September 2017 Issue by HousingWire

HOUSINGWIRE MAGAZINE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

HW INSIDERS Our 33 winners are doing some of the industry’s most important work.

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MORTGAGE TECH Unique solutions for a faster, easier mortgage process.

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HOUSINGWIRE MAGAZINE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

OUT OF THE SHADOWS HOW FINTECH is infiltrating the mortgage industry, and what traditional lenders should be doing to adapt

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HOUSINGWIRE SEPTEMBER 2017 EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jacob Gaffney MAGAZINE EDITOR Sarah Wheeler ASSOCIATE EDITOR Caroline Basile SENIOR FINANCIAL REPORTER Ben Lane DIGITAL REPORTER Brena Swanson REPORTER Kelsey Ramírez CONTRIBUTORS Rick Arvielo, Matt Cesarz, Casey Cunningham, B. Scott Fisher, Brien McMahon

CREATIVE CREATIVE ASSOCIATE Chantae Arrington

SALES AND MARKETING NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Jennifer Watson Laws jlaws@HousingWire.com MARKETING DIRECTOR C. Scott Smith DIGITAL MARKETING SPECIALIST Caren Karris SALES DIRECTORS Christi Lingard clingard@HousingWire.com Mark Adams madams@HousingWire.com Tyson Bennett tbennett@HousingWire.com AD OPERATIONS MANAGER Jessica Fly SALES COORDINATOR Lydia Bellows SUMMER ASSOCIATE Abhishek Madduri

CORPORATE PRESIDENT AND CEO Clayton Collins OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Stephanny Morales Subscriptions are available for $149.00 for one year. A subscription includes the print magazine and online access to the digital magazine. Canada and foreign are only eligible to purchase the “Digital Only” subscription plan at $149 for one year. For subscription orders, call 1-800-869-6882 or email HW@kmpsgroup.com. Postmaster: Send change of address to HW Media, P.O. Box 47627, Plymouth, MN 55447. Subscribers: Please send last magazine label along with change of address requests. The information contained within should not be construed as a recommendation for any course of action regarding legal, financial or accounting matters. All written materials are disseminated with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal advice or other professional services. HW Media does not guarantee the accuracy of information provided, and is not liable for any damages, losses or other detriment that may result from the use of these materials. © 2017 by HW Media, LLC • All rights reserved

2018, THE YEAR OF APPRAISAL DISRUPTION SINCE SITTING ON A MORTGAGE TECH PANEL at the California Mortgage Bankers Association conference in August, I’ve come to realize that 2018 will see even more tech disruption in the mortgage space. More and more, consumers are not only growing comfortable with end-to-end digital mortgages, they are coming to expect them. Can we deliver? The companies that can, and do, will see banner profits next year, I suspect. And while we are continuing to see the role of bigger brands in our space — Amazon, Google — the real disruption next year will be the way the GSEs allow technology to impact the appraisal industry. According to some outlier surveys, robotics will greatly impact the appraisal industry in the future, but I don’t buy it; homeowner valuations need a human touch. But make no mistake, 2018 will be the year of appraisal disruption. In an interview with Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayopoulos, he told me that efforts to streamline the appraisal process are a step in the right direction for Fannie Mae, which earlier this year refined its appraisal policies and reduced overall appraiser responsibilities. “We are not interested in eliminating appraisals, but we should be exploring options electronically,” he said. “Appraisers should be at their desks,” not in the field with a measuring tape, making phone calls to track down homeowners, he added. Mayopoulos said homeowners can get frustrated in some larger housing markets where appraisal turnaround times can run six to eight weeks. This experience should and can be streamlined for Fannie Mae approved lenders, he said. Further, Mayopoulos mentioned that the industry was dealing with higher appraisal volumes. By speeding up the appraisal process, Fannie Mae believes it can significantly improve efficiencies in the lending experience for homebuyers and maybe reduce some of the fixed costs. “It’s a different ecosystem, we need to reduce costs for lenders, as well,” he said. And that, by and large, will disrupt the appraisal ecosystem as well.

Jacob Gaffney Editor-in-Chief @jacobgaffney

TWEETS FROM THE STREET Spooky. Bitcoin hits $US3,136 per coin...on its 3136th day of existence Bitcoin World @BitcoinWorld HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 7

SEPT. ’17 40 INSIDERS We profile 33 industry insiders making vital contributions within their companies. These are the go-to professionals companies rely on for some of their most important work, but may not be well known to the larger industry. Until now. By Caroline Basile

OUT OF THE SHADOWS How Fintech is infiltrating the mortgage industry, and what traditional lenders should be doing to adapt.

MORTGAGE TECH PRODUCT SHOWCASE We feature 16 unique tech solutions the industry can’t do without in this annual list. By Sarah Wheeler HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 9

CONTENTS

Mid America Mortgage promoted Kara Lamphere to COO.

16 EVENT CALENDAR

Rick Arvielo of New American Funding discusses consumer expectations.

Both the MBA Regulatory Compliance Conference and ABS East begin on Sept. 17.

26 WHEN PRIORITIES COLLIDE IN M&A

17 ON THE SHELF

B. Scott Fisher of Treliant Risk Advisors on navigating change.

28 OUT OF THE BASEMENT Brien McMahon of Radian on mobilizing Millennials.

30 RETAINING BUSINESS Casey Cunningham of Xinnix on the wow factor.

32 OUTSOURCING Matt Cesarz of Optimal Blue on partnering with Microsoft.

Brian Buffini shares seven strategies for success that he learned as an immigrant.

18 HOT OR NOT Should the GSEs be competing with homebuyers in the SFR market? And is Facebook a threat to Zillow?

20 DISPATCH 1 Chronos Solutions on expediting REO disposition.

22 DISPATCH 2 Arch MI uncovers hidden homebuyer segments.

TWEETS FROM THE STREET The photos you share on Instagram may hold clues to your mental health, new research suggests by The New York Times @nytimes

HOUSINGWIRE â?ą SEPTEMBER 2017 11

CONTENTS

72 The Senate considers ending the “FICO monopoly” at the GSEs, but Mel Watt isn’t persuaded.

76 KUDOS

76 TWEETS FROM THE STREET No millennials found lurking in the house yet. Have armed self with judgemental generalisations and rolled up mortgage documents, just in case by Gav @miracleofsound

Movement Mortgage CEO Casey Crawford launches Movement Bank and Guild Mortgage renovates a school in Mexico. .

78 INDUSTRY PULSE

Amazon stokes speculation that it is moving into real estate with a “Hire the Realtor” page.

82 KNOWLEDGE CENTER XDOC explores the dangers of lending in a digital world.

84 KNOWLEDGE CENTER Superior Home Services addresses servicer concerns on damaged properties in default.

86 CFPB WATCH

The OCC and CFPB slug it out.

92 COMPANIES/ PEOPLE INDEX

93 AD INDEX 94 PARTING SHOT

HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 13

Kara Lamphere Mid America Mortgage

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FERCHO

HALE WIGGINS

DECKER MACHOVINA

ealtor.com has named Danielle Hale as its new chief economist. Hale joins Realtor.com from the National Association of Realtors, where she spent nearly a decade as an economist and policy researcher. While at NAR, Hale served as managing director of housing research. Flagstar Bank has brought on Kristy Fercho to serve as the company’s president of mortgage. Fercho was previously a senior vice president and customer delivery executive at Fannie Mae. loanDepot has announced the addition of Brian Decker, a top 30 loan originator, to its team. Decker, a 12-year industry veteran, will serve as the retail lending manager for the company’s new Temecula, California, retail lending location. Decker is a top producing loan officer and ranks in the top 1% of originators. He closed 586 loans with more than $204 million in sales during 2016. Mortgage Broker Services has promoted Greg Tallmadge to company president. Tallmadge joined Mortgage Broker Services as executive vice president of

MISCHNER

ABBEY HECKMAN

Lamphere, a 2017 HousingWire Woman of Influence, was promoted to chief operating officer at Mid America Mortgage. She previously served as its director of correspondent lending and chief compliance officer.

capital markets and risk management in May. He has previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers as a consumer finance group manager and TD Bank in product management. Churchill Mortgage named Tom Gillen as the company's senior vice president of capital markets. Gillen will oversee the ongoing development of business strategies for the mortgage provider. Before joining Churchill, Gillen was a founder and managing partner of HedgeAdvisory, an analytics and loan sale solutions provider. Mortgage field servicer Safeguard P r op e r t ie s ha s promote d Ste ve Machovina to assistant vice president of technology infrastructure and cloud services. Machovina joined Safeguard in November 2013 as its director of information technology operations. Before joining Safeguard, Machovina was vice president of information technology at privately-held wireless provider Revol Wireless and held management positions with Northcoast PCS and Corecomm Communications. Safeguard Properties also promoted Jason Heckman to assistant vice president

of mobile and analytics. Heckman joined Safeguard in 2012 and led the development and integration of Safeguard’s mobile applications. Prior to joining Safeguard, Heckman was the director of application development and business intelligence for Revol Wireless. Analytic advisory services and technology solutions provider Novantas added Steve Wiggins as a director of finance, treasury and risk. Prior to Novantas, he was a senior director with Moody’s Analytics, serving as the head of enterprise risk solutions and the head of credit risk solutions for North America. LendingTree has announced the promotion of Sam Mischner to the newly-formed role of chief sales officer and head of mortgage. Mischner previously served as senior vice president of sales and general manager of mortgage. In his new role, Mischner will lead the company's sales strategy and operations. He will also continue to be responsible for LendingTree's home lending product marketplace. MasterServ Financial added Anthony Roveda as its director of valuation solutions. Roveda, who has 28 years of industry experience, previously served as director of valuation for LendingHome. TRK Connection announced the promotion of Randy Abbey to chief technology officer. In this role, Abbey will manage the architecture, design, development and on-going support and maintenance of the company’s technology solutions, including its flagship mortgage quality control audit platform. Abbey previously held multiple roles as a technology executive in a variety of industries. In 2009, he founded, and is currently president of, RA3 Software, a proprietary SaaS applications provider.

EVENT CALENDAR

ABS EAST CONFERENCE SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2017 Host: IMN Location: Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Miami Beach, Florida Cost: $1,575-$3,495 On the agenda: This year’s ABS East Conference features numerous sessions and panels covering timely topics, such as the private label RMBS market, the regulatory and legislative outlook and what GSE reform looks like under the Trump administration. New to the conference this year is the Innovation Institute, a two-day run of panels covering the emerging technologies in finance, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, cyber threats and more. The keynote speakers for this year’s conference are Rep. Andy Barr, R-Kentucky, who serves as chairman of the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee, and Denis McDonough, former White House chief of staff under the Obama administration.

MIAMI BEACH

MBA REGULATORY COMPLIANCE CONFERENCE SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2017 Host: Mortgage Bankers Association Location: Grand Hyatt Washington, D.C. Cost: $1,195-$2,905 On the agenda: Hear directly from the regulators and policy makers in Washington, D.C., who make the rules and regulations by which the industry lives. Attendees at this year’s conference can learn from informative sessions on topics such as litigation, the Dodd-Frank Act, compliance, privacy and data, and HMDA. This year’s conference also offers plenty of networking opportunities between sessions and workshops.

WASHINGTON, D.C. The Smithsonian museums are always a safe bet for off-hours in D.C. and the National Museum of Natural History, pictured above, is a fan favorite. Get up close and personal with the Hope Diamond, Egyptian mummies, a live coral reef and much more. The museum is open daily, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and admission is free. naturalhistory.si.edu/ 16 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

Throughout the Miami Beach Botanical Garden’s 2.6-acre campus you can find a wide variety of subtropical plants, flowering trees, palms, orchids and more. The garden features an edible garden area with fruits like papaya, pomegranates, lychee and pineapples. The botanical garden is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is free. mbgarden.org

ON THE SHELF The Emigrant Edge: How to Make It Big in America BRIAN BUFFINI HOWARD BOOKS

In The Emigrant Edge, Brian Buffini shares seven strategies that he and other successful immigrants have deployed that can help anyone reach a higher level of achievement, no matter their vocation. An Irish immigrant who went from rags to riches, Buffini was born and raised in Dublin and immigrated to San Diego with less than a hundred dollars. After discovering real estate, he quickly became a top real estate mogul and founder of the largest business training company, Buffini & Co. In this book he shares the empowering perspective of those who have left their home countries to find the American Dream.

Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul JEREMIAH MOSS DEY STREET BOOKS

Jeremiah Moss is the creator of the Vanishing New York blog. In this book he offers an unflinching examination of gentrification in the 21st century, which ends up reading like a love letter to the New York that is now lost. For generations, New York City has been a mecca for artists, writers and other hopefuls longing to be part of its rich cultural exchange and unique social fabric. But modern gentrification is transforming the city from an exceptional, iconoclastic metropolis into a suburbanized luxury zone with a price tag only the 1% can afford. Or a "dull landscape of Anywhere, USA," full of bland national retailers that fill other U.S. cities. How else to explain the 307 Starbucks locations in Manhattan alone?

Hot SIZZLE? Not FIZZLE? 1 1 WHY THE

WHY THE

SELLING YOUR HOME

LEP CREDIT ACCESS

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency is still accepting feedback on the issues facing qualified mortgage borrowers with Limited English Proficiency. According to the FHFA's 2017 GSE Scorecard, the GSEs are required to identify major obstacles for LEP borrowers in accessing mortgage credit and to analyze potential solutions. The FHFA's request for input seeks to learn more about the procedures and tools that originators, servicers, and other parties in the mortgage lending process presently employ to assist LEP borrowers, those who don't read, speak or understand English.

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CORDRAY Rumors continue to swirl around CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s future. Cordray may plan to leave his position and run for Ohio governor at some point soon, and according to one of the top Republicans on Capitol Hill, Cordray is already making moves in preparation for his run in Ohio. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, is calling for an investigation of Cordray for allegedly violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees and cabinet members from using their official position to influence an election.

FACEBOOK IN REAL ESTATE

Facebook has moved in on Zillow’s territory, launching a new ad campaign designed specifically for residential real estate brokers. Dynamic Ads for Real Estate allow brokers and agents to advertise listings directly to Facebook and Instagram users who searched for properties on the broker’s website. This will compete with Zillow’s product, which allows real estate agents to advertise to prospective homebuyers and sellers on its site. “Real estate is an area we’re betting big on as a company,” Facebook’s real estate and financial services chief Keith Watts said.

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Last month, the real estate seller’s market made the hot list, but since then the market has become so competitive that even consumers are growing less confident in selling their home. Despite the rising home prices, confidence in the seller market is diminishing as those surveyed who said it is a good time to sell a home decreased 11 percentage points to 28%, falling from June’s survey high , according to the Home Purchase Sentiment Index from Fannie Mae. Nearly half of consumers who say now is a bad time to buy cited rising prices as a primary concern.

GSES IN SFR MARKET Freddie Mac recently signaled its interest in the single-family rental market and the California Association of Realtors is less than pleased, saying the move goes against helping homebuyers. While Freddie Mac asserts that affordability for homebuyers is its top priority, CAR isn’t buying it. CAR President Geoff McIntosh said, “While CAR is waiting on details, we are concerned with Freddie Mac moving forward to partner with institutional investors to use what is essentially a government guarantee to compete with homebuyers.”

WELLS FARGO SCANDALS It seems that Wells Fargo literally can’t go one week without facing another scandal. In late July, the bank revealed one of its latest scandals: preparing to hand out $80 million in remediation for potentially wrongfully force-placing auto insurance on as many as 570,000 of its customers. Then, just seven days later, Wells Fargo announced that it agreed to pay $108 million to the federal government to settle a lawsuit alleging that the bank overcharged military veterans for refinance loans. Under the agreement, Wells Fargo denies the allegations in the lawsuit but will pay the government to resolve the claims.

CHRONOS SOLUTIONS | SPONSORED CONTENT

Here’s how to expedite REO disposition and reduce holding costs Chronos Solutions case study outlines the benefits of consolidating your vendor network

inancial institutions of every size are trying to accelerate REO asset disposition, reduce holding costs and limit liability. But generating the highest level of returns per asset is no easy task, especially when the financial institution is dealing with multiple vendors in the process. Chronos Solutions recently tackled this problem for a top 10 national servicer, delivering spectacular results: Total hard economic impact achieved for this servicer is currently in excess of $46.9 million in the first 10 months of managing their entire portfolio. How did Chronos Solutions help the national servicer achieve such stunning results? First, the servicer’s move to consolidate its REO disposition business to a single vendor was key. Using Chronos Solutions allowed for a streamlined process that gave the servicer direct control over every area involved in REO disposition. “We are now the only vendor that can provide every service required for REO asset management and disposition,” said Chronos Solutions Executive Vice President of Business Development and Marketing Matt Slonaker. The servicer utilized a number of components offered in Chronos Solutions’ complete end-to-end REO management and disposition service, Asset Portfolio Plus. This service includes valuations and reconciliation, title grading and curative, claims without conveyance of title (CWCOT) eligibility analysis, HOA lien identification, field service inspections, short sales and deed-inlieu solicitation, title insurance and settlement services. Chronos Solutions assessed the servicer’s operational processes, business capabilities, policies and procedures, then made recommendations and developed and sequenced an implementation road map based on the servicer’s strategic goals. “Forward-thinking clients are looking to their vendors to be trusted advisors and business partners who not only provide necessary services, but also contribute thought capital towards the growth and efficiency of their organizations,” Slonaker said. In order to deliver the maximum return for each asset, Chronos Solutions conducts an advanced analysis of individual properties, which the company uses to create customized repair and marketing strategies. Chronos Solutions has the ability to market every property multiple ways — through Trustee Sale, CWCOT, REO and the Second Chance program — and on average sees 35-45% of properties go into contract within 90 days of the first auction cycle. Chronos Solutions’ online auction division, RealtyBid.com, pioneered online real estate auctions beginning in 2001, and has achieved sales timetables averaging 23 days or less from start to

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finish. Utilizing this service jumpstarts the disposition process. In the servicer’s case, this strategy led to a nearly 50% reduction in portfolio age within a matter of months. Chronos Solutions also helped minimize risk and exposure to the servicer through its ability to manage assets individually. Vendors engaged by Chronos Solutions on the servicer’s behalf were proven service providers, and by handling the HOA Risk, Title and Auction functionalities internally, the company was able to reduce delays and hand offs by maintaining direct control over the process. The results speak for themselves. Chronos Solutions was able to help the client cut carrying costs on an REO asset portfolio by more than $19.2 million and reduced aging by more than 90 days on assets acquired within a one-year period. Chronos also achieved a sales to value execution ratio of 102.2%, exceeding their 92% ratio by more than 1,000 basis points, and increased asset returns by $24.54 million in the first quarter of 2017. In addition, Chronos helped the servicer reduce head count by 40-plus employees, saving $3.2 million. The servicer also benefitted from reduced service fees by bundling services such as HOA, Title and Auctions, resulting in an average per service savings of 15% over other providers. For Chronos Solutions, the work they performed for this top 10 servicer reflects their commitment to customer service for all their clients, regardless of their size.

ARCH MI | SPONSORED CONTENT

Are you overlooking potential homebuyer segments? When it comes to homebuyers, it’s not just about Millennials

s the largest segment of homebuyers—34% of the market— Millennials (ages 36 and younger) are the focus of interest for mortgage originators. Many lenders have been helping Millennials purchase homes with a multi-prong approach that includes homebuyer education, flexible financing options and mortgage insurance. With MI, qualified borrowers can make down payments as low as 3% rather than the 20% down typically required without MI. With all the attention on Millennials, could lenders be overlooking opportunities with other buyer segments? The 2017 Generational Trends Report, published by the National Association of Realtors, and related research reveals surprising strength in three key customer segments: • Single women account for 17% of all homebuyers (2016) and are buying homes at more than twice the rate of single men • Generation Xers (ages 37 to 51) have a 28% share of the housing market and tend to buy the largest, most expensive homes • Hispanic buyers make up nearly half of all first-time homebuyers and were credited with 74% of the net growth in overall U.S. home ownership (2016) by a recent Hispanic Wealth Project report “Many of these individuals would welcome seminars on what’s required to buy a home and the benefits of home ownership,” said Arch MI Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jim Jumpe. “Saving for a down payment is a challenge for nearly all renters, not just Millennials. Presenting seminars created especially for singles, Gen Xers or the Hispanic community sends the clear signal you’re a lender who values these customers and offers mortgage solutions for them. It really helps you stand out from other loan originators.” To create homebuying seminars, many lenders use Arch MI’s Roadmap to Home Ownership, a free toolkit created to educate, encourage and qualify prospective first-time borrowers. It consists of a set of customizable presentation materials for lenders to print with their own logos inserted for in-house home-buying seminars in cooperation with local Realtors.

