Strengthening Compliance and Unity: A Strategic Meeting to Align Quality Control and Operations in Mortgage Lending – Servicing and Agencies by Marc Helm

Strengthening Compliance and Unity: A Strategic Meeting to Align Quality Control and Operations in Mortgage Lending – Servicing and Agencies by Marc Helm

[Marc] Thank you, David. I wanted to share with the team today This is a very important meeting to me because we had had some skirmishes between the operations area and the findings of the quality control area. And I wanted to bring everybody's attention to how important it is to work together as a team. It appears that over time, in prior management, exceptions were made to quality control procedures to please investors. Sometimes these can be very detrimental to you, especially if you don't have this in writing. But when your quality control area is still quality controlling loans based on the base requirements and not aware of any variances that have been approved by management or approved by the investor, it makes it kind of difficult because there are sudden findings that might or might not be applicable. But the most important thing is that any findings we that we have, that are on an investor, and the investor has approved the exceptions on the findings, we've got to be aware that we might create ourselves a make over or a potential repurchase environment if we don't adhere to the proper guidelines of the investor. So, this is not working out well for us. So, what I did is I called a meeting together of the Quality Goal Personnel and Management All right and also the operations management and particularly the underwriters in loan operations. And we came together in a meeting and had a very fruitful discussion where we talked about exceptions and how to handle what was an exception and what was not an exception. And gave clarity to the exceptions that you see had been and furnishing to them to make sure that everybody was on the same page. What we found out, we weren't on the same page. We found out this to be a very fruitful meeting that we needed some policy guidelines to be upgraded, some procedural guidelines to be  and that we needed to make, have a more formal compliance meeting scheduled periodically and we're going to do it monthly for a while and that compliance meeting has a subset for quality control and have the same individuals representing from the loan operations and the origination side of the business. It's important to be in the mortgage business to be on the same page, to make sure you do the right thing at the right time and if I hadn't addressed this problem, we could have had, or issue I should say, we could have had a severe problem down the road. So, I tell all of you on the phone and listening in and to our other team, if you're working consulting with anyone, is to make sure the Quality Control Compliance team is on the same page with the operations and the lending team to ensure you avoid a problem. some burdensome litigation or repurchases or make whole agreements in the future. We want to make money in this business and we don't want to be caught holding the bag. So I advise each and every one of you to take heed to this message because I experienced it firsthand and I'm so glad I did this early on in my role as management of a new company. Thank you so much for your time.

Marc Helm, CEO, and Author

Marc Helm serves as a Principal Partner at Transformational Mortgage Solutions, bringing over 46 years of extensive experience in the financial services and mortgage banking industry. Currently serving as the President and CEO of both ReverseAmerica Advisors, Inc. and Mortgage Consultants of America (MCA), Marc has established a proven track record of leadership and accomplishments, both within and beyond the mortgage banking sector. In his notable role as the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. (RMS), Marc played a pivotal role in steering RMS to become one of the largest Ginnie Mae Securitizers, originators, and servicers/sub servicers in the reverse mortgage industry. His influence has reached various key positions in the industry, including serving as Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Loan Administration Committee and Chairman of the MBA Technology Committee. Recognizing his expertise, he has been honored with memberships in prestigious advisory boards such as the Fidelity (LPS) Information Systems Mortgage Servicing Advisory Board and the National Reverse Mortgage Lender Association’s (NRMLA) Board of Directors. Marc's commitment to community involvement and philanthropy is evident in his roles as a Board Member of the American Heart Association (AHA), his past chairmanship of the AHA's "Open Your Heart Campaign" for the Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of The Year Award, and his service on the boards of additional organizations such as The Helm Foundation. His dedicated support extends to various causes, including initiatives for children, veterans, military service organizations, and the welfare of homeless mothers and children. Marc's dedication to philanthropy is complemented by his prior involvement in various committees and campaigns, such as his role as the Former Chairman for the Houston Area Special Olympics Campaign and Former Chairman of the Houston Area United Way Campaign. Beyond his professional achievements and community engagement, Marc Helm is a family man, celebrating 49 years of marriage to Sallie Fortner Helm. Together, they have two children, Thomas Charles Helm and Dr. Jean Ann Helm Allen, and five grandchildren. Holding a BS Degree (Summa Cum Laude) and an MS Degree from Troy University, Marc showcases his commitment to education and continuous learning. Currently pursuing a PHD in Organizational Psychology, Marc Helm's multifaceted expertise, leadership roles, and philanthropic contributions make him an invaluable Principal Partner at Transformational Mortgage Solutions and reinforces his active role as a Co-Host of the “Lykken on Lending” Podcast.