July 2021 Issue by HousingWire

July 2021

HOUSINGWIRE MAGAZINE ❱ JULY 2021

APPRAISAL

DISCRIMINATION

THE NATION’S FASTEST-GROWING WHOLESALE LENDER Everything we do is designed for you. In fact, if you’re in the broker or Non-Delegated Correspondent community and haven’t worked with us, now is the time. We’d love the opportunity to set you and your clients up for success.

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PERFECT RATE TM, PERFECT TERM TM We give you the flexibility to customize rates to the .001% and tailor terms to the exact month to help you choose the right loan for your clients’ needs.

OptiMIzeTM Get the most competitive MI rates in the industry! OptiMIze, our POWERful best-x solution for brokers, automatically provides you with the lowest MI pricing available.*

RETAINED SERVICING We keep the servicing on all of our loans, so you know your customers are in good hands beyond the closing table.

Become a broker partner pennymacbrokerdirect.com Become a Non-Delegated Correspondent partner gopennymac.com NMLS #35953

Equal Housing Opportunity © 2021 PennyMac Loan Services, LLC, 3043 Townsgate Rd, Suite 200, Westlake Village, CA 91361, 818-224-7442. NMLS ID # 35953. For licensing information, go to: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Trade/service marks are the property of PennyMac Loan Services, LLC and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Information is intended solely for mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, and financial institutions. Arizona Mortgage Banker License # 0911088. Licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act. Colorado office: 700 17th St, Saite 200, Denver, CO 80202, (866) 436-4766. Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee #33027. Massachusetts Mortgage Lender License # MC35953. Minnesota: This is not an offer to enter into an agreement and an offer may only be made pursuant to Minn. Stat. §47.206 (3) & (4). Licensed by the N.J. Department of Banking and Insurance. North Carolina Permit No. 104753, 112228, 112874, 112877, 113746. Rhode Island Lender License # 20092600LL. Texas office: 2201 W. Plano Parkway, Suites 150 and 300, Plano, TX 75075. Washington Consumer Loan License # CL-35953. For more information, review https:// www.pennymacbrokerdirect.com/state-licenses. Loans not available in New York. Some products may not be available in all states. Information, rates and pricing are subject to change without prior notice at the sole discretion of PennyMac Loan Services, LLC. All loan programs subject to borrowers meeting appropriate underwriting conditions. This is not a commitment to lend. Other restrictions apply. The information included in this communication is considered confidential and proprietary, and any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. All rights reserved. (01-2021) 2019-2020 Source IMF. *Based on BPMI industry comparisons.

Arch MI Congratulates

Jim Jumpe Chief Marketing Ofﬁcer

Jim has been named one of HousingWire’s 2021 Marketing Leaders. We applaud this recognition of his outstanding record in marketing innovation and brand stewardship.

ARCH MORTGAGE INSURANCE COMPANY® 230 NORTH ELM STREET GREENSBORO NC 27401 | ARCHMI.COM © 2021 Arch Mortgage Insurance Company. All Rights Reserved. Arch MI is a marketing term for Arch Mortgage Insurance Company and United Guaranty Residential Insurance Company. Arch Mortgage Insurance Company is a registered mark of Arch Capital Group (U.S.) Inc. or its afﬁliates. MCUS-B1521A-0821

HOUSINGWIRE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SARAH WHEELER MANAGING EDITOR JAMES KLEIMANN HW+ MANAGING EDITOR BRENA NATH SENIOR REAL ESTATE REPORTER MATTHEW BLAKE SENIOR MORTGAGE REPORTER GEORGIA KROMREI MORTGAGE REPORTER ALEX ROHA ASSIGNMENTS REPORTER TIM GLAZE LEAD ANALYST LOGAN MOHTASHAMI CONTRIBUTORS ROBYN FRIEDMAN, FRANK FUENTES, MADISYN RHONE

REALTRENDS DIRECTOR OF REAL ESTATE MARK ADAMS MANAGING EDITOR TRACY VELT DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE SERVICES BO FRIZE MANAGER OF CLIENT SERVICES LIZ SMITH FINLEDGER DIRECTOR HOLDEN PAGE

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HW MEDIA CORPORATE CEO CLAYTON COLLINS COO DIEGO SANCHEZ DIRECTOR OF FINANCE ANDREW KEY MARKETING DIRECTOR CAREN KARRIS DIRECTOR OF EVENTS TRACY GARCIA CREATIVE EMILY CARPENTER MARKETING PROGRAM MANAGER LESLEY COLLINS CLIENT SUCCESS DIRECTOR HALEY HESS WEB DIRECTOR BRENT DRIGGERS PRODUCT MANAGER MATTHEW STAFFORD AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER ALYSSA STRINGER MARKETING COORDINATORS BROOKE COMBS, KATIE GALBRAITH CLIENT SUCCESS COORDINATORS SETH FREEDMAN, ELIZABETH LEDOUX BUSINESS ANALYST WHITNI ROWE SALES SVP SALES AND OPERATIONS JENNIFER WATSON LAWS CALIFORNIA CHRISTI HUMPHRIES SOUTHEAST TAMARA WREN GREAT LAKES & NORTHEAST MICHAEL ORME SALES STRATEGY ASSOCIATES AMINA JAHIC, LINDSLEY HARRIS, AMANDA LUZSICZA PODCASTS AND MULTIMEDIA DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER ALCYNNA LLOYD JUNIOR DIGITAL PRODUCER VICTORIA WICKHAM CONTENT SOLUTIONS MANAGING EDITOR MALEESA SMITH CONTENT EDITOR JESSICA DAVIS ASSISTANT CONTENT EDITOR JORDAN WHITE WEBINAR MANAGER ALLISON LAFORGIA INTERNS ELISSA BRANCH MAKENNA CLAY SARAHI DE LA CUESTA ROMAN MARQUEZ SYDNEY SMITH BAILEY SULIVAN

HOW TO REACH US LETTERS TO THE EDITOR EDITOR@HOUSINGWIRE.COM TIPS AND STORIES EDITORIAL@HOUSINGWIRE.COM CURRENT MEMBERSHIP / SUBSCRIPTION HWPLUSMEMBER@HOUSINGWIRE.COM NEW MEMBERSHIP / SUBSCRIPTION HOUSINGWIRE.COM/MEMBERSHIP MARKETING & ADVERTISING JLAWS@HOUSINGWIRE.COM OR (469) 870-4572 ADVERTISING CLIENT SUCCESS CLIENTSUCCESS@HOUSINGWIRE.COM

JULY 2021

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Addressing the gap in minority homeownership MINORITY HOMEOWNERSHIP, which is the focus

housing discrimination, unpacking how the issue

of this issue, has a lot of moving parts to it. And

goes back decades before federal redlining.

while there’s much more impacting the growth of

Also in this issue, we welcome our inaugural

minority homeownership than what can fit into

list of 2021 Marketing Leaders. This foundation-

the following pages, this issue highlights some of

al first group of honorees met all the ups and

the biggest challenges in increasing homeown-

downs of 2021 head-on and created programs,

ership levels, along with ways the industry can

strategies and campaigns that will create brand

band together to create meaningful change.

loyalty that lasts well beyond 2021.

As Madisyn Rhone, manager of government and industry relations at Enact, explains in her commentary on page 22, the current homeownership gap between Black and white households is wider than before the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. Then, this month’s feature that and investigates the role of the appraiser in

Brena Nath HW+ Managing Editor @BrenaNath

Tweets From The Streets The HUD budget reflects a fundamental truth: housing is foundational to building a stronger, more secure, and more inclusive America. 6

377

by @SecFudge

The information contained within should not be construed as a recommendation for any course of action regarding legal, financial or accounting matters. All written materials are disseminated with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal advice or other professional services. HW Media does not guarantee the accuracy of information provided, and is not liable for any damages, losses or other detriment that may result from the use of these materials. © 2021 by HW Media, LLC • All rights reserved

JULY 2021

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starts on page 44 dives into the topic even more

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July 2021

People Movers

10 Fannie Mae tapped Malloy Evans to take the reins of its single-family business.

Take 5

12 ICE Mortgage Technology’s Jonas Moe gives an inside look at his life beyond marketing.

Launches

14 Tech companies look to solve appraisal, recruiting and notarization needs in the housing space.

Event Calendar

16 Zoom fatigue is real. Here’s a tip on how to maximize your presentation skills for virtual events.

Inside Agent

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Local Markets

20 “Bizarre” is the word Mark Guagliardo used to describe the housing market of Maui County in Hawaii.

Trade Desk

64 NAHB has worked steadfastly over the past year to address the sky-rocketing cost of lumber.

Mortgage

68 Here’s why VA mortgage loans go to the bottom of the stack, even with a government guarantee.

Real Estate

72 How appraisers value homes in a hot housing market and the value of a local appraiser.

This luxury home listed by Barr Haney and Whitney Potter lies a few miles north of San Francisco.

JULY 2021

Real Estate Brokerage

76 Is Compass’s next battle trade secret lawsuits, and how serious are these complaints?

Kudos

80 Houston-area Realtor plans to build a community center, family park to fill a need in the area.

Parting Shot

82 There’s a lot of excitement around the return to in-person events, including from HousingWire. Here’s why.

Marketing Leaders 2021

features

This foundational first class of Marketing Leaders includes the most creative and influential marketing minds of the housing economy.

Appraisal discrimination Appraisers face mounting accusations of race discrimination. But are the charges accurate?

Wholesale Lender Special Reports

The 10 companies featured in this section offer solutions to help brokers handle high volumes so they can close loans faster and more efficiently.

How PCV Murcor provides high levels of customer service

The company strives to serve everyone, with an emphasis on diversity and inclusivity.

How industry partnerships can help minimize the minority homeownership gap

Preparing for millions of mortgage-ready minority homebuyers

IMBs have a duty to serve lower-income communities

By Madisyn Rhone

By Frank Fuentes

By Jesse Van Tol

pg 22

pg 24

pg 26

JULY 2021

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PEOPLE MOVERS

Malloy Evans

| Fannie Mae | EVP, Head of Single-family

Fannie Mae found a clear successor to take the reins of its single-family business following the departure of Andrew Bon Salle last year, naming Malloy Evans to head the division. Evans will lead the team responsible for establishing Fannie Mae’s single-family mortgage acquisition standards. He previously served as the company’s chief credit officer for single family, where he managed first-line credit risk.

Jonathan Corr |

Reggora | Board of directors

Former Ellie Mae CEO Jonathan Corr has joined the board of directors for appraisal technology company Reggora. Corr spent 18 years at Ellie Mae before announcing his retirement in September after the company was acquired by Intercontinental Exchange. Corr helped launch Ellie Mae’s popular Encompass platform and saw revenue jump from $10 million to $1 billion during his tenure. Corr will work closely on the board with Regorra’s leadership team — including co-Founders Brian Zitin and Will Denslow.

Cathleen Schreiner Gates |

SimpleNexus | CEO

Real estate tech firm SimpleNexus announced that founder Matt Hansen stepped down as CEO, with Cathleen Schreiner Gates, who was serving as president, replacing him. Schreiner Gates previously advised the tech startup as a board member in April 2020 before her appointment as company president in September. Prior to SimpleNexus, Schreiner Gates served as the EVP of sales and marketing at digital mortgage technology provider Ellie Mae (now ICE Mortgage Technology).

Joe Langner |

National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association | Board of Directors

Joe Langner, who currently serves as CEO and president of ReverseVision, was unanimously elected to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association board of directors. By joining the board, he replaces the former ReverseVision representative, John Button. Langner brings more than 30 years of experience in the mortgage and sales field to the board, as he helps NRMLA continue to educate legislators and industry regulators in the mortgage world.

Jennifer Miller |

Knock | Chief Legal Officer

Knock appointed a new chief legal officer, naming Jennifer Miller to the newly created position. Miller formerly served as general counsel, head of regulatory affairs at Loon, the Alphabet moonshot company. As chief legal officer, Miller taps into her 20 years of experience to oversee all of Knock’s legal activities, including corporate governance, litigation, intellectual property and contractual matters. Throughout her career, she has navigated highly regulated industries and orchestrated key corporate events, such as M&A and IPOs.

Nicholas Hahn |

Gateway First Bank | Chief Financial Officer

Gateway First Bank hired Nicholas Hahn as its new chief financial officer. Hahn will oversee the company’s financial and accounting functions, such as financial reporting, budgeting, funding and asset liability management. Hahn has more than 35 years of experience in the finance industry, holding various executive positions in the industry prior to joining Gateway. He most recently was the CFO at Onward Bancshares, a $1.3 billion community bank in eastern Iowa.

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Trey Beal |

Recovco Mortgage Management | Chief Operating Officer

Recovco Mortgage Management named Trey Beal to its newly created chief operating officer position, following over 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry. Prior to this, Beal held leadership positions at Clayton, including serving as vice president of transaction management and vice president of client service management. Beal also played a key role in establishing Centralized Underwriting facilities in Shelton, Conn., Tampa, Fla., and Atlanta, Ga.

JULY 2021

TAKE 5

Jonas Moe SVP, Marketing at ICE Mortgage Technology Jonas Moe's drive for success played a critical role in growth that ICE Mortgage Technology witnessed this last year. At the end of last year, Ellie Mae was acquired by Intercontinental Exchange, which also previously acquired Simplifile and MERS. Jonas led the charge on creating a brand narrative that not only honored each individual company but united them under one identity – ICE Mortgage Technology. Moe also took charge and coordinated two successful virtual conferences, with the latest one attracting more than 7,000 registrations. As senior vice president of marketing, Moe is responsible for the company's market strategy and has been the binding factor for their marketing team through these unprecedented times. Below, Moe answers five questions that give an inside look at his life.

1. My guilty pleasure is...

Gummy Bears. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I love Gummy Bears.

2. I would tell my younger self...

to find my voice sooner and stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.

3. I feek like a success at my job when... people on my team get promoted and expand their careers in ways they never thought were possible.

4. Besides my job and family, my greatest passion is... volunteering and giving back to my community.

5. My favorite thing to do with my employees is... 12 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE

to celebrate my team’s successes, like our Experience 2021 where the team was nothing short of extraordinary.

JULY 2021

LAUNCHES

QuickSign Development Marketing Team

Remote online notarization company ProperSign announced a new electronic signature tool called QuickSign, which offers both RON and eSign capabilities. QuickSign users can add one or multiple signers, upload and tag documents, select the signing order and send them off to be electronically signed, the company said in a release. Multipage documents can be prepared and tagged for signing in less than a minute, and tags can be added or edited after the document has been sent and before the first signature is applied.

Former Compass agent Alyssa Brody and Snaplistings CEO Erica Sachse announced the launch of Development Marketing Team (DMT), a data-enabled real estate sales and marketing brokerage. DMT produces advanced algorithms that increase conversion and optimize consumer engagement. DMT is able to source, identify and nurture prospective buyers, sellers and renters.

Recruit Lone Wolf announced the launch of Recruit, an artificial intelligence and machine-learning recruiting solution that helps brokers recruit new employees. Recruit leverages AI, machine learning and data science to identify agents who are the best fit for a brokerage. With Recruit, brokers can create custom search profiles based on the traits of their best agents. Recruit’s AI technology then crunches over 30 industry-specific metrics to calculate a "Fit Score" for each agent.

Appraisal Protection Fintech startup Ribbon launched Appraisal Protection, a service that enables homebuyers who use Ribbon’s “RibbonCash” Offers to make all-cash offers without worrying about appraisal contingencies. With Appraisal Protection, Ribbon will cover the difference for under-appraised listings. The service is available in all Ribbon markets, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Texas.

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CoreExplore Real estate data analytics platform Cherre announced the launch of CoreExplore, a front-end application that enables customers to explore their connected data. Built as an application layer for Cherre's CoreConnect data platform, CoreExplore launches with enhanced property searches, new filters powered by connection partner data, portfolio pages and embedded asset management dashboards.

JULY 2021

EVENT CALENDAR

ALTA's Large Agents Conference July 11- 13, 2021 Cost to attend: • ALTA Member Rate: $725 • ALTA Member Guest Rate: $375 Presented by ALTA

LISTEN NOW “HousingWire Daily” HOW THE END OF MORTGAGE FORBEARANCE IMPACTS THE MARKET By: Alcynna Lloyd

LOCATION: BEAVER CREEK, COLORADO ALTA IS EXCITED to announce its Large Agents Conference, which is taking place in Beaver Creek, Colorado. The conference is specifically geared towards large agent companies and industry executives, and features industry updates, roundtable discussions and networking dinners. This event does have some unique qualifications in order to attend, as it looks to educate and inform large agents. To register, you must be an ALTA agent member and either pay at least $1,500 in membership dues to ALTA or have grossed over $1 million in revenue in 2020.

IMN’s Single Family Rental Forum (East) July 19- 21, 2021 Cost to attend: • Standard Single Family Buyer/Investor/Operator: $1,695 • Standard Registration: $2,695 • Virtual Event Registration: $695 Presented by IMN LOCATION: MIAMI, FLORIDA IMN HAS ANNOUNCED the return of their 9th annual Single Family Rental Forum (East) in-person event after having to go virtual last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there will be some changes to the conference this year, including a virtual option for participants to listen to panels and visit booths remotely. The forum will highlight various educational takeaways on investing and expanding asset classes, digging into the estimated $3.4 trillion SFR market. This four-day event is packed with executive speakers from different fields that will help attendees be financially independent on their passive income.

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Event TIP

In this HousingWire Daily episode, HousingWire’s Junior Digital Producer Victoria Jones sat down with Carissa Robb, president and chief operating officer of Constant AI, a debt servicing and loss mitigation fintech company, to address how the end of mortgage forbearance will impact the housing market. During the interview, Robb, who believes the moratoriums initially provided a positive impact of relief for borrowers and servicers, claims there will likely be a material shift in the housing industry as more and more borrowers exit their forbearance plans. According to her, this shift could influence an increase in the delinquency rate as borrowers who have exited forbearance struggle to put their finances back in order. “I think the initial response was absolutely necessary and positive for millions of homeowners that were in limbo,” Robb said. “The unfortunate part was due to a lot of those processes being highly manual and this rapid need to deploy relief. The approach was sort of an all-or-nothing relief package, so we missed a lot of opportunities to gauge the financial impact — the kind of micro distress factors at the homeowner level. “If you think about going from not making any payments for 12 to 18 months, having the influence of stimulus packages on your housing budget and then all of that coming due when we start to return to a sense of normalcy for promissory notes and payment behavior, that could really cause a material shift in not only delinquency but also what homeowners intend to do with their property,” Robb added. Tune in to this episode to learn more about the impact of forbearance.

“Zoom fatigue is real! Video conferencing requires an increase in cognitive demand – make it easier on attendees by simplifying concepts with visuals and repeating key points. Body gesture, posture and physical cues contribute to 55% of the meaning we derive from communication compared to 7% from words alone. Keep your audience at ease with a genuine smile while presenting. When you smile at someone, they almost always smile in return as facial expressions trigger corresponding feelings.” - Courtney Graham, Chief Marketing Officer at Princeton Mortgage

JULY 2021

MBA CONGRATULATES HOUSINGWIRE’S 2021 MARKETING LEADERS HONOREE!

WE SALUTE

TER ESSA LU R K V I C E P R ESI D EN T M A R KET I N G A N D D ESIG N MORTGAGE BA N KER S ASSOC I AT I ON

Your contributions to MBA, invaluable leadership and commitment to excellence are critical to our success. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor.

INSIDE AGENT

Barr Haney and Whitney Potter OWN Marin/Side Larkspur, California barr@ownmarin.com whitney@ownmarin.com 8 Presidio Court Corte Madera, California 94925 $2.3 million 4 bed 3 bath 2,460 sqft

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MARIN COUNTY, which lies a few miles north of San Francisco, has a specific kind of luxury, one of durable denim, sweaters in muted colors and well-considered camping gear. This home listed by OWN Marin Partners Barr Haney and Whitney Potter — and co-listed by OWN Marin agent Allie Fornesi — lies near “world-renowned hiking” and “award-winning public and private schools,” including the Marin Montessori School, which is within walking distance. The home itself has wide-plank hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows and a “two-car garage that can be easily used as a home gym or studio.” Such abodes are the bread-and-butter of Haney and Potter, who founded OWN Marin 17-years-ago. “I got in right after I graduated college,” Haney said, with Potter providing about eight years of agent experience. Haney, who said that he is a sixth-generation Marin County resident, asserted that the pair gained traction thanks to local community knowledge, from schools to biking and hiking trails. OWN Marin grew to six agents but was shuttled between brokerages. They affiliated themselves with Morgan Lane, which was acquired by Pacific Union, which was acquired by Compass. In April, OWN Marin announced their own move, joining San Francisco-headquartered Side, a white-label brokerage. That means Haney and Potter can return to buying and selling homes under the OWN Marin label.

JULY 2021

Congratulations! HOUSINGWIRE 2021 MARKETING LEADERS AWARD WINNER

ELIZABETH HILLESTAD SVP OF MARKETING, CIVIC FINANCIAL SERVICES In less than two years, Elizabeth has fully transformed CIVIC’s marketing department into an extremely high performing team, while building out transformative marketing operations, scaling the CIVIC brand and positioning, and contributing at large to CIVIC’s success. On behalf of the entire CIVIC family, we are so proud. Congratulations!

s.”

© 2021 Civic Financial Services, LLC. All Rights Reserved. This is not a commitment to lend. All offers of credit are subject to approval. Restrictions may apply. Civic Financial Services, LLC reserves the right to amend rates and guidelines. NMLS ID 1099109. Loans made or arranged pursuant to a California Finance Lenders Law License 603L321. AZ Mortgage Broker License 0928633. OR Mortgage Lending License ML-5282. See www.civicfs.com/Licensing.

