Author Archives: Jillayne Schlicke

About Jillayne Schlicke

Educator in the field of mortgage lending and real estate. Follow me on Google+

Employment Ideas for Laid Off Mortgage Workers

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Current estimates project the number of mortgage industry workers that will lose their jobs to be 100,000 or more. Here are some job hunting ideas for those resilient folks who love mortgage lending and want to ride out the storm by making a lateral move within the industry.

Consider looking deeper into the big three information service companies (we use to call them the title insurance companies: Firstam, Fidelity, Landam) and check out all the job openings in your state.

[photopress:fired_1_2.jpg,thumb,alignright]If you are an underwriter, consider becoming an independent mortgage compliance consultant. You can help existing mortgage firms move up a notch with training and compliance. But that would mean you will actually have to talk with retail mortgage salespeople and pretend like you are enjoying the conversation. This would be a daily thing and requires your blood pressure and HDL/LDL cholesterol readings to be at or within a healthy range or, alternatively, you should prepare to show an active prescription for Lipitor. If you can’t stomach working directly with retail mortgage salespeople, then consider a position in auditing and compliance at a major bank or lender in your hometown. Someone will have to help write and enforce the ever-changing tighter lending guidelines. However, your real talent may be of use as an independent expert witness for law firms in mortgage broker and shareholder lawsuits. Underwriters, don’t leave the business. We need you now more than ever. Besides, who’s going to help re-assess the risk on all those collateralized debt obligations? Nobody knows what anything is worth right now. You ought to be cashing in on those jobs.

If you are a loan processor, consider joining an independent contract processing company, or forming your own company. If you are a really good loan processor, consider becoming a retail mortgage salesperson yourself. The very best loan originators start out as processors. You will be better than the competition in your hometown because of your knowledge in state and federal laws governing mortgage lending. Trust me on this.

If you were an entry-level worker, such as an assistant or receptionist, you might seek employment as an assistant to a top-producing retail mortgage salesperson or real estate agent. Title companies routinely hire entry-level folks and a background in lending will help. In fact, you might even know more about title insurance than some of the sales reps. If you’re good looking, and by that I mean “hot,” consider a job as a title rep. Am I being too cynical? I don’t think so. But maybe title isn’t the place for you. If you have masochistic tendencies, perhaps escrow is more up your alley.

Traditionally, when the retail side of lending turns soft, jobs open up on the other side; the dark side of mortgage lending. Consider job openings with trustee service companies (these are the companies that help lenders foreclosure), or check out opportunities for jobs in the foreclosure and loss mitigation divisions of local banks and loan servicing companies. Also, there are bound to be job openings for default counselors with non-profit associations. Start by going to HUD.gov, click on the link “talk to a housing counselor

Who is to Blame for the Subprime Meltdown?

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Every day there’s another news story or blog post spreading more blame and anger about the mortgage market, increasing foreclosure statistics, the effects on our economy, fears of more layoffs in the mortgage sector and beyond, and so forth. With enough blame to go around, everyone keeps pointing fingers at everyone else. So far, here is who’s been blamed for the subprime meltdown/credit crunch/liquidity crisis.

  1. Mortgage brokers, for being rapacious capitalists;
  2. Loan originators, for having the audacity to wish for a six-figure income with no experience required;
  3. Loan officers who work at a bank, for knowing nothing and legally hiding their yield;
  4. Greedy wholesale lenders for enticing the brokers and relaxing the underwriting standards because of competition;
  5. Greedy Wall Street investors;
  6. Greedy Wall Street investment bankers;
  7. Incompetent Wall Street ratings agencies
  8. Greedy investors who just wanted to buy and flip;
  9. Realtors for threatening to pull business if the broker or lender did not approve their buyer’s loans;
  10. Realtors for pushing the sales prices up, up, up by continuing to add closing costs and more into the sales price, then threatening the appraiser when the home didn’t appraise;
  11. Real estate broker/owners, in their national conspiracy to keep commissions at 6%;
  12. Redfin, because it’s always Redfin’s fault;
  13. Zillow, for forcing loan originators to force appraisers to meet the homeowner’s expected Zillow zestimate or lose the refinancing client to a competitor;
  14. Unethical appraisers who turned in falsely inflated appraisals under threat of retaliation from mortgage brokers;
  15. Escrow closers for being a neutral, powerless, third party observer to the madness;
  16. Deceptive banner ad companies such as lowermybills.com, nextag, etc. who are still advertising pay option, interest only, negative amortization loan products;
  17. Deceptive, bait-and-switch advertising from mortgage lenders in the mail and on the radio;
  18. Allen Greenspan for keeping rates low for way too long;
  19. Ben Bernake for not lowering interest rates RIGHT NOW, when Jim Cramer says so;
  20. State regulators for not properly supervising their licensees;
  21. Federal regulators for being altogether absent on a day-to-day basis in regulating RESPA, and the Truth-in-Lending Act;
  22. The Mortgage Bankers Association for having a huge war chest of lobbying dollars;
  23. The Nat’l Assoc of Mortgage Brokers for continuing to testify before congress and congressional committees that their members subscribe to a strict code of ethics, when nothing could be further from the truth. By the way, their website points consumers back to state regulators for “ethical complaints.”
  24. The media, because they keep running bad news stories, which are frightening homebuyers;
    The Community Reinvestment Act for forcing banks to make loans to non-whites;
  25. Republicans, for promoting homeownership;
  26. Democrats for promoting homeownership;
  27. Democracy for allowing political candidates to receive $210 million dollars in campaign contributions and lobbying dollars from mortgage banking trade groups and corporations;
  28. The consumer is also to blame for being irresponsible, failing to read the loan documents, falling for the zero down American dream story, and believing the LO when told “we can just refinance you into a fixed rate after you clean up your credit.