ALL THE SINGLE LADIES Single women account for more than one-third of the growth in real estate ownership since 1994, according to a Quicken Loans blog post. “It’s amazing to me there’s been so little media attention on the phenomenon of single women now purchasing nearly one-sixth of all homes,” Jumpe said. “Educational seminars designed primarily for single women can be an important step in delivering the message that singles routinely qualify for mortgages to reap all of the benefits of building equity in a home.” 22 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

By leveraging Arch MI’s Roadmap to Home Ownership toolkit, lenders can offer seminars on a range of topics for this group.

GENERATION X Another opportunity lies in shifting attention to older buyers, including Gen Xers who account for more than a quarter of home sales and tend to have higher incomes than Millennials. According to the Realtors’ report, 27% of buyers in this age group who have debt are dealing with student loans incurred, in many cases, for their children’s education. Also, 12% of Gen Xers who bought a home in 2016 selected a multi-generational house with added room to accommodate a parent or an adult child. More than a quarter of Gen X borrowers are first-timers, but virtually anyone can benefit from homebuyer education emphasizing the latest updates for borrowers, including down payments.

THE HISPANIC MARKET Since 2000, Hispanics have added more than 3 million new homeowners while the overall number of U.S. homeowners declined by 53,000, according to the Hispanic Wealth Project’s annual State of Hispanic Homeownership report. The report states that real estate companies and lenders should forge partnerships with real estate professionals in the Hispanic community and involve them in events such as buyer education sessions and first-time homebuyer seminars.

VIEWPOINTS

By Rick Arvielo

Maintaining relevancy with today’s tech-savvy consumers The roles of real estate agents and loan originators are evolving

The housing industry has entered an era where technology is significantly influencing the way consumers search for and purchase homes. Instead of hopping in a car to seek out “for sale” signs or filling out a paper 1003 application, today’s tech-savvy buyer is hopping on the internet. That means the role of the real estate agent, and the loan originator, is evolving. Now more than ever, you have to be available on-the-go in order to keep pace with today’s consumer, who is quickly emerging as the Millennial generation. This group of digital natives makes up 42% of homebuyers and they heavily rely on technology in their day-to-day lives. Connecting with this modern-day buyer means being found in the places where they are searching, which is online and on their mobile devices. Therefore, real estate agents and loan originators have to learn to use today’s technology to their advan24 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

tage. Not only will it help build your book of business, but it will keep you relevant in a changing marketplace. BUILD A SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND Using social media to build your brand is vital in this digital age. Nearly 80% of Americans use some form of social media so it’s essential that real estate agents and

loan originators have a solid presence on these platforms if they want to connect with today’s buyer. Succeeding in this arena means positioning yourself as a credible industry expert who adds value to the consumer. Since there’s an enormous amount of competition inundating social media channels, you have to separate yourself from the fray.

Rick Arvielo is CEO of New American Funding.

Whether your skill is working with veteran housing consumers or you’re a knowledgeable veteran with years of experience in the industry, you have to understand what makes you stand out amongst the competition so you can showcase it effectively. By building your brand, you add a greater level of continuity to your social media channels, which in turn makes you memorable in the marketplace. When you have an established brand, you have an expanded capacity to reach your target audience because consumers start identifying your niche market, which makes it easier to generate the right leads and attract new customers. ESTABLISH ONLINE REPUTATION As your social network expands, it’s important to already have in place a solid portfolio of online reviews that reinforce your offline services. That’s what homebuyers today want – honest, helpful reviews. They’re making decisions heavily influenced by the feedback of other customers. Even though they may initially encounter you on social media, they’re still going to do their research before engaging in business. In fact, 84% of them will look to online reviews and will trust what they read as much as the personal recommendation that they receive from a friend or family in their social network; so not having online reviews is like closing the door on business from the vast section of the buying population who rely on them for transactional purposes. That’s one of the reasons it’s essential to provide exceptional service and to build good customer relationships because satisfied and unsatisfied customers alike share their experiences online. Generating positive reviews begins with how you close your customer transactions. When you provide excellent service, your clients are more inclined to write a favorable review when you seek their feedback. To continue producing a steady stream of reviews, you have to initiate customer contact every time you fund a loan or close a home and make it as easy as possible for them to share their experience; in

conjunction with this, you have to have a solid process in place to handle any negative reviews. It’ll be difficult to remain competitive in the vast field of loan originators and real estate agents without a good online reputation. Since customers care about these reviews, so must you, if you expect to win with today’s consumer. USE THIRD-PARTY APPS More than any other generation of consumers, today’s homebuyer uses the internet and mobile devices to connect with businesses. When buyers look for homes, they’re turning to real estate apps like Zillow, Trulia, or Redfin. These resources can be a key avenue to market yourself because they put you directly in the line of sight of potential buyers. Another option is to align yourself with a mortgage company that provides apps so you can manage your business on-thego. For example, New American Funding’s suite of apps – GoGo LO, GoGo Partner, and GoGo Home – give loan originators, real estate agents, and consumers access to instant information in the palm of their hand. When you’re armed with real-time information on your handheld device, it gives you the ability to do your job wherever you go. Whether it’s sending a prequalification letter, pulling credit, or managing your pipeline, as a loan originator you need modern technology that equips you with everything you need even when you’re not in the office. It’s essential that lenders have the ability to keep their real estate partners and clients updated anytime, anywhere; and the same goes for real estate agents. You should have the ability to give your clients real-time MLS access that’s exclusively branded to market your services to your buyers and you should be able to take your book of business wherever you go. Having access to these types of third party apps is necessary when you want to stay ahead of the competition. MOBILIZE YOUR MARKETING Since more than 80% of Millennials regularly use their smartphones, remaining

relevant with them may require modernizing your email and website platforms. Making simple changes can make you more relatable; such as upgrading an AOL email address to a more modern provider for business purposes. Also, since consumers are inundated with emails, services like BombBomb, which allows you to send personalized video messages and track client engagement, can help your messages stand out in their inbox. Now that it has become more common for consumers to use their tablet or mobile device over a personal computer, you have to make sure you have a consumer-facing website that can be easily accessed from a variety of sources. It should be a user-friendly design that’s responsive to all devices. Developing a mobile-friendly website not only leads to a better user experience, but it also increases your website’s performance on search engine results. EMBRACE AUTOMATION We’re in a day and age where people like on-demand information, so it’s important to be available when customers need to reach you. Yet, it’s impossible to be everywhere all at the same time. Since you can’t answer every call, but can’t afford to miss important customer messages, services like YouMail can help you manage customer expectations. YouMail sends an automated reply to a customer’s call when someone can’t pick up the phone. It’s useful technology for today’s professional that can enhance communication and can help you better serve clients. ALWAYS ESSENTIAL Succeeding with buyers today looks different than what it did before modern technology existed. Despite changing times, real estate agents and loan originators will always be an essential part of the homebuying process because purchasing a home is one of the biggest transactions consumers make. The key is learning to use technology to your benefit so that you’re the expert they find and turn to when they’re ready to buy. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 25

VIEWPOINTS

By B. Scott Fisher

When priorities collide in M&A Don’t let merger integration eclipse mortgage originations

Juggling competing priorities is a fact of life during a mortgage merger. Workloads multiply the moment a transaction is announced, and the pace doesn’t settle down until months after the deal closes and systems conversions are completed. Business goes on as usual — but there is a mountain of merger integration work to be done in tandem with the regular routine of loan prospecting, applications processing, approvals, closings and loan administration. The good news is that even for the highly regulated mortgage industry, there is a path to a smooth merger – provided everyone agrees that smooth is a relative term. No two mortgage portfolios are alike, 26 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

and no two mortgage teams are, either. Cultures differ between financial institutions, and pressures emerge from a variety of stakeholders, including borrowers, regulators, and investors.

There are lots of variables and lots of ways for the journey to get bumpy. But there are also some tried-and-true approaches that can help your team navigate the six- to nine-month process of merger management. START BY EMBRACING THE DUAL NATURE OF COMPANIES UNDERGOING A MERGER There is no pause button on your business. The mortgage pipeline doesn’t shut off just because a transaction has been announced – and of course no one wants it to. So you must deal with business as usual: Homebuyers, sellers and real estate agents depend on mortgage lenders to get

B. Scott Fisher is a managing director at Treliant Risk Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based consultancy serving the financial services industry.

closings done, regardless of what else is going on. Inside the financial institution, client-facing team members need loan approvals and pricing guidance. Keeping the business robust and nurturing customer relationships is critical to long-term success. Meanwhile, there are extra changes to reckon with. The merger process itself is like sipping water from a fire hose. Typically the acquiring bank or mortgage company dedicates a team that swoops into the acquired institution within a couple of days of the deal announcement. They will be in investigative mode, inquiring about everything from technology to customer files to staffing to procedures. Decision makers on both sides of the transaction are suddenly swept up into two-by-two integration teams. Conference calls, scope meetings, and weekly deadlines become all-consuming. Everyone understands that the person who’s now being asked to fill out a stack of merger integration paperwork also has a pile of loan files on their desk, but that doesn’t make the extra work go away. Amid this intense focus on competing priorities, there are other realities to face: Mergers trigger sharp interest from regulators, including federal and state banking supervisors and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Their antennae are up during normal times, but a merger creates heightened focus. The merger integration phase is a time when communications and decisions are happening rapid-fire – and sometimes with less-than-normal rigor. A perfect storm for risk can form when complexity, regulatory scrutiny, and the conditions for staff burnout are at an all-time high. Understand the human dynamics. One of the first, crucial steps in any merger integration strategy is to make sure that key personnel are confident and secure that they will have a role to play in the combined organization. In most mergers, layoffs are inevitable because overlaps must be eliminated to achieve efficiencies. Retention bonuses can help to keep downsized employees in

place and focused long enough to finish up important tasks. Some workers who won’t be employed in their former capacity may be open to retraining or relocation, and the sooner these options are presented, the better it will be for all concerned. When a work site is being eliminated, as is common in mortgage mergers, offering financial incentives to close out loans in the pipeline can reduce headaches down the road; the goal should be to transfer as few files as possible to a new closing team to avoid added risk of errors. Burnout is also a very real risk to your team. Mergers consume long hours and virtually ensure that there won’t be enough players on the bench to do everything well. Mid-size banks are particularly exposed because critical decisions are mostly made by a small number of leaders, usually at the highest ranks. In my experience as a veteran of numerous mortgage mergers, it is wise to alleviate some of the human pressure by seeking outside assistance, whether by engaging a consultant or by hiring temporary workers. INCREASE YOUR VOLUME OF COMMUNICATION Real estate agents, customers, and referral sources need special care during merger integration. It’s easy to take them for granted and not recognize their concerns: Is your organization still in business? Do they need to point a borrower somewhere else? The perception that the mortgage group has its head down in internal matters can be costly to these important relationships. The merger integration period is a time for re-recruiting not only your employees, but your customers and your referral sources. It’s vital that you don’t let them see any sign of slippage in quality. Double your contact frequency to avoid fallout in your pipeline and to keep your referral sources confident and engaged. Communicating internally is just as important as communicating externally. As the bank begins to make decisions about the product set and organization going forward, let workers know.

Mergers merit town hall meetings weekly or even more frequently, rather than the typical monthly huddle. And candor counts. During a recent merger integration in which I led the acquired-bank team, I told a group of employees that I realized everyone in the room had anxiety about the merger. I let them know I didn’t have a lot of the answers, but I would work hard to get answers quickly. Acknowledging that a merger impacts employees, their families, and their ability to do their job is not just good business—it’s the decent thing to do. Holding too much too close to the vest can cause employees to jump ship quickly. Ratchet up recognition and encouragement, but be sensitive. It makes sense to have separate calls and communication efforts for the employees who will be retained and for those who will be dismissed. TAKE CARE OF EXTERNAL VENDORS It takes a village of third-party providers to a make a mortgage, and that village includes title insurers, appraisers, closing attorneys, flood insurance providers, and property insurers. Some of those vendors will be happy because their pie just got bigger, and some will be worried about future business. During the months that the merger partners are still separate entities, the banks must encourage vendors to cooperate with one another. This is the time to increase the frequency of service-level agreement discussions – third parties can be given requirements that are measured every two weeks instead of quarterly, for example. With the right plan in place, it is possible to continue originating mortgages during the crunch time that is a merger integration. The odds of success increase with a plan that emphasizes enhanced communication and cooperation and anticipates the need for additional resources during this high-stakes process. Companies that make a wise investment of effort and financial resources up front are best positioned to reap the long-term benefits of mergers and secure the loyalties of the communities they serve. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 27

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By Brien McMahon

Out of the basement and into a home With private mortgage insurance, Millennials donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need 20% down to buy

The stereotype of Millennials living in their parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; basement into adulthood is no joke. An unusually high number of young people in their prime homebuying years are postponing making their first purchase. There are many reasons for this, including availability, affordability, student loan debt and changing attitudes, but the solutions are not as easy to identify. One possible answer may be an approach to borrowing that can lower the down payment required for first-time homebuyers. Data analysis from a much-sourced Bank of America Merrill Lynch research note from June 2 indicates fewer Americans aged 24 to 35 are buying homes than ever before. According to the Federal Reserve 28 HOUSINGWIRE â?ą SEPTEMBER 2017

of New York, homeownership rates among young consumers fell drastically in the wake of the Great Recession, dropping from 31% in 2004 (and 32% in 2007) to just 21% by 2016.

At the same time, the number of young consumers living with parents or elders has climbed dramatically. In 2004, just 33.5% of 23 and 25-year-olds lived with their parents or elder adults. By 2015, that had grown to 44.9%. With the housing market finally returning to a more normal state, some of these would-be homebuyers can be expected to leave the basement and get into their own homes. But so far the pace has been slow. While the recovery is a hopeful sign, accelerating home sales and the consequent increase in prices could be factors discouraging first-time buyers from entering the market. In 2016, U.S. house prices

Brien McMahon is Radian’s chief franchise officer.

rose by 5.6%, faster than at any time since the housing crisis began and far outpacing the rate of inflation. And the price appreciation is widespread, with home values rising in 97 out the 100 largest metropolitan areas. But in the places where many Millennials want to live – dense cities on the East and West Coasts – prices for homes have increased by as much as 40% since 2000, much faster and higher than in other parts of the country. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, the average home costs $575,000 in the 10 metro areas with the fastest appreciation rates, which is more than four times the average cost of a home in the 10 markets with the slowest rates. Demand returning to the market is driving some of the increase, but so is dwindling supply with only 1.65 million existing homes for sale last year, the fewest in 16 years. Inventory is tight at the lower end of the market where Millennials would be expected to find their point of entry. That’s because fewer entry-level homes are being built. Between 2004 and 2015, completions of single-family homes under 1,800 square feet fell from nearly 500,000 units to just 136,000 according to the Harvard report. For many basement dwellers, renting is not an attractive alternative to buying. That’s because the national rental vacancy rate has been declining for seven straight years. It is now 6.9% nationally, the tightest it’s been in more than thirty years. For professionally managed apartments, the vacancy rate is just 4.4%. As a consequence, rents are rising across the country faster than the inflation rate. The portion of the Consumer Price Index focused on housing rents was up 3.8% in 2016. Perhaps the most formidable obstacle for Millennial homebuyers is student loan debt. The Federal Reserve of New York estimates that a third of the shortfall of homeownership among 28-30 year olds is attributable to student debt. Today, the average 25-year-old carries 65% more school-related debt than graduates in 2003. And this debt load is crowding out other spending.

People with student loans tend to have 36% less credit card debt. When it comes to housing, the New York Fed says there would be 360,000 Millennial-owned homes today had college tuition held steady at 2001 levels. And just in case high prices, lack of inventory, and crippling debt wasn’t discouraging enough, a recent survey by SunTrust Mortgage found that 42% of Millennials said their dog, or desire to have one, would influence their future home-buying decisions. Thirty-three percent of them said a dog was a more important factor in purchasing a first home than marriage or children. Only the desire for more space and the opportunity to build equity were more important than having room for a dog. Unfortunately, it would be a lot easier to provide every Millennial with a free dog than it would be to raise the money needed to buy a home. According to RealtyTrac, it takes about 12.5 years on average to save for a 20% down payment. But consider how much home prices have recovered in just the past six years since the depths of the housing crisis. Between 2011 and 2017, median home values have increased by about 25%. But that’s just the national average. In places like San Francisco, the median price for a home has skyrocketed from $683,000 in 2011 to $1.2 million today; a rise of more than 75%. Potential homebuyers standing on the sidelines while accumulating a full 20% down payment can be caught in an “appreciation trap” where they not only miss out on benefiting from this enormous appreciation, they also fall even further behind because the down payment amount would have soared as well. A handy equity appreciation calculator at AchieveTheDream.com can quantify the impact of waiting to save a larger down payment. For example, at a home price of $350,000 and an average appreciation rate of 4%, waiting just one year to buy can cost more than $47,000 in equity, three years can cost nearly $84,000 and five years can potentially have a six-figure impact at more than $122,000.

On the plus side, a Bank of America survey found that 40% of older Millennials say they’ve already started to plan for a down payment, compared with 35% of the general population. Millennials should know there is a smart and prudent way of getting a foothold in the market without waiting to save the full 20% down payment. Borrowers with a down payment of less than 20% are typically required to supplement their down payment with insurance. Private mortgage insurance can help reduce the down payment requirement for qualified borrowers to as low as 3%. Loan officers looking to help borrowers such as these with challenges like student loan debt can explore some of the solutions and advancements introduced into the market by checking out Radian’s web-based training video on demand, Timely Topics: Student Loan Solutions. Private mortgage insurance can be a better deal than an FHA-insured mortgage. Particularly for borrowers with a good credit history, and in a rapidly appreciating market, an insured mortgage with a low down payment can be a convenient – and perhaps the only – point of entry for first-time buyer Millennials. Those buyers should also know that while they might need private mortgage insurance to get through the door of their first home, it goes away once the loan-to-value-ratio drops to 80% — another area where they can benefit from rapid price appreciation. The obstacles are high but those who trade a couch in the basement for a home of their own rarely regret the move. The Bank of America survey found that the overwhelming majority of first-home buyers were satisfied with their purchase. Also, 79% said their homes are having a positive impact on their long-term financial picture and 86% said that owning a home is more affordable than renting. With the housing market finally recovering, this could be the best time to become a homeowner. Fortunately, there are tools to help Millennials overcome the financial barriers they face and start building equity today. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 29

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By Casey Cunningham

Key strategies for retaining business Giving customers a “wow” experience brings them back for more

Do the majority of your past customers return to you for their next refinance or new home purchase? Are these clients referring new leads to you? While reaching brand new customers is important, the database of clients that loan officers already have a relationship with is an enormous source of production. If new business is not coming out of existing customers, it’s time to reevaluate. When it comes to retaining clients, every mortgage professional needs to know two things: 1. Their database is their most valuable asset, and 2. Customers have to be ecstatic about doing business with them because these customers are the lifeline of future business. They must not miss out on the opportunity to create a “wow” experience for their customers! 30 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

Casey Cunningham is the founder and CEO of Xinnix, the No. 1 mortgage academy in the nation.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RETENTION Research shows that retaining current customers is actually more beneficial to business than adding new buyers. In fact, acquiring a new client can cost as much as five times more than retaining a current one. By reducing their customer defection by just 5%, loan officers can increase their profitability between 25% and 125%. If they are not working diligently to retain their current customers, lenders are leaving money on the table. So how much of an originator’s database should be returning to do business each year? A survey by Merrill Lynch found that 20% of current homeowners annually obtain a new mortgage, either for a new home purchase, a second home/vacation home, a refinance, or a line of credit. The earnings from this percentage could be huge. If a loan officer’s database is 500 customers strong, 20% would be 100 customers. If the average commission is $1,000 per loan, they are potentially losing $100,000 a year if they are not retaining business! Each client is an incredibly valuable resource. Consider their lifetime value – their repeat purchases and the referrals they can provide throughout their life. If each customer refers only two new customers, and then those new customers in turn refer two more, lenders will see their business grow exponentially. By wowing clients and creating “raving fans,” mortgage professionals will develop a longterm source of business that will have a dramatic impact on their production. THE CONCIERGE CHECKLIST To create a “raving fan,” loan officers can establish a relationship with their customers that makes each one feel appreciated and special. Create a Concierge Checklist, adding simple touches to each customer’s experience that help them to understand they are more than just another applicant. If clients come into the office, have a personalized welcome sign, make sure you or your assistant greets them by name when they arrive, and have snacks and beverages available for them and their guests while they wait. One of the most impactful

steps you can take is having the customer complete a personal questionnaire before they arrive in the office. Have them give some details about themselves, like family members, pets’ names, hobbies and social media information. Loan officers could also provide the customer with a “Who is your Loan Officer” one-sheeter that contains some family pictures and interesting facts about the professional they are going to be doing business with. These two simple touches create a connection between the lender and customer, allowing them to find common ground and develop a more personal relationship. In our competitive landscape, it is easy to differentiate yourself as very few loan officers are truly focused on the customer experience! PERFECT LOAN APPLICATION Forming a connection with the customer is the first step. By following up with a perfect loan application, loan officers build trust. To achieve this trust, a sales team must define what the perfect application looks like and document the steps leading to that point. Lenders could have their processing team rate the quality of the loan applications they receive to ensure each document is completed flawlessly. Processors are the best team members to find the necessary areas of improvement, and implementing their recommended changes will give customers a stress-free, seamless loan application process, leading to more referrals. THE TEAM’S COMMITMENT In order for a team to commit to wowing clients with a personalized customer experience and perfect application, a mortgage professional may want to first wow their team. This starts by really getting to know every team member. What are their passions outside of work? Having them fill out a questionnaire, not unlike the one intended for clients, is a great way for lenders to learn about their team and find out how to provide something special and personal for them. Team members are a business’s internal customers. When they have a “wow” experience at work, they will provide that same experience to their clients.

