“MBA Tech NewsLink is a must-read, providing the most advanced and comprehensive coverage on real estate finance technology issues available today,” said Jonathan Kempner, MBA president and CEO. “MBA is providing this service as part of our efforts to help MBA members run their businesses more efficiently as the industry continues to adapt to new, modernized challenges.”

Technology has transformed the mortgage industry. Mortgage loans that took 60 days to complete just five years ago can be completed today in just one-third the time. The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) is leading the way to creating standards for electronic mortgage documents. And the elusive "paperless mortgage" process comes closer each day to industry-wide acceptance.

MBA Tech NewsLink will be delivered, via email, each Tuesday morning to subscribers, free of charge. The publication, designed to interest both the residential and commercial/multifamily arenas, includes mortgage technology News & Trends, New Products/Briefs, MBA News and People in the News. In addition, the publication provides in-depth coverage of key regulatory compliance issues such as HMDA compliance, RESPA and MISMO; information from MISMO on its efforts to standardize the mortgage industry and contributions from industry experts from within and outside MBA on a variety of critical topics.

MBA Tech NewsLink is available for free to employees of MBA member firms and is a publication of the Mortgage Bankers Association. To subscribe, visit www.mortgagebankers.org/technewslink.
(Back To Top)

Now they can. The Certified Mortgage Technologist designation (CMT) is CampusMBA’s professional designation program specifically for technology experts in the mortgage industry. The CMT recognizes an individual’s industry experience and knowledge of the unique technological needs of the real estate finance industry. 

“Earning the CMT designation puts you in the upper echelon of technology professionals,” said Pam Milano, CMB, CMT. “Those three letters after my name tell my manager or a potential employer that I know technology, I know the mortgage industry, and I am committed to leveraging that knowledge for the benefit of my company and our customers.”

The CMT designation requires significant knowledge about current technological tools and processes, such as Internet applications, Automated Underwriting Systems and common development tools (Microsoft, .NET and Sun's Java). In addition to completing a rigorous series of online coursework, CMT candidates must submit a thesis on a specific initiative, system conversion or implementation, or development of a program in which they were involved. Candidates must also give an oral presentation of their thesis and pass an oral exam. 

A CMT designation review board evaluates the thesis, presentation and oral exam for each candidate to ensure that every person who is awarded a CMT designation meets the highest standards of excellence in information technology. This gives potential employers and senior management confidence that hiring a CMT designee means they are hiring someone who is among the best in their field.  

“Our industry is increasingly looking at ways to incorporate the right technology and develop appropriate technology standards to better serve our customers,” said Steve Wojnar, CMB, CMT, regional director of business development for Silver Hill Financial and a member of the CMT designation review board. “The CMT designation provides the tools technology professionals need to strengthen their knowledge base and help the industry achieve the technology goals it has set.”

Technology is the most dynamic aspect of any business, and even more so in the mortgage industry.  Enroll in the CMT program today and make your career as dynamic as your industry. For more information, visit www.campusmba.org/tech2005.
(Back To Top)

Securitization is now a significant part of the real estate debt and equity markets. Conduit lenders are competing aggressively with traditional portfolio lenders for loans, and new rules apply to the negotiation and documentation of real estate commercial loans. Real estate finance, once a local or regional business, is now an integral part of global capital markets. Borrowers now have many choices available for public or private, securitized or non-securitized debt. Although securitization has provided access to new sources of capital, periodic turmoil in the capital markets demonstrates that securitization is not without risk. As a result, borrowers and their counsel must carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of each financing choice.

This annual advanced course of study, comprising 12 full hours of instruction, is designed for real estate lawyers who need a better understanding of the basic elements of the securitization revolution. It answers many of the questions commonly asked: What is negotiable? What is not? What will it cost my client? What do the rating agencies really require? How do I protect my client against volatility in the capital markets? What happens if the lender or servicer encounters financial difficulty? What if the market changes or my client defaults? Whom do I talk to if there is a problem, a default, or a change in circumstances requiring an amendment to the documents?
 
Coursework includes:
• An overview of the economics of the marketplace, presented by representatives of investment banks and other industry leaders
• How to build a bond
• The basic types of securitization structures (including the creation of special purpose, bankruptcy remote entities), along with their legal and practical consequences
• The role of the rating agencies and their requirements, explained by representatives of the leading agencies
• Securitized vs. portfolio loans: a comparison of the risks and rewards
• A brief, user-friendly discussion of tax issues and concerns in various types of transactions, offered by a tax expert
• An exposition of the mortgage loan and related documents developed for securitized lenders by the real estate industry's Capital Consortium
• Advice for dealing with servicers of loans after securitization
• Key opinion issues: How does borrower's counsel respond to a request for an overreaching opinion or a claim that the required form of opinion cannot be changed?

Tuition for this course is $995. Tuition entitles registrants to admission to all sessions, a set of study materials, continental breakfasts and refreshment breaks daily. To register, call 1-800-CLE-NEWS (800-253-6397) or visit the conference Web site, www.ali-aba.org. The conference will take place at the Omni Hotel in Chicago.

The conference is sponsored with the cooperation of the Capital Consortium, whose members include MBA; the Bond Market Association; the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association; the National Association of Realtors; and the Real Estate Roundtable.
(Back To Top)

The Breakers Resort is on a 50-acre lake at Denver’s East Mississippi Avenue. The 134-building, Class A, gated, multifamily community consists of 1,523 units, built in six phases.

