Mortgage – HousingWire |
- Mortgage apps rise despite higher interest rates
- Gay, disabled ex-employee sues loanDepot for discrimination
- Interfirst Mortgage to lay off nearly 50 LOs
- Homepoint’s Phil Shoemaker: Lessons from a tech-based mortgage leader
- Guaranteed Rate’s Shant Banosian clears $2B in originations in 2021
- Opinion: Pass the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act
| Mortgage apps rise despite higher interest rates Posted: 24 Nov 2021 04:00 AM PST Mortgage applications increased 1.8% for the week ending Nov. 19, despite higher rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey published on Wednesday. The increase was mainly driven by the purchase index growing by 4.7% from the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Concurrently, the refinance index grew by 0.4% from the week prior. Joel Kan, the MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said in a statement that purchase activity increased for the third straight week, as housing demand remains robust, even as the housing market approaches the typically slower holiday season. “Both conventional and government loan applications increased, and the average loan size for a purchase loan was at $407,200, continuing its ongoing 2021 run of being mostly above $400,000,” Kan said. Regarding refi activity, Kan added that "borrowers continue to lock in mortgages in anticipation of higher rates in the future." However, mortgage applications declined across the board in comparison to a year ago. The overall market composite index dipped 24.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis. Meanwhile, "refis" apps fell 33.6% year-over-year, and purchase apps decreased 6% in the same period, a symptom of even lower levels of inventory. According to Khan, financial markets continue to discern the Federal Reserve's policy in light of the current high growth, high inflation environment. The trade group estimates the average contract 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for conforming loans ($548,250 or less) increased to 3.24%, four basis points higher than the previous week. For jumbo mortgage loans (greater than $548,250), it went to 3.28% from 3.26%. Refi represented 63.1% of total applications, up from 62.9% the previous week. VA loans consisted of 10.3% of the share, decreasing five basis points. Meanwhile, FHA loans went from 8.9% to 8.6% in the period. The USDA share was at 0.4% of the total. The post Mortgage apps rise despite higher interest rates appeared first on HousingWire. |
| Gay, disabled ex-employee sues loanDepot for discrimination Posted: 24 Nov 2021 03:00 AM PST  A former loanDepot employee has filed a lawsuit against the company and its CEO, Anthony Hsieh, for allegedly discriminating against him due to his physical disabilities and his sexual orientation. This is the second lawsuit filed this year that alleges a toxic, masculine culture at the California-based nonbank lender. Trevor Dickens, 29, worked for loanDepot from 2015-2017 and 2020-2021, at the call center located in Plano (TX), when the company allegedly refused accommodations for his medical needs and subjected him to humiliation and anti-homosexual slurs. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. According to Dickens’s attorney, Mark Robinius, managing partner at Robinius, Espinosa & Wietzel, LLP, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission contacted both parties to engage in mediation, but loanDepot declined. Dickens is seeking $10 million in damages. LoanDepot, the nation’s second-largest retail lender, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. In his lawsuit, Dickens claims to have suffered an injury to his back in 2015 and, after eight lower back and spinal cord surgeries, relied on a wheelchair to ambulate. Due to his medical conditions, he also made frequent trips to the restroom and could not sit in a chair for long periods without pain, he said in the lawsuit. His job was to receive and make calls to customers and pass them along to loan officers. The lender knew about Dickens's conditions before he was hired, Dickens’s lawsuit claims. Still, the lawsuit claims that loanDepot’s call center permitted the employees to have only 10 minutes per workday to use the restroom. Otherwise, management would subject them to administrative discipline, a written warning, or, in some cases, termination, the suit alleges. “Under a point system, call center employees received demerits in their LoanDepot human resource file if they left their desks for more than 10-minutes per workday,” the lawsuit states. Dickens alleges that he submitted physician notes asking his exclusion from the rule, but was allegedly told by management, “you need to be on the phone and not on the toilet.” Dickens also claims that the company refused to accommodate his sexual orientation by punishing him for terminating customers' calls after they uttered homophobic slurs. The former employee was required to keep potential customers on the phone to gather information, despite anti-gay insults, his lawsuit alleges. “Rather than accommodating Dickens’ sexual orientation, LoanDepot management admonished him for not practicing their ‘rebuttal’ techniques and withstanding the highly offensive