NMP National Mortgage Professional October 2022

Success Advice

your day-to-day

well pays off in accolades and, more importantly, keeps the lights on and your business

in difficult times.

Upfront With New Hires

expectations to keep employees working for

Office Post-COVID

are gaining the upper hand again.

ADU Solution

houses may solve big problem of supply with right financing.

Tech Showcase

on the Move

who the movers

the

COVER STORY

Relationships

local to build up your business during

& Affordability

investors cause high prices or did high prices

Build-A-Broker:

Risks

from home increases cloud security risks.

First Million Dollars:

Dream Team

and

team

& Best

Go Digital

housing

The Gravity Of It All It

is, we swear, only serendipity that a special feature on Most Loved Mortgage Employers is in the same issue whose cover story is about how to (legally) steal a sales team. That said, it’s also axiomatic that sales teams, or anyone, who’s working at a company they love are going to be a lot harder to steal away than ones who are feeling unappreciated and underutilized.

Right now, there are a lot of nervous mortgage industry workers. Companies are shutting down with only hours’ notice. Whole divisions are disappearing overnight, and the landscape of companies who are hiring is looking barren.

But it’s also true that companies thrive — including, and maybe especially, during tough times — when their employees are passionate, thoughtful and motivated. There are few organizations that can scale and survive without the buy-in and direct business experience of the people doing the day-to-day work. So it’s smart leadership, and good policy, to build companies that respect staff, reward exceptional work, and recognize the human value that workers can bring.

A few years ago, a small credit card processor based in Seattle, called Gravity Payments, made headlines when its CEO voluntarily cut his own pay in order to set a baseline $70,000 minimum annual salary for every worker. The company and its leader were pilloried in much of the business press for not understanding how capitalism works, and that such actions were sure to doom the small business.

But the opposite happened. The employees set about bringing in more clients, and it set revenue records. When COVID hit, disaster seemed imminent, as restaurants were a huge base of business for the company, and restaurants were shut down. Its own cash flow was reduced to about a quarter of what it was, and the company leader started talking about having to make painful layoffs.

But then the workers rallied. They told him they would each take pay cuts in order to keep funding available for everyone, so no one would have to be let go. Because of that, and things like Payroll Protection Program loans, the company made it through — and then it grew again to record revenues. And the company then, astonishingly, made whole every employee who had given up pay to secure their co-workers.

How easy do you think it would be to steal someone from that firm? It’s why mortgage lenders want to be among the most loved. It’s not just a great honor, it’s great business.

STAFF

Vincent M. Valvo

CEO, PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Beverly Bolnick

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Christine Stuart

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

David Krechevsky

EDITOR

Keith Griffin

SENIOR EDITOR

Mike Savino

HEAD OF MULTIMEDIA

Katie Jensen, Steven Goode, Douglas Page, Sarah Wolak

STAFF WRITERS

Rob Chrisman, Dave Hershman, Erica LaCentra, Nick Roberson, Lew Sichelman, Mary Kay Scully

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Alison Valvo

DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC GROWTH

Julie Carmichael

PROJECT MANAGER

Meghan Hogan DESIGN MANAGER

Stacy Murray, Christopher Wallace

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, Angelo Scalise MULTIMEDIA SPECIALISTS

Melissa Pianin

MARKETING & EVENTS ASSOCIATE

Kristie Woods-Lindig

ONLINE ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Joel Berman

FOUNDING PUBLISHER

Submit your news to editorial@ambizmedia.com

If you would like additional copies of National Mortgage Professional Call (860) 719-1991 or email info@ambizmedia.com www.ambizmedia.com

VINCENT M. VALVO Publisher, Editor-in-Chief

© 2022 American Business Media LLC. All rights reserved. National Mortgage Professional 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 info@ambizmedia.com

Defining Responsibilities Up-Front — The Bane of Turnover

Doing so creates the correct expectations on both sides

BY DAVE HERSHMAN, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

The mortgage industry is plagued with rampant turnover, especially on the sales side of the industry. While there are many causes for this condition, I have found that a pretty consistent violation of a basic premise of management and leadership contributes significantly to this turnover. Simply put, it is the lack of specific definition of the responsibilities of the “job.” This dearth of vital communication is essential for

successful leadership, yet we rarely see it practiced the way it should be.

When the loan officer’s expectations do not meet the expectations of the manager and/or the company, it is no wonder that a disconnect occurs which many times puts us on a different page from those who work for us. From there it can escalate into mistrust and more. How do we rectify this situation? Here are a few guidelines: Responsibilities must be defined upfront! Actually, the process should have started during the selection process

by accomplishing thorough interviews. When you know your candidates well, you can devote most of your meetings to discussing their feedback regarding the responsibilities that are expected and making sure they are consistent with the candidate’s expectations.

Before the salesperson starts. You must sit down with them and arrive at an agreement regarding what that position is to entail. This is your building block to determine some very important information:

• What support will they need to fulfill their responsibilities? Are you ready to commit to that level of support?

• What benchmarks are we going to use in evaluating their performance? It is important to note that goals must be broader than “how many loans and when.” What actions are they committing to produce these loans What is the quality of loan applications — including meeting company qualification standards?

• How can this be accomplished in such a way that it will facilitate the achievement of the company’s objectives? We must align the objectives of each individual with the goals of the company.

• What misunderstandings might occur if a loan officer is not in agreement of what is expected?

Poor or inconsistent attendance at staff meetings and other functions

Lack of support for their processor and other operations staff

An unsatisfactory level of customer service given to their clients

Completeness of loan applications and packages

Quantity vs. quality of pipeline

Types of products originated.

Are we talking about a job description? It does not have to be as formal as a job description. A job description typically has general statements such as “process loans.” An agreement might more actually depict the size of the pipeline and expected turnaround. But the expectations should be in writing, perhaps as part of the commission plan document.

Expectations. What we are doing here is creating the correct expectations — on both sides. I have seen so many job situations fall apart because the employer and employee have had

• An originator is promised help with marketing. To them, this means the company is going to give them leads. To the manager, this means that they will split the cost of some advertising, IF they produce.

• An originator starts part-time and hopes to move full-time if they can support themselves. The manager expects a transition within 90 days. The loan officer does not expect that timeframe at all.

• The manager expects ethical behavior and for the originator “staying on the right side of the line” is not getting caught.

• Two completely different definitions of excellent customer service and complete loan applications.

differing expectations with regard to job responsibilities. Here are just a few of the areas I have reserved:

• An originator takes a position. The manager says he expects the originator to work hard. For the originator, the definition of working hard is 30 hours each week. For the manager it is 60.

• The originator is promised training. For the manager, this is following him around and observing and making comments. The originator was expecting a training program with classes, role-playing and more.

I could go on and on with the examples, but certainly the point is easy to see. I would like to advance one other important point. You will note that I put the word “job” in parentheses earlier. That is because, while we are talking about a W-2 employee, a key to a successful loan officer career is being an entrepreneur and not treating the position as a job. That is a topic for another day! n

Senior Vice-President of Sales for Weichert Financial Services, Dave Hershman is the top author in this industry with seven books published as well as the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and the OriginationPro Mortgage School — the online choice for mortgage learning and marketing content. His site is www. OriginationPro.com and he can be reached at dave@hershmangroup.com

I have seen so many job situations fall apart because the employer and employee have had differing expectations with regard to job responsibilities.

A Shift In Power And A Return To Office

Popular employee benefits may wither in face of a possible recession

CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

here is an unfortunate reality happening in the mortgage industry right now. Layoffs are rampant, whole divisions of companies are closing and some mortgage companies are even shuttering due to volatile market conditions. This means that there is now a growing pool of talent looking for jobs in an industry that is rapidly shrinking. And suddenly, in a market where employees have held the upper hand for a significant amount of time, employers may suddenly find themselves able to take back the power.

With the tides turning from an employees’ market to an employers’ market, this will certainly lead to employees losing some of the perks they came to expect like higher wages, better benefits, and for many companies, the much contested, work-from-home flexibility. So, with a potential recession looming, is fully remote work about to become a thing of the past?

CALLING LOYALTY INTO QUESTION

There is no doubt that employers have been doing a delicate dance with their employees regarding coaxing them back into the office post-covid. Some companies even found that when they tried to mandate a return to the office and call their employees’ bluff that folks were more than willing to walk away because work-fromhome or hybrid work opportunities were in abundance. But especially in the mortgage industry as more and more challenges arise, and employees see that their job may potentially be in jeopardy, they no longer have the choice to walk away or draw a hard line in the sand.

And it seems that employers are recognizing that they

may finally have the upper hand and are starting to at least push for more of a hybrid work situation, with at least a few days required in the office. “According to The Society for Human Resource Management, before the pandemic, about 10% of the U.S. workforce worked fully remotely and by the end of 2024, they believe the number of fully remote workers will go to about 20%” (https:// cnb.cx/3RwpN1p). While a minimal increase, this means that 80% of workers will still be in the office in some capacity, maybe to the chagrin of employees.

The data is already showing significant trends indicating this push for the return to the office. “As of midApril, 38% of Manhattan office workers were at a physical workplace on an average weekday, but only 8% were in the office five days a week” according to The Partnership for New York City. “Even without taking into account the prospect of a recession and less plentiful jobs, it is forecasting that return to office rates will increase after Labor Day, with nearly half (49%) of workers in the office on an average weekday in September” (https://bit.ly/3BaDso2).

This is essentially a push from employers requesting their employees to meet them halfway and show greater loyalty and buy-in to the organization simply by showing up. What that looks like seems to vary from organization to organization based on how many days employees need to be in office, if certain days are mandated, and how much flexibility is allocated, but it will be interesting to see how the dynamic continues to shift as the industry deals with ongoing volatility, increasing layoffs, and more mortgage companies running into financial issues.

DOES BEING IN OFFICE EQUAL GREATER PRODUCTIVITY?

It’s strange to think that after years of successfully working remotely an employee’s work ethic or loyalty to a company could be called into question because they don’t want to go into the office full-time or even part-time

maybe, simply because they enjoy the balance that work-from-home grants them, but that is the situation that many employees now face. Especially for those in the mortgage industry

way of thinking, but employers do need to consider how life has changed since the pandemic hit and what employees have become accustomed to, and that it isn’t as simple as snapping their fingers or setting a date and simply going back into the office full time. Strides have been made with technology that has made it significantly easier for employees to be successful working from home and employees have truly appreciated the work-life balance that

that have very active roles and find themselves on the road or outside of their offices anyways, it’s strange to think that being in the office equates to being productive or being a good employee.

It may be a lingering antiquated

comes with working from home, even if that is with a hybrid schedule.

Also, employers should consider how their ability to find talented candidates has expanded by being able to hire remote workers rather than being limited to hiring employees that must be in the office five days a week. Especially for companies in the mortgage industry that are in the unique position to be looking to hire right now, there is probably no better time to try and find some top talent because of the layoffs that have occurred. If companies are willing to also consider remote working options, they could truly have the cream of the crop to choose from. If there is anything the pandemic should have taught companies, it’s that being in office didn’t equal being productive, and that being at home didn’t equal laziness.

As we go into this next economic cycle, it will be interesting to see how both employers and employees navigate the hybrid work situation and ultimately figure out how to strike an appropriate balance. n

Erica LaCentra is chief marketing officer for RCN Capital.

It may be a lingering antiquated way of thinking, but employers do need to consider how life has changed since the pandemic hit and what employees have become accustomed to.

SICHELMAN

Better Financing Options For ADUs — But …

They’re affordable but they are still not inexpensive

BY LEW SICHELMAN, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

The first accessory dwelling unit (ADU) New Avenue designed was a scant 280 square feet. The occupants were a young family with a newborn, but they made it work.

Fast forward a dozen years and the Berkeley, Calif., design-build firm is now putting up backyard houses as large as 1,200 square feet with up to three bedrooms. In some cases, says founder Kevin Casey, the new units live larger than the older homes that sit in front of them.

“Today’s ADUs work for entire families with work-from-home careers, kids, parents and extended family visitors. They’re real homes for 21st-century people living 21st-century lives,” says Casey.

Over the past 12 years, ADUs, sometimes known as granny flats or in-law suites, also moved beyond a niche market into the mainstream.

According to one report, less than 2% of the active for-sale listings in 2000 had an accessory unit. But by 2019, that figure had grown to almost 7%.

They’re “a burning hot topic,”

Shannon Faries of Land Gorilla, a technology firm which focuses on helping lenders manage their construction loans, told me. “They’re on everyone’s tongue. And it’s all related to the housing crisis. There’s

which argues that improved financing options, in combination with state and local zoning reforms, could lead to the creation of more than a million new ADUs over the next five years.

Compared to a typical house, ADUs

not enough houses, and there’s not going to be enough in our lifetimes.”

Now, though, perhaps the two most important mortgage market players have given ADUs a proverbial shot in the arm, just as proponents say these mini-houses could go a long way to solving the shortfall of some 4-5 million dwelling units.

Most recently, Freddie Mac has joined cross-town rival Fannie Mae in saying it, too, will boost its investments in mortgages on houses owned by people who want to build an accessory dwelling on their properties or in loans on houses that already have an ADU.

