California Broker Issue 2

REAL ESTATE RODEO

How Kickbacks Turn Agents And Brokers Into Wild West Outlaws

DEFYING THE ODDS

First-Year Loan Officer Makes Six Figures

RCN CAPITAL EXPANDS

With New L.A. Base

FROM DEVASTATING DIAGNOSIS TO ORIGINATION

DOMINATION

Christian Griffin

Maverick Mortgage

Strike gold.

California is large and in charge. That’s why there’s California Broker magazine. We cover the nation’s biggest mortgage market, and the state with more originators than anywhere else in the country. It’s the industry leader, and so is California Broker magazine.

Vincent M. Valvo

CEO, PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Beverly Bolnick ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Christine Stuart EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

David Krechevsky EDITOR

Keith Griffin SENIOR EDITOR

Mary Quinn

MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER

Katie Jensen, Sarah Wolak, Erica Drzewiecki, Ryan Kingsley STAFF WRITERS

Gary Rogo

SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR

Alison Valvo DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC GROWTH

Steven Winokur CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Julie Carmichael PROJECT MANAGER

Meghan Hogan DESIGN MANAGER

Christopher Wallace, Stacy Murray GRAPHIC DESIGN MANAGERS

Navindra Persaud DIRECTOR OF EVENTS

William Valvo UX DESIGN DIRECTOR

Andrew Berman HEAD OF CUSTOMER OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT

Tigi Kuttamperoor, Matthew Mullins MULTIMEDIA SPECIALISTS

Melissa Pianin MARKETING & EVENTS ASSOCIATE

Kristie Woods-Lindig ONLINE ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Nicole Coughlin, Nichole Cakirca ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES

Lydia Griffin MARKETING INTERN

Submit your news to editors@ambizmedia.com

If you would like additional copies of California Broker magazine Call (860) 719-1991 or email subscriptions@ambizmedia.com www.ambizmedia.com

© 2023 American Business Media LLC. All rights reserved. California Broker magazine is a trademark of American Business Media LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Advertising, editorial and production inquiries should be directed to:

American Business Media LLC 88 Hopmeadow St. Simsbury, CT 06089

Phone: (860) 719-1991

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Prepping For 2025 M

ore than 30 years ago, I was standing next to the guy who owned the company I was working at. I was in charge of one of his businesses, and he had a visitor he was showing around. They came up to me, and my boss introduced me to his guest. And then he said something that has stuck with me ever since. "This guy," he said, pointing at me, "is pretty good at what he does. But when things get tough, that's when he gets even better."

I hadn't realized what he had seen, but after he said that, I went back and thought about it. He was right, but the reasons weren't as complimentary as one might hope (although I know he meant this as a compliment).

When things are going swimmingly, if you're basically competent, it's easy to do well. After all, everything's on your side. The market is good, the rates are good, and everyone's hopeful and confident, so business is easy to come by. Some folks maybe capitalize on good times more so than others, but it's not a great achievement to bask in economic sunshine.

When business gets tighter, harder, and darker, it's critical to start thinking about how to be innovative, to look at markets in a different light, and to consider what other ways you can generate revenue and sustain income. My boss was saying I was good at that, and I think I still am: I like keeping an open view of what might be coming a year or two out. But I realized that if I were really a good business leader, I would have been thinking about all those things when the market was going great. Instead, I was coasting on easy wins and only turned to a more thoughtful approach when I was forced to. If I'd been better at this earlier, I wouldn't have had to scramble.

For loan originators now scrambling, we know there are techniques, tactics, and tricks to help secure those loan deals, fewer though they may be. We are glad to tell the stories of LOs who have successfully pivoted. But we're also impressed by — and delighted to tell the stories of — local originators who laid the groundwork for their success now by being thoughtful and focused two years ago. Many of these success stories share the same characteristics: the LO didn't just grab the easy money (refinances) but made sure to keep a solid footing with purchase partners, despite that being more time-consuming. Those relationships built then are a bank of profit now.

For many LOs, that's a lesson to be learned for the next market turndown. For now, the imperative is to know every winning strategy, trend, and insight that can set you up for success. And then to think about what the market will also look like two years from now. The compliment shouldn't be that we get innovative when we have to but that we never have to scramble in the first place.

CEO, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief vvalvo@ambizmedia.com

Fighting The Fear

Christian Griffin has overcome tough challenges in the past. The fear of facing them again propels him forward.

6

10

18

Golden State News Nuggets Kickbacks Continue

A look at news of interest to mortgage originators across California

22

In California’s competitive housing market, unscrupulous real estate agents still have their hands out for illegal referral fees.

Quick Learner/Big Earner

Tiffany Dawson quickly applied the lessons she learned to become a first-year LO earning six figures off 24 loans in a turbulent 2022.

36 38

On The Move

A look at those people in the California mortgage industry who are seizing new employment opportunities or promotions.

Just The Facts

Our Data Bank whittles down the important stats about the California housing market.

RCN Heads West

RCN Capital is expanding from its Connecticut roots to take on the Golden State with a new Southern California office.

California Mortgage Expo

Thursday, August 10, 2023

Marriott La Jolla, San Diego 10 AUG Originator Connect

17

August 17–20, 2023

Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas

California Mortgage Expo

12

September 12, 2023

Hilton Oakland Airport, Oakland

California Least Popular To Gen Zers

Six of the 10 least popular metros for potential Gen Z homebuyers are in California, according to an analysis of Lending Tree mortgage purchase requests from adult Gen Z users of the online loan platform across the nation’s 50 largest metros from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2022.

The first and third smallest percentages of mortgages being requested by Gen Zers are in San Francisco (7.76%) and San Jose (9.7%), respectively, with New York (8.88%) second on the list. Los Angeles (9.99%), San Diego (11.66%), Sacramento (12.11%), and Riverside (12.45%) are the other California metros in the top 10.

Adult Gen Zers (ages 18 to 25) account for an average of 14.91% of potential homebuyers across the nation’s 50 largest metros.

The highest down payments ($77,786) were made by potential Gen Z homebuyers in San Jose. The average mortgage amount offered to Gen Zers in San Jose was $541,436, also the highest among the 50 metros.

Oakland, Los Angeles In Top 5 Of Price Drops: Redfin

Home-sale prices declined by 7.4% year over year in Oakland and 6.7% in Los Angeles, the third and fifth biggest drops, respectively, among the 50 most populous metros Redfin analyzed, during the four weeks ending June 11, according to a report released June 15.

Pending home sales, which fell in all metros Redfin analyzed, declined 26.6% in San Diego, the fifth biggest drop. New listings, which also fell in all the metros, declined 39.6% in Oakland and 34.7% in Anaheim, the third and fifth biggest drops, respectively.

Nationally, the median home sale price was $381,169, down 1.1% from a year earlier, the smallest decline in more than three months. Price declines have been shrinking for the last seven weeks.

The total number of U.S. homes for

sale dropped 6% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending June 11, the biggest decline in 13 months. New listings dropped 23%, continuing a 10-month streak of double-digit declines. Those add to the deepening postpandemic inventory shortage; there are 39% fewer homes for sale now than there were five years ago, in June 2018.

Mortgage Company President Convicted In Fraud Scheme Case

The former president of a purported mortgage “investment” company, Robert Sedlar, has been convicted of 100 felony counts for operating a mortgage fraud scheme throughout California, the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta announced.

foreclosure consultant. Rogers and Audrey Gan entered guilty pleas before trial, and Sedlar, president of the company, proceeded to trial in March 2023 on all counts. Sedlar was found guilty of conspiracy as well as multiple counts of filing a false document, grand theft, elder abuse, and prohibited acts by a foreclosure consultant. He will be sentenced on July 21.

California Home Values Rise In May: Zillow

California’s six biggest metros all saw increases in home values from April to May, according to a Zillow report released in mid-June.

