Equal Housing Lender
A Story That Sheds a Bright Spot on Client Mortgage Issues of Today
By Pamela Marron, Loan Originator, NMLS#246438 • May 13, 2022
From 2016 through 2019, I was a member of the HUD Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee (HCFAC). Even though I have been a loan originator for 38 years, I was barely aware of HUD housing and credit counselors. These dedicated individuals could help clients who weren’t ready for a mortgage to get “mortgage ready”.
I also did not know that certified HUD credit counselors could help clients with short-term credit issues and work with clients for up to 5 years on long-term issues. From the non-profit financial counseling organization National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC.org), I learned the difference between the good that can come from Debt Management and the negatives that can result from Debt Settlement.
It became a mission to tell my mortgage colleagues how these HUD-approved professionals could assist our Prospects. Prospects who weren’t yet ready for a mortgage but pursuing the dream of homeownership. Prospects deserved undivided attention but were moved to the back of the line when our “mortgage ready” client business picked up!
Fast forward to 2020 and 2021. The Covid pandemic affected the world, but the mortgage business was surprisingly good. However, mortgage forbearances and student loan deferments became the new credit spots we all had to learn how to deal with. Knowing the difference between qualifying for a mortgage with student loan debt between FHA, VA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and charting mortgage payments made and wait time after a forbearance to get a new mortgage became the norm.
For FHA loans, calculating the average number of hours worked over a year when clients have multiple “out-sick time” due to being quarantined for Covid outbreaks is another example of adjusting.
Here is the bright spot! Many who were involved in sorting out solutions during the past 2008 housing crisis started surfacing when Covid hit, and immediate awareness of triggers that might spiral out of control were being discussed with solutions underway. I learned about and met with many of these solution driven professionals from various parts of the mortgage industry through my time on the HUD HCFAC. HUD housing and credit counselors are already helping with solutions.
Though it seems like we are in unchartered territory again with new problems, a swift acknowledgement and then assessment to remedy issues seems to be in place this time.
I learned about DownpaymentResource.com from a HUD counselor. Down payment assistance (DPA) became a prevalent need to give clients a fighting chance to compete with an overwhelming number of cash buyers. In Down Payment Connect, a paid service of Downpaymentresource.com for mortgage professionals and realtors, I can see all DPA programs across the U.S., including many wholesale DPA programs available to mortgage brokers. Their DPA Directory keeps up-to-date information about contact information, program criteria, and if the program is open or closed.
An accumulation of information for "getting mortgage ready" resulted in the development of Clients2Homeowners.com, a resource primarily for loan originators and real estate agents, but also for mortgage Prospects. Most issues that you see in this article are detailed on the website.
Through the current difficult time, there is growing interest in connecting mortgage professionals to HUD-approved housing and credit counselors to help clients with issues to become “mortgage ready”. Progress has started. Stay tuned.
Writer Pamela Marron is a licensed Loan Originator NMLS #246438 in Florida who works for Innovative Mortgage Services, NMLS #250769 in Lutz, Fl an Equal Housing Lender. Articles written are strictly her opinion and are published to help loan originators, real estate professionals and mortgage clients. This is not used to solicit for business.
Writer Pamela Marron is a licensed Loan Originator NMLS #246438 in Florida who works for Innovative Mortgage Services, NMLS #250769 in Lutz, Fl. Articles written are strictly her opinion and are published to help loan originators, real estate professionals and mortgage clients. This is not used to solicit for business.
Pam Marron | NMLS# 246438
Tara Jerse | NMLS# 2105127
Innovative Mortgage Services, Inc. | NMLS# 250769
Equal Housing Lender
Down Payment Connect is already being used by MLOs and Realtors. Now it's available to HUD Counselors through HomePrep! Down payment assistance is quickly rising to the top need for clients wishing to purchase a home. Down Payment Connect , the back-end data provider for the parent Downpaymentresource.com , houses every down payment assistance program in the US and provides extremely detailed information laid out in a consistent format for each DPA program in their system. Throughout the last two years, Downpaymentresource.com administrators have worked with MLO’s and the HomePrep developers to add nearly all wholesale down payment assistance programs to their platform and they didn't stop there! Extensive filters that allow for selection of specific client needs such as type (ie. SFR, manufactured homes, condos, multi-family, ADU’s), uses like renovation, above AMI income levels, non-1st time homebuyers are just a few of the filters you will find along with stand alone 2nd mortgages, combined 1st and 2nd mortgages and grants. DownpaymentResource.com is also in many MLS systems across the US and provides limited directory information and a free landing page for realtors to promote that they use DPA. Both MLO’s and realtors can subscribe to Down Payment Connect to get more of the extensive directory and back-end tools. Now, through HomePrep, HUD counselors can also use the Down Payment Connect system to filter trhough DPA programs that clients are qualified for, and can even provide wholesale programs when working with an independent loan originator (often called a mortgage broker)! Through HomePrep, HUD counselors are now able to provide MLO’s and clients with the DPA programs that they have found the client is eligible for.
If you have FFEL Student Loans, Take Action Before April 30th!
Three great tools that mortgage loan originators (MLO) can use to assist clients who need help with credit, down payment assistance and student loan repayment services have been used, fine-tuned and are already in use with individual MLO’s. These tools combined with the Freddie Mac HomeCoach automated system along with budgeting help and Homebuyer Education are all integrated in the HomePrep online platform that connects MLO’s with clients who have challenges to HUD counselors that get them mortgage ready.
Pam Marron, NMLS# 246438
Innovative Mortgage Services, Inc. NMLS# 250769
