Origination

SigniaDocs and World Wide Notary have integrated their platforms to support e-signatures and e-notarizations for any mortgage document or document set. The integration of data, from the loan origination systems through MERS registration, aims to eliminate errors that otherwise might result from fragmented paper-based systems. The resulting blend of capabilities allows lenders essentially to avoid printing mortgage documents requiring signatures by borrowers, so mortgage transactions can remain electronic from start to finish. At the MBA Technology Conference in Las Vegas, SigniaDocs said that by using SigniaDocs' eVault, all documents that are traditionally "papered out" and reviewed during the closing process are now available in advance of closing. Borrowers can review and click-to-sign the majority of documents at their leisure and then the few that need to be e-notarized or witnessed by a notary are passed to World Wide Notary's DigaSign system to complete the documents through this partnership.

Lenders delivering loans to the Federal Housing Administration can now manage the process online through Xerox Corp.'s BlitzDocs electronic collaboration tool. A big problem for lenders that are paperless or want to become paperless is that FHA has 20% to 40% market share and they don't have e-mortgage standards. So, at the MBA Technology Conference in Las Vegas, BlitzDocs launched an FHA connector. BlitzDocs helps lenders and investors reduce document-related costs by capturing and managing image-based loan documents. There is now a connector in BlitzDocs to FHA that will allow lenders to either go or remain paperless when dealing with FHA. BlitzDocs will do the conversion required to deliver an acceptable loan to FHA.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac officials are expressing concerns that the American Securitization Forum's efforts to draft consensus secondary market standards could potentially create another mortgage identification standard outside of the MERS Mortgage Identification Number and cause confusion in the industry. ASF has been seeking comment on delivery standards that are still under construction and may or may not include the MERS MIN. The ASF declined to comment on the issue. Each loan registered on MERS is given a unique MIN that identifies that loan. At present, the MIN and registering the e-note on MERS is mandated by both GSEs if they will accept an e-mortgage from any lender. Speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Technology Conference in Las Vegas, Ted Adams of Freddie Mac stressed, "The MIN works and we're using it. The introduction of another loan identification number as purposed by ASF would be confusing." To combat the potential of the MIN being rendered obsolete by anything the ASF creates, R.K. Arnold, president and CEO at MERS, urged lenders to adopt e-processes and use the MIN, arguing that if usage is mainstream, the ASF will have to recognize the validity of the current MIN.

A day after press reports suggested that Jerry Howard might be dethroned as president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, the trade group issued a press release saying that he is still in charge. One builder, requesting anonymity, told National Mortgage News that Mr. Howard and certain homebuilding firms that were upset with the trade group's apparent stance on tax breaks that might only benefit small builders "have kissed and made up." In its statement NAHB noted that its High Production Home Builders Council met Monday for a "candid" discussion of issues facing builders, adding that "now more than ever, it is important for all homebuilders to be united." The Wall Street Journal reported in its Monday edition that Mr. Howard might be forced out of NAHB by a faction of large publicly traded building companies.

The chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, David Kittle, said there are changes coming to the organization that will make it a "lean mortgage machine going forward." He told attendees at the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations in Atlantic City those changes will make MBA run like an entrepreneurial business. Details will come by the end of this month. Mr. Kittle made the theme of his speech, "If not now, when?" Speaking to the power of what one person can do, he noted the number of people in the room equals the gap in the disputed U.S. Senate race in Minnesota. As for issues with warehouse liquidity, MBA is meeting with the U.S. Treasury Department looking for the establishment of loan participation programs by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and/or the Federal Home Loan Banks. Such a program will reduce capital requirements for lenders and free up funds to be used to originate loans, he said. He addressed the cramdown issue, calling for members to fight for changes to the law. If the industry does not do something about it, "they will do something to us," Mr. Kittle said. He also said he is working with other housing trade groups to go to get a $15,000 tax credit for home purchases, and he called on the administration to drop plans to limit the mortgage interest deduction, declaring, "President Obama, don't kill it, expand it."