verbal abuse from the potential customers,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit adds that Dickens left the company in 2017, fell into a state of depression and self-medicated with alcohol. In April 2020, after achieving sobriety, he was re-hired. By November, long periods of sitting stationary exacerbated pain and he needed an emergency back surgery. In August of 2021, Dickens resigned. According to the lawsuit, Dickens dreamed of becoming a mortgage loan officer but was never promoted due to physical disabilities and sexual orientation. “We intend to aggressively prosecute this case to win a measure of justice for Mr. Dickens as well as the other gay and disabled people out there who are being forced to endure the chauvinistic and unaccommodating boiler room culture of LoanDepot,” Robinius said in a statement to HousingWire. In another lawsuit that takes aim at loanDepot’s culture, Tammy Richards, former chief operations officer, includes multiple allegations that male company executives created and enforced a “misogynistic frat house culture” that routinely led to women being harassed and demeaned. Richards also alleges that Hsieh ordered the sales team to trust borrowers and close loans, disregarding proper underwriting standards. The former executive is seeking $75 million in the lawsuit. In an SEC filing this month, company management said they do not believe the allegations have merit, but “defending such allegations could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources.” The post Gay, disabled ex-employee sues loanDepot for discrimination appeared first on HousingWire. |
| Interfirst Mortgage to lay off nearly 50 LOs Posted: 23 Nov 2021 03:02 PM PST Chicago-based Interfirst Mortgage Co. will lay off 77 employees in its Charlotte, North Carolina office come January 2022, a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice filed by the company reveals. Among those getting a pink slip are 49 loan officers, 10 national account managers, seven retail sales managers and seven transaction coordinators. The company provided no explanation for the upcoming terminations. It did not respond to requests for comment left by HousingWire. Just shy of a year ago, Interfirst announced that it would be opening an office in Charlotte to serve as a second headquarters for the company's wholesale business. To run the hub, the company hired Casey Nunn, a former Rocket Mortgage and Homepoint executive, as the vice president of wholesale lending. At the time, Mark Freedle, executive vice president of production at Interfirst, said in a statement that the company's "broker-centric approach offers the technology, competitive products, pricing and service to help our broker partners build and grow successful." Interfirst was founded in 2001 as a retail originator and then expanded to the wholesale channel and the correspondent channel in 2008 and 2011, respectively. In 2017, after years of plummeting volumes, the company, led by CEO Dmitry Godin, decided to shutter its business, only to relaunch in 2020. In returning from its three-year hiatus, Interfirst said it had reinvented itself as a tech-forward mortgage lender. It said it developed its own proprietary loan origination platform that applied artificial intelligence to the loan process, which allowed Interfirst to eliminate upfront fees and cut interest rates. In October, Interfirst's tech-forward approach helped the company secure $175 million in funding to accelerate growth and fund new technologies. One of the company’s investors, Al Goldstein, CEO of StoicLane, said in October that "the mortgage industry is fragmented and ripe for disruption by tech-enabled, customer-centric platforms." Layoffs at the Charlotte office will commence the week of Jan. 21, 2022, but before then, the company will provide notice to each affected employee and will ensure that "employees who are laid off are paid all earned wages and agreed upon benefits at the time of termination," the company said in a letter filed with the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Only seven states have WARN requirements in the nation. Meanwhile, in an interview with HousingWire in August, Dhaval Patel, senior VP at Interfirst, said the company was recruiting former teachers and first responders to become in-house LOs following a seven-week training and licensing course. Interfirst, which claimed to have originated $1.65 billion in volume between June 2020 and June 2021, pays new LOs between $44,000 and $68,000 annually, which is based on base salary and quarterly performance-based bonuses. "I feel that we do a good job in maintaining our processes, and make sure that we’re sensible in how we pay," Patel told HousingWire in August. "Our loan officers, our team, they know that they can probably make more money somewhere else, but they’re gonna take it from someone, and it’s not going to be the company. They’re taking it from the customer. So you have to really decide that the work that you’re doing is worth more before you go out there and try to take more money." The post Interfirst Mortgage to lay off nearly 50 LOs appeared first on HousingWire. |
