A correspondent lender for the first time will be offering the HarmonyLoan, a mortgage that give borrowers the option to adjust their rate downward or extend the fixed-rate portion of their home financing at regular intervals.
Correspondent lender McLean Mortgage has at least one unidentified investor ready to buy the loans and is in the process of adding others, Mortgage Harmony Corp. CEO Keith Kelly told this publication.
Mortgage Harmony, Tysons Corner, Va., also recently brought online a website that allow consumers and originators to track the loan as well as its related rate options and compensation, respectively, he said.
Because of the rate-adjustment option for hybrid loans, most HarmonyLoans to date have been 5/1 or 7/1 adjustable-rate mortgages, Kelly said. Most have been new originations but more recently some have been converting existing books of business as well, he said.
Retail lenders also have been offering the loan, which was designed with a proprietary compensation model for originators aimed at aligning their interests with borrowers’ rate-setting option throughout the loan's life. But this is the first time a third-party lender selling its closed loans to an investor will be involved.
Kelly said mortgage brokers also could potentially originate the loans at some point.
The company is open to inquiries from originators interested in individual private-label loan officer websites that show both their photos and contact information for real estate agents in conjunction with the loan for what Kelly describes as a nominal fee. Investors also pay a fee in conjunction with the loans.
Originators will have to pass muster with both Mortgage Harmony and potential end-buyers and meet certain criteria before making the loans, Kelly said.
