
Jan. 25: Disaster recovery for borrowers; vendor news; drug companies are doing what? Saturday Spotlight: Cenlar
Tomorrow Robbie and I head to Austin, Texas for the MBA’s IMB to hear news about HUD, FHLMC, FNMA, the CFPB, M&A, TPO, AI, and plenty of other abbreviations. Austin is an easy trip, unlike… Nepal. Starting in September, climbers attempting to make a go at Mount Everest must pay $15,000 to obtain a permit, an increase of 36 percent over the previous fee of $11,000. Talk about inflation & elevation! It’s actually a conscious attempt by the government of Nepal to rein in rampant demand to climb the tallest mountain in the world, which has led to serious traffic jams and life-threatening conditions on the approach to the summit. If you want to aim for the peak off-peak, the fee to climb Everest outside of the April to May period will cost $7,500 in the September to November period and $3,750 in the December to February period. In the five clean-ups of the mountain the Nepalese army has conducted since 2019, they’ve removed 119 tons of trash and 14 human corpses from the slopes, which is still far from the believed 200 bodies on the mountain. Now, from mountains to mortgages…
Saturday Spotlight: Cenlar
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“Your Trusted Partner, Each and Every Day.”
In 3-5 sentences, describe your company (when was it founded and why, what it does, where, recent growth and plans for near-term future growth).
Cenlar successfully services residential mortgage portfolios for clients across the United States and its territories. We have 100 years of financial services experience, first as a savings and loan, and then as a mortgage company, with decades of that time focused on subservicing. Our persistent investment in people, process and technology has enabled Cenlar to deliver a custom, tailored subservicing solution that has fueled our growth and helped retain a stable of blue-chip clients. We are dedicated to innovation. Our mission is to be a Cenlar that redefines what it means to be agile and expert, leveraging the latest in technology and controls.
These efforts not only include foundational work, like our cloud-based environment and our intelligence-driven cyber defense, but also creative endeavors in automation and with information that pushes the boundaries of what is possible with technology.
Tell us about what type of volunteer work employees are encouraged to engage in, or charities your company supports, and why.
For years, Cenlar employees have been brightening the start of another school year for children by providing them with school supplies necessary to receive a great education. This fall, Cenlar collected backpacks, pencils and notebooks that were donated to children in need at schools in Tempe, AZ, Trenton, NJ and O’Fallon, MO. In recognition of International Credit Union Day, our credit union team participated in a day of service at a local food pantry, marking our fifth year volunteering with this long-time partner.
Cenlar has also been a partner with Habitat for Humanity for more than a decade. Our team is also looking forward to participating in the annual Toys for Tots program.
What does your company do to help elevate your employees’ growth? Describe any mentoring programs, outside classes or training, in-house training. How does the company help people develop?
At Cenlar, we encourage everyone to follow their career path. Whether employees want to grow in their current role, or explore new opportunities, we are committed to supporting everyone. Cenlar’s HR team helps employees grow in their jobs and aligns their development and career goals with the organization's education goals that, ultimately, advance the company’s business objectives.
We offer a wide variety of educational resources and certification programs for employees who want to enhance their skill sets. We have a partnership with the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and many of our employees have gone through the MBA and completed their certification programs. Over the years, we have had employees participate in the MBA Future Leaders program. Most recently, Director for Subservicing Pricing Tristan Watson, Director of Default Shannon Tomasso and Vice President of Issues and Enterprise Change Management Allyson Kiesel are part of the MBA’s Future Leaders Program for 2024.
Things you are most proud of that don’t have to do with sales.
We are proud of our team. In any business, you are only as good as your team. At Cenlar, we have the best in the business, bar none. Our people know the business and are deeply committed to doing the right thing and understanding what’s important to our clients. Altogether our leadership team boasts an average of 20+ years in mortgage loan servicing experience. And, in the last year alone, we’ve recruited 30 of the most accomplished leaders in our field. From default to IT to client management, we have earned our reputation as a leader and our talent runs deep.
Fun fact about your company.
With locations in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Tempe, AZ, and St. Louis, we have an enthusiastic sports rivalry among our employees.
(For more information on having your firm’s extracurricular activities, employee growth, and your charitable side featured, contact Chrisman LLC’s Anjelica Nixt.)
Vendor tidbits
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Call them vendors or partners or third-party providers, it is good to know who’s doing what out there. In no particular order let’s play some catch up.
LenderLogix has released the findings from its Q4 Homebuyer Intelligence Report, revealing improvements in housing affordability. The latest report covers data collected during the pre-approval and borrower application process in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024. There has been a decrease in overall sales price and a slight increase in average down payment, which could bring a spark of hope for many potential homebuyers. “The overall decrease and drop in pre-approvals was expected in Q4 as this is historically a lower-volume quarter overall,” said LenderLogix Co-Founder and CEO Patrick O’Brien. “However, the decrease in average sales price is a promising sign for affordability and may indicate a potential increase in mortgage-ready borrowers as the new year begins.” Data from LenderLogix Homebuyer Intelligence Report is available to the industry free of charge.