FHA Secure: A Political Power Move Disguised as a Helping Hand to Those in Need

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Bush offered America some presidential words this morning to let us know he’s on top of this whole subprime meltdown, credit crunch, liquidity crisis. On his agenda: An FHA bailout in the form of a new feel good loan program: FHA Secure. Let’s pause for a moment and reflect back on how well HUD is currently doing. First of all, in order to originate an FHA loan, the stack of paperwork, hoops to jump through, policies and procedures, exceptions to the policies and procedures, and updates to the policies and procedures, are, shall we say, astronomical, and I’m just talking about qualifying the applicant, let alone underwriting and the appraisal process.

One reason (of many) why brokers pushed subprime loans was because the borrower who qualified for an FHA loan couldn’t get that loan with a broker. Why? Because it also takes an enormous amount of effort for a mortgage broker to become an FHA-approved lender. It’s the small details that really count to HUD, such as annual HUD audits, net worth requirements, submitting audited financial statements, presenting a quality control and compliance plan, and paying your loan originators as W-2 employees. Many brokers pay LOs as 1099 workers. For some small to medium sized broker firms, it was a business decision: make more money selling subprime and leave the hassle of originating FHA loans to the banks. “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya

Subprime Solutions

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This is part four of a four-part series of blog articles about the subprime mortgage problems. In part one I sketched the rise and fall of subprime loan products and their relation to predatory lending practices within a capitalist system. In part two, I examined the structural relationship between a professional and his or her client. In part three, I offered a business ethics case study comparing the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster to the subprime mortgage market collapse. In today’s part four, I assert three logical solutions to the current crisis in lending.

[photopress:gift_1.jpg,thumb,alignleft]The subprime crisis is a gift.  Mortgage lending can emerge from the subprime mess and transform itself. I have been co-writing about predatory lending and the ambiguous professional status of retail mortgage salespeople for over 5 years. The industry has traded consumer respect for massive profits.  It does not matter where you work: banker, broker, credit union, consumer finance company. It does not matter what you call yourselves: Loan officer, loan originator, loan consultant, mortgage planner.  Consumers do not understand the subtle and obvious differences.  They DO know “lender

MILA shuts down

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MILA, a subprime wholesale lender based in Mountlake Terrace, WA just north of Seattle, closed it’s doors Friday afternoon, leaving the remaining 100+ employees (down from 600 last fall) only 15 minutes to check their emails and clear out their desks. MILA had been making staff reductions as far back as February of 2006.

The Seattle Times reports that a potential buyer of the company spent a week wandering around MILA headquarters, but no deal materialized.

Real estate agents: Loans in process but not yet funded now must be resubmitted to other lenders. 

For your reading entertainment, here are a couple of articles from the archives. The ad on the left is promoting a pay-option ARM.

[photopress:MILA_1.jpg,thumb,alignleft]
What Bubble?
Despite forecasts of gloom and doom, broker innovations have kept the future bright
Layne Sapp, Founder and CEO, MILA Inc.

