The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a letter to committee chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said it supported the markup, introduced earlier this year by Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; John Sununu, R-N.H.; and Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. MBA Chairman Michael Petrie, CMB, said MBA was pleased that the markup contained language that delineated a clear “bright line” between the primary and secondary mortgage markets.

“We are encouraged by the progress you have made toward this goal today. Your legislation represents a clear understanding of the need to improve oversight of the GSEs relative to safety and soundness, systemic risk, and to ensure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not deviate from their congressionally chartered purposes,” Petrie said. “Your bill’s product-approval and activity review language is consistent with the spirit of MBA's longstanding policy that the regulator ought to establish a “bright line” to ensure the GSEs remain focused on their secondary-market purposes.”

Additionally, under the Committee’s version of S. 190, the proposed new regulator would have broad power to issue regulations and guidelines, strong authority to better define and enforce the charter acts, and flexible authority to set capital requirements.

“These are important improvements,” Petrie wrote. “We also believe the bill appropriately would not raise the conforming loan limit. We are pleased that the regulator would have appropriate enforcement authority modeled after that of the banking agencies and would be funded outside the Congressional appropriations process. The proposal would require the GSEs to get prior approval of new products, which would be prohibited from impairing the stability or competitiveness of the mortgage finance system.”

The markup did not include amendments, and MBA pointed out that two proposed amendments were worthy of further consideration as the legislation moves to the floor of the Senate. In particular, MBA supports the amendment to create an ombudsman for the new regulator. “Such an office, which would be similar to offices in the banking regulatory agencies, would improve the ability of the regulator to carry out its statutory mission,” Petrie said.

Additionally, MBA supports an amendment to clarify that the regulator has the authority to allow the Federal Home Loan Banks to securitize mortgage loans, thereby strengthening the Banks’ safety and soundness and increasing competition in the secondary market.

S. 190 differs from the House version of the GSE bill, H.R. 1461. That bill cleared the House Financial Services Committee in May by a 65-5 vote.

Both bills are expected to receive floor votes later this summer, possibly by September.
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The study found that the real estate industry has a "great deal of ground" to cover to catch up with the movement towards workplace diversity that has mobilized corporate America over the past several years. Several leading real estate companies, including Cushman & Wakefield Inc., MacFarlane Partners and Pulte Homes Inc., sponsored the report. The survey found both a pronounced insufficiency of opportunities for minorities in real estate as well as some encouraging details on successful diversity initiatives at a few forward-thinking real estate companies, FPL said.

"We are committed to improving diversity in the real estate industry not only because it's the right thing to do socially, but also because it's the right way to run a business," said Bill Ferguson, co-chairman of FPL. "Corporate America is undergoing rapid, fundamental changes in the demographics of its employees and customers. As workplace diversity increases and minority buying power grows, it's clear that success in tomorrow's real estate industry requires the successful implementation of diversity initiatives today."

"Our goal," Ferguson said, "is to create awareness of the status quo and define a path towards effectively driving new workplace initiatives."

Only 2 percent of respondents said that African-Americans comprise 15 percent or more of their board positions, and Asian and Latino board members were even more rare. A recent Fortune magazine study, which found that minorities occupied 21 percent of board positions among of the Fortune 1,000 and the 200 largest private U.S. companies, FPL said. In addition, nearly 92 percent of companies surveyed said that they currently do not align their compensation practices with the company's diversity goals.

"We should embrace this opportunity to start a dialogue about best practices," said Ron Whitley, managing director of human resources at Cushman & Wakefield. "The more we can show how diversity improves business performance, the more traction our initiatives will get."

The Mortgage Bankers Association offers several programs to increase workplace diversity including the Path to Diversity program and the Diversity Task Force.

The Path to Diversity scholarship program, administered by the MBA and a sponsorship provided by the Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA), a trust fund subsidiary of MBA. The following companies have also provided scholarship funds: National Puerto Rican Coalition, RBC Centura, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Bank of America, SunTrust Mortgage and United Guaranty Residential Insurance Co. Companies can participate in the Path to Diversity program by enrolling as a participating company or by sponsoring 10 or more scholarships.

