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September 7, 2023

• Floify

Companywide Floify training will be presented the weeks of 9/11 and 9/18 (Monday or Tuesday same content, just two options).  Once you have completed training you can request that your Apply Now and website links be changed over to Floify by emailing Floify@vandykmortgage.com.  Anyone not already transitioned will be moved automatically by EOB on 9/25.

Check out the Floify Resources folder for recorded trainings and how-to guides. At the VDMC.net blog, the Howee’s Helpful Tips category is where you’ll find tips and tricks for Floify.

• New Income Calculation Tool: Coming Soon!

We are delighted to offer a NEW and IMPROVED income tool for all income types – Prism & Prism PLUS! Prism will allow us the opportunity to align with our agency and investor income calculations, gain greater consistencies in income calculations from sales to underwriting and QC, as well as reduce cost.  BONUS: You can get solid income calculations on the weekends and after hours without AskUW!  Be on the lookout for mandatory trainings this month!

• SLA/Turn Time Reminders

We strive to provide unparalleled service to all our customers by responding quickly to requests for assistance.  When tickets and emails are submitted to our service teams (AskUW, Pipelines, ProductionSupport, ITHelpDesk, Compliance etc) they are responded to in the order they were received within 24 hours.  Often the response time is less than 15 minutes – so when it takes longer than this, our customers may feel our service level has decreased or they are not important to us.  We hope you never feel this way! There is an ebb and flow of business during the day and staff is assigned to certain tasks accordingly. If you’re ever unsure of who to contact, refer to our Who to Call blog post here.

Thank you for your patience and understanding of our service level agreement and expectations.  If you have an urgent issue that needs to be addressed immediately, escalating to your supervisor is the best course of action.

• • • LO to Branch Manager
    • Branch Manager to Regional Manager
    • Regional Manager to Sr Management

 

• Introducing: Second Home and Investment Nondelegated Options through NexBank

NexBank is offering reduced LLPAs on Second Home and Investment properties under their Mortgage Connect product. These are portfolio products for the bank, so unfortunately they will be the ones underwriting these products. Attached you will find their matrix and Guidelines. Please note: VanDyk will not be offering their ARMs at this time.

These products will be available in Optimal Blue as of Friday, September 8th. Pricing note: Not all Second Home and Investment properties will price better under this product. The larger the LLPA’s, the more likely it is to price better.

• New Form: Pre-Application Worksheet

On September 6, 2023, the Itemized Fee Worksheet (2021) will no longer be available to print from Encompass. To provide a better representation of the itemization, a new document called Pre-Application Worksheet has been provided for use. Find this new form under the Custom Forms tab > Companywide (Custom Documents), as seen below:

• Credit Authorization Update

In an effort to ensure compliance with regulatory agencies, starting 9/11/23 the Credit Authorization fields on Borrower Summary – VDMC will be required to be completed prior to ordering credit in a file. When the “Authorized Credit Report” box is checked, you are certifying you have obtained in writing the borrower’s permission to pull their credit.

To help you maintain excellent service and reduce your stress, we are working through an automation feature where Floify will complete this for you once the borrower finishes the credit authorization process in their app and/or an auth to pull credit form is uploaded into the corresponding bucket of the Encompass eFolder.

• Freddie/Soft Pull Update

GREAT NEWS!  We have a few two-bureau Soft Pull test cases with Xactus that have successfully been run through Freddie Mac’s LPA and hope to have the missing third bureau before the holidays.  SARMA has advised their test cases with all 3 bureaus should be ready this week which means we may be able to offer Freddie Mac LPA results with tri-merge soft pulls via SARMA soon.  EXCITING!!!

• SimpleNexus: Loan Application Refresh

For teams still using SimpleNexus: SN has launched a new borrower-facing application for new loans, which was enabled on September 1. You may notice slight changes to the data coming in; unfortunately, this version of the app does not have the same required fields as our custom application did.

