Independent Banker - June 2023 - 31

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Lenders
Raising the bar on mortgage best practices
In a tumultuous housing market, these community banking leaders demonstrated quick thinking and good judgment,
leading to easier mortgage processes and more housing security in their communities. By Beth Mattson-Teig
he current mortgage market
is difficult to navigate for
both borrowers and lenders.
Higher interest rates have pushed
some homebuyers to the sidelines,
while others are struggling to find
a dream home that checks the right
boxes in what remains a supplyconstrained
market.
" There's a lot at play that
makes this a very challenging
market to be in, " says Darryl
Caffee, senior vice president
and director of retail lending
at Webster Five Cents Savings
Bank in Auburn, Mass. " The good
news is that I think community
banks are really well positioned
in the mortgage business,
particularly when compared with
mortgage companies. "
The $1.1 billion-asset community
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bank's approach is to identify an
issue, such as a borrower's access
to down payment funds, and find
ways to mitigate that issue to make
the path to homeownership easier.
Since 2020, Webster Five has
introduced several programs that
have offered closing cost credits
to certain groups of borrowers,
including low- to moderate-income
(LMI) borrowers, first responders
and people within underserved
Gateway Communities,
among others.
" It was something that we
could do quickly and implement
immediately, and it has had a
significant impact, " says Caffee.
Community banks are working to
(Continued on page 32)
Darryl Caffee has become a trailblazer for mortgage
lending at Webster Five Cents Saving Bank. Along
with several mortgage assistance programs, he
helped implement loan origination software that
provides clients and borrowers with a high-tech,
efficient mortgage process and experience.
T
Minoska Mateo, 28
Vice president, community development officer
 Columbia Bank | Fair Lawn, N.J.
A strong community advocate, Minoska Mateo
supports numerous Columbia Bank initiatives and
volunteering events. She works with the community
bank's Affordable Housing Program to provide lower
mortgage rates for qualified borrowers and designed
the bank's Access Homebuyer Grant Program, which
provides low- and moderate-income borrowers with
down payment and/or closing cost assistance.
Darryl Caffee, 37
Senior vice president, director of retail lending
 Webster Five Cents Savings Bank | Auburn, Mass.
Katelyn McCauley, 32
Branch manager
 cfsbank | Bentleyville, Pa.
Thanks to Katelyn McCauley, cfsbank has garnered
many community opportunities for construction and
mortgage lending. Her innovative ideas for marketing
the community bank as a lender has increased its
production by 80% since she joined the bank in 2021.
independentbanker.org // 31

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Independent Banker - June 2023

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