To date, 138 scholarships have been awarded since the program's inception in 2001. The Web site is www.mortgagebankers.org/pathtodiversity/.

"As the industry faces a more diverse America in the coming years, real estate companies—nationally and globally—must be more aggressive in their diversity initiatives, which are critical to a company's competitive advantage," said Victor MacFarlane, founder and managing principal of MacFarlane Partners. "Today, minority groups as a whole are the majority in several of the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and the wage gap between women and men is narrowing rapidly. As business leaders, we must address these and other demographic shifts to ensure the success of our companies."

For the study, FPL examined formal diversity practices, initiatives and studies across corporate America in order to understand successful efforts in other industries. The firm compiled information collected by other researchers through interviews with professionals in a broad range of industries and conducted additional interviews with leaders in real estate. Finally, FPL conducted the first-ever survey of the largest real estate firms across several sectors.

Pamela Puryear, an expert in organizational effectiveness and diversity and contributing author to the FPL Diversity Report, said that organizations should view diversity as one of many organizational dynamics that must be managed in order to achieve optimal organizational performance.

"If an organization wants diversity to translate into improved organizational performance, it must develop a diversity management strategy that embraces diversity and incorporates diverse perspectives. I hope that this report will serve as a catalyst for leaders in the real estate industry to integrate diversity management with other operational practices such as compensation. Furthermore, I hope that industry leaders think strategically about aligning diversity goals with desired business outcomes," Puryear said.

FPL uncovered several stories of successful diversity initiatives across the spectrum of sectors examined in the study. "Last year, over half the mandates we received for board searches were for candidates with diverse backgrounds," said Ferguson. "I believe this will be our greatest contribution to the industry: the board members and senior executives we recruit become catalysts for change throughout their organizations."
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• Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission;
• Roel Campos as an SEC commissioner;
• Annette Nazareth as an SEC commissioner;
• John Dugan as Comptroller of the Currency;
• John Reich a director with the Office of Thrift Supervision; and
• Martin Gruenberg as a member of the Board and vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The nominations now go to the full Senate for approval. Cox is expected to submit the resignation for his House seat upon Senate approval.

The FDIC also announced the appointment of M. Anthony Lowe as deputy regional director of risk management in the Dallas Region. The appointment is effective August 7. Lowe is a 20-year FDIC veteran, currently an assistant regional director for risk management in the Dallas Region.

Freddie Mac, McLean, Va., named Michael Wade to the newly created position of vice president for external operational Risk Management.  In his new position, Wade will be responsible for ensuring the high quality of Freddie Mac's Single Family operations. 

Wade comes to Freddie Mac from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, where he held a number of increasingly responsible positions since joining the company in 1992. Most recently he was Wells Fargo Home Mortgage's senior vice president of Credit Policy and Strategy. Other positions he held while at Wells Fargo include senior vice president of Institutional Risk Management and as its vice president of Quality Control.

The Real Estate Solutions division of Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., announced the appointment of David Miller to the position of executive vice president of national sales. He will focus on the division’s broker-based business, as well as creating alliances with national real estate franchises and regional “mega brokers.”  

A 30-year veteran of the residential real estate industry, Miller had previously been executive vice president and chief business development officer for First Team Real Estate in Orange County, Calif. He started as an agent in 1974 and opened his own company in 1980. After selling his company in 1988, Miller joined Coldwell Banker; when it was purchased, he moved to Cendant Real Estate Division as senior vice-president of national sales.

Lenders First Choice, Simi Valley, Calif., appointed Corey Hulbert as senior vice president of national operations, assisting with product development and business initiatives, current operations refining processes. He will be based out of LFC’s East coast operational center in Longwood (Orlando), Fla.

Prior to joining LFC, Hulbert served as executive vice president of operations for Nations Lending Service in Overland Park, Kan. Previously he also worked for Lender’s Service and Mellon Bank.