CUSTOMER PROBLEMS The customer experience is not based solely on how problem-free it is. More importantly, when problems do arise, how are they handled? Customer complaints provide originators with a huge opportunity. When a client feels their expectations have not been met, the effort a loan officer puts into resolving the issue will speak volumes about their commitment to the customer relationship. This dedication to meeting the customer’s need is what creates a “raving fan.” Additionally, these situations help loan officers see gaps in their process that need to be revisited and revised. PIPELINE REVIEW PROCESS Constantly reviewing this process is an extremely important step toward retaining business. Taking a daily review of operations is vital if loan officers want customers to consistently have a “wow” experience. By creating an open dialogue with team members about what everyone can do to improve, lenders ensure their process is constantly being tweaked and perfected. Processors can share areas of review with their loan officers, and vice versa. When everyone is accountable, everyone can grow until they reach their full potential. THE FINAL “WOW” Once all the other steps have been completed, mortgage professionals still have one final way they can wow their customers. Marking the closing as a special event by sending a handwritten note and a memorable, lasting gift lets the customer know that the lender values their relationship, not just their business. After all, buying a home is one of the biggest decisions of their lives. By showing support and celebrating with them, loan officers establish themselves as more than a business partner. They are now a friend. So what steps are you taking to ensure you are retaining your customers? Don’t miss out on the opportunity to create a “wow” experience for every client. Once they know that you are dedicated to their success, they will be dedicated to yours! HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 31

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By Matt Cesarz Matt Cesarz is vice president, software engineering, at Optimal Blue.

When to outsource software development How Optimal Blue partnered with Microsoft to develop its business intelligence tool

As the provider of a mortgage product and pricing engine that touches one of every four mortgage loans in the United States, Optimal Blue sits atop more than a decade’s worth of pricing data collected from hundreds of originators interacting with numerous investors. Given the popular trends around “big data” and “data visualization,” our company realized that we are uniquely positioned to offer clients unique insights that will help them make better and more timely decisions in running their business by creating a true business intelligence solution for our industry. However, with this came another recognition. With an already full schedule of priorities to tackle, the prospect of taking on a brand-new initiative would pull us too far outside our roadmap and stretch our resources too thin. To move forward, we took the approach of identifying partners that could help us 32 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

achieve our goals. We also wanted to gain on-the-job training and education for our in-house technical staff. We started by developing a very simple proof-of-concept that aggregated loan lock data into Microsoft’s Power BI product, with limited capabilities to analyze the results in a few different visualizations. We leveraged our existing relationship with Microsoft, and engaged with them to help us quickly identify ways we could turn this POC into a robust product offering. We also contracted with SysLogic Inc., a Microsoft partner with years of demonstrated experience in building BI solutions for clients.

After SysLogic performed some initial research into the Optimal Blue data landscape, the three companies sat down together at a Microsoft Technology Center to discuss design options that would meet our functional and time goals. Microsoft brought in subject matter experts to help us quickly identify best practices for our project and we moved quickly with SysLogic to build out the solution. Starting with the simple mortgage lock visualizations in our POC, SysLogic modeled the data in our transactional systems and showed us ways to understand both strengths and weaknesses of the existing data for the purposes of performing BI analysis on the results. They continued to execute on providing the initial deliverables around mortgage lock data, while working with a few Optimal Blue developers. When we started working on a set of visualizations that allow our clients to analyze their lock change request data, SysLogic split all tasks with our staff so that we would be forced to own and understand the technology we would be selling and supporting. After a small number of development sprints working with our partner, we are now ready to release a new business intelligence tool that allows users to analyze all aspects of their mortgage locking activity with compelling visualizations. While most developers prefer an “inhouse” strategy for product development, and relish the opportunity to learn new technologies as they create innovative solutions, finding development partners that reduce the ramp-up time helps companies like Optimal Blue to achieve the best of both outcomes. Our development staff did acquire new skills, and were able to leverage newer technologies in Microsoft Azure. Meanwhile, our business team added another offering to our market-leading solution.

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OUT OF THE SHADOWS HOW FINTECH is infiltrating the mortgage industry, and what traditional lenders should be doing to adapt By Jacob Gaffney

HOUSINGWIRE â?ą SEPTEMBER 2017 35

hen the last economic boom came to a crashing halt, the next phase of mortgage disruption began. In 2007, the big banks, along with several now-vanished names,

such as Countrywide and Wachovia, dominated the easiest mortgage credit environment the nation ever witnessed. When this lending came to a halt, in the face of record defaults, the weaker lenders were folded into the too-big-to-fails and the looming regulatory fixes and vicious press headlines meant the survivors ran for the nearest holes they could find. While those big banks are slowly reemerging from hiding and beginning to lend again, there are new settlers on the horizon, and they’ve built some rather large villages on the ashes of subprime’s foundation. A study released in the National Bureau of Economic Research maintains that nonbanks, such as Quicken and loanDepot, essentially tripled market share for mortgage lending between 2007 to 2015. You read that right: tripled market share in less than 10 years. How is such a high level of disruption possible? The mortgages in the nonbank versus big bank world are largely very similar these days: high-credit borrowers, low levels of defaults, prudent underwriting. Further, nonbank mortgages these days aren’t even cheaper to originate. On paper, this universe looks fairly flat. So what gives? The aforementioned gap in the market is key, as there was ample room to grow for those firms which were not specifically impacted by Dodd-Frank but still maintained access to the vast, federal mortgage financing structure, primarily FHA insurance, but also Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 36 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

But these two factors — private markets and then government control — are not enough to merit such an extensive reworking of a multi-trillion-dollar a year industry. What was the main source of fuel for the bonfire? Nonbanks extensively invested in mortgage fintech R&D. From the NBER report: “We recall that the shadow bank market share in conforming mortgage market grew by more than 33 percentage points in 2007 to 2015 period. Of this increase, about 11.7 percentage points are attributable to the growth in fintech firms.” So how did these nonbank lenders, whom the above researchers refer to as “shadow banks,” in reference to their ability to avoid a higher level of regulatory oversight, manage to disrupt the mortgage market? The authors write: “there has been significant geographical heterogeneity in bank capital ratios, regulator enforcement actions, and lawsuits arising from mortgage lending during the financial crisis, and we show that shadow banks are significantly more likely to enter in those

markets where banks have faced the most regulatory constraints.” Translation: the nonbanks can use mortgage tech to penetrate markets where there is no trouble on the horizon. Is Las Vegas less litigious? Quicken has you covered. Is it more profitable to lend in Pittsburgh? loanDepot has the right mortgage for you. And here’s how they do it.

FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE NBER STUDY:

“Fintech lenders, for which the origination process takes place nearly entirely online, have grown from roughly 4% market share in 2007 to 13% market share in 2015, and represent a significant fraction of shadow bank market share growth. By comparing lenders fintech and non-fintech shadow banks, we compare lenders who face similar regulatory regimes, thus isolating the role of technology. First, we find some evidence that fintech lenders appear to use different models (and possibly data) to set interest rates. Second, the ease of online origination appears to allow fintech lenders to charge higher rates, particularly among the lowest-risk, and presumably

FINTECH LENDERS MARKET SHARE Source: NBER study

13%

HOW ARE THEY ACHIEVING THIS GROWTH?

1 They use different models to set interest rates

2 Charging higher rates as tradeoff for ease of online origination

2007

least price sensitive and most time sensitive borrowers.” On August 8, at a conference held by the California Mortgage Bankers Association in San Diego, I was honored to sit on a mortgage tech panel with Adam Stein, CEO of LoanTek, and Daren Blomquist, senior vice president of ATTOM Data Solutions. Stein gave the following roadmap to using digital disruption to gain more market share. Here are three things digital disrupters

2015

should be focused on doing, Stein’s words are in quotes: 1. Delivering digital trust and ease of use are key requirements across all demographics. “Consumers of all ages require ease of access that mirrors their consumption on other common sites. For a digital conversion to be a success, a lender’s site needs to convey trust, clearly demonstrate the terms of the offer, while systemically automating and streamlining the delivery of the consumer’s request for financing.”

2. It is essential to have a digital plan that contemplates the company’s existing relationships and the usage requirements of staff. “A successful digital conversion provides technology that adds to the company’s capacity by making loan officers and their referral partners more efficient. Being cognizant of matching the business’ technology needs to the usage requirements of the company’s available human capital is a huge step in avoiding unnecessary expense and implementation failure.” HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 37

PROFILE OF A MORTGAGE TECH DISRUPTER

Kamal Shah is the CEO of FotoNotes, a company that helps field services companies keep track of property maintenance, among other things. FotoNotes, a HousingWire Tech100 winner, is the picture-perfect definition of a mortgage tech disrupter. “Companies that provide field services to the mortgage industry run on razor-slim margins and need the efficiencies of an automated workflow system to maximize profits,” Shah explained to HousingWire. “They also need systems to meet their client’s strict vendor compliance and field reporting requirements in order to get paid. Mobile applications with smart forms, GPS and time-stamped photos provide validation and documentation of that vendors completed the work (lawn care, lock changes, inspections), as required and ensures everyone gets paid. FotoNotes’ mobile-optimized field services management technology provides these critical benefits to our clients and their vendors.” FotoNotes is less than 10 years old, operations with relatively few staffers, and doesn’t provide a service exclusively to mortgage clients. They are young, fast and expansive. And while FotoNotes may not threaten most mortgage finance businesses, it is important to note that those that may — larger players such as Costco, Google and Amazon — have tipped their toes in the mortgage waters.

3. Solve for “PITA” — pain in technical acquisition. “Today, lenders are confronted by a myriad of technological solutions and options. The selection, or combination of the same, is dependent upon the extent to which a lender chooses to delve into digital origination. It is essential, therefore, to look forward, and scope the requirements so as to identify critical processes (must-haves) and distinguish those elements from others that are lesser, but desired, features. Having a clear understanding of the end result, APIs, and the connectivity of the platforms one intends to use, are essential to a successful end result.” For the smaller players, following the above format Stein describes won’t automatically lead them down the yellow brick road. It’s a start, yes, but it won’t gain you an audience with the wizard just yet. There are flying monkeys along the way and 38 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

those roles are being filled by the former bad actors. That’s right: The big banks are fighting hard to get back onto the main stage. In a letter to shareholders in April 2016, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, said the only reason the bank still originated mortgages was for the sake of its customers. “The mortgage business can be volatile and has experienced increasingly lower returns as new regulations add both sizable costs and higher capital requirements,” Dimon wrote. “In addition, it is not just the cost of the new rules in origination and servicing, it is the enormous complexity of those new requirements that can lead to problems and errors,” Dimon continued. “It is now virtually impossible not to make some mistakes – and as you know, the price for making an error is very high.”

Dimon added that for most of the bank’s customers, the home is the single largest purchase they will make in their lifetime. “More than that, it is an emotional purchase – it is where they are getting their start, raising a family or maybe spending their retirement years,” Dimon said. “As a bank that wants to build lifelong relationships with its customers, we want to be there for them at life’s most critical junctures.” Dimon is hardly the first CEO to lay the customer-first ethos on the altar of its main loss-leading asset class. But he hit on several important points, when reading between the lines. The first is that the bank will never be able to not offer mortgages and maintain a high level of competitiveness. So, never count them out. Second, a business needs to spend money to make money, and mortgages are a margin business.

Therefore, what can get costs down the most, considering regulatory scrutiny is an ever-moving target? That’s right, increased digital efficiency. Dimon also added, at the end of the letter, that JPMorgan Chase is planning the rollout of a new originations system, and said that the bank will be going more digital with its mortgage operations. “We will continue to leverage digital channels to make the application process easier for our customers and more efficient for us,” Dimon said. But a digital disruption needs to keep an expansive mind. In late July 2017, JPM announced a partnership with PayPal for customers to have the ability to enhance digital wallet purchases. That helps with online purchases and next up could be a retail-level purchase innovation, not unlike Android Pay or Google Wallet. The point is the ability to move all financial operations from someone’s bank account and onto their phone is the end game here. And get your head around that; our phones will soon hold our checking, savings, insurance cards, utility payments, coffee purchases, real-estate searches and mortgage applications. Actually, our phones already do all but one of those: the mortgage application. So what is the best strategy for winning against the heavy hitters? John Paasonen, co-founder and CEO at mortgage software provider and HousingWire Tech100 winner Maxwell, knows a thing or two about the move to actualize the digital wallet economy. Before he designed tailored solutions for mortgage lenders, he worked global strategy at PayPal and directed premium brands at American Express. And with such insight into how the advancement of digital wallet tech disrupted the payments processing world, he has a solution for how to be disruptive, along with Stein’s advice, for mortgage lenders. “Most lenders realize that a web form with 300 fields is going to be a nonstarter, especially if it doesn’t work on mobile,” he

said. “Large banks are investing in tech heavily to regain mortgage margins. For some of the smaller, independent lenders, the workflow process remains outdated.” But creating a user-friendly environment online (something he helps with) isn’t going to be enough. Lenders need to understand — and this goes back to what Dimon referred to — that homebuyers still need contact with actual humans before signing for a 30-year loan. “Our thesis is humans can be more efficient originating mortgages if they’re powered by modern software,” he added. “Homebuyers want a human guide to help them through the mortgage process, so let’s help the LOs become those advisers and not spend so much time pushing paper.” As the conference wound down in California, an earlier panel of mortgage tech vendors discussed what holds mortgage bankers back from fully embracing technology. Leaders from solutions providers such as OrangeGrid, Velocify and BeSmartee painted a picture of borrowers who are more skeptical and actually less savvy than they think. Therefore, brilliant mortgage tech, which would help guide their decisions, is a must for gaining market share. Later, as I took the stage with Stein and Blomquist and we painted a picture of the overall mortgage industry, the 30 or so originators in the audience remained engaged. Once we explained the clear benefits of tech, Stein presented a question to those lenders: “Show of hands; Who among you has a digital-only mortgage?” No one in the audience, attending a tech conference, raised their hands. To which I presented: “Now that we’ve shown the threat of Silicon Valley and the return of big banks to the market, who among you is considering implementing a digital mortgage?” After a few seconds, a single member of the audience slowly raised his hand. Progress for the mortgage industry, it seems, continues with baby steps.

“IN ADDITION, IT IS NOT JUST THE COST OF THE NEW RULES IN ORIGINATION AND SERVICING, IT IS THE ENORMOUS COMPLEXITY OF THOSE NEW REQUIREMENTS THAT CAN LEAD TO PROBLEMS AND ERRORS.” Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 39

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WINNERS Tanya Anthony, The Money Source.....................................43

John Maxwell, Mortgage Contracting Services............... 48

Raymond Bartreau, Best Rate Referrals ..........................43

Sean Moss, Down Payment Resource................................ 49

Kristina Bennett, United Wholesale Mortgage................43

Nolan Nguyen, Alight............................................................ 49

Michael Bradley, Freddie Mac.............................................. 44

Anatoliy Pavlishin, Qualia.................................................... 49

Gerardo Caceres, ClosingCorp............................................. 44

Jason Price, ReverseVision.................................................... 50

Kelli Carhart, Freddie Mac.................................................... 44

Lara Rausch, Paramount Residential Mortgage Group ... 50

Sandra Colatrella, Radian Guaranty.................................. 45

Sharon Reichhardt, ARMCO ................................................ 50

Michael Cooksey, Mid America Mortgage......................... 45

John Rogers, CoreLogic...........................................................51

Shannon Dillavou, Mortgage Cadence............................. 45

Jon Tallinger, Class Appraisal.................................................51

Janet Fell, Ellie Mae................................................................ 46

Julie Thomas, Mortgage Cadence........................................51

Brandon Fox, Assurant.......................................................... 46

Jim Vaca, Altisource.................................................................52

Daedre Gage, Mortgage Cadence....................................... 46

Aaron Vause, Nationwide Title Clearing....................... 52

Maria Gallucci, Freedom Mortgage.....................................47

Justin Vedder, Altisource........................................................52

Jacob Guertin, CoesterVMS...................................................47

Claire Weber, FormFree.........................................................53

Erica Harvill, Ellie Mae.............................................................47

John Whitlow, Pendo.............................................................53

Amy Jones, Altavera Mortgage Services........................... 48

Mike Zarrilli, DocMagic............................................................53

Richard Lundbeck, Green River Capital............................. 48

HOUSINGWIRE â?ą SEPTEMBER 2017 41

The ultimate Insiders HousingWire began recognizing the unsung he-

vesting or real estate, and we’re happy to shine

roes of the mortgage finance industry last year,

the spotlight on their efforts.

seeking out the “go-to” team members and

Companies assign these Insiders with some of

those who get the job done with enthusiasm,

their most important and challenging projects,

no matter the size of the challenge.

knowing they will deliver a superior outcome.

HousingWire’s second class of Insiders is just as They include professionals such as Lara Rausch, impactful as our first. Our editorial board care-

vice president of products and training, with

fully selected each of these 33 professionals for

Paramount Residential Mortgage Group, who

their vital and dynamic contributions to their

spends 18 hours a day responding to guideline

companies. The job titles of the Insider winners

questions from originators.

were considerably less important to our editorial

Or Qualia’s Anatoliy Pavlishin, who hosts

selection committee than their job performance,

Qualia University, a monthly lunch-and-learn

although many are serving in senior roles.

session, in addition to his role as head of title

These professionals are often the cornerstones of companies in lending, servicing, in-

42 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

and escrow. Read on to see who made our list.

Raymond Bartreau

Founder and Senior Vice President of Mortgage Partnerships Best Rate Referrals

“ Tanya Anthony Vice President of Government and Industry Administration The Money Source

“

She strives for her team to provide rock-solid service to the rest of the organization in making licensing a customeroriented and easy-to-workwith necessary step of the mortgage process.” Tanya Anthony joined The Money Source’s licensing division in 2016 and immediately hit the ground running as the company worked to build out its retail channel, as well as its servicing and subservicing operations. This represented a considerable amount of work for Anthony and her team, who worked to quickly and efficiently obtain many new licenses in a short amount of time. Anthony has been integral to the company’s ability to obtain and maintain proper licensing and her relationships with state and federal regulators have been invaluable to TMS. Anthony is also involved with the build out of NMLS 2.0 and participates in its working group. She gives the company valuable insight into where the future of mortgage licensing is going and allows TMS an important seat at the table with other industry leaders to help set the vision and platform for future use.