Los Angeles: Home values increased 1.6% from April to May to $890,238. Mortgage payments (with 20% down payment) were $4,598, an increase of $2,098 from 2019. Year over year, newly pending sales were down 23.3%, new inventory was down 30.9%, and total inventory was down 19.8%.

San Francisco: Home values increased 1.4% to $1,128,962. Mortgages were $5,848, up $2,404 from 2019. Newly pending sales were down 9.3%, new inventory declined 31.4%, and total inventory dropped 22.6%.

The scheme resulted in a combined loss of over $7 million. The victims, including people who were elderly and in financial distress, sought mortgage relief services from Grand View Financial LLC in the counties of San Diego, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Placer, Solano, Mendocino, San Francisco, El Dorado, and Sacramento.

The operators of Grand View Financial - Sedlar, Steven Rogers, and Audrey Gan - were previously indicted by a grand jury in the Sacramento Superior Court for conspiracy, grand theft, elder abuse, filing false or forged documents in a public office, and engaging in a prohibited act as a

Riverside: Home values increased 0.9% to $552,267. Mortgages were $2,865, up $1,401 from 2019. Newly pending home sales were down 24%, new inventory was down 35.1%, and total inventory was down 15.3%.

San Diego: Home values were up 1.5% to $864,912. Mortgages were $4,462, up $2,165 from 2019. Newly pending sales were down 29.9%, new inventory was down 34.3%, and total inventory was down 29.4%.

Sacramento: Home values were up 1.2% to $565,368. Mortgages were $2,932, up $1,288 from 2019. Newly pending home sales were down 21.3%, new inventory was down 32.5%, and total inventory was down 26.7%.

San Jose: Home values were up 1.9% to $1,457,497. Mortgages were $7,538, up $3,156 from 2019. Newly pending home

A look at the news that’s important for the mortgage industry across the state of California.

> Combined financial loss in California Mortgage Company fraud scheme case.

NEWS NUGGETS

Los Angeles had the fourth highest total of foreclosure starts, 700.

1.4%

> Typical home values grew by 1.4% from April to May, the strongest monthly appreciation since last June.

Nationwide, one in every 3,967 housing units had a foreclosure filing in May. A total of 35,196 U.S. properties had foreclosure filings - default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions - up 7% from a month ago and up 14% from a year ago.

Where Homebuyers Are Finding Affordability

sales were down 18.1%, new inventory was down 29.2%, and total inventory was down 25.1%.

Nationally, typical home values grew by 1.4% from April to May, the strongest monthly appreciation since last June. That's a few degrees cooler than the previous two springs, but hotter than in 2018 or 2019. The typical home value is $346,856 — up 0.9% over last May and up 3.4% from a recent low in January.

A new loan on a home priced at the typical value in the U.S. would feature monthly mortgage payments just shy of $1,800. That monthly payment is 22% higher than last year, double that of May 2019, and the second highest on record after October 2022.

The flow of new listings was down 23% year over year in May — a milder drop than in April, but nearly equal to that of March. Sales measured by newly pending listings climbed 9.5% from April, shrinking the year-over-year decline to 18% in May and marking steady improvement since March.

California Has 2nd Highest Number Of Foreclosure Starts

California had 2,451 foreclosure starts in May, the second highest total behind only Florida (2,901), according to ATTOM in a report released June 8.

Of those major metropolitan areas with populations greater than 1 million,

American Home Shield looked at data from Freddie Mac to see which major metropolitan areas are experiencing an outflow of homebuyers, as well as where they are going and how much they could save on monthly mortgage payments. Five California metros are in the top 20. Here’s a look at where homebuyers are going.

No. 19 Sacramento: Estimated mortgage payment: $3,000. Top affordable destination: Yuba City ($2,400 estimated mortgage payment)

Many Sacramento homebuyers have their eyes set on suburban Yuba City as they look to trade high costs of living for a city where most residents can afford to own their homes. Sacramento politicians are facing pushback as they attempt to add homeless shelters.

No. 13 San Diego: Estimated mortgage payment: $3,800. Top affordable destination: Riverside, ($2,900 estimated mortgage payment)

The so-called Inland Empire, centered on San Bernardino and Riverside, has been luring millennials looking for affordable housing for at least the past decade—a trend that only intensified with the pandemic's effects on the cost of living in Los Angeles County.

No. 12 San Jose: Estimated mortgage payment: $4,700. Top affordable destination: San Francisco ($4,200 estimated mortgage payment).

California home prices may feel like a totally different ball game for much of the country, but high-earning San Jose homeowners are cashing in and moving into San Francisco, which is nearly equally as expensive. San Francisco has

experienced slower housing growth than comparable cities - including Austin, Texas, and Seattle - over the past decade due to permitting fewer new builds, according to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis published in 2022.

No. 4 San Francisco: Estimated mortgage payment: $4,200. Top affordable destination: Sacramento ($3,000 estimated mortgage payment)

Like many other business centers, San Francisco, the gateway to the Pacific, is currently undergoing a post-pandemic shift in culture as offices sit vacant. Retailers and other businesses have begun to exit the city, citing a rise in shoplifting. Homebuyers are finding a booming arts scene, a wide array of festivals, and lower housing costs in nearby Sacramento.

No. 2 Los Angeles: Estimated mortgage payment: $3,800. Top affordable destination: Riverside ($2,900 estimated mortgage payment).

Like those in San Diego, Los Angelenos continue to be swayed by the promise of an easier cost of living in the Inland Empire, which comprises Riverside and San Bernardino. Riverside, in particular, is where children can attend above-average schools compared with the rest of the state, and most residents there can afford to own their homes, according to Niche.

California Has 2nd Largest Home Equity Loss

California homeowners had the second largest annual equity loss - $59,600 - in the first quarter of this year, according to the CoreLogic Homeowner Equity Insights report released June 8. Only Washington ($74,300) had a bigger equity loss.

Nationally, CoreLogic analysis shows U.S. homeowners with mortgages (roughly 63% of all properties) saw their equity decrease by a total of $108.4 billion since the first quarter of 2022, a loss of 0.7% year over year.

Despite these declines, home equity remains solid, with the number of

underwater properties unchanged since the fourth quarter of 2022. And years of rapid appreciation in Los Angeles and San Francisco, which have negative equity shares of 0.9%, is keeping homeowners in these metros in good standing.

Residential Housing Activity Slows Further: Fed Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Activity in residential real estate slowed further over the reporting period of April through early May, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco wrote for its report in The Beige Book, released May 31.

Contacts across the district reported stable demand for single-family homes, although high mortgage rates restrained prices. Inventories of existing singlefamily homes were low, and owners appeared hesitant to forego their existing low-rate mortgages, the Fed noted in its report. One contact in Southern California noted that new multifamily construction put downward pressure on rents in some areas. Despite reported improvement in the availability and cost of materials, construction of new homes was flat to down as developers responded to higher financing costs, the report said.

Economic activity in the Twelfth District expanded somewhat during the April through mid-May reporting period. Employment levels were stable and overall labor market conditions remained tight, accompanied by wage increases that showed some signs of leveling off.

The Twelfth District covers the nine western states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washingtonplus American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Nationally, economic activity was little changed in April and early May. Residential real estate activity picked up in most of the 12 districts despite continued low inventories of homes for sale.

The Beige Book is a Federal Reserve System publication about current economic conditions across

Million

the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. It characterizes regional economic conditions and prospects based on a variety of mostly qualitative information, gathered directly from each District’s sources.

San Jose Has Lowest Percentage Of All-Cash Purchases: Redfin

San Jose (17.9%) and Oakland (18.6%) had the first and third lowest, respectively, percentages of all-cash purchases of homes in April across 40 of the most populous metros, according to a Redfin report released June 7.

Nationwide, one-third (33.4%) of home purchases were made in cash in April, up from 30.7% a year earlier and comparable with February’s 33.5% share, which was the highest in nine years. Other key points of the report:

• All-cash purchases increased the third most in Riverside, by 16.6% to 40.4%.