Kevin McCormack, senior vice president of the GMACCM Denver loan origination office, arranged the transaction through AEGON Real Estate Advisors USA, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Breakers Limited received the funding. Walt Koelbel, general partner with The Breakers Limited said the deal was the single largest transaction ever financed for the firm.

“The borrower is a repeat customer to whom we have provided several loans totaling more than $250 million,” McCormack said. “For this transaction, the loan structure offered the best pricing and other unique features including interest-only, LIBOR-based, floating-rate and fixed-rate conversion features built into the loan documents. The term is five years with a borrower-controlled five-year option to extend.”

GMACCM’s Hospitality Industry Division arranged the transaction on the Waterfront Hilton Hotel. The Waterfront Hotel LLC received the funding. 

The 290-room Waterfront Hilton on Pacific Coast Highway, a 349,130-square-foot hotel is situated on 3.597 acres, includes a 105-seat Palm Court restaurant which serves three daily meals, a 206-seat West Coast Club, a 20-seat lobby bar, a 40-seat Surf Hero deli, a gift shop, and a 16,132-square-foot meeting space consisting of two ballrooms, two board rooms, two rooms and eight conference suites. The hotel includes an outdoor swimming pool and a spa located in the central courtyard, a two-level concrete parking garage, a health club including a tented function area, a wedding gazebo and a sports court.
(Back To Top)

And the conference, which takes place April 19-20 in Washington, D.C., also provides the opportunity to hear some of those lawmakers and policy makers. Scheduled to appear at this year’s conference:

• Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., chair of the Senate Banking Securities and Investment subcommittee and author of a bill, S.190, that would comprehensively reform oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac;
• Treasury Secretary John Snow;
• HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who recently signaled that the department was ready to move forward with a new effort to reform the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA);
• Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., a key player in legislation related to the real estate finance industry;
• Political pundits Ann Coulter and Donna Brazile, who will provide a spirited lunchtime debate on the Washington political landscape.

The conference also includes the opportunity for participants to visit Capitol Hill and discuss issues of importance with their legislators. By doing so, participants demonstrate to the newly elected Congress the united force of MBA's members and its commitment to investing in America's communities.

All individuals from MBA member companies are encouraged to attend this important event. Registration fee is just $370 for MBA members. The preliminary registration deadline is April 5.

To register, call (800) 793-6222 or visit the registration page for more details. For sponsorship information, contact Paul Hilliar at (202) 557-2858 or philliar@mortgagebankers.org.
(Back To Top)

Analysts say lenders want bundled services but they do not necessarily want to purchase the entire package from only one service provider because they might find lower costs on individual services from a variety of vendors. “There is now a gap and that gap needs to be made up somewhere,” said John Le, president and CEO of Portellus, Irvine, Calif. “There are two different parties at polar odds. The service provider’s goal is to package as [many services] as possible and offer it to the lender as one economic package that is discounted. You have to buy it all.”

SharperLending, a communications conduit or “hub” based in Spokane, Wash., released version 3.0 of its bundled services platform last week. It connects lenders to third party vendors using .Net Web services to interface with vendors and sends data back and forth between lenders and service providers. “It essentially gets bundled in with the vendor who is providing that service to the lender. Just add on our transaction fee and it is very reasonable,” said Dave Black, president and CEO of SharperLending. “It is a vendor supported platform with no upfront costs required by the lender.”

But data standards between communication conduits and hubs are still not fully in place. “There is a lot of work that needs to be done on that front,” Le said. “Clearly, the need and the desire to use that type of bundled service is certainly there. But the underlying enabling technology and the providers that will do it have not fleshed it out yet.”

The MISMO [Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization ] data standards improved the transfer of credit report information to lenders, but Black said there needs to be greater adoption for other services. “What we have seen as a true data interchange in the credit world has yet to occur in the appraisal, title, closing or other services. There is no uniform format for appraisal and other services,” he said.

Several major lenders invested “millions of dollars” to create a built-in point of sale, vendor management system to bring different service providers together onto one platform and bundle services, industry experts said. “That’s .1 percent,” Le said. “There’s a huge gap in the marketplace in terms of someone coming to the table and offering that kind of service.”

Portellus can interoperate with third party providers, Le said, but it would require an interface to each provider using decision systems and business rules. “The technology on our side, at Portellus, is there. It’s just…do you want to expense the energy and resources to do it. For each lender, that’s a case-by-case basis.” 

Bundled services may be only as good as a hot equity or refinance market. As those markets dry up, bundled packages could do the same. Some major lenders could use AVMs on purchase loans with a 60 percent loan-to-value. “A flat rate does not necessarily mean borrowers are winning,” Black said. “We have to use AVMs, insured AVMs, some of the alternative lien position products to give us a more data-related bundle on easier deals.”

Black said bundled services with alternative valuation or lien products that target equity or refinance lending can save time and costs. “The HELOC bundle is huge within some of these additional guarantee products, such as AVMs [automated valuation models], the use of mortgage loan reports to cover their lien risk without having to pay for a full blown title,” Black said. “HELOCs are very big on the bundled service.”

Black said a HELOC or refinance commitment can take place in five minutes with alternative valuations and lien reports in place, and finish a deal at the point-of-sale. Although a three day right of rescission exists, the commitment helps lock-in the borrower. “That is all very RESPA-reform centric, Black said. It is a benefit to the borrower.”
(Back To Top)