Ray is constantly working with lenders to help them better understand the needs and perspective of today’s mortgage consumer.”

After experiencing the challenges of the mortgage process from the lending side of the business, Raymond Bartreau envisioned a better way to connect homebuyers and lenders that would provide results and more conversions, launching Best Rate Referrals in 2005, amid the changing economic conditions in the housing market. From the beginning, the company has connected high-intent consumers with a diverse network of lenders for a variety of financing products, including home purchase, VA loans, FHA loans, HARP loans, USDA loans, 203k loans, cash-out refinances, conventional loans and more. In 2016, Bartreau led the company through a successful sale to Florida-based Digital Media Solutions, allowing the company to grow its footprint. Following the sale, Bartreau and his team created Mortgage Advisor, which transforms how consumers are matched with lenders in a modern online mortgage marketplace. For example, company research revealed that today’s consumers are searching for the best mortgage loan product, not just the lowest rate.

Kristina Bennett

Vice President of Corporate Development United Wholesale Mortgage

“

As a true veteran of the housing and mortgage industries, Kristina’s unique background and skill set makes her a critical component to UWM’s success, and one of the leading navigators of our strategic operations.”

Kristina Bennett joined United Wholesale Mortgage when it was a 12-person company. She worked as a leading sales account executive and team leader before being promoted to vice president of corporate development. Bennett oversees national accounts, correspondent lending, specialty experts and financial institutions, in addition to broker advocacy efforts – actively championing the growth of the independent broker channel. She has also played a key behind-the-scenes role in helping grow UWM, which is on pace to hit $30 billion in 2017 loan volume. Bennett is an industry veteran, having served in a wide range of roles before joining UWM. Her experience provided a springboard for her career at UWM, where she pushes the company forward by challenging the “why,” strategizing new ideas to further growth and seeking continuous improvement from her teams. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 43

Gerardo Caceres

Senior Vice President, Data Operations and Product Management ClosingCorp

“ Michael Bradley

Senior Vice President of Single-Family Models Freddie Mac

“

Michael and his team are shaping the underwriting, pricing and management of mortgage credit risk to make a better Freddie Mac and a better housing finance system.” Michael Bradley leads the modeling, econometrics, data science and analytics team within Freddie Mac’s single-family business. Bradley and his team oversaw the analytics behind Loan Advisor Suite, Freddie Mac’s endto-end solution that provides lenders with greater certainty and insight into the purchase eligibility of their loans throughout the production process. By providing automation and transparency, Loan Advisor Suite helps lenders assess credit, capacity and collateral and enables them to better validate the quality of the loans they originate. Since returning to the company two years ago, Bradley has worked to make Freddie Mac a powerful contender when it comes to analyzing data related to residential mortgages. As Freddie Mac becomes a more commercially oriented company that’s creating a safer, sounder housing finance system, Bradley brings a strong focus on strategy and innovation as well as a positive, upbeat attitude. 44 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

Gerardo is an experienced leader with a demonstrated record of success. His deep ties in the title and lender space give him the experience and insight to develop and enhance solutions that are not only relevant to the industry, but

have revolutionized it.” Since joining the ClosingCorp team last year, Gerardo Caceres has been responsible for driving the overall strategic direction and tactical execution of the company’s entire product suite, as well as enhancing its data and information management strategy. Caceres has focused the company on achieving operational excellence and introduced a discipline program across operations to focus on quality and on-time delivery. He has also made significant strides in securing additional data assets to enhance the existing user experience for ClosingCorp’s lender customers while laying the foundation for future products and analytics. As an industry veteran with more than 15 years of experience, Caceres played a leading role in the development of SmartEngine, a new advanced rate management solution that allows title companies to centralize data processing and connect their rate and fee data to any third-party system.

Kelli Carhart

Vice President of Multifamily Production and Sales Freddie Mac

“

In every role, Kelli Carhart has established herself as critically important to Freddie Mac’s business and to our mission of providing liquidity for rental housing in America.”

Kelli Carhart is the driving force behind Freddie Mac’s multifamily business. As vice president for production and sales, she oversees volume across the central region of the U.S. in the 15 states that make up this region. Carhart also oversees annual volume totalling approximately $10 billion and manages 14 people, including production teams in Chicago and three Texas offices. She also serves as Freddie Mac’s student housing representative for the central and western regions. In 2016, Carhart oversaw annual volume in excess of $9.5 billion for the central region. And in just the first quarter of 2017, Carhart oversaw volume exceeding $2 billion. Her work for Freddie Mac has deep roots in Texas. In 2013, she relocated and opened Freddie Mac’s first regional field office in Austin, leading the organization’s Texas expansion and creating field offices in Houston and Dallas.

Michael Cooksey

Founder The Cooksey Team, Mid America Mortgage

“

Sandra Colatrella Vice President of Customer Experience Radian Guaranty

“

Being easy to do business with is Sandra Colatrella’s job at Radian, and she is excellent at it— part of that proof is in Radian’s position as a market leader in MI.”

As vice president of customer experience, Sandra Colatrella has one overarching goal: to ensure it is easy for customers to do business with Radian. Colatrella accomplishes this by facilitating journey mapping exercises to identify customer pain points and opportunities to improve customer experience. During the last 12 months, Colatrella and the Radian team have completed 20 projects to enhance customer experience. When she isn’t leading a project directly, Colatrella, who has been with Radian since 2001, keeps team members focused on priorities, reminding them why the initiatives are important to Radian’s customers, following up for status and recognizing interim accomplishments. Colatrella also led the requirements team that rebuilt Radian’s origination platform, ensuring that customers weren’t negatively impacted by Radian’s systems upgrade, triaging any potential customer issues.

Michael’s leadership has done remarkable things for Mid America. He brings a broad range of insightful knowledge and experience to the table for guaranteed growth. Not only is he a coach and boss, but also, a friend. He gives people the tools and the resources they need. He gives people exactly what they need to succeed.” As founder of Dallas-based The Cooksey Team, Michael Cooksey has built one of the most successful retail branches for Mid America Mortgage. In 2016, his 42-person team was responsible for $212 million in origination volume – all while embracing Mid America Mortgage’s directive to implement eClosings throughout Mid America’s retail branches. In addition, Cooksey was able to expand his team’s presence in the North Dallas area while also opening a branch in the Los Angeles area. With 16 years in the industry and nearly $800 million in funded loans with Mid America, Cooksey brings the experience and knowledge needed to lead a successful mortgage transaction. He is deeply committed to his team’s success. He has coached his own staff, as well as loan officers, brokers and real estate agents across the country, to become top producers.

Shannon Dillavou

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Associate Manager Mortgage Cadence

“

Shannon’s commitment to the security and infrastructure of SaaS technology not only betters our company, but drives the mortgage industry forward as a whole.”

Shannon Dillavou plays an instrumental role in business continuity and disaster recovery planning, providing valuable input and strategy recommendations for the design of Mortgage Cadence’s various products, including its Borrower Center and Document Center. In addition, she facilitates disaster recovery tests to ensure client data protection program compliance – an internal program within Accenture to standardize and support client data security. Dillavou also oversees the disaster recovery testing that takes place before clients go live on its systems, ensuring a streamlined, secure product launch. Dillavou pairs her immense knowledge with interpersonal skills, allowing her to successfully manage a team. As her nominator wrote: “She has the hard-to-find combination of raw talent and ability to mentor and teach others, which speaks volumes about her character. Her attention to detail, organization, and dedication to enabling others to succeed make Shannon an exceptional leader.” HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 45

Brandon Fox

Vice President of Client Relations, Default Valuations Assurant

“

Words like loyalty, dedication, sacrifice, leader, work ethic and company pride are just a few that come to mind when describing Brandon Fox. He truly lives and believes in a code that you never rest on your laurels individually or as a company. ”

Janet Fell

Director of Solutions Engineering Ellie Mae

“

Her kind personality and caring demeanor showcase the fact that she truly embodies all of Ellie Mae’s core values. Janet is truly a pleasure to work alongside.” Director of Solutions Engineering Janet Fell is Ellie Mae’s powerhouse of knowledge for all things mortgage lending. Fell has spent much of her professional career dedicated to managing and training all roles within the mortgage finance industry. She applies her diverse knowledge by representing the customer’s voice and needs throughout every aspect of Ellie Mae’s solutions. Fell’s fingerprints can be found all over Ellie Mae’s Connect product suite. She has worked alongside departments across the organization to ensure the success of demos from design to implementation and training. Additionally, Fell’s caring nature comes through in all aspects of her contributions to the company. Her nominator wrote: “Her kind personality and caring demeanor showcase the fact that she truly embodies all of Ellie Mae’s core values. Janet is truly a pleasure to work alongside.”

46 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

In a time when foreclosure valuations and trade deals are at historic lows, Vice President of Client Relations and Default Valuations Brandon Fox has successfully onboarded 28 new clients in the last year. While maintaining a 100% client satisfaction rating, Fox fosters relationships that result in business growth ahead of projections. In addition to his role as vice president of customer relations, he splits his time planning, designing and assisting with the implementation of a new system that will replace the company’s legacy system. Fox’s inside knowledge of the company’s business processes, industry applied practices, client needs and understanding of valuations have contributed to streamlining, substantial cost savings and efficiencies in the system’s rewrite initiative. Fox is also a major contributor to Assurant Valuations’ quality control rules engine and algorithms, which are still utilized by GSEs, servicers and capital markets clients today.

Daedre Gage Director of Client Services Mortgage Cadence

“

Everything Daedre does, she does with our customers in mind. She knows how to unleash the full potential of her team in order to provide personalized support to each customer.”

As director of client services, Daedre Gage is responsible for Mortgage Cadence’s Loan Fulfillment Center Application Solutions Analyst team, which addresses a wide array of customer support topics. Under her leadership, the team has achieved the highest client satisfaction rates at the company, based on an annual customer survey. In addition to being a skilled leader herself, Gage’s customer service skills are unparalleled, which is demonstrated by her ability to professionally support more than 650 end clients, and her ability to develop strong relationships with all levels of the Mortgage Cadence staff. In the ever-changing world of technology, she can continuously assess the needs of customers, determining the priority of submitted tickets and managing the flow accordingly. Gage facilitates thorough customer communication throughout the support process, ensuring that all parties are on the same page.

Jacob Guertin

Vice President of Business Development CoesterVMS

“

Jacob makes system integration with our clients an easy and seamless transition. His understanding of the industry makes him a valuable team player.”

Maria Gallucci

Executive Vice President of Funding Freedom Mortgage

“

Over the past 30+ years she has been instrumental in operations and support services, which has helped evolve and grow the organization to one of the largest mortgage companies in the nation. Her loyalty, excellence and expertise in running the funding department is best in class.” Executive Vice President of Funding Maria Gallucci works effectively and efficiently within Freedom Mortgage’s experience in funding the closing of wholesale loans. As noted by her nominator, she is “a collegial, devoted, tireless, determined, and trustworthy executive.” Indeed, she was hired as one of the company’s first employees in 1985 by founder and CEO Stan Middleman. She is responsible for funding and coordinating the retail customer experience as well as the corporate customer experience with the purchase of closed whole loans. She is also the corporate secretary, and critically reviews hundreds of documents daily. She has been instrumental to the company’s operations and support services and contributes her industry experience in countless phone and committee meetings.

As vice president of business development, Jacob Guertin continually looks for ways to simplify processes for CoesterVMS’ website. His behindthe-scenes technological reporting and overall knowledge of company systems are valuable resources. While he prefers to work quietly for the valuation management company, he’s just as proficient when speaking with its clients or employees. Guertin is routinely three steps ahead on making upgrades and improvements to the company’s systems, understanding the technological impact of proper applications and interfaces with each of the company’s clients. Guertin’s accomplishments with the company include collaborating with legal counsel to develop a federally compliant customary and reasonable fee calculation process. He also designed a disclosure calculator to provide lender clients instant, accurate appraisal fee quotes. Additionally, Guertin managed CoesterVMS’ direct UCDP integration, making it one of the first AMCs on the integrated partners list.

Erica Harvill

Senior Director of Corporate Communications Ellie Mae

“

Erica is a rock star with an extensive background in all facets of financial and technology communications and media relations.”

Erica Harvill has been a vital instrument in communicating the residential finance data collected by Ellie Mae that reflects trends in mortgage lending and tracks Millennial buying trends through solutions such as Ellie Mae’s Origination Insight Report and its Millennial Tracker. Both resources, which provide insights into originations and the largest generation of future homeowners, are frequently referenced in articles within the mortgage and business press. She is a strong leader and communicator who collaborates with Ellie Mae’s executive team to bring its expertise and knowledge to the appropriate forums within the residential finance market. Harvill has an extensive background in all facets of financial and technology communications and media relations and has created and maintained strong relationships with the mortgage-related media and business media to help bring the stories and messaging of how Ellie Mae, along with its clients and partners, work together as a community to deliver the American Dream of homeownership to consumers. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 47

Richard Lundbeck

Senior Vice President of Component Services Green River Capital

“

Richard’s customer service is nothing short of outstanding, and he cultivates relationships with all of our clients. He embodies all of the qualities and attributes that are integral to our company’s and our clients’ success in the SFR business.”

Amy Jones

Fulfillment Operations Manager Altavera Mortgage Services

“

Her ability to see not only the big picture, but also the devil in the details, allows her to readily facilitate effective solutions for staff and clients.”

As fulfillment operations manager, Amy Jones oversees Altavera Mortgage Services’ high-performance operations staff. The staff is comprised of processing, underwriting and closing teams that are often assigned to as many as 10 client projects simultaneously. Jones’ responsibilities include developing and managing team leaders, assessing team performance, interfacing with operational peers within client organizations, and implementing new client projects. Jones’ accomplishments are remarkable because she transitioned from a peer-level role as an underwriting team member to her leadership role in the last 12 months. Also in the past year, Jones has successfully implemented six new client projects and grown her staff by 40%. Jones also designed and oversaw an internal initiative that reduced overtime hours by 17% while improving total staff production, resulting in an increase to Altavera’s bottom line and more personal time for the staff.

48 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

Richard Lundbeck joined Green River Capital in December 2015 to lead the component services business operations, focusing on single-borrower single-family rental debt facility and securitization products and services. Since joining the company, he has successfully streamlined many parts of the operation, increasing efficiencies through his hands-on leadership of the team. Lundbeck has been key in cultivating and maintaining client relationships. Clients have come to rely on him for many aspects of the SFR business, including his behind-the-scenes involvement with the SFR transactions in the market. His attention to detail and focus on quality work ensures the best delivery and service to clients. Lundbeck also oversees the additions of new business lines within the department, such as “fix-and-flip” lending, as the traditional single-borrower SFR has begun to evolve.

John Maxwell

Chief Operating Officer Mortgage Contracting Services

“

John’s approach to work epitomizes the values of MCS. As a field preservation company, MCS’ role is to maintain properties on behalf of its clients.”

A 40-year industry veteran, John Maxwell provides Mortgage Contracting Services with a wealth of experience in taking responsibility for the management of strategic organizational operations to ensure consistent company growth, as well as for building and maintaining relationships with the company’s clients. His experience includes management roles in loan servicing, servicing acquisitions, default management and more. Maxwell has had an immense impact on MCS and its clients. His commitment to quality has led to many initiatives, resulting in enhanced improvements related to data, analytics and technology. Many of the technology enhancements to MCS360, the company’s proprietary technology platform, have been the result of Maxwell’s forward thinking, or came from a member of his team. Maxwell’s focus on quality has resulted in MCS being able to better serve its clients and their investors with enhanced reporting, real-time data and a higher level of technology automation.

Nolan Nguyen

Professional Services Consultant Alight

“ Sean Moss

Senior Vice President, Director of Operations and Customer Support Down Payment Resource

“

Sean lives the mission and vision of Down Payment Resource – he believes all homebuyers and professionals should understand the opportunity with today’s homeownership programs.”

As the housing industry shifted to a purchase money market, the range of companies interested in Down Payment Resource’s services expanded rapidly to include a wide range of banks and lenders. As SVP and director of operations and customer support, Sean Moss anchored the company’s response to the market’s needs, offering ideas to support growth while leading his team to foster cooperative relationships with more than 1,200 homebuyer program administrators to keep the information in the program database current. During the last year, Moss has managed his team to grow the scope of down payment assistance program data tracked each month, powering the company’s value proposition. Moss played a key role in helping DPR grow its base of lender customers by 167% by customizing his support and contact for a diverse array of customers – from MLSs to lenders and nonprofits.

Nguyen arrives every day ready to tackle anything tossed his way — he is a can-do, will-do person — so much so that he’s just been promoted to a new role focusing solely on how to ensure every one of our mortgage customers is a huge success and delighted with our mortgage solutions.”

Since joining Alight Mortgage Lending just over a year ago, Nolan Nguyen has worked to ensure implementations of Alight’s solution are tight, efficient, accurate and fully transparent to its customers. He has quickly established himself as expert not only in the mechanics of financial forecasting, but in how to make high complexity projects a great success. As Nguyen’s nominator wrote: “He arrives every day ready to tackle anything tossed his way — he is a can-do, will-do person.” Nguyen applies an intense amount of precision to his work and has an unwavering commitment to customer success, advocating for customers in the mortgage vertical and ensuring their needs are put first. He is not someone who looks at the surface to solve problems, but digs deep into problems and complex questions for solutions.

Anatoliy Pavlishin Head of Title and Escrow Qualia

“

Anatoliy’s selfless efforts and impact on our culture made Qualia what it is today. He constantly seeks ways to use his skills and newly acquired learnings to improve the lives of those around him, both customers and coworkers.”

Anatoliy Pavlishin began his tenure with Qualia shortly after it was founded in 2015 and has been a crucial member of its team since. As the head of title and escrow, Pavlishin, who has a “can-do” attitude, has made it his mission to translate pain points he uncovers into valuable technological conversations with product engineers and designers. He is able to seamlessly switch gears by working with customers then engineers, then to the company stakeholders, all while maintaining a clear demeanor and message that precisely articulates the right leadership at the right time. Pavlishin’s contributions to the company go beyond product development. A proponent of sharing information in order to make everyone at the company better, he hosts “Qualia University,” a monthly lunch-and-learn session to share what his team learned that month. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 49

Lara Rausch

Vice President of Products and Training Paramount Residential Mortgage Group

“

It is amazing the level of service she provides. Emails are replied to in minutes and this includes the weekend. When investors are reaching out to Lara for help on their own guidelines, that says it all.”

Jason Price Product Manager ReverseVision

“

Jason’s strategic thinking, broad problem-solving skill set and passion for client service have helped secure ReverseVision’s place as the undisputed leader in reverse mortgage technology.”

Jason Price joined ReverseVision in 2014 as its support manager, where he managed the day-to-day operations of the company’s support staff and worked with customers to resolve technical issues. Price managed the successful implementation and transition of the ReverseVision support team to the ZenDesk ticketing system. Price, who has more than 14 years of IT and software support experience, moved into the role of product manager in June 2016. He has been instrumental in the development of new calculators within RV Sales Accelerator, which allow lenders to visually model the financial impact of home-equity conversion mortgages on the retirement portfolios of well-funded borrowers. The value delivered by these tools is made clear by their appreciation in the marketplace: under Price’s leadership, RVSA subscriptions increased by 300% in eight months. 50 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

Lara Rausch’s contributions to PRMG have greatly impacted product development and training for the company, significantly elevating its guidelines. Rausch and her team have created and curated robust, searchable guidelines that originators, underwriters and account executives all review to create consistency in the loan process. As her nominator wrote, Rausch’s “work ethic is second to none and her impact on the company reaches far beyond guidelines, product management and training.” Rausch also manages the originators and sales team “Deal Desk,” working tirelessly to quickly respond to guideline questions 18 hours a day, including during weekends when originators in the field need support the most. Additionally, Rausch manages the training department for PRMG, which is responsible for educating hundreds of employees on a wide range of topics.

Sharon Reichhardt Director of Client Services ACES Risk Management Co.

“

She doesn’t have a high visibility position, but her company, her clients’ companies, the end-users she trains, and the industry itself would be at a loss without her contributions. She goes above and beyond.”