Housing advocates have long argued that accessory dwelling units are necessary to ease the housing shortage. Some people see them as opportunity to generate rental income, while others use them to keep their elders or their newly graduated children nearby. They also are a part of the Biden Administration’s plan to boost affordable housing,

are affordable. But they still aren’t inexpensive, not by a long shot. According to Maxable, which offers help in planning, hiring and managing an ADU project, a “legal” unit with a kitchen and bathroom typically starts at $80,000 and shoots up from there. “For a stand-alone accessory dwelling unit, expect the cost to start at $150,000.” (Casey’s New Avenue has built more than 100 ADUs, mostly in Northern California, at prices ranging from $130,000 to $750,000.)

And that’s just for construction costs. Add the cost of permitting and impact fees and you’re starting to run into some real money.

Despite the cost obstacle, a number of jurisdictions have loosened their rules to permit the construction of accessory units, with more and more doing the same every month. California has been in the forefront of the movement, but states like Arizona, Florida and Texas, where interest has been the keenest, also are working on eliminating zoning roadblocks.

‘They’re on everyone’s tongue. And it’s all related to the housing crisis. There’s not enough houses, and there’s not going to be enough in our lifetimes.’

– Shannon Faries, Land Gorilla

In 2017, California required all cities and counties to allow ADUs as long as the property owner secured a building permit. Two years later, it eliminated occupancy requirements; made it easier to add not one but two ADUs as long as they contain at least 800 square feet of floor space and created a tiered permit structure based on the size of the unit and its location.

Many communities throughout the country also have been relaxing their restrictions against ADUs, and some states have been encouraging their local jurisdictions to allow them. According to AARP, the cities of Atlanta, Austin, Denver, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Seattle now allow accessory units. Oregon requires cities and counties of a certain size to allow them in singlefamily neighborhoods, New Hampshire says they must be allowed in nearly every single-family neighborhood.

But financing has lagged. “Financing has been one of the top barriers to production,” Wells Fargo’s Amy Anderson said at a UC Berkeley conference this summer. “A critical

aspect of ADU financing … is how to change those federal agency programs that can really play a central role in unleashing more private lending.”

Currently, most people who build an ADU either pay cash, tap into their home’s equity or take out a construction loan that converts to permanent financing when the project is finished. All are expensive options.

Jett Miller, a loan officer with Cherry Creek Mortgage in Las Vegas, hasn’t been bombarded with requests to finance ADUs. But he suspects there’s far more activity than he knows about because he’s doing a lot of business in cash-out refinancings and home equity lines of credit. In those cases, borrowers are not required to reveal how they intend to use the proceeds, and most don’t, Miller told me. “We don’t get into conversations about intended use.”

Now Fannie and Freddie have stepped up with more financing options. The two government-sponsored enterprises are key mortgage market players who together put their stamp on roughly half of all home loans.

They don’t make loans directly to borrowers. Rather, they purchase loans on the secondary market from main street lenders, package them into securities and sell them to investors worldwide. In so doing, the GSEs keep money flowing into the mortgage market by allowing the direct lenders, the ones you and I deal with, to replenish their supply of funds.

Fannie and Freddie still won’t purchase loans used to finance an ADU. But they will buy loans on primary residences that include accessory units, either in the house itself — a basement apartment, for example, an attic in-law suite, or a granny suite over the garage — or somewhere on the property.

Under Freddie’s recent “ADU Expansion,” for example, accessory units are not just limited to singlefamily homes. Now, two and threeunit properties are eligible as long as they have just one ADU. Also, any rental income can be used to qualify for funding, whereas it used to be limited to borrowers who have a disability and the income came from a live-in aide. At the same time, though, rental income cannot exceed 30 percent of the borrower’s total “stable monthly income.”

Despite these and other improvements, though, some believe Fannie and Freddie have fallen short of the ADU trend. “Freddie, in my view, God bless them, it’s awesome, but it’s a baby step,” Meredith Stowers, branch business development manager at CrossCountry Mortgage in Brecksville, Ohio, said at the

ADU OPTIONS

Berkeley conference.

More specifically, Faries of Land Gorilla says a rule that the square footage of the ADU cannot exceed that of the primary residence is outdated.

“It’s not in line with the current trend” toward larger accessary units, he says, explaining that many property owners want to move into the accessory unit and rent out their main residence. “I suspect (Fannie and Freddie) will catch up because most consumers want larger units,” Fairies told me. But right now, he added, they’re “not in line with the current movement.”

Faries also laments the “conservative approach” Freddie Mac is taking concerning who the borrower uses as his contractor. He understands the need to protect both the lender and the borrower from hooking up with a fly-by-night builder, or even one who just has a lousy track record of not showing up for

weeks or not being on time. But he says the rigorous vetting requirements are “one of the biggest drawbacks.”

Another issue, of course, is the need to refinance, especially for owners who currently hold low-rate mortgages and are loathe to give them up. In that regard, the Land Gorilla executive thinks ADUs should be underwritten as a second livable unit with its own separate mortgage, whether the unit is a separate, detached dwelling or an area over the garage or in the basement.

“I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of changes coming,” he told me. “But we’ve got to stop thinking of these as accessory dwellings and starting thinking about them as another livable dwelling unit where grandma is going to live.”

Meanwhile, while some are waiting for the mortgage business to catch up, others are waiting for state and local jurisdictions to come aboard. In 2000, Washington was the first state to ban localities within its borders from outlawing ADUs, according to AARP.

Since then, perhaps a half-dozen other states have done the same. But others are dragging their feet.

Massachusetts, for instance, failed to pass a measure this summer that would have allowed ADUs “by right” statewide without prohibitions, restrictions or cumbersome permitting requirements that are on the books in some cities and towns. The measure would have precluded local governments from preventing accessory units up to 950 square feet on a lot of more than 5,000 square feet. n

Lew Sichelman is a contributing writer to National Mortgage Professional magazine. He has been covering the housing and mortgage sectors for 52 years. His syndicated column appears in major newspapers throughout the country. He also has been real estate editor at two major Washington, D.C., dailies and spent 30 years on the staff of National Mortgage News, formerly National Thrift News.

Calyx

Dallas, TX

Calyx® is an established provider of mortgage software solutions used by banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, and brokerages nationwide. Our easy-touse software features an online borrower interview integration, secure electronic signature functionality, and access to wholesale lenders from within your system. End-to-end processing and reporting have never been easier. Our complete LOS solutions have been trusted by industryleading brokers, bankers, and financial institutions for decades because they’re proven to deliver superior accuracy and reliability. The Calyx suite of products include our flagship product Point® and PointCentral®, Path®, Zenly® and Zip®. Point is the choice for mortgage brokers and includes all the features, forms, and reports you need for loan marketing, prequalification, origination, and processing. PointCentral is everything you love about Point and more. This is the end-to-end solution you need to ensure quality and accuracy, and prevent unauthorized changes, across multiple locations. Path is our enterprise level solution designed for financial institutions and mortgage bankers. This cloud-based, fully configurable, datadriven, and role-based system features builtin compliance that gives you the insights and capabilities you need for seamless, effective operations. Zenly is our newest cloud-based solution that is designed for the busy loan originator. It is a mortgage platform and a point of sale all in one. Zenly includes the tools you need to unlock better customer relationships, grow your business, and decrease time to close! Lastly, Zip is our point of sale solution that can be integrated with any of our products or used in conjunction with another software.

calyxsoftware.com

(800) 362-2599 sales@calyxsoftware.com

LICENSED

U.S. States

Capacity

St. Louis, MO

Capacity is an AI-powered mortgage support automation platform that connects your entire tech stack to answer questions, automate repetitive support tasks, and build solutions to any business challenge.

Mortgage professionals use Capacity to effortlessly tap into key systems like ICE Mortgage Technology’s Encompass, and AllRegs to provide real-time access throughout the entire loan life cycle. Your clients will benefit from a superior customer experience with 24/7 tier-0 support. Capacity connects apps, mines documents, captures tacit knowledge, and automates processes — all through a mobile-friendly chat interface. Capacity’s conversational interface is easily embedded right on your website.

Answer more than 90% of your FAQs 24/7/365 without human involvement through an all-in-one helpdesk, and free up your team’s time for relationship building and revenue generating activities.

Automate monotonous processes and tasks with low-code workflows to increase productivity in cross functional teams.

Build solutions to empower your loan officers and support staff with access to information via a user-friendly knowledge base, suite of app integrations, and conversational interface.

Go live within 30 days!

Capacity is an industry leader in support automation. Mortgage clients leverage Capacity to automate 90% of the manual, repetitive questions hitting their operational teams like scenarios, processing, underwriting, lock desk, compliance and customer support. We help our clients defect low value tasks from their high value resources.

capacity.com (314) 502-9412 contact@capacity.com

LICENSED IN: All U.S. States

FileInvite: Document Collection on Autopilot Denver, CO

FileInvite is the gold standard for information and document collection, trusted by thousands of customers worldwide.

By automating information collection in document-heavy workflows, FileInvite helps you create a seamless digital experience for your clients — with time to close improved by as much as 50%.

With FileInvite, you can request documents using a secure, branded customer portal that’s easy for clients to use — no passwords or downloads are required. Clients digitally complete, sign and upload files. And automated text and email follow-ups — with constant tracking and visibility — mean your team saves significant admin time.

FileInvite delivers operational efficiency and is easily integrated with existing software using open APIs, so you can extend the capabilities of your CRM, legacy databases, workflows and email systems.

What do top mortgage professionals say about using FileInvite?

“It gives you back valuable time for another deal.” – Hamish P.

“I keep files out of my inbox and easily managed with FileInvite. It sets autoreminders for my clients and I can customise the list of items I’m asking for to simplify the process. It also links to my other software like Box, Dropbox and Google Drive.” – Mark M.

“Clients have given me nothing but positive feedback on the ease of use from the enduser experience.” – Renee G.

“FileInvite has been a vital tool empowering our clients to easily provide us with the documents and information we need.” – Michele M.

fileinvite.com (628) 201-0083 info@fileinvite.com

LICENSED IN: All U.S. States

Lender Price

Pasadena, CA

Lender Price is the most accurate and dynamic mortgage product pricing & eligibility engine (PPE) with advanced business intelligence & analytics. Lender Price’s versatility allows correspondent lenders, banks, and credit unions to manage product pricing for all mortgage types (conforming, non-conforming, NonQM, and specialty loans). Built using the latest technologies, Lender Price provides powerful performance, more innovative features (e.g. built-in compliance checks, capital market tools, margin management, lock desk, customized workflows) with full mobile functionality.

lenderprice.com (626) 486-0171 contact@lenderprice.com

LICENSED IN: CA

MonitorBase

Salt Lake City, UT

The MonitorBase platform prompts originators who to call, sends originators a prescreen credit profile for each client and sends the client an email and a letter prompting them to call their originator. MonitorBase informs originators when those in their database: show preshopping behavior, apply for a loan with a competitor, have improved their credit, or listed their home for sale.

monitorbase.com (888) 795-6575 sales@monitorbase.com

LICENSED IN: All U.S. States

wemlo

Boca Raton, FL

Third-party processing service, wemlo, empowers mortgage professionals through transparent, flexible, and efficient loan processing. To better serve our customers and their borrowers, wemlo proudly offers processing support in 47 states (plus Washington DC) for more than a dozen loan products including Conventional, FHA, Jumbo, VA, and Non-QM.

wemlo.io (866) 523-3876 info@wemlo.io

LICENSED IN: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, , ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, , NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, , VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY, DC

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Chasing Non-QM business is

Refocusing Loan Officers On Relationships

Also, focus on your local markets and not national trends for success

BY A.W. PICKELL, CONTRIBUTOR, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

The last few years have been really good for the mortgage lending industry. Anyone who got into the business in 2018 or 2019 found it to be a great time to be a mortgage loan officer. Rates were low, homes were selling like crazy, and the phones didn’t stop ringing. The new people who entered the business this

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE //

year are finding a much different market.

In 2020 and 2021, it was about how much business could you close how quickly? Today, it’s about relationships. How new LOs manage their relationships will determine whether they succeed or fail.

UNDERSTANDING

THE POTENTIAL

I was working with a couple of the loan officers I mentor and helping

put their plans together for the next quarter and there was some concern that loan volumes would be falling so much from last year.

So, I asked if they knew how many loans were originated last year. They weren’t sure, but they knew volume would be down almost 50% this year. I asked if they knew that this year’s number would be. Again, uncertainty.

This is very common in the industry. Loan officers read the headlines, see how much the business is changing

He comes from Lionbridge, a translation and localization co., where he served as CMO for five years.

> Jaime Punishill has been named chief market officer of nCino.

> Cenlar FSB announced Dave Applegate has been appointed chairman of the board of directors.

> Robert “Rob” Lux has been named co-CEO of Cenlar FSB, a leading mortgage loan subservicer and federally chartered wholesale bank.

> Centric Bank in Harrisburg, Pa., has promoted Maura E. Cohen to vice president, director of mortgage services and consumer lending.

A.W.

and immediately translate that into difficulties for their own businesses. The details get lost, but the fear, uncertainty and doubt remain.

I explained that we were still going to see about $2.5 trillion worth of business this year. They only needed to close five or six loans a month to be successful. That’s just 60 over the next 12 months.

applications did they get into the system? How many did they close? So, it’s natural for them to think about relationships the same way and try to build them with everyone.

The truth is you don’t have to work with everyone to be a success in this business. Of course, it’s hard to think this way when you see loan volumes falling industry wide.

