TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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3MReport.indd 26 | Th e M Rep o RT Feature application process. Lenders should be collecting more documentation than a bor- rower's accountant, attorney or financial planner. Of the 3,000 to 4,000 borrow- ers that Movement Mortgage serves every month, some extremely valuable data is col- lected. The value of this data is that we can help borrowers leverage this information to make credit more available to them. It is also important to let these borrowers know that foreclosure is no longer a death sentence to their future credit. In fact, many buyers who were foreclosed on in 2007, 2008, etc. are now coming back, and they are being approved for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac prime loans. This borrower group con- sists of approvable prime candidates who are not scared to come back. One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that credit is hard to get right now and that mortgages are just impossible to qualify for. This is one of the biggest fallacies in the general public. The fact is many lenders are doing loans with credit scores down to 580 with bankruptcies and foreclosures in the borrower's past. Credit is being extended to these borrowers on a regular basis. The most underserved population in the marketplace is the non-traditional income borrowers, because they may have a lot of self-employed income from multiple sources. Those are actually the most underserved in the credit spectrum of borrowers. Borrowers with documentable income and sufficient access and minimal down payments are typically able to get credit and get mort- gages. The government guidelines are pretty expansive and provide for credit for a wide spectrum of borrowers. To dispel this myth, lenders should partner with Realtors and educate them so they in turn can teach their clients that the dream of homeownership is alive and well in America today. The federal government has continued to consent that trade among the citizens. The Rise of Non-banks I n 2010, 90 percent of the purchased mortgages in the U.S. were originated by the five or six major lenders. In 2014, 43 percent of the purchases in the U.S. were originated by non-bank lenders. The narrative in 2010 was: "If you're not a big bank, you're getting wiped off the face of the earth. The federal government does not want you. Compliance can be too difficult. You won't be able to navigate it." Four years later, it is the exact opposite. It's the non-bank lenders who have actually been able to navigate compliance, disclosures and the new landscape of lending with agility. They have also brought better customer service to the consumer. The marketplace has recognized this and started gravitating toward it. The non-bank lenders enjoyed a huge pick-up in market share, mostly because of the service level we can offer a homeowner. Changing Our Story P erhaps the biggest trend affecting the in- dustry right now is the change in public perception toward mortgage companies. In 2008, when Movement Mortgage entered the market, financial services as a whole, cer- tainly had the worst public perception of any sector in the overall economy. What financial services were known for was bringing down our entire national and global economy. Today, however, more mortgage lenders are standing out more for their generosity and strong ethics, and not as greedy companies. As lenders, we have the potential to continue to change the story that's being told about financial services. The way this shift is achieved is unique to every company, but Movement Mortgage aims to flip the normal perception. If the public thinks lenders only think of greed, we want to present generosity; if they're think- ing of lack of ethics, we want to have an abundance of integrity and transparency in the way we operate. Movement Mortgage has opened a com- munity center called the Movement Center in Charlotte, North Carolina and is planning on opening another later this year. The goal is to provide a synergistic environment for ministries and not-for-profit services for those who are most in need. Lenders working in the mortgage space are at the epicenter of the economies and communities they serve. To be successful, lenders should focus on reinvesting back into the market and helping those most in need. There's a corporate responsibility to give back and to serve those communities to help them become better than you found them. Casey Crawfordd is the co-founder and CEO of Movement Mortgage. His competitive nature and goal-oriented mentality have contributed immeasurably to the building of a dominant mortgage entity. In 2014, Movement Mortgage generated more than $200 million in revenue and continues to grow each month. THE INDUSTRY LEADER IN eCLOSE TECHNOLOGY. 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