Sharon Reichhardt takes a personal interest in her clients and their technology adoptions, and they know it. Her commitment manifests itself in hundreds of small actions that let her clients know they matter and she’s willing to do whatever it takes for them to not only succeed, but also enjoy the process. Reichhardt’s typical client is an underwriter by trade and training, a veteran manager with five to 12 direct reports, in a mortgage lender’s QC or compliance division. Their jobs are to catch potential issues in the loans they originate; to protect their companies from losing money. While Reichhardt’s knowledge of regulations, compliance and technology is incomparable, it’s her compassion and understanding that clients notice. As her nominator wrote: “We can be taught by the most knowledgeable expert, but if we’re not encouraged and listened to, learning isn’t going to be as easy or effective.”

Jon Tallinger

Vice President of Sales and Marketing Class Appraisal

“

Over the 15 years Jon has been in the industry, he has built a vast network due to his knowledge and ambition to help out not only the company he is working for, but to push the industry forward as a whole.”

John Rogers

Executive, Innovation Development Centers CoreLogic

“

John is leading a cultural revolution within CoreLogic to transform the way that data, analytics and technology come together to bring innovation and disruptive thinking to the entire organization.” John Rogers is responsible for a staff of over 100 technologists, developers and subject matter experts at CoreLogic Innovation Development Centers, where he leads a company-wide initiative to leverage emerging technologies to disrupt traditional practices impacting mortgage origination, real estate and insurance processes. His team is building a 21st century generation of cloud computing and big data platforms, using state-of-the-art development methods which provide the ability to release software every day. Rogers’ efforts have driven development time from months to days. In the past 18 months, he has successfully launched several agile development-driven solutions including CondoSafe, which streamlines condominium project qualification within the origination process, and LoanSafe Connect, which automates the evaluation and clearing of potential fraud and risk alerts in real-time online.

Jon Tallinger can best be described as a jack-of-all-trades. Since helping to start Class Appraisal as its first employee in 2009, he has played several key roles within the company. In the company’s early years, he managed day-to-day operations and served as chief appraiser, and now serves as vice president of sales and marketing. In 2016, the sales team that Tallinger manages helped the company grow by more than 98% from the previous year. By offering proprietary performance dashboards and using Tallinger’s network of industry connections from more than 15 years of experience, the sales team has helped Class Appraisal to become an approved partner with 16 of the top 25 wholesale lenders and many of the top retail lenders in the country. Tallinger gives credit to Class Appraisal’s 110-person operations team. “When you have a team that provides the highest level of communication and client satisfaction, it becomes very easy to tell your story to prospective clients. Sales through service has been the key to our success,” he said.

Julie Thomas Product Manager Mortgage Cadence

“

Julie is seen throughout the industry as a true partner who understands the needs of lenders and can address those needs with her thorough understanding of an innovative solution.”

As product manager, Julie Thomas ensures Mortgage Cadence’s Enterprise Lending Center solution always exceeds client expectations. Thomas consistently analyzes technology capabilities and brainstorms new ways to adapt and enhance the solution to meet the unique needs of the company’s expanding client base. In the past 12 months, Thomas was instrumental in refining the best use of the Enterprise Lending Center platform for several large and mid-tier U.S. lending customers. She also spearheaded the successful conversion of several customers to the platform after analyzing risk, speed to market, and user experience considerations. By guiding the product roadmap per customer needs, Thomas also ensures the company’s solutions satisfy industry requirements. As compliance mandates are ever-changing, she coordinates with internal developers and decision makers to ensure the company is prepared to handle whatever challenge comes its way. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 51

Aaron Vause

Assistant Vice President of Document Custody Nationwide Title Clearing

“

Having Mr. Vause on our team enables our company to grow and to continue delivering exceptional service to our clients. His desire for success is admirable, making him a model for fellow coworkers and truly NTC’s best-kept secret.”

Jim Vaca

Vice President of Vendor Management Operations Altisource

“

Jim’s daily roles and accomplishments have positively affected the culture and future of Altisource, as well as the broader financial services industry.”

After Jim Vaca joined Altisource in September 2014 as its vice president of vendor management operations, the company felt an immediate impact. He transformed a global team of more than 150 vendor sourcing and oversight professionals into a customer-centric, value-additive function while managing from the corporate office in Luxembourg. Now based in Charlotte, Vaca leads Altisource’s vendor management operations and is responsible for sourcing, negotiation and active oversight of thousands of vendors, the corporate insurance program and company travel functions. He does all of this while still bringing cost-saving efficiencies by strategically realigning teams and resources based on priorities. Additionally, in the spring of 2016, Vaca spearheaded the launch of Vendorly, an external-facing SaaS oversight platform designed to help financial institutions manage their vendors and meet regulators evolving vendor oversight obligations. 52 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

Aaron Vause has been a vital key to Nationwide Title Clearing’s success for nearly seven years. As the assistance vice president of document custody, he leads a team of more than 140 employees in creating efficiencies for one of the largest custodians of mortgage documents. Vause has helped NTC process more than 1.5 million trailing documents and has certified more than 70,000 notes within the last year. He and his team are now processing and filing over 150,000 trailing documents each month. Vause has increased NTC’s Final Document service by 80%, has grown NTC’s abstractor network by more than 100% and has inventoried over 1 million trailing documents during his time with NTC. Vause holds a master’s degree in education and has leveraged his passion for knowledge by learning all of NTC’s services and how each area of the company operates. Vause successfully applied his knowledge to assist in developing a new system for NTC’s Final Document services.

Justin Vedder

Vice President of Origination Solutions Altisource

“

A natural born leader, Justin is very proactive in panels and has spoken nationally on various topics, including mortgage fraud, repurchase management, auditing of lenders, insurance and other mortgage banking-related matters.”

Justin Vedder joined Altisource in July 2015 through the acquisition of CastleLine and plays a critical part in Altisource’s strategy to modernize and improve the real estate industry through innovative, effective technology. As vice president of origination solutions, he manages sales and product development teams in creating new products and processes. Over the past year, Vedder led teams in the launch and client onboarding of both noteXchange, a mortgage trading platform that helps drive efficiency for mortgage bankers and investors, and Vendorly, an oversight platform designed to help financial institutions manage their vendors and meet their evolving vendor oversight obligations. Last year, Vedder spearheaded the rebranding of Altisource Origination Services to Trelix, which provides mortgage lenders and investors with a suite of industry-leading mortgage fulfillment offerings. Under his leadership, Trelix’s revenue increased by 37%.

John Whitlow

Vice President of Operations and Technology Pendo

“ Claire Weber

Senior Director of Business Operations FormFree

“

From the CEO to the most junior staff member, Claire respects and notices each individual’s talents and promotes each individual’s development. Her leadership style is truly based on the empowerment of people.” When Claire Weber joined FormFree one year ago, she detected the need for organized growth within the rapidly expanding organization. As senior director of business operations, her most influential work has been in the realm of human resources at FormFree. In just one year, she has built FormFree’s HR structure where almost none existed. Much of the company’s current team was handpicked by Weber, who has grown the staff by 425% overall — a much-needed increase that has directly influenced FormFree’s rapid revenue growth. Weber impacted FormFree’s operational landscape after recognizing that many employees were wearing multiple hats — as often happens in a startup environment. Weber logically divided work duties, created job descriptions to bring clarity to work expectations and set employee priorities that made sense for a prolonged period of rapid growth.

John demonstrates excellence by elevating his staff, and the proof is in the results. His training style is based on encouragement, and his goal is to help his staff to not only achieve maximum performance, but also get maximum enjoyment from their jobs.”

As John Whitlow’s nominator wrote: “John is a powerhouse insider. He quietly and consistently brings the founders’ ideas and concepts to fruition, while focusing on the company’s goals.” When Pendo wanted to focus on cutting turn times and increasing client satisfaction, Whitlow created an appraisal review system that identified issues that would otherwise have delayed turn times by one day or more. He also created an appraiser recruiting tool that quickly identified the appraisers best suited to work with specific wholesalers. This not only saved time, but also enhanced relationships with clients and appraisers. Whitlow, who has been with Pendo for five years, also oversaw the development of its client scorecard program—a major differentiator for the company. Whitlow conceptualized and created the custom dashboard and performance report that is distributed monthly to Pendo’s clients.

Mike Zarrilli Chief Operating Officer DocMagic

“

Mike is masterful at bringing different teams members together to coordinate and understand DocMagic’s different undertakings for the benefit of partners and clients.”

Mike Zarrilli thrives in the fast-paced, dynamic environment at DocMagic. As COO, he has a critical role ensuring that company operations run smoothly and efficiently. Amid an ever-changing, compliance-intensive mortgage landscape, DocMagic has experienced major growth during the past five years, realizing a 42% increase in revenue for 2016, the second time revenue has increased by more than 40%. Zarrilli is instrumental in helping to effectively manage this hyper-growth from an operations and budgeting perspective, ensuring the company expands at a healthy, controlled rate. Zarrilli was heavily involved in the integration of DocMagic’s acquisition of Document Express in 2014, leading the project plan to integrate the two companies’ infrastructures. Zarrilli recently helped organize the strategic alignment of DocMagic’s enterprise sales team with its customer service department, improving transparency, ease of communication and collaboration. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 53

MORTGAGE TECH PRODUCT SHOWCASE COMPANIES Auction.com

ISGN

Black Knight Financial Services

LoanCare

Chronos Solutions

MCT

DataTree by First American

OpenClose

DocMagic

Optimal Blue

DocuTech

RES.NET/USRES

Floify

Stearns

IDS

Tavant Technologies

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Auction.com helps buyers and sellers execute disposition strategy Marketing strategy brings millions of global buyers to platform Company: Auction.com For 10 years, Auction.com has leveraged technology and the expertise of industry veterans to provide buyers and sellers with a transparent, streamlined auction process. Today, Auction.com continues to build onto this proven platform to make the auction experience better for all. As the nation’s largest real estate online marketplace, Auction.com is uniquely positioned to help sellers and buyers execute a complete end-to-end disposition strategy. By utilizing the latest, most innovative mobile and emerging technology, Auction.com helps sellers remove distressed assets from their balance sheets, save in operational and financial costs and contribute to the stabilization of neighborhoods. Additionally, buyers and sellers alike have access to the industry’s most experienced team of professionals —providing valuable industry insight and specific use cases to help them successfully leverage the auction process. “The experience of our team members allows Auction. com to provide out-of-the-box thinking that challenges the industry norm and produce the best results for buyers and sellers,” Colleen Lambros, chief marketing officer at Auction.com, said. Unlike traditional methods, Auction.com successfully markets and sells properties in all 50 states, and its established presence during on-site auction events — paired with the broad reach of its digital marketing efforts — creates a more competitive sales environment. With this sophisticated marketing strategy, Auction.com reaches millions of global buyers who continue to collectively bring billions of dollars in liquidity to the marketplace. The company leverages key market intelligence, including seller asset information, historical customer behavioral data, public records, and attorney information,

Product: Auction.com DESCRIPTION: Whether online or on-site, the Auction.

com technology platform powers a robust marketplace providing buyers with access to tens of thousands of distressed properties, which results in improved execution strategies, reduced disposition timelines, higher sell-through-rates for sellers and the ability in some cases to retain occupancy following the sale.

among others, to establish optimal pricing and selling strategies. With this market intelligence, Auction.com supports the disposition of properties regardless of its stage in the distressed properties’ lifecycle. This level of dedication has earned Auction.com the trust of many first-time and returning buyers, enabling the site to attract up to 35 times more traffic than its leading competitor and boasting significantly more engaged buyers as well. Auction.com enhances efficiencies by supporting properties that range from foreclosure to REO. By leveraging the platform, Auction.com enables a greater degree of visibility, which aids sellers in disposing their assets sooner during live auction sale events or online auction sale events for REO disposition. “Due to the robust marketing capacity and data intelligence, Auction.com can help reduce disposition timelines, relieving the seller of the liability and compliance risks associated with holding, managing, and preserving REO properties,” Lambros said. Auction.com continues to expand its market reach across the globe by educating buyers and marketing assets. In doing so, Auction.com creates an auction environment unlike any other in the industry.

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Web: auction.com

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Phone: 844.474.2537 Web: BKFS.com EmpowerSales@bkfs.com

Black Knight’s LoanSphere Empower creates “virtual loan” process Premier capabilities for regional and mid-market lenders Company: Black Knight Financial Services Black Knight’s comprehensive LoanSphere Empower loan origination system (LOS) provides the functionality and scalability lenders need to support every facet of the origination process — from lead generation, processing and underwriting, to funding and post-closing — for retail, wholesale and consumer-direct lending channels. System enhancements have been implemented over the years to support clients with compliance, improved workflow and business intelligence. Earlier this year, Black Knight introduced Empower Now!, offering a unique approach for implementing Empower. “Empower Now! enables mid-market lenders, including reg ional banks, credit unions and independent mortgage bankers, to leverage many of Empower’s robust capabilities, but with a significantly faster implementation timeline, as well as decreased maintenance costs,” said Rich Gagliano, president of Black Knight’s Origination Technologies division. The LOS is a critical component of Black Knight’s LoanSphere platform, offering integrated technology, data and analytics to support the entire mortgage and home equity loan lifecycle. Empower features integrated digital technology and e-lending capabilities and direct access to Black Knight’s enterprise business intelligence technology and is also integrated with Black Knight’s industry-leading LoanSphere MSP servicing system. The combination of these technologies can help lenders become more efficient, increase profitability and provide better customer services to borrowers. The system can be self-hosted or hosted by Black Knight and features product and pricing capabilities; a robust, automated workflow and task-tracking orchestration engine; an array of standard interfaces and a Web API to support the next generation of digital services. “No other LOS on the market offers Empower’s seamless integration of systems and services across the complete loan lifecycle to create a ‘virtual loan’ process 56 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

Product: LoanSphere Empower DESCRIPTION: LoanSphere Empower is a configurable,

scalable loan origination system (LOS) that originates first mortgages and home equity loans and lines of credit on a single platform. Empower is continually enhanced to support evolving compliance and regulatory changes and helps lenders eliminate the duplicate data entry associated with managing multiple, disparate systems to reduce errors and increase efficiency. that supports secure, controlled and accurate loan originations,” Gagliano continued. With underwriting requirements growing more complex, Empower offers the functionality to support product validation, investor guidelines, stipulation entry and tracking, counteroffers and approval escalations. To further support lender compliance, Empower is integrated with LoanSphere Quality Insight, which helps lenders automate internal quality control reviews and validates pre-funding and post-closing data. Empower’s integration with LoanSphere Closing Insight helps lenders collect and refine loan fees and its orchestration engine generates and tracks disclosure document delivery within mandated timelines. Using Empower’s advanced RESTful Web API framework, loan officers and consumers can view, add, update or check Empower data from smartphones, tablets, laptops or other internet-enabled devices, without directly accessing the LOS. Using the system’s convenient eDelivery and eSign solutions, lenders can deliver documents and gain consent more quickly to speed up the loan process. According to Black Knight CEO Tom Sanzone, “Empower’s sophisticated capabilities can help lenders address the significant rise in origination costs, mitigate the potential for severe regulatory penalties and respond to increasing consumer demand for a digital user experience.”

Chronos Solutions innovates tax monitoring and lien release services Offers a customized approach with an eye on compliance Company: Chronos Solutions Working with local banks and credit unions in the Pacific Northwest as a flood determination provider, Chronos Solutions (formerly UPF Services) recognized the need to provide a tax monitoring service to assist those clients in mitigating their risk of delinquent taxes within their servicing portfolios. Building on 25 years of expertise when they acquired UPF Services, Chronos now provides services nationwide, including full tax outsourcing functions. “We are a nationwide tax services company that takes a consultative approach with this service,” said Chronos Solutions CEO Mark Hikel. “This approach helps address our clients’ risk tolerance in a nimble fashion, while providing the leading tax service in the nation.” Chronos’ real estate tax monitoring service is tailored for each client, enabling them to select annual monitoring or monitoring after each tax cycle. Full outsourcing services are also available. Chronos reports 65 data points to clients when delinquencies are found, including tax sale information. Because the company identifies high-risk counties and states by client, it can provide an action plan when delinquencies are discovered. The responsibility for monitoring the details of how and when taxes need to be paid is shifted from the servicer to Chronos, along with the liability of having to pay penalties and interest. “Clients enjoy the freedom of not needing to maintain the nationwide tax experience required to successfully pay/monitor taxes,” Hikel said. In another innovation, the company’s lien release services allow users to manage order status in real time using Chronos’ interactive technology platform. Customers no longer have to locate hardcopy images of deeds or mortgages to send to Chronos to process, they can simply provide the company with the recording information and then Chronos locates the image to prepare the lien release. And because Chronos e-records in over 1,800 recording counties nationwide, it can e-record within days of preparing the lien release. “We are a nimble company that can adjust to custom-

Product: Real Estate Tax Outsourcing and Monitoring Services DESCRIPTION: Chronos Solutions’ nationwide network

of 26,000 tax authorities manages real estate tax monitoring for both residential and commercial real estate assets. Services include full outsourcing, including tax line set up, call center and task completion; life-of-loan escrow tax payment services, life-of-loan delinquency tax monitoring (non-escrow), delinquent tax letter mailings, tax searches and certificates, instant tax searches (TRID compliance) and tax parcel research.

Product: Lien Release DESCRIPTION: One of the industry’s largest and most

experienced teams, with the most up-to-date lien release processing technology, Chronos Solutions handles every step of the process, whether it’s one order or thousands. From preparing and recording required documentation to canceling a mortgage and handling the payoff process – our lien release and tracking services comply with all legal, form and fee requirements.

ers’ specific needs regarding lien release processes and reporting needs in a timely fashion,” Hikel said. Chronos tracks lien release order requests by their state compliance regulation from either the paid in full date, or date received, based on the date from which the state regulations starts the compliance clock. Its work queues are then designed to accommodate the process of orders first which are within 10 days of being out of compliance to ensure they are recorded. “Clients benefit from the proactive approach we take in managing their orders based on state regulations, which ensures they are not out of compliance — resulting in reject rates that are less than 1%,” Hikel said. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 57

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Phone: 800.647.1190 Web: chronossolutions.com

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Phone: 866.377.6639 Web: DataTree.com

DataTree delivers innovative real estate Data as a Service solution Advanced platform provides access to expanded sources of real estate data Company: First American Whether the need is for real estate data and research, property-related services or both, DataTree is the perfect solution for banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders of all sizes. Built on resources accumulated from First American’s 125 years in the real estate business, no other provider blends a greater breadth and depth of data with modern technology. DataTree technology makes it simple for any user in any mortgage lending or servicing role to work better and faster by harnessing the power of the industry’s largest property ownership database, plus information that’s been amassed from more than 6 billion recorded real estate documents. “DataTree is the perfect intersection of real estate data and fintech, working together to give our clients the flexibility and transparency to work the way they want and need to, rather than conforming their processes to an outdated or less-than-optimal tool,” Jim Portner, senior vice president of product and market strategy at First American Database Solutions, said. Easy-to-use search features and exclusive research tools like FlexSearch and Advanced Search for properties and homeowners allow financial institutions to get precise information. FlexSearch, only available within DataTree, allows access to previously unsearchable information so that professionals can search any individual or business name, phrase or item in First American’s massive recorded document image database, nationwide. The Advanced Search feature lets users mine properties by location, characteristics, mortgage or sale information, default status, owner name and more. With countless filter combinations, searching can be as broad or specific as needed. “First American designed DataTree to provide lenders with access to new and expanded sources of real estate

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Product: DataTree by First American DESCRIPTION: DataTree by First American delivers

industry-leading real estate data and innovative workflow DaaS (Data as a Service) for financial institutions. With DataTree you get access to nationwide property and homeowner data, recorded documents, Homeowners Association (HOA) identification and liens, real estate listing information, AVMs and more.

data and mortgage services, delivered in ways that are easy to use and understand for any role or department within a financial institution,” Portner said. DataTree offers DaaS (Data as a Service) access to real estate and homeownership data that is unsurpassed in breadth and depth. Customary data sets like public record, ownership and property details are united with hard-to-find or proprietary data assets like information from First American title plants and HOA identification and liens to deliver the distinct data financial institutions need in a single location. DataTree also delivers workflow solutions, offering lenders the flexibility to quickly order Automated Valuation Models (AVM), property ownership and encumbrance reports, flood determinations, conventional appraisals and more – from a single platform and without complicated integrations or ordering through multiple vendors. “We understand that our clients need more than just the best data – they need it delivered in a platform that they can use, when and how they want to use it, to drive sound lending decisions and build their business. DataTree does this by combining the real estate data lenders need with a simple yet powerful interface that helps multiple lending departments to do their work more quickly and confidently,” Portner said.

