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Monument Bank – Positioned to Compete in the Mortgage Market, MPF^® Program a Key Ingredient
By Mark C. Dooley, Vice President, Monument Bank

At Monument Bank, here in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, the Management and Board are solidly behind our mortgage lending operation. Now in our fourth year of operations, we have taken a number of proactive steps to build out our mortgage business, positioning ourselves to compete in today’s marketplace. FHLBank Pittsburgh’s Mortgage Partnership Finance^®(MPF^®) Program is a key ingredient in our plan to stay competitive.

While still serving our existing customer base and using our established processes, we:

Have attracted key mortgage employees with skills and talents in areas in which we previously had been lacking.

Are in the process of migrating to a state-of-the-art technology platform that will allow us to manage our mortgage pipeline from inception to delivery into the secondary markets, even though we are still a small community bank.

Are expanding our product offerings through strategic partnerships with larger correspondent banks.

Are successfully recruiting experienced loan officers, now that we have made the above commitments.

Finally, our participation in the FHLBanks’ MPF Program has been of enormous benefit to us in the past and is an important part of our plan going forward. Its straightforward offerings and processes have made it the preferred choice for most of our conforming production.

While we must carefully manage deliveries into our forward commitments with regard to the credit enhancement requirements, the MPF Program affords us a significant pricing advantage for certain high quality loans that would otherwise be penalized by the loan-level price adjustments imposed by Fannie/Freddie.

The path we’ve chosen does involve a degree of risk. It does entail some upfront costs. However, in light of our belief that things will improve in the general economy, we accept those costs and risks. Only by acting now, rather than reacting later, can we position our bank as a player in mortgage markets.

DISCLAIMER
FHLBank Pittsburgh has reprinted this article with permission and for informational purposes only. The opinions, views and comments expressed in the article are not necessarily those of the FHLBank. FHLBank makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of any assumptions or any other data presented in the article.

The information presented in the article is not investment or business advice, nor is it an offer to extend credit or buy any security or financial product. Readers must not rely on any of this information when making any investment, business or credit decision.

“Mortgage Partnership Finance” and “MPF” are registered trademarks of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.

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