New To Market

NEW TO MARKET

June 2020

UWM Announces Conquest Conventional Purchase Program

United Wholesale Mortgage unveiled a new program called Conquest a conventional, lowrate-initiative purchase program that CEO Mat Ishbia says is “very competitive” compared to the rest of the industry. Conquest is designed for borrowers who have not closed with UWM within the past 18 months.

Conquest’s features include: Rates ranging from 2.5% to 3%, including 30-year fixed, availability for purchases and rate/ term refinances, primary and secondary residences, exact rate and flex term available, lock anywhere from 8-22 days (UWM average is 11 days sub to CTC), and no max comp plan.

“Some people said we’d never see interest rates drop below 3% on a 30-year mortgage, but it’s now available when borrowers work with an independent mortgage broker,” said Ishbia. “We believe that the housing market is going to be strong and we want to do our part to help more people get into their dream homes as we get through this pandemic together as a nation.” ___________________________________

Bradford Technologies Launches OnSight Inspection App For Social Distancing

Bradford Technologies launched OnSight, a web-based application that enables appraisers to adhere to social distancing protocols, while collecting property data remotely with the homeowner’s assistance.

During the coronavirus pandemic, housing finance regulators are allowing temporary flexibilities to appraisal inspections and reporting requirements, such as providing appraisers with authorization to use and rely on third-party data-including homeowner supplied data. OnSight facilitates this flexibility and provides time-stamped, geocoded authenticated photos and information to the appraiser.

Using a unique link, the homeowner activates OnSight and is led through a series of questions about the property, such as when the home was last upgraded, the age of the roof, and the last time the house was painted. There are certain required photos, but a homeowner can take as many photos as needed to fully show the home’s features.

“Our goal is to protect the health of appraisers and homeowners and to keep mortgage transactions moving on pace as our entire industry continues to work remotely,” said Jeff Bradford, CEO at Bradford Technologies. “Additionally, the information collected is sent directly to the appraiser, maintaining privacy.”

NewDay USA Introduces SafeClose Program To Protect Veterans

In efforts to help veteran homebuyers feel safer during the COVID-19 pandemic, NewDay USA introduced the SafeClose program, which enables veterans and servicemembers to sign mortgage closing documents without the requirement of a notary agent entering their home.

“SafeClose opens up entirely new possibilities for servicemembers and veterans who are seeking to purchase a home as well as those looking to refinance their existing VA mortgages,” said Rob Posner, founder and CEO of NewDay USA.

Veterans can use their computers to review and sign loans documents, five documents will be delivered to the veterans front door, and finally, the signature will be made outside the door in view of a notary, who will be observing from a safe distance.

“With SafeClose, NewDay USA is taking every possible precaution to take care of our veterans and keep them safe during the current health environment,” said NewDay USA Executive Chairman, Admiral Tom Lynch (USN, Ret.). “With our eSign capabilities, veteran borrowers can also complete almost all of their mortgage documents online, which saves time and further reduces person-to-person contact.” _____________________________________

Pavaso Launches Alternative For In-Person Notarization

Pavaso announced the launch of Essential Notary, an alternative to in-person notarization that can be used in accordance with state emergency mandates and requirements.

Essential Notary is a Remote Ink-Signed Notarization (RIN) solution that allows a signer and notary in different locations to complete the signing and notarization of real estate closing documents on paper.

A signer’s identity is validated through third-party identification verification services before the signing. Signers must correctly answer a set of knowledge-based authentication (KBA) questions generated from their public and credit records, and use a smartphone to facilitate automated authentication of a government-issued photo ID.

Each document is electronically reviewed on the platform so that any questions can be addressed. Additionally, Pavaso’s platform allows for multiple witnesses and observers to join the session as needed or required.