LOCAL INTEL

By: Matthew Blake

Dallas, Texas

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Cleveland, Ohio Howard Hanna, Jr. started his eponymous real estate firm in Pittsburgh, and his son, Howard Hanna III, now runs the operation. Howard Hanna III’s son, Howard “Hoby” Hanna IV, the brokerage’s president, is in Cleveland and has witnessed that city’s many housing ups and downs. Presently, Cleveland agents are waiting for your call. “There are about 16,000 agents and 3,900 listings right now,” Hanna said, as the Forest City endures the same high-demand and low-inventory afflicting the country. Still, Cleveland is an outlier for prices. The median home that does go in the market is listed for around $100,000, Hanna said, which compares to a U.S. median home price that hovered over $300,000 since October 2020. “Cleveland is a big city that was built for a much bigger population,” Hanna said. The brokerage executive voiced optimism that urban neighborhoods, once abandoned, are starting to repopulate, but said that the area needed more industries beyond its growing health care economy.

JULY 2021

Phoenix,

Recently Judith Abbott shepherded around a couple moving to the Dallas area from Oregon – the potential homebuyers wanted to be in a part of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area that went Democratic in elections and offered supermarkets replete with organic food. Their price point: $250,000. “I remember wondering, ‘What are you possibly thinking?’ said Abbott, an agent at Coldwell Banker Realty. “The people were not very realistic.” True, the median home price in Dallas is not much above $250,000. But for urban neighborhoods like the Bishop Arts District that these homebuyers were touring prices have climbed to $400,000 and $500,000. The low-inventory market, Abbott said, has forced her to steer buyers to newly built homes, even if those homes are architectural duds, or in less appealing areas. “I’m a historic house person,” said Abbott, who is 72-years-old and has been involved in real estate since junior high, when she bound her mother ’s mimeographed MLS sheets into a loose-leaf notebook. “But desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Las Vegas, Nevada “Where are these people coming from?” asked Anthony Phillips, president of The Luxury Companies brokerage. It sounds like a rhetorical question until Phillips answers, “California.” Homeowners are flooding Las Vegas from the Golden State, Phillips said, looking for cheaper properties. But so are investors, as “the regulatory structure here is more landlord friendly.” Phillips focuses on luxury high-rises, and he ran the numbers of people who purchased such condos. The broker found that of 1,867 units examined, 1,336 are not owner-occupied. Even the ones that claim they are owner-occupied, Phillips said, may say that for tax purposes. The combination of investors and homebuyers from more expensive states means that Sin City, like almost any city, is short in inventory. “We simply cannot build enough to offset demand,” Phillips said.

Maui,

Arizona

“Bizarre” is the word Mark Guagliardo used to describe the market of Maui County, which comprises the Pacific state’s second most populous island. “We have a lot of what I call ‘Mai Thai’ buyers. People who come over here with bad aloha shirts, and they are looking for their fantasy house,” said Guagliardo, principal broker at the Hawaii Real Estate Team, which is located in Makawao, a few miles northeast of Maui. “It’s a lot of people who have unrealistic requests.” The issue, Guagliardo said, is that buyers new to Hawaii don’t understand how expensive local real estate has become. “The same property that’s $200,000 in Georgia is $1.2 million here,” the broker said. Properties are getting more expensive. Guagliardo said that he recently went backand-forth with a seller about whether a property should be listed at $1 million, or $900,000. Within five days of going to market, the home had 18 offers — and sold for $1.2 million.

JULY 2021

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Deena Semeniuk says she’s in “a PropTech and FinTech sandbox” with instant homebuyer Offerpad based in Phoenix, Opendoor with operations in Tempe and Zillow opening inaugural brokerages in Phoenix and Tucson. “Zillow just hired 135 agents in the Valley,” said Semeniuk, an agent at Realty One. How much traction these ibuyers gain remains to be seen, but Semeniuk says that the companies really have shaken a complacent market. “There is so much dissatisfaction with the 90,000 agents in the valley,” said Semeniuk, a Realtor with Realty One. “Some agents get in the business for an easy buck.” What it means for Semeniuk is updating her services to compete with the cash buyers. One thing agents can now do to show their value, she said, is professional photography — the right pictures can lure buyers, and the agent boasted, “My pictures are amazing.”

Hawaii

COMMENTARY

ow industry partnerships can help minimize the minority homeownership gap Learning from the past to make a more inclusive future By Madisyn Rhone

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The housing industry has a long and complicated history with racial equity. Though discriminatory policies are now illegal, more corrective action is needed to achieve equality in housing. The housing industry is thriving with low rates and high demand, but low rates of minority homeownership demonstrate the current system is not serving everyone. THE HOMEOWNERSHIP GAP Centuries of compounded inequities and mistreatment of people of color have contributed to a widening wealth gap, only made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. When it comes to homeownership, the Black community faces many obstacles. Black homeownership has never reached 50% and has seen a continued decrease in net new Black households since the Great Recession. Black families were hit particularly hard by the 2008 housing crisis and have had the slowest recovery rate amongst all racial groups. Right before the housing collapse, Black homeownership rates were historically high — peaking around 49.7% according to the Census Bureau — making the effects of the downturn devastating to the Black community. Today, the current homeownership gap between Black and white households is wider than before the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. Over 10 years following the housing crisis, the average homeownership rate, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, was 64.4%. However, the homeownership rate among Black Americans was only 42%, far below average and significantly below white Americans, who reported a 73.3% homeownership rate. Asian and Hispanic populations also fell, but much closer to average, coming in at 57.7% and 47.5%, respectively. Fast-forward to the current day; the COVID-19 pandemic has further revealed the inequities embedded into our health and financial systems.

COVID-19 has presented many challenges, but it also offers an opportunity for equitable recovery. Building on lessons of the past, the mortgage industry, policymakers and community organizations can minimize the gap in minority homeownership, creating a more inclusive future. OPPORTUNITIES FOR INCLUSIVITY 1. Access to credit Credit tightens with every downturn, disproportionately affecting Hispanic and Black communities. It’s essential to monitor risk carefully — particularly during times of economic uncertainty — but more work can be done to define more clearly what is “risky.” Unfortunately, risk has historically been conflated with race through policies such as redlining, and the effects still linger today. That is why when credit tightening trends emerge, it’s essential to pay attention to potential disproportionate effects. Credit scores play a crucial role in access to mortgage loans, and the low credit scores for Black and Hispanic households are a sign innovation is needed to provide more holistic credit scoring. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed in 1974, which “prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, [and] age.” This should have eliminated bias in credit scoring, but more needs to be done to make credit scoring a more inclusive system. Too many minorities in America are “credit invisible” because they rely mainly on cash or do not have sufficient account histories within the mainstream financial system. FICO reported, in the U.S., roughly 28 million consumers have insufficient data in their credit bureau file to meet the minimum criteria for calculating a FICO Score, and “another 25 million consumers have no credit bureau file at all.” Many of these people could be deemed credit ready with a more robust credit file, which could be made possible with the inclusion of monthly utility or rent payments and checking account data. Alternative data options can increase minority representation in credit scoring, making mortgage loans more accessible and affordable. However, it will be critical to analyze potential bias embedded

JULY 2021

2. Cost of credit Loan-level price adjustments at the Government Sponsored Enterprises are a housing crisis-era policy. LLPAs are risk-based adjustments based primarily on credit score and loan-to-value ratio and are most costly for borrowers with 10% or less of a down payment. Borrowers incur these fees while having credit enhancement from private mortgage insurance, not fully recognizing the benefit of PMI. Reducing or eliminating loan-level price adjustments would reduce mortgage costs for borrowers of color. Expanding other low- and moderateincome programs would also increase minority homeownership. Examples include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s HomeReady and Home Possible programs, which target borrowers with lower incomes and offer reduced LLPAs and PMI coverage. HomeReady and Home Possible are currently available for borrowers at or below 80% average median income. An increase in AMI limits could widen the eligible population and help more borrowers of color, especially in high-cost areas. Special purpose credit programs made available through the Equal Credit Opportunity Act also foster many opportunities for innovation that expand homeownership in the Black community with intentionality, making up for years of exclusion. 3. Housing supply Housing supply also plays an essential role in minority homeownership. Driven by low inventory, home prices are up 15.8% on average year-overyear across the U.S., according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. Equitable housing financing is essential to address the Black homeownership gap, but the high demand for housing will keep prices elevated until we have more supply. Working on supply issues will improve affordability and make homeownership more attainable. Many steps need to be taken to address the housing supply shortage, but one recommendation is to address local zoning policies. In 1917, the Supreme Court’s decision in Buchanan v. Warley declared racially biased zoning unconstitutional, but economic zoning followed. Economic zoning is achieved in part by singlefamily zoning, which keeps people segregated by class and race. According to a Brookings report, “[O]n roughly 75% of land in most cities today, it is illegal to build anything except single-family detached houses.” More inclusive zoning policies could increase the supply of affordable housing

and help to reverse the impacts of long-standing segregation. 4. Low down payment mortgage options, tax credits, and down payment assistance Making progress toward housing equality will take a continued effort in dispelling the myth that a 20% down payment is required to buy a home. Fannie Mae reported in research conducted in October 2020, “the primary barrier to homeownership for firsttime homebuyers is saving money for the down payment and closing costs.” Down payment mortgage options like private mortgage insurance can help overcome this barrier by requiring as little as 3% down. However, it’s essential to recognize more targeted relief also is needed. The Biden administration and lawmakers from both parties have proposed legislation to increase homeownership in communities of color. Some recently introduced legislation includes the “FirstTime Homebuyer Act,” which calls for a $15,000 tax credit for firsttime homebuyers introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., on April 26. On April 23, 2021, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., announced the “American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2021,” which includes down payment assistance grants to first-time homebuyers living in historically redlined or segregated areas. And finally, Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., announed the “Housing is Infrastructure Act” that was released April 14, includes $10 billion for DPA for first-time, first-generation homebuyers. These proposals and many others not listed are promising signs of a commitment to equitable housing solutions. Down payment assistance and tax credit programs are the kind of target assistance needed to uplift those left behind for too long and reduce the wealth disparity in the U.S. CLOSING THE GAP The lasting benefits of homeownership include building equity and wealth. That only happens when homeownership is affordable and sustainable, which should be a key focus with any new housing policy. There are many ideas and visions for making housing possible for all people, but it will take collaborative efforts from policymakers and the housing industry to create lasting change. And we cannot overlook the need for increased diversity in the housing industry, especially at the leadership level. Representation is critically important, and there is no replacement for diverse perspectives that develop out of lived experiences. There is a passion within the housing industry to find equitable solutions, and more and more organizations are putting in the time and resources it’s going to take to get there. Unfortunately, no one solution will close the homeownership gap, but together we can take steps to narrow it every day.

Bio: Madisyn Rhone is the manager of government & industry relations at Enact where she represents the company on Capitol Hill and aids in the development of legislative and regulatory strategy.

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into the old and new credit scoring systems to ensure the outcome is a more inclusive and equitable system.

COMMENTARY

reparing for millions of mortgage-ready minority homebuyers The future is not guaranteed By Frank Fuentes

Since day one of my mortgage career, my main role was to help Hispanic borrowers with responsible lending. For the past 21 years, I have been deeply entrenched in truly understanding the unique needs and cultural nuances of borrowers with diverse backgrounds. Being an active originator helps me keep a pulse on the market and the current issues borrowers face every day on their journey to homeownership.

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MINORITY MORTGAGE-READY MILLENNIALS I interact daily with first-time buyers and buyers of diverse backgrounds and continue to help them achieve the dream of homeownership. In my role as national vice president of multicultural lending, I’m involved at a high level with the executive leadership team here at New American Funding, providing input regarding what is really going on at the “street-level” and being the liaison between our sales force and executive leadership. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are now 60.6 million Hispanics in America. That is almost 19% of the entire US population. And according to Freddie Mac, in 2019, there were 8.3 million Hispanic mortgage-ready millennials, or as we like to call them at New American Funding, “Hispennials”. The Hispanic market presents a tremendous business opportunity

now and for years to come if approached correctly. Despite the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the Hispanic homeownership rate increased to 49% in 2020, compared to 47.5% in 2019, per the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals’ 2020 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report. According to the Urban Institute, all future homeownership growth will come from non-White households, with Hispanics accounting for 70% of homeownership growth over the next 20 years. Per Freddie Mac, in the 31 largest MSAs, there are over 1.7 million Black millennials who would qualify for a mortgage. New York City, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Chicago each have more than 100,000 Black residents ready for homeownership. And according to a November 2020 report released by the National Association of Realtors, 5% of homebuyers during the first three quarters of 2020 were Black, compared to 4% in 2019. Despite a 1% increase, U.S. Census data shows Black millennials raised the homeownership rate for African Americans more than 2% over the same time frame. The homeownership rate for Black Americans grew to 47% during the second quarter of 2020 compared to 44% during the first quarter. Looking at homeownership with a wider scope, it is very clear that housing activity has helped economic growth historically, following past recessions. The role minorities play in the housing market is more powerful today than its ever been. This phenomenon of minority mortgage-ready millennials is incredibly

“In 2019, there were 8.3 million Hispanic mortgage-ready millennials, or as we like to call them at New American Funding, ‘Hispennials.’”

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important and should be taken very seriously. It is critical to understand the unique cultural nuances of these “Hispennials” and Black millennials. We must take into consideration that they are still very connected to their culture and roots. Unlike non-Hispanic millennials, Hispennials still have a strong family influence when it comes to homeownership. The homebuying conversation is more common at the kitchen table with these Hispennials versus their non-Hispanic counterparts.

ultimately within the real estate and mortgage industries. It is crucial for lenders and real estate brokerages to mirror the communities they serve. Not only do we need our sales force to mirror the community, but our operations teams as well. Creating internal diverse working groups is a great and effective way to create engagement and enthusiasm within your organization. Having leadership, underwriters and key operations members of diverse backgrounds is one of the keys to having success when serving underserved communities of color. THE PATH FORWARD While the outlook for minority homeownership is positive, the future is not guaranteed. We have made great strides toward increasing minority homeownership rates recently, and we are currently headed in the right direction. Ensuring we prepare these millions of mortgage-ready millennials for homeownership is critical for the economy and will take a collective effort. We all must do our part in continuing to provide more education to these future homebuyers and make sure they become successful homeowners. I’m very optimistic and excited about these future homebuyers and their positive impact on the housing sector and our economy.

Bio: Frank Fuentes is the national vice president of multicultural lending at New American Funding.

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UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF MINORITY FUTURE HOMEBUYERS It is our responsibility as real estate and mortgage professionals to be keen and understand the unique needs of these minority future homebuyers. For example, we need to fully understand the importance that sometimes family comes into play with decision-making, or the cultural nuances behind lack of credit history or savings patterns, for example. This is why I feel it is critical that lenders maintain a hybrid underwriting practice in place. What do I mean by hybrid underwriting? I realize we are in a “push button” society where almost everything is a couple of clicks away. However, when it comes to mortgage underwriting of diverse borrowers, it is of utmost importance to not do away with manual underwriting and rely on automation and technology to decision home loans. Don’t get me wrong. I love technology and leverage it as much as possible. But when it comes to serving the underserved and putting minority borrowers into homes, it does require more of a manual process. It’s almost impossible for a computer-generated algorithm to determine the creditworthiness of a borrower, especially minority homebuyers. Several factors sometimes don’t get taken into consideration when underwriting minority borrowers, such as rental housing history, parttime jobs with less than 2 years history, and credit tradelines that may not be reporting on credit reports, such as payments to storage rental units, cell phones and utilities. As a result of many lenders relying heavily on technology for underwriting purposes, many minority homebuyers get left behind and discouraged. Another important factor with increasing minority homeownership is diversity and inclusion within our organizations, and

“This phenomenon of minority mortgage-ready millennials is incredibly important and should be taken very seriously.”

COMMENTARY

MBs have a duty to serve lowerincome communities A rebuttal to CHLA’s assertion that IMBs don’t need a federal CRA requirement By Jesse Van Tol

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently observed that across all kinds of financial services, activities that had once been principally the province of banks have moved into the nonbank sector, including IMBs. In discussing whether more financial institutions should have a duty to serve the capital and credit needs of lower-income communities — an obligation akin to that of banks under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) — he said that generally “like activities should have like regulation,” and that consumers require protection and lower-income communities require credit support regardless of the nature of the financial institution providing those services.

commission examining the causes concluded that loans made by CRA-regulated lenders in neighborhoods in which they were required to lend were half as likely to default as similar loans made in the same neighborhoods by independent mortgage originators not subject to the law. Because of CRA, banks have entered loan pooling arrangements, local lending consortia, are the biggest investors in housing tax credits, have partnered with nonprofits and community development intermediaries and more — sharing information and helping to break down the informational barriers and costs of serving harder to reach markets. IMBs and other nonbanks have followed banks into these once

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“It has to be recognized and lauded that IMBs have played an important role in providing access to credit and homeownership since the 2008 financial crisis. “

He’s right and we disagree with the Community Home Lenders Association’s assertion that such an affirmative obligation should not also extend to independent mortgage companies. Bank CRA obligations cover far more than their mortgage lending. It extends to their checking and savings accounts, small business and community development debt and equity financing, bank branch locations, financial literacy, grantmaking and more. It examines the quantity and, equally as important, the quality of credit and services provided. Following the 2008 financial crisis, the federal

redlined and overlooked markets, benefiting in many instances from a CRA-driven financial infrastructure. IMBs have expanded because of the warehouse lending and short-term credit provided them by the nation’s depositories and because they can sell their loans into the government-guaranteed agency secondary market (Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac). It has to be recognized and lauded that IMBs have played an important role in providing access to credit and homeownership since the 2008 financial crisis. They stepped into the void created as some large banks retreated from the mortgage market. Given the sheer range of credit and capital needs of lowerincome consumers and communities of color that have endured underinvestment and disinvestment for decades, what more

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could IMBs do if they also had an affirmative obligation to serve these communities? CRA drove the nation’s banks to innovate and break down barriers, and updates to modernize CRA “Duties to serve across the financial sector are about must strengthen that bank all market players, not just banks, examining how commitment. they can and should do more to bridge the gaps in While it is true that IMBs financial access and capability in low- and moderateare subject to fair housing income communities and communities of color across requirements and state the country resulting from decades of redlining, supervision, so are the nation’s banks, and unlike IMBs, banks disinvestment and underinvestment.” have a range of post-crisis capital and liquidity requirements administered by the nation’s prudential regulators, and in some cases, The state of Massachusetts examines IMBs for state CRA in conformance with international Basel compliance and yet IMBs are the top mortgage lenders in both Standards. Banks, like IMBs, can’t discriminate Boston and Worcester. We recognize that a duty to serve applied against customers, but unlike IMBs, they have to IMBs may require a flexible approach. Some IMBs may already to go beyond that to customize and market be taking the affirmative steps to help build the kind of durable their products and services to reach and meet financial and community development infrastructure in the the needs of lower-income and underserved markets in which they operate, but others aren’t. communities, including communities of color. Duties to serve across the financial sector are about all market They are bound to do more. players, not just banks, examining how they can and should It is also true that banks have access to the do more to bridge the gaps in financial access and capability Fed’s Discount Window and have insured bank in low- and moderate-income communities and communities deposits, but most IMBs wouldn’t exist without of color across the country resulting from decades of redlining, the credit extended by the nation’s depositories disinvestment and underinvestment. and a government-backed secondary mortgage market. Like banks, IMBs lead or have significant market share in specific markets around the country. It should not be a heavy lift to better understand the small finance, rehabilitation and other capital needs in those markets and to participate with banks as well as the public Bio: Jesse Van Tol is the CEO of the National Community sector in bridging capital gaps in sustainable Reinvestment Coalition. He has been with NCRC since and equitable ways. 2006 and has held a variety of leadership positions.

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Paul Akinmade Jim Anderson...................................................................................................................... Nick Belenky Vashti Brotherhood Danny Byrnes Andy Capener..................................................................................................................... Courtney Chakarun Carol Crawford Romina Cusenza Sarah DeCiantis.................................................................................................................. Lisa Fenske Brian Fluhr Kelly Gill Courtney Graham............................................................................................................... Elizabeth Hillestad Richard Jackman Steve James Brad Jones........................................................................................................................ Jim Jumpe Matt Kaufman Beth Keckley David King......................................................................................................................... Jennette Landrum Paul Lucido Teressa Lurk Jonathan Lyons................................................................................................................... Romi Mahajan Kelley Mangel Jessica Manna Joe Manning..................................................................................................................... Jennifer Marchetti David Marine Jim McDonald Kerri Milam...................................................................................................................... Ian Miller Jonas Moe Mickey Neuberger Wendy Peel.................................................................................................................... Kate Pettique Trey Rigdon William Schumacher Brad Sivert....................................................................................................................... Suresh Srinivasan Karen Starns Kasia Stephenson Kara Taylor....................................................................................................................... John Van Slyke Brittany Whitmire Philip Yee Brandie Young...................................................................................................................

there’s one common characteristic that HousingWire saw the brightest marketing minds in the housing industry wield last year, it was being agile. When the world shifted to work from home, marketers stepped in with new messaging and strategic campaigns to reach their target audience. When mortgage and ac-

quisition activity picked up, marketers created new brand unity between companies. When purchase and refinance demand started spiking, marketers were there to ensure the massive expansion of the company was matched with strong culture, retention and partnerships. They were there, in the middle of everything, to make sure that brand loyalty would last well beyond 2021. This foundational first class of Marketing Leaders includes the most creative and influential marketing minds of the housing economy. It features leaders like the Chief Marketing Officer at Finance of America Mortgage Jim Anderson, whose use of data allowed the company to position marketing as a revenue driver, eXp World Holdings Chief Marketing Officer Courtney Chakarun, who championed the first-ever companywide brand unification, and Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Steve James, who recognized how information on COVID-19 was mission-critical to their audience and mobilized a team to launch a campaign that reached more than 150 million people. Included in the following pages are the leaders, who like the ones mentioned above, transformed brands, campaigns and purpose-driven programs to strengthen their organizations’ reputations through the pandemic and into the future.