When I work with loan officers and talk to them about building the right relationships, I always advise them to seek out people they like, people who are like them. The way to find them is to be involved in things you like. That’s where you meet other people who are like you, who like the same things you do.

Number one is real estate agents. The loan officer and the real estate agent should have one of the most symbiotic relationships there is out there. We are both trying to help people get into new homes.

But beyond that there are attorneys, accountants, insurance agents and financial planners. These professionals have all earned the trust of the people our industry serves, so it makes sense to build relationships with them. The business will continue to come through these partners for years to come.

Suddenly, it didn’t seem so difficult to them, and it isn’t.

If the loan officer can focus on their own business and not the national trends, they’ll see that there is plenty of business in the market to allow them to be as successful as they want. As long as they have the right relationships, that is.

THE RELATIONSHIPS

YOU NEED AND DON’T

Professional salespeople are managed by their numbers. How many prospects did they find? How many

This could be almost any organization. It could be Rotary or a wine club. What my wife and I have recently picked up is Pickle Ball, of all things. It’s actually fun and we’re meeting people who like to have fun like we do. Who would these people go to if they needed a new home loan?

Loan officers often underestimate how effective these relationships are at bringing in new business.

BUSINESS REFERRAL RELATIONSHIPS

In addition to this, there are people in the neighborhood who work in a handful of occupations that every loan officer should know.

I don’t originate today, spending my time consulting, but I still get calls from people I worked with five or even six years ago, who are asking for a new loan. Any loan officer getting into the business today can do the same thing.

Refocusing the loan officer’s attention on the relationships that matter to their business is the best way to overcome the fear, uncertainty and doubt that always come with a down market so they can achieve success in the year ahead. n

A.W. Pickel III is a mortgage industry veteran who started as a broker and ultimately became CEO of a number of mortgage lending enterprises and past president of the NAMB. Today he is a coach and mentor and serves as an expert witness in court and to Congress.

> Ben Miller has been named CEO of SimpleNexus, an nCino Company.

> Embrace Home Loans said James “Jace”

Stirling has been named regional sales manager for the company’s Southeast region.

> Angel Oak Home Loans, a full-service mortgage lender, has hired Daniel Sheehy as a senior correspondent account manager.

> Fannie Mae has appointed Cissy Yang as senior vice president and chief audit executive. She was previously at Credit Suisse.

The truth is you don’t have to work with everyone to be a success in this business.

Are Investors Fueling The Rapid Decline In Housing Affordability?

It might be a case, instead, of higher prices attracting investors

BY ZANDER SNYDER, CONTRIBUTOR, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

According to data from First American Data & Analytics, investor purchases of residential homes as rental properties as a share of all residential home sales, have increased sharply in the last year, rising from 10.5% in May 2021 to nearly 18% in May 2022. That’s based on the investor share identified as the share of all residential sales to buyers whose name includes keywords such as Corp, Inc, LLC, Trust, or other identifiable business names.

Increasing investor participation in the residential housing market has coincided with remarkable growth in house prices, leading some to attribute the worsening housing affordability crisis to the increase in investor participation.

However, an equally plausible explanation is that rapid house price appreciation enticed greater investor participation in the market. Given

the ongoing affordability crisis, understanding this dynamic can provide helpful insight into what we can expect as the market transitions.

SO, WHICH CAME FIRST?

It turns out, as one might expect, that house price growth and investor participation are positively correlated. While there is substantial variation from city to city, we found cities with a larger investor share of sales generally experienced greater house price growth over the last year. For example, Phoenix, Atlanta and Jacksonville had the largest investor share in May as well as some of the fastest year-over-year house price growth rates in the country.

The top five cities by investor share

in May 2022 were:

• Phoenix

Investor share: 32%

Annual house price growth: 28%

• Memphis, Tenn.

Investor share: 31%

Annual house price growth: 18%

• Atlanta Investor share: 30%

Annual house price growth: 27%

• Jacksonville, Fla.

Investor share: 29%

Annual house price growth: 31%

• Las Vegas

Investor share: 28%

Annual house price growth: 28%

However, as the adage goes, correlation is not causation. Investor purchases could be driving price

SHARE CAREER

Investor

Top

Zander

appreciation, or it could be the other way around, or both. There could also be a third factor driving both the growing investor share of purchases and house price appreciation simultaneously — a pandemic-driven surge in housing demand against a limited supply of homes for sale. It’s

to be made that house price growth was influential in driving up the investor share.

Rising investor participation in the residential housing market created additional competition for the alreadylimited number of homes available for purchase, compounding the alreadyrapid pace of price growth. One estimate for the current national shortage in housing units is 3.8 million units. This preexisting shortage made house prices highly responsive to the increased demand from investors.

PERMANENT PHENOMENON OR PASSING PHASE?

difficult to know with a high degree of certainty, but recent history provides some insight.

PANDEMIC-PRICED PROPERTIES

The recent growth in demand to own residential properties is, in part, a consequence of a pandemic-induced flight away from densely populated cities and corresponding increase in demand for remote working space. This migration to more suburban cities and the search for more space accelerated demand in key markets, contributing to record house price appreciation.

As people became priced out of the purchase market, they turned to the rental market, which in addition to ongoing new rental household formation, contributed to rents growing at a record pace. The combination of rapid rent growth and house price appreciation attracted even more investors flush with capital. This explanation is compelling in part because annual house price growth was already in the double digits before the investor share picked up in the second half of last year. In other words, there’s a strong case

If greater investor participation continues to contribute to elevated demand relative to limited supply, then house prices are likely to remain positive despite rising interest rates. If house price growth is enticing greater investor participation, then we would expect to see declining investor

participation in the residential housing market as house prices decelerate. Currently, investor participation remains near alltime highs, but mortgage purchase applications were down 16% year-overyear in a late-July report, indicating a declining buyer pool for potential homes that may translate to slower price growth in the near term.

However, the ongoing housing shortage will continue to make home prices particularly responsive to changes in demand. So, which came first, greater investor participation or faster house price growth? Perhaps, neither. It seems that both were predated by pandemicaccelerated demand amid a historic supply shortage.

Xander Snyder is a senior economist at First American.

Investor purchases could be driving price appreciation, or it could be the other way around, or both.

Overcome The Many Challenges Of Digital Transformation

While convenient, working remotely has two-fold risks. SPECIAL TO NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

While digital transformation offers many benefits, it also comes with many challenges.

For instance, investing in technology also increases cybersecurity risks. AI and machine learning have been known to potentially increase the attack surface for hackers, while big data and the cloud hold lots of information, which can pose a considerable risk in the wrong hands.

Investing in technology to support your business growth and gain a competitive edge is highly advisable as a small business owner. However, you must monitor cybersecurity trends to protect your business from potential breaches and attacks while harnessing the full potential of digital

transformation. Here are trends you should pay attention to:

1. ATTACKS ARE GETTING SOPHISTICATED

As noted, advancement in technology also increases cybersecurity risk. Like businesses, hackers are also constantly searching for the best technologies and techniques to leverage in their craft. Cyberhacking is a multibillion-dollar enterprise, complete with R&D budgets; thus, hackers invest in advanced tools and processes to penetrate systems.

Today, hackers use machine learning, AI, and other technologies to launch sophisticated attacks. These technologies enable them to expedite attacks — from weeks to days. For example, Emotet, a malware program that targets banks, is believed to be capable of changing the nature of

attacks. It can leverage AI and machine learning to automate attacks and send out contextualized phishing emails.

Other capabilities and technologies have also advanced over the years. For example, ransomware attacks have doubled since 2019, thanks to factors like ransomware as a service (RaaS) and cryptocurrencies, which have reduced the cost of launching attacks.

These attacks are a growing pain for more than 50% of cyber leaders, and 80% believe that ransomware attacks are a significant threat to public safety.

The number of Remote Desktop Protocol and internet attacks has also grown, and 2022 already has record numbers of attacks.

2. MOBILE IS THE NEW TARGET

The increased use of smartphones and tablets has made them potential

prospects for hackers. Today, mobile devices hold lots of information and can be connected to your company’s network at any time — this makes them prime targets for attackers.

Since mobile devices have software and internet access, they have security threats, such as data leakage, unsecured Wi-Fi, phishing or smishing attacks, spyware, spoofing, and SPAM. For instance, in 2020, every organization experienced at least one mobile malware attack, according to a report by Check Point.

Also, about 46% of organizations had at least one employee download a mobile app that threatened their systems and networks. Mobile devices are desirable to APT groups and actors, such as Rampant Kitten, which has previously targeted mobile users using an elaborate and sophisticated campaign.

3. CLOUD IS POTENTIALLY VULNERABLE

Cloud computing is quite effective and efficient in delivering different services via the internet. It facilitates the ondemand availability of resources, such as servers, files, and applications, to support business operations in various ways.

cybersecurity protection tools and robust access control such as multifactor authentication.

Between 2018 and 2019, up to 33 billion business records were exposed due to poor cloud security implementation. Also, up to 68% of organizations believe that cloud account takeovers pose a considerable risk to their operations. While the cloud has different benefits, its success hinges on secure implementation and use.

4. MISINFORMATION/SCAM IS STILL RAMPANT

In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission received fraud reports from over 2.8 million consumers. Imposter scams accounted for the majority of cases, and consumers lost $5.8 billion to fraud that year, representing a 70-percent increase from 2020.

This information highlights the prevalence of scams and how attackers can use them to exploit unsuspecting users to share valuable information or send money to bad actors. For example, an attacker can email or call your employee in the disguise of tech support, gov’t agency, or bank support. They can then use the information to access your system and accounts.

and systems are used with employees working from home. Other factors, such as unattended computers and unsecured Wi-Fi connections, aggravate the risk when working remotely.

A survey by OpenVPN revealed that up to 90% of IT professionals believe that remote workers are not secure. Also, about 70% believe remote workers pose a higher security risk than onsite workers. This assertion shouldn’t be taken lightly today, given that the lines between home and work are increasingly blurred.

A report by HP showed that about 30% of workers admitted to sharing their work devices, while 70% noted that they used the devices for personal tasks, too. Such behaviors pose a huge risk, particularly when roughly 71% of employees say they access company data more frequently while working at home.

Remote working has benefits and can be quite effective in improving employee productivity. However, hackers are taking note of these shifting patterns to improve their phishing and spam campaigns.

6. SOCIAL ENGINEERING, HUMAN FACTOR

However, the cloud can be vulnerable to flaws or weaknesses in a cloud environment, which attackers can exploit. The impact can even be worse for companies that count on a single cloud deployment for their business needs. Multi-cloud environments also add security and complexity challenges due to a lack of visibility and control. Therefore, businesses must now consider additional cloud

In 2020, businesses filed 241,342 complaints of phishing scams, which cost them $54 million in losses. Scams targeting small businesses take different forms, including fake invoices, unordered office supplies or other products, directory listing scams, utility company imposters, business coaching scams, and counterfeit checks.

5. REMOTE WORKING HAS ITS RISKS

Working remotely is convenient, but the risk posed by employees is two-fold. Companies cannot control how their files

Social engineering is the preferred method for soliciting information by attackers — it’s effective, and that’s why up to 98% of cyber attacks rely on social engineering to penetrate systems. It’s an effective strategy that can manipulate an elementary school student, a company’s CEO, or even a seasoned IT professional.

It has even become relatively easy for attackers to implement this technique with increased social media platforms. To target users, they use blended attacks, such as spear-phishing, business email compromise, and deepfake. Other attacks include quid pro quo, tailgating, pretexting, and baiting. n

This article comes courtesy of the Senior Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE.org). Read the rest of this article at: www.score. org/resource/securing-your-small-business.

Teamwork Makes The Dream Work

Embracing it won’t make you invisible on the job

BY HARVEY MACKAY, SPECIAL TO NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

Once upon a time there was an enterprising businessman who had a fantastic idea. He thought he had figured out a way to build the perfect automobile.

He hired a team of young engineers and told them to buy one of every model car in the world and dismantle them, picking out the best part of every car and placing it in a special room. Soon the room was filled with parts judged by the group to be the best engineered in the world — the best carburetor, the best brakes, the best steering wheel, transmission and so on. It was an impressive collection — more than 5,000 parts in all.

Then he had all the parts assembled into one automobile. There was only one problem. The car would not function — the parts would not work together.

The moral of the story: you can have a team of superior individualistic “all stars” but they are no match for a group of people with a common objective and harmony.

My definition of teamwork is a collection of diverse individuals who respect each other and are committed to each other’s successes.

PLAY LESS GLAMOROUS ROLES

Teamwork sometimes requires people to play roles that aren’t as glamorous as they’d like. As former baseball player and manager Billy Martin once said: “No one can play whatever position they choose. If that happened in baseball, there would be nine pitchers.”

Then there’s the story of the symphony conductor who was asked which instrument was the most difficult to play. Without missing a beat, the conductor replied: “Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists. But finding someone who can play second fiddle with enthusiasm is a real problem. When we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.”

You just can’t win without teamwork. You have no harmony.

Teamwork is consciously promoted but unwittingly shunned by most people in business because they are afraid of it. They think it will render them anonymous or invisible.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

That’s why in sports the team with the most superstars usually doesn’t win championships. The Boston Celtics won 13 NBA championships and never had the leading scorer in the league. They accomplished it with phenomenal teamwork. The leader of those teams was Bill Russell who recently passed away. Russell was a team-first player, yet in 1980 he was voted the greatest player in NBA history by basketball writers.