Inc. Magazine
2005 Entrepreneur of the Year
Layne Sapp

Local Lending Company Soars
After Flying Under the Radar
Seattle Times Oct 2004

When MILA first started out here locally, they ONLY worked the hard money side of the business.  When subprime loan originations skyrocketed, so did MILA’s growth.  When the subprime market started to fold this spring, MILA ceased doing subprime loans and instead focused only on the Alt-A and Prime mortgage market. However, there is now tremendous competition for Alt-A and Prime loans.

I question whether or not the company had any duties to notify employees and the general public that they were running out of cash. On the one hand, the company owes duties to its shareholders and any potential buyer NOT to speak too soon about problems that may have a negative effect on the value of the company, especially if cash problems appear to be temporary. On the other hand, what about duties of good faith owed to the general public or to its employees? 

Your thoughts?

This Just In: Zero Interest Loans, at a Cost of Zero, with a Monthly Payment of Zero (APR 0%)*

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This is part three of a four-part series of blog articles about the subprime mortgage problems facing the real estate industry. In part one I sketched the rise and fall of subprime loan products and their relation to predatory lending practices within a capitalist system. In part two, I examined the structural relationship between a professional and his or her client. In today’s blog article, I will compare the subprime problems with a classic business ethics case study.

The space shuttle Challenger accident has frequently been used as a case study in the study of engineering safety, the ethics of whistleblowing, communications, and group decision-making.  With Challenger, an O-ring eroded on earlier shuttle launches. Morton Thiokol (MT) managers believed that because it had not previously eroded by more than 30%, that this was not a hazard. During a pre-[photopress:morning_1_2_3.gif,thumb,alignleft]launch conference call with NASA, the MT engineer most experienced with the O-rings, Roger Boisjoly, pleaded with management repeatedly to cancel or reschedule the launch. He raised concerns that the unusually cold temperatures would stiffen the O-rings, preventing a complete seal. MT senior managers overruled him and allowed the launch to proceed. Challenger’s O-rings eroded completely as predicted by Boisjoly resulting in the disintegration of Challenger and the loss of all seven astronauts. Boisjoly concluded that the caucus called by managers who decided to launch, was an unethical decision-making forum which came about because of intense customer intimidation. “Roger Boisjoly and the Challenger Disaster: The Ethical Dimensions

Professional Status: Perceptions and Reality

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In part one of this series of blog articles about the subprime meltdown, I briefly sketched the rise and fall of subprime loan products and their relation to predatory lending practices within a capitalist system.

Today’s part two will examine the structural relationship between a professional and his or her client.

Is your barista at Starbucks or the person who bags your groceries a professional? If you answer “yes,

Winds of Change; The Rise and Fall of the Subprime Market

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This is part one of a series of blog articles on the subprime mortgage market correction. In today’s article, I will briefly sketch the rise and fall of subprime loan products and their relation to predatory lending practices within a capitalist system.

When I first entered the industry in 1985, Conventional loans were the cream of the crop. There was no risk-based pricing. Everyone received the same interest rate on their conventional loan whether they had great credit or a few late payments. Homeowners with very poor credit, lack of job stability, zero cash reserves, and unverified source of funds to close, were not approved for a mortgage. It was a very big deal to decline a loan. As a mortgage loan underwriter, I was told our job was to make loans, not decline loans. We had to try our very best to help our company figure out a way to help the homebuyer. Declining a loan was serious. We had to state rational, good reasons why a homebuyer did not qualify. That all changed with the introduction of risk-based pricing into the mortgage lending market.

20% down
10% down
5% down use to be considered very risky.
3% down buyers were directed to FHA loans
0 down use to only be available to veterans
0 down seller contributions to closing costs is currently the norm for first-time homebuyers.
0 down seller contributions, pay-option ARMS, interest-only, negative amortization use to be available only to the most savvy and credit-worthy of homebuyers.

Hard money which was re-named subprime lending moved in the same direction. Subprime started out years ago with high interest rates and a very large down payment required. In our capitalist economy competition heated up and we saw a relax of credit standards in the same direction; from high down payment to 0 down, which coincided with the introduction of risk based pricing. The more risk, the higher the price.

This ended up pushing a huge amount of homebuyers into the market, and infused the industry with a tremendous amount of job growth in the lending, banking, title, escrow, appraisal, and real estate agent arena. Corporations must earn a profit (within the bounds of the law) so corporations continued to push for profit growth. We live in a democracy (although my econ professor believes we live in a system where corporations control our political system.) It doesn’t matter which political party holds power: Democrats or Republicans. BOTH parties push homeownership onto the American public as the dream every person in America ought to be able to achieve. Government-sponsored, low down payment homeownership programs sprung up all over the country. On a side note, it might be an interesting topic for a longer post to see how those homeowners are doing default-wise.