Paul Akinmade

Jim Anderson

CMG Financial

Finance of America Mortgage

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Chief Strategy Officer

Chief Marketing Officer

During his five-year tenure at CMG Financial, Paul Akinmade has assembled a team to transform the organization’s marketing offering as chief marketing officer. He has recently transitioned to managing the digital transformation for the organization as chief strategy officer. Now, Akinmade oversees the direction of marketing, information technology and business intelligence in his new role. Much of Akinmade’s ability to provide value to the organization is due to the diversity of his past professional and educational experience, including his work as an originator, branch manager, area manager and entrepreneur, which have all contributed to his success in mortgage marketing. Since he joined CMG Financial in 2016, Akinmade has overseen significant companywide growth and reorganization. His ability to leverage the strengths of multiple departments to work together toward common goals speaks to his success. Akinmade also serves on the D&I Advisory Committee for the MBA and is a member of the Freddie Mac Affordable Housing Advisory Council.

As a marketing leader, Jim Anderson has expertise in building brands and driving revenue through strategic thinking, creative solutions and precise execution. Anderson has demonstrated the ability to successfully develop and manage teams focused on creating branded solutions across linear, digital, social, traditional and experiential marketing while delivering maximum ROI. As a data-driven marketer, Anderson uses SMART concepts to plot an efficient, successful path forward and his ability to isolate objectives and key results from the noise has had an immediate impact on his marketing team and the company. Identifying trackable results has led to numerous team enhancements that allow Anderson and his team to identify accountability which enables the team to reflect, recalibrate and improve. This process, and use of data, has allowed Finance of America Mortgage to position marketing as a revenue driver by focusing on customer acquisition, conversion and retention.

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Nick Belenky

Vashti Brotherhood

Top of Mind

Incenter Marketing

Chief Revenue Officer

President

Since joining Top of Mind just over a year ago, Nick Belenky has brought the company’s brand to life by rapidly executing an ambitious marketing strategy that has involved producing new multimedia content, recording numerous video interview series, debuting a virtual user conference and much more. Despite being the mortgage industry’s most-used CRM, Belenky felt that Surefire was still a hidden gem. Its value was neither fully articulated to current customers nor communicated through its external-facing brand. Belenky immediately went to work, illuminating the value of Surefire CRM by connecting with dozens of lenders and hearing their feedback. To elevate Surefire’s external brand, Belenky began with migrating to a new content management system (CMS), overhauling the Top of Mind website, increasing his marketing team by 200% and bringing in the expertise of SEO and PR consultants. He then went on to attract leads by rapidly executing an ambitious content marketing strategy.

As president of Incenter Marketing, Vashti Brotherhood is charged with coordinating marketing for multiple brands under the Incenter parent company, working closely with business leaders to sharpen their vision and promote their companies. Brotherhood is leading an effort to establish and refresh the company’s brand during the uncertainty of the past year. Amid lockdowns in 2020, Brotherhood and her team were forced to pivot, working hard to share the company’s message during the greatest increase in revenue in Incenter’s company history. Brotherhood continuously maintained a keen awareness of Incenter’s corporate values and what makes the company tick. As a marketer, Brotherhood has had the ability to take her understanding of the company and focus not only on the look and feel of the rebranding but also on the customers’ feelings toward the company. Through running a marketing team that is internal and external, Brotherhood sees Incenter’s employees as its greatest strength.

Danny Byrnes

Andy Capener

Nationwide Title Clearing

Finicity

SVP, Marketing

Promoted from vice president of sales and marketing to Nationwide Title Clearing’s chief revenue officer in October 2020, Danny Byrnes leverages his experience and knowledge of both sales and marketing. In his new role, Byrnes has ultimate accountability in aligning all revenue-generating departments and building strategic partnerships to ensure ongoing success for NTC. Since taking on responsibility for all of NTC’s Marketing in 2018, Byrnes has established and implemented an effective go-to-market strategy that has further accelerated the company’s rapid growth contributing to the success of the sales division, which documented average growth of 26% each year for the past 10 years. With his deep knowledge of the industry and many strategic relationships with C-level industry peers, Byrnes has helped position NTC as an industry leader in post-closing services. By expanding upon, bundling and rebranding many of NTC’s existing services and bringing them to market, Byrnes has diversified NTC’s offerings.

If you associate Finicity with yellow shoes or leading verification solutions, it’s due in large part to Andy Capener. Through his creative and thoughtful approach, Capener has taken Finicity’s brand and market positioning from relatively unknown to a widely recognized name within the mortgage industry. Capener’s value to the organization extends far beyond traditional marketing campaigns and metrics as he has the ability to effectively position Finicity based on where the industry is headed and understands the pain points and needs of target audiences both in the current and future market landscape. In an unprecedented year, Capener led efforts that would enable Finicity and mortgage lenders to capitalize on the disruption of the pandemic. His work is evident in several initiatives that launched this past year, including driving the simplification of Fincity’s product suite, leading a successful launch of the company’s Mortgage Verification Service (MVS) and helping the Mastercard team understand Finicity’s value and long-term vision in the acquisition.

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Chief Revenue Officer

Courtney Chakarun

Carol Crawford

eXp World Holdings

ClosingCorp

Chief Marketing Officer

Chakarun’s strategic investments in eXp’s marketing functions and responsibilities — from branding and digital to social and communications — in addition to scaling the marketing team to support eXp’s growth have contributed to significant company growth and record-breaking financial results. The focus on brand, coupled with investments across hybrid virtual events, social and digital platforms and internal and external communication channels, has resulted in more than 17,000 people from 35 countries attending eXp’s first virtual EXPCON event, a 67% increase in followers across social platforms, a 3.5x increase in time spent on eXp World Holdings’ website and a 3x increase in press coverage. eXp Realty has also seen record-breaking financial results for Q4 and all of 2020, including record revenue, record net income, record transaction sides, record volume and double-digit percent increases in agent and broker growth. Chakarun’s efforts to reinvigorate the brand, invest in marketing and empower her team are many of the key drivers of eXp’s success.

In Carol Crawford’s role as chief marketing officer at ClosingCorp, she works closely with the sales, account management and executive leadership teams to define strategy, tactics and programs designed to increase awareness, interest and demand for ClosingCorp and its offerings. Due largely to the comprehensive go-to-market plans developed and executed by Crawford, ClosingCorp has seen tremendous growth over the past 48+ months. The company’s flagship product, ClosingCorp Fees, now has over 35% market share and has processed more than 24 million fee quotes — 8 million of which have been in the past year. ClosingCorp’s overall client base now includes more than 400 lenders, a 13% YOY increase, and a 110% YOY volume increase with less than 2% attrition rate over a three-year period. ClosingCorp’s continued high marks for customer service are a result of how Crawford leads the Account Management and Marketing teams.

Romina Cusenza

Sarah DeCiantis

ACES Quality Management

United Wholesale Mortgage

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VP, Marketing

EVP, Chief Marketing Officer

With nearly 20 years in the mortgage industry, Romina Cusenza has been bringing her positive energy, innovative marketing ideas and contagious laugh to clients and partners alike. As the lead marketer behind ACES Quality Management, Cusenza has been instrumental in cementing ACES’ position as the industry’s leading supplier for QC technology. With her expertise, quick thinking and indefatigable work ethic, Cusenza pivoted the company’s 2020 marketing strategy in the face of COVID-19 while also managing a company rebranding effort and maintaining ACES’ contributions to industry education through the Compliance NewsHub and Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, as well as the creation of the QC Now web series. Within weeks of the pandemic’s onset, Cusenza pivoted the company’s 2020 marketing strategy to be 100% digital, including creating and promoting 13 webinars. As part of this shift to digital, Cusenza organized the launch of QC Now, a web series dedicated to covering the latest issues facing mortgage lenders.

As chief marketing officer, Sarah DeCiantis is the engineer behind United Wholesale Mortgage’s strategic approach to marketing, which has elevated the company to become the No. 1 wholesale lender in the country for six straight years and the No. 2 overall lender in America. Since joining UWM in 2014, DeCiantis has channeled the power of marketing and used it to level the playing field for mortgage brokers throughout the country, working to compete against large banks and retail lenders. DeCiantis has differentiated the UWM marketing team by structuring it to function as an in-house agency, allowing UWM to provide more impactful marketing services for its clients as well as continuing to grow and evolve the UWM brand. Whether it is constantly improving and expanding Brand 360, the no-cost marketing tool for brokers, or creating greater visibility for brokers through 2 years of Super Bowl commercials showcasing Findamortgagebroker. com, DeCiantis keeps her focus on how her team can help the wholesale channel.

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Lisa Fenske

Brian Fluhr

Waterstone Mortgage

Veros Real Estate Solutions

SVP, Marketing & Communications

VP, Marketing

For nearly a decade, Lisa Fenske has led the marketing and communications efforts needed to promote Waterstone Mortgage’s significant growth. Fenske consistently works hard to ensure that the company’s presence in the market reflects its many qualities like forward-thinking leadership, a commitment to closing on time and transparent, consistent communication with clients throughout the home loan process. As a manager, Fenske finds the best in each of her employees, encourages them to continue developing their talents and ensures that her team members feel valued and encouraged in their professional environment. As the industry has become more focused on technology, Fenske has played an important role in helping Waterstone share the message of its innovative solutions with potential homebuyers and their Realtors. As Fenske continues to lead the company’s marketing efforts in 2021, she will play an essential role in creatively communicating its innovative solutions to customers and business partners.

An innovative thought leader, strategic market expert and conscious mentor, Brian Fluhr has contributed to the evolution and growth of the real estate data and analytics industry over the past 11 years. During the historical events of 2020, his strategic knowledge and compassionate approach uplifted his team and proved essential as Veros Real Estate Solutions reached a record-breaking year. Since Fluhr’s arrival to Veros, he has brought value and leadership to his role and spearheaded the launch and growth of Veros’ Disaster Data set, which has provided near real-time insight for mortgage lenders and servicers on properties impacted by natural disasters. He has dynamically led the Department of Veterans Affairs Appraisal Management Services training, along with leading all aspects of Marketing at Veros. Whether event planning or hosting a virtual event, he always brings an energetic persona and makes an event come to life. Fluhr’s outsized dedication and empathy kept the team moving forward throughout the challenges of the pandemic.

Kelly Gill

Courtney Graham

Motto Franchising and wemlo

Princeton Mortgage

Chief Marketing Officer

Kelly Gill has been an integral part of the Motto Franchising executive leadership team, helping steer the company through an incredible period of growth. Gill is a leader who creates more leaders, and her extensive experience in the mortgage industry has given her unique insight into what’s important to mortgage brokerages and loan originators. In the last 12 months, the Motto Mortgage brand has continued to grow due in large part to Gill’s expertise. She led the charge in presenting new campaigns focusing on digital mortgages when it became impossible to do business face-to-face. Gill has a keen ability to think ahead and recognize pain points that the industry may face. In turn, she pivots quickly to equip the Motto network with the relevant resources and marketing materials they need to be successful. While navigating the Motto Mortgage brand through some of its most challenging months, Gill was also a key member of the wemlo acquisition team, helping build a cohesive marketing vision.

Courtney Graham is the driving force behind the creation of Princeton Mortgage’s marketing machine that has been a large driver for increased revenue and production for the mortgage bank. In recent months, she stepped into a larger role of chief marketing officer, where she focuses on scaling the company culture to support its explosive national market expansion. Graham’s vision and influence are integrated across every channel of Princeton’s sales activity. From generating new broker relationships for Princeton Wholesale, driving prospecting activities for retail recruiting, to helping loan originators increase their purchase business and realtor connections, Graham’s marketing machine is a driving force for sales revenue, leading to the organization’s emergence on the national market, highlighted by the company’s 50x growth over a two-year period. Under Graham’s guidance, Princeton’s marketing system has generated measurable results. The mortgage banker’s funded volume has increased by 631% since 2018 and outperformed average industry growth by 552%.

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VP, Marketing & Advertising

Elizabeth Hillestad

Richard Jackman

Civic Financial Services

SimpleNexus

SVP, Marketing

VP, Marketing

Elizabeth Hillestad has made an impact on Civic Financial Services by creating a growing market share and building a brand that its customers know and love. As a true brand ambassador, Hillestad has fully revolutionized Civic’s marketing department into an extremely high-performing team, concurrently building out transformative marketing operations, scaling Civic’s brand and positioning and establishing Civic’s as a leader in the digital and social media arenas. Most importantly, Hillestad’s innate leadership skills serve as the glue that binds all else — leading with intimate knowledge through the different marketing disciplines while driving her team to achieve growth and greatness, personally and professionally. During a crisis period in the private lending industry, Hillestad created a massive brand presence for Civic’s. At a time when many lenders were pausing or being shuttered, Hillestad led Civic’s to increase its presence, launch new communications strategies and elevate the private lending industry through media coverage.

SimpleNexus tapped Richard Jackman in November 2020 to lead marketing as the firm transitioned from a nimble startup into an enterprise SaaS provider. In just a few short months, Jackman’s marketing expertise has turbocharged the success of not only SimpleNexus’ 11-person marketing team, but also the entire sales function it supports. Jackman has since led the company through multiple consecutive quarters of record-setting revenue growth and accelerating adoption of SimpleNexus solutions by banks, credit unions and independent mortgage lenders across the U.S. He played an important role in positioning SimpleNexus for a $108 million Series B funding round led by global venture capital and private equity firm Insight partners in January. In less than a year, Jackman’s marketing prowess has made a huge impact on SimpleNexus. Notably, Jackman led the seamless reinvention of the company’s annual SimpleNexus User Group conference as a 100% virtual event.

Steve James

Brad Jones

Fannie Mae

NewRez

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SVP, Chief Marketing Officer

Chief Marketing Officer

As a forward-thinking chief marketing officer, Steve James has a proven track record of building brands, generating business impact and leading innovation in the financial services industry. James’ strengths encompass all facets of the marketing world, including leading digital and non-digital marketing and communication strategy and execution, business analysis, digital experience innovation, new product design, agency relationships and building consensus within matrixed organizations while developing highly motivated and engaged teams. At Fannie Mae, James currently leads all marketing in support of the company’s single-family, multifamily, capital markets and credit loss management businesses; the company’s digital marketing strategy; and all internal and external communications. While at Fannie Mae, James first demonstrated an aptitude for creating high-performing teams that augment the company’s skillsets with Fannie Mae’s SingleFamily division. James has helped the company embrace a customer-focused mindset and adopt research-led design.

After holding various roles within the mortgage industry, Brad Jones joined NewRez’s marketing department in August as chief marketing officer. Since joining, he has taken a retention-built servicing company and remade it into a forward-facing brand — a process that included revamping the corporate website and implementing an entirely new marketing process. Thanks to this paradigm shift, NewRez now captures data and uses it to market to customers when they need it as opposed to using a blanketed, one-size-fits-all approach. While taking a formerly service-first company and transitioning it to a client-first company, Jones has built out a marketing team and taken it from 13 employees to nearly 35 today. Jones has also helped NewRez become involved with March of Dimes, NewRez Now, and You Save, We Give. Jones has also donated to the local YMCA, which he believes has been crucial to those in need during the tough times presented by the pandemic.

JULY 2021

Jim Jumpe

Matt Kaufman

Arch Mortgage Insurance

Qualia

Chief Marketing Officer

VP, Marketing

A seasoned marketing veteran with more than 30 years of mortgage industry experience, Jim Jumpe played a pivotal role in cementing Arch Mortgage Insurance’s brand position as the leading provider of private mortgage insurance in the U.S. Jumpe and his team bring Arch MI’s brand vision to life using marketing, PR, social media, advertising, creative services, internal communications and emerging multimedia channels. Jumpe is passionate about promoting Arch MI’s executives as industry thought leaders, highlighting innovative products like the Arch MI RateStar dynamic pricing platform and using the company’s unique content to drive awareness and increase sales. Jumpe’s most significant role is to communicate effectively with customers and the outside world. His team meets daily to align priorities and ensure marketing efforts directly map back onto the company’s larger goals and objectives. The team’s agility allows them to change course at a moment’s notice, such as adapting to the pandemic and responding to unexpected policy changes.

Matt Kaufman joined Qualia as an early employee to build the marketing organization from the ground up. Over the years, he led the go-to-market and brand efforts that have helped propel the company to grow to approximately 500 people, provide a mission-critical closing platform for over 500,000 real estate professionals and become valued at over $1 billion. Most recently, Kaufman designed and led the team that produces Qualia’s Future of Real Estate Summit (FORES). This annual event brings together economic experts and technologists with leaders from the country’s top title and escrow operations, mortgage lenders, proptech companies and real estate brokerages to share the innovative ideas driving the industry’s transformation. As the VP and head of marketing, Kaufman has consistently found ways to showcase and amplify Qualia’s mission to transform access to homeownership into a simple, secure experience. Kaufman continues to manage the team through rapid growth and has successfully managed the scaling through moments of extreme change.

Beth Keckley

David King

Dunegrass Consulting

A&D Mortgage

Chief Marketing Officer

Starting with a holistic evaluation of marketing activities, Beth Keckley guides companies to ensure their marketing infrastructure is ready for scale and will flex as the market moves in her role at Dunegrass Consulting. With more than 20 years of experience in marketing across several industries, Keckley utilizes her background in strategy, marketing technology, and process improvement to assess vendors, integrate technology, create go-to-market programs and everything in between. Keckley makes it her mission to change the status quo, and in doing so, not only hired top talent in her previous role as chief marketing officer of CrossCountry Mortgage, but also pushed vendors and team members alike. Committed to her community, Keckley saw a need to step up to serve during the pandemic. For the past year, she has been a member of a neighborhood group called Circle of Help. As a participant, she has sponsored two families for regularly scheduled meal deliveries, ensuring a recurring supply of food for everyone in the household.

David King came on board as the first chief marketing officer for A&D Mortgage, a position that was nonexistent within the organization 12 months ago. With his leadership and expertise, King is guiding and leading the way to build the company’s digital strategy, communications strategy and brand reach. He has also supported the marketing team to ensure A&D’s foundation and overall brand fundamentals are rock solid, so A&D can successfully grow, build and expand upon its current strategies. King’s love for what he does is a steady presence that encourages others to step up and do their best. From his know-how and experience in marketing and the mortgage industry to his intuitive ability to guide and lead teams, transformation and growth are inevitable. This is evident in his ability to grow marketing teams from the bare-bones start-up phase to leading the way in the mortgage industry. King also sets an example by giving back to the community and volunteering with his family.

JULY 2021

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Owner & Lead Consultant

Jennette Landrum

Paul Lucido

New American Funding

Paramount Residential Mortgage Group

EVP, Marketing

Chief Marketing Officer

Jennette Landrum built New American Funding’s massive marketing apparatus from the ground up as the company’s first marketing hire in 2009. Since then, she has grown the department into a complete in-house marketing agency that is tasked with continuing to strengthen New American Funding’s position as a leader in the housing industry. Landrum’s team includes nearly 50 employees under her direct supervision, handling all aspects of traditional marketing, branding, digital, analytics and technology development. Serving as both the generator and gatekeeper of all of New American Funding’s marketing efforts, there isn’t a single piece of marketing, whether it is digital, physical or any other method, that doesn’t run directly through Landrum. With a focus on helping the company’s LOs, Landrum and her team’s efforts include content, SEO, online reviews, data procurement and analysis, and building marketing and business technology to boost each LO’s online relevance and production.

Paul Lucido has run marketing initiatives in the mortgage industry for two decades and his experience and longevity speak to his passion for the people in the industry. Throughout the challenges of the past 12 months, Lucido and his team helped craft effective messaging, transition to a new CRM and continue to lead creatively in mortgage lending. Looking beyond the common industry taglines, Lucido and his team developed company mantras that are a true reflection of the culture of Paramount Residential Mortgage Group. The tagline “Built by Originators for Originators,” which is trademarked and often emulated by competitors, is the central theme of PRMG and embodies the company’s goal of putting originators first. Lucido and his marketing team have implemented new technology which drives marketing automation for all three channels of PRMG that serve originators how they wish. The 2021 campaign of creating a Path to Pivot has actionable initiatives to help LOs succeed in a changing industry.

Teressa Lurk

Jonathan Lyons

Mortgage Bankers Association

Clear Capital

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VP, Marketing & Design

Head of Marketing

Teressa Lurk is the leading creative mind of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s brand strategy and corporate identity, advancing through a series of positions with growing responsibility since 2003. In addition to leading MBA’s marketing team, Lurk is a passionate voice and promoter of MBA — and the industry’s — DE&I efforts to create a more diverse workforce. As a valued member of MBA’s senior management team, Lurk is no stranger to bringing her passions to the forefront and being a beacon in the overall strategy. Lurk has brought tremendous value to MBA and its marketing efforts, especially during the pandemic,as she led the MBA.org launch efforts of the COVID-19 Resources Page for residential and commercial/multifamily members. She also generated excitement and strong registration numbers for MBA’s slate of conferences and meetings that shifted to the virtual environment. In February, MBA’s virtual CREF Conference generated over 2,000 attendees — a turnout that would not have been possible without Lurk’s marketing expertise.