The player many consider the GOAT (Greatest Of All time), Michael Jordan, said: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Harvey Mackay

Magic Johnson, retired Los Angeles Lakers superstar, said: “Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.” (Does that sound a little familiar?) Finding good players is easy. Getting

them to play as a team is another story. This advice extends far beyond the sports arena. Your company either functions as a team or it’s headed for the showers.

Teams have shaped American history throughout the centuries: the voyage of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria; the wagon trains that carried pioneers into new frontiers; and the soldiers who fought in every sort of environment in every corner of the world to cite a few examples. American industry became the world leader when it came up with the assembly line, a concept that still works, combining human and robotic capabilities. Working together is critical for success, and that hasn’t changed over the years.

There is no greater example of teamwork than a good marriage. Many years ago in Austria there was a custom

that helped villagers size up the future happiness of a newly married couple. After the marriage ceremony in a local church, the villagers would escort the bride and groom to a nearby forest and stand them before a large tree where they would hand the couple a twohandled saw and ask that they use it to cut the tree down. With the bride on one end of the saw, and the groom on the other, the villagers watched as the young couple sawed through the tree.

The closer the cooperation between the husband and wife, the shorter the time it took for the tree to come down. And the older villagers wisely reasoned that, the shorter the time, the happier the young couple would be — because they had learned that most valuable of marital lessons — teamwork!

Mackay’s Moral: Don’t aspire to be the best ON the team. Aspire to be the best FOR the team. n

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Start Setting Your Goals For 2023

Make them SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound

BY MARY KAY SCULLY, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

This year is not what anyone thought. Who could have predicted such swift rate increases or the supply chain issues that are holding up new construction? Just because 2022’s conditions weren’t ideal doesn’t mean you can simply rewrite your goals.

It’s hard to be successful today —

it takes hard work and determination. As we enter Q4 — it’s time for a goal setting check-in.

WHY ARE GOALS SO IMPORTANT?

I know, we talk about goals a lot, but there’s a reason for that. Setting goals is a key element of success. Don’t believe me? Listen to the facts: According to Hive, a lack of clear goals is the most common cause of a project’s failure — 37%, in fact. And a study by Dominican University in California says you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down.

You can’t just start doing anything and everything and expect to be successful. Setting goals helps keep you focused and organized, which contributes to greater success. It also keeps your mind focused on something positive and distracts it from the negative that may be happening around you.

WHERE ARE YOU WITH 2022 GOALS?

Are there any goals you have achieved this year? Celebrate them! One positive outcome can motivate you to reach your next goal. If there are goals you haven’t reached, ask yourself why. Did you give up because the market got challenging? Was the goal achievable to begin with? Do you have the knowledge and tools required to succeed? Have you made good progress toward it? If not, how can you course correct?

Not meeting goals does not mean you are a failure. Sometimes goals are unachievable to begin with. Maybe it’s the timeline that makes it feel impossible or maybe the goal is too aspirational for where you are in your life or career. Dig in and break down what made you want to set that goal in the first place. Many times, you can break that goal down into different, more achievable parts.

Any progress toward meeting your goals is a success. Celebrate the small wins you see along the way to your big

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”

– Henry Ford

goals. Just because you cannot check them off the list yet does not mean you haven’t made significant

SET GOALS FOR 2023

Now that it’s Q4, start setting your goals for 2023. Don’t wait until January. Need help setting goals? Make sure they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Make your goals specific by being clear about what you want to accomplish. A measurable goal is one where you are able to track your progress. We’ve already touched on this, but it is so important to make sure your goals are attainable. You can shoot for the moon, but it needs to be possible to get there. Having unattainable goals will only discourage you and possibly burn you out in your mission to achieve them. Relevant goals must be beneficial for you personally or professionally — don’t just set goals for the sake of achieving something, make sure your goals have value. You also have a responsibility as a corporate citizen, so consider if you’re meeting your company’s expectations of you. Finally, think about how your goals are time-bound. Short-term and long-term goals are both great. Give yourself a timeline to work toward to keep you accountable and motivated.

While the market may not change in 2023, there is much you can change. Take some time to reflect and determine what you can and should be working toward and then take action. Take a class to expand your knowledge on a new product offering, listen to a podcast on time management tips, investigate a customer relationship management (CRM) software to enhance productivity, develop a new business channel, expand your social media footprint or enhance your technology skills. Whatever your goals are, don’t leave them on a to-do list and hope that they achieve themselves.

When setting goals, it’s also important to have an accountability partner. Sharing your goals with a coworker, mentor, a family member or even your social media following can help keep you on track. A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology determined that who you share your goals with matters. Those who share their goals with people they view as “higher status” (maybe a friend or manager) demonstrated more goal commitment and better performance. Sharing your goals makes you more accountable, but sharing with your cat doesn’t. Think about who will actually help motivate you and how you may motivate others to set and achieve their own goals, too.

It’s clear that having thoughtful and achievable goals is a critical part of success — and your success means your borrowers’ success, too. With 2023 coming down the line, take the time to assess where you are with this year’s goals and find aims you can work toward in the new year. n

Mary Kay Scully is the Director of Customer Education at Enact, leading the development of the company’s customer education curriculum. The statements in this article are solely the opinions of Mary Kay Scully and do not necessarily reflect the views of Enact or its management.

We Have Mortgage

LENDER RESOURCE GUIDE

Acra Lending

Lake Forest, CA

Acra Lending is the leader in NonQM Wholesale and Correspondent lending programs. Offering a range of programs and services geared toward helping mortgage professionals and borrowers achieve their purchase and investment goals. We are committed to providing simplicity, consistency and an optimal customer experience.

acralending.com (888) 800-7661 sales@acralending.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NC, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WY

Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions

Atlanta, GA

We offer alternative mortgage solutions for originators throughout the country helping borrowers who don’t fit Agency guidelines. We are pioneering a fresh approach to today’s mortgage lending challenges helping partners to grow their business.

angeloakms.com (855) 631-9943 info@angeloakms.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY, DC and the District of Columbia

Arc Home LLC

Mount Laurel, NJ

Multi-channel mortgage leader with exceptional service and comprehensive mortgage solutions.

When it comes to choosing your lending partner, there are many things to consider. Our products set the standard in the industry for innovation. Since that innovation is in our DNA, we will always be on the cutting edge of what matters most to you and your borrowers. At Arc Home, our priority is to provide the best customer experience from registration to closing, and we continue to invest in that philosophy every day.

business.archomellc.com (844) 851-3600 sales@archomeloans.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

And …

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Civic Financial Services

Redondo Beach, CA

CIVIC delivers fast, honest, simple lending for real estate investors. Description of your products or services.

CIVIC Financial Services is a private money lender, specializing in the financing of non-owner occupied residential investment properties. CIVIC provides Mortgage Brokers and Real Estate Investors with a fast and cost effective funding source for their real estate investment needs.

civicfs.com (877) 472-4842 info@civicfs.com

LICENSED IN: AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NJ, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI

NON-QM LENDER RESOURCE GUIDE

Deephaven Mortgage

Charlotte, NC

Founded in 2012, Deephaven is a national, Non-Agency/Non-QM mortgage provider.

A full-service innovator in the NonAgency/Non-QM mortgage space helping millions of Americans unable to qualify for a traditional, government-backed mortgage to achieve their dreams of homeownership. Available through both wholesale and correspondent channels, our differentiator is our borrower-centric culture and service delivery model. Particular strengths include our own in-house underwriting and collaborative teams that directly support our national network of independent mortgage brokers and loan officers.

deephavenmortgage.com (800) 983-0457 info@deephavenmortgage.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY

First National Bank of America

East Lansing, MI

With over 65 years of lending experience, First National Bank of America specializes in Non-QM loans, nationwide.

• Alternative Income Documentation

Options

• 12 months only of income history

• Self-Employed/1099

• ITIN or SSN

• Recent Credit Events

Our alternative mortgage solutions are designed to help people turn homeownership dreams into a reality in the Retail, Wholesale or Correspondent space

Visit: www.fnba.com/wholesale www.fnba.com/correspondent www.fnba.com/mortgage

Equal Housing Lender

fnba.com/wholesale (800) 400-5451 requests@fnba.com

LICENSED IN: Continental U.S.

Global Integrity Finance LLC

McKinney, Texas

DSCR Rental NO DOC Loans

As a direct, private lender, Global Integrity Finance takes a commonsense approach to underwriting, with all approvals made in-house. We are dedicated to providing quick responses to time-sensitive loans, often times with the ability to close in as few as 3 business days. At Global Integrity Finance, we value referrals and our brokers are protected. We are committed to the highest level of customer service, because our success thrives in building relationships.

globalintegrityfinance.com (214) 548-5190 toby@globalintegrityfinance.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AR, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI

NON-QM LENDER RESOURCE GUIDE

Luxury Mortgage Corp. Stamford, CT

Non-QM, Wholesale, Delegated Correspondent, Non Delegated Correspondent

The Simple Access® Non-QM suite of products was built around the idea that it doesn’t have to be complicated to finance a home. We have created a diverse selection of borrower friendly programs that are simple, innovative, and flexible. For more information on our Correspondent division, visit www. luxurymortgagecorrespondent.com

luxurymortgagewholesale.com (949) 516-9710 tpomarketing@luxurymortgage.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AK, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WY

PCF Wholesale

Tustin, CA

Build your 2022 pipeline with PCFWholesale.com , the home of the EZ DSCR and Alt Choice Non QM Products. We make NonQM E-Z. Direct Wholesale Lender Licensed in 38 States. We love 1-4 and 5-8 unit properties. Ask about our Preferred Lender Program and our on time closing commitments to you!

pcfwholesale.com (714) 955-5700

Marketing@pcfwholesale.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA,

oin Originator Connect Network™ as we traverse the country, bringing together hundreds of mortgage brokers, loan originators and bank and credit union lending officers, for an event full of education, networking and fun.

See our partial sample of upcoming events here, or visit our site for our full calendar at originatorconnectnetwork.com.

NON-QM LENDER RESOURCE GUIDE

Quontic Bank

New York, NY

No Ratio & Lite Doc — Owner

Occupied & Investor

Our unique Community Development Loan programs help historically excluded borrowers look beyond income documentation to help make homeownership dreams a reality. Quontic is exempt from Dodd Frank’s ATR requirements. This enables us to offer our unique Owner Occupied - No Ratio (no income stated & no DTI calculated) and Lite Doc (borrower prepared P&L) loans to credit-worthy borrowers. Quontic also offers a Fast Track underwriting process.

Get started growing your business with Quontic Wholesale.

quonticwholesale.com (888) 738-9016 sschnall@quonticbank.com

LICENSED IN: All 50 U.S. States

PRIVATE LENDER RESOURCE GUIDE

Alpha Tech Lending

West Hempstead, NY

DSCR Rental NO DOC Loans

Alpha Tech Lending is a trusted direct lender, with over a combined 30 years of experience in the private lending sector. We offer a variety of loan programs for non-owner-occupied residences that are customizable to suit your real estate investment needs. From fix and flips, long term rental, new construction, commercial bridge, and more. We lend to both new and experienced real estate professionals throughout the country. We value long term relationships built on trust. Our brokers are protected.

alphatechlending.com (888) 276-6565 info@alphatechlending.com

LICENSED IN: CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA

Stratton Equities

Pine Brook, NJ

Stratton Equities is the leading Nationwide Direct Hard Money & NON-QM Lender that specializes in fast and flexible lending processes. Our Hard Money and Direct Private Money loan programs support the following investment projects:

No Upfront fees! No Junk Fees! No Tax Returns!

strattonequities.com (800) 962-6613 info@strattonequities.com

LICENSED IN: All States except for: AK, ND, NV, SD, UT

The appraisal business is modernizing while still working on things related to wellpublicized accusations of bias in the profession.

That’s the belief of those who work in the industry in different capacities.

Several of them spoke about current and future trends as part of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) fall conference held recently in Washington D.C.

A panel that included Julie Giesbrecht, senior policy analyst with FHFA, Elizabeth Green, chief strategy officer with Appraisal Logistics, and Jillian White, head of growth with

Appraisal Business Fears Modernizing And Newcomers

Appraisers also need to mitigate appraisal bias

BY STEVE GOODE, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

Aloft Appraisal, discussed those topics and more.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Appraisers with an average age of 59 number about 38,000 active ones (not evenly spread across the country), had to adjust during the pandemic, when they were allowed to only do appraisals of residential exteriors. In recent years appraisers, not known for embracing change, have also been asked to accept modernization, but that doesn’t change their role in the mortgage process.

“The appraiser’s role doesn’t change. He’s still there,” said White. “The skills and responsibility might change, but he still needs to ensure that the data is

accurate.”

Green added that modernization will actually help because it allows them to spend more time analyzing data. “With desktops and hybrids they could be on vacation and do an appraisal as long as they are comfortable with the data,” she said.

Julie Giesbrecht, senior policy analyst, FHFA

APPRAISAL BIAS

The panelists discussed ways to

mitigate the hot topic of appraisal bias from consistently using all three approaches to value — income; cost to replace; and sales comparison — instead of just sales comparison, to having the appraiser do the physical inspection and another person collecting the data. Both would mitigate bias and protect minorities, they said.

