By most accounts, mortgage companies made “a ton” of money in 2009. By the way, $1 million dollars in $1 bills weighs about 2,200 pounds, or slightly more than one ton. But is everyone ready for 2011?

In the last quarter of 2010 Freddie Mac reported that 46% of homeowners who refinanced lowered their principal by putting in more money at closing, the highest cash-in percentage on record. Meanwhile, Freddie’s cash-out borrowers fell to 16% of all loans, the lowest percentage on record. Combine that with the MBA is projecting residential origination will drop below $1 trillion (2002-levels, and a 35% decrease from last year), expecting new home purchases to rise 30% & refinancing activity expected to fall 66%, and we have a different market. Keep on top of those business plans! DO YOU HAVE A PLAN B?

At least rates are cooperating, somewhat. For anyone looking for research on whether or not the asset purchases by our government are working, the San Francisco Fed published a piece saying that they are:

Some mortgage companies are continuing to grow, however, and increase market share. ClearVision Funding is prime example of that. ClearVision is a wholesale lender whose focus is on FHA and conventional product offerings. It opened in early 2010, has no legacy issues, and is licensed in multiple states. Brokers are often looking for a new outlet, given the change in focus in business channels of late. Headquartered in Orange County, California, ClearVision Funding is in search of DE Underwriters, Account Executives, and particularly Sales Managers with existing AE teams in place.  Please send inquiries to Jeremy Stewart at [email protected].

For some more good news, the MBA reported what lock desks everywhere already knew: last week mortgage applications were +11.3%. Refi’s were +11.7%, and purchase applications rose 9.5%.

I received this note from one loan agent. “If other producers spent half the time, effort, and worry into funding loans, or in doing a good job for the borrower 5 years ago, that they seem to spend focused on compensation, they’d be much better off.” But for most companies, mortgage lending is off to a slow start this year. There seems to be a lag in volumes between “low rates helping refinancing” and “a strong economy helping new borrowers qualify for loans”, and certainly “more lenient guidelines opening up the borrower population” have not kicked in yet. And we still have high unemployment, falling housing prices, tight underwriting guidelines and uncertainty about new regulations for loan officer compensation. The MBA forecasts refinancing will only be 25% of all originations in the second half of this year. But there is some thinking that lower volumes, new regulations on loan officer compensation, and state and national licensing requirements will reduce the ranks of salespeople, leaving more business for those staying around.

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday announced that it does not expect to finalize three pending rulemakings under Reg. Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act, prior to the transfer of authority for such rulemakings to the CFPB.

The federal bank, thrift and credit union regulatory agencies, along with the Farm Credit Administration, announced that the NMLS and Registry are accepting federal registrations:

On to Part VII of compensation Q&A - remember that company’s individual policies may differ from these to some extent, as there is still a lot of interpretation. Many company’s policies will vary as long as there is no ability or an originator to steer the consumer into a less favorable product and  that factors unrelated to the terms or conditions of the loan such as cost and expense of origination come into play.

click there to continue