Loan Think

How was your week? Last week's article focused on helping you help your customers qualify for a loan by referring you to a qualified credit repair company that I know and trust to assist you in your business.

THIS JUST IN: On Monday morning the Mortgage Bankers Association will release its new study on second-quarter profitability. As you might recall, 1Q profit margins were quite strong and sources tell us that 2Q was even better. As for 3Q, it's safe to assume that not a whole lot changed in terms of business conditions...

Okay readers, it looks like the recession is over but that hasn't stopped the Obama White House from finally backing an extension of the first time home buyer tax credit. After dodging the issue for weeks by saying nothing specific, the administration Thursday morning finally gave its thumbs up. The president apparently favors a "limited extension" of the FTHB. See the National Mortgage News website later today for a full update. Meanwhile, the GDP number came in at 3.5% (better than expected) but don't pop the champagne quite yet. Feeding that number (rest assured) is the FTHB and the auto "Cash for Clunkers" program. The real key to growth in 4Q 2009 and 1Q 2010 will be the employment situation. The new employment numbers will be released next Friday. And then there's concerns about what will happen when the federal stimulus money runs out. Stay tuned...

All month we've talking about the little things that combined help you convert more prospects into closed deals. You know the subtle things that attract clients to you and then make them want to do business with you.

Monday's bankruptcy filing by commercial mortgage banking giant Capmark Financial lists dozens of individual shareholders who hold common equity in the company. Those shares, arguably, are now worthless. The largest individual shareholder appears to be Dennis Dammerman, chairman, of the Municipal and Infrastructure Assurance Corp., a financial guaranty insurance company that was formed earlier this year. Mr. Dammerman is best known for his management career at General Electric where he served as chairman and CEO of GE Capital Services. Another common shareholder is Scott Shay (92,764 units) who has been associated with Signature Bank of New York...

As a reverse mortgage specialist, you probably have a marketing plan and strategy that you can rely on that provides predictable results. If not, we need to talk! I'm sure you use a mix of tools that position you as the local expert and that you can track the effectiveness of each.

In today’s marketplace websites need to be built faster and easier so that companies can deliver more content to their prospects and clients. Whether it is potential borrowers going online to shop rates, collect information or actually begin the origination process, consumers are online looking for answers. The same can be said of lenders searching online to find the next fraud solution, compliance update, or workflow automation tool. Today’s buyer expects to obtain information online where and when they want it. The challenge is in finding an easy and fast way to deliver and constantly update content without extensive IT resources.

Will Bank of America soon start unloading its massive portfolio of nonperforming residential loans -- and will it be in time to help save some of the mortgage vulture funds that were set up to bottom feed on the product? (We're hearing that some of those funds may be shutting down -- and have returned seed money to their investors.) Time will tell, but the situation is heating up -- or so we're told by some of the executives who plan in the NPL (nonperforming loan) space. Meanwhile, we assume the publicly traded PennyMac soon will release third quarter earnings. In trading Tuesday its stock fell to $18.40, which is a 52-week low -- a tie for its 52-week low, that is. PennyMac was created to invest and service NPLs...

Be careful about what you, your employee or even your customer tweets about your company or you could find the Federal Trade Commission on your case. That is a word of warning from a Los Angeles-based attorney.

I read the Scott Rasmussen affidavit over the weekend. Scott is the chief performance officer of Lend America which won its court case against the Department of Justice and Department of Housing and Urban Development and is now cleared to continue writing FHA loans. In the court filing, he notes that the company spent $100,000 on an outside audit of its loan practices. That audit led to several changes at the lender including a reorganization of its sales department in July of this year. As part of that reorg the "personal use" of cell phones "on the premises" has been prohibited. Lend America also increased the size of its quality control group to five from one. In July its chief credit officer -- who is unnamed in the affidavit -- retired. And one last item: between January and August of this year 14 employees were fired because of what the Mr. Rasmussen called "improper loan origination activities." HUD's problem with Lend America centers around $14 million in loans it funded out of a total origination book of more than $1 billion...