Mortgage – HousingWire

Rocket Pro TPO equips brokers with in-house mortgage experts

Posted: 24 Jan 2022 02:02 PM PST

Rocket Pro TPO will pair each of its brokers with a team of in-house mortgage experts, made up of underwriters, closing specialists and purchase title coordinators, to help brokers navigate the loan closing process.

The program, dubbed "Crews" is live as of Jan. 24. According to Rocket, brokers will personally know the crew leaders and will work with them often, which will help brokers "get loans closed fast and with certainty."

Austin Niemiec, executive vice president of Rocket Pro TPO, said in an interview with HousingWire that the number one complaint in the wholesale industry is that brokers don't have a relationship with the operations team. He said brokers often feel there are "too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to loans getting closed.”

Niemiec noted that this initiative will fix that by "giving brokers a custom, boutique team feel when it comes to operations."

There will be East Coast and West Coast crews who know and understand local guidelines and are available during each broker's specific working hours, the company said in a press release.

The effort is Rocket Pro TPO’s latest push to bolster its broker channel.

In October 2021, Rocket Pro TPO announced that they would be connecting their broker partners with real estate agents through Rocket Homes, the company's real estate listing platform. The company also promised to protect newly built relationships between mortgage brokers and real estate agents.

Niemiec noted that these initiatives are already paying off. Since the beginning of the 2022, over 200 brokers have joined Rocket Pro TPO, he said.

Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 new brokers joined Rocket Pro TPO from July to September 2021, according to Rocket Companies, the parent company of Rocket Pro TPO.

Rocket said in their third quarter report that the wholesale side of their business "grew its partner wallet share from 36% in March to more than 50%."

"We are excited about how our partners are committing to working with Rocket," said Jay Farner, CEO of Rocket Companies, during the company's earnings call in November. "In addition, overall market share is up 2-3%, as our growth in that market continues."

Rocket added in their report that it expects to close between $75 billion and $80 billion in mortgages in the fourth quarter. Gain-on-sale margins are projected to come in between 265 and 295 bps.

The post Rocket Pro TPO equips brokers with in-house mortgage experts appeared first on HousingWire.

Caliber Home Loans CEO Sanjiv Das steps down

Posted: 24 Jan 2022 09:48 AM PST

Sanjiv Das, CEO of Caliber Home Loans, is stepping down as CEO of the company, less than one year after New Residential Investment Corp. (Newrez) acquired the mortgage lender and servicer, sources familiar with the situation confirmed.

In a memo sent Monday morning, Michael Nierenberg, CEO of New Residential Investment Corp., told employees that despite Das leaving, things will continue to be "business as usual."

"Our entire leadership team remains the same and will continue to execute on our mission to be the best digital mortgage company," Nierenberg said in the memo, which was reviewed by HousingWire.

Caliber, Das and Newrez did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Das, who has been the company's CEO since 2016, formerly served as CEO of the Board for Citi Mortgage. Industry analysts and observers said it was always expected that Das would leave following the Newrez deal.

In April 2021, Newrez acquired Caliber, heavy-hitter across multiple origination channels, in a deal valued at $1.675 billion from Lonestar Funds, a hedge fund. In the memo, Nierenberg said that "integration efforts continue."

In the third quarter of 2021, Newrez reported earnings of $177.5 million from July to September, up 136% quarter-over-quarter, with the growth mainly being spurred by the Caliber acquisition.

NRIC noted in their earnings that channel diversification and the combination of Caliber and Newrez LLC, the REITs other mortgage arm, propelled gain-on-sale margins by 30 basis points.

Caliber originated around $64 billion in mortgages from January to September 2021, an increase of 12% compared to the same period of 2020, making it the 13th-largest mortgage lender in the U.S., according to Inside Mortgage Finance. Newrez is ranked 10th, with $76 billion originated in the same period, an increase of 102%.

Prior to the agreement with Newrez, Lone Star Funds attempted to take Caliber public, but the independent public offering was unsuccessful due to instability in the market.

On the day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 943 points, Caliber made the decision to delay its initial public offering (IPO).The Caliber deal represented the splashiest acquisition to date for Nierenberg's real estate investment trust. In 2019, NewRez acquired Ditech's forward origination and servicing business for $1.2 billion. The company also acquired Shellpoint Partners (the parent of New Penn Financial) in 2018 for $190 million.

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Loans And Mortgage

Monday, January 24, 2022