BRANDON LESSARD

Port St. Lucie, FL 214-***-**** adwlfi@r.postjobfree.com linkedin.com/in/brandon-lessard

SUMMARY

Mortgage Lending Specialist with 10+ years in Front line underwriting, quality control, and credit analysis with a focus on both internal and external customers. Proven leader in the financial services industry with over 10 years of assessing risks and making data-informed decisions for CMG Financial, Veterans United Home Loans, Mr. Cooper, JP Morgan Chase, & Clayton Holdings. Especially proficient in mitigating risk, analytical thinking, and managing risk within an organization with attention to detail.

COMPETENCIES

• Risk Assessment • Data Analytics

• Quality Control • Project Collaboration

• Forensic Underwriting • Task Prioritization

• Analytical Skills • Client Relationship

EXPERIENCE

CONVENTIONAL & VA UNDERWRITER

CMG FINANCIAL 2019 – 11/2022

Provide elite customer service to internal and external clients using knowledge of investor guidelines, lending policies, using the required internal documentation, policies, and procedures. Responsible for examining all loan documents for accuracy and completeness, including fraud detection and compliance reviews. Identify trends or issues and make recommendations to improve the underwriting process, products, or customer service.

• Recognized regularly by management and sales for going above and beyond.

• Train new underwriters on CMG system and procedures and provide continual mentorship and leadership.

• Regularly requested by loan officers and processors to be their underwriter on new loans.

VA SENIOR UNDERWRITER

VETERANS UNITED HOME LOANS 2014-2019

Underwrote VA loans for regions across the United States. Maintained expert-level knowledge of loan product guidelines. Maintained strong relationships with loan officers & processors. Reviewed all income documentation, tax returns, credit reports, title, and appraisals for loans. Issued NOVs on appraisals for VA loans.

• Managed daily pipeline reports for the team and provided mentorship to the underwriting team.

• Selected by senior leaders to lead Veterans United Professional Development Program.

• Developed remedies to cure the team’s non-saleable loans on a monthly basis lowering overall risks.

SENIOR FORENSIC UNDERWRITER/QC & TEAM LEAD

RECOVCO MORTGAGE 2014-2014

Performed forensic underwriting and risk analysis on mortgage loan files to identify deficiencies in prior underwriting decisions while ensuring compliance with company and Federal guidelines for mortgage companies. Identified transaction components that indicated fraud in documents along with detailed work to resolve client issues. Prepared reports to summarize loan reviews, ratings, and/or underwriting patterns and practices. Investigated lender responses and rebuttals to resolve significant issues.

• Designated Travel Team Leader – handled all aspects of project management, training, report, & client communications.

• Analyzed loans for fraud and red flags by utilizing Lexis Nexis, Fraudguard, & Datatree.

WHOLESALE & RETAIL UNDERWRITER

NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE aka MR. COOPER 2012-2014

Examined, reviewed, and evaluated the information provided by all parties, assessing the borrower’s risk profile and making an informed decision while delivering the highest level of customer care while working in a growing, fast-paced environment.

• Selected by management to work on Fannie Mae Data Edit Resolution and Repurchase Project.

• Recognized as the most requested underwriter due to customer service.

SENIOR UNDERWRITER, JOB COACH, & TRAINER

JPMORGAN CHASE 2007-2012

Provided operational supervision that encourages superior customer service for our internal and external customers. Implemented training for senior and junior staff. Monitored team’s workflow to advise on process updates to improve the team’s ability to meet production and quality goals. Escalated error trends to assist in effective problem resolution.

• Increased efficiency in underwriting by performing one on one coaching with employees on errors.

• Performed second-level review of loans for the underwriting team, providing input for decision-making and identifying the root cause of problems within the review to mitigate risk.

• Identified areas that employees were struggling with and performed side-by-side training with employees.

QUALITY CONTROL UNDERWRITER

CLAYTON HOLDINGS 2005-2007

Re-underwrote, closed, performing, and non-performing loans to various inventor guidelines. Performed fraud review and compliance and salability to check for possible fraud, red flags, and errors on loan files. Identified and analyzed due diligence issues, loan risks, and salability.

• Selected by West Coast Review Team to participate in all large projects due to exceeding production goals.

• Assisted with the preparation of reporting review results to clients on each project.

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