Mavent Inc., Irvine, Calif., announced the promotion of Lynette Hotchkiss to senior vice president and senior legal counsel, overseeing the legal integrity of the Mavent Expert System and the Mavent Compliance Console (MC2). 

Hotchkiss, who joined Mavent in 2002 as senior legal counsel, has more than 23 years of experience in lending, real estate, corporate and general business law, working primarily with technology companies. Prior to joining the company, she was a senior attorney for PSC Inc., a bar code scanning manufacturer, after having served for 11 years as lending products counsel for Portland, Ore.-based CFI ProServices Inc. (now Harland Financial Solutions Inc.).

Standard & Poor's, London, appointed Ian Bell as head of its European structured finance credit rating business. He will be responsible for managing a 130-strong international group with members in London, Paris, Milan, Madrid and Frankfurt.

Prior to this appointment, Bell had been senior European counsel at Standard & Poor's Ratings Services since 1999. Before joining Standard & Poor's in 1999, he was a partner at the law firm Clifford Chance, where he worked for 11 years, almost exclusively on structured finance and securitization.

PaperClip Software, Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., hired Mike Salicco as account executive for the mortgage industry, responsible for expanding the use of the company's paperless document management, document processing and document delivery products.

Salicco brings 14 years of mortgage industry experience. Prior to joining PaperClip Software, he served as vice president for Foxtons Financial. He has also been a regional sales manager for AmeriCredit Financial Services and for Western Financial Bank.

Sperry Van Ness, Irvine, Calif., named Corey Waite as senior vice president of its Pasadena, Calif., office, overseeing daily operations and growth of. Additionally, he will specialize in the sale of retail properties in the San Gabriel Valley area.

Prior to joining Sperry Van Ness, Waite served as senior managing director in the CB Richard Ellis Global Corporate Services Business Development division, integrating new accounts and supervising GCS marketing efforts.
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With SplitEdge, homebuilders can provide homebuyers with a one-time, refundable upfront MI payment, which can be 0.75 percent, 1.00 percent, or 1.25 percent of the total mortgage loan.

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Stewart Title Co., Houston, acquired Central Title LLC of Los Alamos, N.M. Existing management and staff will remain with the office.

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InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending, an Ann Arbor, Mich.–based division of ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Inc., offers DreamFirst, a new mortgage product suite designed to meet the needs of low- to moderate-income borrowers as well as those in underserved markets.

The new DreamFirst product suite makes affordable mortgages available at conforming mortgage prices, ultimately protecting borrowers from unfair, predatory lending practices. Features of DreamFirst include a higher debt-to-income ratio allowance, manual underwriting on "cautioned" or "referred" loans, and the acceptance of physical cash for a down payment.

Most DreamFirst mortgage loans require consumers to complete pre-credit counseling that details the basics of homeownership, credit, mortgage lending, budgeting and home maintenance. All DreamFirst mortgage loans also require borrowers have a valid social security number. Products in InterFirst's DreamFirst suite include 15-, 20-, and 30-year fully amortizing, fixed-rate mortgages as well as 7/1 and 10/1 London interbank offered rate-based adjustable-rate mortgages.

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Phoenix-based Blue Financial, will offer a free mortgage loan to any firefighter in Arizona for the months of July and August as their way of saying thank you for the great job in the Cave Creek Complex fires. Hal Jolley, president of Blue Financial said, "938 personnel, 15 crews, 24 engines, 4 bulldozers, 7 water venders, and 7 helicopters worked in concert to contain the fires. We have many clients, and friends who live in the area, and are very thankful for the efforts put forth by all. As a salute to the good work, we are offering any firefighter throughout the entire state of Arizona a free, 30-year conforming mortgage with absolutely no points, or lender fees whatsoever in the months of July and August. Firefighters simply need to present their Fire Credentials at the time of application to receive this special thank you."
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The report said real estate can “still reduce risk and may increase portfolio returns.” Using past market performance and risk data from January 1994 to December 2004, three model portfolios were tracked:  one with 50 percent stocks and 50 percent bonds; one with 45 percent of each and 10 percent in real estate; and one with 43 percent bonds, 42 percent stocks and 15 percent real estate. 