Unlike Remote Online Notarization (RON), electronic signatures and notarizations are not used; printed documents are provided to the signer(s) for wet ink signatures to be applied. Documents are signed in view of the webcam, while the notary witnesses the signing of each document requiring a signature. In some cases, the signer may need to hold the paper up to the camera for the notary to see it.

When the signing session is complete, the signer(s) follow instructions for sending the documents to the notary for application of the seal. The platform can also capture, via webcam, the assembly and sealed packaging of the wet-signed documents for delivery to the notary, where necessary.

Top Of Mind Enhances Its ‘Client for Life’ CRM Tool

Top of Mind Networks enhanced its Client for Life Workflow. Available to users of SurefireCRM, it helps lenders protect market share by creating over 100 distinct opportunities to stay connected with borrowers over a fiveyear period.

“Lenders can expect to face fierce competition for a significantly diminished pool of purchase loan applicants in the future. Protecting today’s market share—including holding on to a huge wave of recently acquired refi customers—will be a business imperative,” said Sherwood Lawrence, Top of Mind chief creative officer.

For purchase customers, the workflow kicks off with a closing gift delivered to the customer’s new home. Over the next 60 months, customers receive a carefully curated mix of high-impact emails, direct mail marketing, personalized voice recordings powered by Surefire Power Calls, and text messages leveraging Surefire Power Messaging.

Top of Mind’s in-house marketing team uses unique, personalized outreach generated for each customer based on individual milestones, from birthdays to loan closing anniversaries to refi opportunities. Lenders can customize the Client for Life Workflow by adding links to their own marketing collateral. ____________________________________

Black Knight’s CompassPPE Now Available In The Empower LOS

Black Knight announced that CompassPPE, the company’s pricing and eligibility engine (PPE), is now available within its Empower loan origination system (LOS). With this integration, Empower clients can access advanced lock and relock workflows directly from the system.

CompassPPE helps lenders reduce cost per loan and manual touch points through its automated locks; relocks; extensions; float-downs and concessions workflow; and exception-based processing. Additionally, CompassPPE has several features that set it apart, including a modern user interface and mobileresponsive design. Users can access the PPE’s complete pricing and locking capabilities from any device.

Empower users also benefit from CompassPPE’s API library; daily maintenance of pricing, guidelines, and adjusters for all top investors; mortgage insurance quote comparisons; live pricing; and more. _________________________________

Mortgage Research Center Releases New USDA Calculator

Through its website, USDAloans.com, Mortgage Research Center released a new interactive USDA Income Limit Calculator reflecting the latest increases to the USDA’s maximum income limits. The free calculator allows users to see updated income limits in their area by household size.

“The new income limits make the USDA loan an available option for even more homebuyers looking for $0 down payment options,” said Alex Blum, general manager at Mortgage Research Center.

Through a special procedure notice on May 4, 2020, the USDA increased maximum eligible income limits of the Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program in most counties. The baseline USDA loan income limit for one- to four-member households is now $90,300 or $119,200 for five to eight member households.

Total household income should not exceed these limits to be eligible for a USDA home loan, but income limits vary by location to account for cost of living. The USDA income requirements are set at or below 115% of the median household income in each region and are updated annually. _____________________________________

Plaza Home Mortgage Expands Its Reverse Jumbo Program

Plaza Home Mortgage expanded its proprietary reverse jumbo mortgage program to 11 states. Plaza’s reverse jumbo program offers refinance loan amounts of up to $4 million with no FHA mortgage insurance requirement. The program will now be offered in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas and Utah.

Plaza’s new program is available through Plaza’s Wholesale channel, and covers a wide range of property types, including single-family, two- to four-units, townhomes and condominiums, and has no minimum or maximum lump sum payout requirement at closing. The program can also be used to refinance seasoned home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs) to jumbos or, conversely, jumbo first mortgages to HECMs. The guidelines are similar to Plaza’s other HECM offerings in terms of credit, income, and age requirements. _____________________________________

New to Market column E-mail: editorial@ambizmedia.com

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