As the head of marketing with over 17 years of work experience, Jon Lyons has successfully defined, developed and executed multiple online and offline marketing initiatives that maximize revenue and profit opportunities while increasing customer acquisition and loyalty. As a leader, Lyons inspires innovative thinking and has a proven record of turning around divisions, building strong brands, introducing metrics and testing to drive business decisions. Combined, these efforts ultimately help bring industry-changing products to market while simultaneously building a forward-thinking marketing team. At Clear Capital, Lyons has established and grown a high-performance marketing team through increasing Clear Capital’s presence as a thought leader within the real estate fintech industry, driving inbound demand generation by effectively understanding customers and presenting them with the materials and services relevant to their needs. Lyons has also run several successful marketing campaigns, like OwnerInsight, which launched in April 2020.

JULY 2021

Romi Mahajan

Kelley Mangel

Quantarium

LBA Ware

Chief Marketing Officer

Director of Marketing

With 20 years of marketing experience under his belt, Romi Mahajan brings speed and scale thinking to Quantarium, a small and rapidly growing AI company focused on real estate valuations, analytics and decisioning. Despite its size, Mahajan has involved Quantarium in conversations at the highest level in media, finance, government and among its customer base as the company defines its space as a leader in the digital transformation of the entire real estate ecosystem. Mahajan’s command of brand-building and influencer-connection has begun to put Quantarium at the top of the map as both an AI and an RE player, positioning the company’s brand as a leader in AI and in synonymizing AI and real estate. Mahajan is not only the chief marketing officer of Quantarium but is a strategic leader “in the tent” on all major directional decisions. Mahajan led four marketing campaigns for Quantarium that generated $12M in the pipeline on a very low budget, leveraging his industry connections and footprint in the media and PR worlds.

Kelley Mangel is director of marketing at seven-time HW Tech100 honoree LBA Ware. She has led the firm’s evolution from a little-known Georgia start-up to a high-visibility industry influencer and two-time Inc. 5000 company. From her first days at LBA Ware as the firm’s trail-blazing marketing manager, Mangel has been integral to LBA Ware’s transition from a professional services company to a product-based SaaS provider. Hired as LBA Ware’s sixth team member and first “non-technical” employee, Mangel immediately rolled up her sleeves to understand the company and its products, develop the LBA Ware brand from scratch and create and execute the company’s very first marketing plan. During her six-year tenure, Mangel’s marketing savvy has helped LBA Ware grow from seven to 100+ lender clients, develop a brand from scratch and create a user experience cherished by clients. LBA Ware founder and CEO Lori Brewer has even requested Mangel’s involvement in QA testing and informing product design.

Joe Manning

President, Digital Strategy & Innovation

Chief Marketing and Technology Officer

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties

Jessica Manna is 17-year veteran of the mortgage industry who currently serves as president of digital strategy and innovation at Fairway, where she oversees an expansive marketing department serving Fairway’s retail, consumer direct, wholesale and reverse business units. In her tenure, Manna has grown the team by 70% while contributing to Fairway’s 235% revenue growth. Since coming to Fairway, Manna has helped equip Fairway with the marketing firepower to provide an unmatched and industry-leading suite of marketing tools for loan officers and AEs. Fairway’s marketing portfolio gives loan officers, AEs, and brokers the tools needed to generate leads, grow their business, increase conversion and increase their digital reach to claim their place as the “digital mayor” of their territory and market. In the past 12 months alone, under her leadership, the marketing department has launched a suite of digital tools for every stage of the buyer journey providing business-impacting services from awareness and consideration to conversion and loyalty.

In his current role as chief marketing technology officer, Joe Manning’s solid foundation in sales and communication allows him to look at challenges as opportunities to grow. Leading a team of marketers, designers, communicators and technology support staff, Manning continuously acts as an extension of his customers, his leaders and the brand he represents. While the past year has been a rollercoaster in the industry, Manning’s guidance allowed his team to have 4x the average pace of product launches and initiatives. Manning’s leadership gave his team the ability to pick and move forward the projects that deliver the most impact for agents, brokers and their clients. From a complete overhaul of agent websites to an agent-branded mobile home search app, the new releases kept the agents and brokers engaged year-round. This included the launch of a branded merchandise online store with proceeds benefiting the Drysdale Community Foundation, which powers charity organizations that serve local communities.

JULY 2021

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Jessica Manna

Jennifer Marchetti

David Marine

Realogy Expansion Brands

Coldwell Banker Real Estate

Chief Marketing Officer

As chief marketing officer of Realogy Expansion Brands, Jennifer Marchetti spearheads strategic marketing efforts for two real estate brands — Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and ERA Real Estate. In this unique role, Marchetti delivers tailored marketing solutions focused on increasing productivity and strengthening the marketing core and is the only CMO in the industry to oversee two distinct brands. Marchetti’s ultimate objective is to ensure each brand remains highly differentiated, relevant and ultimately set up for success. She recognizes that while enhancing the brand is important for its evolution, it’s just as important to stick to what works. From fully leveraging the lifestyle expertise embedded in the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand to introducing a new ERA branding campaign called “Corner Your Market,” she is adept at deploying the right resources in the right places at the right time. Marchetti is hyper-focused on ensuring all marketing initiatives reflect the value proposition of each brand while optimizing synergies inherent in her new role.

As the chief marketing officer for Coldwell Banker with over 20 years of digital, content and social marketing experience, David Marine does more than just market the company’s established real estate brand. In addition to his affinity for storytelling and leading a team of diverse, thought-provoking marketers to reshape a brand that has existed for 115 years, Marine developed the highest-rated ad ever in the real estate category and led the first rebrand for Coldwell Banker in nearly half a century. When faced with the global pandemic, Marine pivoted the brand’s national advertising campaign to strike the right tone and focus on what matters to Americans during an unprecedented time, all while showcasing the new logo and maintaining the brand’s position as an industry leader. Thanks to David’s creativity, the brand’s heartfelt and relatable ad, “Guiding You Home Since 1906,” was ranked as a top ad of 2020 by Ace Metrix. Marine’s leadership strategy and empathy as a marketer make him invaluable to the Coldwell Banker brand.

Jim McDonald

Kerri Milam

Planet Home Lending

Depth Public Relations

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Chief Marketing Officer

Founder & President

Jim McDonald has followed a single mantra throughout this career: “Marketing and product are different ends of the same spectrum. The customer experience is the glue that holds them together.” To create elegant customer experiences, McDonald uses his unique left-right brain combination to produce creative marketing and communications campaigns informed by data analytics. During the past year, McDonald created engaging experiences for the company’s customers, business partners and employees. Utilizing his strong technology and marketing knowledge, he revamped the company’s MarTech stacks for lead and customer lifecycle management. McDonald tuned this new technology toolset to maximize features available in other marketing tools. The new combination of marketing technology, fueled by content, serves as the foundation of an optimized Marketing Toolkit that gives loan officers numerous options to attract, acquire and maintain a life-long relationship with their customers.

As founder and president of mortgage public relations and reputation management consultancy DepthPR, Kerri Milam is a leader in the mortgage marketing arena. Milam not only guides her company and clients to serve as meaningful contributors to mortgage industry thought leadership but also delivers shrewd strategic advice that elevates their technology solutions and keeps the customer experience front and center. Milam’s passion for helping clients advance their business goals while serving a larger purpose within the housing and finance industry is a key driver of her firm’s success and reputation. In early 2020, Milam advised her clients on marketing and public relation strategies to ensure their viewpoints and expertise were publicized and utilized throughout the industry. Throughout the year, DepthPR clients maintained a high level of visibility within the industry and increased its employee headcount by 20%, growing its client roster by 17% in the past year. DepthPR helped clients achieve a total of nearly $5 million in earned media placements in 2020 alone.

JULY 2021

Ian Miller

Jonas Moe

Mortgage Capital Trading

ICE Mortgage Technology

Chief Marketing Officer

SVP, Marketing

MCT’s mission is to fuel the mortgage industry with transformational capital markets technology and personalized client experience, and CMO Ian Miller takes that mission to heart. Providing fuel for mortgage professionals in the form of valuable educational content and technology releases, Miller brought MCT’s educational, high-touch approach to Hedge Advisory more broadly to the mortgage industry through the MCT Newsroom and Learning Center. In 2020, Miller’s operation became key to the survival and success of lenders during 2020 market volatility, liquidity crises and regulatory changes, in addition to acting as a key resource for the MBA’s advocacy efforts. Miller and other MCT leaders pivoted the full force of MCT’s marketing department from commercial efforts to exclusively delivering market volatility guidance to lenders. Miller’s efforts peaked with the series “Challenges & Solutions for Correspondent Lending in Crisis,” which laid out a data-driven picture of the myriad challenges facing the industry.

As the senior vice president of marketing, Jonas Moe is responsible for communications, events, demand generation, branding, creative and market strategy at ICE Mortgage Technology. But on top of the many initiatives he drives, Moe has been the glue that held the marketing team together during a year of incredible change. He coordinated two successful virtual conferences, navigated the company’s branding evolution from Ellie Mae to ICE Mortgage Technology, a part of ICE, and pivoted the company’s marketing strategy to embrace a virtual-first mindset in the wake of a global pandemic. Over the last year, Moe has gone above and beyond to empower his team and serve his customers. In early 2020, when it became clear that virtual working was here to stay, the mortgage industry was faced with an incredible challenge — keeping pace with record-high refinance volume while working remotely. Moe played a critical role in establishing the company’s market strategy and marketing techniques to reach and support lenders when they needed it most.

Mickey Neuberger

Wendy Peel

Realtor.com

ReverseVision

VP, Sales and Marketing

In the 10 months Mickey Neuberger has served as realtor.com’s chief marketing officer, he has created a transformational new approach to digital advertising that has realtor.com showing up in fresh and more relevant ways to consumers. When Neuberger arrived at realtor.com last year, he leveraged his years of experience in digital marketplaces and analyzed extensive consumer research to better understand what consumers need when buying, selling or renting a home. He recently directed a pivot in the company’s consumer strategy to focus on first-time homebuyers, a growing and diverse cohort that has been underserved in the market. By applying digital marketing techniques, Neuberger has helped realtor.com experience faster growth and reach a record 94 million unique users in January 2021, all while re-energizing the marketing team, as demonstrated by a 9-point increase in employee engagement during his tenure. Neuberger plays a pivotal role in elevating the realtor.com brand and driving user growth in today’s dynamic environment.

Leading marketing at ReverseVision, Wendy Peel has conceived and executed a multi-pronged strategy that has enhanced the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage reverse mortgage program’s reputation and significantly increased the number of lenders using the ReverseVision platform. During Peel’s tenure, ReverseVision has grown to be used by 9 of the top-10 reverse mortgage lenders, 49 of the top-75 IMBs and nearly 10,000 daily users. Realizing that reverse mortgages were beset with reputational issues, Peel made it her mission to educate lenders about regulatory improvements to the HECM program, consumer need to access equity in retirement and how lenders stand to benefit from originating HECMs. Peel conceived and crystallized the “Generational Lending” model to help lenders understand the importance of adopting a customer retention strategy that directs consumers to relevant lending programs throughout the course of their lives. Together, these products are the ideal “bookends” of a lender’s Generational Lending business strategy.

JULY 2021

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Chief Marketing Officer

Kate Pettique

Trey Rigdon

Supreme Lending

Wyndham Capital Mortgage

Chief Marketing Officer

SVP, Marketing

Supreme Lending chief marketing officer Kate Pettique is known for driving results — from executing an SMS marketing strategy that led to thousands of applications and hundreds of millions in funded loans to launching a “model market” strategy that led to expansive market growth in targeted markets, to leading her company to become the No. 1-rated lender on Zillow. Pettique’s particular expertise is building brands across multiple channels, which can be seen in her current work leading the launch of a brand refresh at Supreme. When Pettique joined the company in mid-2020, she brought nearly three decades of marketing, branding, advertising, corporate communications and graphic design experience. Over this time, campaigns led by Pettique have generated thousands of funded loans through targeted marketing penetration and spot-on market development strategies, boosted the presence and reputations of LOs through unique lead generation and online review techniques and improved the overall customer experience.

Trey Rigdon has rebuilt the Wyndham Capital Mortgage marketing department and philosophy from the ground up, revolutionizing how the company plans and implements its marketing strategy, bringing in new ideas, talent, technology and more to make the company a force in the industry through marketing. Thanks to Rigdon’s efforts and passion for marketing and the mortgage industry, WCM has a marketing department unlike anything the company has seen in its more than 20 years of existence. In early 2020, WCM’s marketing department was a one-person department consisting of just Rigdon. By the end of the year, he grew the department to a team of 18 individuals encompassing skills across the marketing spectrum. Under Rigdon’s leadership, the company has experienced exponential growth in all marketing channels, especially social media and digital marketing, seeing a 400% increase in Paid Digital, single-source leads and an increase of 640% in social traffic back to the company’s website.

William Schumacher

Brad Sivert

Kentwood Real Estate

Tavant

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Director of Marketing

Head of Marketing and Proptech

William Schumacher hit the ground running when he became marketing director of Kentwood Real Estate. In less than one year, Schumacher completely redesigned and rebuilt the Kentwood websites, created an entire re-designed digital marketing platform and campaign, led his team of designers, graphic artists and digital specialists as a coach to improve their skills, helped to create the marketing resources section of Kentwood’s new intranet, Kentwood Connect, and enhanced the company’s monthly marketing stats. Through his dedication and proactiveness, Kentwood saw an 84% engagement increase in its marketing initiatives, compared to this time last year, and a 51% impression increase year over year as well — all while Schumacher helped to plan and execute Kentwood’s marketing materials for the company’s 40th anniversary. Additionally, engagement rates for both Kentwood Voices and the Kentwood company blog have grown since Schumacher undertook and delivered on monthly strategic goals.

Brad Sivert oversees Tavant’s fastest-growing business lines working with both internal and external partners and managing a global team of marketing experts. With a crystal clear focus on building the best experience to help get people into a new home, Sivert is a product leader at heart with a passion for marketing. Sivert manages a diverse global team of top-tier marketing experts focused on driving thought innovation. Through his use of consistent news coverage, highlighting customer success stories, industry thought leadership, social media engagement and more, Sivert increased global branding awareness by more than 800% in 2020. His efforts led to a significant increase in overall company revenue. Sivert was instrumental in Tavant and its executives receiving 15 prominent industry awards and also being published in more than 200 industry-focused articles. In 2020, Sivert led two new business launches, a Proptech business that has doubled in size, and Banktech, Tavant’s newest business line.

JULY 2021

Suresh Srinivasan

Karen Starns

Roofstock

OJO Labs

Chief Marketing Officer

As a serial entrepreneur, Suresh Srinivasan knows what it takes to build a company from scratch, see it through to acquisition and create a community of passionate users along the way. Since joining Roofstock in 2017, he’s built the retail investor side of its marketplace, which helped propel Roofstock to more than $2B in transaction volume just a few years after launch. Prior to Roofstock, the majority of all real estate investing done by individuals was within an hour’s drive from their home, but now they can invest anywhere with data-based confidence — 93% of all properties sold on Roofstock go to buyers who live at least 250 miles away. During the past year, Srinivasan led critical improvements to Roofstock’s platform, boosted its unit economics, and built a brand that home buyers and sellers love. His unwavering commitment to embodying a customer-first mindset has helped Roofstock realize its goal of simplicity and approachability, attracting record numbers of new investors in the past 12 months.

As chief marketing officer of OJO Labs, Karen Starns has transformed the fast-growing brand into a real estate powerhouse that offers deeply personalized experiences for home buying and selling. Through OJO Labs’ impressive growth over the last year, Starns has made an impact on multiple fronts, including bringing the company vision to life, rapidly expanding its customer base to millions of new consumers and increasing brand presence within the broader real estate industry. In particular, Starns has been instrumental in establishing the brand’s purpose to level the playing field for all homebuyers and sellers, establishing the company as a go-to resource for all aspiring homebuyers—no matter their race, class, or gender. Over the last year, Starns’ role at OJO Labs took on new significance, as the company underwent massive growth — raising $62.5 million in funding, acquiring two companies, and launching new product offerings. Starns also led the charge in delivering an unprecedented uptick in media coverage and awards recognition.

Kasia Stephenson

Kara Taylor

Sierra Pacific Mortgage

ATTOM Data Solutions

EVP, Marketing

Since joining Sierra Pacific Mortgage in 2019, Kasia Stephenson has transformed the company brand to one that is strategically driven and unified in look, feel, tone and messaging. Stephenson has spearheaded initiatives to increase lead generation, launched an enterprise-grade marketing and customer engagement platform, oversaw the creation of three different websites and built a marketing team from scratch. When challenged to improve and expand continuously, Stephenson’s ingenuity and attentiveness distinguish her from others in the housing industry. Attentive to the constant change in how a customer or referral partner conducts business, Stephenson and her team launched two new digital platforms this last year. First, Stephenson introduced the company-wide CRM, Total Expert, in the Spring of 2020 to empower loan officers and transform the customer experience with the brand throughout their entire journey. Stephenson also rolled out vendor partner BombBomb so teams could continue meeting face-to-face.

Kara Taylor leverages over two decades of experience in marketing and product strategy to lead the company’s marketing, creative and public relations teams. Under Taylor’s leadership, ATTOM has earned top-of-mind positioning as the premium property data provider powering innovation across a wide range of industries. Taylor is known as a passionate leader who excels at both strategy and hands-on tactical execution with proven abilities to grow a business through hiring and mentoring strong marketing, product management, eCommerce, user experience, content and technology teams. Under her leadership, ATTOM’s data footprint has rippled across the industry, enhancing its value proposition as the one-stopshop for comprehensive property data. Taylor serves as one of ATTOM’s primary external voices, regularly authoring industry trend pieces. Taylor has also produced actionable insight in leveraging various datasets to make informed business decisions, including distressed properties and property characteristics.

JULY 2021

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VP, Director of Marketing

John Van Slyke

Brittany Whitmire

HomeLight

First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation

VP, Growth

SVP, Marketing

John Van Slyke is the driving force behind HomeLight’s explosive user growth as the company evolved from an agent-matching platform to the leading real estate technology platform, solving the pain points along every step of the real estate journey, whether that’s finding a top agent, securing a competitive mortgage or ensuring an on-time, easy close. Under Van Slyke’s leadership, the HomeLight Growth team in the past year brought to market three new products transforming HomeLight’s core business, all of which redefine how real estate agents and their clients buy and sell homes while helping HomeLight facilitate billions of dollars of real estate on its platform. As a result of Van Slyke’s marketing expertise and vision, the HomeLight team scaled its headcount by 50% since January 2020 and expanded its offerings in several new markets across the country — revolutionizing the $1.7 trillion real estate industry while others were retreating during the difficulties of the global pandemic.

As a master of optimizing ROI and making meaningful change, Brittany Whitmire drives complex business initiatives and robust communication plans internally and externally for FGMC. She leads the company’s marketing department, which supports retail, wholesale, correspondent and corporate marketing initiatives. She also oversees lead generation strategies, social media, web assets, email campaigns, advertising and mortgage tech platforms like Salesforce, Velocify and Pardot. Dedicating her entire career thus far to financial services, Whitmire has decreased the Retail Channel’s marketing cost per lead by over 1300% by spearheading JMA partnerships and a Friends & Family program to vendors and partners that delivered over 110,000 leads in 2020. In FGMC’s TPO channels, Whitmire managed the changing market strategy for Non-QM products in Maverick Solutions throughout 2020 and led the successful relaunch of these products with prospecting and ‘Maverick Rise’ campaigns.

Philip Yee

Brandie Young

Plaza Home Mortgage

Candor Technology

42 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE

SVP, Chief Marketing Officer

CMO

Philip Yee has been the marketing force behind some of the mortgage industry’s most iconic and successful brands. Over the course of his career, he named Radian, led the Bank of America Mortgage and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage marketing groups, repositioned Ellie Mae and created its user conference and turned it into a must-attend event that consistently outdraws other large industry events. Since joining Plaza, Yee has transformed the brand and significantly raised its visibility, helping the leading TPO player to grow volume, add clients and attract talent. After joining Plaza in 2018, Yee orchestrated a major rebranding effort built upon a more modern, engaging and cohesive corporate identity system (designed by Tim Girvin, a global design firm based in Seattle) and a more functional and client-oriented website. His team revamped Plaza’s overall marketing tools and resources, upgrading all client-facing touch-points as well as the company’s internal communications and intranet.

As chief marketing officer, Brandie Young has brought attention and light to Candor Technology, a two-year-old start-up that uses CogniTech Knowledge Engineering Technology to underwrite loans individually and make a decision to lend. A true marketing leader, Young represents Candor in ways that are digestible to the public while simultaneously highlighting the aspects of the company that may not be apparent at first glance. Not only is she centered around marketing, but she also has an eagerness to learn and participate in additional aspects of the business. Young’s diverse marketing strategy has included filming a podcast episode with Rob Chrisman, receiving impressive media coverage and being nominated for the 2021 HW Tech100 awards. This is all within 3 months of genuinely understanding with a full peripheral vision the ins and outs of Candor and what the product can do and where it’s headed, along with what that means for the company’s clients and its impact on the industry.