DocMagic BorrowerMobile connects borrowers to digital mortgage App opens a pivotal avenue for lenders to capture more market share Company: DocMagic With every passing year, consumers rely even more on portable mobile devices for their personal and business activities — this includes obtaining a mortgage. Millennials in particular expect to handle every step of the process on a phone or tablet, from starting the origination process to checking status, eSigning documents and completing the closing process. DocMagic’s BorrowerMobile app satisfies every aspect of this expectation. Because BorrowerMobile integrates with DocMagic’s single-source, comprehensive Total eClose solution, it revolutionizes the lender’s eClosing process into a seamless, sophisticated and easy digital mortgage experience for not only the borrower, but also the lender and closing agents. Lenders who use BorrowerMobile gain efficiences, exceed borrower expectations for collaboration and communication and ultimately open a pivotal avenue for capturing more market share. “At DocMagic, we identified a critical mass of issues and challenges that occur around lender-borrower communication and extend into virtually every aspect of the mortgage process,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO. “BorrowerMobile provides lenders with a way to avoid potentially costly challenges and delays while delighting the borrower at the same time.” BorrowerMobile provides the missing link that not only connects lenders and closing agents with borrowers for real-time secure communication and updates, but also enables borrowers to use their mobile devices to fulfill their part of an end-to-end, 100% paperless, fully electronic mortgage. It also answers the consistently growing consumer demand for a mortgage process that can be completed entirely on a portable mobile device. BorrowerMobile gives lenders a competitive advantage by aligning the entire mortgage process with borrowers’ typical app-cen-

Product: BorrowerMobile DESCRIPTION: BorrowerMobile is a mobile application

lenders use to provide borrowers with an easy, alwaysavailable way to track and manage the mortgage process. It connects borrowers, lenders and closing agents through a secure channel for exchanging critical documents, sharing information, scheduling important events, and managing communications.

tric buying experiences; creating a more secure, efficient process; and providing much needed transparency for all parties — the borrower, lender and closing agents. BorrowerMobile’s seamless connectivity allows lenders and closing agents to communicate loan conditions immediately through a secure central location, giving borrowers a real-time “to do” list with complete visibility. As borrowers satisfy conditions through BorrowerMobile, the application instantly updates the lender and closing agent. Borrowers get the efficiency and convenience of tracking the real-time status of their mortgages, getting estimated target dates and accessing expanded milestone descriptions and specific loan information at any time, without ever having to initiate a phone call, text message or email. In addition to enhancing efficiency, BorrowerMobile makes compliance easier by providing a completely secure environment for transmitting documents and data, thus protecting data integrity and reducing errors and oversights. “BorrowerMobile helps lenders reach a larger market by fulfilling the demands of the growing number of consumers — many of them Millennials — who expect to use mobile devices to transact personal and business activities,” Iannitti said.

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Phone: 800.204.4255 Web: docmagic.com

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Web: docutech.com

Docutech’s Solex eSign meets borrower demand for mobile interface All-in-one solution gives lenders a competitive advantage Company: Docutech Designed for clients leading out in the digital mortgage age, Solex eSign is an all-in-one solution that is directly integrated with Docutech’s dynamic document generation engine, ConformX, to support streamlined processes and seamless workflows. Using Solex eSign, lenders can access the most comprehensive library of documents in the lending industry and facilitate eDelivery and eSignature anytime, anywhere, from any device. “The ability to push eSignatures to a mobile setting is crucial for today’s lenders. Without the ability to provide their customers convenient, 24/7 access to documents and signatures, a lender is much less competitive in today’s instantaneous, technology-rich environment,” said Harry Gardner, executive vice president of eStrategies for Docutech. The technology was developed to help financial institutions better meet the needs of today’s customers, who are increasingly coming to expect convenience and instant access to the information they need from the companies they conduct business with. Solex enables lenders to transfer document signing to a digital setting, enhancing the borrower experience in a number of ways. For example, with eDelivery, borrowers can review loan documents in advance of the closing table so they have plenty of time to ask questions and can have a better understanding of the terms of their loan before they sign. Solex then provides an easy-to-use, intuitive and mobile-responsive interface where they can sign documents from any location on any device, making the process quick and convenient. Solex also supports other unique features; for example, borrowers can save their progress and return to documents later. Branded with the lender’s logo, Solex enables lenders to expedite the loan process to mini-

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Product: Solex eSign DESCRIPTION: Solex is a comprehensive, all-in-one

eSign solution enabling eDelivery and eSignature anytime, anywhere, from any device. With Solex, document delivery and signature can be executed digitally to accelerate processes, streamline operations, and improve compliance, security and the borrower experience.

mize the time between filling out the loan application and the borrower being able to complete their dream purchase. But borrowers aren’t the only ones who benefit from Solex’s efficiency. Lenders can improve efficiencies and compliance by generating dynamic documents, pushing them to the borrower to sign, and then receiving and storing them in Docutech’s secure eVault, all within the same platform. Solex captures the completed data for every signature or form-fill item along with the date/time each occurred. Once completed and submitted, Solex then creates an audit log with a tamper-evident seal so lenders are able to track all package types and events, including eConsent, eReview and eSign. With additional features such as two-factor authentication, single-sign-on, full disaster recovery, failover print fulfillment, and access to the industry’s most trusted eVault, Docutech promises an eSigning platform that ensures the utmost security. “Solex is an integral development in Docutech’s mission to help lenders improve compliance, streamline document operations, improve the borrower experience, and facilitate a complete eMortgage,” Gardner said.

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Phone: 720.316.8343 Web: floify.com sales@floify.com

Floify SaaS platform refines the mortgage processing workflow Platform closes loans an average of eight times faster Company: Floify For decades, mortgage professionals and borrowers alike have endured the pains and frustrations of the typical home-buying experience: Countless phone calls and emails; sending, receiving, and organizing dozens of sensitive loan documents; managing buyer and seller signatures; and so on. With all of this constant back and forth, which often creates dramatic inefficiencies, many people have been asking, “Why isn’t there a better way to streamline the mortgage process between buyers, sellers, and lenders?” Enter: Floify. Floify, the loan automation solution of choice for top-producing mortgage professionals, was introduced after the company’s founder and CEO, Dave Sims, saw an opportunity to markedly improve the home-buying experience for both lenders and borrowers. As an experienced software engineer, Sims designed Floify to refine the mortgage processing workflow and automate routine and time-intensive tasks so that loan officers can focus on customer service and quick loan closes, instead of a seemingly endless checklist of todos. Floify’s clean and intuitive user interface provides lenders with the ability to quickly and securely send, receive and manage loan documents, verify assets and incomes, and track every step in the loan process from start to finish. Floify does all of this and more via a lightweight and intuitive platform, which features customizable email and SMS/text message templates, editable milestones and milestone updates, and a third-party portal. Floify seamlessly brings all stakeholders in the loan origination process to a single hub for communication, ensuring no detail gets overlooked. As a result of its customer-centric focus, Floify has been growing by leaps and bounds since the organization was founded in 2012. “Floify is not a venture-funded company — we are a customer-focused and funded company,” Sims said. “This allows us to not only clearly listen to our customers’ feedback, but also quickly and efficiently respond to the new features and functionality

Product: Floify DESCRIPTION: Floify is an SaaS platform that securely

collects and manages loan documents to help mortgage lenders, loan originators and their support staff streamline the mortgage process with their borrowers. As the loan automation solution of choice for top-producing mortgage professionals, Floify has been shown to close loans an average of eight times faster compared to other mortgage solutions, increase annual loan volume by more than 11%, and reduce workload by up to five hours per week while maintaining existing loan volume. that would make them happier and more successful.” One of Floify’s many strengths is that it offers true integration with Encompass LOS, which not only allows the solution to push conditions and documentation, but also provide the ability to map to and update fields as well as provide Disclosure Desk integration. This gives the borrower one place to communicate, securely provide documentation and eSign documents and disclosures. “We understand that mortgage professionals find tremendous value in Floify’s secure portal, communication tools and other native features to support their businesses,” Sims said. “However, perhaps the greatest added value is our open technology that enables enterprises and loan officers to bring complementary solutions together through the App Store, Rest APIs, and customizable branding and CSS.” Floify also features a Realtor and partner portal to keep third parties updated on the loan process. The portal empowers real estate agents to create templated and constrained pre-approval letters on-demand. In addition, Floify offers iOS and Android mobile apps that can be white-labeled to fit an organization’s brand. “Floify is an agile company that can quickly react to the needs of our customers and the market,” Sims said. “We care about our customers so our product is 100% driven to make their businesses more successful.” HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 61

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Phone: 800.554.1872 Web: idsdoc.com

IDS expands the digital capabilities of web-based idsDoc platform Customized software is already compliant with UCD and HMDA requirements Company: IDS IDS is ready for the road ahead. Its Uniform Closing Dataset XML file has been certified to meet all UCD requirements by both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and is already capable of embedding and delivering the CD and data for both the borrower and the seller, even though the seller data is not required until September 2018. IDS has also updated idsDoc to include new borrower data collection fields that support compliance with the 2018 changes to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting, in addition to incorporating the most recent reference model from MISMO. “The depth and breadth of both federal- and state-level compliance that’s built into idsDoc is no accident,” Mark Mackey, vice president and general manager of IDS, said. “IDS constantly has its eye on what’s next from a regulatory perspective and strives to deliver solutions to meet regulatory challenges well ahead of implementation deadlines.” As digital mortgage origination becomes a reality, IDS has continued to expand the digital capabilities of idsDoc, allowing loan officers and borrowers to upload custom documents to the eSign Room. When a document is uploaded, the LO is prompted to assign a signature type to the document or to simply insert the document into the package. From there, LOs can add signature lines and/or checkboxes to indicate where and how the borrower should sign. LOs can then insert the document(s) into the appropriate borrower document eSign list. In addition, lenders can now incorporate their own branding within the IDS eSign room, creating a visually cohesive environment to preserve borrower trust with the eSign process. Another function to help consumers through the eSign process is the new LO comment feature, which allows

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Product: idsDoc DESCRIPTION: idsDoc is a web-based mortgage

document preparation platform that enables lenders to create initial disclosures and closing documents based on their organization’s needs and preferences. Additional functionality/services include eSignatures, eDisclosures, customized documents, document fulfillment and integration with leading loan origination systems and eClosing platforms. LOs to insert digital “sticky notes” with directions or other pertinent information into documents. “What separates idsDoc from its competitors is the deep and abiding commitment to outstanding customer service that comes with the software. When it comes to partner integrations, system upgrades/functionality, ancillary services, etc., IDS approaches these situations with an eye towards what will be best for our customers,” Mackey said. In September 2016, IDS further invested in the digital future by purchasing eMortgage solutions provider Encomia. Encomia’s eClosing platform and tools provide for secure electronic document storage (eVault), enterprise eSign and asset and income verification services. Combined with IDS’s automated compliance audits and eDisclosure, eDelivery, eSignature, eFulfillment and customized document capabilities, this integrated product suite delivers a broad complement of electronic mortgage origination and closing services to the mortgage industry. “While many doc prep vendors pay a significant amount of lip service to customer service, IDS is one of the few that actually delivers on this promise,” Mackey said.

ISGN innovates in the servicing space with feature-rich, scalable technology Cutting-edge solutions are quick and easy to deploy Company: ISGN While the origination side of mortgage finance has rapidly embraced tech innovation in the last several years, the servicing segment is still characterized by large, monolithic legacy systems, limited innovation, fragmentation between core and default servicing capabilities and a cautious approach to new technologies. ISGN believes it’s time to change that. “We firmly believe that as the servicing industry witnesses the entry of new players and the expansion of market share of existing players, the need for feature-rich, scalable and compliant technology at an affordable price point will become paramount,” said Amit Kothiyal, CEO. ISGN strives to enhance its value through a sole focus on technology that drives its clients’ business success. “We’ve built our solutions to deliver exactly what servicers need and that is a significant game changer for them. Our default platform has been built with substantial input from leading mortgage servicers and through a partnership approach that helps address their operational problems,” Kothiyal said. ISGN leveraged the rich heritage of one of the Industry’s most recognizable and scalable servicing platforms (LSAMS) and brought in innovative technology to deliver a more powerful SaaS (Software as a Service) product, LoanDynamix, that is suited for a wide spectrum of portfolio sizes – from a few thousand loans to over 6 million loans. Similarly, ISGN has a powerful, state-of-the-art default technology platform, Tempo, which delivers endto-end default functionality so servicers don’t need to implement multiple products. With loss mitigation calculators powered by an innovative graphical editor, servicers can simplify the complex tasks and build proprietary decision engines. Finally, ISGN offers a feature-rich and robust construction servicing platform, Loan Momentum. In addition to supporting construction loans, LoanMomentum also manages the intricacies of 203k loans.

Product: Tempo, Loan Momentum and LoanDynamix DESCRIPTION: ISGN’s suite of servicing products

provides unparalleled value to customers by offering feature rich products for every aspect of your servicing operations. The seamless and real-time integration between Tempo (Default Management Solution) and LoanDynamix (Core Servicing Solution) creates a powerful driver for efficiency, a richer borrower experience along with managing compliance. Enabled by ISGN’s new and innovative PowerHub technology, this deep integration provides a single view of a loan and ensures data integrity as the loan moves from performing to non-performing phases of the cycle.

“Along with incredible scalability, security and an intuitive user interface, we have added an entire spectrum of new features and functionality to our entire servicing suite of products,” CTO Don Gaspar said. Now released as an SaaS offering, each ISGN solution is highly customizable based on the users’ requirements, and quick to go-live. ISGN is one of only a few companies that offer both full-featured core servicing and an extremely powerful end-to-end default servicing system. By virtue of owning both products, the company is able to offer a seamless loan life cycle to customers as the loan moves through various stages of performing and default. This deep integration is real-time, seamless and offers data integrity, but more importantly, it is not cost prohibitive for customers to leverage this integration since it leverages ISGN’s innovative PowerHub. “In our view, servicers today need a product that can quickly adapt to operational changes, access data in real time by various third-party systems, and provide a better borrower experience,” Kothiyal said.

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Phone: 800.462.5545 Web: isgn.com info@isgn.com

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Phone: 800.274.9900 Web: loancareservicing.com salessupport@loancare.net

LoanCare expands transparency for investors and borrowers Mobile functionality and Spanish language options distinguish its service Company: LoanCare, a ServiceLink company Following the mortgage crisis, non-bank servicers experienced tremendous growth and a radical change toward technology advances. This was driven in part by regulation, but also because investors demanded greater access to information about their loans and consumers demanded a better customer experience, including a quick resolution to problems. Before the crisis, we functioned as gatekeepers to the ownership information of the investor. Now, we give our investors freedom of access to their information. At LoanCare, our client reporting tool provides over 400 data sets of information that can be filtered using different variables, including viewing an investors loan information at numerous stages of activity. The built-in client report writer allows for nearly 200 fields of data that can be customized, retained and refreshed at any time. Dynamic Loan View (DLV), a Black Knight Technology Services tool, allows investors to drill down at loan level to see all activity that we at LoanCare use within our functional areas. Clients now have the ability to self-service remotely and at the same time send LoanCare a follow-up or inquiry note within the application. We track those inquiries and escalate them through various functional area teams. From the consumer standpoint, our borrower portal enables customers to see all activity on their loan, schedule payments and look at their payment history. In the event that they experience difficulty in staying current with their loan, we offer a built-in home retention site which provides frequently asked questions presented by an “avatar” that addresses ways in which to rehabilitate and retain the loan or go through a liquidation

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Product: Innovative Technology Solutions DESCRIPTION: LoanCare has invested heavily in

technology and has developed a number of proprietary systems that provide our clients with several self-help technologies to enable access to mortgage loan data and to track and trend portfolios. We offer technology tools that give our clients greater portfolio transparency 24/7.

process. Being able to submit a financial statement 24/7 that comes to our SPOC team to begin the loss mitigation process has proven to be an extremely helpful tool. In the last year, we also introduced the ability for consumers to elect to convert the borrower portal to Spanish, which includes the avatar and even the financial statement. All of this can be done private label, with a company’s color scheme and logo throughout. Moreover, within our customer service area we have a dedicated team of trained-Spanish speaking representatives. The introduction of our mobile application has been a positive surprise as usage continues to grow as more customers choose to utilize this convenience feature. They can schedule and make one-time payments, sign up for ACH and see all loan history. For many in the servicing industry, regulatory changes have required significant investment to change legacy custom systems. At LoanCare, we have been careful not to customize systems to an extent that prevented us from upgrading or moving to new or more modern platforms. We have been and will continue to be committed to having an agile and flexible platform that enables us to change with the regulatory environment and customer and client needs.

MCTlive! empowers secondary marketing performance Diverse functionality, deep-dive analytics, and browser-based access boost efficiency Company: Mortgage Capital Trading Within mortgage lending, the secondary marketing function has typically been a mysterious and isolated ivory tower. Where performance in most areas of the lending business can be captured, understood, and analyzed by the executive management team, the performance of secondary markets can be difficult to pin down. The isolation of this critical function also introduces opportunity for profit-killing errors, unanticipated compliance violations and very little oversight. To remedy this, senior trading staff at Mortgage Capital Trading, led by chief operating officer Phil Rasori, collaborated with clients and experts on staff to create MCTlive! After a soft launch of MCTlive! to its client base five years ago, MCT invested significant time and resources to actively solicit client feedback and make improvements. Today, MCTlive! is used by more than 250 capital markets departments who rely on it for daily advisory services, comprehensive reporting, live market color and ongoing education to implement their hedging and execution strategies. “Our clients use this platform as a capital markets system-of-record with clear performance analytics that can be tracked and understood by executive management on a daily basis,” Rasori said. “This is the definition of a game changer.” The MCTlive! platform is continuously adding functionality that increases the value for MCT clients. The company pioneered the automated bulk bidding process that nearly all leading investors have adopted to buy loans through the correspondent channel. In addition, MCT has rolled out live connections with the GSEs that allow clients to enact trades and loan sales completely within the MCTlive! platform. Many of the most popular features of MCTlive! were identified through the close working relationship between senior trading staff and the secondary marketing departments they serve. “Working as a team and interfacing throughout the day on a variety of critical capital markets functions, MCT staff

Product: MCTlive! DESCRIPTION: MCTlive! is an award-winning,

comprehensive, capital markets software platform for mortgage lenders. It was developed for secondary marketing departments by secondary marketing experts. This entirely web-based SaaS (Software as a Service) environment delivers previously unknown connectivity, functionality, and analytics to capital markets teams. All the vital day-to-day functions for secondary marketing are a click away in MCTlive! Our clients benefit from loan pipeline management, trade positions management, best execution loan sales, pull-through analytics, scenario modeling, detailed reporting, monthly P&L entries and much more, without ever leaving the platform. MCTlive! includes two-way integrations with leading LOS platforms for added efficiencies, ease of communication, and secure data exchange. are uniquely attuned to finding more efficient processes and conceptualizing new functionality through collaboration with clients,” said Curtis Richins, president of MCT. This includes the real-time reporting and browser-based access provided by MCTlive! Where traditional hedge advisors provide only a daily Mark To Market (MTM) report, a robust array of reports leveraging live data can be autonomously generated by clients within MCTlive! at any time. Where traditional desktop-based software restricts secondary market managers to their desk, MCTlive! can be accessed anytime, anywhere through the secure online interface. “We have been widely recognized for our consultative and educational approach to clients. We broke the mold on long-term contracts and still today, engage with all of our clients on a month-to-month basis,” Rasori said. MCT continues to break new ground with its collaborative client relationships, providing transparency and efficiency to the secondary marketing function, which might explain the company’s 99% client retention rate. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 65

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Phone: 619.543.5111 Web: mct-trading.com info@mctrade.net

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Phone: 561.655.6418 Web: openclose.com sales@openclose.com

OpenClose provides web-based software solutions requiring no installs Multi-channel LenderAssist LOS is scalable and flexible Company: OpenClose Many loan origination systems that are commercially available today have deficiencies and issues ranging from antiquated technology, an inability to scale, inflexible workflows, customization limitations and long implementations. During the dot-com era, OpenClose saw the need early on to develop purely web-based mortgage software solutions that require no installs whatsoever. The company sought to develop a product suite that would enable lenders to implement quickly, operate cost effectively and maximize their productivity. The result is LenderAssist — a true multi-channel, web-based LOS that is custom-configurable, scalable, flexible, easy-touse and compliant. What’s more, OpenClose has a boutique-style, responsive business model for customer implementations, training and ongoing support which ensures that lenders will never be treated like just a number. Unlike many mortgage software providers, the OpenClose platform was built from the ground up using the same code base and architecture design — and built by the same company. Many LOS providers attempt to create a comprehensive solution by roping together various best-of-breed integrations or simply by way of vendor acquisitions. However, these are all still disparate technologies, which often result in ongoing issues and challenges. In contrast, everything is native to the OpenClose system. OpenClose’s multi-channel LOS is ideal for both small, medium- and large-size lending entities ranging from independent mortgage bankers to banks and credit unions. And, OpenClose’s OC Correspondent turnkey module is also leveraged by conduit aggregators to efficiently and compliantly buy quality closed loans. Because OpenClose can easily automate the retail, wholesale, correspondent and consumer direct business channels and workflows, it is increasingly capturing new business from lenders that have a need to quickly launch

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Product: LenderAssist LOS Platform DESCRIPTION: LenderAssist is an end-to-end, multi-

channel LOS platform that is 100% web-based and delivered on a SaaS basis. The enterprise-level solution completely automates all business channels and lending workflows. LenderAssist integrates tightly with OpenClose’s OC Correspondent module; OC Optics reporting and business analytics software; DecisionAssist PPE; ConsumerAssist websites; mobile technology; and third-party applications. a new channel or turn off an existing one. The scalability and flexibility of the system has attracted lenders that are closing thousands of loans each month. Lenders used to dealing with larger companies are also pleasantly surprised by the level of customer service OpenClose provides to its customers. “Our boutique-style customer support model is highly responsive, providing personalized attention. Unlike some other vendors, many of which have been acquired by large organizations, OpenClose staff is easily accessible. We pick up the phone when users call,” Vince Furey, senior vice president of lending solutions at OpenClose, said. And OpenClose handles the onus of implementation and system configuration for customers, with a rapid 60 to 90-day implementation timeline, depending on the number of configurations and third-party integrations. OpenClose has grown exponentially over the past several years, with revenue growth of 30% from 2015 to 2016. “The biggest game-changer for our customers is that the platform has multi-channel capability and is completely web-based, thus requiring no installs,” Furey added. “This is a huge advantage for OpenClose customers.”

