Here we are on the 68th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, with the mortgage banking business facing unprecedented new regulatory reforms, and what are the folks in the trenches saying?
“Does anyone get the feeling mortgage banking is a ghost ship, to sail the seas endlessly, with a crew of the damned? Didn’t Disney make a movie with that plot, or am I once again in front of the curve?”
“Things are going really well for us. Right now we run a best effort shop and thinking about making a slow transition into hedging. We’ve been hiring on many new brokers and new loan offers so we’re expanding and hiring like crazy!”
“Things in the lending industry continue to be challenging, but isn’t that why we’re still here? ‘Cause we LOVE our jobs: daily rate & guideline changes, irrational clients, irrational realtors, tightening industry standards, increased blood pressure, etc. etc.”
The AmTrust announcement speaks for itself: “AmTrust Bank was acquired (Friday) by New York Community Bancorp. Due to the nature of this acquisition and the steps required to effect a proper and orderly transition, it is necessary to immediately suspend all registration and rate-lock activity for a period of time in order to permit us to properly address all of the related requirements. We expect to complete this process as quickly as possible. Although we will not be accepting new registrations or rate-locks during the transition period, AmTrust Mortgage Banking will continue to process and fund all rate-locked registrations that are in-process at the time of this notice, in the normal course of business.” AmTrust was, nationwide, in the top 5 for wholesalers buying loans from brokers.
Rob Chrisman