• Down payments and down payment percentages were highest in San Francisco ($370,563, 25%), San Jose ($360,000, 23.5%), and Anaheim ($227,500, 20%).

• Riverside (44.2% decline to $44,663) had the third-biggest drop in down payment dollar amount. .

• FHA loans were most common in Riverside (30.7%) and least common in San Jose (1.6%), San Francisco (1.8%), and Anaheim (4.2%).

• Jumbo loans were most common in the Bay Area: San Jose (45.6%), San

Francisco (39.0%), and Oakland (20.3%). Use of jumbo loans declined in 37 of the metros Redfin analyzed, with the biggest drop in San Francisco (25.5%) and the third biggest in Oakland (15.1%).

$16M Program To Increase Farmworkers’ Homeownership

California is awarding $16 million in grants to increase homeownership for farmworkers. The grants will support five programs statewide to build or purchase homes for lower-income farmworkers and advance programs that help farmworkers become or remain homeowners through mortgage assistance.

The Department of Housing and Community Development awarded today’s grants through the Joe Serna, Jr. Housing Grant program to advance homeownership development projects, self-help technical assistance projects, mortgage assistance programs, and programs for the acquisition of manufactured housing for agricultural workers.

The grants will be awarded to:

San Mateo County, Half Moon Bay: $5 million for the purchase of 28 manufactured housing units. Fresno County - California Center for Cooperative Development: $5 million for the acquisition of manufactured housing.

Santa Maria - People’s SelfHelp Housing: $4.004 million for a homeownership development project and technical assistance for self-help housing. The development project will have 49 total homes with 40 of those being affordable for people at 40-80% AMI; of these, 16 homes will be reserved for farmworker families. The community will be built in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County.

Watsonville - Habitat For Humanity Monterey Bay: $1.202,500 to assist five units with funding under the Firsttime Homebuyer Mortgage Assistance Program and Technical Assistance for Self-Help Housing Grant.

Kern, Madera, Merced - Self-Help Enterprises: $999,370 to provide firsttime homebuyer mortgage assistance.

> To increase Farmworkers Homeownership, California is awarded $16

and it happens WAY too much.

Being a mortgage loan originator is tough in California, one of the nation’s most competitive real estate markets. One of the hardest elements in this environment? According to the state’s top producing brokers, it is finding a loyal real estate partner who won’t ask for a kickback for referrals.

It’s dirty; it’s shady; it’s unfair. Although it’s not your everyday phone call, brokers say it’s not uncommon either.

real dilemma for loan officers,” said Pablo Martinez, Equity Smart Home Loans CEO, who has dealt with this since he started in the business almost a quarter-century ago.

Brian Cooke, co-founder and vice president of sales, said this type of activity is more prevalent in hypercompetitive markets, such as Southern California.

Cali Kickbacks?

“My team member told me, ‘I don't know why, but I talked to 10 Realtors. Almost 10 of them told [asked] me that if I refer to you, are you gonna pay me? How much are you gonna pay me?’” said Loan Factory CEO Thuan Nguyen, one of the top producing originators in the nation.

It’s Illegal But Hard To Prove

BY KATIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER, CALIFORNIA BROKER MAGAZINE

As any licensed originator and real estate agent should know, requesting or providing a kickback, fee, or anything of value in exchange for a referral is a violation of section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). In criminal cases, a person in violation of Section 8 can be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned for up to one year, according to California RESPA law and the California Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

“This is something that's been ongoing in the industry for a long time, and it's a

“Southern California is known for this … the listing agents forcing buyers to get qualified with their preferred broker who then tries to steal the deal away,” Cooke said. “There’s a lot of cat-and-mouse games here in Southern California.”

He has gotten a few calls from Realtors and real estate agents himself asking for kickbacks, and said he flatly responds with, “No, I'm not gonna lose my license.” But originators who are desperate for business may be more apt to give in, he said. However, that’s all anecdotal information since complaints and enforcement actions are not common, even if it is happening. And the agencies that regulate these actions say they don’t know how widespread the problem is for a number of reasons.

POLICING PROBLEMS

Loan originators, real estate agents, consumers, or essentially anyone with proof, may report the guilty parties to the Department of Real Estate (DRE) or the

Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) – both of which are responsible for the licensing of originators and real estate agents in California. However, it’s important to note that the DRE does not have the jurisdiction in California to enforce the federal RESPA. Instead, they will forward the complaint to the proper agency that does have enforcement powers, such as the DFPI or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The DFPI can enforce RESPA in California if the real estate agent and/ or originator is registered with the agency. However, it is possible that a person is licensed only with DRE and not DFPI. If so, then only the CFPB can enforce a direct violation of RESPA.

A spokesperson for the California DRE, responsible for originator licensing, said the agency does not

mortgage broker.

“Also, when we do receive a complaint, the complainant often times declines to give us the name of the licensee or licensees engaged in the allegedly wrongful practice, which makes it difficult for us to investigate,” the DRE spokesperson said.

Complainants also tend to leave out the company name of the broker and real estate agent committing this wrongful practice, the DRE spokesperson said, making an investigation impossible.

Why would someone attempt to report this activity without releasing names? Perhaps, because they don’t really want this specific person to get in trouble, but they do want this type of activity to stop.

“Some complainants hesitate to name specific people and companies because they are reporting or complaining about competitors and/ or members of their community,” the DRE spokesperson said. “Additionally, when someone files a complaint with us, they are often needed as witnesses to testify at administrative hearings, and some complainants are not willing to do that.”

A TIT-FOR-TAT GAME?

Another reason why complainants may not mention names: the wellbeing of one’s business depends

heavily on reputation. So if a mortgage broker reports a real estate agent or another mortgage broker for illegal activity, there could be consequences. A broker or real estate agent does not need to do anything bad to earn a bad name. Everyone has connections. Essentially, it comes down to, “if you snitch on me, then I’ll tell everyone I know to never work with you again.”

A spokesperson for the CFPB said it does not comment on enforcement activity, including how many times enforcement action has been taken on this issue within the past year, because that information is confidential. However, by researching the bureau’s enforcement action page, it seems the last time the CFPB has taken action on this particular issue was in 2017. Prospect Mortgage was fined $3.5 million while Re/Max Gold Coast Realtors, a real estate broker in California, paid a combined $495,000 in consumer relief, repayment of illgotten gains, and penalties.

The CFPB did reveal that it’s more common to receive complaints from industry participants than consumers. But Nguyen theorizes that might be because consumers aren’t aware it’s happening, and industry participants might be disincentivized to report one another.

“I know my competitors. They're doing this,” Nguyen said. In his opinion, regulators only look at

Loan Factory CEO Thuan Nguyen

complaints from consumers. “If we are competitors and we report each other, they don't really care,” he added.

Nuygen said it’s not guaranteed the DRE, DFPI, or any agency will take the complaint seriously if the broker is reporting a competitor. And it’s not likely the consumer will realize their agent is up to some shady behavior. Or, at least, not until it’s too late.

“They think that a Realtor is a professional, and will refer them to

recommendations. A recent bureau study found consumers could save $100 a month on their mortgages by comparison shopping.”

But, realistically, is a broker going to suggest a client to shop around? Likely not. A real estate agent is more likely to make that suggestion, unless they're receiving a kickback from a particular lender or broker, of course.

The National Association of Realtors did not respond to requests for comment and the California Association of Realtors declined a request for comment.

WHAT PROOF?

Still, the main problem among those who encounter this is the struggle to obtain proof. Martinez said that’s likely why policing this activity is

“You have to get the kickback to commit the crime,” Martinez said. “And I can't really snitch on them, because I don't know if they're really getting a kickback or if they're just testing me out … It's like talking about a theft, but the theft wasn't done.”

Typically, if this happens, the real estate agent and loan officer verbally agree on a kickback either over the phone or during an in-person meeting, and recorded conversations are not the norm. In California, for example, both parties need to give permission

before a call is recorded.

