Well here it is Friday and will our government close most of its doors? I can't believe this, first the government takes away loan officer's negotiating power and sets commission restrictions this week and now the government may take a break? A Loan Officer from Michigan wrote, " If the government shuts down today, every non-essential employee ( I have to chuckle every time I read that) should wake up really late and smile. After all, they are lucky! When private companies have budget problems, the people on the non-essential worker list don't get a three day weekend. They get a six-month "vacation" of filling out resumes, eating Ramen noodles, worrying about their mortgages and looking for a job. In comparison, the furloughed government workers will get an extra day to enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.".
Ok, I could go on with more rants but I'm sure you want to know how this could affect your closings! As you hopefully know, anyone obtaining a mortgage loan now has to have their social security and income taxes verified prior to closing. Typically the request is made when the loan first hits the processors desk to allow sufficient time to have the item returned to them to avoid any delays in closing. Corelogic told clients that, "If the government does a shutdown, the last date of service for 4506-T (tax return verifications) and SSA-89 (social security verifications) orders would be this Friday April 8. We will make every effort to transmit orders to the IRS and SSA as quickly as possible once received. All SSN orders will be processed during standard business hours and may not be affected by the shutdown. In the event of a shutdown, we will still continue to submit all 4506-T Direct and SSN orders but service time is expected to be affected due to the IRS and SSA being unavailable to respond."
Is your client doing an FHA loan? On all FHA loans, lenders are required to check all parties involved in the transaction against a list called LDP and GSA. In addition, the borrower's names have to be checked to make sure they have had no government defaults in the past 3 years against the CAIVRS system. If a shutdown does occur, the FHA Connection and VA Information Portal may or may not be available. So it is advised that all FHA loans be checked today.
If you have any deals that just opened up or you are anticipating receiving an accepted offer on, contact your loan officer immediately and have them run everything today!
Independent of the government shut-down, Wells Fargo gave 1,900 mortgage employees their notice. "The cuts add up to about 3% of Wells Fargo's mortgage staff, including interim positions that are tied directly to origination volumes. Most of the layoffs are these interim employees, who were told when hired that their position could be short term." Wells Fargo's overall headcount was 272,200. WellsCuts
Good luck everyone and I hope there are no delays and all deals for you will close smoothly and on time!
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