| Homepoint’s Phil Shoemaker: Lessons from a tech-based mortgage leader Posted: 23 Nov 2021 01:19 PM PST  If you added up the impact that HousingWire's Vanguard winners have had on the industry, you'd likely have a comprehensive list of the initiatives that have moved markets forward. These are the leaders who have dreamt, shaped and molded a better way to execute the home-buying journey. From injecting technology into the mortgage process to redefining the real estate agent and home shopper relationship, these leaders have laid the foundations for millions of homeowners. HousingWire sat down with three of these leaders: James O'Bryon, RE/MAX Gold Nation CEO, Cathleen Schreiner Gates, SimpleNexus CEO, and Phil Shoemaker, Homepoint president of originations, to learn more about the housing trends they're closely watching, what they think will define 2022 and what they hope people remember them for when they retire. Brena Nath: First off, congrats on being named a 2021 Vanguard. Who would you want to thank for helping you get where you are today? Phil Shoemaker: I'd have to say my wife. I definitely would not have been able to do a fraction of what I've done without her support. I've been really lucky along the way. Outside of my wife, there's a long list of people who really took an interest and invested in me and they all know who they are, and I very much appreciate all of them. Brena Nath: What's one accomplishment in your career that you're really proud of? Phil Shoemaker: Honestly, I think the biggest thing is that I've never sacrificed who I want to be. I feel like success can change people, and I've seen that. I've been around a lot of people who have found success. And I think that what I'm most proud of is, despite my success, is that I feel like I've stayed consistent with my values and who I want to be. It's really all about me. I really find a lot of joy in helping other people and being a part of a team that wins together, as opposed to my own personal accomplishments. Brena Nath: How are you helping move markets forward? Phil Shoemaker: The No. 1 thing would be that I think this industry as a whole has become a little too focused on the wrong thing, specifically technology and automation. Just to give you context and background, I'm a technologist, and so I started out my career as an electrical engineer. That's what I got my degree in. And then, I got into technology and built two loan origination systems. So, I actually came into the industry with a very heavy focus on technology. I think technology and process are extremely important because efficiency really does matter in this industry. But this is still very much an industry that's about relationships. It's a people-centric industry. I believe what we're doing at Homepoint is unique, and we're coming at it with a people-first mentality. Our goal is to kind of double down on that. If you think about what we're doing, putting people in homes, it's a very noble thing, and it's oftentimes one of the biggest transactions that a person ever does. It's stressful, right? And so, creating a company that recognizes it's not just about profit and making money, it's about something bigger than that, which is we are putting people in homes. Oftentimes, I think that gets lost in the industry. I think that you can win and do both. You can make money and you can also take a people-centric approach, and you can be efficient from a technology standpoint. One doesn't have to trump the other. Brena Nath: What are two trends in the mortgage and real estate industry that you're closely watching? Phil Shoemaker: The number one trend is that I do believe that there's going to be a persistent migration between from retail to wholesale. And let me back up and give you the perspective there. Physical distribution in this industry is still very important. Having originators in the market that have access to referral sources, like real-estate agents, who are familiar with borrowers, communities, and the different nuances of the market is really important. And there are two ways you can get that. You can build a company with distributed retail where you're employing those LOs, or you can engage in wholesale lending where you are a lender but you're leveraging this network of originators around the country. And I've had deep experience in both. I'm not saying an originator in retail or wholesale is better. But I do believe that the overall platform that wholesale offers an originator is superior, and the reason is that in wholesale, there's more alignment with the originator and the lender. The originator is able to focus on what they do best, which is originating loans, and the lender is able to focus on service and building scale and efficiency, opposed to trying to manage the originator, which is very costly and time-consuming in retail. It got muted a little bit in 2020 because when rates go down, everyone's pipelines get full, and people stop moving. As rates go up, which they undoubtedly will, refis will go away and capacity's going to start to become more constrained. You're going to see more and more originators take that leap and move to wholesale because they'll give their borrowers better rates, and I think they're also going to be able to give their borrowers a better experience. The second thing I'd point out is that there is a severe