“A lot of people are uncomfortable and some conversations you don't want to record,” Martinez said. “Maybe that's something that maybe down the road people may be more comfortable with, but I'm not comfortable (with it). I don't give you permission to record the call cause I don't know what's gonna come outta my mouth, you know? And it's not because I'm doing something shady. Maybe I just said something that can be taken out of context.”

It’s also not a viable solution for the broker to tell the client that their real estate agent is attempting to do something illegal. The homebuying process is stressful enough for the borrower, Martinez explained, and the worst thing to do is get them involved with internal drama. It only spooks them away from working with either person.

TOUGH TO RESIST

In a tough market, originators can have a hard time resisting these offers and allowing agents to go with their competitors instead. It’s also hard for agents not to ask for this referral fee when their field is suffering the same fate as the rest of the mortgage industry. And, ultimately, who’s going to know, right? The deal between an originator and agent is mutually

Brian Cooke, co-founder and vice president of sales, Sunnyhill Financial

destructive. After the payment is made, neither would snitch on the other. Everyone would leave the table happy, except for the borrower, of course.

It’s the broker’s and agent’s responsibility to get the best deal possible for their client. However, if the broker is providing a kickback, they need to get that money somewhere, which is most likely their client. The broker raises compensation, increasing the borrower’s interest rates, in order to pay the agent.

UNEXPECTED CHALLENGES

Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant who began his own broker shop with no experience working in the mortgage industry, quickly climbed to the top thanks to his revolutionary mortgage technology MOSO. The platform, built by Nguyen and his friends in Silicon Valley, automates much of the loan process

company to excel during the refinance boom, and Nguyen was famed as Rocket Mortgage’s number one broker partner. But when the refinance market dried up, things took a drastic turn.

Nguyen said his business was directto-consumer, so he never had a reason to work with real estate agents. About 95% of his business were refinances, but when rates suddenly ratcheted up, that business disappeared. In 2022, Nguyen was forced to cut his staff in half in order to survive, and he redirected his focus to expanding his referral network.

“I went out there, met a lot of Realtors … learned about their problems. I want to know their problems so that I can help them,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen updated his MOSO system with features to cater to real estate agents, such as sending them updates on mortgage rates and their clients’ applications. Still, countless Realtors and real estate agents in California are asking for compensation on their referrals. When the kickback isn’t provided, they simply move onto the next

Some of Nguyen’s loan officers even asked him to

give in to the agents’ demands for referral compensation. An agent only is asking for $500 to $1,000 — not a lot, they said, and then the lender, agent, and client will be happy. But Nguyen declined. First of all, because it’s illegal, and second, they actually couldn’t afford it.

“We want to give the client the best rate,” Nguyen said. “And, in order to do so, we already cut our profit down to the minimal level. So we don't have money to pay them. In order to pay the Realtor, we have to raise our compensation and the borrower rate will go up.”

Nguyen claims he was able to turn this around by building his company’s reputation. “The interesting thing is many who demanded illegal kickbacks are now impressed by our work ethic,” Nguyen said. “They know that we are clean, and we have good service. So they come back to us and ask us to help them with their personal loan on their family's loans.”

THERE IS A SOLUTION

This down market doesn’t just affect loan originators and mortgage companies. It also affects real estate agents — an industry that has also grown in capacity throughout the pandemic as well. Their story is not all that different from originators.

Equity Smart Home Loans CEO Pablo Martinez

From May 2020 to May 2021, the state Department of Real Estate reports the number of licensed real estate agents grew from 422,496 to 454,615. (Some contraction has taken place with 435,770 licensed as of May 2023.)

Not only did the housing market boom during the pandemic, providing real estate agents lots of business, but many were also given tens of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief loans that have been mostly forgiven.

The federal government authorized more than 300,000 loans to real estate entities claiming just one employee, adding up to $3.9 billion through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with nearly 80% of that amount already forgiven, according to a report from NBC News. The government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee reported that the typical loan was $13,000 on average; 146 real estate companies across the nation received at least $90,000 each.

During the boom, commissions shot through the roof. Nationwide, total commissions were $76.2 billion in 2019, $85.9 billion in 2020 and $98.8 billion in 2021, according to Steve Murray, a partner at Real Trends Consulting. But as interest rates rose up and inventory dwindled even further, the good times faded.

It’s no wonder these agents are

looking to get some extra cash where they can get it. In California, this strategy could be particularly effective considering how competitive the state is. Nowadays, Nguyen says a real estate agent who closes one deal a month in California is a superstar.

The pressure is on for both originators and agents in this market environment. Many originators — especially those that are new to the purchase side of the business — are scrambling to make these connections and can’t afford to keep turning agents away.

There are strategies to salvage this relationship without giving into their demands or kicking them to the curb. Martinez, from Equity Home Loans, suggests that brokers recommend that these agents take on dual roles — originators and real estate agents.

“It's more about educating and having them understand,” Martinez said. “It's only a 20-hour course. And you can do it online. You pay the fees, you get the endorsement, then you can start originating loans and get a commission from it. Whether you do partial work or you do all the work, it doesn't matter. Now you can legitimately earn a commission on the transaction.”

Note that not all lenders will permit agents to do work on the loan. So if a broker were to offer this opportunity

to a real estate agent, it may actually convince them.

Cooke, a San Francisco mortgage broker, said there are many lenders that solicit Realtors who are licensed as originators. He also recommends that brokers offer to split marketing expenses.

“There's plenty of ways to achieve this, such as co-marketing opportunities for lead generation and making referrals through each other's networks,” Cooke said. “That's the right thing to do. Co-market on Zillow or wherever. However you get business, you can co-market and share the expenses.”

That being said, some people are stubborn. They might threaten to drag a broker’s name through the mud or send all their business to a competitor if the broker doesn’t comply or says they’ll report the agent. If that happens, it’s better to drop them like a hot potato and allow karma to strike back.

“The consumer is the one that gets hurt,” Nguyen said. “The loan officer, in order to have the money to pay the Realtor, will raise the rate a little bit. Nobody is gonna catch it. I feel bad because both of them (loan officer and agent) have a fiduciary [duty] to help the consumer get the best deal possible.”

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Young & Hungry

Tiffany Dawson’s Rapid Success

BY KATIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER, CALIFORNIA BROKER MAGAZINE

Even the best of us envy those who achieve success quickly. It’s an absolute gut punch if that success comes from someone young with little to no experience in the mortgage industry while so many others struggle to get by. But few can argue Tiffany Dawson, senior loan officer for New Leaf Funding, doesn’t deserve it.

A California native, Dawson, 36, joined the industry as an originator at the start of 2022, and was able to complete 24 loans within her first year — a notable feat considering how turbulent that market was, with interest rates shooting up and inventory bottoming out. That sudden change shook the earth beneath most originators’ feet, but not Dawson’s. In recognition of that, after less than a year in the industry she was promoted to senior loan officer by her sales manager Stacy Brian.

“She’s better than 97% of the loan officers currently in our office,” Brian said. “She came in during a time when the market was slowing and, you know, she never had anything handed to her — she’s hungry. Other loan officers get complacent, because doing refinances is easy. She’s a great example of what to do and what attitude to take when things get tough.”

For Dawson there was an early recognition of how the market was changing.

“I knew the market was shifting,” Dawson said. “We were still in COVID, so it was going to be different than any other market. I also knew rates were going up, so the refi market was dying. That's why my focus became purchasing.”

All but one loan Dawson originated last year were purchases for first-time homebuyers. They are her target audience, because her goal is keep those clients coming back for every transaction they make until they decide to finish their portfolio.

When Dawson told her colleagues that her goal was to make six figures in her first year, they shared their doubts, likely thinking this naive woman had no idea how brutal this industry can be.

