Want a house for a dollar? Italy has them… figure out the impact on comps for appraisals! To the best of my knowledge, my cat Myrtle never lived in Italy before she was adopted, or even traveled there. Plenty of people will be traveling places during this “late in the month” Thanksgiving time, and those who use airplanes might be interested in this write up of TSA Pre versus CLEAR. Is CLEAR worth it? I wonder if Shan Hanes thinks it was worth it, embezzling bank funds? The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced that it had prohibited Shan Hanes from future participation in the banking industry. Hanes is the former chief executive officer of Heartland Tri-State Bank and used his position to embezzle $47.1 million of bank funds in a cryptocurrency scheme that led to the bank becoming insolvent and failing in July 2023. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by PHH Mortgage. If you are looking for a Correspondent Lending partner or an experienced, award-winning subservicer who can manage your forward and reverse, residential and commercial, and performing and non-performing loans look no further than PHH. Hear an interview with MGIC’s Liz Keuler on this year’s Loan Originators Survey Report, which contains lots of info about LOs’ challenges, goals and activities.) Lender and Broker Software, Services, and Products The Loan Store, a national wholesale lender, has adopted OptiFunder’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) to enhance warehouse decision-making and streamline funding processes. CEO Phil Shoemaker emphasized the focus on competitive loan pricing, stating that OptiFunder’s technology reduces warehouse costs and boosts operational efficiency, maximizing their ability to deliver fast, simple home loans. OptiFunder’s WMS optimizes loan allocations by considering various factors, leading to cost reductions and an average decrease in dwell-time by three days. Michael McFadden, CEO of OptiFunder, highlighted that its system not only lowers lending costs but also allows clients to manage operations effectively through market fluctuations. The WMS integrates with major warehouse banks and key stakeholders. As part of the evaluation process, OptiFunder offers a back-test analysis to compare the impact of its optimized decisions and a prospect’s historical allocation decisions. To learn more about OptiFunder’s WMS for mortgage originators, schedule a demo or connect with the team at MBA Accounting and Finance.