JULY 2021

2021

V NGUARDS Celebrating the U.S. housing economy’s leaders of the year

Nominations close July 23, 2021

JULY 2021

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APPRAISAL

DISCRIMINATION

Appraisers face mounting accusations of race discrimination. Are the charges accurate?

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- By Matthew Blake and Georgia Kromrei

JULY 2021

a t T u r n e r ’s mother was a c h i ld we l fa re worker in Suffolk, Virginia, during the Jim Crow era, who helped children of all races. “My mother would come home about eve r y m o n t h with a new child. And she would run that child a bath, and throw away their clothes, and give them clothes of mine to wear,” he said. Turner said his mother was “well ahead of her time,” a white person in southern Virginia who supported the civil rights movement during the 1950s. Turner attended the University of Richmond, graduated in 1972 and stayed in the Virginia capital to work as a real estate appraiser. Now in his 49th year on the job, Turner bristles at accusations that appraisers discriminate against racial minorities. But he acknowledges that social observations enter into his calculations. “Where the lines are drawn are where the employment rates are out of balance. When you ride through a neighborhood, and there are guys smoking something midday that are definitely of employment age. The Black neighborhoods get hit harder by unemployment,” said Turner, who has run P.E. Turner & Co since 1990. For Taryn and Damon Harris, a Black couple who founded the Richmond residential brokerage Teal House Company, -Amy Klobuchar appraisers are a problem — devaluing their home sales, and in the process reinforcing Richmond’s 400-year-old history of separate and unequal. Appraisers are so reliably biased, Taryn Harris said, Black homeowners know to “deBlack” their home before the appraiser comes knocking, such as removing Black family photos from a home. The Harris’s are part of a growing chorus of unease and anger with home appraisers. In just the past year, a newsstand’s worth of publications — the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Indianapolis Star — have reported on specific racist conduct by appraisers. The stories create a feeling of momentum — a creaky profession filled with

old, white men facing a long overdue reckoning. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator and former presidential candidate, declared in March that bias “results in home appraisers assessing lower home values to communities of color due to the area’s racial make-up.” And in April, Missouri representative Emmanuel Cleaver proposed the Real Estate Valuation Fairness and Improvement Act, which calls for an interagency task force on valuation. Pointing to Jim Crow-era redlining, the proposal declares, “The harmful consequences of discrimination remain unresolved.” But how extensive is this discrimination, really? And is the solitary appraiser to blame? EUGENICS, REDLINING, AND WALL STREET CRASHES: AN APPRAISER’S HISTORY Decades before federal redlining, attorneys working parttime as real estate brokers struggled to shed their reputation as unscrupulous. The real estate industry worked to change those negative perceptions partly through the invention of the appraiser, and the adoption of eugenics in their valuation practices. Real estate newsletters in the 1920s marketed leather “appraiser kits,” complete with a measuring tape and tags, said Georgia State University Researcher Rea Zaimi, who came across a picture of the kit in an archival collection in Chicago. The ads were meant to resemble the bags doctors and lawyers carried. Yet real estate brokers had none of that prestige. For lenders and investors, appraisers bought them some cachet. Appraisers also streamlined transactions, making real estate more liquid, and values more predictable. To win the public’s admiration, appraisers fashioned themselves “custodians of communities,” Zaimi writes, which was code for protecting property values in white neighborhoods. By the end of the 1920s, appraisal textbooks, often written by eugenics proponents, proliferated, asserting that race and class uniformity determined property value. One such book, in 1933, listed Chicago’s ethnic groups in order of their toll on property values. When the federal government passed the National Housing Act in 1934, it created the Home Owners Loan Corporation’s color-coded neighborhood maps, effectively cementing the notion of redlining in federal law. Redlining was only officially outlawed in the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act. But the redlining maps were

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“[Bias] results in home appraisers assessing lower home values to communities of color due to the area’s racial make-up.”

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never really reckoned with, said LaToya Gray, an urban planning researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University. Gray, who helped craft the 2020 master plan of Richmond, Va., where the university is based, said that the maps that current planners initially used aligned with the old color-coded maps. “We were working with a map that was very discriminatory, unfortunately, very similar to what had been done before with property values. There were maps with ‘established neighborhoods’ and ‘non-established neighborhoods,’” Gray said. “They were primarily those that were redlined in the past.” However, it wasn’t the disastrous consequences of eugenics being used in housing policy or redlining that eventually led to federal intervention in appraisals, but rather the 1987 Wall Street meltdown. That spurred Congress and Ronald Reagan’s administration to birth The Appraisal Foundation, a Washington nonprofit empowered to set industry standards. Those standards evidently did not deter the appraisers’ role in the 2008 financial -Jeremy Bagott crisis. “You had morally flexible mortgage brokers creating morally flexible appraisers to get deals done,” said Jonathan Miller, a veteran appraiser at Miller Samuel in Connecticut and frequent critic of his own industry. In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank financial reform act. Also, that year, none other than Andrew Cuomo, then attorney general of New York, hammered out with Fannie Mae the “home valuation code of conduct,” or HVCC. Or, as frustrated appraisers still call it today, “havoc.”

cent said they were Hispanic, 1% reported as Asian, and 1% said they are Black. “Right now, America’s appraiser corps doesn’t look like America, unless your idea of America involves mostly balding, overweight white guys with clipboards and pocket protectors,” said Jeremy Bagott, who runs an eponymous appraisal company in Ventura, California. Appraisers say they work 60-hour weeks when one counts commuting between properties. They’re freelancers, typically working on a flat fee of a few hundred bucks per appraisal. Post-Great Recession reforms mean appraisers increasingly don’t draw assignments from a lender, but instead a middleman called an appraisal management company, which rakes in up to 70% cut of that flat fee (some appraisal management companies claim this is really closer to 30% on average.) Nevertheless, homeowners often see appraisers as the errand boy from the big, bad mortgage lender. “The appraiser is typically the only party of the mortgage process that meets the homeowner,” said Maura Sweeney, a Chicago appraiser. “In some cases, the appraiser becomes the target for the homeowner’s anger toward the lender,” said Sweeney.

THE UNGLAMOROUS LIFE: TODAY’S APPRAISER “Appraisers are lone wolves working out of their basement,” Miller said. Like the gray wolf, appraisers are an endangered species. There were 78,000 appraisers in the U.S. at the end of 2018, according to the Appraisal Institute, the profession’s primary trade group, and just 40% of those focused on residential appraisals. (For comparison, there are more than 1.5 million residential real estate agents in the U.S., which exceeded the number of homes on the market in May.) Seventy-nine percent of all appraisers identify as male, and 71% are over 50 years old, per the trade group. Eightyfive percent of appraisers stated they are white. Four per-

WHO SPEAKS FOR THE APPRAISER? There’s The Appraisal Foundation, which in its 32 years has focused on training requirements, including 2,000 hours of apprentice training.Jillian White, an appraiser at mortgage lender Better.com, says that the apprentice program deters people of color and women such as herself from becoming appraisers — but also any new blood. “Finding a supervisor to take you on is incredibly difficult regardless of color,” said White, who during the apprentice application process changed her resume name to “J White” so appraisers would assume she was a man. “It leads the industry to being passed down from father to son.” Since 1990, David Bunton, a former Congressional staffer, has served as president of the Appraisal Foundation. The Appraisal Foundation declined to make Bunton available for an interview but provided a statement attributed to the president. “Allegations of discrimination are a serious matter as the very standard an appraiser must follow in conducting an appraisal specifically prohibits bias of any kind,” Bunton stated. “It’s clear we must do more.”

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“Right now, America’s appraiser corps doesn’t look like America, unless your idea of America involves mostly balding, overweight white guys with clipboards and pocket protectors.”

of Real Estate Brokers, a trade group that represents Black real estate professionals. The group has a “few hundred” members, said one such member, Myra Lillard, chief appraiser at Home Guide Realty Services in Indianapolis, Ind. Lillard is incensed that neither the Appraisal Institute nor the Appraisal Foundation have reached out to her group regarding minority appraiser recruitment. The Appraisal Foundation’s recruitment initiatives include working with the real estate degree program at Fort Valley State, a historically black college in Georgia — measures Lillard called superficial. “I guess they see possible gain and notoriety now in helping the downtrodden Black man.”

“An average home in an average socio-economic status neighborhood located in an average metropolitan area was appraised at $125,000 in a Black and Latinx neighborhood.Yet, this same hypothetical house was appraised at $370,000 in a neighborhood with no Black or Latinx residents.”

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- Junia Howell and Elizabeth Korver-Glenn

In his rare public appearances, Bunton has not focused on discrimination, but the survival of the profession itself. A 2019 Congressional hearing gave the world the image of Bunton not raising his hand when U.S. Rep. Al Green of Texas asked panelists to raise their hand if they believe harmful discrimination plays a role in properties in Black neighborhoods not being properly valued. But at that same hearing, Bunton asserted that 85% of property valuations done through mortgage loans are not primarily done by appraisers, with much of the work now being done by automated valuation models. While the Appraisal Foundation’s present goal is fighting for the human appraiser, the mission of the Chicago-based Appraisal Institute seems less clear. The organization’s latest president, Rodman Schley, star of the reality show “Urban Conversion,” acknowledged last year that “unconscious bias” exists among appraisers. “We must educate ourselves on potential bias, just as professions across America are doing,” he stated (like Bunton, Schley responded to questions with a written statement). One mouthpiece for appraisers is the National Society of Real Estate Appraisers, an arm of the National Association

SEE YOU IN COURT, OR NOT Despite news reports of discrimination, formal complaints against appraisers are uncommon. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development can receive allegations of appraisal discrimination. But from 2019 to 2020, the Washington Post reported, HUD received just 12. For this story, a spokesperson for HUD declined to specify how many complaints it has received this year, or any details about the complaints. “There are a number of cases before HUD related to bias in appraisals,” a HUD spokesperson said. “We do not disclose the complaint and responses provided by the respondent while an investigative matter is still pending at HUD.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can receive whistleblower grievances from appraisers who feel pressured by sellers or agents. But the Bureau declined to provide any information on the number of such complaints. The CFPB said that, due to recent press reports, it too is evaluating the issue of appraisal bias. There’s also an apparent lack of civil lawsuits. Legal nonprofits such as the Shriver Center on Poverty Law that work on fair housing said that they could not think of any cases against appraisers. The nonprofits pointed to Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, which, as the Indianapolis Star first reported, filed a fair housing complaint on behalf of homeowner Carlette Duffy and against individual appraiser defendants. The 12-page complaint, filed with HUD, has no mention of prior cases. Amy Nelson, executive director of the Indiana group, said she did not know of prior complaints against appraisers. Nelson, instead, referred to lending bias cases against banks (JPMorgan Chase and Citbank), not appraisers. Unlike HUD and CFPB complaints, there’s no database of private lawsuits, whose records can be lost amid quick settlements, arbitration proceedings and poorly funded state courts. But an American Enterprise Institute report from this January sides with what the legal record indicates, which is that it is lenders, not appraisers, who face repeated bias charges. To be sure, it’s potentially more lucrative to sue JPMorgan Chase than a lone appraiser. But, according to

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REFLECT DISCRIMINATION...OR PERPETUATE IT? A study released last year suggests inequality in home values has actually grown worse since redlining was outlawed. Disparities in value between white and minority-owned homes doubled between 1980 and 2015, wrote Junia Howell, a sociology professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, a sociologist at the University of New Mexico, in the journal Social Problems. “An average home in an average socio-economic status neighborhood located in an average metropolitan area was appraised at $125,000 in a Black and Latinx neighborhood,” Howell and Korver-Glenn write. “Yet, this same hypothetical house was appraised at $370,000 in a neighborhood with no Black or Latinx residents.” But the numbers cited were homeowners’ self-reported valuations — a figure they may have culled from an appraiser, but also perhaps from a tax assessor or another

"Appraisal methodologies suc h a s the sales comparison are grounded in economic principles intended to fairly and objectively value property for all. These approaches have been tested through time and economic crises and are observed across the world.” - Rodman Schley

source — and not from appraisers. We don’t have a record of appraisal valuations because the federal government did not even collect such data until 2011. That’s when government-sponsored entities mandated that appraisals be submitted to them, formatted for the Uniform Appraisal Dataset. Researchers, including Howell and Korver-Glenn, have been unable to access this data. Absent a smoking gun connecting appraisers’ handiwork with growing inequality, the appraisal industry couches itself as objective, tethered to the Appraisal Foundation’s exacting standards. “We look at the numbers and the facts and mirror what the market tells us,” stated Schley, the Appraisal Institute president. “We observe and report,” Bagott said. “We don’t make the real estate markets.” But Lillard, of the National Society of Real Estate Appraisers, says that bias is “baked into the cake” of appraiser reports. Appraisers using Appraisal Foundation reports, for example, check a box on neighborhood growth, with the choices “rapid,” “stable,” or “slow.” How are these words defined in the context of a valuation? And what do they even have to do with a home’s value? The crucial element of any appraisal is the selection of “comps,” at least three similar homes in the neighborhood. A palatial abode in the mostly Black and Hispanic Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, then, cannot be compared to similar-looking homes in Pasadena or Santa Monica. It must be compared to other Watts homes. The Appraisal Institute sees no problem with this. “Appraisal methodologies such as the sales comparison are grounded in economic principles intended to fairly and objectively value property for all,” Schley stated. “These approaches have been tested through time and economic crises and are observed across the world.” Nor do some individual appraisers acknowledge the potential pitfalls of this approach. Discussing the low valuation of homes in Chicago’s mostly Black South Side, Michael Ford of Michael F. Ford Appraisal, wrote, “The reputation for responsiveness and adequacy of protection by police, fire and other emergency services is a big concern to many people. The perceived quality of local political leadership is also an issue.” Ford added, “Most Americans don’t pay location premiums to live in neighborhoods where needles or human feces line the streets.” But other appraisers, like White of Better.com, acknowledge, “There is a lot of artistry to the selection of comparable homes.” She sees her industry hitting an “inflection point” where federal reform is likely. White wants industry change. But she says more is needed to overcome the larger history of U.S. housing segregation. Appraisers alone cannot stop “systemic bias,” White said, “even if we all banded together.”

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the American Enterprise Institute report, loans are more frequently denied to Black applicants because of their credit score, and debt-to-income ratio, not because of an unfairly undervalued home. The problem, the report concludes, is the mortgage lender. The role appraisers play is a “percentage of a percentage of a percentage.”

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ortgage brokers don’t just prepare documents; they manage customer relationships and work

with all parties to ensure an easy real estate transaction process. Due to the current market, brokers are having to do even more to ensure their clients are receiving excellent service. To maintain their portfolios, brokers are turning to wholesale lenders who can provide the technology and resources needed to help service their clients. The 10 companies featured in this section offer solutions to help brokers handle high volumes so they can close loans faster and

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more efficiently.

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Angel Oak.................................................................52 Caliber......................................................................53 CF Wholesale.....................................................54 Finance of America...................................................55 Flagstar Bank ..........................................................56 Freedom Mortgage...................................................57 PennyMac................................................................58 ServiceLink.............................................................59 Sierra Pacific ...........................................................60 United Wholesale Mortgage .............................61

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ANGEL OAK angeloakms.com

THE EXECUTIVES:

MIKE FIERMAN, MANAGING PARTNER AND CO-CEO OF ANGEL OAK Mike Fierman successfully provides strategic direction and leadership to Angel Oak’s various businesses, focusing primarily on mortgage lending and asset management.

TOM HUTCHENS, EVP, PRODUCTION Tom Hutchens leads sales for Angel Oak’s wholesale and correspondent lending platform, with proven success in the expansion of a lending footprint nationwide.

MARK LIVELY, EVP, OPERATIONS

t the beginning of the pandemic, some lenders avoided non-QM loans because without a government guarantee backing them, they were considered risky. It was also difficult to truly determine a borrower’s ability to repay. But now, as the housing market remains stable, non-QM products are making a comeback. However, while non-QM lending gives lenders the opportunity to diversify their product offerings, there is still some hesitancy across the industry. There are still many originators who do not understand non-QM and count on refinance volume and Agency business to get them through. Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions offers alternative specialized mortgage solutions for brokers and correspondent lenders throughout the country to grow their business so borrowers who don’t fit conventional guidelines can get matched with the right loan. One of Angel Oak’s most popular products is its Bank Statement mortgage loan, which is ideal for self-employed borrowers who can’t use tax returns to qualify for a loan. Angel Oak also offers a no-income Investor Cash Flow product specifically for real estate investors — no tax returns or employment information is required. With this loan, Angel Oak qualifies borrowers based on rental analysis to determine the cash flow of the property. Additionally, Angel Oak offers two Jumbo options — Prime Jumbo and non-QM Platinum Jumbo. The latter serves homebuyers who don’t qualify for traditional loans and need more flexibility to purchase their home. “No need to turn anyone away — when an agency isn’t an option, we simply move right into a non-QM product and get it closed,” said Mark Fierman, managing partner and co-CEO. “This is why brokers

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Mark Lively leads the development of underwriting, policies and procedures, effectively delivering cutting-edge quality control and fraud prevention.

Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions’ non-QM products give brokers the opportunity to diversify their offerings

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consider us a go-to resource, because of our innovative non-QM products and our technology that makes the loan process seamless and easy.” Fannie Mae has tightened its guidelines, making it difficult for many borrowers to qualify for agency loans. Jumbo borrowers, self-employed borrowers, real estate investors and those with credit events, in particular, need non-QM options that are quick and easy to close. “Brokers who work with us know how easy it is to work with us and they have been rewarded with increased referrals due to saving deals for their clients,” said Tom Hutchens, executive vice president of Production. “We get them to the closing table quickly and we’ve proven to them how non-QM helps keep the pipelines full.” At its core, Angel Oak is a vertically integrated alternative credit manager with a focus on the non-QM segment. The mortgages the company generates are based on guidelines they set and are 100% underwritten by Angel Oak underwriters. The loans are then sold to an affiliated asset management company where they are aggregated and securitized on behalf of institutional clients. A good majority of lenders originate to sell their loans — Angel Oak originates to hold loans. This vertically integrated partnership also yields benefits for Angel Oak wholesale clients through surety of execution. “Since we are vertically integrated, we can move quickly on guidelines and pricing when needed because the decisions are made exclusively by Angel Oak managers,” said Mark Lively, executive vice president of Operations. “Our vertical integration with asset management provides a powerful, timely information feedback loop that we can deploy in our origination efforts when market conditions change.”

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With Caliber Reconnect, brokers are alerted when their borrower is likely to refinance or purchase a new home

n today’s hot housing market where maintain their relationships. Caliber Reconnect includes MLS Trigger homes are selling quickly, brokers are busier than ever. As purchase transac- that alerts brokers when a shared borrowtions move back to the forefront of lending, er’s property has been listed for sale on the broker channel will only continue to MLS. Caliber’s Purchase Predictor also sends brokers an alert when a shared borgrow and gain momentum. Caliber Home Loans, Inc., a home loan rower is identified to have a high propensicompany, offers resources to help support ty to purchase a new home now, or in the a broker’s business for continued success. future. “Since starting the program in May 2018, “‘High tech — High touch’ is our mantra as we develop industry-leading tools and Caliber has provided nearly 200,000 notif ications to resources w ith their broker coma never- ending m u n i t y, ” s a i d commitment to David Schroder, the relationships EVP, Third Party with our brokers “What makes Caliber different, Originations. and team memand powerful for brokers, is our “While embracing bers,” CEO Sanjiv broad presence and knowledge technology, we’ve Das said. of the markets.” never lost sight of Caliber offers - Tony Kottenbrock, SVP, Wholesale the value in local a “triple play” of Lending connection with resources to help regionally-based elevate a broker’s underwriters, exbusiness. perienced Account T he f i r s t r e Executives who source is its newly renovated Broker Portal that brings the can consult with confidence, and handspower of its proprietary H2O origination on product expertise like our dedicated VA system together with an elegant interface Lending team.” Caliber’s broker partners receive their to highlight next steps, critical tasks, and key contacts. The second, Caliber Club, own Account Executive and access to exwas created for brokers to enjoy unique perienced loan professionals who know the access to education and networking with- requirements of their specific region. “What makes Caliber different, and powin the broad enterprise. The third, Caliber Reconnect, alerts brokers when their cus- erful for brokers, is our broad presence tomers are likely to refinance or purchase and knowledge of the markets,” said Tony Kottenbrock, SVP, Wholesale Lending.“Our a new home. By investing in retained servicing, Caliber six regional operations centers know your also supports broker partners’ relation- market and enable real relationships when ships for life through programs like Caliber you need experienced support. Caliber is Reconnect, which creates referral opportu- a leader in all origination channels which nities using the same sophisticated mod- empowers brokers with the insights that we eling that Caliber’s direct channels use to bring.”

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THE EXECUTIVES:

SANJIV DAS, CEO Sanjiv Das is a senior financial executive with over 30 years of extensive experience in consumer banking and capital markets and a track record of leading large financial service organizations, both within the United States and internationally.

DAVID SCHRODER, EVP, THIRD PARTY ORIGINATIONS David Schroder has worked to innovate and achieve breakthrough growth in mortgage origination through digital marketing, dynamic sales delivery, customer-oriented process design and team member empowerment.

TONY KOTTENBROCK, Tony Kottenbrock has over 28 years of mortgage lending experience and has been in a sales leadership role for Caliber Wholesale for almost eight years.

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SVP, WHOLESALE LENDING

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CF WHOLESALE cfwholesale.com

THE EXECUTIVES:

COLIN TREEND, EVP, WHOLESALE LENDING Colin Treend, a founding member of Cardinal Financial, helped turn the firm into a mortgage company that leverages tech to lower costs while delivering great service.