“I shocked a lot of folks in my brokerage,” Dawson said. “Some of them had to apologize because they definitely pumped some negative thoughts in my mind at the very beginning when I told them what my goal was for the year. And, you know, I surpassed some of them.”

Well, those colleagues certainly learned their lesson about underestimating newcomers, and soon others will, too.

INVESTOR PIPE DREAMS

Dawson gathered most of her knowledge about the real estate market as a young investor. She bought her first home at 22 years old, with no help from family members or friends. In today’s market, that’s pretty much unheard of, but Dawson is making this possible for her young clients as well.

“I used to cry about it. I didn't think it was possible,” Dawson

“I shocked a lot of folks in my brokerage. Some of them had to apologize because they definitely pumped some negative thoughts in my mind...”

> Tiffany Dawson

said. “I would talk to a lot of homeowners, whether they were in my family or in my business circle, and just knew that it was something I had to work towards. I had to start with what I could start with, which happened to be a condo.”

Dawson purchased her first home, a condo, in Paramount City, which was not at all where she expected to live. But it’s what she and her then-boyfriend, now husband, could afford at the time, which is a lesson she often reiterates to her clients today.

“We purchased that property, lived there for a couple of years, and some people call it ‘house hacking.’ We used the FHA loan to get our first property, which then in turn became an investment property,” Dawson said.

Dawson then moved into a singlefamily home in Carson, Calif. Her tenants paid the mortgage on the condo while she covered her new mortgage. About 11 years later, she decided it was time to sell.

“The advice that I was always given with selling real estate is do not sell real estate unless you're taking that money to buy something bigger and better. So that's what we did,” Dawson said. “We made close to $300,000 in profit off of that one condo. And we reinvested in single- family homes, also in California.”

The pandemic real estate boom also did Dawson many favors. Although rates were low, many people told her to wait for the crash and pointed out the moratorium on tenants paying rent made the landlord’s job harder. But Dawson said she’s lucky she did because she’s made nearly half a million in equity from her single-family home and the garage conversions.

While she was building up her investor portfolio, Dawson was working a full-time job as an HR manager for a nonprofit, Crystal Stairs. In 2021, she had earned enough rental profit to replace her income, then jumped into being a loan officer full-time.

It was her own loan officer, Stacy Brian, now her sales manager for New Leaf Funding, who brought her into the industry in the first place. Dawson started referring a bunch of homebuyers to Brian, and eventually Brian suggested that she should become a loan officer herself. No one anticipated, however, how rapidly she would rise to success.

MAKING MINI DAWSONS

Although Dawson muscled through her real estate investing career and now her loan officer career without much guidance, she’s determined to be a mentor for anyone else chasing that dream — even her 4-year-old daughter.

Dawson said her young daughter is very into real estate and they often go to open houses together.

“If our contractors are working, she goes up to them, calls them by name, and asks them what they're working on,” Dawson said. “Or if she knows there's a task that needs to be completed, she'll ask them when they'll be complete or when they're starting that one. So I'm training her in that way, but that's not something that I personally had.”

Working with young people is Dawson’s passion. Last year, she helped two young men, ages 25 and 26, buy a duplex, and this year she managed to finance their next property, a single-family home. This was essentially the same “house hacking” strategy Dawson used to start her own real estate investing career.

Specifically, Dawson seeks out “folks who have their head on straight,” meaning they're in a stable career, they’re ready to save money, and they have good credit — essentially, the same position she was in at 22 years old.

According to Modex, nearly half of her borrowers are FHA; all of them make anywhere between $60K to $120K a year.

“A lot of them don't have a ton of money coming into it,” Dawson said. “Credit has been all over the spectrum. I've had the low end, the high end, but they're not trust fund babies or anything like that. No one's getting gift funds. They're just hard-working people that are trying to accomplish something, and they're willing to be coachable and get to the finish line with me.”

A SUDDEN & UNEXPECTED FOLLOWING

Although Dawson did not actively seek out Black homebuyers to work with, she was delighted to find that many of them were gravitating toward her. Initially, she was just happy to be getting clients, but she eventually realized what a strong connection she had with the Black community.

Dawson suspects these homebuyers

“The advice that I was always given with selling real estate is do not sell real estate unless you’re taking that money to buy something bigger and better.”

> Tiffany Dawson

like to work with someone who is also Black and have an easier time building trust with someone similar to them. But, another important aspect in how she gained this following, was through the education and training programs she offers to consumers.

“We're further behind when it comes to financial literacy and having wealth as a whole,” Dawson said. “A lot of that has to do with access and just overall information.”

Recently, Dawson was on an investor call and every single person on that call was Black, which Dawson was proud to see. What she was not proud of, however, was the fact that the lady hosting the call wanted $30,000 from each person to help them become investors.

“Most of the folks on there have said they had never purchased a primary home before and that they didn't have credit. They didn't have money, they were trying to figure it out, and she recommended business funding for them to be able to pay her so she could tell them how to do it. And I was like, that is crazy!” Dawson said. “So I want to help those folks who are willing and ready to learn the information, and get it for free.”

Dawson also believes that being Black herself allows them to trust her. She knows exactly how those people feel; she was once a young woman trying to do something totally different, something her family has never done before. She knows what it’s like going up to someone in a suit who doesn’t look like anyone she would usually speak to and having to express all her concerns to him. It’s scary, because that person may not understand her challenges or her situation.

“So I wanted to make sure that I was a regular person,” Dawson said. “When you go on my Instagram, I'm not in a suit and tie, like I have on leggings and sweats. Like I'm a regular girl from the city.”

In fact, most of Dawson’s client base comes from Instagram (@ TiffanytheLender), where she has over 4,000 followers. One particular young lady, Danielle, formerly worked with

Dawson at Target and reached out to her on Instagram, saying she was very impressed with Dawson’s career and wants to be just like her when she grows up. Danielle asked what she needed to do to make that happen, and Dawson was ready to be her guide. They worked on paying off her debt, saving her money, then got her into a single-family home all by herself.

TAKE IT FROM DAWSON

Dawson’s Instagram also gained the recognition of other loan originators, one of whom she is currently mentoring.

“I've built a pretty decent following on Instagram … and they're directed straight to my personal website,” Dawson said. “I

someone in something that you haven't experienced yourself,” Dawson said.

She is currently mentoring two originators, one being a dual licensed agent and originator who does, in fact, own a home. Dawson has a whole list of topics mentees can choose to focus on, such as content creation, presence, and branding. She’s also willing to assist originators with any questions they may have, which is a big help for those who work remotely and have no one else to turn to. A few times, Dawson has even sat in on a three-way call with the originator and client to help answer questions. It’s still the mentee’s client, Dawson confirms, she’s just there to provide support.

Even the naysayers at her own brokerage have asked Dawson for advice after seeing how successful she was in 2022.

really wanted to focus on self-branding, especially when I first started, because obviously New Leaf is not my company. At some point I will make one, but I will still be Tiffany The Lender, under my company, not so much promoting someone else's.”

Dawson’s mentorship program for mortgage loan originators teaches them how to get more leads, create personal brands, create content for social media, so they, too, can have a goal of six figures in a year.

Unlike some sales coaches, Dawson is a successful producer and knows what the homebuying process is like as a first-timer and an investor.

“You might have loan officers or Realtors who don't really own real estate or don't really have a portfolio, and I get that people have to be in an industry to make money and get there. But I also find it difficult that you could truly lead

“The refi business was ending, and folks were so used to the leads just pouring in,” Dawson said. “The folks in my office, they started coming up to me like, ‘Hey, what are you doing now? What, what's going on? What do I need to do? How can I change? How can I get this business that you have?’”

If Dawson’s success teaches us anything, it’s not to underestimate these newcomers. While everyone was stuffing themselves with refi money during the pandemic house boom, originators like Dawson were gearing up for the market shift. Now she’s on top of her game in purchases, making six figures a year, and building up a real estate portfolio that will be worth millions one day.

