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Richey May releases 2013 fourth quarter trend report for independent mortgage bankers

ENGLEWOOD, CO (April 22, 2014) — Richey May & Co has released its fourth quarter 2013 Trend Report for Independent Mortgage Bankers. Among the report’s findings are reductions in production, refinance and purchase volumes, and decreases in the average FICO score of borrowers. The fourth quarter 2013 Trend Report was based on information provided by 29 independent mortgage banking firms.

Richey May is a provider of accounting and business advisory services to the mortgage industry and co-creator of Richey May Select, the industry’s only benchmarking technology platform specifically for independent mortgage bankers. Richey May quarterly trend reports, which are created using Richey May Select, highlight key performance indicators, such as overall volume and volume by transaction type, margins, operating costs, labor output, and more. These reports are provided free of charge to all Richey May Select subscribers.

The following are some of the report’s findings:

Overall production volume decreased by an average of just under 11%. Most lenders saw production decline between 6% and 55%
Refinance volume fell 9%, and purchase volume decreased nearly 12%
The distribution of FICO scores changed by 2%, with lenders closing more loans with FICO scores ranging from 651 to 700, and fewer with FICO scores above 750
Approximately one third of lenders that had not previously extended credit to borrowers with scores under 600 began to do so during the 4th quarter of 2013

“Lenders are trying a lot of different things to keep production levels up – lending to borrowers with lower FICO scores is just one of them,” said Ken Richey, managing partner of Richey May. “In order to maintain a competitive edge, lenders need to know what their competition is doing. This is one of the reasons that reports like our quarterly trend reports are so important. They give independent mortgage bankers an apples-to-apples comparison of their company’s performance to that of their peers and specific market.”

Richey May Select utilizes much of the same information that its independent mortgage banker sources provide to the GSEs each quarter via the Mortgage Bankers’ Financial Reporting Form (MBFRF). With Richey May Select, users can quickly and easily access current, relevant, and actionable peer-to-peer benchmarking information on various aspects of their financial, production, employment, warehousing and servicing operations. Lenders can tailor results based on their competitors’ loan production volume; primary operating model – whether retail, wholesale or direct-to-consumer; small, medium or large production platforms; and other unique characteristics and requirements. Unlike static benchmarking reports, with Richey May Select, all information is current and available roughly six weeks after the end of each quarter.

The company also issues an annual salary report. Independent mortgage bankers interested in providing confidential information used in Richey May Select’s analysis may contact Trevor Reinhart atTrevor@RicheyMay.com.

About Richey, May & Co, LLP

Richey, May & Co is a CPA, business advisory and award-winning technology firm specializing in the mortgage industry. The company’s offerings include audit, tax and business consulting services, as well as peer-to-peer benchmarking technology for small to mid-size independent mortgage bankers. Richey May’s clients include mortgage bankers in over 30 states, and range from small local originators to national lenders with annual loan production volumes in excess of $10 billion. In addition to its personalized advisory services and Richey May Select peer-to-peer benchmarking technology, Richey May has become known for its annual salary report of independent mortgage bankers, a survey based on the confidential responses of privately held mortgage banking firms. Richey May and its technology co-creator were awarded the 2013 Synergy Award by Mortgage Technology magazine. Richey May was founded in 1985 and is based in Englewood, Colorado. For more information on Richey May, please visit www.RicheyMay.com. For more information on Richey May Select, please visit www.RicheyMaySelect.com.