The findings showed that $1 million invested in the portfolio with 15 percent real estate grew to $2.9 million during the period—$238,000 greater than in the portfolio with no real estate investments.

The study strongly recommended dividing real estate investments evenly between privately owned properties and publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs). But, the report stressed that the split depends greatly on market factors and available investment offerings at the time.

The study's primary author, Jason Laurie, CFA, said diversification was the key to success and safety in the real estate sector. "In the end, we expect that real estate returns, like all other asset classes, will ultimately revert to their longer-term average annual return," he said.

A copy of the Altair Report on Real Estate is available upon request toamalone@altairadvisers.com.
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GMACCM provided $52 million in fixed-rate refinancing for a portfolio of retail properties located in New York City. The retail portfolio consists of seven properties, six of which are located throughout the borough of Manhattan. The seventh retail property is in the borough of Queens.

The portfolio consists of condominium interests totaling 68,431 square-feet of grade-level retail and second-floor professional office units.

Irwin Boris, vice president at GMACCM in the New York loan origination team, arranged the transaction through the company’s proprietary lending group. MacArthur Properties received the funding. According Boris, the loan term is 15 years, and the initial two years are interest-only. The remaining 13 years are amortized on a 30-year schedule, and pricing was "competitive."

“The borrower’s counsel had worked with other clients who had positive experiences with GMACCM and referred them to us for a deal structure and terms to meet their specific needs,” Boris said.

GMACCM also provided a $52.4 million permanent, fixed-rate, acquisition loan for a three-property hotel portfolio including the Hilton Suites Anaheim/Orange, the Hilton Suites Phoenix and Embassy Suites Beachwood.

The Hilton Suites Anaheim/Orange, on three acres in Orange Calif., consists of 221,284-square-feet hotel with 230 rooms, two restaurants, a lounge, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a whirlpool spa, an exercise room, a sauna, a gift shop and a business center. The 226-room Hilton Suites Phoenix, on 1.42 acres, is a 191,120-square-foot hotel in one eleven-story building. Amenities include a business center, an indoor swimming pool, a spa, an exercise room and a sundry shop. The 216-room Embassy Suites Beachwood by Hilton, in Beachwood, Ohio. The 180,000-square-foot hotel consists of one four-story building on 6.14 acres. Amenities include an in-ground swimming pool, a spa, an exercise room, a sauna, a gift shop, a laundry room, a game room and a business center.

The Hospitality Industry Division of GMACCM arranged and underwrote the transaction, and an entity controlled by RLJ Urban Lodging Fund Inc. received the funding. This is the first deal between RLJ and GMACCM.

Earlier in July, GMACCM provided an acquisition bridge loan for $128 million on Clarendon 1021, a 419-unit condominium with 504 underground parking spaces.

Richard Bopp, senior vice president and branch manager at GMACCM’s Washington, D.C. loan origination office worked with Fabrice Vasques and Jason Roach, vice presidents in the Washington office, to arrange the transaction through GMACCM’s proprietary lending group. Carlyle-FSP Clarendon Associated, LP received the funding. GMACCM “provided a highly leveraged loan and very aggressive pricing due to the strong sponsorship and the quality and location of the property,” Bopp said.

Common area amenities at Clarendon 1021 include a fully equipped fitness center, game room, cyber café with high-speed Internet connections and a rooftop heated swimming pool and spa.
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You want your loan agents and brokers finding and closing loans, not dealing with mundane, tedious tasks such as collecting, filing, faxing, shipping, or validating documents. But proper documentation is the life-blood of the loan process.
 