Although Dawson lacks experience, her hunger for success makes up for it ten-fold. Ultimately, her story proves that even newer originators who have entered the market during or after the pandemic housing boom, are as capable as anyone to reach success.

“It is going to take work,” Dawson said, “but it will pay off.”

Dawson’s mentorship program for mortgage loan originators teaches them how to get more leads, create personal brands, create content for social media, so they, too, can make six figures in a year.

ON THE MOVE

David Hayes

Aimee Eller

Alex Urmersbach

Paul Orlando

Donna Corley

Ed Gill

Manny Alvarez

loanDepot Names Former CoreLogic Exec

Its New CFO loanDepot continued its shakeup of its corporate leadership, announcing on it has hired a CoreLogic executive as its chief financial officer and other C-suite changes.

The Irvine-based loanDepot, the nation’s thirdlargest mortgage lender, said the changes are part of its previously announced Vision 2025 plan.

The latest change includes the appointment of David Hayes, 48, as CFO, the company said. He succeeds Patrick Flanagan, who will leave the company after a transition period.

He joins loanDepot from CoreLogic Inc., where he most recently served as executive, finance and treasurer. In that role he oversaw financial management of CoreLogic’s business operations, including budgeting and forecasting, strategic planning, M&A, pricing, and capital expenditures. He also managed global enterprise liquidity, cash flow forecasting, investments, debt and capital markets, hedging, banking relationships, and corporate insurance.

Before joining CoreLogic in 2010, Hayes held various senior leadership positions across finance, treasury, and interest rate risk management at Prospect Mortgage LLC, and Indymac FSB. He has also served on the boards of ComplianceEase and Symbility.

Hayes will be based at the company’s Irvine headquarters, and will be responsible for managing loanDepot’s financial functions, including its

accounting, treasury, tax, corporate finance, and investor and lender relations activities, the company said.

An employment agreement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states that Hayes will start with a three-year contract and a base salary of $500,000, as well as an annual bonus of with a “target” of 140% of base salary (or $700,000) and a maximum of 200% of base salary (or $1 million). Hayes also will be eligible for an annual equity award with a target value of $1.65 million.

Lender Price Hires Technology Veteran As New Chief Strategy Officer

Lender Price, a Pasadenabased provider of digital lending technology for the mortgage industry, has appointed industry veteran and financial services technology leader Paul Orlando as its chief strategy officer (CSO).

As CSO, Orlando will lead several technology initiatives, overseeing areas such as corporate strategy, product innovation, and process enhancements, the company said.

Orlando has held several leadership roles throughout his 36-year career, including serving as chief information officer at United Wholesale Mortgage, Home Point, and Flagstar Bank.

“Paul’s extensive background in financial technology will no doubt provide a positive impact on our platform, our customers, and the Lender Price organization across a number of different areas,” said Dawar Alimi, co-founder and CEO of Lender Price. “We believe

Paul’s extensive leadership experience and his numerous contributions over the course of his career will help Lender Price continue driving innovation for our customers and the mortgage industry in general.”

Alimi added that Orlando’s proven experience “will help us continue developing award-winning technology that delivers even more value for new and existing clients.”

Orlando said he is excited to join Lender Price. “When I was first introduced to the company in 2016 at the MBA Annual conference in Boston, I knew that they were a company to watch,” he said. “Their innovative technology and approach to the product and pricing space are revolutionary and opened the door for our clients to be able to evaluate not only individual loans but entire portfolios quickly and efficiently.”

PRMG Welcomes

Aimee Eller As New General Counsel

Primary Residential Mortgage Group Inc. (PRMG), an independent mortgage banker and residential home lender operating nationwide that is based in Corona, has hired Aimee Eller as its new general counsel.

Eller has over 25 years of experience in mortgage banking. She’s a native Hoosier who graduated from Hanover College and the Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis, now known as the McKinney School of Law.

She is a well-rounded mortgage banking professional who graduated from the MBA Residential Future Leaders Program in October 2022 at the MBA

Annual Conference. Her team won the final project presentation. Eller can lead IMBs of any size and most recently led the legal, compliance, QC, and risk management departments of a retail IMB.

Over the span of her career, she has supported every lending channel and operational unit in a company. She knows the lifecycle of the mortgage loan and understands the customer, loan originator, and account executive experience from application to closing and even beyond. Most recently, Aimee has launched servicing retention and worked closely with operations to launch TPO lending.

“We are very excited to have Aimee join our executive senior leadership team and head up our Legal & Compliance Department in her role as General Counsel. We are confident her expertise in legal and compliance will continue to serve the organization and provide guidance to protect and serve the PRMG team,” said Paul Rozo, PRMG CEO.

Eller lives with her husband, three children, father-in-law, and two dogs. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tabletop games with her family, reading, drinking wine on her porch, and keeping the ‘56 Nash Metropolitan inherited from her mother in driving condition.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Announces Changes To Its Board

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust announced that Donna Corley, former executive vice president

and head of single-family business at Freddie Mac, joined its board of trustees and that Marianne Sullivan stepped down, both effective June 1, 2023.

“I am excited to announce Donna Corley’s election to our Board of Trustees,” said Chairman and CEO David Spector. “Her expertise in singlefamily housing, including in capital markets and mortgage credit, combined with her considerable experience working alongside regulators and other industry participants, will undoubtedly provide a unique and invaluable perspective. We welcome her arrival with great enthusiasm and look forward to her many future contributions.”

Corley spent her nearly 30-year career at Freddie Mac. From 2019 to 2022, she served as executive vice president and head of single-family business, responsible for managing a portfolio of mortgage assets totaling nearly $3 trillion. Her responsibilities included managing client relationships, optimizing asset acquisitions and pricing, establishing credit and servicing policies, and ensuring sound practices in managing credit, counterparty, compliance and operational risks. Corley previously served as chief risk officer for the single-family business from 2014 to 2019, and senior vice president of credit pricing, risk transfer and securitization from 2011 to 2014, along with other roles.

Corley has served as a board member of Bite Me Cancer since 2018, where she

is co-chair of the Operations Committee. Corley holds a B.S. in business administration from The American University and earned a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Kiavi Appoints Alex Urmersbach As

Chief Financial Officer

Kiavi, a provider of financing to real estate investors, today announced the appointment of Alex Urmersbach as chief financial officer. In this role, Urmersbach will lead Kiavi’s financial strategy and operations, including the company’s finance, accounting, capital markets, and business operations functions. Urmersbach’s deep experience in the lending and mortgage sectors will further bolster Kiavi’s position as a reliable, trusted financing partner to real estate investors.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Alex to Kiavi’s leadership team,” said Arvind Mohan, CEO of Kiavi. “Alex’s extensive experience in driving growth via innovative, value-creating financial strategies will further enhance Kiavi’s ability to reliably serve our customers across the nation as well as our capital markets partners.”

Urmersbach brings more than 20 years of experience in financial management, driving growth, and operating scale to his new role. Prior to joining Kiavi, he held Chief Financial Officer positions at private lender Athas Capital Group, global business process outsourcer Teleperformance, and mortgage lender Panorama Mortgage Group. In addition, he held leadership positions

at HomeBridge (previously Prospect Mortgage) and Bank of America. Urmersbach attended the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and holds an MBA from Universität Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join Kiavi, especially as the company continues to demonstrate impressive growth and differentiation in this challenging macroeconomic environment,” said Urmersbach. “I look forward to working with the Kiavi team to build on its already strong foundation, and am deeply committed to the organization’s mission of providing real estate investors with the capital they need to scale their businesses and revitalize aged homes across the country,” he concluded.

Alvarez And Gill Join Forces As BridgeCounsel Strategies LLC

The former Commissioner and Senior Deputy Commissioner of California’s Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (DFPI) have partnered to offer strategic and government-advisory services to financial institutions navigating the state and federal regulatory landscape. Through BridgeCounsel Strategies LLC, Manny Alvarez and Ed Gill will combine their experience in the public sector as two of California’s top former financial regulators, along with diverse private sector experience, to offer unparalleled insight for clients.