ACES Quality Management® (ACES) has sought to support its customers through turbulent market conditions by providing critical technological innovations to its quality control audit suite. The critical enhancements ACES made throughout the year helped support a 15% year-over-year increase in quality control audits conducted across its customer base and achieved 66% growth in new client acquisition. “As we step into 2025, I’m thrilled to reflect on the remarkable year of innovation ACES has had,” said ACES CEO Trevor Gauthier. “Though the outlook is uncertain and difficult to predict, prioritizing loan quality and risk management will help lenders bolster profits and reduce scrutiny. With the enhancements and tools, we developed in 2024, ACES will be there to support our customers’ compliance goals and quality standards even in turbulent markets.”
Williston Financial Group® (WFG®), a full-service provider of title insurance and real estate settlement services for commercial and residential transactions nationwide, announced that its subsidiary Volly has released a new marketing automation suite to support one of the mortgage industry’s most essential collaborations: the partnership between loan officers and real estate professionals. This expansion of Volly’s services enables loan officers to strengthen their connections with real estate professionals by offering them access to the Volly Network Portal, a fully customizable web-to-print store with co-marketing capabilities.
Mortgage Machine Services (Mortgage Machine), providing digital origination technology to residential mortgage lenders, announced that it now offers an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered pricing engine. The pricing engine ingests and updates pricing for a lender’s investors and aggregators automatically. With granular controls for administrators, including global and product-level pricing adjustments, real-time lock controls, and mark-to-market tracking against current market conditions, lenders can streamline secondary market processes. Using the pricing engine, loan officers can compare rates, see principal, and interest breakdowns without switching screens or performing manual calculations. The pricing engine’s Best X feature allows users to efficiently identify the most competitive rates for their borrowers.
Redwood Trust, Inc. has updated its residential consumer operating platforms expanding the mandate of its home equity platform, Aspire, to include a set of alternative loan products that complement its existing home equity offerings. In addition to the expansion of Aspire, Redwood is unveiling refreshed branding for its industry-leading jumbo loan platform, which going forward will continue to operate under our Sequoia umbrella. Read the Article for all the details.
LoanLogics, a leader in digital mortgage solutions, unveiled LoanBeam Process Automation (LBPA), an exciting addition to its trusted LoanBeam product suite. Designed with proven AI and automation technology, LBPA transforms mortgage processing by simplifying time-consuming tasks like income calculation and document/data validation delivering faster, more accurate results for lenders and borrowers alike. LBPA combines AI and advanced automation to eliminate tedious manual tasks and ensure precision at every mortgage process step.
Latest document update from Compliance: Lender’s Certification of Veteran Alive at Time of Closing.
Inflation from unlikely sources
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Yes, I know that this is a commentary on residential mortgages, but mortgage rates are determined by supply and demand, which in turn are influenced by inflation. America's Federal Trade Commission has been "raising antitrust concerns" about drug companies for years, reports NBC News.
America's three largest drug middlemen "inflated the costs of numerous life-saving medications by billions of dollars over the past few years, the FTC said in a report Tuesday. "The top pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) (think CVS Health's Caremark Rx, Cigna's Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx) generated roughly $7.3 billion through price hikes over about five years starting in 2017,” the FTC said. The "excess" price hikes affected generic drugs used to treat heart disease, HIV, and cancer, among other conditions, with some increases more than 1,000% of the national average costs of acquiring the medications, the commission said. The FTC also said these so-called Big Three health care companies (which it estimates administer 80% of all prescriptions in the U.S.) are inflating drug prices "at an alarming rate, which means there is an urgent need for policymakers to address it...."
Some of the steepest drug markups were "hundreds and thousands of percent," according to Tuesday's report, which highlights just how profitable specialty drugs have become for the three leading PBMs. Cancer drugs alone made up nearly half of the $7.3 billion, the commission wrote, with multiple sclerosis medications accounting for another 25%. Dispensing highly marked-up specialty drugs was a massive income stream for the companies in 2021, the FTC found. Out of tens of thousands of drugs dispensed, the top 10 specialty generics alone made up nearly 11% of the companies' pharmacy-related operating income that year, the agency estimated. Across the 51 drugs the agency analyzed, the Big Three's price-markup revenue surged from $522 million in 2017 to $2.1 billion in 2021, the report said.
"The FTC found that 22 percent of specialty drugs dispensed by PBM-affiliated pharmacies were marked up by more than 1,000 percent," reports The Hill, "while 41 percent were marked up between 100 and 1,000 percent. Among those drugs marked up by more than 1,000 percent, half of them were marked up by more than 2,000 percent."
And the nonprofit site progressive news site Common Dreams shares some examples from report: “For the pulmonary hypertension drug tadalafil (generic Adcirca), for example, pharmacies purchased the drug at an average of $27 in 2022, yet the Big Three PBMs marked up the drug by $2,079 and paid their affiliated pharmacies $2,106, on average, for a 30-day supply of the medication on commercial claims," the publication notes. That's a staggering average markup of 7,736%... The new analysis follows a July 2024 report that revealed Big Three PBM-affiliated pharmacies received 68% of the dispensing revenue generated by specialty drugs in 2023, a 14% increase from 2016...