KARL BENJAMIN, SVP, WHOLESALE LENDING

rom maintaining customer relationships to preparing documents, brokers do it all. And due to today’s booming housing market, they’re having to do even more. To maintain their portfolios while also providing excellent service, brokers need a partner who can make things easier for them. CF Wholesale provides brokers with the resources and technology to drive their business and serve their clients. Brokers choose to work with CF Wholesale again and again because of its in-house technology, innovative processes and hyperfocus on service, all of which give brokers the power and the freedom to get more done, close more loans, and ultimately grow their business. “For years, we’ve heard brokers say ‘Just let me do it,’” said Colin Treend, executive vice president of Wholesale. “At CF Wholesale, we give them the tools to self-serve. We get it. Sometimes they just get it done faster when they do it themselves.” W hen a broker pa r tners w ith CF Wholesale, they gain access to Octane, the in-house loan origination technology that compresses turn times and gives them full control. Its speed, efficiency, and precision remove friction from the process and ensure every critical deadline is met. “Our brokers can trust that Octane will work behind the scenes at a revolutionary speed while they spend more time where they need to — with clients and referral partners,” added Treend. Octane’s high level of automation means brokers have fewer manual tasks to complete, giving them more time back in their day to go get more business. The technology offers:

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With over 20 years of experience, Karl Benjamin is a Certified Mortgage Banker and advocates for brokers because he believes they provide excellent service.

CF Wholesale’s Octane loan origination technology gives brokers the full control they desire

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•

• •

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Instant changes of circumstance: In a matter of clicks, a broker can change their client’s loan details, automatically redisclose, and instantly update their approval. Closing prep control: Brokers can quickly generate their own closing docs, which means they can close their purchase loans on time. Piecemeal conditions: Brokers can send documents as they are received from their clients. Octane also proactively accepts piecemeal conditions to avoid last-minute surprises. Powerful pipeline: Brokers can view all of their loan details at a glance. 24/7 access: Octane can be accessed all weekend long with lock and disclosing ability and legitimate point-of-sale approvals. Real-time updates: The technology will send the broker a clear, automated email with an update on what’s happening at every critical checkpoint. If there’s anything that needs attention, Octane lets brokers know quickly so they can communicate it to their clients.

In addition to regular maintenance, a new version of Octane is deployed weekly, allowing CF’s team of engineers to continuously enhance the system. “Our promise to our broker partners is that we genuinely want them to succeed,” said Karl Benjamin, senior vice president of Wholesale Lending. “We’ve spent time and resources getting the right processes in place, and we’re serious about making sure our brokers’ concerns are taken care of. We understand the pain points of the broker community.”

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or a long time, conventional refinances were the norm in product offerings. Now, the focus is on the hot purchase market, and brokers are looking for solutions outside the conventional conforming product box to assist their client base. That’s where Finance of America Mortgage (FAM) TPO’s Two-X Flex suite of proprietary jumbo and non-QM products comes into the picture. “Our products empower brokers to assist more people who would otherwise be shut out of the traditional purchase market,” said Nectar Kalajian, senior vice president, channel leader, TPO. FAM TPO’s T wo-X Flex suite comes with additional products to give borrowers even more purchasing or refinancing power, which allows them to qualify for loans based on factors outside of standard requirements. The proprietary loan suite includes: • Two-X Flex: a document that allows unconventional borrowers to qualify with two years of income. • Two-X Flex Bank: requires no tax returns and enables self-employed borrowers to qualify using bank statements. • Two-X Flex 1 Year: enables borrowers to qualify using only one year’s income. • Two-X Flex Asset: lets some borrowers qualify based on assets alone and no employment. “At FAM TPO, we pride ourselves on our knowledge of the business, superior customer service, and commitment to improving the lending process, which is why we offer a broad suite of products that enables our broker partners to help more borrowers who might not fit into the conventional lending box,” said Varant Herculian, vice

president, digital strategy and innovation, TPO. FAM TPO is a one-stop shop for all types of financial needs. From loan submission to servicing loans, its end-to-end, customer-first lending process is all about ease, quick turn times and transparency. FAM TPO’s process helps brokers exceed client expectations and get to the closing table with minimal friction. FAM TPO’s account executives work to find brokers the right mortgage wholesale lending solutions for their clients. An AE will walk through the entire lending process and resolve any issues in real-time so brokers can focus on successfully managing their pipeline. By partnering with FAM TPO, brokers get the support, tools and resources they need to focus on better serving their clients and close their loans with confidence. “Our broker partners are surrounded by success and have a trusted support system to grow their business,” Kalajian added. “Our cutting-edge technology, knowing we can cater to their borrowers’ diverse range of financial needs, immersive education, and other top-notch resources allow brokers to focus on what’s important — serving their client.” FAM TPO’s diversified lending channels allow broker partners to be at the forefront of the industry in any market condition or environment. “At our core, we are product innovators,” said Omar Cantillo, senior vice president, national operations manager, TPO. “FAM TPO will continue to find ways to assist our broker partners by launching products that allow them to capture more purchase business, help their first-time homebuyers and assist their past clients as they get ready to retire.”

FINANCE OF AMERICA MORTGAGE TPO famtpo.com

THE EXECUTIVES:

NECTAR KALAJIAN, SVP, CHANNEL LEADER, TPO With a 40-year history of working in the industry, Nectar Kalajian has overseen sales and operations in retail, wholesale, correspondent and direct-to-consumer channels throughout her career.

OMAR CANTILLO, SVP, NATIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGER, TPO Omar Cantillo has nearly 30 years of leadership experience in finance and executive operations. He has built an entire operation and sales region from the ground up.

VARANT HERCULIAN, VP, DIGITAL STRATEGY AND INNOVATION, TPO Varant Herculian has spent the last 25 years as a leader in mortgage technology with a focus on implementing and applying technology to drive adoption and creating a better experience for originators and borrowers alike.

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Finance of America TPO’s Two-X Flex suite allows brokers to help borrowers who don’t fit conventional products

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THE EXECUTIVES:

LEE SMITH, EVP, PRESIDENT OF MORTGAGE Lee Smith is responsible for the direction and oversight of all aspects of mortgage, including sales and origination, fulfillment operations and servicing, as well as the strategic growth of Flagstar’s mortgage and servicing businesses.

JOHN GIBSON, SVP, NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR; WHOLESALE & CORRESPONDENT LENDING

Flagstar Bank’s scalable platform allows s the housing market continues to boom, brokers are having to man- brokers to choose how much or how little age high call volumes while also assistance they need. The company’s loyal providing clients with excellent customer account executives have an average of over service. To support brokers during this 12 years of experience and provide brokers busy time, Flagstar Bank has built out its with the right kind of knowledge to help technology, service and product infrastruc- clients. By partnering with Flagstar Bank, ture to give brokers more control over the brokers also gain direct access to its bestmortgage process and the ability to better in-class and experienced operations team. “Flagstar is a well-capitalized bank with conduct business. Flagstar Bank has supported the broker a strong balance sheet and diversified community for over three decades, provid- business model. We also have the ability ing loans for second homes and investment to provide lending solutions such as wareproperties, jumbo and high balance prod- house lending lines,” said Lee Smith, president of Mortgage. ucts, as well as “F ur ther more, all agency prodour RMBS securiucts. Flagstar’s “The broker channel is going to tization platform focus isn’t just play a key role in the mortgage allows more flexp r ov i d i n g t he industry over the next few years. ibility in product right products, That’s why Flagstar has strategiof fer i ngs t ha n but also ensurcally aligned its priorities to be a some non-bank ing its technolomajor player and supporter of brolender s, e spe gy complements kers nationwide.” cia lly when it e a c h br oke r ’s - Lee Smith, President of Mortgage comes to investindividual busiment properties, ne s s. F lag st a r Bank’s DIY disclosures, as well as its ac- second homes, jumbo and high balance celerated broker closing program, make loans.” With its one-stop-shop business model, this possible. “We continue to make investments in our Flagstar Bank has been able to successfully technology to streamline the process for help brokers manage clients through variour broker partners as well as integrate with ous economic scenarios. “The broker channel is going to play a key third-party platforms like Arive, Caylx AllIn and Brokers United,” said John Gibson, role in the mortgage industry over the next SVP, national sales director of wholesale few years,” Lee said. “That’s why Flagstar has strategically aligned its priorities to be and correspondent lending. Flagstar Bank provides comprehensive a major player and supporter of brokers training for brokers, including its Flagstar nationwide.” “We’re committed to providing great serFLEX monthly webinar series. These webinars are specifically designed to educate vice,” Gibson said. “For over 30 years, we brokers by offering guidance from industry have brought stability and commitment to the third-party origination market. Over all experts. The company also recently rolled out that time, we have listened to our business Leadtrac, a trigger lead pass-back pro- partners to create offerings and services to gram exclusive to lender-partner program meet their needs. We’ll be there for them as the space continues to grow.” customers.

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With 27 years of experience in the mortgage industry, John Gibson is responsible for the strategic direction, growth and profitability of Flagstar’s broker and correspondent channels.

Flagstar Bank provides the right products and tech to support each broker’s individual business

JULY 2021

- SPECIAL REPORT -

Sponsored Content

Freedom Mortgage Wholesale Division offers brokers a comprehensive purchase and refinance product suite grow and support the independent mortgage originator.“ The F reedom Mor tgage Wholesale Division offers a comprehensive purchase/ refinance product suite that features unparalleled government lending expertise along with competitive conventional, VA and FHA pricing. Their account executives are experienced in the industry and have established themselves as product, pricing and industry experts. Along with their expertise, these AEs are accessible and committed to fostering strong relationships with their clients. “We are renowned industry-wide for helping brokers grow their business to become a Non-Delegated Wholesale Correspondent lender,” Bilodeau added. “In fact, last year, Inside Mortgage Finance ranked us as the No. 1 VA, FHA and GNMA lender.” “What sets us apart from our competition is our incredible team of industry veterans in both sales and operations,” said Les Acree, executive vice president, Third-Party Originations. “Our underwriting and operations teams are committed to a thorough and efficient loan process experience while maintaining a personal touch on every client interaction.” Freedom Mortgage’s Wholesale Division is dedicated to serving the needs of independent originators across the country. The company offers responsible homeownership options for first time and low- to moderate-income buyers, tools for brokers to communicate with borrowers and the support needed to serve those borrowers in a timely and effective manner. “When a lot of lenders priced themselves out of the market completely during the pandemic, we stood by our clients and were dedicated to serving their needs to the best of our abilities when they needed it the most,” Bilodeau said. “We stand by our business model and are proud of it. We will be here, we will be independent.”

THE EXECUTIVES:

LES ACREE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Les Acree is a renowned industry expert with over 37 years of mortgage experience serving as the EVP of Third-Party Originations at Freedom Mortgage since 2006.

KEITH BILODEAU, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Keith Bilodeau brings over 39 years of national retail and wholesale mortgage management experience in production, operations and capital markets.

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uring this period of significant opportunity for purchase transactions and refinances, brokers and wholesale correspondents (non-delegated) need to align to wholesale lenders that provide deep industry expertise, comprehensive products and efficient operational support to support their clients’ strategies. The Freedom Mortgage Wholesale Division offers their clients the industry’s most experienced sales and operational teams to support a full spectrum of products from conventional to government. As the nation’s leading VA and FHA lender according to Inside Mortgage Finance 2020, Freedom’s leadership gives its clients access to the platform and people needed to exceed expectations. By continuing to invest in its platform, the Freedom Mortgage Wholesale Division is able to provide clients with loan processes and technology that deliver greater levels of control, speed and ease. Freedom Mortgage’s experienced account executives have an average tenure of 8.5 years with Freedom alone, with 25% of them being with Freedom for over 10 years. Their experience allows them to consult with their clients to identify new and emerging market opportunities. The company also provides extensive product, credit and technology training to ensure clients can take advantage of new product benefits and process enhancements. In 2020, Freedom’s product and process training engaged over 2,600 unique mortgage companies on VA IRRRL Refinance and FHA Streamline products, which was critical in helping borrowers save money during the pandemic. “Freedom Mortgage is one of the strongest advocates for the broker and wholesale correspondent communities,” Senior Vice President Keith Bilodeau said. “We are proud to support the National Association of Mortgage Brokers and their mission to

FREEDOM MORTGAGE freedomwholesale.com

JULY 2021

- SPECIAL REPORT -

Sponsored Content

PENNYMAC BROKER DIRECT pennymacbrokerdirect.com

THE EXECUTIVES:

KIM NICHOLS, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, EXECUTIVE LEADER WHOLESALE CHANNEL A long-time industry force with leadership experience in all major production segments, Kim Nichols spearheads production and long-term strategy for the broker and non-delegated correspondent channels.

JEFF KEELAND, EVP, BROKER DIRECT FULFILLMENT Jeff Keeland is an operations powerhouse who leads the operational growth and excellence of the broker channel and brings 30-plus years of mortgage operations and production experience.

CHRIS LEGG,

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EVP, TPO STRATEGY AND INNOVATION

PennyMac delivers people, process and performance so brokers can build a sustainable business

s the world adjusts to its new normal, mortgage professionals are having to do the same thing. This isn’t an easy task, considering brokers have to adjust while also managing a high volume of clients due to the booming housing market. PennyMac Broker Direct has brought new strength to brokers, as well as emerging bankers in the non-delegated correspondent channel, to help their business thrive. Brokers who partner with PennyMac not only work with a dedicated and highly experienced Account Executive but also gain access to a highly specialized Broker Operations Manager (BOM), who serves as their single point of contact from start to finish. The BOM delivers a high level of communication, support and pipeline surveillance. “As much as we all need to scale and automate processes to keep costs in line, above all else, this is a people and relationship business,” said Kim Nichols, senior managing director, executive leader Wholesale Channel. “Our team really gets that; it’s part of our culture and it’s something that truly distinguishes us from the competition.” PennyMac provides several programs and services to help brokers grow their business. For example, PennyMac’s broker portal, POWER, has an easy-to-use pricing scenario tool backed by their sophisticated proprietary pricing engine. Brokers have the ability to lock loans until midnight Pacific time every day through the portal. Additionally, the company’s mortgage insurance best-ex solution, OptiMIze, automatically delivers the best MI pricing available leveraging PennyMac’s highly competitive negotiated MI rates. Perfect Rate and Perfect Term allows brokers to fine-tune pricing to the .001% and customize terms to the exact month for their customers on fixed-rate loans. Brokers

With over 25 years of wholesale lending experience, Chris Legg joined PennyMac in 2017 and is one of the original architects of the Broker Direct Channel.

JULY 2021

also have the ability to net escrows on PennyMac-to-PennyMac refinances, which is a great way to reduce cash to close. “Brokers really love that we don’t sell our servicing. We make a permanent capital investment in MSRs and have a best-inclass servicing platform,” Nichols added. “We offer great customer service to support their borrowers beyond the closing table. Our broker partners can feel confident that their borrowers will have a smooth postclose experience and are in good hands.” PennyMac also provides a monthly “POWER Your Business” webinar series to educate brokers on the market landscape and help them stay on top of industry and market trends. “Since PennyMac doesn’t have a distributed retail channel, we see our broker partners as our reach into local communities with a specific focus on the purchase market,” said Jeff Keeland, executive vice president, Broker Direct Fulfillment. “Our pre-approval option is a very important tool for our brokers in this current hot purchase market. We also offer priority paths for purchase throughout the loan process. We are working to equip our partners with all the tools, programs and technology that they need to effectively compete with scaled distributed retail lenders in their markets.” As the fastest growing lender in the wholesale channel, PennyMac is uniquely positioned to serve as a business partner across the mortgage banking professional continuum. PennyMac can be a long-term partner for brokers and emerging bankers to support their business goals. “Our experienced, knowledgeable, expert leadership team is second to none. We have a successful track record of building scaled and sustainable businesses,” said Chris Legg, executive vice president, TPO Strategy and Innovation. “We want to share our expertise with our broker partners.”

- SPECIAL REPORT -

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ome values have increased over the past several months and consumers are realizing there is more equity in their homes than anticipated. This realization has increased demand for wholesale lenders and brokers as borrowers look to refinance, cash-out refinance or otherwise take advantage of the equity in their homes. The right mortgage services provider is essential to helping wholesale lenders and their brokers thrive in this constantly evolving market. ServiceLink, which is backed by Fidelity National Financial, meets the unique needs of wholesale lenders by providing title insurance, appraisals, flood certificates and closing services. Regardless of the lenders’ size, ServiceLink’s exclusive EXOS technology, comprehensive industry experience and stability help lenders get to closing quickly while providing a better borrower experience. Its nationwide footprint paired with an expansive pool of vendors makes ServiceLink a reliable wholesale partner. “We provide title and closing services in all 50 states, and the broker works with the exact same client service team,” ServiceLink Client Relationship Executive Nicole Blosch said. “The broker knows they will get the same turn times and the same service levels regardless of the property’s location.” More than 50 years of title industry expertise gives ServiceLink unique insight into the needs of its wholesale clients. Its EXOS Title technology offers accelerated title decisioning and a definitive clear-to-close timeline in seconds. ServiceLink combines that cutting-edge technology with handson customer service, proactive reporting to help with pipeline management and a deep understanding of brokers’ processes and requirements. “Brokers hate surprises. At ServiceLink, we have a commitment to constant communication to make sure brokers are updated throughout the lifecycle of an order,”

said Brian Pidgeon, the vice president and national sales executive at ServiceLink. ServiceLink continues to combine technology and service into the closing process. Once a file is cleared to close, brokers and borrowers can schedule the closing appointments — virtual, in-person, or hybrid — with EXOS Close. With EXOS Close, brokers are connected with the exact, real-time availability of local signing agents and can instantly schedule a closing appointment for the date and time of their choice. ServiceLink’s expansive notary network means it has vendors ready and waiting to complete closings, even during high-volume periods. ServiceLink’s unique tech-enabled mortgage services include valuations as well. It has a valuations team solely dedicated to the wholesale market, whose dedicated hands-on approach ensures milestones and commitments are met. In addition to a website for ordering, including safe and secure credit card payment, real-time scheduling through EXOS Valuations drives efficiencies. With EXOS Valuations, brokers and borrowers schedule with the industry’s largest appraiser network. Clients are able to quickly schedule their appraisal inspection without phone tag or other scheduling delays. “The future of wholesale lending is a continued use of technology and innovation to help further streamline the lending process,” Pidgeon said. “ServiceLink is focused on developing more real-time transparency into the appraisal experience, as well as improvements in the appraisal inspection process by capturing more information including video, geocoding, digital sketches — all using mobile devices.” No matter what’s next for the industry, ServiceLink’s nationwide suite of mortgage services will continue to help lenders and their brokers efficiently manage their volume and provide a differentiated customer experience.

JULY 2021

SERVICELINK svclnk.com

THE EXECUTIVES:

BRIAN PIDGEON, VICE PRESIDENT Brian Pidgeon has a 14-year career focused on valuations with ServiceLink and now serves as vice president and national sales executive.

NICOLE BLOSCH, CLIENT RELATIONSHIP EXECUTIVE Nicole Blosch backs her role as client relationship executive at ServiceLink with more than 20 years in both lending and title.

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ServiceLink offers brokers constant communication and transparency into valuations and closing

- SPECIAL REPORT -

Sponsored Content

SIERRA PACIFIC spmc.com

THE EXECUTIVES:

JIM COFFRINI, PRESIDENT AND CEO With over 30 years of experience, Jim Coffrini oversees all company operations with his clear vision and well-defined strategies.

JAY PROMISCO, CHIEF PRODUCTION OFFICER

n today’s booming housing market, more robust pre-approval that can compete mortgage brokers want to be able to with cash offers, and subsequently, shortclose loans faster and more efficient- en the processing and underwriting cycle ly. To do that, they need to partner with times by almost half. “With precise goals and a commitment experienced Account Executives and an operations team that is equipped to han- to the mortgage industry’s future, Sierra dle high volumes. Sierra Pacific Wholesale Pacific is focused on supporting its partunderstands what it takes for brokers to win ners with industry expertise, collaboration — and that’s working with the right partner. and an array of product offerings,” Chief “We’re problem solvers ready to dig in Production Officer Jay Promisco said. While Sierra Pacific’s team understands to overcome any obstacles to get their that technology deals done,” said Jim creates efficienCoffrini, president cies, they a lso and CEO. “We have a “With precise goals and a believe a human proven legacy of supcommitment to the mortgage approach is still porting brokers with industry’s future, Sierra Pacific critically importunparalleled service is focused on supporting its ant in this busithroughout the entire partners with industry experness because it process by strengthtise, collaboration and an array strengthens our ening the huma n of product offerings,” relationships. approach, while also - Chief Production Officer Jay “To us, being integrating technoloPromisco the best means gy. Our partners have being there every come to trust that we’re real people like them and our goals step of the way for our Broker partners and we have done that consistently over deare aligned.” Sierra Pacific Wholesale has been in busi- cades,” Coffrini said. “We are one of the very few lenders in ness for over 30 years, providing a broad perspective that detects challenges auto- operation today under the same name and mation can miss. The company offers the same ownership as we were when we first latest technology because they know it’s no entered wholesale,” he added. Sierra Pacific Wholesale wants to help longer a luxury, but a necessity for brokers the broker community continue to flourto have these resources. Sierra Pacific’s proprietary broker portal, ish by providing a collaborative lender ExpressLoan, features an array of custom- relationship. Because of this, the company is making ized tools that provide Sierra Pacific’s ThirdParty Originator (TPO) partners a more in- significant investments in its technology, tuitive and modern technology experience processes, team and company infrastructhat supports the client experience provid- ture to support that growth. Sierra Pacific’s team believes their most ed by Sierra Pacific Wholesale. The company’s Fast Track process allows important job is to make brokers shine, brokers to instantly validate the borrower’s which is why they offer loan products that employment, income and assets prior to allow brokers to work with a broad range of submitting the loan. This gives brokers a clients and close loans quickly.