issue in mortgage with diversity. You could also broaden that to other industries, but since this is the industry we're in, I'll focus on mortgage. There needs to be more minorities in leadership positions and owning businesses. It's the same thing with women. The industry has been dominated by one class for far too long. That's why last year we did a $1 million grant to help minority- and women-owned brokers start. Brena Nath: The past two years have been filled with a lot of uncertainty; what factors do you think will define 2022? Phil Shoemaker: First, it is pretty certain that rates are going to up. If you look at every single data point around where rates are going, it's up. And if you look at what that means in terms of forward forecasted volumes, there's a heavy shift towards a purchase market, which is why I think physical distribution will matter and why you will see wholesale start to grow. With that same concept, when you see that shift with refi s going away, you're also going to see a pretty healthy amount of consolidation. And that's something that, honestly, I do struggle with because I think consolidation is good since you do have to have it to some degree. If you can create a company that has more scale, you're able to bring down costs, that ultimately benefits the end consumer. But there's a degree issue there. Too much consolidation is bad. You don't want three companies because then you lose all the optionality and that's bad. That is one thing that I'm hyper-aware of. The industry will consolidate, but I do think that collectively as an industry, we should be concerned about how much it consolidates. Brena Nath: After you're finished with your career, what do you hope people remember you for? Phil Shoemaker: This might sound a little cliché, but I just want to be remembered as a good person. Look, I am very competitive, and I like to win. But for me, winning is not about getting a certain number on the ranking tables. It's about achieving a goal and the process you go through along the way, and the people you impact and having a positive impact in the world. That would be number one — that I was a good person. It really is about the process and who you impact as you go through it. That's what's important. Not the destination. Brena Nath: To wrap, what's one piece of advice you would give people in this industry? Phil Shoemaker: It's not about you. If I'm focused on making other people successful, I win. It's not about you. I think the people that are most successful are the ones that actually find their success in helping other people as opposed to helping themselves. And oddly enough, I think you end up getting further that way. This Q&A was originally featured in the Oct/Nov issue of HousingWire magazine. To view the whole issue, go here. The post Homepoint’s Phil Shoemaker: Lessons from a tech-based mortgage leader appeared first on HousingWire. |
| Guaranteed Rate’s Shant Banosian clears $2B in originations in 2021 Posted: 23 Nov 2021 01:01 PM PST Guaranteed Rate's Shant Banosian has topped his record-setting 2020 in a big way: year-to-date, the loan officer has funded a whopping $2 billion in total origination volume, the lender announced on Tuesday. The figure is believed to be a record for a retail loan originator. Banosian, who has several dozen team members, has funded over $7 billion loans throughout his career. In June 2021, the Massachusetts-based LO said he had eclipsed the $1 billion mark, breaking his own record from 2020, a year in which LOs across the country took advantage of the historic refi boom. He finished 2020 with $1.7 billion in origination volume, across 3,551 loans. He was one of about a half-dozen loan officers to clear $1 billion in volume in 2020. His Guaranteed Rate colleague Ben Cohen, the top LO in Illinois, closed more than 2,300 loans last year (Cohen also eclipsed the $1 billion threshold in September 2021). And Thuan Nguyen, who leads tech-forward mortgage brokerage LoanFactory, cleared $2 billion in 2020 across 5,200 loans. Others who landed in the $1 billion club last year include Chris Gallo, of mortgage brokerage NJ Lenders Corp.; Indy Johar of Draper & Kramer Mortgage Corp; and Mike Roberts, of City Creek Mortgage. Banosian, who has been with Guaranteed Rate for over 14 years and is licensed in 50 states, said in a statement that his success this year has been aided by Guaranteed Rate’s technology platform, which has helped him close loans quickly. "By putting our clients and real estate partners on the purchase side in a position to win, we are able to serve more homebuyers in this very competitive marketplace," he added. Banosian told HousingWire last year that the key to his success is his team, and focusing on what consumers need and want. Banosian said he constantly tweaks his business model based on feedback from clients to provide better service and become more efficient. "It's one of those cliches: you don't want to just work in the business, you need to work on the business," Banosian said. According to the Scotsman Guide, Banosian has been rated as one of the top five loan originators in the U.S. for six years, including two consecutive years as number one. Other top Guaranteed Rate originators include Risha Kilaru, who originated $540 million in 2020, and Tom Lavalee, who originated $449 million last year. The post Guaranteed Rate’s Shant Banosian clears $2B in originations in 2021 appeared first on HousingWire. |
