I received an e-mail from a branch manager of a mid-sized brokerage. She said, “A few years ago, during our branch meetings, agents would try to one-up each other with news from investors, who had the best rates, the fastest underwriting turn times. Now, our branch meetings are like a wake. The only news is which investor tightened their guidelines, shortened their time for a valid appraisal, the latest RESPA or NMLS nightmare, and then my agents start in with the ‘remember when’s’. Are we having fun yet?” It’s easier to say “keep your chin up” than to actually do it.
Still, mortgage-related jobs? You bet there are. The FDIC is hiring, as is HUD. HUD-FHA is trying to fill positions all over the nation including in Southern California (Single Family Housing Specialist & Management Analyst), Denver (Management Analyst), and Atlanta (someone to run their Processing and Underwriting Division). Check it out at www.usajobs.gov. And for you pure loan officers/agents out there, check out Milestone Mortgage at www.milestonemtg.com/billrvp.
Here’s an interesting announcement from Flagstar: “Flagstar will not fund or purchase any loan that closes with a notary who is associated with the broker/correspondent. A list of associations that Flagstar deems inappropriate for a notary to have with the broker/correspondent at the time of closing may include, but is not limited to: any employee of the broker/correspondent (e.g. processors, loan officers), any family member of one of the principal owners, anyone who is to receive funds other than a notary fee, based on the closing of the loan. Any closing that occurs using a notary associated to the broker/correspondent will be required to reclose with a non-associated notary before funding or purchase can occur.”
Flagstar goes on to tell clients that after February 15, “Flagstar Bank will not approve or close more than 5 loans to any one borrower, or an aggregate loan amount total of $1,000,000, and they also followed Fannie & Freddie’s refusal to accept HUD approval for condominium projects.
NAMB members received a letter regarding NMLS, stating that “NMLS is proud to announce that we have been approved a ‘channeller’ of federal background checks with FBI and have introduced criminal background check processing functionality in NMLS. This functionality is an important fulfillment of one of the mandates of the SAFE Act.” All new mortgage loan originator applications submitted through NMLS require the individual to request a federal criminal background check and provide fingerprints to NMLS to process this background check. And existing mortgage loan originators are able to request and pay for a federal criminal background check and provide fingerprints to NMLS to process this background check.