Homebuyer counseling classes should expand and evolve, according to some in the industry who said such programs are critical to promoting successful homeownership. And there have been a few changes this year that speak to the growing importance of borrower education. Studies show that borrowers participating in homebuyer counseling classes are more likely to sustain homeownership than those who haven’t been counseled. But a newly published paper from the Urban Institute said...
Lenders and servicers are seen as prime targets for cyber criminals that focus on Social Security numbers and bank accounts. Bill Beckmann, president and CEO of MERSCORP, said, “There’s almost nothing more robust” than the information mortgage companies have regarding individual borrowers. Beckmann and Mitch Tanenbaum, a partner at CyberCecurity, a consultant to financial service companies, addressed cyber security issues facing the mortgage industry ...
Most lenders welcome mortgage technology and innovation, but they are divided when it comes to embracing Uber-like industry-wide disruptions, according to new research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group. “Today’s consumers access myriad products and services via digital platforms that make it more efficient, simple and pleasant to conduct their business,” said Katrina Jones, vice president of single-family business solutions at ...
Mortgage industry trade groups filed a brief last week asking the Supreme Court of the United States to take up a case involving fees charged by Connecticut aimed at mortgage recordings by Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems. In February, Connecticut’s Supreme Court upheld fees imposed by the state in 2013 that tripled charges for mortgages recorded with MERS compared with non-MERS recording fees in the case of MERSCORP Holdings v. Dannel Malloy. In the new brief, industry participants caution...
Lenders originating agency mortgages are seeing plenty of demand in the secondary market, according to panelists at the California Mortgage Bankers Association’s Western Secondary Market Conference this week in San Francisco. “Capital is searching for a home,” said Rob Branthover, a managing director at Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp. He noted that many investors are focusing on agency mortgages. Mike Duncan, a senior hedge manager at Compass Analytics, said...
Lenders operating in the consumer-direct channel have a distinct opportunity to use technology to improve the mortgage experience for borrowers, according to findings from the Strategic Mortgage Finance Group. Garth Graham, a senior partner at the firm more commonly referred to as Stratmor, detailed the findings in a new publication from the mortgage-industry consulting firm. The Stratmor executive suggested that consumer-direct lenders should work with technology that ...
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