“It’s not that one approach is better than the other, but how the appraiser is supporting their opinion,” Giesbrecht said. “Appraisers have an obligation to support the value and adjustments.”

As for the culprits, the panelists pointed to a lack of standardized training and actual bias.

“A lot of bias is baked in,” said Green. “Bias is ingrained. We need to recognize that.”

White added that, “not only is it baked in, it refeeds the same process.”

The panelists said that going forward,

such as closing loans with borrowers who claim bias and tracking complaints against appraisers to see if there are trends that warrant cutting ties.

Still, Green believes that it’s wrong to assume that a value gap is automatically a case of bias.

“Measuring bias right now is very difficult,” she said. “We need to be fair to the appraiser.”

THE WORKFORCE

Asked why the workforce, which has an average age of 59 and is predominately made up of men, doesn’t more accurately reflect the communities it works in, the panelists shared some thoughts and experiences.

Green believes that there is a reluctance in the business to train people who will then go out and be their competition. Therefore they train people they know, family or friends. Often the job is passed on generation to generation, sealing in homogeneousness.

Green added that she couldn’t make a living as a trainee and relied on family to help her out while she worked the hours she needed to become an appraiser.

you have to work 2,000 hours as an indentured servant,” she said. “Not a good model.”

But there’s good news too, including educational opportunities in colleges and universities, property data collectors that can realize additional pay beyond appraisals and add to the apprentice hours needed and help trainees learn about their communities, and older appraisers saying that they are learning from their trainees.

There also appears to be a return to staff appraisers who are W-2 employees, as opposed to independent contractors.

“It’s interesting to see it come full circle,” White said.

An urban recruitment program to build diversity begun by the GSEs in 2018 is also starting to bear fruit. The program, supported by the National Urban League and the Appraisal Institute, offers scholarships — more than 400 last year — sponsorships and mentorship programs.

Giesbrecht said that 34 have completed their training and 31 are working in the industry.

increases in technology and the fact that homeowners now get copies of appraisal reports should result in a decrease in bias, but lenders should also consider solutions from their side of the equation,

Giesbrecht agreed.“You can’t make a living as a trainee. I tried and I couldn’t,” she said, adding that she made about $15,000 her first year.

Giesbrecht also pointed to the issue of training hours. “If you’re an appraiser,

Jillian White, head of growth, Aloft Appraisal

“I think that’s incredibly encouraging,” she said.

Giesbrecht also had praise for the old-timers, including the small percentage who continue to resist change. “I still believe in their adaptability,” she said. “They are a dedicated bunch.” n

“A lot of bias is baked in. Bias is ingrained. We need to recognize that.”

– Elizabeth Green, Appraisal Logistics

Elizabeth Green, chief strategy officer, Appraisal Logistics

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Government

Lending Has A Strong Digital Future

BY DOUG PAGE, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

That the future is digital isn’t surprising news for the mortgage industry. What’s unusual is the government service entities are actually on track to join the 21st century — at least when it comes to technology.

That’s the consensus from a recent update on government lending at the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) conference in Washington, D.C.

At the session Dean Daetwyler, director of the system implementation and management division at the USDA’s Rural Development department and his two panel participants, John Bell III, the VA’s executive director of loan guaranty, and Kevin Byers, senior director of nonbank supervision & enforcement at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), to discuss their key technology initiatives, especially as the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac move to digitize the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA).

“When I came on board (at the VA), a reviewer would get a file that might have 200 to 300 pages,” said Bell. “They

would review that file and if anything was missing, they would send a letter and wait for someone to respond. You could not report on what happened to that file” while waiting for a response.

THREE YEARS AWAY

Today, he said, the VA is “two years into a five-year project to change the way we do business in loan guarantee. It’s going to be an (Application Programming Interface) API-based system.”

He says their new API-based system will bring efficiencies and speed to reviewing files from prospective loan applicants.

The VA has just over 1.4 million purchase and refi loans that are worth a combined $447 million. The average loan is just over $300,000.

At the USDA, they use a version of The TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard from the Federal Housing Administration, Dean said.

“It’s been a great system but with (upcoming changes to the) URLA, we’ve re-platformed it from a Java-based application and put it on a modern cloud service,” Dean said. “We don’t

have the integration everyone wants but we’re building that out.”

SOLVING DATA INTEGRITY

CSBS faces some very different issues, said Byers.

“We’ve been engaged for the past three-and-a-half years with state regulators as well as (banking) industry in trying to solve a data integrity issue with batch uploads of loan origination file data for examination purposes into our compliance platform,” he said. “Our compliance platform works very well with accurate and complete data but with inaccurate and incomplete data, it gives us a lot of findings that are bogging down the regulators in the examination process.

“Many of them have stopped using technology in a time when the nonbank mortgage origination volume has skyrocketed,” he added.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

The session’s moderator, former Housing and Urban Development Deputy

DIGITAL

Secretary Brian Montgomery, then asked the panel what they had learned about implementing new technology.

“Plan and plan,” said Daetwyler.

mortgage industry, make sure they use MISMO’s standards.

At CSBS, Byers said, “We need to bring the state examination system into the world of technology that many of you are used to.”

are we going to improve processes for this industry?” he asked. “Data and analytics, if we’re not using them the same way, we’re missing a great opportunity.”

USDA LOANS

“We’ve communicated frequently. We’re not going out on a limb by ourselves.

“We need to be more agile and automated. We’re looking forward to utilizing more AI (artificial intelligence) and other technologies,” he added, so the USDA can help more low- to moderate-income people buy homes.

He also suggested that anyone changing technology, within the

They’re “in the process of drafting an RFI (request for information) to explore the uses of technology now and in the future in the examination processes and how that can facilitate compliance reviews in our world and, more broadly, help the state bank examiners,” he added.

Toward the end of the session, Bell suggested his colleagues on the panel, as well as those attending the session, faced a similar issue.

“If we don’t figure out a way to define data as an industry, then how

In just over 30 years, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has guaranteed 2.4 million mortgages for more than $292 billion.

“In fiscal year 2021, we guaranteed our largest amount ever, $22.5 billion,” Dean Daetwyler, director of the system implementation and management division at the USDA’s Rural Development department, said. “For us, that’s big. That was over 126,000 loans and it’s to low- and moderateincome families in rural areas.”

The USDA guaranteed program started in 1991, and it’s like the ones managed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), he said.

“We can guarantee up to 100% of the LTV plus the upfront guaranteed fee which is 1% of the loan,” Daetwyler said. n

“If we don’t figure out a way to define data as an industry, then how are we going to improve processes for this industry?”

– John Bell III, Veterans Administration

How To Legally Steal

A Sales Team

Customer lists are the main reason these poaching lawsuits get filed

BY KATIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

Would you leave your company for a $50,000 signing bonus? How about a $1 million signing bonus?

That’s how much Mark Everts, a former branch manager for Caliber Home Loans, was offered to switch over to CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) along with the rest of his branch, according to a lawsuit filed on May 6, 2022. He was offered an additional $500,000 if his branch (those he brought with him from Caliber) achieved $600 million in loan originations by the end of the year, the lawsuit states.

It can’t be easy walking away from a deal when someone is laying that much cash down on the table. A million to five million dollars for a sign-on bonus? Those are life-changing figures. Branch managers and loan officers are extremely susceptible to these types of deals, especially in a market downturn when commissions are expected to be low.

In August, Mortgage Bankers Association forecasted total origination volume to drop 47% to $2.3 trillion by the end of 2022. That’s disheartening news for loan originators — not only will loan volume be cut in half this year, but they’ll have to deal with more competition as well. During the housing boom (or refinance boom) active state MLO licenses increased by 21% year-over-year in 2020 with the average MLO holding 3.75 licenses. That’s a lot of new loan originators chasing not a lot of volume.

Offering sign-on bonuses to loan officers when they’re feeling vulnerable can definitely work in your favor as a recruiter. But when it comes to luring away top producers in the industry, it’ll take a little more work than that.

CCM is embroiled in a number of lawsuits for “systematically raiding” competitors such as Guild Mortgage, Caliber Home Loans, and loanDepot.

According to Caliber’s lawsuit, CCM “stole” 80 employees from 18 branches in six states who were responsible for more than $2.3 billion in annual loan originations.

A source told NMP that CCM CEO Ron Leonhardt is the mastermind behind these raids, calling him “one of the best recruiters in the business.” Based on the source’s interactions with Leonhardt, he believes these lawsuits are a cost of doing business. In fact, Leonhardt is one of the most directly involved executives when it comes to recruiting large groups into his business, the source said.

A spokesperson for CrossCountry Mortgage had previously told NMP, “CCM follows fair recruiting and employment practices. We do not comment on legal matters.”

Although Leonhardt’s strategy may cross some ethical boundaries, one can’t help but admit he is doing an excellent job of it. How does he do it? The source claims Leonhardt has a personal driver for his Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van who was hired solely for the purpose of wining and dining people he wants to recruit. He’ll pick them up from the airport and take them to dinner, which likely impresses his targets and leads

STEALING A SALES TEAM

them to believe they will be well taken care of at CrossCountry.

HOW AND WHY IT WORKS

Loan originators and brokers are used to getting approached by recruiters and even brag about it in some cases. You may think it’s flattering that another company thinks you’re doing such a good job they want to recruit you. But, in most cases, it’s not just you they want. It’s your entire sales branch, or even your entire sales division.

Daniel Jacobs, founder and managing director of TruLoan Mortgage in North Carolina, says most of these recruiters don’t look at top producers, but at top-producing branches. This makes sense as most of these poaching lawsuits label the branch manager as the “conspirator” who convinces everyone else in the office — support staff included — to leave with him or her.

“Here’s what happens: you get a big branch with 20 loan officers. Five of them do $20 million in loans per month and the other 15 do another three loans per month. So, they move as a group, right? For morale and everything they move as a group,” Jacobs explained. “Companies don’t care about the individual loan officer, they care about the aggregate.”

In loanDepot’s lawsuit against CCM it states that the company’s focus on loanDepot’s New York branches are hardly a surprise as they are “highly profitable” and “have produced $846 million of loans per year on average.”

This strategy benefits the recruiter (or poacher) in many ways. Instead of trying to recruit every individual in a branch location, the recruiter only needs to capture one — in most cases, the branch manager. If the recruiter were to call up every staffer in the branch it would come across as intentional poaching, but if the branch manager or “conspirator” convinces the entire branch to switch over, they are more likely to get hit with a lawsuit rather than the recruiter’s company.

In CCM’s case, email exchanges show that the company encouraged its competitors’ employees to leave and take company information along with them.

EXPLOITING A LACK OF UNITY

Jacobs also makes a valid point about morale. Basic psychology tells us people don’t like change, so why would someone be OK with switching companies during a time of economic uncertainty? Lenders that have branches spread across the country lack company unity. The employees won’t have loyalty if there is no company culture tying them together. They do, however, have loyalty and culture within their own office.

Branch managers are generally quite independent. Each branch is responsible for their loan production and the managers are in charge of hiring staff. Recruiters or poachers target specific branches either because they’ve assembled a good team or they’re located in an area with high demand.

Now, recruiting is not as easy as calling up a loan officer and offering a sign-on bonus. Coldcalling loan officers and offering them a job may come across as suspicious or even like harassment. Jonathan Fowler, vice president of business development at American Financial Network, calls it the “shotgun approach.”

“Ask any loan officer who is closing at least five loans a month — they don’t even have to be a top producer — any loan officer, and

“The people who make these poaching or recruiting calls have no value to add. … They’re just trying to get someone to move over in what I call this horrible shotgun approach.”

– Jonathan Fowler, American Financial Network

Customer Info

One of the biggest mistakes a recruiter can make, Fowler said, is disparage the company the employee is currently working for. Fowler says this makes the recruiting target suspicious — it sends the message that this recruiter cares about damaging their competitor rather than snagging the person they’re recruiting.

USE THE POSITIVES

Neither Jacobs nor Fowler claim to engage in this aggressive type of recruiting. Fowler said he does not have a pitch to throw at people and he rarely, if ever, reaches out to individuals to recruit them. Instead he uses the positives of the company he is at and relays that information to everyone, and the ones that reach out with questions or show interest are recruitable.

“The people who make these poaching or recruiting calls have no value to add,” Fowler said. “Most of them don’t even know what it’s like to be a loan officer. They’re just trying to get someone to move over in what I call this horrible shotgun approach.”

Jacobs said he avoids aggressive recruiting tactics because he dislikes paying attorneys. “So over the years as I’ve built organizations, we did not aggressively outbound recruit people, because part of our process is to ask if they have restrictive

agreement and they weren’t allowed to bring a lot of the people with them. But sometimes they could.”

Jacobs said his company takes a more passive approach by mostly sticking to inbound recruiting where they’d market what they were doing through direct mail or paid ads.

INFORMATION ‘STEALING’

Poaching from your competitor usually isn’t the sole cause for these lawsuits. More so, it has to do with stealing information from competitors.

It’s common practice for mortgage professionals to hop from one company to the next. It’s a cyclical business with a high turnover rate, so unless someone’s employment contract states otherwise, it’s OK for loan officers to leave and begin working with their competitor. (In some agreements, it states that an employee cannot work for a direct competitor for a stipulated amount of time.)