Mortgage applications during the week ended March 13 rose 21.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week, bolstered by close to a 30% week-to-week jump in refinancing that some think could mark the beginning of an upward trend. Although the most recent uptick in apps followed the introduction of the government Home Affordable Refinance Program on March 4, market participants and observers generally think it probably does not yet reflect that program's effects. This means app numbers, already moving at a relatively fast clip, could continue to increase going forward. Researchers specializing in U.S. securitized product modeling at Barclays Capital said since HARP made its debut on March 4 and is set to allow mortgages made under it to be delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by April 1, "It is not clear whether lenders have had time to update their underwriting process since HARP details were unveiled." Heidi Frigano, chief sales officer at Lend America, Melville, N.Y., told MortgageWire her company, which offers the Federal Housing Administration's existing but evolving Hope for Homeowners refinance program, has seen borrowers and their lenders continued to show interest in that program over HARP programs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that have not fully geared up. She said warmer weather and buyer-friendly inventory and prices also have started and may continue to bolster purchase volumes as well as refis. She called the increase in refi applications in the most recent week "slight" in comparison to the larger upward trend over the last couple of months.

Fannie Mae's refinancing volume jumped to more than $41 billion in February, nearly three times the refis the company experienced during the month of January and the largest refinancing volume in nearly a year. Fannie also said more than 100,000 borrowers have accessed its online mailbox to inquire about their eligibility for refinancing under the Obama administration's refinancing plan, and about 50,000 callers have contacted Fannie's national hotline since the plan made its debut on March 4. The government-sponsored enterprise — currently held in government conservatorship — said it has launched a new addition to its website that will allow borrowers to quickly determine if they have a Fannie Mae-held mortgage. This is a determining factor in whether a borrower is eligible for the program, Fannie said.

If you're one of those people right now who can't stand to open your 401(k) or IRA statement, I'm quite certain you're not alone. It can be frustrating to see the numbers going the wrong way, can't it? You may even think things couldn't be worse. All that hard earned money slipping away. Stop the pity party right here and now. As a loan originator you have the capability to generate income each and every month. Put yourself in the place of a 78-year-old retiree who is counting on the money in that account just to meet monthly bills. That's right - think you're stressed? You can't even begin to put yourself in that retiree's place. He doesn't have the luxury of "just hanging in there" until the market recovers.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac officials are expressing concerns that the American Securitization Forum's efforts to draft consensus secondary market standards could potentially create another mortgage identification standard outside of the MERS Mortgage Identification Number and cause confusion in the industry. ASF has been seeking comment on delivery standards that are still under construction and may or may not include the MERS MIN. The ASF declined to comment on the issue. Each loan registered on MERS is given a unique MIN that identifies that loan. At present, the MIN and registering the e-note on MERS is mandated by both GSEs if they will accept an e-mortgage from any lender. Speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Technology Conference in Las Vegas, Ted Adams of Freddie Mac stressed that, "The MIN works and we're using it. The introduction of another loan identification number as purposed by ASF would be confusing." To combat the potential of the MIN being rendered obsolete by anything the ASF creates, R.K. Arnold, president and CEO at MERS, urged lenders to adopt e-processes and use the MIN, arguing that if usage is mainstream, the ASF will have to recognize the validity of the current MIN.

A day after press reports suggested that Jerry Howard might be dethroned as president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, the trade group issued a press release saying that he is still in charge. One builder, requesting anonymity, told National Mortgage News that Mr. Howard and certain home building firms that were upset with the trade group's apparent stance on tax breaks that might only benefit small builders "have kissed and made up." In its statement NAHB noted that its "High Production Home Builders Council" met Monday for a "candid" discussion of issues facing builders, adding that "now more than ever, it is important for all homebuilders to be united." The Wall Street Journal reported in its Monday edition that Mr. Howard might be forced out of NAHB by a faction of large publicly traded building companies.