| Opinion: Pass the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act Posted: 23 Nov 2021 11:33 AM PST A shortage of affordable starter homes is thwarting aspiring first-time homebuyers and fueling inflation in home prices. At the same time, many urban and rural communities are struggling for stability and vitality. It's a fact: the homeownership gap between Black and white households is wider now than when the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. The Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (Neighborhood Homes) would begin addressing these challenges by developing or renovating 125,000 affordable homes in economically distressed communities. The House has included it in its revised Build Back Better bill. The Senate should keep or expand it in its version too. The support is clear. This initiative has won backing from 72 bipartisan sponsors in the House and Senate, the White House and stakeholders ranging from civil rights groups and nonprofits to financial institutions and real estate trade associations. Neighborhood Homes is a practical solution for communities in which the cost of renovating or building a home exceeds its market value after the work is complete. This cost gap all-too-often prevents the renovation of affordable houses that need a great deal of work. The cost gap also thwarts construction and development of modest homes, limiting the availability of affordable homes for first-time and first-generation homebuyers. The new and renovated housing resulting from Neighborhood Homes would support the revitalization of neighborhoods across the country, fighting blight and vacancy. This will, in turn, bolster state and local tax revenue and lead to improved municipal services. Meanwhile, many rural communities will be able to more effectively keep or attract growing businesses with more desirable homes for their workforce. Neighborhood Homes creates a tax credit that covers the gap between the cost of construction and a home's sale price. It is targeted to census tracts with lower home prices and income levels. This interactive map shows where Neighborhood Homes could be used. Homeowners will secure mortgages to finance their homes which can then be used as comparable sales for financing of nearby homes. Over time, this approach will help stabilize real estate markets previously dominated by distressed sales. There is also an important racial justice aspect to Neighborhood Homes. According to the Urban Institute, the gap between white and Black homeownership rates is wider today than it was when redlining was legal — 42% of Black families are homeowners vs. 72% of white families. This disparity in the homeownership rate fuels the racial wealth gap. According to the Federal Reserve, the median wealth of white families is $188,200 while the median wealth of Black families is $24,100. This is both a cause and an effect of disparities in homeownership rates. Ignoring this problem slows the economic growth of the country. Research shows that the nation's GDP could grow by $5 trillion over the next five years if gaps in wages, education, housing, and investment are eliminated. Neighborhood Homes is part of a concerted strategy that will benefit the entire nation. In 2015, Rocket Mortgage partnered with the Detroit Land Bank Authority on Rehabbed & Ready, a program similar to Neighborhood Homes, in Detroit, Michigan. A University of Michigan Study released earlier this year showed that the program is working. It found that median sale prices grew an additional 11.5% per year in Rehabbed & Ready neighborhoods during the program's first three years (2016-2018) compared to neighborhoods without the intervention – stabilizing home values in the four target neighborhoods. The percentage of homes in Rehabbed & Ready neighborhoods purchased with a mortgage grew an additional 5.6% per year over the three-year treatment period — eventually reaching 42.2%, or nearly double the entire city's 21.6% average — creating much-needed comparable sales. At the national level, the Black Homeownership Collaborative, a diverse coalition of organizations committed to creating 3 million net new Black homeowners by 2030, has developed a 7-Point Plan to reach this goal. The Neighborhood Homes tax credit is a critical element of that strategy. In 63% of the Neighborhood Homes-eligible census tracts, people of color are the majority of residents. Neighborhood Homes will create jobs, narrow the racial wealth gap and reduce blight in America's communities. Congress needs to pass it now. Bob Walters is President of Rocket Mortgage, "Buzz" Roberts is President and CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, and Lisa Rice is President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire's editorial department and its owners. To contact the authors of this story: To contact the editor responsible for this story: The post Opinion: Pass the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act appeared first on HousingWire. |
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