On their wedding night, the young bride approached her new husband and asked for $20.00 for their first lovemaking encounter. Her husband readily agreed.

This scenario was repeated each time they made love, for more than 40 years, with him thinking that it was a cute way for her to afford new clothes and other incidentals that she needed.

Arriving home around noon one day, she was surprised to find her husband in a very drunken state.

During the next few minutes, he explained that his employer was going through a process of corporate downsizing, and he had been let go. It was unlikely that, at the age of 59, he'd be able to find another position that paid anywhere near what he'd been earning, and therefore, they were financially ruined.

Calmly, his wife handed him a bank book which showed more than forty years of steady deposits and interest totaling nearly $1 million.

Then she showed him certificates of deposits issued by the bank which were worth over $2 million, and informed him that they were one of the largest depositors in the bank. She explained that for more than three decades she had "charged" him for sex, these holdings had multiplied and these were the results of her savings and investments.

Faced with evidence of cash and investments worth over $3 million, her husband was so astounded he could barely speak, but finally he found his voice and blurted out, "If I'd had any idea what you were doing, I would have given you all my business!"

That's when she shot him.

You know, sometimes, men just don't know when to keep their mouths shut!

One of the biggest challenges faced by business owners today is attracting and retaining great people. Millennials and those with diverse ethnic backgrounds make up an enormous part of today's workforce, at this point larger than the Baby Boomers, and survey after survey finds that this generation values flexibility as much and sometimes more than compensation. Here's a piece about this group and their effect...not on housing but on food! But there is more below about the generation's impact on housing.

For a dose of learning Vantage Production and Weiner Brodsky Kider PC attorney's Jim Milano and Melissa Wachtel will be conducting a fast-paced briefing during the webinar "RESPA & Co-branded Marketing-Critical Guidelines for Remaining Compliant" on August 3, from 1-2PM EDT. Don't miss the opportunity to listen in and submit your questions to two of the mortgage industry's leading compliance attorneys. Register now!

In company news Republic First Bancorp, Inc., parent company of Republic Bank, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Oak Mortgage Company, LLC, a residential mortgage company headquartered in Marlton, NJ. Oak Mortgage will maintain its current business model and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank. Apparently the lender is a "natural fit" for Republic's growth strategy in the southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey market. Oak Mortgage currently has 64 employees that specialize in the origination of residential mortgage products. In 2015, Oak closed more than $330 million in mortgage loans - about $30 million a month. "Anyone that visits a Republic Bank store will now have direct and immediate access to an experienced residential mortgage lender and all customers of Oak mortgage will have full access to the products and services of one of the fastest growing financial institutions in the Philadelphia region."

In the last week or two things have been pretty quiet in terms of announced bank mergers - the dog days of summer. Equity Bancshares, Inc. Announces Merger Agreement with Community First Bancshares, Inc. First National Bank of Pennsylvania ($20B, PA) will acquire Yadkin Bank ($7.5B, NC) for about $1.4B in stock. In Michigan Bank of Ann Arbor ($1.2B) will acquire Bank of Birmingham ($274mm) for about $33mm in cash.

But vendor news continues to come out, impacting lenders. There has been a huge shift toward outsourcing segments of the residential lending process to individuals or companies that specialize in certain tasks: ol' Betsy just can't manage post-closing QC, shipping, and investor relations all by herself anymore. Of course that means that lenders must hire personnel to manage those third party relationships, and can even hire companies that specialize in vendor management!

Clayton Holdings LLC mortgage industry, announced that it has developed an end-to-end underwriting, valuation and due diligence solution for the growing "fix and flip" lending market. Jeff Tennyson, president of Clayton stated "We have designed an integrated, one-stop solution for warehouse and hard-money lenders that draws on Clayton's deep experience in underwriting and the unique skill sets in valuing and monitoring single-family rental properties that reside within our Green River Capital and Red Bell Real Estate subsidiaries."

Ellie Mae launched a new version of Encompass, its all-in-one mortgage management solution. Encompass 16.2 offers new and enhanced integrations with Freddie Mac tools, and enhancements to the Total Quality Loan (TQL) program, including strengthened strategic partnerships and updates to Encompass Product and Pricing Service (EPPS). Encompass will offer Loan Product Advisor, the replacement for Freddie Mac's automated underwriting system, Loan Prospector(R), and the cornerstone tool of Freddie Mac's Loan Advisor Suite. Loan Product Advisor is the next generation in the evolution of automated underwriting with a focus on further streamlining the underwriting process for greater efficiency. In addition, Encompass will offer integration with Freddie Mac's Loan Quality Advisor, available to Freddie Mac sellers. The integration of Loan Quality Advisor, Freddie Mac's risk and loan eligibility assessment tool, into Ellie Mae's Encompass allows its customers to originate loans within Freddie Mac guidelines more easily and with greater certainty, taking immediate advantage of the new features Freddie Mac is bringing to market.

FirstCloseannounced that United Heritage Credit Union has chosen The FirstClose Report to support all of its Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) and Home Equity Loans. The patent-pending FirstClose Report provides credit union lending operations with instantaneous title search, flood certification, valuation and property information with $500,000 of lien protection insurance. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, United Heritage Credit Union serves communities in Austin, Tyler and Central Texas, and is the next in a long list of financial institutions who view The FirstClose Report as a way to gain a competitive edge. "Because The FirstClose Report delivers everything that it needs to approve these loans instantly, United Heritage Credit Union can dramatically reduce closing times from 40+ days to less than 10 days. At the same time, The FirstClose Report helps cut costs by an average of 40% and reduces risk with $500,000 of A+ XIII rated lien protection insurance per loan."