Lykken on Lending

[David] Mr Kittle, I can’t wait to get into this. First of all, Alice Alvey, Vice President, Partner Education and Training at Union home mortgage. Want to give Union Home a shout out. They’re smart enough to land at Alice sometime back. She is just outstanding. Thank you, Alice, for the legislative update. Very good. We could go on and about the bargains, but I really want to focus in on this regulation. The MBA noted that they do not feel this is a regulation that’s necessary. And you said, look at every time you listen to some a government official publish a new regulation, Mr Kittle, don’t they make it look so legit. This is why we’re having we’re protecting consumers with this one, but they’ve created such a maze, such a spiderweb, that are interlocking. It’s just about one more, one more. Get it what they’re trying to do. I’m with the NBA, and I’m not for it, but Mr Kittle, went to Washington, DC last week, and I want to hear the report. How did it go? David, first of all, welcome good to have you here. David, who is the CEO of The Mortgage Collaborative, is here with me and a dear friend of mine and can’t wait to hear about your trip. Talk about it.

[David Kittle] That was a great trip. David with 3 staff, 16 lenders, 19 in all. And we got to visit Fannie, Freddie, Ginnie, HUD, FHFA and the CFPB. So we got most of the alphabet in while we were up there. And regulators had good meetings across the board. What we’ll talk about here at this moment, is it’s always Mark Riddle. Sometimes we get to meet with Director Chopra, who was not in town, but Mark and his staff are always wonderful to sit and talk to. Our discussions didn’t as much revolve around this particular new regulation as it did loan officers being able to adjust their commissions to make a deal work, and that’s very frustrating, because if you’re a lender, you just can’t get away with it. However, if you’re a broker, yes, to manipulate those numbers, and the wholesalers aren’t doing anything about them, they’re still buying those loans, and they know what’s going on. So it makes it for a very uneven playing field. Exactly what I was going to say. And so we had, really, that was most of the discussion we had in our hour meeting. And the part of the comment was, there are so many brokers, and if you can prove this, or somebody wants to do it, we’ll take a look at it. And so my final comment, just to cut to the chase on this, and then I’ll talk about the regulation that they propose. Is go ahead, you have enough information to do some damage to some of the brokers that are doing this, they are, and go after them, and then make sure you make the wholesaler that is buying these loans accountable and make a statement, and it’s just like getting caught speeding. You’re not going to speed through that particular area anymore, maybe not for a while, and that’s what needs to happen at this point, because the response was, as a lender, you could raise your fees or your comp up a little bit and then act like you’re cutting it, and then the consumer still pays more. That just doesn’t fly, because the market just wouldn’t allow something like that to happen. You can’t raise, youre it’s so competitive now that you wouldn’t be able to do that. It’s a real problem for anybody that’s a lender at their community bank, a credit union or an independent mortgage bank, for them not to be able if they want to make a deal work, or a realtor for that matter, to cut their fees and make the deal work for the consumer. The consumer is the one who’s losing with this, because all the other costs and regulations are so high. To what Alice just reported on, I guess my first point, I heard about it, and then I hear her articulate it, which she does so well, right? Is that if you want to find out anything legally happening to an entity, I understand they want it all in one place. Is there going to cost with this no regulation? Of course there is, because it’s never about the money, it’s always about the money. So at the day, it’s more about the money,

[David] It’s all about the regulation. We’re going to make sure there’s transparency.com. Won’t matter how much it costs out there. Yeah,

[David Kittle] I thought that’s why on companies, we got things like credit reports and business information’s already there now they want us to take on reporting to them, and then we’re going to have to pay for it. So I’m against it, and so are lenders so good,

[David] And so is the MBA so good standing all lined up really well there. That’s good. Yeah, I look at this and there, the MBA walks a difficult line, because they have the big bank members. They have some really big vendor members that now can serve on the board. And you, when you’re a political entity, you say they’re not a political they’re an advocacy group. They’re a political anyway, you got that many diversity. I have a I used to be probably a little bit more critical of things that are going on the MBA. I now understand and appreciate it, the dynamics of that a lot more than I do. Bob Brooksman is speaking up right now and is trying to make some noise about the fact of the complexity we have here. And I only wish the MBA had done this a lot sooner. And I want to encourage everyone to go out and read Greg Sher, S H E R, it’s pronounced share, but it’s S, H E R, sure the way it’s written, but you should take a look at what he’s writing right now. He and Taylor stork and myself get on help him craft a lot of the messaging, because he’s willing to step up and get out there with some opinions. And I think it’s just valuable where we have these voices that are stepping up. Yeah, we missed David Stevens. He was a lightning rod and spoke out, and he spoke from his heart. Did we always agree with him? No, not necessarily, but we did appreciate that. So that’s what I’m telling everyone. Go read what Greg shares writing about good guy with a good heart. Does he always get it right? None of us do, but he certainly wants feedback, and he invites that in. So pay attention that leader, new leader in the landscape, and his opinions on it. I’m behind the scenes helping him with it, as well as Taylor Stork, so it’s good to have I love Taylor. He is a character, and I put you in touch with him before you went. So I know he met with Chopra a few days, and hopefully you got to gain some insights from that.