About four to five years ago I started seeing a lot of real estate agents structure offers for 0 down clients + seller contributions to closing costs. The mortgage products were out there being marketed by wholesale lenders to street-level loan originators.

In the classes I teach, I continued to bring up the question: “What happens if the house doesn’t appraise?” The agents answer, “The house will always appraise; we’re in a rising appreciation market.” My follow up question is, “When you create a new Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) a couple of months later on a similar home just down the street, don’t you want to know if that sales price included seller contributions?” Everyone answers “yes,” but at that time, there was no way of obtaining that information short of calling the former real estate agent. Some agents return phone calls of this nature, some do not.

With little regulatory oversight in existence for mortgage brokers and consumer loan companies, (although they argue that they are HEAVILY regulated) the mortgage brokers, consumer loan companies, and the wholesale lenders have had a field day with profits. ALL the real estate agents I talk to, and I meet thousands of real estate agents every year, with regards to predatory lending considered this a problem of the mortgage lending industry, acknowledging that there “could” be effects on the real estate market, but without actually feeling any of those effects it was always someone else’s problem.

Our state regulators DO have money set aside to go after the most egregious cases of predatory lending and mortgage fraud. However, government was never intended to police every single deal written by mortgage brokers and consumer finance companies. There is just not enough government re$ources available to do this, and there never will be. In Part Two of this series, I will outline possible solutions that go beyond harsher government regulations.

Every one of us in the industry WILL feel the effects of the subprime collapse. We might feel it in more or less intense ways, some of us sooner, some of us later, but this will affect us all. From Rhonda having to make those difficult calls to homebuyers to real estate agent’s homebuyers who were approved last week and now those loan products are now no longer available.

On the up side, the industry might experience a rush in homeowners seeking to refinance into fixed rate mortgage loans which will lead to an increase in business for title, escrow, appraisal, and lenders this year. Mortgage brokers and consumer finance companies that blatantly ripped off consumers will not see repeat business. Those customers will go elsewhere, as they should. Mortgage brokers who have ONLY done subprime will find it challenging to become approved as an FHA lender as FHA has many rules to follow including the requirement for loan originators to be W-2 employees and many brokers pay their originators as contract workers. Consumers are sick and tired of bait and switch advertising and hopefully won’t fall for it this time around. Those companies will go down, their loan originators finding jobs scarce since their only training has been hard-core, script-memorizing, pressure-laden sales tactics. They have specifically chosen to be in subprime for the money and only the money. They will exit the industry and find another unregulated industry.

Treating home buyers (and refinancing homeowners) only as a tool to maximize profits is one business model that is no longer growing profits at previous rates. These companies are refi machines built on marginally to blatantly deceptive direct mail or email campaigns and they exist in every market in the United States. The market now sees a decline in profitability and in a capitalist system, profit drives morality: what’s profitable is good, what’s not profitable is bad.

Brokers, lenders, and banks that have always operated their business with a foundation of treating consumers with respect will survive and thrive. By respect, that means declining some loans because sometimes this is the most respectful thing to do, and yes, real estate agents, this WILL affect you, no matter what price range or neighborhood you’re in.

It is way past time for a mortgage market correction and I am hopeful that our current subprime crisis will lead us to a better place in the mortgage lending industry. I for one welcome the winds of change.

Part 2 of this blog article will examine the deeper relational-structural issue at the foundation of our current mortgage market correction and propose possible solutions.

Short Sales

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A short sale is when a homeowner in financial distress owes more against the home than what the home is worth, and the homeowner MUST sell.

If the homeowner does not have to sell, or does not want to sell their home, there are MANY options available to homeowners. They could [photopress:shorts_1.jpg,thumb,alignright]move into a more affordable home and rent out their existing home, they could take on a roommate, they could refinance (although this is not always the best path. Homeowners in a short sale situation are often in financial distress, which means higher rates and fees because you’re seen as a higher credit risk to a new lender), they could talk with their existing lenders to re-configure the terms of the loan. Homeowners who do not want to sell or do not have to sell ought to seek out a HUD-approved housing counseling agency that offers default counseling. Why? Because at bare minimum, SOMEONE, in this case our federal government, has deemed the housing counseling agency competent. What a homeowner should not do is to blindly trust that the signs by the side of the road are from reputable folks. In fact, the assumption ought to be that if a deal looks and sounds too good to be true, it is. There are no angels on earth. Homeowners, you can be easily taken advantage of by these folks. Wake up and keep reading.