Optimal Blue’s Digital Marketplace leverages largest investor database Originators, investors and providers benefit from real-time integration Company: Optimal Blue Today’s mortgage consumers demand personalization, choice, transparency, accuracy, convenience and speed. Innovative originators, as well as the investors and providers they rely upon, are transforming their businesses to deliver a more sophisticated digital experience to meet these demands. Optimal Blue developed its Digital Marketplace to be at the heart of this industry transformation. Anchored with robust, end-to-end functionality and the most comprehensive database of personalized, compliant product and price, Optimal Blue delivers real-time integration between the originators that fulfill, the investors that empower, and the technology and service providers that enable a consumer mortgage transaction. For originators, Optimal Blue delivers an Enterprise Secondary Marketing Solution that completely automates their operations including product and pricing, lock desk workflow, pipeline risk management, secondary market commitment and delivery, and more. For investors, Optimal Blue provides an Investor Network Management Solution that automates compliance, product and pricing distribution, marketing, and business intelligence capabilities. For providers, Optimal Blue’s best-in-class eCommerce platform leverages state-of-the-art API capabilities to integrate with their leading technology and service solutions used by originators and investors throughout the loan life cycle – wherever, whenever it matters most. “Optimal Blue’s Digital Marketplace has disrupted the fundamental process by which the mortgage market functions,” CEO Scott Happ said. “By bringing loan buyers and sellers together — along with third-party technology and service providers that enable them — on a single technology platform, the digital loan marketplace promotes borrower choice, improves price transparency, fosters growth in volume and drives operational efficiency.”

Product: Digital Marketplace DESCRIPTION: Optimal Blue’s Digital Marketplace

connects the mortgage industry’s largest network of originators, investors and providers on a single eCommerce platform. Touching one of every four mortgages completed each year, our platform is relied upon to automate successful mortgage processes, grow volumes, mitigate risk, enhance compliance and drive impressive operational efficiencies. Clients of the Optimal Blue Digital Marketplace benefit greatly from economies of scale and the network effects driving its growth. The company’s platform is a three-sided network whose value to an individual client grows as the total number of clients grows. With Optimal Blue’s Digital Marketplace, originator clients can set up unique programs and pricing configurations within minutes from the largest investor database in the industry. When rates change daily, the pricing is automatically pushed to originator users in seconds, as well as the provider technologies that each lender uses for lead generation, CRM and marketing, mobile and consumer-direct. From there, Optimal Blue automates the lock process, as well as the hedging and committing of those loans directly with the investor. Lastly, leveraging robust data and analytics inherent in the platform, Optimal Blue provides the entire Digital Marketplace ecosystem with comprehensive competitive and enterprise intelligence tools to enable better and more profitable decision making for their businesses. “In Optimal Blue, our clients have found an engaged partner, keenly interested in understanding their strategies and perspectives to deliver exciting, new innovations and value,” Happ said.

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Phone: 469.609.5500 Web: optimalblue.com sales@optimalblue.com

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Phone: 800.760.7036 Web: res.net sales@res.net

RES.NET tackles property preservation with integrated PropertyCure Data Portal System provides oversight, flexible reporting and seamless access from the REO portal

Company: RES.NET RES.NET is always on the lookout for new ways to bring greater efficiency to servicers and investors. Although this naturally includes large segments like REO and loss mitigation, the company’s goal is to provide a complete set of servicer solutions, and that means addressing historically underserved segments such as property preservation. “It is our belief that technology can create better outcomes across the board, and we seek to fill in the gaps that other tech providers may overlook,” said Rob Pajon, senior vice president of marketing and product. “Current technology options weren’t meeting the needs of these specialized segments, so instead, servicers were reliant upon cumbersome, manual processes that required a significant time investment and often resulted in errors.” Property preservation represents a specific challenge, as it can be characterized by a fragmented and non-uniform relationship between a servicer and their vendors. RES.NET’s PropertyCure Data Portal answers this challenge by bringing all vendor updates, data and images into one system via integration. PropertyCure, a unique property preservation offering, creates an environment of conformity across vendors and ultimately facilitates single-system access to manage all processes from multiple vendors. It is also seamlessly integrated with the other RES.NET portals to create a single sign-in platform for servicers. “PropertyCure benefits our clients by providing oversight, centralizing data, property-level tracking, flexible reporting, a user dashboard, system of record connectivity, and seamless access from the REO portal,” Pajon said. By allowing users to track the progress of property preservation vendors, PropertyCure reduces inefficiencies and increases transparency. With all data central-

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Product: PropertyCure Data Portal DESCRIPTION: The portal helps customers address the

challenges associated with managing both Investor and GSE files including FHA Conveyance. Trackable processes include violations, utilities, bids, inspections, property registration, hazard claims, and servicing errors.

ized in one location, customers can better oversee, manage, and run reports resulting in fewer delays and higher productivity for this underserved servicing segment. With PropertyCure, servicers gain access to configurable checklists that can be attached to each process and an intuitive dashboard that provides oversight by allowing users to track foreclosures, GSE files and investor portfolios. PropertyCure’s system architecture provides RES.NET with the ability to expand this portal into new areas quickly, and the company stands ready to support its customers as they help determine which areas it addresses next. Innovation is central to RES.NET’s company culture and is evident throughout its 25-year history. RES.NET’s REO Portal was initially created to serve the needs of its parent company USRES in 2003. Since then the company has continued to innovate and create solutions for servicers and investors, a Loss Mitigation portal, which includes Deed in Lieu, Short Sale, and a Valuations portal, and now the PropertyCure Data portal. “With RES.NET, our customers get more than just a technology platform; they get a partner that will listen to their changing needs and work to produce new products, tools, and enhancements as the industry changes. Our products are created to work with one another, helping our customers maximize efficiencies and in turn, control costs and drive revenue,” Pajon said.

Stearns Lending unveils orijin platform for collaboration with borrowers Smoothing the mortgage process fosters customer-for-life approach Company: Stearns Lending As a lender, Stearns wanted to transform the historically grueling mortgage loan process for its borrowers and loan officers into an all-digital, completely transparent operation on one platform. “Getting a loan shouldn’t detract from the excitement of buying a home — it should celebrate the unbridled joy of becoming a homeowner,” said Uday Devalla, CIO. “Our consumers and partners expect a consistent level of digital experience throughout the process starting from the consumers’ need to search for their perfect house to closing the loan on time and moving into their dream home. orijin was developed to provide this end-to-end digital experience that is simple, not rocket science.” orijin is a collaborative technology platform designed to solidify the customer and loan originator relationship from the very first contact throughout every milestone in the borrower’s lifetime. This customer-for-life approach goes beyond the mortgage process and supports the customer’s new role as a homeowner. Features of the customer app (for both Apple and Android) will include capabilities they can use to manage and maintain their dream home — touchpoints that provide an ongoing connection without being intrusive. While most digital platforms in the industry are limited to providing the basic application, document upload and status capabilities, orijin provides end-to-end capabilities to consumers and broker borrowers, enabling loan originators, partners and others to collaborate in real-time. orijin streamlines the application process, reducing paperwork, providing timely financial verification, utilizing e-signatures and offering a way for borrowers to have real-time access to the status of their loan. It also expedites loan approval, enabling Stearns customers to become homeowners much faster.

Product: orijin by Stearns DESCRIPTION: orijin is a digital platform/ecosystem

that provides comprehensive end-to-end capabilities that cover the entire mortgage process. It is a collaborative platform that brings together all the key parties involved in the mortgage transaction and provides superior all-digital experience to borrowers. orijin is an anytime, anywhere, any device platform with native mobile app to enable rich real-time interaction. “Because this technology features so many time-saving features and customer-centric benefits, we’re able to serve more clients, more efficiently — without losing the critical personal connection. Less time wasted on tedious tasks translates to more time focused on borrowers and business partners,” Devalla said. Some of the most popular features among originators include a dashboard to access loan details, filters to view loans by status and actions, the ability to generate mortgage scenarios instantly and real-time approvals and requests pushed to customers. For borrowers, orijin provides a real-time status center that enables them to take a peek at their application 24/7 using the online portal or mobile app, as well as a document submission element that lets them snap a photo and upload it. In addition, the platform includes an online authorization component, saving them a trip to a physical office location. “Our ultimate goal is facilitating our customers’ dreams of homeownership. orijin empowers our customers, our employees and our partners to take control of the mortgage experience, resulting a smooth process that gets everyone to the closing table faster — and borrowers into their new home sooner,” David Schneider, CEO, said.

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Web: stearns.com

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Web address: tavant.com

Tavant FinXperience delivers an immersive experience to transform borrower journey Unified experience platform provides a true digital transaction Company: Tavant Technologies Tavant Technologies has been in the lending industry for more than 17 years working with lenders and financial institutions of all shapes and sizes. That experience gives the company keen insight into the mortgage process and informs their view that a true digital transaction is much more than simply providing brilliant-looking portals or mobile applications. With Tavant’s FinXperience Suite, lenders have the ability to not only keep all their customers and partners engaged in an immersive experience with real time statuses and process updates, but most importantly, to provide them with the ability to drive the lending transaction in a seamless manner. “We recognize that the industry is moving away from custom-built monolithic software and is embracing the ‘as a utility’ model more than ever before,” said Mohammad Rashid, head of consumer lending practice for Tavant. “We have since the inception of the product suite seen a tremendous response and acceptance in the lending community which is a testimony to our thought leadership and a validation of our decision to convert our learnings from over the years into products.” With the Tavant FinXperience Suite, lenders have a singled unified experience platform that they can roll out to their customers, loan officers as well TPO partners. Their investment into a single platform yields returns across a smooth brand experience for their customers and partners. “The single, unified platform offers them faster time to market with game-changing ideas as well as costing them half of what they would spend on getting three to four different platforms to accomplish the same business objectives,” Hassan Rashid, CRO of Tavant said. Tavant FinXperience Suite stands out from similar products in the marketplace because it not only pro-

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Product: Tavant FinXperience DESCRIPTION: A component of Tavant VELOX,

Tavant’s FinXperience Suite is a nexus of portals and accompanying mobility solutions that have been designed with lending interactions in mind. The suite enables lenders to offer immersive experience platforms for borrowers, loan officers, wholesale brokers and correspondent sellers. Tavant’s FinXperience Suite provides users with a rich digital experience which is powered by Tavant’s FinConnect (third-party services connector hub) and FinCapture (autonomous document ingestion and data extraction - OCR) products.

vides an exceptional front-end experience layer, but also creates a true digital transaction. By bringing data from all related third-party and transactional sources (using FinConnect) and extracting data from documents involved in the transactions (using FinCapture), FinXperience has proved to be a real differentiator in the industry. One of Tavant’s core values is to build products that enhance efficiency and productivity, improve loan production quality and reduce process excesses. FinXperience exemplifies this value, incorporating ease of use, AI and machine learning and seamless integration with a lender’s current ecosystem. It’s all part of Tavant’s bigger mission to create products that are ubiquitous in the segments it caters to. “Our teams and individuals constantly look for ideas, then innovate, build and present them during Tavant TechConnect — an annual innovation showcase event,” Vibhor Mishra, head of marketing for Tavantsaid. “Then we employ world-class engagement and support models to make it easy for our customers to adopt and leverage our products.”

Inside Baseball

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Inside Baseball

Senate considers ending “FICO monopoly” at GSEs BUT FHFA DIRECTOR MEL WATT SEES DANGER AHEAD

BY BEN LANE AND KELSEY RAMIREZ

EARLIER THIS YEAR, a bipartisan group reintroduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider alternative credit-scoring models beyond the FICO credit score the government-sponsored enterprises currently use. The bill, called the “Credit Score Competition Act,” would enable the GSEs to consider alternative credit scoring models when determining credit worthiness. In August, a companion bill was introduced in the Senate, with the backing of Senators from both parties. The Senate version of the “Credit Score Competition Act” is sponsored by Sens. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, and Mark Warner, D-Virginia. In a joint statement, Scott and Warner say that the bill will help make credit available to “some of the 26 million ‘credit invisible’ individuals in the housing market.” According to Scott and Warner’s statement, the “Credit Score Competition Act” directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency to create a process that would allow alternative credit scoring models to be validated and approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when they purchase mortgages.

“Currently, the GSEs are mandated to consider a decades-old credit scoring model that does not take into account consumer data on rent, utility, and cell phone bill payments,” Scott’s office said in the statement. “This exclusion disproportionately hurts African-Americans, Latinos, and young people who are otherwise creditworthy.” Scott also raised the issue during a Senate Finance Committee in August, entitled “America’s Affordable Housing Crisis: Challenges and Solutions.” During the hearing, Scott asked Granger MacDonald, the chairman of the National Association of Homebuilders, about the limitations of the FICO scoring model that the GSEs currently use. MacDonald said that the FICO model the GSEs use is confusing not only to consumers, but to the industry as well. “(Credit scoring models are) an issue that has been at the forefront of homebuilders for quite some time – probably since ’08 when the downturn in the economy came and we were trying to find out why all of a sudden we were having so many prospective homebuyers who were losing the opportunity to purchase homes,” MacDonald said during the hearing. “And we sat down with our economics department – and we HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 73

Inside Baseball

have four or five of the smartest Ph.Ds I’ve ever met in my life – and we said, ‘Tell us how FICO works.’ Sir, after about 30 days they came back and they couldn’t figure it out.” MacDonald said that the GSEs need to use a system that’s “transparent” so that all consumers know how their credit score is derived. “So you know what to do and how to improve it. How to work with it. How to work toward having good credit,” MacDonald said. “Good credit shouldn’t be an accident; it should be something you work at as a goal and if you understand the rules that you’re playing by its a lot easier to play the game.” Scott issued a statement that expounded on his long-term interest in homeownership. “After growing up in a small, two-bedroom house with my grandparents, I came to understand and appreciate the independence that comes with the notion of owning a home,” Scott said. “Homeownership is a huge part of the American Dream, and I want to help folks across the country accomplish that goal. The current credit scoring model at the center of our housing market 74 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

overlooks a large swath of people that are paying their monthly bills on time and deserve an opportunity to pursue homeownership,” Scott said. “This is an opportunity to make our system more fair for everyone without lowering the bar for qualification.” Warner said that the bill can help increase homeownership among groups that are currently being left behind. “There are millions of Americans who pay their rent, utilities, or cell phone bills on time, yet aren’t considered ‘credit-worthy’ under federal housing finance standards because they lack access to traditional lines of credit, such as auto or student loans,” Warner said. “These ‘credit invisible’ Americans are disproportionately young, new Americans or people of color. Our goal in introducing this legislation is to encourage Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider more inclusive methodologies in determining a borrower’s creditworthiness,” Warner added. “Alternate scoring models have the potential to make homeownership a reality for more qualified borrowers who lack access to traditional forms of credit.”

Inside Baseball

Unsurprisingly, Barrett Burns, the president and CEO of VantageScore Solutions, a direct competitor of FICO, welcomed Scott and Warner’s bill. “Along with a broad coalition of housing and business advocates, we support and applaud the leadership of Senators Tim Scott and Mark Warner who today introduced the bipartisan Credit Score Competition Act in the United States Senate,” Burns said in a statement. “No single company should have a government-sanctioned monopoly, especially when there are millions of consumers that are negatively impacted. Infusing competition into this integral area will improve fairness, transparency, and inclusiveness without compromising on standards,” Burns said. “Allowing each lender to choose the credit scoring model best for its business is in the short- and long-term best interest of the housing finance industry and the consumers they serve.” But despite the bipartisan support in Congress, Mel Watt, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, sees the issue much differently. Watt made a strong statement at the National Association of Real Estate Brokers’ 70th annual convention in New Orleans, explaining that a change in the credit scoring system before mid-2019 would be a serious mistake. Watt explained the FHFA continues to research options for an alternative credit scoring model, however, several new factors came up about competition in the credit score market. “For example, how would we ensure that competing credit scores lead to improvements in accuracy and not to a race to the bottom with competitors competing for more and more customers?” Watt said. “Also, could the organizational and ownership structure of companies in the credit score market impact competition?” Watt said more work also needs to be done on the operational impacts of the industry, and stressed that this task has been one of the most difficult evaluations undertaken during his tenure as director of the FHFA. Watt laid out two factors that are preventing the FHFA from moving forward more quickly. “First, based on the overwhelming feedback we have received from the industry, it is clear that it would be a serious mistake to change credit scoring models before mid-2019 when the Common Securitization Platform is fully operational and the Enterprises implement the Single Security,” Watt said. “For this reason, any credit score model change would not go into effect before 2019 even if I announced a decision today.” “Second, we believe that, regardless of the decision we make on credit score models, the short-term impact on access to credit will not be nearly as significant as was first imagined or as the public discourse on this issue has suggested,” he said. “Credit scores are only one factor the Enterprises use to evalu-

“

No single company should have a government-sanctioned monopoly...” Barrett Burns, VantageScore Solutions

ate loan applications and the Enterprises currently use the same or even greater levels of credit data in their underwriting systemsas the credit scoring companies use.” He said the FHFA will issue a request for industry input this fall in order to get more information about the impact of alternative credit scoring models. “We have an obligation to get this right and we need more information to be able to do so,” Watt said. Watt said that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have put forth several changes this year which help ease access to credit, such as the cash-out refinance that Fannie Mae announced in April. Under that program, homeowners have three flexible payment solutions that would increse homeownership for those who have significant student loan debt. Fannie Mae’s new solutions include: Student loan cash-out refinance: Offers homeowners the flexibility to pay off high interest rate student debt while potentially refinancing to a lower mortgage interest rate. Debt paid by others: Widens borrower eligibility to qualify for a home loan by excluding from the borrower’s debt-to-income ratio non-mortgage debt, such as credit cards, auto loans, and student loans, paid by someone else. Student debt payment calculation: Makes it more likely for borrowers with student debt to qualify for a loan by allowing lenders to accept student loan payment information on credit reports. The new student loan cash-out refinance option expands a program Fannie Mae rolled out with SoFi in November. Jonathan Lawless, vice president of customer solutions at Fannie Mae, said the overwhelmingly positive reaction to that program convinced Fannie Mae to broaden its scope. Unlike the members of Congress, the GSEs see student debt, not credit scoring models, as the biggest impediment to homeownership. “We spent a lot of time with our customers, who are lenders, hearing their frustrations and looking for new opportunities,” Lawless said. “The biggest challenge today is being able to qualify people with student debt for mortgage loans. It’s exciting to make it easier for lenders and help more people become homeowners.” Watt said the GSEs will continue to innovate throughout this year to ease access to credit. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 75

Kudos AWARDS • The U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND THE ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION announced the East Baltimore Historic II Project as the recipient of the inaugural ACHP/HUD SECRETARY’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION. The award recognizes developers, organizations and agencies for their success in advancing the goals of historic preservation, while at the same time providing affordable housing and/or expanded economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income families and individuals. TRF DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS’ renovation of the East Baltimore Historic II community combines historic preservation, community development and affordable housing within a stressed and disinvested housing market. The project transformed an entire neighborhood block, spurring additional rehabilitation activity nearby.

