CalHFA Leads Program

The California Housing Finance Agency receives thousands of phone calls and web hits every month, and until now has directed callers and web visitors to branch offices of our Approved Lenders. In order to better serve potential first-time homebuyers, CalHFA is implementing the Leads Program to direct callers to qualified CalHFA Loan Officers, instead of just a branch office with no names attached.

Every call will be routed to our Customer Relations Center. The CalHFA Customer Relations Representatives (CRR) will ascertain the caller's qualifications for a CalHFA loan, record the caller's contact information, and pass that information to a Loan Officer for follow-up via the Loan Officer Communication procedures. The list of Loan Officers will cycle constantly to ensure even distribution of leads.

The Customer Relations Center will handle all requests for information about the actual leads, as well as any complaints or questions. If you have any further questions about the Leads Program that are not answered here, please email CalHFA.

Thank you for your continued support of CalHFA and California's first-time homebuyers!

Qualifications

There are three criteria that qualify a Loan Officer as a CalHFA “Preferred Loan Officer.”

  • The Loan Officer must retail or wholesale loans through a CalHFA Approved Lender that has the capability to reserve and fund loans for the interest only PLUSSM and Conventional 30-Year Fixed Mortgage home loan products.
  • CalHFA must have purchased at least five loans originated by the candidate within a six-month period.
  • To maintain status as a Preferred Loan Officer, the candidate’s conversion rate of CalHFA loans must meet 50% of the program’s overall conversion average of all leads. The Preferred Loan Officer must also maintain a delivery rate of a minimum of five loans to CalHFA during each subsequent six-month period.

CalHFA will review all candidate's performance on a quarterly basis. Eligible candidates will be contacted and invited to the Leads Program via e-mail and U.S. mail.

As the Leads Program evolves, the number of loans to qualify and other criteria may be changed to better serve Loan Officers and homebuyers.

Loan Officer Communication

  • Fax - Immediately after a caller is assigned to a Loan Officer, a “Lead Sheet” will be faxed to the Loan Officer. This lead contains all the information needed for the Loan Officer to contact the prospective borrower.
  • First Email - Within 24 hours of the fax, Loan Officers will also receive an email. The purpose of the email is to ensure that the Loan Officer receives the lead. It is also to be used to report the outcome of the follow-up to the lead. For security purposes, this email will only include the borrower’s last name and lead record number. The Loan Officer should respond to this email as soon as possible.
  • Reminder Email – If the Loan Officer has not responded within 48 hours of the first email, a second reminder will be sent. This email will inform the Loan Officer that they have until the end of the business day to respond to the lead. If a response is not received, the Loan Officer may be suspended from receiving leads.
  • All leads must be responded to by EMAIL within 48 business hours. (Forty-eight hours is considered two business days from the date of receipt of the initial e-mail.) It is the Loan Officer’s responsibility to inform the Customer Relations Center of non-receipt of the “Lead Sheet” via phone call, fax or email.
  • 30-Day Follow Up – All Loan Officers must respond to a 30-Day Follow-Up Email. This email will be sent 30-days after a lead has been sent. The 30-day follow-up email is intended to collect additional information on each lead referred to a Preferred Loan Officer.

A Loan Officer must provide feedback as to the follow-up action taken and the current status of the lead. Once contact has been made with the prospective borrower referred to in the lead, the Loan Officer must reply to the email notifying him/her of the lead. In this email is a list of possible customer responses. In the reply, the Loan Officer should indicate the responses that best apply to this particular lead, and add any comments as needed to clarify the outcome of the contact.

To ensure the best possible service for borrowers interested in CalHFA home loan programs and products, Loan Officers who do not follow up on their assigned leads will be removed from the Leads Program and will no longer be listed as a Preferred Loan Officer.

Complaints and Terminations-

  1. The Customer Relations Center will forward all complaints to CalHFA's Homeownership Leads Program Manager.
  2. If the caller forwards a complaint, the Preferred Loan Officer will be required to respond to and/or provide a proposed resolution to the caller’s concerns to the Customer Relations Center within five (5) business days from receipt of complaint.
  3. The Preferred Loan Officer’s response must address any concerns or questions in the Caller’s complaint.
  4. If the Preferred Loan Officer has any questions on how to address the complaint, he/she should contact his/her Customer Relations Representative as soon as possible.
  5. If the Caller and the CRR do not receive a response within five (5) business days or additional complaints have been made, the CalHFA Homeownership Program Manager reserves the right to suspend the Preferred Loan Officer.
  6. Lack of response to the CRR’s attempts to contact the Preferred Loan Officer will automatically result in suspension from the leads program.
  7. If the Preferred Loan Officer is temporarily unable to receive leads in accordance to these requirements for any reasons, it is the responsibility of the Preferred Loan Officer to contact the Customer Relations Manager and Leads Program Manager via e-mail. The e-mail must be titled “Request to be temporarily removed from the Leads Program.” Temporary suspensions can be granted reinstatements without additional training upon the request of the Loan Officer. However, it is the Preferred Loan Officer’s responsibility to contact the Customer Relations Manager and the Leads Program Manager to request reinstatement back into the Leads Program.
  8. It is the responsibility of the Loan Officer to immediately contact the CRR when the Loan Officer’s profile information changes, including address, e-mail address, phone number, etc.
  9. The Preferred Loan Officer has the right to appeal removal from the Homeownership Leads Program within 30 days of the dismissal. Reinstatement to the Leads Program will be at the discretion of CalHFA’s Homeownership Leads Program Manager. The Homeownership Leads Program Manager will assess the level of complaint and/or issue in determining any such reinstatement to the program.
  10. Once a Loan Officer is removed from the Preferred Loan Officer list for any reason, except for request of temporarily removal stipulated in #7 of this section, completion of CalHFA Lender Training within two months of dismissal is required before reinstatement.
  11. The Preferred Loan Officer has the right to terminate participation in the Homeownership Leads Program at any time.
  12. If the Preferred Loan Officer terminates his/hers participation in the Homeownership Leads Program, the Preferred Loan Officer must immediately contact the Customer Relations Supervisor, Vincent Martinez at:
    (916) 341-2187.

Thank you for your interest in the CalHFA Lead Program, and for your continuing interest in serving the first-time homebuyers of California.

 

Homebuyers interested in applying for financing, should contact one of CalHFA's approved lenders.

CalHFA does not lend money directly to consumers. CalHFA works through and uses approved private lenders to qualify consumers and to make all mortgage loans. CalHFA purchases closed loans that meet CalHFA's requirements. The fees consumers pay could be different depending on the lender and the program.