
Secondary Market Conference & Expo
The New York Marriott Marquis
1535 Broadway New York, N.Y.
For more information, call (800) 793-6222 or
visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
Sunday-Wednesday, May 1-4
Mortgage Bankers Associations Loan
Production Conference
The New York Marriott Marquis
1535 Broadway New York, N.Y.
For more information, call (800) 793-6222 or
visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
Monday, May 9
Tennessee Association of Mortgage
Professionals 2011 Annual Convention &
Trade Show
Prepared for Change Ahead
Hotel Preston (Briley Parkway South of I-40)
733 Briley Parkway Nashville, Tenn.
For more information, call (615-) 302-0001 or
visit www.tnamp.com.
Sunday-Wednesday, May 15-18
Mortgage Bankers Associations
Commercial/Multifamily Servicing &
Technology Conference
Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile
540 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Ill.
For more information, call (800) 793-6222 or
visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
Sunday-Wednesday, May 15-18
Mortgage Bankers Associations Legal
Issues/Regulatory Compliance Conference
Boca Raton Resort
501 El Camino Real Boca Raton, Fla.
For more information, call (800) 793-6222 or
visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
Monday-Tuesday, May 16-17
Mortgage Bankers of Alabama 27th Annual
Spring Convention
Extreme Makeover
Wynfrey Galleria
1000 Riverchase Galleria Birmingham, Ala.
For more information, call (334) 260-8197 or
visit www.mbaal.org.
JUNE 2011
Monday-Wednesday, June 13-15
CRE Finance Council 2011 Convention
On the Road Again
The Waldorf Astoria
301 Park Avenue
New York, N.Y.
For more information, call (212) 509-1954
or visit www.cref.org.
JULY 2011
Wednesday-Saturday, July 20-23
Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals
2011 Convention
Reel in Success
Orlando World Center Marriott Resort
8701 World Center Drive Orlando, Fla.
For more information, call (850) 942-6411
or visit www.famb.org.
SEPTEMBER 2011
Thursday, September 8
Iowa Association of Mortgage Brokers 2011
Annual Convention & Education
Location to be determined
For more information, call (515) 210-4675
or visit www.iowamortgagebrokers.org.
Thursday, September 15
2011 Minnesota Mortgage Association
Convention & Exhibitor Showcase
Sheraton Bloomington Hotel,
Minneapolis South
7800 Normandale Boulevard
Bloomington, Minn.
For more information, call (952) 345-3240
or visit www.themma.org.
OCTOBER 2011
Sunday-Wednesday, October 9-12
Mortgage Bankers Associations 98th Annual
Convention & Expo
The Hyatt Regency
151 East Wacker Drive Chicago, Ill.
For more information, call (800) 793-6222
or visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
Friday, October 14
Kentucky Association of Mortgage
Professionals 2011 Annual Convention &
Trade Show
Location to be determined
Lexington, Ky.
For more information, call (270) 929-2836
or visit www.kyamp.net.
To submit your entry for inclusion in the National Mortgage Professional
Calendar of Events, please e-mail the details of your event, along with
contact information, to newsroom@nmpmediacorp.com.
Only
$
49
.95
Plus Postage
& Handling
Atare Agbamu is one of only a handful of people in the reverse mortgage arena
who possesses a commanding understanding of the reverse mortgage industry.
As an originator, he has hands-on experience educating seniors and their advi-
sors. As author of the Forward on Reversecolumn inThe Mortgage Press since
2002, Atare Agbamu communicates nationally with the housing finance commu-
nity, bringing the unique insights and experience of an ardent reverse mortgage
expert into a wider business context.
This book combines Atares keen insights and know-how with extensive re-
search to create a first of its kind resource for the reverse mortgage industry. It offers a comprehen-
sive overview of the industry plus detailed information on marketing and originating reverse mortgages.
Present and future reverse mortgage professionals and senior advisors will profit from
decades of experience skillfully woven into this book. If you plan to succeed in this industry, this
book is the place to start.
Sarah F. Hulbert, President, Senior Financial Corporation and former four-term Co-Chair
of NRMLAs Board of Directors
When I first began reviewing the contents of this book, I became quite jealous ... Atare Agbamu
has set down an impressive amount of information ... And he delivers it in an easy-to-read,
simple-to-understand style that will make this book essential reading for all reverse mortgage
professionals.
from the Foreword by Jim Mahoney, Co-Founder and Former Chairman, Financial Freedom
Senior Funding Corporation, and former four-term Co-Chair of NRMLAs Board of Directors
The stories [Chapter 15: Profiles in Satisfaction] are the best vehicle to increase understanding and
acceptance of reverse mortgages among us laypeople. They are very compelling ...
Therese Cain, Executive Director, Minneapolis/St. Paul Chapter of Little BrothersFriends
of the Elderly
This book should be required reading for all new loan consultants originating reverse mortgages
and is recommended for experienced ones as well. This book provides excellent insight and infor-
mation on preparing ahead to provide the service our seniors deserve, to ensure a smooth loan
process and shorten the time to closing. Most of the problems caused in the processing and clos-
ing of reverse mortgages come from inadequate preparation.
Deanne Opstad, AVP, Senior Underwriter, Generation Mortgage Company
Think Reverse!
Table of Contents
Part I:
The new pillar of retirement security
Part II:
Marketing reverse mortgages: Its all about education
Part III:
Originating reverse mortgages
Part IV:
Enhancing freedom: The essence of reverse mortgages
Part V:
A new frontier in mortgage lending
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This information is provided to assist business professionals and is not an advertisement extended to the consumer,
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