However, stealing company information can lead to legal trouble. In most poaching lawsuits between mortgage companies, terms like “trade secrets” and “confidential proprietary information” pop up. But what exactly does that mean?

For the most part, they’re talking about customer

STEALING A SALES TEAM

lists. Other stolen information like marketing campaigns and company reports are not going to divert money away from a lender or brokerage, but the clients are their bread and butter. Every lender’s entire business depends on their clientele.

“There are very few company secrets in this business,” Jacobs said. “No one has the Coke recipe in their vault. We’re all dealing with the same agencies, selling the same loans, using the same guidelines. We all have a version of the same processes. Are there really some instances of company secrets? I would say perhaps when a company is heavily invested in expensive marketing campaigns and manipulating their data for conversions … Yes, that’s a secret. But other than very few instances, I kind of laugh at this idea of company secrets — we’re all selling the exact same thing.”

LISTS ARE CENTRAL

Customer lists are central in this battle and are the main reason these poaching lawsuits get filed.

the company and they are not to be shared with anyone outside of the company for any reason.”

‘NOBODY OWNS THE CLIENT’

However, ownership of customer lists is not as black and white as that — not even in court.

Fowler admits that a federal court will say the company owns the clients and lenders subscribe to that belief for obvious reasons. The loan officer community, on the other hand, will say nobody owns the client. For the most part, loan officers think if you were to ask the client who they choose to work with, they’d follow the loan officer.

Loan officers and brokers have access to their own pipeline. They got those leads (unless the company paid for them), they formed a relationship with the borrower, and they are tracking the progress of those loans. In most cases, loan officers and brokers build their entire pipeline themselves or with the assistance of their support staff who they hire themselves. After putting in all that effort to build their pipeline, it’s no wonder why they feel possessive.

– David Lykken, Transformational Mortgage Solutions

Debra Killian, former co-owner of Charter Oak Lending Group, was a victim of poaching in 2004 when all of her employees left to work for her competitor, CTX, bringing their customer lists along with them.

Killian decided to go toe-to-toe with the thenmortgage giant in court. She was surprised to hear her former employees claim they were “independent contractors” instead of W-2 employees.

“Using the independent contractor premise, they basically said they own their clients,” Killian said. “But loan officers who have no ownership in the company must be paid on a W-2. We paid every one of our employees on a W-2. We withheld taxes, we had a 401(k), we offered other benefits a W-2 worker would typically get. They were claiming to be independent contractors with the benefit of employee status.”

Killian insists that her former employees knew what they were doing was wrong. She said everyone on her staff was provided a copy of the employee handbook and they reviewed it annually.

“We had an employee handbook that said you must refrain from any conflict of interests. You need to be working for one company at a time, so you can’t work with your competitor while you’re also working for us — kind of common sense things,” Killian said. “We also had a very simple paragraph in the employee handbook that basically said all data and files are property of

“The salesforce is out there gathering those names and that information,” Fowler said. “They’re the ones borrowers are following up with, they’re the ones who run into clients in the grocery store, and so forth — not the legal firm, not the compliance officer, or any of those people.”

IT’S YOU — NOT YOUR LOGO

Fowler says most seasoned loan officers have what he calls a “seasons greeting list” made up of past clients so they can stay in contact with each other, and the loan officer can get more referrals.

“As a borrower, I do not do business with you because of the moniker on your shirt,” Fowler said. “I do business with you because I feel like I could trust you, I like you, and you seem to work hard for me.”

So, if anyone were to ask the client who they would prefer to continue working with, either the loan officer at the new company or their original lender, they might be more inclined to choose the loan officer.

In reality, the borrower likely chooses to work with a specific lender because of the loan officer and the products the lender offers. They can be swayed in either direction with a little convincing, but the loan officer has already built a relationship with that borrower so they’re likely better at luring them in.

The only opinion that matters, though, is a judge’s opinion. In most cases, the wealthiest company wins because it has the financial endurance to pursue litigation.

David Lykken, executive coach and business strategy consultant at Transformational Mortgage Solutions, who has testified as a witness in multiple poaching cases, said, “He who has more

“Do a better job of educating your team up front and be proactive in protecting information.”

money and better attorneys wins.”

In Lykken’s experience, if there is good evidence that a company did not encourage information stealing, and the loan officers did it on their own, they can get away with it — not for free of course, as legal fees can quickly add up.

HOW TO PREVENT POACHING

It’s hard, as the owner or executive leader of a company, to prevent your sales team from being poached. Considering how much every mortgage company relies on its sales team to bring in business, it’s quite natural to be afraid of them.

examples of what happens when you steal company property and leak information to competitors.

“Tell them it’s OK to leave and educate them on how,” Lykken said. “Give examples of people who got sued and use case law to educate your loan officers.”

DON’T GET BLACKLISTED

Lykken said he saw one company sue another for taking cups and pins, literally. These lawsuits can start with something as small as office supplies before they start thinking about what else you might have taken.

Most of all, you want to avoid going to court, especially if you find yourself in a David vs. Goliath situation. If your competitor is much bigger than you, should you even attempt to hit back? Well, the answer is entirely up to you. But, if you do decide to hit back, make sure you’re financially prepared for a drawn-out battle.

As a leader, you want to command respect. You want your employees to like working for you. You don’t want to be a cruel boss, but you don’t want your employees to walk all over you either.

First, every business owner or leader should accept the fact that most, if not all, employees will leave you at some point. They’ll either retire, get married and move away, switch occupations, or get lured away by another mortgage company. The possibilities as to why are endless; therefore, you should discuss the proper way to leave with every employee that gets hired to avoid future conflicts.

Plenty of companies review their employee handbook annually with their staff. Unfortunately, that won’t be enough to dissuade them from leaving and stealing company information on the way out. Lykken suggests showing them concrete

“It’s called going nuclear,” Lykken said. “They’ll bring up everything you may or may not have done to wrong the company and pile it into a lawsuit.”

He said companies have access to loan officer logins, as well — they can track your location, IP address, and login times — so they know when and where you’re accessing client information.

“Loan officers can get fired from their new employer for stealing from their previous employer. They get blacklisted and may never work in the industry again. That, and they’ll have to pay millions of dollars in fines and fees,” Lykken said.

“Do a better job of educating your team up front and be proactive in protecting information.”

When a loan officer agrees to engage in poaching, they must know the reputation, legal, and financial risks behind that decision. But is scaring your loan officers the only answer to gaining their loyalty? Of course not.

Jacobs recommends a strategy of open communication as well and a willingness to negotiate.

LOGIN

STEALING A SALES TEAM

“I would often engage in a conversation that goes like this: Let’s look at the pipeline you’ve got. I want to know what your expectations are and I hear what they say, and then I inform them of what the agreement is. But, then I’ll set those things aside and say let’s talk about this practically.”

First, Jacobs and the employee will identify which leads the company paid for, and keep those. Selfgenerated leads, on the other hand, are negotiable.

and her team, the people who invited them to the conference were involved with their competitor, CTX, and were recruiting for them.

Shortly after the conference suspicious activity started to arise. Killian stayed home from work one day because she had a backache, but decided to login to her system to check in on everyone.

Poaching vs. Recruiting

“If we’ve got a locked loan or a loan in processing, typically what I would say is ‘We’re going to retain those. You’re not allowed to solicit those, and if the client calls you let them know you are being well taken care of elsewhere. For anything that closes in 30, 60, or maybe 90 days, we’ll pay you a certain amount per loan.’ It might be less than their regular commission because someone else is helping to close it, but we would come to a negotiation that way,” Jacobs said.

Even though poaching is extremely prevalent in the mortgage industry, most people struggle to accurately define it. It’s important to note the differences, especially if you’re trying to avoid a lawsuit.

Texas-based business law firm, Hendershot & Cowart P.C., states that employee poaching occurs when one competitor hires multiple employees from a competitor’s company. Assuming the company acquired these new workers intentionally, the term is called “poaching,” or “employee raiding.” In some states, poaching is legal and within others it is not.

Recruiting is when one competitor hires employees from a competitor’s company without the intention of doing so.

There is only a thin, gray line between the two terms. Essentially, a company must prove that their competitor intentionally seeked out multiple employees from their office to recruit.

Word of advice: Don’t be a poacher; be an aggressive recruiter. n

For any loans that have not been locked, gone under contract, or haven’t progressed much, the loan officer can take them, Jacob said. This way, the company can protect what it has invested in.

After adopting this strategy Jacobs has seen positive results, such as having a loan processor return to his company after leaving for a competitor. He suggests because they parted ways amicably, the woman felt comfortable enough to ask for her old job back and she got it.

TAKE THEM TO COURT

Poaching can truly be a nightmare for its victims. But, what can be even worse is the litigation that follows afterwards.

Killian, the former co-owner of Charter Oak Lending Group, with her husband Don DeRespinis, had nine loan officers and one processor working for her in 2004.

Killian paid for seven originators and herself to attend a conference that another mortgage company was hosting. Unbeknownst to Killian

“All of a sudden I saw all these loans being suspended, suspended, suspended in our system,” Killian said. She then decided to call her husband and ask him what was going on. Both of them realized their loan officers were shutting down loans that they had started.

By the time Killian’s husband called her back, four of Charter Oak’s top employees had quit without giving notice. Real estate agents and attorneys began to call her office saying that they had just received cards postmarked days earlier announcing that the (now former) employees were moving to CTX Mortgage, a giant broker and lender and one of the country’s leading homebuilding companies.

Over the next few weeks several more employees resigned, including one processor who was a friend of Killian’s since kindergarten, and left to join CTX. In total, it took about 30 days before everyone in her company left, taking customer lists with them.

“All of a sudden, we’re getting calls,” Killian said. “We had customers calling us, telling us they didn’t authorize their file to be taken somewhere else. I mean, it was just a lot of unbelievable stuff.”

Killian said CTX paid her former employees collectively $278,000 in signing bonuses. The company also asked for data and files belonging to Charter Oak Lending.

GONE IN A MONTH

After spending 10 years building up her company, Killian saw it all fall apart within a month. But, that was just the beginning of her nightmare.

Killian filed a lawsuit in December 2004 against CTX and the employees who left, alleging unfair trade practices, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty and computer-related offenses, among other charges. Nine years of litigation ensued between the two companies and all 10 defendants involved in the poaching, and it cost Killian about $500,000.

“Attorneys can lure you into a case without you really understanding how big and bad it could really get,” Killian said. “They don’t talk about that at the beginning.”

Unfortunately, the lawsuit did not pan out as Killian had planned. At the time, the courts didn’t understand the nature of the problem and did not know how to value the information that was stolen — mainly client information like names, addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth, and interest rates on their loans.

“The courts don’t understand white collar

crime,” she said. “They didn’t understand the value of a file that represents a customer that represents a transaction. That could be $3000 or $5,000, whatever the value of that transaction closing was, they just didn’t get it.”

CRABGRASS, NOT GREEN GRASS

Despite all this turmoil and frustration, Killian still somewhat felt bad for the employees who left. They thought they were leaving for greener pastures, but that’s not what ended up happening.

“Most of the people that left us ended up getting

Although CTX could afford to bring in heavyhitting attorneys from Dallas and did not suffer as much from the legal fees, Killian believes her competitor’s decision to poach from her company was their loss.

“I’m guessing that it cost them more than what they got in loan production,” Killian said.

BAD DECISION?

Still, Killian admits it likely hurt her company and family more to pursue litigation, although she believes it was the right decision at the end of the day.

The irony behind it all was that Killian found out, in the midst of gathering information during litigation, that CTX sued other companies for doing the exact same thing that they did to Charter Oak Lending.

As mentioned, Jacobs said he likes to avoid lawsuits. Instead, he consults with his competitors directly.

out of the business,” Killian said. “CTX ended up selling to PTE.”

“If this were to happen all over again, and if I were gonna file a suit, it would be filed in federal court,” Killian said. “Because the federal courts are no nonsense and they expedite things where the state drags things out. The second thing is I don’t think the state really understood the essence of the case where I think a federal judge is more sophisticated and probably would’ve understood a little bit better.”

“When another company recruits someone from our company, and then we see them going after a few more people, we send out a notice of our contract and the restrictive covenants that employee had,” Jacobs said. “Without us doing that, the company can claim they didn’t know about our restrictive covenants. But once they do know, we can sue that company for tortious interference.”

He recommends this as a good technique to stop the bleeding, but it won’t make up for how much you’ve already bled out.

‘It never results in getting the employees back,” Jacobs said. “It rarely results in money being exchanged. It can only put a stop to what the poacher is doing.” n

WITH US

Special Awards

2022 MOST LOVED EMPLOYERS

Earlier this year, NMP reached out to mortgage employers across the country.

We invited them to apply to participate in an exercise in which their employees voted on how well they were doing. Once a company was accepted into the program, they were given a unique code to distribute to their employee base. That code and a special link allowed employees to rate their companies on various aspects, without those employers having any ability to see what the voting was like.

We asked about benefits and corporate culture;

community involvement social interaction; commitment to diversity and racial justice, and much more.

We received hundreds and hundreds of replies. From these votes, tallied the results for each company in each category.