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Jay Promisco is creating and implementing strategies for growing Sierra Pacific’s market share for the retail, consumer direct and wholesale channels.

Sierra Pacific’s Fast Track process gives brokers a more robust pre-approval, shortening cycle times

JULY 2021

- SPECIAL REPORT -

Sponsored Content

United Wholesale Mortgage’s Blink+ tool includes an LOS, POS and CRM all in one package nology and deploy faster rather than rely on other vendors and continues to level the playing field for mortgage brokers.” Brokers who work with UWM are supported by a team of nearly 9,000 people they can count on to help every step of the way. The company also offers both onsite and virtual Success Track training for loan officers, processors and broker owners. Whether a person is new to the mortgage industry, transitioning to wholesale lending or looking for a resource to get their new hires up to speed, Success Track provides training options for every level. UWM provides marketing support to brokers through its customizable client management tool, Brand 360, which offers borrower outreach, alerts and monitoring post-closing as well as fully customizable marketing materials — all at no cost. Brand 360’s Client Connect tool helps brokers stay in touch with previous clients and cultivate new relationships with potential clients by developing and automating borrower communications using simple, easy technology. UWM’s technology and resources are driven by the needs of the broker community and are aimed at making the lending process faster, easier and cheaper for borrowers. “We support our partners with all the tools, technology and advocacy they need to be successful, grow their business and close loans quickly and efficiently so they are set up to win future business,” President and CEO Mat Ishbia said. “By not competing with, but advocating for mortgage brokers, UWM is able to stay laser focused on developing the next big thing as we continue to catapult broker channel growth together.”

THE EXECUTIVES:

MAT ISHBIA, PRESIDENT AND CEO Mat Ishbia is the president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage and has propelled UWM into being the No. 1 wholesale mortgage lender in the nation for six years running.

MELINDA WILNER, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Melinda Wilner oversees all of UWM’s operations, underwriting and IT teams, where she sets a standard of excellence by focusing on efficiency, accessibility and service.

JASON BRESSLER, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Jason Bressler is an industry veteran who excels in building tools and technology to meet the needs of UWM’s clients while also leading a team of over 1000 IT members focused on delivering unmatched client service. 61 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE

he wholesale channel will continue to grow as more retail originators and borrowers learn the benefits of working with a mortgage broker. United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is solely focused on growing the wholesale channel and helping independent brokers thrive. “At UWM we focus on our client service, operational efficiency and speed to close loans. With this unwavering focus, we help brokers close loans fast, get referrals and grow their business,” Chief Operating Officer Melinda Wilner said. UWM subscribes to a “build vs. buy” mentality that incorporates the scale at which they’ve grown. By writing and maintaining all of the code along with investing heavily in putting together a world class modern IT infrastructure that efficiently leverages a mix of modern technologies like the public cloud and API based software architectures, UWM has been able to turn on a dime and stay well ahead of shifts in the market utilizing technology. UWM recently transformed its original LOS Blink into Blink+, an all-in-one package that includes an LOS, POS and CRM. Blink+ is a white-label, borrower-facing digital application tool. The no-cost solution allows brokers to submit applications, price out loans, eSign documents and helps make the experience smoother for borrowers and real estate agents. “UWM has significantly invested in our technology team and tech stack, offering career-focused training and development which has contributed to growing this function to over 1,100 team members,” Chief Technology Officer Jason Bressler said. “This allows UWM to build our own tech-

UNITED WHOLESALE MORTGAGE uwm.com

JULY 2021

C O M PA N Y S P O T L I G H T :

PCV MURCOR | SPONSOR ED CONTENT

How PCV Murcor provides high levels of customer service

The company strives to serve everyone, with an emphasis on diversity and inclusivity

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PCV Murcor is one of the nation’s lead ing va luat ion ma nagement companies. The company provides appraisal management services to lenders, investment firms, community banks, servicers and anyone who needs a real estate valuation. Even amid the current appraisal shortage and challenges within the housing industr y, PCV Murcor helps move the appraisal process forward by creating a service-first culture while also mitigating risk and compliance exposure. APPRAISAL SHORTAGE Despite uncertain economic times, the housing market experienced a surge during the pandemic. And while it’s been over a year since the start of COVID-19, the real estate market hasn’t slowed down. This continues to put a great deal of pressure on appraisers who are managing large portfolios during an appraisal shortage. “The biggest pain point we hear from our clients is turnaround time,” said Cindy Nasser, chief operating officer of PCV Murcor. “And while there’s little we can do to control turnaround times because there’s a supply issue, we provide clear communication and provide our clients the detailed data and information needed to help them manage their business and expectations,” she said. For the mortgage process to run smoothly, there needs to be great communication — ever ybody involved in the transaction has to know

exactly what ’s going on. Dur ing these unprecedented times, PCV Murcor helps streamline communication by setting clear expectations and supporting those expectations with empirical data, so lenders are always in the loop. INCLUSIVE CULTURE Providing this high level of service is nothing new for PCV Murcor. The company, which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, has always put its customers first. In fact, having a high-touch customer service model is one of the tenets of the foundation of its culture. As the only Black-owned AMC in the industr y, PCV Murcor strives to provide a business model that truly serves everyone, emphasizing diversity and inclusivity within the organization. “The diversity of our people is, in part, what makes PCV an industry leader,” said Keith Murray, MAI, founder, president and CEO of PCV Murcor. “We recognize that each person has unique perspectives. We draw on these differences, what we’ve exper ienced a nd how we think.” The company’s commitment to diversity stands out — about 76% of their employees are considered a racial/ethnic minority and 63% are women, which is a rarity in the mortgage industry. And while the home buying process can be stressful and time-consuming for the borrower and the loan officer, PCV Murcor prides itself on al-

JULY 2021

ways keeping the borrower in mind. After all, behind each transaction is somebody’s livelihood and a dream that they’re fulfilling. PCV MURCOR’S UNIQUE APPROACH While appraisers already faced challenges before COVID-19, they now have to appraise homes while following social distancing guidelines and quick turnaround times so lenders can meet their closing dates. And due to today’s tight market, appraisers are under a great deal of scr utiny to ensure they ’re in compliance. To conduct a comprehensive report, appraisers have to continuously research and analyze data — even the smallest of errors could stop the mortgage process in its tracks. “We focus on what our clients value the most — proximity, quality and prompt turn-times,” Nasser said. “Our approach combines manual review by our team of specialists and automated quality assurance checks throughout an order before delivery. This helps reduce requests for any revisions, which saves our clients valuable time and money.” PCV Murcor finds the best qualified independent appraisers based on geographic a l exper tise a nd capability. Because they offer coverage nationwide, their appraisers can be any where they’re needed. Not to mention, some appraisers have contracted with PCV Murcor for over 20 years. Because of this, they have a strong

panel of committed appraisers who provide a higher level of service. Using proprietar y data and ap praiser-developed business rules, PCV Murcor’s quality control process streamlines orders through an automated system before applying a manual, in-depth examination for client delivery. Its well-structured workflow makes modification rates for residential valuations among the lowest in the industry.

PCV MURCOR | SPONSOR ED CONTENT

“We hear from all of our customers that we provide the best level of service,” Nasser said. “We provide phone and email support, and we ensure that we have coverage for all U.S. time zones so that we’re able to service all of our customers, regardless of where they’re located. Our team is also continually looking to optimize turn-time for clients.” For almost 40 years, PCV Murcor has helped clients and their borrow-

JULY 2021

ers fulfill their real estate needs. Over the past four decades, the company’s focus has remained the same, providing a high level of service through accountability, connectivity and performance. “We operate as one with our clients and panel, it’s not us and them,” Nasser added. “Everyone who works at PCV Murcor is trained knowing we are all in this together,” she said.

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C O M PA N Y S P O T L I G H T :

TRADE DESK

Trade associations from across the housing industry are on the front lines of issues that lenders, real estate agents and everyone in between face every day. In these letters, they give their members an inside look at what they are working on, and the most important issues facing each industry today.

AIME......................................65 ALTA......................................65 MBA ......................................66 NAHB ....................................66

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NAR... ....................................67

JULY 2021

TRADE DESK

Marc Summers

President Association of Independent Mortgage Experts

AIME members, It is with great optimism for the future that I invite independent mortgage professionals and our industry partners across the country to join AIME in celebrating the growth of the wholesale channel in July. AIME is excited to announce a multitude of initiatives throughout the month including a week of announcements leading up to National Mortgage Brokers Day on Sunday, July 18th. This 4th annual day of action marks the largest concentrated campaign to inform consumers about the advantages of working with an independent mortgage broker, whether they’re looking to purchase their first property, refinance a home or just beginning their journey toward homeownership. Throughout National Mortgage Brokers Month, AIME will be empowering our members with resources to advance educational growth in the channel, promote themselves as local mortgage experts to their communities and perform their jobs as mortgage professionals to the highest possible standard. This focus on thought leadership is meant to showcase the many ways independent mortgage brokers add value to

the home-buying process, including the ability to offer varied loan options, affordable rates, efficient closings and excellent customer service in their own community. Now truly is the time to become a part of the independent broker community and take pride in the exceptional service and multitude of benefits we can offer consumers. As the wholesale channel is making bold moves to push broker market share to 25% and beyond, brokers are poised to offer unbeatable rates and optionality for borrowers that our retail competitors simply cannot match. The unprecedented obstacles faced across the entire country over the past year have made the role of independent originators in their communities even more vital as brokers are distinctly able to serve as trusted local housing experts and true financial advocates for our clients. On National Mortgage Brokers Day, I’m calling on all independent mortgage brokers and wholesale mortgage professionals to continue demonstrating the “Brokers Are Better” mentality and to keep fighting for one another as a community of independent professionals and partners.

ALTA members, Since the onset of the pandemic, businesses have been forced to adapt to a new normal, and the real estate industry is no exception. One of our most important tools in this process has been remote online notarization. Being able to execute fully digital real estate transactions has been critical to our efforts to keep people safe while continuing business. We must ensure digital closings continue to be a convenient option for Americans through national RON legislation. While RON usage has been growing, it skyrocketed to new levels last year. Amid the social-distancing and work-from-home policies, several states without permanent RON legislation moved quickly to permit it on a temporary basis during the pandemic. RON became a critical tool to help facilitate the highest origination volume in history; We saw a 547% increase in the use of RON throughout 2020. Recognizing the clear benefits of extending RON to all Americans, the bipartisan Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic (SECURE) Notarization Act of 2020 was introduced in the Senate. The bill permits immediate nationwide use

of RON and provides certainty for the interstate recognition of RON. However, the SECURE Act of 2020 was never voted on. With the SECURE Act, we will be giving Americans a secure method to execute important transactions, as well as affidavits, powers of attorney, living trusts and advanced health care directives, with ease. Additionally, at least 13 million homeowners would save an average of $283 a month by refinancing. As American families are working hard to recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation that will make securing crucial savings easier would be lifechanging for millions. By prioritizing the passage of the SECURE Notarization Act, we can take a much-needed step into the future by modernizing the notarization process with a secure system that has proven to meet consumCEO er needs.

Diane Tomb

American Land Title Association

American Land Title Association JULY 2021

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Association of Independent Mortgage Experts

Robert Broeksmit

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President & CEO Mortgage Bankers Association

Mortgage Bankers Association

TRADE DESK

MBA members, 2021 is shaping up to be another strong year for the housing industry. The MBA expects purchase mortgage originations to increase to a new record of $1.7 trillion in 2021, with sales of new and existing homes reaching 7 million. This is not surprising considering that homebuyer demand is surging and households are sitting on a substantial amount of savings. The reality, though, is that sales should be even stronger. Years of stubbornly low inventory levels, however, have only worsened during the pandemic, putting significant upward pressure on home-price growth. This does not mean we are in a “bubble.” Most homebuyers today come to the table with high credit scores and plenty of cash to make downpayments — the opposite of what happened in the ea rly-2000s. Furthermore, MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index plummeted at the onset of the pandemic, indicating a

NAHB members, The leadership and staff of the National Association of Home Builders have worked steadfastly over the past year to address the biggest issue affecting home builders in 2021 — the sky-rocketing cost of lumber. Prices for framing lumber have risen more than 300% in just over a year, challenging builders at a time when residential construction has been leading the nation’s economic recovery. Despite outreach to the Biden administration, including meeting with White House staff and other lawmakers, and calling for prompt action on the issue to include U.S. trade officials returning to the table to negotiate a new softwood lumber agreement with Canada, little movement has been made on increasing production at U.S. sawmills. As a result, supply is insufficient to meet demand and prices have hit record highs. Analysis by NAHB economists shows that soaring lumber prices have increased the cost of a typical new home by $36,000, worsening housing affordability. NAHB is leading a coalition of more than 35 organizations in asking Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to examine the lumber supply chain and work on boosting production.

tightening of credit, and only in recent months has it started to inch back higher. More new home construction is desperately needed to preserve affordability — especially for first-time buyers and those with low and moderate incomes. Building our way out of this supply and affordability crisis is easier said than done, but it needs to happen. I remain buoyed by the growing acknowledgment from national and local policymakers that identifying and removing barriers to building is a priority. We expect single-family construction to pick up later this year — in turn alleviating supply constraints and cooling home-price growth to more sustainable levels. While it will likely take years of accelerated new home construction to balance supply with demand, MBA and industry stakeholders are working on solutions toward building a more affordable and accessible housing market.

In fact, in May, Raimondo pledged to make lumber a priority and to work collaboratively to get to the root causes of the issue and try to solve the problem that is affecting the entire industry. In the meantime, NAHB continues to work hard on the issue, holding member webinars on alternatives to lumber in home building like cement and steel – methods that include a second look as lumber prices reach all-time highs with no immediate relief in sight. We have also featured housing finance experts on the NAHB Housing Developments podcast, highlighting actions builders can take during the appraisal process. Every step we’re taking to solve the crisis is highlighted at nahb. org/lumber, including an opportunity for you to share your experience through photo or video testimonial. We need to show policymakers the real-world impact soaring lumber prices are having on home builders’ and homebuyers’ bottom lines.

National Association of Home Builders JULY 2021

Chuck Fowke

Chairman National Association of Home Builders

TRADE DESK

NAR members, Next month, the National Association of Realtors will hold its “Pitch Battle” competition as part of our third annual Innovation, Opportunity and Investment Summit. This is a very exciting time for all of us, as we move to safely resume in-person gathering and transition to a new normal in our dayto-day lives. At iOi, fellow real estate practitioners and investors come together to discuss, witness and present the next cutting-edge tech innovations destined to shape commercial and residential real estate for years to come. Pitch Battle contestants will be given a platform to showcase new innovations, explain what they do and outline why the real estate industry needs their resource. It offers a bird’s-eye view of game-changing tech products and a front row seat to its introduction to the market. The value of this opportunity cannot be overstated. Looking back at previous iOi summits, we see the efforts of REACH and Second

Century Ventures and the wonderful products that have been unveiled. Past Pitch Battle winners — Curbio and BrownieBox.com — have already made valuable contributions to the industry and have improved the way we do our common tasks as Realtors and housing experts. Collaborating with these fine organizations has greatly benefitted NAR and our entire industry. One of my favorite components of iOi is the reality that we offer a helping hand to upstarts, entrepreneurs and emerging industry leaders. Even those who fall short of capturing first prize still leave the iOi summit with increased brand awareness and insight that will allow them to continue to expand in the vast global real estate market.

National Association of Realtors

Charlie Opper President National Association of Realtors

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JULY 2021

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MORTGAGE

JULY 2021

MORTGAGE

Why VA mortgage loans go to the bottom of the stack EVEN WITH GOVERNMENT GUARANTEE, BORROWERS FACE HEADWINDS

t ’s been rejection af ter rejection for Isabel Williams’ client, a military veteran in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Since the client began the search for her dream home earlier this year, her Veterans Affairs mortgage loan offers have been rejected over a dozen times. Williams, the broker-owner of We Save Loans, said her client has all but given up on buying an existing home with VA financing. Instead, she is looking to buy a newly constructed home from a large homebuilder. Homebuilders, Williams said, are more concerned with the overall investment, and don’t have the same prejudices toward and misconceptions about VA financing that individuals do. But it might be a while until Williams’ client could actually stop paying rent and move into a home. If she is unable to wait the six months or more it could

“When people are deciding which offer to accept, the pecking order is cash, conventional, FHA and then VA.” -Isabel Williams

JULY 2021

take to finish construction, she may forgo her hardearned government benefit altogether. “She may have to change from VA to conventional to be more attuned to the current market,” Williams said. “When people are deciding which offer to accept, the pecking order is cash, conventional, FHA and then VA.” For loan originators who represent VA borrowers, the aversion to VA deals is confounding. From a riskprofile perspective, in addition to the government guarantee that veteran borrowers command, VA borrowers have much lower default rates than FHA loans, another government-backed loan. The VA mortgage loan allows veterans to pay little or no down payment without a mortgage insurance premium. The financing also caps the amount in origination fees that lenders can charge veterans. To incentivize private lenders who issue the loans, the government guarantees that the loan will be repaid even in case of default. The government guarantee and lower-risk borrower profile make the loan attractive for lenders and investors in securities

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BY GEORGIA KROMREI

MORTGAGE

backed by VA mortgage loans. But for borrowers to receive a loan with such attractive terms, they must first make it to closing. In the current market, with even conventional borrowers taking extraordinary measures to distinguish themselves from the competition, VAfinanced offers are falling to the bottom of the stack. Brad Dragoo, a branch manager at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, said he has never seen the situation more dire for veterans. “The reason we would do a VA loan is because it’s better; it’s a benefit they’ve earned,” said Dragoo. “Then they find out none of the sellers are accepting them.”

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Sellers are not required to accept any offer, including one with VA financing. The privilege gives sellers discretion to choose the strongest offer, but it can place VA borrowers at a disadvantage, since the VA financing process is perceived as cumbersome. “They’re locked out right now,” said Sam Elder, a mortgage consultant at First United Bank. “It’s the listing agent’s responsibility to recommend offers to their client and so the listing agent is putting themselves out there. They have nothing to gain by suggesting an inferior offer.” Some of the negative perceptions of VA financing is based in reality: there are additional inspection requirements, and a VA appraisal differs slightly from a conventional one. Mostly, explained Sametrius Ruben, who represents VA borrowers, the offers fail because listing agents advise their clients the VA process will be more trouble than it’s worth. She described the dynamic as discriminatory, although

“It’s the listing agent’s responsibility to recommend offers to their client and so the listing agent is putting themselves out there. They have nothing to gain by suggesting an inferior offer.” - Sam Elder

sellers are not breaking any law by turning down VA offers. “It can be discriminatory,” Ruben said, especially when sellers learn that the prospective buyer is not putting any money down. “I wish the only thing the seller could see is the offer amount and the terms,” said Ruben. “When they get into the financing end of things, it hurts both FHA and VA borrowers.” Some listings agents associate the low down payment with the terms offered to subprime borrowers in the years before the great financial crisis. That association is particularly prevalent with agents who were selling homes during those years, said Ryan Leahy, sales manager at Mortgage Network. “Agents get a pre-acceptance letter that says ‘$500,000 with no money down’ and their mind goes back to the subprime lending years,” said Leahy. “All they see is ‘no money down,’ when really, it’s a government-backed loan.”

After an offer is accepted, borrowers must complete an appraisal. The appraisals are administered by the VA — rather than a private company or an in-house appraiser. Otherwise, the process is very similar to conventional appraisals, despite a reputation for being nightmarish. The added layer of removal can be a headache if there are delays or snags, since lenders have little ability to hold a VA appraiser accountable. Appraisals rely on past comparable transactions, which makes it a challenge to capture with the rapidly increasing values and historically low inventory. If the appraiser finds the value to be

JULY 2021

MORTGAGE

much lower than the agreed-upon price, the borrower must then make up the difference, but not all veterans are able to do so. “The concern is that if you have a nomoney-down VA loan and the value appraises short of what you’re willing to pay for the home, that can cause the whole deal to go south,” said Leahy. Many homebuyers are put ting clauses into their offers assuring the sellers they will still buy the home if it is under-appraised by a specific amount. Homebuyers with a limited amount for the down payment don’t have the luxury of including those clauses, “which are obviously interesting to the seller,” said Leahy. There is some variation in appraisals. If a VA-appraised value comes in much lower than expected, it’s possible to challenge the value. Unlike with conventional appraisals, however, the process goes through the VA. “In terms of a rebuttal, it ’s more complicated, and it’s less likely we’ll have a successful rebuttal,” said Elder.

