Originators don’t understand the nuance of Veteran Administration mortgage loans, so most veterans never get to discuss, much less, purchase, a VA loan.

To ensure that they can take advantage of this benefit, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers plans to begin offering a training course and certification in Veteran Administration loans, ensuring originators gain a level of expertise with the program.

“I served in the military and feel a commitment to help other veterans or active members of the service. They are missing out on their benefits because originators are not comfortable with the product,” said Ken Bates, who heads the Veterans Administrative Committee for NAMB.

“I wrote the curriculum for the class and am planning to divulge all my secrets about selling these loans.  I might be training my competitors—because I want to help ensure that veterans across the country have access to this product. But that won’t happen unless originators understand the program.” Bates is also the branch manager for Military Home Loans in San Diego.

There are several reasons for originators focusing on other products. In the market today, lenders often add their own underwriting rules to a VA loan, but many originators don’t know what’s an overlay and what the VA actually requires. Because it’s not their primary focus, if a lender’s requirement means the borrower is refused, they don’t realize they could go to a different lender that will originate the VA loan.

In addition, since originators aren’t familiar with Veteran Administration loans, they can make mistakes, that can cost them the loan and commission. A veteran might, for instance, be halfway through the loan process before the realizes that day care expenses are considered a liability that is included in the Veterans Loan application, noted Bates.

“A Veterans Administration Loan is usually less expensive than a FHA loan, sometimes saving a few hundred dollars a month or more, by not having to pay mortgage insurance,” said Bates. “That’s $2,400 a month that the borrower would have saved, with the right advice.”

Too few veterans are taking advantage of their benefits, and Bates, who spent several years in the Navy, is trying to reverse that trend.

Laura Faasua has brought a class action lawsuit against her former employer, Eagle Home Mortgage LLC, for alleged violations of California labor law. According to a court filing, the class action lawsuit against Eagle Home Mortgage is currently pending in the Alameda County Superior Court, Case No. RG18924014, and was filed by San Francisco Labor law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP on October 10, 2018. The amount in controversy is under $5 million.

The lawsuit alleges that Eagle Home Mortgage failed to lawfully provide meal and rest periods, and pay minimum wages in a timely manner to their California employees working for the company.

Fassua “was employed by the lender in California as a loan officer from February 2014 to April 2, 2018 and was at all times during her employment with the defendant entitled to be paid minimum wages and entitled to the legally required off-duty meals. The plaintiff was also required to be paid for her rest periods as defendant paid plaintiff only commission wages and/or draws for certain pay periods. defendant did not separately compensate plaintiff for her rest periods,” according to the court filing.

The defendants’ meal period policies and practices are alleged to be unlawful because plaintiffs and other California class members were far too over-booked and overworked to take a timely off-duty 30-minute break for a meal. The lawsuit further alleges that the failure of Eagle Home Mortgage to provide the legally required meal and rest period is evidenced by the company's business records, according to a press release from Blumenthal Nordrehaug.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges plaintiffs were required by Defendant to use their own personal cellular phones, as a result of and in furtherance of their job duties, as employees for the defendant, but were not reimbursed or indemnified by the defendant for the cost associated with the use of their personal cellular phones for defendant’s benefit. Eagle Home Mortgage was founded in 1981 and operates as a subsidiary of Lennar Corp.

LoanScorecard’s automated underwriting technology will power Deephaven Mortgage’s launch of Identi-Fi AUS.

The lender’s launch of this technology furthers its mission to empower mortgage professionals serving borrowers who face challenges securing a traditional government-financed mortgage. As a leading originator of non-QM mortgage-backed securities, Deephaven aims to be the top provider of non-agency loans to the origination community, offering expanded prime, near-prime, non-prime, bank statement loan, investment property, and interest-only products.

In order to empower originators at the point of sale, Deephaven is introducing Identi-Fi AUS.

This Non-QM point-of-sale-pre-qualification tool leverages LoanScorecard’s Portfolio Underwriter technology Identi-Fi AUS will analyze the 1003 and credit report to instantly determine potential options across Deephaven’s non-agency loan programs.

This, in turn, enables originators to place loans that might otherwise not qualify. Originators can run Deephaven’s AUS findings on any loan file for a detailed breakdown of the qualification criteria applied along with documentation requirements.

“As a leader in the non-QM space, Deephaven embraces innovation that enables us to offer new products through technology that empowers originators for this underserved market,” said Mike Brenning, chief production officer for Deephaven. “LoanScorecard fits perfectly with this approach. We are excited about using their technology to empower originators to diversify into new markets, especially those doing non-QM production for the first time.”

Non-QM production has more than doubled this year and some loan originators are turning to the product as the conventional market contracts.