The result is this listing. Companies did not purchase their slots here. They voluntarily submitted to the judgment of their workforce. In the end, each of them takes a place on the podium of excellence. These are, without a doubt, the Most Loved Employers™ in the mortgage industry. ♥

Lenders With 100 and Under Mortgage Loan Officers

Founded in 2002 and based in Dallas/Fort Worth, Premier Nationwide Lending has established itself as one of the nation’s top mortgage companies. With the support of a highly experienced and dedicated team of industry experts, many of whom are top producers, Premier continues to grow, providing unparalleled service, time after time, loan after loan.

At Premier Nationwide Lending employees find more than a successful mortgage lending company, they also discover a team of top industry professionals dedicated to providing a quality service. By continuing to invest in its loan officers and support staff, Premier Nationwide Lending is devoted to delivering a high level of support and service throughout the home mortgage loan process.

Employees very often describe the atmosphere as a big family and family friendly. One employee stated that they loved the company because it feels like a community with flexibility and a family atmosphere, and there’s availability to upper management as well as training.

The word family keeps coming through in employee’s comments: It’s family oriented. They are like a family. It’s like a big family. Everyone is important and everyone plays a part to the point that if you ask for help, you have several employees that are willing to assist. The friendly and family-like culture. The CEO is personally involved and knows most of the employees. The CEO of our company really cares about the company and its employees. The friendly and family-like culture. The CEO is personally involved and knows most of the employees. PNL invests in their employees from day one. They provide equipment and training to make sure that we are on our best footing from the very beginning.

The ease of collaborating with other team members as well as everyone’s willingness to help each other out was also highlighted. The leadership displays genuine care and concern for each of its employees. This company has a can-do attitude. They are also very family oriented and understand the need for balance with work and family. ♥

Mountain West Financial likes to say its team is more than just staff; it is family. Employer and employees expect a lot and hold each other to high standards. MWF invests in its family with educational opportunities, financial planning, strong benefit packages, and growth opportunities. The culture is conducive to high standards of work, strong ethics, and teamwork. Growth within the company is a high priority. The company also touts its manager peer groups that help assist with the development of new managers to ask questions and bounce ideas with managers that have been with the company longer.

Employees very often describe the atmosphere as being like that of a family. The MWF family, as it’s referred to, means the employees are guided, mentored and given all the tools they need to succeed. The company is always there to support its employees. The culture is described as very inclusive. MWF employees say the place feels like a mom-and-pop shop.

The owners also interact with the employees and make them feel like family. Everyone at MWF wants everyone to succeed. Everyone enjoys going out of their way to helping each other. It’s the nicest company. The company is also known for trusting its employees, treats them well and genuinely wants them to have a good work/life balance.

The employees say everyone is kind, thoughtful and caring. The family atmosphere and how they support you being involved with your family events, no questions asked. Another employee said they love the history and the values that have transcended through different company eras that keeps everyone connected. For the most part, employees say they are a big family for the better of the customers and the company. Another employee says the support they received has been amazing.

The company takes the time to make sure employees understand and give them the tools to succeed. As one employee summed it up, “We truly have a family atmosphere of inclusion and respect. We’re asked for our opinions and able to give them without repercussions.”

MORTGAGE BRONZE

Inlanta Mortgage creates a thriving and entrepreneurial culture where every team member feels valued, empowered and encouraged to reach their highest potential and has the freedom to grow their business as they see fit.

“The culture here makes all the difference,” says Iowa Branch Manager Brian Swanson. “It’s inclusive where everyone is there to step up and help each other out – whether it’s the home office helping us, or loan officers helping each other.” Mo

To ensure everyone has a voice in the company’s direction, Inlanta created an Advisory Board made up of top company professionals elected to three-year terms by all employees. The Advisory Board provides Inlanta’s leadership team with valued guidance and input used in shaping the company’s policies and strategies.

Says President and CEO Paul Buege: “When you give people the resources and freedom to flourish, it’s easy to understand why people love to work here.”

Employees say, “Inlanta is small enough to feel like everyone is family but large enough to have a cutting-edge technology. The company has a great office that is a family with great pay and work/life balance. The culture and everyone truly working together to ensure our customers are able to meet their dreams of homeownership.

Inlanta executives, employees added, are always open to new ideas to make the company function better. There’s flexibility to work remotely and the continued opportunity for training/education. There’s no task big or small for even the CEO. The support staff is fantastic. Also of note, Inlanta is forward thinking and approaches challenges positively. The collective mindset is always, “What can we do to improve and better serve our clients?” It’s a privately owned company. They focus on the people rather than the dollar. Making a profit is important, of course, but they don’t do it at the expense of the employees. Inlanta provides a structure for my bank to succeed. Inlanta has a positive environment and culture. There is always encouragement to do better – no matter what. People always feel welcome and if there’s ever a problem, they can get it resolved. The company is very team oriented. ♥

Lenders With 101–500 Mortgage Loan Officers

Reverse Mortgage Funding is the nation’s #1 HECM Backed Securities (HMBS) issuer and it services more than 84,000 reverse mortgage borrowers. RMF has an economic mission and commitment to operate our company on a sustainable financial basis of profitable growth, increasing value for our stakeholders and expanding opportunities for development and career growth for our employees.

This is how RMF encourages growth. Across all our learning and development platforms, we’re constantly working to make technical content more engaging to help bolster our team members’ learning and growth opportunities. As a company, we’re reinvesting in things like an internal weekly podcast, video learning, webinars, virtual and inperson trainings and more.

Part of RMF’s social mission is to actively strive to help improve older Americans’ quality of life while successfully representing diversity, equity, and inclusion as a service provider and an employer. At RMF, it believes that inclusionary workplace policies are essential for maintaining healthy, engaging, and authentic work environments. Its distributed workforce model allows RMF to compete for top talent across the nation and in the mortgage industry.

Employees love being at RMF. “Their employee morale is like no other company I’ve ever worked for. I feel a part of my direct team and with the company as a whole,” said one employee.

Another shared similar enthusiasm for their employer. “RMF is a company that values its most important asset: the employees. The company has an expansive array of benefits, knowledgeable and approachable management, flexibility when needed, clear and concise training, and excellent communication across the company,” the employee said.

RMF also earns praise from its employees for the way it treats its customers. “RMF is a great company because it truly cares about its borrowers. This is mostly a result from the industries best all working here and giving their all to help our borrowers with a product that can be life changing!” the employee enthused. ♥

Waterstone Mortgage likes to focus on the success of its family-friendly culture. The company said, “What we mean by that is simply this: our employees tell us, over and over again, that they feel appreciated, welcomed, and valued in our workplace. We take our work seriously, but we also have fun. Our customers are our #1 priority, but we also understand the importance of creating a healthy work-life balance for our team members. Because we are focused on providing an engaging, positive work environment, our employees are typically very loyal and excited to come to work (even if it’s virtually!) Our team members are respectful, smart, and talentedand it shows, every day, in our offices.”

Employees can thrive at Waterstone if they love collaborating and being part of a team. The company says, “From our executive management team to our branch employees, everyone plays a valuable role in our organization. We are very team-oriented, and everyone works for the benefit of their colleagues and our customers. We also have a training department that provides ongoing education and skill development for our employees, fostering their professional growth.

“Plus, we believe in promoting from within, when possible. So far in 2022, we have promoted 23 individuals within our Home Office, with many more promotions at our branches throughout the nation.”

It’s obvious that focus on training pays off for Waterstone Mortgage. One employee noted, “Every person I’ve interacted with at Waterstone Mortgage since Day 1, is an incredibly gifted mortgage professional. Everyone is the best of the best at what they do. I’ve been in mortgage 32 years, from LO to mortgage company owner and I view WMC as mortgage company perfection.”

A new employee echoed that enthusiasm. “I love that being a new LO I was able to walk into an environment of elite achievers and learn from them at my own pace. This is particularly an amazing environment for LO’s who are starting their mortgage careers, such as myself,” the employee shared. ♥

Everyone at Planet Home Lending is dedicated to helping our originators increase volume and grow their business footprint, the company notes. “We retain the majority of our servicing, creating customers for life for MLOs who benefit from marketing to existing clients. We constantly find ways to close more loans by increasing operational efficiencies, improving the marketing tech stack, and focusing on customer experience,” the company said.

Also, of note, Planet originators were beating industry benchmarks by 14% at mid-year 2022 because their culture focuses on maximizing opportunities created by market inflections. Its data-driven leadership made strategic moves in 2021 to position the company to grow in a rising-rate environment. MLOs are attracted to Planet because of this product mix, financial stability, and operational support.

The employees concur. One wrote, “Planet Home Lending is the best company and the greatest team that I have ever had the privilege of being a part of. Everyone at Planet works together to achieve common goals and push each other towards success. The company is great at fostering talent and bringing out the best in its employees.”

Another said, “I love that Planet Home Lending encourages innovation, new ideas, and provides an open environment for sharing and collaborating. We are growing not only in size, but in talent! It’s incredible to see what brilliant minds are capable of when working together and Planet has created the perfect environment for success all around.”

“The overall atmosphere and people I work with not only make it a fun place to work, but we all have the same vision and want to succeed! Planet gives you the opportunity to take your career to the level you want. All the leaders actually listen to their employees and are always open to new ideas & possible solutions … that will not only help the company but gives the employee the chances they need to succeed,” wrote another employee. ♥

Gold Star Mortgage is proud of how it treats new and veteran employees. “Our Foundational Team Member training program is a 2.5-month rotational program that exposes participants to various teams within the mortgage loan and support process — from sales to underwriting, operations, IT, marketing, and more. During the first few months of employment, our Foundational Team Members spend time gaining knowledge in every department. We meet and actively engage with other corporate team members and managers in all departments to understand how each role plays a vital role in our company’s success,” the company proudly noted.

“Accessibility of management that can make decisions immediately. Never have I spoke to management and heard, let me run that up the ladder. There is no ladder here,” said one employee.

“Everyone is willing to help; no matter the time of day, everyone wants to see everyone succeed, regardless of their position. This company wants to help everyone grow and have a good time doing it. Very team-oriented company. They always show that you are needed in the company,” said another.

Gold Star also recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It includes hiring practices that encourage a workforce population that is highly inclusive of various racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as veterans, military spouses, and persons with disabilities.

“Our job descriptions are written in genderneutral language to encourage diversity. We promote employee referrals and make an effort to look at individuals beyond the automated screeners. By celebrating multiculturism and diversity in the workplace, the company culture is enhanced by our diverse mindsets, which support our workforce and improve our servicing capabilities for our entire potential client population,” Goldstar Mortgage said.

Employees appreciate that. One said, “Our company fosters a team and collaborative environment. Employees are developed to provide a career path and high performers have a lot of upward mobility.”

Lenders With Over 500 Mortgage Loan Officers

GOLD

APM is a family first and foremost. Its headquarters are called the “home office” because it wants everyone to feel supported and welcome. American Pacific’s values are at the heart of its organization because it’s not what you say, but what you do that’s important. Its values of respect, transparency and scrappy define how it act and guide the company in everything it does. Employees are empowered to make decisions, and as a company, it is 100% focused on making its loan officers and branch managers look good. At APM every experience matters.

One employee said what they most like about the company is working there is like a big family. “There is no I’s but only Us. They are transparent and caring. When I was diagnosed with cancer they rallied around me and made work my last worry. When I get in a bind on a deal, they are open to hearing the problem and work on a solution.” Another added, “I love how APM always strives to make sure their employees are educated, stays current with what is needed to move forward to succeed as well as always looking towards the future to make the company better. They are transparent, personable and very professional. I feel extremely lucky to be working for an outstanding company and leadership crew.”

When asked what the company can do better, most echoed this employee who said, “Not much.” Of course, not all is perfect. “Always improve on streamlining the mortgage process with technology adoption,” one employee said in the NMP survey.

Among the benefits offered, APM became partially employee-owned in 2019 by becoming an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), a retirement plan to enable a way for employees to start building additional long-term savings. Employees are given shares without cost and vest over time. In an industry with little to no retirement plans for employees, APM’s founders are committed to providing for their employees once they retire. ♥

SILVER

A

s Movement Mortgage explains on its website, Movement was created to be different. Founded in 2008, amidst one of the biggest financial meltdowns in American history, Movement set forth on a mission to create a Movement of Change in the industry, in corporate cultures and in communities.

Chief among its movement of change is how employees are treated. Company officials proudly note, “With movement, you can be confident that the people in our organization will be well cared for and given the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally. We offer a bestin-class tech-suite and marketing tools to our loan officers and support teams, setting them up for success. Our movement training program offered through our coaches is completely free for employees. We’re excellent at what we do, and we’re growing rapidly. Plus, we have financial and operational advantages to continue scaling no matter what the future brings.

There’s more to Movement than its bottom line, though. Employees can support their co-workers through The Love Works fund that helps give back to employees. The fund consists of employee contributions. This fund is one small way that staff can provide a helping hand when it’s needed most. The Love Works program exists for the employees of Movement Mortgage who are facing a great need in their life. It offers financial aid, coaching, resource connections and moral support to all employees nationwide.

That love for fellow man is enthusiastically supported by employees. “I love Movement’s culture!! They say, ‘Love & Value’ and Movement truly means it. They hire people who make that a focus in their life!”

Another added, “Others warned me before starting at Movement that they were a large corporation, and employees can often be overworked and unrecognized in large corporations of this scale. Movement has proved that that’s not the case here! I’ve felt welcomed and recognized from the day I started. I’ve worked in two departments of the company and have been equally treated outstanding in both!”

