VanDyk Mortgage News: September 11, 2024

September 11, 2024

• MI Center

Great news! We now have an option to run MI quotes within Encompass from ALL the providers at the same time! You’ll find MI Center under the “Tools” tab in your Encompass loan. Check out the job aid here and reach out to Production Support if you need any help running quotes.

• Brokered Loans: Appraisals

Don’t forget to review the  Broker Comparison Tool’s Submission Info tab to determine if the lender will accept an appraisal ordered through our system.  Currently, Acra is the only lender who will accept an appraisal from us that has been ordered like usual.  FNBA requires the use of an AMC – so if you are going to order an appraisal, be sure make a comment to the Appraisal department on your order that the loan is brokered and needs to be sent to ClearCapital AMC. As always – guidelines and requirements are subject to change, so we always recommend that you review the scenario and steps with the lender’s A/E before issuing any pre-qual /Pre-Approval letters or placing ANY orders.

• NAR Settlement: Borrower Paid Realtor Comp

On August 17, 2024, changes went into effect regarding realtor commissions as part of the NAR settlement. To ensure our staff have the pertinent information, we are including a copy of the agreement and a helpful comparison chart along with an internal document of the “highlights” prepared by James Beebe.  We have updated our standard pre-approval/pre-qualification forms in Encompass to include a reminder regarding buyer paid realtor commissions. We will be hosting a round table discussion where your questions can be answered by some of the VanDyk Leadership team – watch your inbox for the invitation coming soon!

• Processor Auto-Assign

We have an option in Encompass to automatically assign a processor to an Encompass file, based on Loan Originator.  The only limitation is: if an LO uses more than one processor, we wouldn’t want to apply the rule.  If the same LO and Processor Team are used on every file, this is a great feature to ensure the whole team is made aware of files in the pipeline.  If you are interested in having this option applied to you, please reach out to ProductionSupport@vandykmortgage.com to get the additional details and requirements.

• Chase Community Lending

Chase has published a new option for looking up eligible properties for their Community Lending product: Collateral Analytics tool. This site gives you the ability to search by address to see what listings are available in Chase Community eligible areas, and also allows you to search by a specific area to see if it is eligible.

• Coming Next Week: ADP Workforce Now

As a reminder: starting September 16, 2024, we will be transitioning from Paylocity to ADP Workforce Now. Paylocity will be shut down on September 15^th at 11:59 PM EST.

• Recasts & EPO

As we approach the possibility of lower rates, we wanted to remind everyone of EPOs and Recasts. Recasts are allowed on Conventional mortgages only and to recast, the borrower needs to have made 6 on-time payments. There are fees and the process differs depending on the servicer. Please make sure you are providing borrowers with accurate timelines if they wish to recast.

Early payoffs (EPO) are also a conversation point to have with your borrowers in this market. Make sure they understand that the expectation is that they will keep the mortgage long-term and that it is not a bridge loan. If the borrowers are selling a property with large equity or turning a prior primary into a 2nd/investment house, make sure that is a long-term plan. Early payoffs have been on the rise, so please be mindful of this and ask your borrowers the questions.

• Polly

We are in the pilot phase of Polly and working out any remaining system issues. Things have been going well so far and we anticipate companywide trainings starting by Mid-September. Please be on the lookout for training invitations to be sent this afternoon, and make sure to attend if you will be using the new pricing engine. Trainings will be:

• Monday, September 16 @ 3pm Eastern
• Tuesday, September 17 @ 12pm Eastern
• Wednesday, September 25 @ 2pm Eastern
• Thursday, September 26 @ 11am Eastern

• aiUW: Future Employment

Please note that aiUW will add conditions for future employment when the Date Hired or Years in this Job are missing from the VOE section. To avoid this, make sure both the Date Hired and Years in this Job fields are completed when it’s an existing employer.