“These are very veteran-specific facing companies. The perception is that these companies are going to take the best care of you – and you don’t question whether it’s the best interest rate or not. That assumption costs [veterans] a lot of money.” - Isabel Williams

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VA mortgage loans are intended to serve as a reward to veterans for serving their country. But the government’s guarantee to pay the loan in case of a default also makes it an attractive product for lenders. “From an investor perspective, the guarantee is really attractive,” said John Levonick, CEO of Canopy. “In the event that the VA borrower doesn’t make a payment, given that the loan has the VA guarantee, the government will continue to pay the bond for that loan.” But even before individual loans are sold on the secondary market, there are ways lenders pass on costs to borrowers. According to the terms of the VA

financing, lenders cannot charge more than 1% in origination fees. To get around that requirement, lenders often change the label of the fee — to call it a discount fee. “They’re able to change verbiage on their fees, so the rule doesn’t apply,” said Williams. In one case she described, it amounted to $4,000 in fees on a loan. With conventional mortgages, faced with a high-cost loan, a borrower might go to one of many available lenders. But the higher-cost models in VA financing depend on the product occupying a proportionally small part of the market. “VA financing is more niche, and so there is less competition,” said Christopher Griffith, who co-leads the VettedVA referral service, which verifies information for veteran consumers. A study published in November 2020 by referral service Own Up found that lenders typically require a 67% larger profit than they do on conventional loans. Its analysis estimated the cost in excess interest to a borrower with a $254,000 mortgage amounted to $13,000. “These are very veteran-specific facing companies,” said Williams. “The perception is that these companies are going to take the best care of you — and you don’t question whether it’s the best interest rate or not. That assumption costs [veterans] a lot of money.”

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REAL ESTATE

JULY 2021

REAL ESTATE

How appraisers value homes in a hot housing market HERE’S WHERE BEING A LOCAL APPRAISER MATTERS BY ROBYN A. FRIEDMAN

and the deal went through without a hitch. But how do appraisers value a home in a market where prices are escalating rapidly — and where nearly two-thirds (64%) of listed homes faced bidding wars in March, according to Redfin, due to low mortgage rates and a severe shortage of homes for sale?

“The challenge is that the sales data you’re looking at is dated.” -Shawn Telford

JULY 2021

“The challenge is that the sales data you’re looking at is dated,” said Shawn Telford, chief appraiser at CoreLogic. “While the comparable sale might have closed three months prior to the appraisal, it went under contract before that, and market conditions five months ago were different than they are today. That’s where appraisers put on their thinking caps and dig in and do their research on how they might adjust the comparable sale they’ve selected to account for current market conditions.”

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obin Sheridan, a real-estate broker with C omp as s Washing ton , recently listed a three-bedroom home in Seattle for $795,000. T he 76 -yearold brick home had what Sheridan considered a “funky layout,” with two rooms added to the back that didn’t quite integrate into the flow of the home. Still, they functioned well as office spaces. Sheridan received 29 offers on the property, which went pending within five days – and sold for $1.013 million, or 27.4% over the list price. As anyone involved in the residential real-estate market knows, bidding wars — and contract prices exceeding the list price — are the norm today in many markets around the nation. Sheridan’s listing appraised at the contract price,

REAL ESTATE

the data tends to be fresher. According to GSE guidelines, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require a minimum of three comparable sales as part of the sales comparison approach. Appraisers may submit more than three comparable sales, including pending sales or current listings, to determine the housing market trends in the neighborhood and to justify their opinion of market value — and they must include an explanation of their conclusions in the appraisal report.

“If home prices increased month over month by 1%, they can use that pattern to support an upward adjustment to the comparable to accurately reflect what the subject property might be doing.” - Shawn Telford

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Indeed, time adjustments are a valuable tool that appraisers use to reflect changing prices in the local housing market. “They might look at the last three to six months of sales activity — or longer — in a defined market and try to extrapolate what the trend is,” Telford said. “If home prices increased month over month by 1%, they can use that pattern to support an upward adjustment to the comparable to accurately reflect what the subject property might be doing.” Even in the best of times, there is an inherent lag in the system because often, counties are backlogged and slow to record deeds. So, appraisers often use MLS data, rather than deed records, as

JULY 2021

REAL ESTATE

“I’m there to give a non-biased, third-party opinion on what I think the home is worth based on my expertise and knowledge. Sometimes that crazy number is reachable, but sometimes it’s not there and it’s not my job as an appraiser to get there.” - Warren B. Boizot III

Other tools used by appraisers in housing markets where closed sales may not be the most accurate indicator of value due to rapidly-rising prices include pending sales and listings. Pending sales are not public knowledge, and brokers often will not release a sales price until the deal closes. But they might indicate if the property sold for above the listing price. This is where being a local appraiser matters. “If you’re immersed in a local market — you’re not driving all over the state — then you pick up data through your own experience,” said Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel, an appraisal firm in New York City. “It’s not just getting the price. In this current frenzy, you need to know the story behind the sale.” For example, if a property came on the housing market and sold within 48 hours with five backup offers, it’s a good assumption that it sold for at least the list price, he said. Miller echoed Boizot’s sentiments about the role of the appraiser, particularly in a frothy housing market. “The appraisal gap as a catchphrase is a bit dangerous,” he said. “The default assumption is that the appraiser is wrong, as opposed to being a neutral market benchmark on what’s going on. When we get into these frenzied periods, appraisers are the only party who don’t have skin in the game, but they become the focus of attack. It shouldn’t be on them as much as it is.”

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“It’s more important than ever in this market to utilize your writing skills,” said Warren B. Boizot III, president of BLG Appraisal Group in Denver. “Remember that the end reader of your appraisal report — the underwriter — is not in your market, so you have to explain what’s going on. It’s crucial because if I just throw three comps in there and don’t tell them what’s going on in a crazy housing market, the appraisal is not going to fly.” Boizot routinely interviews listing agents to get more information surrounding the sale, such as how many showings there were and how many offers came in. “If there were five other people willing to pay the contract price, then that goes to show it’s not just a piein-the-sky number,” he said. “That’s all good information that I’ll include in the report.” One recent example: Boizot appraised a 2,400-square-foot home on the outskirts of downtown Denver. About 65 years old, the home was listed for $370,000. It spent four days on the market, had 202 showings and received 56 offers, 55 of which were at or above list price. The home ultimately sold for $477,000, or $107,000 over the asking price. Although the appraisal came in at just $431,000 — well-supported by the data, Boizot said — the deal closed. “Realtors believe it is the job of the appraiser to get to that crazy number, but it’s not,” he said. “I’m there to give a nonbiased, third-party opinion on what I think the home is worth based on my expertise and knowledge. Sometimes that crazy number is reachable, but sometimes it’s not there and it’s not my job as an appraiser to get there.”

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REAL ESTATE BROKERAGES

JULY 2021

REAL ESTATE BROKERAGES

Compass’s next battle: trade secret lawsuits HOW SERIOUS ARE THESE COMPLAINTS?

n her website bio, Pit tsburgh real estate agent Jen Crouse describes why she f inds meaning in her work. “At the end of the day,” Crouse states. “We all want to love where we live and who we invest our time with.” But who Crouse invests her own time with is a heated dispute between the agent’s old brokerage, the venerable Howard Hanna, and her new one, meteorically growing Compass. Crouse is a defendant in a lawsuit that claims New York City-based Compass conspired with Howard Hanna agents and employees to break their contracts and provide Compass with an array of confidential information about Howard Hanna. But Crouse has denied the allegations and filed a counterclaim that Pittsburgh-headquartered

“It’s too soon to say if the allegations are severe.”

JULY 2021

Howard Hanna owes her $29,000 in unpaid commissions. Branches of Better Homes & Gardens, and Christie’s also in the past month filed lawsuits against Compass in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey that accuse the brokerage of persuading agents to break their contracts and steal information on their way out the door. Realogy is in year three of a similar lawsuit filed against Compass in New York. There are also lawsuits by individual agents in California who claim Compass failed to deliver on its recruiting pitch. The slew of litigation calls into question whether Compass’s recruiting tactics are anti-competitive, even for an industry known for tabloid-y splits between top agents and brokerages. Compass is a juicy target, what with the grandly stated ambitions of its CEO Robert Reffkin, shares trading on the New York Stock Exchange since April, and an unclear long-term business model. But it’s too soon to say if the allegations are severe. And though Compass is a brokerage some agents

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BY MATTHEW BLAKE

REAL ESTATE BROKERAGES

love to hate, agents are not crazy about getting their mobility scrutinized. “Agents are independent contractors of their brokerages,” said Monique Bryher, a real estate broker in Los Angeles. “Not indentured labor.”

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H oward Hanna Jr. founde d his eponymous real estate brokerage in 1957 amid the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Hanna’s son, Howard “Hoddy” Hanna III, helped the business expand in the 1970s and 80s and is now CEO. Hoddy Hanna’s son, Howard “Hoby” Hanna IV is brokerage president. Howard Hanna was the fifth-largest brokerage in the country by transaction volume in 2020, according to RealTrends, with 105,455 sides. They were the seventh-largest brokerage by sales volume, per RealTrends, with $27 billion. But Compass, founded in 2013, racked up $152 billion in 2020 sales volume, second only to Realogy. The brokerage, which declined to comment for this article, has lapped much of the competition when it comes to sales volume. Its methods include brokerage acquisitions, signing bonuses and favorable commission splits to agents, and — as Howard Hanna would tell it — urging agents to break their contracts, and collect insider intelligence on rivals. A lawsuit filed in March in Pennsylvania state court by Howard Hanna claims that a former sales manager, Michael Hornung, breached his contract by accepting an employment offer from Compass. There was allegedly a clause in the contract that Hornung could not join a competitor. The case, filed by prominent Pittsburgh attorney William Pietragallo, also alleges

"A lawsuit filed in March in Pennsylvania state court by Howard Hanna claims that a former sales manager, Michael Hornung, breached his contract by accepting an employment offer from Compass."

JULY 2021

that — a week before joining Compass — Hornung emailed himself the profit and loss report for two Howard Hanna branch locations, those branches’ weekly sales reports and a sheet with the contact information of Howard Hanna agents. “In Michael Hornung,” the lawsuit reads, “the Compass defendants located a person with a similarly low opinion of proprietary information and contractual responsibilities.” Indeed, Howard Hanna portrays Hornung as a vessel of Compass’s Machiavellian ambitions. “The business model of the Compass defendants revolves around stealing employees and trade secrets from competitors,” the lawsuit reads. Howard Hanna representatives said they cannot comment about pending litigation. In an answer to the complaint, lawyers for Hornung and Compass admit that, well, Hornung really did email himself a profit and loss report, and sales information before leaving Howard Hanna. But Hornung denied providing what he emailed to Compass. And he denied breaking laws in either emailing himself the reports or joining a Howard Hanna competitor. Also, Hornung filed a counterclaim alleging that Howard Hanna owes him north of $20,000 in unpaid salary and bonuses. In addition to Hornung, Howard Hanna is individually suing Crouse and Leah George, both who jumped to Compass after six years each at Howard Hanna. Crouse and George allegedly took home listings that belonged to Howard Hanna. It is residential real estate etiquette — and sometimes written in contracts and local trade group bylaws — that a brokerage, not an individual agent, technically holds a listing. In a counterclaim, the agent stated she’s done eight deals since joining Compass that were kept under the Howard Hanna name, and that she has not received her cut from the sales.

REAL ESTATE BROKERAGES

Henry Sneath teaches trade secrets at the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, and on the first day of class he presents students with the classic trade secrets claim — a sales list. It’s the first lesson, explained Sneath, who is also a lawyer at Houston & Harbaugh, because Business B allegedly stealing clients from Business A demonstrates the law’s muddy terrain. Like many trade secret lawsuits between well-financed antagonists, the Howard Hanna/Compass litigation will “be a fact-intensive inquiry,” Sneath said, facts that are not clear by the initial court documents. Claims of one worker illegally jumping to a competitor are also full of ambiguity. Dave Walton, an attorney at Fisher & Phillips, said he had a six-week jury trial over an unlawful worker recruitment claim that came down to one word. “We were fighting over the meaning of ‘accept’ in a non-compete clause in a contract,” Walton said. Also, trade secret and poaching claims are common in the world of sales. “These claims come up a lot with insurance, with real estate, any business where there’s a client list and meetings with clients,” said Chad Fitzgerald, an attorney at Kinsella Weitzman Iser & Kump. That backdrop makes it difficult to assess whether the lawsuits might change Compass’s business practices or penalize the brokerage. Douglas Elliman and Zillow previously

filed lawsuits against Compass for unlawfully poaching employees and agents. Both cases caused a stir when they were filed in 2016 and 2019,

But it’s not clear what Howard Hanna could have on file that really helps Compass. “How is my spreadsheet on financial

"There are few company secrets on the brokerage level.” - Ken Johnson

respectively, but later quietly settled for terms not disclosed in public records. Compass’s registration statement to become a publicly traded company summarizes the Realogy lawsuit. But the S-1 discusses liability exposure in generic terms, stating, “We are periodically subject to lawsuits , government investigations and other proceedings that may adversely affect our business, financial conditions and results of operations.” Other brokerages have waged turf wars; for example, a jury in 2017 found William Raveis liable for $5.4 million for efforts to “decimate” Douglas Elliman’s presence in Westchester County, New York. But the Compass allegations, spread out across multiple areas, appear distinct.

operations going to help you sell houses?” said Ken Johnson, a real estate professor at Florida Atlantic University and former agent. “There are few company secrets on the brokerage level.” The trade secrets that matter, Johnson argued, are leads and neighborhood intelligence — knowledge mostly on the agent, not brokerage, level.

“When poaching is inappropriate is when the party being poached is under an employment agreement with a noncompete or non-solicitation or nondisclosure requirement,” said Steve Murray, RealTrends advisor. The claim with less precedent is that managers like Hornung were persuaded by Compass to clean out their old company’s files.

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“Based on Howard Hanna’s conduct to date,” reads the counterclaim, filed in April. “It remains unclear whether Howard Hanna intends to pay Crouse a commission for these properties.”

KUDOS

Leaving a legacy

Houston-area Realtor plans to build community center, family park By Tim Glaze

kud

While selling homes as a real estate agent in Spring, Texas, Jordan Schilleci felt something was missing — a place for people to gather and spend time together, like a recreation or community center. Such a place could be popular, especially following the lockdowns seen throughout the state as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than wait for someone else to take charge of the project, she put her head down and decided to take on the task of building such a center herself. Schilleci said she’s currently in the process of buying more than 10 acres off a street in Spring — a city of around 60,000 people north of Houston — which she will put a “community space” on, complete with an outdoor food court, a barn for gathering in, outdoor space for children to play in, and an area for horses. She’s also toying with the idea of purchasing five acres of lakeside property and building a family park on it. “There isn’t anywhere big or cool for people to gather in Spring, and I want to provide that,” she said. “My goal in life isn’t to make a ton of money — it really is to give back.” It’s her connection to Spring, along with the example she wants to set for her family, that’s driving her. Schilleci’s family has been in the Spring area for more than 50 years, she said, giving her an almost protective feeling of the region. It is also important, she said, that her children grow up knowing that their mother made a difference in the community. “I know it will sound cliche, but I want to leave a legacy,” she said. “I am proud of who I am. I really want to contribute to the community in a lasting way, and I want my children to be proud of me as well. I want to be remembered as being generous.”

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TECHNOLOGICALLY SAVVY A quick check of her YouTube page shows her impact and influence in the community in full. Her company, Jo and Co., has thousands of subscribers, all privy to videos that do more than just show home tours or a talking head of Schilleci herself. There are hundreds of videos doubling as regional information guides, with titles such as “Learn about the suburbs of Greater Houston,” “Best Schools in the Houston suburbs,” and “Driving Around,” where she focuses on a specific region to put in video blog format. Schilleci also made videos to help homebuyers decide where to look, with ones such as “Best new construction neighborhoods in Montgomery County,” “Neighborhoods with the Largest Lots in north Houston” and “Why you should move to the Houston suburbs in 2021.”

The videos showcase Schilleci’s willingness to dive headfirst into the technology and social media side of real estate. It was her first passion, in fact — Schilleci spent three years at the Art Institute of Houston, earning her bachelor’s degree in web design and interactive media before getting her real estate license at The University of Texas at Austin. “I love going above and beyond, and I love providing the best service, but I really fear a client making a mistake, so I try to provide them with unparalleled area expertise and insight, along with exceptional customer service,” she said.

DEALING WITH THE PANDEMIC Schilleci focuses on clients in the Houston area, including suburbs like The Woodlands, Tomball, Katy, Cypress, Conroe, and, of course, Spring. The last 15 months, she said, have so far been the busiest of her professional life, with the COVID-19 pandemic and low mortgage rates combining to create the most competitive housing market in more than 10 years. “Winter is normally my slowest season, and it was in 2020, but this past winter and spring blew my previous ones out of the water,” she said. “I have had to develop and perfect my systems to make it all work. I handle 100 to 200 prospective buyers at a time. I have had to learn a lot, and fast.” One prospective homebuyer offered $30,000 over asking price, she said. That’s not surprising in a market that has seen historically low inventory in both existing homes and new builds; the cost of lumber and building materials has skyrocketed, leaving construction companies handcuffed and delaying — or often, refusing — new projects. A recent study from Realtor.com saw home asking prices in Houston averaging around $320,000, or $169 per square foot — prices trending upwards of 14%, year over year. Homes in the city are staying on the market less than two months. Similar price increases can be found in the other suburbs Schilleci serves, with Spring home prices up 12.8% year over year, The Woodlands home prices up 16.7% year over year, and Cypress home prices up 10% year over year, to name a few. “My clients haven’t been too extreme, but we are doing whatever it takes to secure the home,” she said.

JULY 2021

dos

Texas-based Realtor Jordan Schilleci with her clients at Chicago Title for closing.

JULY 2021

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KUDOS

parting shot ❱ WE’RE GOING LIVE

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2020 brought new meaning to the word virtual. The mortgage and real estate industry has always been fond of an in-person event, with networking functions, lunch & learns, user conferences and more all helping industry participants rack up their frequent flyer miles. But that came to a halt last year, as virtual conferences became the new normal and webcams and high-quality microphones went on backorder for months due to a surge in demand. Despite everyone making lemonade out of lemons when it came to going virtual, there’s a lot of excitement and buzz around the long-awaited return to in-person events, including from the HousingWire team. HousingWire is excited to announce that HousingWire Annual 2021 will be held in person at the Omni Frisco Hotel in Frisco, Texas, which is the official hotel of the Dallas Cowboys and is pictured below. This year’s annual event focuses on bringing “All Things Housing” under one roof to learn, engage and move the housing economy forward together. For more information, go to housingwire.com/engage.

JULY 2021

ALL

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Quicken Loans, LLC; NMLS #3030; www.NMLSConsumerAccess.org. Equal Housing Lender. Licensed in 50 states. AL License No. MC 20979, Control No. 100152352. AR, TX: 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48226-1906, (888) 474-0404; AZ: 1 N. Central Ave., Ste. 2000, Phoenix, AZ 85004, Mortgage Banker License #BK-0902939; CA: Licensed by Dept. of Business Oversight, under the CA Residential Mortgage Lending Act and Finance Lenders Law; CO: Regulated by the Division of Real Estate; GA: Residential Mortgage Licensee #11704; IL: Residential Mortgage Licensee #4127 – Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation; KS: Licensed Mortgage Company MC.0025309; MA: Mortgage Lender License #ML 3030; ME: Supervised Lender License; MN: Not an offer for a rate lock agreement; MS: Licensed by the MS Dept. of Banking and Consumer Finance; NH: Licensed by the NH Banking Dept., #6743MB; NV: License #626; NJ: New Jersey – Quicken Loans, LLC, 1050 Woodward Ave., Quicken Loans, LLC; NMLS #3030; www.NMLSConsumerAccess.org. Equal Housing Lender. Licensed in 50 states. AL License No. MC 20979, Control No. 100152352. AR, TX: 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48226-1906, (888) 474-0404; AZ: Detroit, MI 48226, 474-0404, Licensed byLicense the N.J. Department of Banking Insurance.; Licensed Mortgage Banker 1 N. Central Ave., Ste. 2000,(888) Phoenix, AZ 85004, Mortgage Banker #BK-0902939; CA: Licensed by Dept. and of Business Oversight,NY: under the CA Residential Mortgage Lending Act and Finance Lenders Law; CO: Regulated by the Division of – Real Estate; GA: Residential Mortgage Licensee #11704;OR: IL: Residential Licensee #4127 – Dept. ofby Financial and Professional Regulation; KS: Licensed Mortgage Company MC.0025309; MA: Mortgage Lender License #ML 3030; NYS Banking Dept.; OH: MB 850076; LicenseMortgage #ML-1387; PA: Licensed the Dept. of Banking – License #21430; RI: ME: Supervised Lender License; MN: Not an offer for a rate lock agreement; MS: Licensed by the MS Dept. of Banking and Consumer Finance; NH: Licensed by the NH Banking Dept., #6743MB; NV: License #626; NJ: New Jersey – Quicken Licensed Lender; WA: Loan Company License Conditions may Loans, LLC, 1050 Woodward Ave.,Consumer Detroit, MI 48226, (888) 474-0404, Licensed by CL-3030. the N.J. Department of Banking andapply. Insurance.; NY: Licensed Mortgage Banker – NYS Banking Dept.; OH: MB 850076; OR: License #ML-1387; PA: Licensed by the©2000 Dept. of -Banking License #21430; RI: Licensed Lender; WA:reserved. Consumer Loan Company License CL-3030. Conditions may apply.Loans, LLC, a subsidiary of 2021–Quicken Loans, LLC. All rights Lending services provided by Quicken ©2000 - 2021 Quicken Loans, LLC. All rights reserved. Lending services provided by Quicken Loans, LLC, a subsidiary of Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT) “Quicken Loans” is a registered service mark of Intuit Inc., used under license. Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT) “Quicken Loans” is a registered service mark of Intuit Inc., used under license. Quicken Loans, 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48226-1906 Quicken Loans, 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48226-1906