While other companies focus on being like a family, New American Funding concentrates on building a community. Company officials said, “Our community-like culture sets us apart and has earned the company many national awards, including being named one of Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For 2022. In fact, the company ranked as one of the nation’s top 20 workplaces in its first appearance on this prestigious list.”

New American Funding executive staff and team members work diligently to cultivate a diverse and inclusive work environment. These efforts bolster and promote the company’s NAF360 culture initiative, which is designed to ensure employees feel balanced and valued.

NAF360 embodies the company’s commitment to nurturing an atmosphere of 360 degrees of trust and respect and influences how the company and its employees treat clients, partners, and each other in the office, on video chat, over the phone, to borrowers, and at every point of contact.

One employee said the sense of community is bolstered through great communication. “The videos created by the president, CEO, CIO, and COO on a regular basis keep individual employees connected and together. There are multiple e-mails, and video trainings encourage and support new products and give opportunities for sharing best practices especially in tough times when everyone is affected in one way or another,” the employee wrote.

Another added, “You’ll hear from many about the company culture, but want to call out executive leadership -you don’t get what NAF has by paying lip service. Their dedication and appreciation of our culture shows in everything they do.”

The company’s employee-growth program, called “If You Want to Grow, We Want to Know,” gives employees a chance to communicate directly with senior management about internal growth opportunities.

The company also launched its “360 Mentorship Program,” a program to help team members develop professionally through indepth one-on-one matching of mentees with experienced senior mentors. ♥

OCT 18 2022

Colorado’s top gathering for mortgage professionals returns to Denver on October 18, 2022. Don’t miss this exciting, informative event.

NMP readers like you can attend for free by using the code NMPOCN.

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Lenders With Over 500 Mortgage Loan Officers

Employees at Nations Lending love the culture of this company — it’s truly what they believe makes them different from other companies, not only within the industry, but in the business world as a whole. Talk about the company being a family is not just lip service. From the top down — its co-owners always talk about their family of employees, and how appreciative and grateful they are to have wonderful employees who want to see the company succeed. Employees also love how they can dial-up any executive in the company and talk to them or schedule a meeting with them. The access to the C-suite is unique.

When asked to define love for the company, one employee answered, “This is the first company that I have worked for that says they are family oriented that truly is. They hold to their word. They really do care all the way up to the CEO, president, and vice president. I have actually met them and spoke with them. This is not something that I have seen in other companies. They actually have a real conversation with you and not just about business. They want to know about you as an individual.”

One employee enjoys the family experience but would like to see more team building. “I wish there were more team-building opportunities. I love being remote, but sometimes it would be nice to set up some time that’s just for getting to know co-workers and unique team building activities.”

Company officials are proud of the opportunities afforded for employee growth. “If certain departments and/or teams grow, then an employee who has shown and made it clear they want to take on more responsibility, are given the opportunity for a promotion — to become a team lead, or more. In addition, employees who express interest in wanting to change career paths within the company — possibly transferring to a different department — they are afforded this opportunity,” the company said. ♥

VanDyk Mortgage earns accolades from its employees for the ways it serves its staff through diverse hiring, as well as providing health support.

VanDyk Mortgage employs a diverse group of individuals ensuring that everyone who is qualified has an equal and fair opportunity to be employed. It has partnered with minority recruitment firms to assist in finding candidates with diverse backgrounds. It also provides the opportunity for semi-retired employees to continue in their roles on a part-time basis.

VanDyk also provides accommodations to employees who require assistance for their mental or physical health limitations. They discuss accommodations with employees and provide resources for them to implement in their workspace. The firm also collaborates with an employee’s physician to learn additional accommodations that could possibly be incorporated. They direct employees to the Employee Assistance Program where they can meet with a counselor multiple times for guidance or assistance.

An employee said, “VanDyk goes out of its way to make certain the culture shows the values of the CEO. I am completely resourced to do my job. Further, I want to work here! It is not a chore, a bore, nor a snore. They help facilitate my calling.”

Another employee added, “We are truly a family and just get the job done! I have been a mortgage lender for 29 years and after coming to VanDyk several years ago I will never work anywhere else.”

Praise for VanDyk comes back to its family feel. “The community within our company is amazing. To see my co-works support and uplift each let’s me know that we are all on the same time and want the best for each other and the company as a whole!” an employee emphatically said.

Management backs that belief. “VanDyk focuses on the individual development of each employee allowing the opportunity for people to reach their highest professional potential,” the company said.

Wholesale Lenders

GOLD

SILVER

Angel Oak is proud of its “people first” culture and a collaborative environment where leadership holds an open-door policy. The company has been named to the list of top workplaces for 8 consecutive years by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Angel Oak is active in the community, volunteering for and donating to the Ronald McDonald House, Sager Strong and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. It also offers a hybrid work week with in-office and remote hours that include lunches and office events to encourage people to visit.

Not surprisingly job flexibility and support and engagement from corporate, rank high on the list of what Angel Oak employees like most about the company, along with benefits, the ability to move up the corporate ladder and the “tight-knit” atmosphere.

“I love the feeling that if I’m willing to put in the work, that I will be rewarded with advancement or appropriate compensation and doing that in an atmosphere of people who seem to genuinely care about each other,” wrote one employee.

“The communication is really great. I love that Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions puts its employees first, always soliciting for ways to improve work life balance, and even creating positions so that there are growth opportunities. Angel Oak is a company that does the right thing and there is no other company I would rather be employed by,” wrote another.

And a third wrote that “the culture created here is one of joy, enthusiasm, and customerservice driven excellence. They really make us feel appreciated.”

When asked to list something the company could do better, a large number of the nearly four dozen responses were “not much,” “nothing” or “I can’t think of anything.”

But one resourceful respondent did try to plant a seed with management that would probably make people feel even better about working there. “Nothing really but if I must,” the employee wrote. “It would be unrealistic or not practical, but company-paid Teslas.” ♥

A

t HomeXpress they practice the 3 Cs: communication, culture, and collaboration.

“I spend a lot of time working between the different departments and the employees work hard to work together in order to get the job done,” said one employee who managed to get a nod to each “C” and added “creative” into their assessment of why HomeXpress is great to work for. “I also appreciate the transparency from the executive level. Senior management is up front about market conditions and how we look as a company long term, especially when times aren’t certain. They also listen and empower their teams to develop solutions that are timely and creative.”

“Our culture is unbeatable. The executive team really invests time and resources in each employee’s growth and development in the team, and career advancement,” said another.”

Company officials pride themselves on investing heavily in new hire training, and providing employees with opportunities to venture outside their comfort zones. And speaking of working outside, employees who work remotely periodically receive care packages with meals, blankets, or a note of gratitude from the CEO. For those who work in the office, they have access to a chef who makes high quality lunches. To promote unity, the company hosts Easter egg decorating and Mother’s Day photo contests.

When it comes to what HomeXpress could do better, the letter “C” came up frequently again in the employee responses.

“Continue to evolve with the market,” said one. “Continue to be in position to grab market share when other companies don’t perform,” said another.

“From the time I’ve started with HomeXpress, I’ve seen great strides to continue ‘getting better’ in everything we do - from operational processes, sales, marketing & training”, said a third. “The fact that we are always striving to be better is all I could ever ask and appreciate.”

“Don’t change a thing,” said a fourth. “We are all happy coming to work every day. Teammates are enjoying moving up in the company and being provided the opportunity to grow.”

NOV

As one of the largest minority-owned businesses in Cincinnati, Ascendum Solutions takes pride in having a culture that is inclusive and that values diverse backgrounds and ideas.

By the looks of it the company, which was named to the best places to work in Greater Cincinnati in 2020 and 2021, also is serious when it comes to the treatment of its employees.

Its Value Nomination Program recognizes five employees a year for demonstrating excellence in the following core value areas: Character; Commitment; Competence; Courage; and Community.

Ascendum also sets aside $2,000 a year for employees’ personal education to help them improve on existing skills or develop new ones and its “Culture Club” hosts regular happy hours, pot-luck lunches, charity events, and surveys.

And speaking of charity, employees are given three paid days off each year to volunteer in the community. Ascendum also hosts three company-wide fundraisers or corporate matches for Feeding America, Wounded Warriors Project Heifer International and the Red Cross in support of the people of Ukraine.

Employees, which number around 1,600, are also allowed to work from any location they choose, and get 21 vacation days a year, plus one floating day to set aside for personal milestones.

Not surprisingly, a large number of the six dozen comments about what employees liked about working for Ascendum touched on the work culture and environment, collaboration and work-life balance.

“Our employer’s corporate culture, company’s benefits, company’s stance on equality which means all employees are encouraged to succeed regardless of, race, sex, gender, age, etc., and it fosters an environment where any person can succeed and excel regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other factors,” wrote one employee.

And on the “what can the company do better” side, just under 50 of the 73 responses contained the words “no,” “not” or “nothing.” ♥

2022

Texas’s top gathering for mortgage professionals returns to Houston on November 8, 2022. Don’t miss this exciting, informative event.

NMP readers like you can attend for free by using the code NMPOCN.

support staff. Show producers

Thousands of originators from around the country got the tools they need to survive at Originator Connect™ in Las Vegas, Nevada, August 19–21, 2022.

Originator Connect kicked off with some special pre-conference events. Maximum Acceleration™ featured advice from some of the top experts in the mortgage

industry. Attendees also got to learn about working with private lenders at the Private Lender Summit™ and how to break out on their own at Build-a-Broker™.

The education continued through the weekend with a full slate of seminars and panels, highlighted by keynote speaker Daymond John, the founder of FUBU and one of the

stars of Shark Tank.

Looking to find new products to kickstart your business? An exhibitor expo gave attendees the chance to see all the latest products, technology and trends.

Attendees also got a behind the scenes look at the Mortgage News Network™. Editorial Director Christine Stuart, Head of

Multimedia Mike Savino and NMP Magazine™ staff writers Katie Jensen and Sarah Wolak were live in Las Vegas reporting on everything that happened at Originator Connect for The Interest™ and The Principal™, MNN’s daily newscast and podcast.

But Originator Connect wasn’t all business. Attendees let loose at the Viva Las Vegas and Wagon Wheel parties. n

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Overcoming Sadness Thanks To Swedish Fish!

Nick Roberson is a long-time mortgage industry veteran and a board member of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals. He’s a forthcoming and giving guy, who shares his … unique … perspective on work and life on his Facebook account. Here are some of Nick’s FB thoughts this month:

Iwent to check my mail. I opened the box and reached in for my mail. As I was pulling the mail out, a Black Widow, who had decided to make my mailbox her home, dropped down onto the back of my hand. What happened next is quite a blur. Long story short, Black Widow is dead, I nearly had a heart attack and one of the neighbor’s kids probably learned a few new words. On an up note, I got all of my steps in for the day, an invite to join a local dance crew, and I flagged down the ice cream man.

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I’ve never heard a great circumcision joke. They always get cut off right at the end.

The legendary Len Dawson! So many times I pretended

It was a tough day dropping Savannah off at college. She was emotional, and I was fighting my own emotions to make things easier for her. She had walked me out to my car, and I gave her a hug goodbye. She wiped away the tears, and started to walk away. She turned back … I was expecting her to shout an “I love you” or something to that effect. No, that is not what she shouted as crowds of people walked by. She yelled, “Dad, don’t do anything stupid in Vegas! I am tired of bailing you and your little friends out of that jail! Oh, and for gosh sakes, leave the damn Swedish Fish at home this time!”

Then she turned and vanished into the crowd. I laughed half the way home over that. Then I realized that even though my daughter was emotional, afraid, and dealing with the fact her mom wasn’t present, she was still more worried about her dad driving home sad from dropping his baby girl off at school. She knew I would laugh about that all the way home. So, she left me with a laugh to help me to deal with my own emotions. Now I am not sure who has been raising who.

And now for the rest of story … from a 2018 post: So, today my daughter comes home from school, and this happens:

Savannah: Dad, I just realized you haven’t eaten any of the Swedish Fish I bought you for Valentine’s Day.

Me: Oh, I’m sorry. I will take them on my next business trip to Las Vegas.

Savannah: Dad! You can’t do that! You know what happened the last time you took Swedish Fish to Las Vegas!

Me: No, I don’t remember any Las Vegas Swedish Fish incidents.

Savannah: See! That’s how bad it was. You don’t even remember!.

Me: (looking at her perplexed) Huh?

When Rocky Bleier lets you wear his four Superbowl rings!

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“Blazing Saddles” has just been edited for television. It will air tonight from 8:00–8:07 pm.

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I think I need to lose a little bit of weight. I tried to sit up in bed and rocked myself back to sleep.

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I remember the time my mother factory reset me with a slap, then hogtied me with the seat belt, all while doing 75 down the freeway. She was skilled like that.

Savannah: 2:00 o’clock in the morning I get a call from the Las Vegas Police Department asking me to bring you and the Swedish Fish bail money. When I asked them what happened, they said all they could tell me is there were two clowns, a show girl, a flamingo, and a bottle of vodka involved. Quite embarrassing dad.

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Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes.

After that, who cares?

They’re a mile away and you’ve got their shoes.

To see more by Nick,just go to www.facebook.com/nickroberson

Nick Roberson