Selling short means you’re asking the underlying lender(s) to accept less than their payoff in order to facilitate a sale of the home, instead of foreclosing on the home.

Foreclosure is expensive for a mortgage lender. Mortgage lenders are not in the business of foreclosing on houses. Banks and lenders are in business of making loans. They don’t want the house back. This is a business decision for the lender. Which means it has to make rational, logical sense.

Homeowners, you will be asked to prove financial distress. This means you will have to submit proof that you don’t have the money to make up the shortage. If you do have the money, this is no longer a short sale, the industry calls this a “seller to bring cash in at closing” sale. If you ask your real estate agent to help you in hiding assets, an agent cannot assist you with defrauding a lender.

[photopress:bartangel.jpg,thumb,alignleft]If an “angel” investor offers to ‘take over the payments’ and lets you pay rent until you’re back on your feet, and then asks you to sign a quit claim deed, transfering title to the investor, stop everything and go get some legal advice immediately. You might be thinking: I’m in financial distress; how can I afford legal advice? Contact your local bar association for a referral to free legal aid. A quit claim deed transfers interest but not liability. This means you are still liable to make sure the mortgage is paid, and further, transfering yourself out of title means your lender might decide to call your note due and payable. There are many foreclosure rescue scams to be careful of. If the rent is set too high, thus not allowing you to really get caught up at all, this has a name: equity skimming. Go see an attorney.

Homeowners, you will be asked to pay back the shortage. That’s right, your lender will ask you to sign a brand new unsecured note in order for you to pay back the difference in monthly installments. If, out of the goodness of their heart, (don’t count on it) the lender “forgives” the debt, then the IRS sees this as a taxable event. Homeowners: Go see your favorite tax attorney or CPA for tax advice if you are in a short sale scenario.

Homeowners, the worst mistake you can make is to go into denial and stay in your “happy place” and not make those hard decisions. Let’s review. The best steps you can take are preventative. When you see yourself getting close to needing to sell in order to avoid foreclosure:

1) Decide if you absolutely must sell or if you’re better off riding out the financial tough road. If there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and you don’t want to sell, perhaps you’re better off not selling.

2) Talk to a HUD-approved housing counseling agency that offers “default” counseling.

3) Don’t ignore letters or calls from your lenders. I recommend renting and watching the movie “House of Sand and Fog” to wake you up from your state of denial. Talk to your lender.

4) If you’re committed to selling, interview three licensed real estate agents. If one of them offers to purchase the house right there in your living room…..ask the agent if that’s ethical and legal and see what they say. Real estate agents have an obligation to put YOUR interests ahead of their own interests. State agency laws vary, but this is a core concept of agency.

5) Always seek legal counsel if you are a short sale homeowner. There are things attorneys can do that real estate agents cannot do.

Real estate agents: The best steps you can take are to educate yourself about how to present your firm offer to the underlying lien holder(s). In a short sale, title is transferred using a warranty deed (in some states it is called a different sort of deed like a bargain and sale deed) which means title must be clear of all liens and encumbrances (except for items that will run with the land like easements, real estate taxes, and the like.) This means you might have to present the firm offer to more than one lien holder. Example:

Sale price: 300,000
First mortgage payoff: 250,000
Second mortgage payoff: 100,000
Real estate agents: In the above example, if you’re trying to work with the first mortgage lender and they’re not giving you the time of day, it’s because they are expecting to get all $250K because they’re in first lien postion. Your work will be with the second lien holder, who has much to lose should the first foreclose and everything to gain by negotiating with you NOW, before foreclosure.

Real estate agents, check your local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) policies and procedures about disclosing the “short sale” terms to the other members of your MLS.

Real estate agents, the lender(s) will ALWAYS ask you to cut your commission. Always, always, always. It is their duty to mitigate losses. That means asking everyone to cut their fees. Don’t take it personally. So, should you cut your commission? These transactions are difficult, time consuming, gut-wrenching, and ulcer-inducing. Why on earth would you accept a low fee? When asked to slice your fee to the bone, say “no.” The lender needs you more than you need them; the lender does not want to foreclose.

Sometimes real estate agents tell me they wouldn’t touch one of these deals because of the increased liability and the hard work. To that I ask, “Well, what if you were the one who sold them the house?” Then the room usually falls silent.

Real estate agents should always ask the homeowner this simple question: “What are your plans for housing once the home sells?” If the homeowner is in financial distress, often their plans including moving in with relatives. If not, you may wish to connect the homeowner with social services sooner rather than later.