We encourage all teams who have been trained on Floify to update their Apply Now links to point to Floify – since Floify allows you to customize your URLA to get the data you’re looking for. Reach out to Floify@vandykmortgage.com with any questions.

• Brokered Loan Process Flow

Tired of feeling out of the loop with your brokered loan Encompass pipeline?  COMING SOON – the brokered loan template set applied to your brokered loans will include milestones specific to brokering!  That’s right – when the loan is CTC with the lender, your Encompass file can be updated to reflect the same.  When the closing docs are signed, your Encompass pipeline can show that too!  We are in the final stages of testing and hope to go live with templates applied on and after 10/1.  See the attached updated Brokered Loan workflow for details.

• Condo Updates

We have listened to feedback from many of you regarding wanting to bill the borrower up front for the Condo Fee before processing begins with The Condo Vault.  If you have placed an order for Condo Approval this week, you may have noticed our new and improved Borrower Summary drop down for the Condo Fee to be POC (Paid Outside Closing).  Upon entering the Date for Condo Screening, please complete the dropdown accordingly to indicate if the fee will be collected upfront or at closing.  Like our appraisal orders, if the fee is to be collected upfront, the condo order will be on hold until payment is made by the borrower.  Please contact condoapprovals@vandykmortgage.com with any questions.

 

• Jumbo Update: Loan Amount Approvals

We are pleased to announce that we now have non-delegated and broker options for loan amounts > $2 million up to $3 million!

            Delegated In House – Loan Amounts up to $2 million.

*Loan CANNOT be locked prior to “scrub” review – Send email to SpecUW@vandykmortgage.com (loan is not fully underwritten until it is submitted into Underwriting)

            Non-Delegated In House – Loan Amounts > $2 million up to $3 million

*Loan CANNOT be locked prior to FULL review – Loan should be submitted into Underwriting

*Upon review AND confirmation loan meets Investor Guidelines by SpecUW, loan will be sent to Board of Directors for review and approval

            Broker – Loan Amounts > $2 million up to $3 million

*Loan CANNOT be locked prior to review – Send email to Secondary and Megan Crowley

*Upon review AND confirmation loan meets Broker Guidelines, loan will be sent to Board of Directors for review and approval

• CE Reminder

It’s that time of year again – Continuing Education (CE) and Renewal time! See the attached email from our Licensing department with details and make sure to complete your CE by your state deadline. If you have already completed your CE/CON-ED, please email Shelby Losinski to let her know you are a rockstar.

• Appraisal Product Update

Due to the lack of interest, we have removed the Hybrid appraisal option from ValueLink. If you see one offered in AUS, please order a full appraisal instead.

• Integrity Check Reminder – Locked Loan Discrepancy

Reminder: When requesting disclosures, you will receive an error if your loan data and lock data do NOT match in the Integrity Check portion of the disclosure request forms. Please see the attached Disclosure Desk Update email for full details.

• Mental Health Tips for Remote Employees

Did you know that remote work has affected how connected employees feel to their colleagues? A OnePoll study revealed:

• 7 in 10 remote workers feel more isolated than when they worked in the office.
• 63% of remote workers feel less engaged with their teams.

Our wonderful HR team has put together the attached 3 Mental Health Tips for Remote Employees – please check it out for strategies to maintain your mental well-being and improve your overall happiness while working remotely. Although you may not work in a physical workplace, remember that you’re not alone. If you have concerns about your mental health, follow up with HR for mental health resources.

Agency Updates

Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae has expanded their policy on Personal Gifts and Gifts of Equity to allow an acceptable donor who is also the seller of the subject property to be an eligible Gift Donor so long as they are not affiliated with another interested party to the transaction.  They have also expanded the policy to allow gift funds to be sourced from an estate of an acceptable donor or a trust established by an acceptable donor.  These changes can be taken advantage of immediately.