In "Paper Pusher No More,” industry expert Jim Henderson will discuss methods to enhance productivity of your employees. Topics will include:

• Time studies and task analysis: Old-fashioned industrial engineering is a great place to start ;

• System boundaries: Eliminate paper pushing and mundane tasks by choosing the right computer systems for your processes;

• New technologies: An overview of new technologies that might help and where they are typically a fit; and
 
• The ultimate buy-in: Making your employee's job easier.

Jim Henderson has spent the past 10 years in business process automation, first as a systems engineer and architect and then in the president's role at KeyMark. KeyMark began with scanning, OCR and automated forms processing at state department of revenues and moved to automation of electronic and paper billing and mortgage loan processes using integrated business rules engines, workflow, unstructured forms processing and document management.
 
Jim has served with the HIPAA Electronic Claims Attachment Subcommittee and has spoken at numerous industry events including AIIM, ARMA and AICPA. He is a Certified Information Capture Professional and Certified Document Imaging Architect.

It's never been easier to train your staff on the most current topics relevant to your business. Listen in to a 60-minute presentation by an industry expert, followed by a 30-minute interactive question and answer session. Just dial in from your conference room speakerphone to train your staff—whether there are two or 20 employees in attendance.
 
ThePowerPoint presentation that accompanies the audio program will be sent via email one week prior to the program date, and can be reproduced for all attendees.
 
CampusMBA Audio Programs are a timely, convenient and cost-effective way to train your entire staff on the latest topics. Why register for an Audio Program?

• Inexpensive—$225 for MBA members/$325 Non-member per site;
• Timely topics—regulatory and sales strategy issues brought directly to your speakerphone and conference room;
• Quality Program—program and presentation materials developed by industry experts;
• Simple—just use your speaker phone; and
• Current—latest topics brought to you in a timely way.

For more information, visit the CampusMBA Web site at www.campusmba.org; call (800) 348-8653 or email cbuzolich@mortgagebankers.org.
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"Education keeps mortgage professionals up to date on the latest developments in the industry and helps us serve our customers better," said Larry Gilmore, AMP, chair of MBA's Diversity Task Force and vice president of government of housing and industry relations for Option One Mortgage Corp. "The Path to Diversity scholarships provide opportunities for these industry professionals to extend their knowledge and enhance their careers, while ensuring that the industry meets the needs of the diverse communities we serve."

The Path to Diversity program continues through a sponsorship provided by the Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA), a trust fund subsidiary of MBA. The following companies have also provided scholarship funds: Irwin Mortgage, Option One Mortgage, SunTrust Mortgage and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.Companies can participate in the Path to Diversity program by enrolling as a participating company or by sponsoring 10 or more scholarships. Additionally, member firms providing internships to qualified college students are eligible to receive free distance-learning courses for each intern through CampusMBA.

To date, 147 scholarships have been awarded since the program's inception in 2001. 

Visit http://www.mortgagebankers.org/pathtodiversity to download the scholarship application. For more information, contact Joanna Truitt at (202) 557-2835 or jtruitt@mortgagebankers.org.
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“Specifically in the small to medium-sized lender shops, especially as it relates to [non]prime mortgage loans, I’m not even talking about HOEPA [Home Ownership Equity Protection Act] loans, packaging in our view will lead to a serious increase in mortgage fraud,” Falk said.
 
Monica Gonzales at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition also said that packaging can help to create predatory lending in HOEPA loans and potential fraud. Citgroup’s Myers, however, said she did not see how itemization of costs relates to fraud since borrowers and lenders both want to avoid fraud.
 
“The borrower’s knowledge of [the appraisal cost to a lender] isn’t going to help in any way avoid fraud. It is going to be due diligence and quality evaluation. And believe me, that will not be compromised in any type of negotiations.”

Jay Varon, a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm Foley & Lardner, said, “I don’t see a huge outcry for packaging. Our view is the market is providing sufficient benefits for the moment and we should let it play out.”
 
HUD will hold three more Roundtables: August 4th in Chicago; August 11th in Fort Worth, Texas and August 18th in Washington, D.C.
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