MetLife to Banking Regulators: Drop Dead

First, some good news: We understand that 350 MetLife Home Loan staffers are about to be made an employment offer. On top of that, other offers are being made to many of MLHL's high-performance loan officers. That's good news for the rank-and-file workers that make up this industry. Of course it's bad news that MetLife—the nation's largest insurer—had to go down this road in the first place. Almost four years after entering the mortgage space (at the bottom of the market no less) it's exiting the business almost entirely. The only piece that it plans on keeping is the reverse lending business. (Peter Bell and Darryl Hicks can sleep well now.) What's so odd about all this is that MLHL was profitable. So, here you have a profitable company with no legacy issues getting out. Sounds crazy, but I guess in the long run (somewhat) new CEO Steve Kandarian looked at life as a bank holding company—and all that goes along with it—and said, “We're out of here.” See Monday's National Mortgage News for an update on MLHL's LOs. Don't subscribe? Call: 800-221-1809. A sub gets you complete access to all the premium content on the website…

But the larger question for mortgage bankers boils down to this: Has the regulatory pendulum swing too far the other way? I've yet to come across a mortgage professional who believes we need more regulation. (If you're in that club drop me a line at Paul.Muolo@SourceMedia.) Meanwhile brokers like Mark Savitt believe that licensed LOs who have passed all the testing and licensing requirements should market themselves as being a cut above bank LOs. Or is it several cuts?...

One last note on MLHL: Anyone out there need $85 billion in residential servicing rights? Call me crazy but I have the feeling Kandarian doesn't like MSRs either…

By the way, I will try to stop using “Drop Dead” headlines so much, but they indeed make a point. Headline junkies know full well the “DD” head first appeared in the New York Daily News in October 1975 when President Ford decided against federal aid for New York City which way back then was toying with the idea of bankruptcy. Somehow, the Big Apple squeaked out of its economic morass, which means there may be hope for Europe. The U.S. can solve its debt problems whenever it finds the political will, which is like waiting for Godot…

WASHINGTON NEWS: Is the CFPB's Richard Cordray now street legal? Late this week the Justice Department issued a critical legal opinion Thursday asserting that President Obama is allowed to make recess appointments despite pro-forma Senate sessions in which no business is conducted, effectively validating the appointment of Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But will any groups sue and make a constitutional issue out of the matter? The Garrett-Watts report notes that the CFPB aims to “nail a few scalps to the wall,” noting that banks under $10 billion are exempt, “but let's not hear any complaining from mortgage bankers that this isn't fair. The banks are already examined for compliance by the OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve and others. The community banks aren't getting away with anything. The new slogan for mortgage banking companies could be, 'All the regulations of a bank, with none of the benefits.'”

MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Scott Stern is stepping down as president of mega-cooperative Lenders One. See the NMN website for full details: http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/.

DATA STUFF: If you need a list of the nation's top wholesale and correspondent funders drop an email to Deartra.Todd@SourceMedia.com and ask about our Quarterly Data Report. It's a 50-page Excel spreadsheet. Also check out our exclusive mortgage data website: Mortgagestats.com.

MUST ATTEND MORTGAGE SHOWS: From April 17-19 National Mortgage News and SourceMedia will hold their annual Mortgage Servicing Conference at the Omni Mandalay Hotel in Irving, Texas. For more information see the ads on our website or click here http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/conferences/ms/.

I'm on Twitter, discussing mortgage matters, and not much more except this: Giants over Packers by 3.

LAST WORD: “Dreams dream the dreamer” – Tom Verlaine. Enjoy the holiday weekend.