While Fannie Mae has expanded their policy regarding gifts, they are tightening up on Trust Income adding the following additional requirements with loan applications dated on and after November 1, 2023:

1. Funds being used for down payment, closing costs, or reserves must be subtracted from the total funds available to determine if the income meets the 3-year continuance.  Note – If the income from the Trust is derived from Rental Income, then the 3-year continuance is not required.
2. Differentiating treatment of variable and fixed Trust payments as follows:

1. 1. Variable – 24-month history of receipt with 2-years of Tax Returns
   2. Fixed – 12-month history of receipt unless the Trust confirms fixed payments, the borrower is not the grantor of the Trust, and at least one payment is received prior to loan closing.

3. Proof of current receipt of the income with a current bank statement or equivalent documentation.
4. If employment-related assets are liquidated and placed in a Trust within 12-months of the application date, compliance with the policies in Employment-Related Assets as Qualifying Income is required.

 

Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac has made clarifications and updates surrounding Student Loan Payments that are included in DTI:

• Effective immediately, an amount greater than zero must be included in the DTI for all student loans, including those in income-driven repayment plans.  When the monthly payment on the credit report is zero, alternate documentation can be provided to determine the amount for inclusion in the monthly DTI ratio (or the .5% of the balance may be used).
• Effective for loans closing on and after January 4, 2024: Freddie Mac will be adding requirements for student loans in income-driven repayment plans where documentation indicates that the borrower must recertify their income and/or that the borrower’s payment will increase prior to or on the first mortgage payment date.  We will advise what specifically these requirements are upon further clarification from our friends at Freddie Mac.

 

Regarding refinance loans with Freddie Mac…

• No Cash-Out – Requirements have been updated concerning the allowable use of proceeds to specify that the payoff of the existing first mortgage may include a deferred balance under a loss mitigation plan and any costs or fees associated with the satisfaction and release of the first mortgage, such as late fees and prepayment penalties.
• Cash-Out – The following updates have been made:
  • When title is held in an LLC or limited partnership – The transfer of title into the Borrower’s name must be completed on or before the Note Date.
  • 12-month seasoning does not apply to Construction Conversion or Manufactured Homes being converted to legally classified real property under State law.

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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 Upcoming Events at VDMC.net.

• Deal Desk: Loan Save with Dave: Every Tuesday at 1pm Eastern
• Deal Desk: Feature Topic + Loan Save with Dave: Every Thursday at 1pm Eastern
• VanDyk Mortgage Newscast: Friday, September 8 @ 1pm Eastern
• Iron Sharpens Iron: Tuesday, September 19 @ 11am Eastern
• Production Roundtable: Friday, September 22 @ 12:30pm Eastern on National Hobbit Day. MANDATORY for all LPs and TCs

 

FEMA Disaster Inspections
When you place an order for a FEMA Disaster Inspection in ValueLink, please use the product: FEMA DISASTER AREA INSPECTION. Choosing a different product can cause delays and confusion.

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Identifying a Soft Pull
We have noticed an increase in Sarma soft pulls being imported into Encompass, and then attempting to run AUS or pricing. As a reminder, Sarma soft pulls cannot be used for qualification at this time.

The easiest way to identify a soft pull is to look at the top of your report. FNMA# will show INVALID for a soft pull, and the Customer Number will be 7705SP for the soft pull account.

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FHA– Purchase Date Field
On FHA loans, within the FHA Management Screen, this purchase date needs to be the date of the Purchase Contract (not the expiration date of the Contract).

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Howee Reminder

As we come up on Howee’s 2^nd anniversary helping at VDMC.net, we wanted to pass along some best practices.

Howee is only as smart as the information we have added to the system – if you ask a question and don’t get a response, you can click “Open a Ticket” – this will send our teams a notification that knowledge needs to be added to Howee.

Or, if you get an answer and it’s not helpful, click the Thumbs Down icon to send feedback – you can let us know if it was wrong, or not specific enough, or outdated.

Howee gets better when we work together!

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