Melvin Vallejos is an Albuquerque-based branch manager for Cornerstone Home Lending Inc. and president of the New Mexico Association of Mortgage Professionals. National Mortgage Professional Magazine spoke with him about his work within his state’s trade group.
How and why did you get involved in your association? And can you share the track within your association that led to the presidency?
I became involved with the New Mexico Association of Mortgage Professionals back when we first started fighting the yield spread premium (YSP) issue. I am going to say this was around 1997. This was early in my mortgage lending career, having entered the industry in 1994, and I figured out that I could either be part of the problem or part of the solution.
I feel that every person in our industry needs to be involved in some manner to help chart our future. I believe that if I didn’t get involved, I had no right to complain about anyone fighting our industry.
Why do you feel members of the mortgage profession in your state should join your association?
Our association provides training and relationships with our regulatory bodies, both locally and nationally. We provide the most up-to-date information available on what is going on in our industry, as well as offer workshops where we bring in our regulators and business partners to keep us updated and knowledgeable on the latest trends in our industry.
Without this information, we would be working in the dark trying to figure out how to do things properly. It would be a real tragedy to have a regulator walk in to our office and we have to admit to them we don’t know what is going on. NMAMP endeavors to never let this happen to our members.
What do you see as your most significant accomplishments with the association?
Our most significant accomplishments as an association have been our involvement in the New Mexico Home Loan Protection Act, our community service and outreach to the community. We provide continuing education and licensing classes for current and new loan officers, where they can attend in-person with an instructor, rather than having to try to do this on their own. We help members with their licensing questions and our partnership with our members and their business partners is invaluable
In your opinion, what can be done to bring more young people into mortgage careers?
Right now, the biggest problem we have with bringing on more young people into the industry is that most lenders do not have a training program that allows them to gain the experience to become a mortgage loan originator. Most companies are paying a draw against commissions and they are having a hard time paying this and bringing on new loan officers who may or may not make it in the industry.
Loan costs have been escalating dramatically and lenders cannot afford to lose valuable dollars. I believe that maybe bringing on new people as interns or assistants, gives them the opportunity to learn and see if they are focused enough to grow a business.
What is the state of the housing market in New Mexico today?
New Mexico housing is steady and nearly balanced between sellers and buyers right now. We are under the six-month marketing time for properties now, but we are not having tremendous issues with multiple offers like some of the states around us. This may be coming, but we are not quite there yet.
Phil Hall is managing editor of New Mexico Mortgage Professional Magazine. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