Responding to the FTC report, Emma Freer, senior policy analyst for healthcare at the American Economic Liberties Project (a corporate accountability and antitrust advocacy group) said in a statement Tuesday that "the FTC's second interim report lays bare the blatant profiteering by PBM giants, which are marking up lifesaving drugs like cancer, HIV, and multiple sclerosis treatments by thousands of percent and forcing patients to pay the price."
Information for owners & borrowers in a disaster area
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Here’s what your clients need to know to secure assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), how to protect your finances during and after a disaster, and where to turn for current and credible information.
FEMA can provide critical resources to individuals and businesses affected by federally declared disasters including financial assistance for temporary housing, home repairs, and medical expenses as well as childcare and transportation (if they’re not already covered by insurance). Here are the key steps for your clients to begin that process. Confirm federal eligibility: The LA Wildfires have already been declared a federal disaster. You and your clients can learn more about this designation on FEMA’s website. Register with FEMA: Apply online at disasterassistance.gov, via the FEMA app, or by calling 1-800-621-3362. Your client will need to provide details like Social Security number, insurance information, address, and a description of damages. Your clients should document their possessions: Take photos and videos of the damage and keep receipts for any expenses incurred as a result of the disaster. Learn more about how to do this.
Borrowers and owners may also be eligible for a special low-interest disaster loan via the Small Business Administration, even if they don’t have a business. You can find more information about that here for them.
Managing finances can be especially difficult in the aftermath of a disaster, given all of the demands. First, tell your client to prioritize essential expenses like housing, food, and medical needs.
Once the basics are under control, here are some steps to help them regain their footing. First, communicate with creditors: Inform lenders, credit card companies, and utility providers about the situation. Your client can request a payment deferral, reduced interest rate, and other accommodations. File Insurance Claims Promptly: Your client should contact their insurance provider to report damages and provide detailed documentation to expedite claims processing. Here are tips to guide the documentation process. Clients should create a Recovery Budget including an inventory of their anticipated expenses related to the disaster.
Borrowers and owners can seek additional resources. For example, nonprofit organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army may offer financial aid and supplies. State and local programs: Many states and municipalities may offer supplemental assistance. Community support: If you’re considering a charitable donation, check out this piece by the LA Times which provides an overview of credible organizations. And you can always vet charities using tools like Charity Navigator or the Better Business Bureau.
Advise your clients to monitor their credit. Disasters may increase the risk of identity theft, so remind them to regularly check their credit report for inaccuracies or suspicious activity. Scammers often try to take advantage of natural disasters, so be cautious of unsolicited offers or requests for personal information. PDF File.
For more information for your clients, the LA Times has published a number of informative articles addressing frequently asked questions: I Was Forced to Evacuate My Home. Do I Still Need to Pay My Mortgage, Rent, Utility Bills? Fire Victims Can Get Aid from the Feds. How to Apply for FEMA and Avoid Potential Scams. L.A. Wildfire Resource Guide: How to Stay Safe, What to Do and How to Help.
A cowboy rode into town outside of Dallas and stopped at a saloon for a drink. Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on strangers, which he was.
When he finished his drink, he found his horse had been stolen. He went back into the bar, handily flipped his gun into the air, caught it above his head without even looking and fired a shot into the ceiling.
"Which one of you sidewinders stole my horse?!" he yelled with surprising forcefulness.
No one answered.
"Alright, I'm gonna have another beer, and if my horse ain't back outside by the time I finish, I'm gonna do what I dun in Houston! And I don't like to have to do what I dun in Houston!"
Some of the locals shifted restlessly. The man, true to his word, had another beer, walked outside, and his horse has been returned to the post. He saddled up and started to ride out of town.
The bartender wandered out of the bar and asked, "Say partner, before you go... what happened in Houston?"
The cowboy turned back and said, "I had to walk home."
Visit www.robchrisman.com for more information on our industry partners, access archived commentaries, or to subscribe to the Daily Mortgage News and Commentary. If you're interested, visit my periodic blog at the STRATMOR Group web site. STRATMOR’s current blog is, “Leaders Don’t Wait for Markets”. The Commentary’s podcast is live and at any place you obtain your podcasts (like Apple or Spotify).
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(Market data provided in partnership with MBS Live. For free job postings and to view candidate resumes visit LenderNews. This newsletter is for sophisticated mortgage professionals only. There are no paid endorsements by me. For up-to-date mortgage news visit Mortgage News Daily. For archived commentaries, or to subscribe, go to www.robchrisman.com. Copyright 2025 Chrisman LLC. All rights reserved. Occasional paid job & product listings do appear. This report or any portion hereof may not be reprinted, sold, or redistributed without the written consent of Rob Chrisman. The views and opinions in this newsletter are mine alone unless otherwise specifically stated herein.)