[David Kittle] Yep, thank you for doing that. We appreciate it. So we went back and forth. We haven’t connected yet, but we will.

[David] Oh, good, yeah. He’s a good voice, and he’s got just a really good analysis. It was David Steven said I heard Taylor speak at one of the industry events. And I go, Wow, that guy is articulated and sharp. And anyway, then David Stevens says that’s one of the voices I go out listen to a lot because he really does a good job of analysis. So anyway, good stuff. Pay attention to all that. Anything else to report, any TMC news that you want to report, Mr Kittle,

[David Kittle] One of the ironies of the of the meeting was when we went to both Fannie and Freddie, both of them felt like their repurchase requests were much lower than our members are feeling because they’re out there. And it’s interesting that Prieston and Associates, Arthur, Prieston and that, oh my God, our buddy, Arthur, yeah, they put out a report this morning, repurchases of loans in the first quarter, increase 82% Whoa. Yet the GSEs, that’s Arthur’s report. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, but that’s what I’m reading, right? Arthur?

[David] It’s a report. In fact, Arthur does this. He’s an attorney. He doesn’t put it out there unless it’s accurate.

[David Kittle] So they feel like repurchase requests are down, and our members aren’t feeling it. And then here’s a report to back up what our members are feeling. So there’s a disconnect someplace out there about this surprise,

[David] A disconnect in our industry. Imagine that government is government, quote, unquote, sponsored, government owned entity right now. Fannie, Freddie, FH, so anyway, so what can we say? We’ll leave that one alone. But hey, David, it’s so good to have you on the podcast. Really excited about TMC and all that’s going on there. Great news. And I love the advocacy. I love what you’re doing under your leadership. Since you became the CEO, it’s really showing up, and we’re seeing that. And you do so well in the beltway. You are highly regarded, highly respected inside the beltway, from your old days as chairman a long, long time ago, it’s got a long tail, and you’re still being impactful in there. So thank you for I can’t believe it’s been 15 years, but hard to believe, Yeah, but you’re doing a good job by staying active and staying in so 73 years old, still staying active in the game. I’m not leaving this industry. Got too much to do. We got too much to fix yet.

[David Kittle] I always remember, I always respect my elders.

[David] Yeah. Don’t go there, too much here. Yeah. Anyways, feeling that this week, I went, bought one of these step up blocks where you jump up on it, and I got one. I go and I, I’ll certainly I could do 20 inches. Oh, boy. I got one that goes all the way up to 36 some inches, and that I don’t think I’ll ever hit that level, but it’s really fun. But I am sore in places trying, just trying to step up on that bad boy and doing things so always trying to work out. Keep going, stay healthy. But thank you, Mr. Kittle, you’re welcome, CEO of the mortgage collaborator, for being here. Love to get your comments on what we’re going to go into next.

---

David G. Kittle, CMB  is a highly respected leader in the mortgage industry, with over 45 years of experience. He is the Co-Founder and Chairman of The Mortgage Collaborative (TMC), a mortgage lending cooperative providing members with access to resources and tools to improve their business operations.

Kittle began his mortgage banking career with American Fletcher Mortgage Company as a top-producing loan officer in 1978 moving to the management side in 1986 with Southmark Mortgage. He opened Associates Mortgage Group, the first of his three lending companies in 1994.

Kittle served as MORPAC Chairman for MBA, from 2004-2006. He is past President of both the Louisville and Kentucky Mortgage Bankers Associations, as well as leading the industry through its most tumultuous period as Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Washington DC in 2009. Kittle has testified before congress 14 times.

Kittle has been a driving force behind the growth and success of TMC, working to bring together mortgage lenders from across the country to share best practices and collaborate on key industry issues. Kittle has also been a vocal advocate for innovation and technology adoption in the mortgage industry, urging lenders to embrace new tools and strategies to improve their operations and better serve their customers.

Kittle is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences, sharing his expertise on a variety of topics related to mortgage lending.

He resides in Louisville, Kentucky, he has four children and two grandchildren.