“I’m excited to work with BridgeCounsel to help depository institutions, fintechs and other financial services companies navigate these changing and volatile times,” said Ed Gill. “Manny and I both have a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape. I’m confident we can deliver valuable perspectives and insights to licensees and other institutions the DFPI touches.”

Gill previously oversaw the regulatory management of the Division of Corporations and the Division of Financial Institutions, which includes California banks and credit unions, mortgage banks, brokerdealers and investment advisers, and other licensed financial institutions. Prior to his experience as senior deputy, Gill worked as a senior vice president with U.S. Bank, Citibank and Bank of America. Before founding BridgeCounsel Strategies, Alvarez served as California’s chief banking and financial regulator, first as Commissioner of the Department of Business Oversight (DBO) and then as the first Senate-confirmed Commissioner of the DFPI, which broadly regulates the state’s banking and financialservices industry. Prior to serving as commissioner, Alvarez was the first General Counsel of Affirm, Inc., the leading point-of-sale platform founded by Max Levchin. In addition to his work with BridgeCounsel, Manny sits on the board of directors of East West Bank and advises various early-stage fintechs.

The Fear-Based Broker

BY KATIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER, CALIFORNIA BROKER MAGAZINE

our child has cancer.

YIs there anything more terrifying than those four words? Christian Griffin, father of three young girls, had to hear those words 12 years ago. His youngest daughter was only six months old when she was diagnosed. It was 2011, and the U.S. economy was still in recovery from the housing market crash. Griffin had recently lost his job after a decade in the food sales industry. His family was living off a single income; he and his wife desperately tried to reorganize their finances to scrape by.

Men are driven by two principal impulses, according to philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, love or by fear. At first, Griffin didn’t have a ton of love or passion for real estate or mortgage, but he knew what ice cold fear felt like.

“I’m kind of a fear-based individual,” Griffin said. “I’m pushing hard because of the fear of never wanting to go back to that day.”

Today, Griffin is a senior loan officer at San Diego-based Maverick Mortgage. He’s a top originator nationwide, who closed 600 units and half a billion in funded loans between 2021 and 2022 — 90% of which was purchase volume. He made it into the top 1% of producing loan officers in California, and the top 1% of producing loan officers for UWM.

“My business model is a hundred percent focused on purchase business, and refinances are icing on the cake,” Griffin said. “And I think that’s probably a differentiating aspect to other business models. There’s a lot of loan officers that might just rely on refinances and [are] probably hurting pretty bad right now.”

Since he’s already at the top of his game with purchases, Griffin is cruising through 2023 with a huge advantage in the market. How’s that for fear-based motivation?

‘I’m pushing hard because of the fear of never wanting to go back to that day.’

But, over time he developed a passion for educating borrowers and real estate partners along the way. He likes teaching them the tips and tricks of the mortgage world.

“I have a passion for trying to help people succeed and that kind of falls back on the idea that good things happen to good people,” Griffin said. “I mean, it’s not always the case. I can be really good and, you know, bad things still happen. But at least I feel good, and I make good relationships with likeminded individuals.”

Chasing Balloons

Griffin was never quite sure what he wanted to do. But he was big into sports during high school and college, so he figured coaching would be a possible career path. Little did he know that would land him on a unicycle, pedaling across the gymnasium at Western Washington University, fighting to maintain balance in order to earn the credits to graduate.

“I’m not extremely coordinated. I’m kind of a bulky, lumpy, get the bowling ball moving and watch out in front of you type of guy,” Griffin said. “I realized pretty quickly that the physical education program they offered was kind of like the Ivy League of all the nation.”

The purpose of the exercise was to teach these future educators to put themselves into the shoes of students. Doing anything for the first time feels awkward or scary, but it’s not impossible.

That particular lesson has stuck with Griffin throughout his career as an educator, and, eventually, mortgage broker.

After graduation, Griffin moved to San Diego and began substitute teaching during the day and bartending at night. As a young adult in a new fun city, Griffin was making the most of it, and that was where he met his wife. But teaching kids felt more like babysitting, and he wanted a job that would be a bit more stimulating. That eventually led him into the food sales industry, where

he would stay for the next 10 years. It was a stable job that was challenging enough to keep him engaged, and he did well enough to support his growing family.

“I really started honing in on my skills to be able to sell,” Griffin said. “Then the food sales ended up kind of coming to an immediate halt right when the market was crashing. Not because of the market, but just one of our larger clients decided to go a different direction and kind of imploded the business.”

option to bring income to the table.”

Griffin still did food sales as a side business, but his family income dropped significantly, and he desperately needed to find other ways of making money. Funny enough, he found a job chasing balloons.

Hot air balloons fly through San Diego all the time, and it was Griffin’s job to chase them down, catch them, and have them land without a hitch.

“I must have been in my mid-30s at the time, so I wasn’t the spring chicken by any means,” Griffin said. “And here I am, running through fields trying to catch these big huge balloons and get ‘em to land and just to make a little bit extra cash for food for my family.”

Griffin said this was an “awkward” time in his life, but it seems more like a circus complete with unicycles and balloons. Luckily, his wife’s friend’s husband was making a good living in the mortgage industry, and offered Griffin some help.

Helping Hands

It was the scariest time in Griffin’s life, picking up odd jobs to feed his wife and three daughters and pay the mortgage. Now he was stepping into an industry he knew almost nothing about for a better shot at providing for his family.

The job loss couldn’t have come at a worse time. His wife had just given birth to their third daughter who, six months later, was diagnosed with cancer.

Having a sick child is a uniquely painful experience; one that strikes fear down to your core.

“As a father, I’ve always kind of had an old-school mentality to provide for my family and protect,” Griffin said. “So I just kind of started looking for any

His in-laws helped him and his wife secure their first home, but they got it sold themselves and purchased the next on their own, although they had a bad experience with their lender in getting it. Griffin kept all the real estate agents’ cards when he was selling his previous home, so he knew he had some connections to get started, but that was it.

He initially thought this job would bring in money quickly. So he got his license as an originator and quit his side gig in food sales so he could be all in as a loan officer. But Griffin was slow to start, and money wasn’t coming in fast enough.

“So I went to this loan officer who had brought me on and basically talked me

“So I went to this loan officer who had brought me on and basically talked me into this industry, and I was like, ‘Hey man, like if you care for me, I’m sinking. I’m hurting. I need help.’ ”

> Christian Griffin

Christian Griffin with his youngest daughter Laykin, a cancer survivor.

into this industry, and I was like, ‘Hey man, like if you care for me, I’m sinking. I’m hurting. I need help,’” Griffin said.

This was a high-producing loan officer, and he brought Griffin onto his team so he could learn. He began working on files, first intake and then processing.

“I fell on my face a few times, but, you know, it was a huge opportunity,” Griffin said. “After a couple years of working under this loan officer and kind of learning their sales tactics and what was working for them, I started getting a little momentum. I think I got enough to where I could break off on my own

because there’s good income in this industry.”

Then another stroke of luck hit Griffin. His other friend in the mortgage industry, Scott Crutcher, was opening up his own brokerage called Maverick Mortgage. So after a couple of years working as a loan officer for various correspondent lenders, Griffin decided to hop on board and become a broker.

The Teacher People Need

Transitioning over to the broker side was another risk for Griffin, but as someone with

a background in education, this role ended up being the perfect fit. The primary function of a broker, other than collecting documents, is to assist the borrower and even the real estate agency on the best financing options available.

“I mean, consumers really have no clue,” Griffin said. “I just think back to when I was buying a house, and I didn’t know what was necessary to qualify.”

He relied heavily on the advice and guidance of his real estate agent and lender. He knows how vulnerable the first-timer feels and what they need to understand in order to make one of the

biggest financial decisions of their lives. He also understands how hard it is for the working class in California to find a home, such as teachers, service workers, blue-collar workers, and lower-income white-collar workers.