• HR Updates

We are delighted to welcome our most recent new hires!  Be sure to give them a warm welcome and log in to our Welcome to VDM (vfairs.com) site to “like” the photos they have added to the photobooth:

Agency Updates

Fannie Mae

DU Update: Revalidation of Employment: Starting September 20, 2024, DU will be updated to automate the review of supplemental asset reports for revalidating employment when a loan cannot close by the original date. This change allows lenders to receive a new “Close by Date” from DU and retain employment reps and warrants, provided other conditions are met. Additionally, the supplemental asset report no longer needs to come from the same vendor as the initial report. Full details can be reviewed in Fannie Update SEL-2024-06.

Freddie Mac

Effective Date Extended for Flood Insurance Premium Requirement: Freddie Mac announced that when a flood insurance policy on a mortgaged premises shows both a full risk premium and a discounted premium, the full risk premium plus any fees and surcharges must be used to calculate the housing expense-to-income and debt payment-to-income ratios. To give us additional time to implement this change, Freddie extended the effective date from note dates on or after September 5, 2024, to note dates on or after April 1, 2025.

FHA

FHA New Construction- Reminder: Prior to placing an appraisal order, a builder’s cert is required. If an appraisal order is placed as an existing home and the appraiser determines the property is new construction, the order will be placed on hold until the builder’s cert is uploaded.

USDA

Updated Income Limits: The Fiscal Year 2024 income limits for the Single Family Direct Loan and Grant Programs were published through Procedure Notice 618.

The income limits were updated in the impacted websites and systems (e.g., UniFi and Section 502’s Self-Assessment tool). The following automated worksheets were also updated.

• Section 502 Worksheet for Computing Income and Maximum Loan Calculator (as found on the Direct Loan Application Packagers page).
• Section 504 Automated Worksheet (as found on the Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants page under the ‘To Apply’ tab).

VA

Secondary Borrowing on Assumptions: The VA has issued guidance regarding assumption transactions that involve secondary borrowing (i.e., if the borrower needs an additional lien to help finance the purchase). VA does not prohibit the assumer of a VA-guaranteed loan from obtaining secondary financing, but the lender is responsible for ensuring regulatory requirements are met for the assumption – which includes verifying the lien position, documentation of the secondary financing, and allowable purposes – full details can be reviewed in VA Circular 26-24-17.

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Upcoming Events and Reminders

Miss a training? You’ll find our monthly newscast and Iron Sharpens Iron recordings in the VDM Vault. Department-specific trainings are shared in their respective Seafile folders.

Don’t forget: you can find invitations on our shared calendar under What’s Happening at VDMC.net (all times posted on the What’s Happening calendar are EST)

• Deal Desk: Every Tuesday at 1:30pm Eastern
• VanDyk Mortgage Newscast: Thursday, September 12 at 1pm Eastern
• Production Roundtable: Monday, September 16 @ 1pm Eastern REMINDER: ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY for all LPs and TCs/LOAs who perform TC functions.
• Iron Sharpens Iron: Tuesday, September 17 @ 11am Eastern
• Polly Training:
  • Monday, September 16 @ 3pm Eastern
  • Tuesday, September 17 @ 12pm Eastern
  • Wednesday, September 25 @ 2pm Eastern
  • Thursday, September 26 @ 11am Eastern

Additional Training Opportunities

• Freddie Mac has published their training offerings available in September. Check out the calendar here and enroll today!

Did You Know?

Interested Party Contributions

As a reminder, the Interested Party Contributions (IPCs) may never exceed the amount of closing costs, prepaids, and discount points. The easiest place to review this is the URLA – Lender screen Details of Transaction in Encompass.  If you have an excess of IPCs, look at utilizing to buy down PMI (conventional loans with LTV > 80%), pay the VA Funding Fee (must be all or nothing), pay the FHA UFMIP (must be all or nothing), or the USDA Upfront Fee (must be all or nothing).  This should always be reviewed prior to issuing your initial CD as a courtesy to the borrower.

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The Condo Vault Orders: Reminder

REMINDER!  If your Condo is Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, or VA approved, your order with The Condo Vault should be for Insurance Review Only.  We do not need full or limited reviews done on agency approved condos.