Having been a substitute teacher and bartender in San Diego, Griffin knows what that lifestyle is like and what needs to be done to afford a home.

For years, it’s been tough for workingclass members in California to afford homes close to their workplace. The recent down payment assistance “Dream For All Shared Appreciation” program

— the most substantial DPA California has ever offered — ran out of money after only 11 days. The program offered a total of $300 million in funding and was able to get 2,564 people into homes, according to an internal document obtained by media website, CalMatters. When this program came out, it was Griffin who had to do most of the learning.

“The roles got reversed,” Griffin said. “I had to learn a new product relatively fast because there were a lot of inquiries on it. The influx of questions between buyers and agents just escalated

dramatically and not just with me with all the loan officers in our office. So it was a quick, oh crap, you know, let me get facts. And even finding individuals to relay that factual information was tough because they’re getting inundated with a bunch of loan officers asking the same thing.”

It was all hands on deck and Griffin and his team at Maverick Mortgage worked to qualify as many borrowers as possible through the program.

“I just felt blessed in the fact that I actually went through that process because I was back to trying to learn that

Christian Griffin with his wife Kimberly and their daughters, from left, Laykin, Lennon, and Gianna.

unicycle,” Griffin said.

He says real estate agents need to be educated in financing options, just as much or even more than their clients. Agents and real estate agents do their best to educate buyers on their options, but they’re not the mortgage experts and spreading misinformation can happen unintentionally.

“I’ll teach as far as they want to learn,” Griffin said. “Mostly, I give them enough to where it’s gonna help them succeed and not put energy towards something that’s not going to yield an end result of the closed transaction. I enjoy the first conversation with clients or even agents and getting to do stuff like this”

‘Pigs Get Fat, Hogs Get Slaughtered’

Griffin doesn’t know what it’s like to have it easy and that’s his main advantage. In California, where the market has always been competitive, he has made it a habit to stay on top of his game and answer every phone call.

His goal with every referral partner and client is to create a long-term relationship, which he does by being “fair.”

“As long as you’re fair and rates are competitive and the service, you know, knocks people’s socks off, I think that combination will reap rewards over time,” Griffin said.

There’s plenty of loan officers who are all talk, he explained. Anyone can say they close deals on time, but they often don’t do it every time. Griffin, on the other hand, has consistently closed deals on time and takes pride in his track record. He also makes a point not to over-sell himself, and sets realistic expectations for his clients. In conversations with clients, he acts more like an educator than a salesman, which helps earn their trust.

“This is a whole food saying .. pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered,” Griffin

said. “Not the nicest analogy, but the terminology means don’t be greedy. I think it’s the greedy loan officers that are trying to make the most on every transaction who are gonna lose out.”

It’s the little things that Griffin does that add up to his success.

“Is it exhausting? It is because it’s a rinse and repeat, right? It’s trying to do, gosh, I think at the peak, I was at 40 transactions a month, which is crazy. Right? And not lose your mind,” he said. “Obviously things have slowed down a little bit, but every one of the deals I get I’m just trying to do a hundred percent and just knock everybody’s socks off.”

Settling Into Success

Thankfully, Griffin’s youngest daughter is now a healthy 12 year old who admires her father. She also seems to have the same entrepreneurial spirit.

“She’s my little CEO,” he said. “We went to the bookstore to pick out books … because with the devices nowadays it just drives me crazy. So my youngest goes, ‘Daddy, I wanna go to the business section.’ She’s learned some of the terminology from me always being on the phone with the clients. After learning about real estate and the advantages of buying and stuff she wants to go into the business.”

Griffin said his daughter has always

had little side jobs such as washing dogs and making bracelets, which is why he calls her his little CEO.

“So she got this book by the Wolf of Wall Street guy [Jordan Belfort]. Probably not the best role model for your 12 year old,” he said, chuckling.

She even began highlighting passages from the book and using sales tactics on her Dad to get what she wants. By the time she gets to be a working adult, she may be the best broker this industry has ever seen. But, of course, that’s due to Griffin being such a good teacher.

His other two daughters and wife are very supportive of him and understand that Dad has a very demanding job.

“If I were to tell you every day is sunshine and greatness, I’d be lying to you. It’s a battle. Every day is a battle,” Griffin said. “And I think one of my personality traits that helps me be successful is the short-term memory. Because, obviously, you need more wins than losses. But the losses hurt and sometimes you feel like there’s some loyalty and the loyalties are lost. And if I were to dwell on that, then I’d just want to give up in this profession. But that short-term memory helps kind of just push those aside and just keep focusing on the good ones. It gets you to another day where you’re making millions of dollars.”

“Obviously things have slowed down a little bit, but every one of the deals I get I’m just trying to do a hundred percent and just knock everybody’s socks off.”

> Christian Griffin

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For the State of California

BEHIND THE NUMBERS

It’s no longer possible for mortgage originators to rely on gut instincts, especially in a market like California that requires being at the top of your game.

To keep you better informed, California Broker Magazine tracks information provided about the Golden State.

Delve into the data that shows you the mindset of Realtors. Want them to refer business to you? It helps if you know how their business is doing.

Also, data shows where former Los Angeles residents are moving to. While it may seem as if your

California May 2023 Sales and Price Report

losing customers, the smart loan originator knows to keep in touch even with customers who have left California. Know what out-of-state markets you need information on. By the way, our sister publication, National Mortage Professional Magazine, helps you track national market trends.

Important to track, too, is where the lowest median home prices are in California. Those markets could be particularly affected by investors, as well as homeowners who don’t to move because of low mortgage rates and higher housing prices elsewhere. It’s data that helps you form better action plans for growing your business.

Interested in other data?

Know other data sources we should be following? Drop a note to Senior Editor Keith Griffin at kgriffin@ambizmedia.com.

Sales dip to the lowest levels in three months

Sales at the top end are slowing the fastest

Sales expected to improve for higher-end markets in the upcoming months

RCN Capital Opens LA Office

Expansion marks the lender’s continued success

Nationwide private lender RCN Capital officially opened the doors to its new West Coast office in Los Angeles, signaling company growth and continued success.

This comes after the South Windsor, Conn.-based lender opened a satellite office in Charlotte, N.C., in 2021.

Established in 2010, RCN specializes in financing the purchase of non-owneroccupied properties, new construction, fix-and-flip, and long-term rentals for real estate investors.

“I’m extremely proud and appreciative of the hard work and dedication of all the RCN employees that made our new California office a reality,” Lead Loan Officer Eric Shaw said.

Planting roots on the West Coast will support RCN’s ongoing expansion strategy, which includes gaining more market share on that side of the country.

“While RCN Capital has always been a national lender, the addition of this permanent West Coast presence exemplifies the goal of RCN to best serve our clients and our employees regardless of time zone,” explained Shaw, who is heading up the team at the L.A. branch, located at 3415 South Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 580.

Among RCN Capital’s 200 total employees, Shaw is one of five currently occupying the new office. It does have a capacity of 25 people so the team will be expanding, according to Chief Marketing Officer Erica LaCentra.

Establishing a brick-and-mortar presence in Los Angeles has been in the works at RCN since the start of 2022, she added.

Amidst challenges in the lending marketplace that include high interest rates, a housing shortage, and a reduction in loan applicants, RCN Capital is projecting $1.7 billion in originations for 2023.

That’s up 15% from 2022, when the company reported $1.43 billion in originations, and up 27% over 2021, when it generated $1.24 billion in loans.

Since its inception, the company has originated more than 20,000 loans, valuing a total of $4.9 billion.

Originator Choice Awards

AUGUST

AUGUST 10, 2023

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SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

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California’s largest mortgage events for loan origination professionals, bringing together hundreds of mortgage brokers, loan originators and bank and credit union lending officers from throughout the region for an event full of education, networking and fun.

NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

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DECEMBER 15, 2023

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