MILESTONES • CALIBER HOME LOANS closed their 10,000th VA purchase loan in early August. Loan Consultant Lisa Kelly, in Caliber’s Sevierville, Tennessee, branch had the honors of originating the milestone loan for the company. 76 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

GIVING BACK

• NEW AMERICAN FUNDING’S Riverside, California, branch recently participated in the HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Over the Edge fundraising event for Veterans. All donations went toward empowering veterans and their families by surrounding them with supportive services and giving them the opportunity to purchase a safe and affordable home or make their current home safe by upgrading or renovating it. More than 280 employees and senior managers from GUILD MORTGAGE recently spent a day renovating a primary school and engaging with local students in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Company employees, including CEO Mary Ann McGarry and chief operating officer Terry Schmidt, volunteered their time to paint the school’s classroom walls, doors and perimeter fence, while making numerous other enhancements to the facility. Guild teams

RIORS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, an organization that supports education and youth development for low-income students in the San Francisco Bay area. Martin Piller shot a final round 6-under-64 to take home the tournament trophy. planted trees in the garden and assembled a swing set on the playground. In addition, Guild gave each of the 30 children in the school a new backpack. The 2017 ELLIE MAE CLASSIC was recently held at the TPC Stonebrae Country Club in Hayward, California. The Web.com tour event, which ran from July 31 to August 6, benefited the WAR-

Kudos

LAUNCHES • WFG NATIONAL TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY has successfully completed an integration of multiple WFG eservices with the SETTLEMENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS TitleExpress platform. According to Gene Rebadow, WFG’s executive vice president, agency, eastern division, the integration will unite the SMS’ production platform with WFG’s e-CPL and e-Jacket services. “TitleExpress is one of the most utilized title production systems for independent agents nationwide,” said Rebadow. “This integration will help WFG’s

agents further streamline their processes and eliminate unnecessary time and the cost of obtaining Closing Protection Letters, Insured Closing Letters and Policy Jackets.” MOVEMENT MORTGAGE CEO and NFL tight end Casey Crawford has announced he is launching MOVEMENT BANK, a process that began in June 2016 when Crawford became the majority shareholder in FIRST STATE BANK in Danville, Virgina. The bank will be owned and operated independently of Movement Mortgage. Crawford will serve on Movement Bank’s

board and the day-to-day operations will be executed by the bank’s management team and staff. The default services law firm of CLARFIELD, OKON & SALOMONE has merged with another default servicing firm, MCCABE, WEISBERG & CONWAY. The merger transforms the company into an eight-state, womenowned default services law firm with a footprint stretching from New York to Florida. The combined firm will operate under the McCabe, Weisberg & Conway brand. The firm’s headquarters will remain in Philadelphia and

MWC will employ nearly 600 full-time attorneys and staff nationally.

Industry

Pulse

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Industry Pulse

Is Amazon moving into real estate? THE COMPANY STOKES SPECULATION WITH “HIRE A REALTOR” WEBPAGE BY BRENA SWANSON

AS SHOPPERS SCOURED AMAZON’S website on July 12 for its annual Prime Day deals, the online shopping giant quietly disclosed a new service that might be coming soon to users, which would launch the company into the world of real estate and turn it into a competitor with Zillow and Redfin. Tucked into the website’s Home and Business Services section, where users can receive quotes from professionals for various services including assembling new purchases or setting up new technology, Amazon listed a “Hire a Realtor” webpage for a short time before taking it down the same day. But not before it was noticed by sharp-eyed observers. The website offered very little information on the possible service other than what is shown above, and Amazon did not get back to a request for comment. An article in GeekWire, however, by Monica Nickelsburg, stated, “When reports of the Amazon page surfaced, Zillow’s stock price slumped from $46.15 a share to $44.54 as of Wednesday morning, showing just how closely investors are watching the Seattle retailer.” If Amazon does get into the real estate world, it wouldn’t be the first service market its decided to disrupt this summer. Amazon also revealed earlier this month that it was rolling out its own version of Best Buy’s popular Geek Squad service, which offers in-home product installations and repairs on electronics and appliances, according to an article in CNN Tech by Kaya Yurieff. Amazon is already a source for homeowners to find house cleaners, local carpenters, electricians, etc. “The new ‘Amazon Smart Home Services Store’ on its website allows users to book appointments for installations or free consultations. Company experts will answer questions and set up

products like smart lights, thermostats and of course, Amazon’s line of smart devices,” the article stated. The National Association of Realtors confirmed that Amazon did not receive permission or coordinate with them to use the word “Realtor,” which is trademarked by the association. It is common for people to use the word “Realtor” in place of “real estate agent,” unaware there is a difference. A Realtor is a licensed real estate salesperson who belongs to the National Association of Realtors. If the webpage was still active, NAR’s legal team would’ve reached out and requested the term be removed. An article in Bloomberg at the end of July outlined the fear that Amazon is causing throughout corporate America, which apparently trumps fears of the Trump administration. The article by Julie Verhage noted: Looking at the last 90 days of earnings calls and other corporate events such as investor days, a trend emerges. Amazon comes up a lot. It was mentioned a staggering 635 times over that time frame, while President Trump came up just 162 times and wages were discussed 111, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s become even more pronounced over the past 30 days, with Amazon garnering 165 mentions compared with 32 for Trump and 22 for wages. The article noted that not all comments on Amazon are bad, with some executives offering the company up as an example for how the market is changing or to point out they have partnerships with them. Looking at the comments on HousingWire reacting to this news, the housing industry as a whole sees it as a threat, although others noted that disruptive companies and technologies have entered the space before. (Comments have been edited for length but not for grammar). HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 79

Industry

Pulse

HERE ARE SOME OF THE RESPONSES (with spelling and grammar left intact):

JAMES NEWBERRY SR:

...and Amazon appraisers, Amazon mortgage companies, Amazon title companies, Amazon pest inspectors. The whole world is willing to work for $11.50 an hour?

CEBVA:

A small step toward upending the entire dynamic. They will pre-qualify buyers with their in-house lender, and give those buyers access to a database containing all the information now hidden in MLS. Sellers will upload their own pictures, with lots of advice how to stage. Interactive maps let buyers drive down the street. A secure access code will open the house to qualified buyers with the seller’s permission and under the watchful eye of an internet security camera. Alexa will answer questions about the house. Appraisals will be done remotely. They will use a template to prepare an online contract and close the case online with Amazon title. Everyone else in the chain - agents, lenders, appraisers and title companies are out of a job. If Amazon doesn’t do it, Apple or Google will. All three companies have oodles of cash and are looking for industries to disrupt. They won’t get every listing but it will take away the cream leaving only the hardest sales for real people to facilitate. The future of the 6% commission is grim.

DARRELL HESS

Wonder if this is going to be another pay for your leads type of service to real estate agents or if Amazon will actually contract with independent real estate agents to handle their customer requests much like Redfin does with their partner agents.

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DARRELL HESS

STEVEN PILKINGTON:

I would bet they will do both. Sell leads to agents looking to pay per lead. Set up a brokerage to send out leads to referral partners like Redfin, Referral Exchange, 2xReferrals, etc. Setting up a ListHub feed is easy so they could keep consumers engaged. They already have the eyeballs looking for....well for everything.

MR. STAN SEXTON BROKER/OWNER:

Soon, the Listing Agent will be obsolete.Google, Amazon, Zillow or some other data-base provider will start a World MLS, and sellers will be able to input their listing directly. Others will offer a service to do that for a small fee, and take pictures, install a lockbox, open escrow, etc. You will still see a commission paid to Buyer’s Brokers, or Buyer’s Brokers will do it all for a fee or commission them selves. But already Listing Agents are obsolete.And once the Big Data Providers advertise to the public this system, it’s all over.

Industry Pulse

IVAN HSU:

I just hope Amazon entering the market will revamp the commission model. 6% is way to steep and I think it should just be flat rate or flat plate plus actual expenses on marketing materials. Agents kept saying there is alot of work but I don’t see how that justify of paying 60k on a 1 mil home.

JONATHAN RAINER:

Listing agents are hardly obsolete. People see selling a home as a huge ordeal. It takes a lot of effort, there are a lot of spinning wheels, a lot of websites, and a lot of people involved. Sellers don’t know who to trust, and often don’t have the time to handle the transaction. They especially don’t understand disclosures, lead paint, or even what makes a house look good in pictures. Sure, some do and can FSBO quite well. Saying we’re obsolete is like saying stock brokers are obsolete. The market reduced their need as DIY investors could do things cheaply themselves, but the vast majority of people want someone to guide them through the process personally. And, this is true for both buyers and sellers.

MIKE F:

That model already exists and the market has given it a BIG ho-hum. open listings are a feature of EVERY MLS in the nation as far as i know. i have learned from FIRST HAND experience that MOST folks do not have it in them to deal with the trade and are more likely to get themselves in trouble than you’d ever imagine. some might of course...but to call for the demise of the listing agent...no time soon and be sure that the state regulators will have a say... it sounds great to say amazon (or any other entity) will “disintermediate” the agents but the law says otherwise. when the law ascribes liability the willingness to be the low bidder goes away fast

JAMES TYLER:

Licensed and experienced Real Estate Agents are not worried about Zillow’s Instant Offer, Amazon, bots or AIs making them obsolete because they all know that it takes more than computers and machines to process complex and stressful real estate transactions. All these technologies will help consumers benefit in many ways but sellers will still need to get the most of their home value and buyers will still need to tour homes before they buy therefore licensed real estate agents are irreplaceable.

FREEBOULDER:

Since the advent of the internet MORE buyers use buyer agents than before. The internet was supposed to kill Realtors? The bottom line is that someone selling their home does not have the time or desire to deal with people coming in their home, answering phone calls, printing brochures to hand out all day Sunday, etc. The internet can’t fix that.

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Knowledge

Center

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Knowledge Center

W H I T E PA PE R: X DOC | SP ONSOR E D CON T E N T

The dangers of lending in a digital world: 2017 edition INTRODUCTION The mortgage lending industry is an ever-growing target for data thieves. Given the number of potential victims at risk, and the value of the data they hold, organizations that operate within the lending industry are sitting ducks for the criminals who seek to exploit them. Worryingly, things look set to get worse before they get better: Increased adoption in web-based and mobile technologies in the workplace, exacerbated by the growing sophistication of cybercriminals, culminate in a level of threat that many lenders are struggling to deal with. While it’s easy to point to technology as the problem, in reality it’s the people responsible for managing those technologies who should be placed under closest scrutiny. Lenders rely heavily on technology to function — the onus is on them to ensure those technologies are used responsibly, so that they do not become a gateway for unwanted guests. An investigation into U.S. mortgage lenders undertaken in 20141 found that 70% of mortgage lenders may be putting sensitive data at risk through their application processes, by allowing applicants to submit personal and financial information via unencrypted email. The investigation concluded two key points: Firstly, there is a general lack of security knowledge among mortgage lenders; and secondly, lenders would sooner prioritize customer convenience over security. The intention of this guide is to help mortgage lenders better understand cybersecurity, and the risks that exist in today’s rapidly evolving landscape.

REASONS TO BE FEARFUL 1. Financial services in top three industries affected by data breaches The 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon lists financial services in the top three industries affected by a data breach (an incident that resulted in confirmed disclosure to an unauthorized party) or security incident (any event that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an infor-

mation asset). While no industry is immune to security failings, the fact that financial services has also placed in the top three in previous editions of this report is no coincidence. 2. The cost of data breaches is rising According to IBM and Ponemon Institute’s 2016 Cost of Data Breach Study, the average cost of data breach in the U.S. has increased by approximately 10% in three years. What’s more, the average per capita cost of a data breach within the financial industry specifically is the third highest of all industries, at $221. 3. Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated There is much evidence to suggest that cyberattacks are becoming more technically sophisticated, as the criminals who look to infiltrate organizations seek new ways of outsmarting equally sophisticated security systems. If you asked someone to picture a cybercriminal, they would most likely conjure up an image of a lone amateur operating from their basement: while such individuals do exist, at the other end of the spectrum exists highly organized teams of cybercriminals, who operate in broad daylight, mirroring the organizations they seek to exploit. The modern cybercriminal is highly skilled and should not be underestimated.

UNDERSTANDING THE THREATS Lenders need to familiarize themselves with the types of data breach that they may come up against, understand how they occur, and know how to prevent them. Data breaches very rarely occur at a single point in time, but are more commonly part of a complex chain of events. Organizations must mitigate all possible paths an attacker can take, not just the direct path from point A to point B. Even organizations that maintain robust in-house security policies could be at risk through association of their third-party vendors.

To read the entire white paper, visit the Knowledge Center at knowledge.housingwire.com. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 83

Knowledge

Center

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Knowledge Center

W H I T E PA PE R: Super ior Hom e Serv ices | SP ONSOR E D CON T E N T

Vacant, damaged and in default A SERVICER’S DILEMMA MORTGAGE SERVICERS envision a scenario where a borrower is happily living in his/her house, maintaining it, and promptly paying the mortgage every month. The borrower also pays taxes timely, and maintains the appropriate insurance coverage on the property. That is not the scenario we are talking about here. This paper will discuss the opposite situation – one that begins with a delinquency and evolves into a property inspection. An inspection that reveals a vacant, abandoned, property that has suffered damage. All too often, the borrower in this scenario is nowhere to be found, and cannot be contacted. A foreclosure date is set in the distant future, but only if there are no delays/moratoriums/other issues to push it back even further. Now what do we do??? When dealing with presale damaged properties, two questions usually come up: What are the servicers’ responsibilities with regards to investor and guarantor guidelines? How do those guidelines shape the servicer’s obligations regarding claims settlement and repair? The following will outline the pertinent investor servicing guidelines, how those guidelines differ, and how those differing guidelines provide unique duties, and opportunities, in terms of damaged property mitigation and rehabilitation.

INVESTOR/GUARANTOR GUIDELINES Servicers and investors both have an interest in minimizing damaged property losses. Often, a large obstacle to achieving efficient and reasonable property repair decisions is communication between the parties. Effective communication allows everyone involved to have the same expectations as to the repair process, timeline and the expected outcome. Clearly, the increased volume of defaulted properties experienced by the industry only serves to exacerbate the situation. Servicers can facilitate efficient outcomes by understanding

the expectations of the investors, by clearly communicating and documenting the property damages, and by stating with clarity a resolution recommendation to those investors. Knowledge of the various investor guidelines can help put servicers on the right path and reduce frustration.

HUD The Department of Housing and Urban Development has historically mandated thorough property condition guidelines, and servicer responsibilities for handling damaged properties. Mortgagee Letter 2016-02 (ML 2016-02) implemented in February of 2016, provided servicers with revised damaged property guidelines and has changed how many services handle damaged HUD properties. HUD traditionally identified six catastrophic forms of damage as surchargeable. Known as “the Big Six”, HUD would disallow conveyance of properties that had sustained damages caused by fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or boiler explosion unless HUD had previously given the servicer permission to “convey with damages.” Properties damaged by “non Big Six” perils (vandalism, freeze, etc.) could be conveyed without HUD approval. In these cases the servicers would apply any available insurance funds recovered to the 27011 claim. In ML 2010-18, HUD extended the prior approval requirement to all types of damage. Specifically, the ML states, “If a property that was secured by an FHA-insured mortgage is conveyed damaged to the Secretary without prior approval, the department may reconvey the property.” At its most basic, ML 2010-18 gives the servicer two options: repair damaged properties prior to conveyance or request HUD permission to convey the property ‘as is.’

To read the entire white paper, visit the Knowledge Center at knowledge.housingwire.com. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 85

CFPB Watch

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CFPB Watch

The OCC and CFPB slug it out OCC SOUNDS ALARM ON CFPB ARBITRATION RULE, WELCOMES CONGRESSIONAL REPEAL BY BEN LANE AND BRENA SWANSON

THERE’S GOOD NEWS and bad news for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new arbitration rule. On the positive side, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency doesn’t plan to stand in the way of the rule being implemented, as the OCC recently threatened to do. On the other hand, the OCC isn’t planning to intervene in the arbitration rule situation because Congress is currently in the process of repealing the rule. On July 31, Keith Noreika, the acting Comptroller of the Currency, said that the OCC will not petition the Financial Stability Oversight Council to delay the implementation of the arbitration rule due to Republicans’ efforts in both houses of Congress to overturn the rule using the Congressional Review Act. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress may overturn a broad range of regulatory rules issued by federal agen-

cies by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval within 60 days of the rules being announced. In July, the House of Representatives passed a “resolution of disapproval” to revoke the CFPB’s arbitration rule. A similar effort is currently underway in the Senate as well. According to Noreika, due to those Congressional efforts, the OCC will not ask the FSOC to delay the rule, but the OCC still has significant doubts about the rule. The arbitration rule deals with consumer financial products like credit cards and bank accounts that contain arbitration clauses in their contracts that prevent consumers from joining together to sue their bank or financial company for wrongdoing. “The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has only begun its review of the CFPB’s data and analysis underlying that agency’s Final Rule,” Noreika said in a

statement. “Nothing so far diminishes my concerns that the rule may adversely affect the institutions within the federal banking system and their customers.” In his statement, Noreika said that the CFPB rule “prevents banks from using an effective risk mitigation tool and will eliminate one option consumers have to resolve their concerns without the cost and delay of litigation.” Additionally, Noreika said that the CFPB rule could have the opposite effect of its desired intent. “Ultimately, the rule may have unintended consequences for banking customers in the form of decreased availability of products and services, increased related costs, fewer options to remedy consumer concerns, and delayed resolution of consumer issues,” Noreika said. “The rule may turn out to be the proverbial straw on the camel’s back.” Noreika also said that another reason HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 87

CFPB Watch

for the OCC not asking the FSOC to delay the arbitration rule is that the CFPB has not provided the OCC with enough information about its reasoning for publishing the rule. “It is important that the OCC economists take the time necessary to conduct their independent review of the data and analysis used to support and develop the Final Rule,” Noreika said. “Unfortunately, since the CFPB published the rule in the Federal Register prior to providing its data for our analysis and we have requested additional data in order to conduct a thorough review, the OCC cannot complete our thorough review in the limited time before a petition must be filed with the Financial Stability Oversight Council.” In conclusion, Noreika said that he hopes that the Senate will join the House in voting to repeal the CFPB rule. “I hope Congress will act on this oppor88 HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017

tunity to preserve effective alternatives for consumers to resolve their disputes without lengthy and costly litigation and to reduce the ‘piling on’ of legal and regulatory burden,” Noreika concluded. The dissension between the CFPB and the OCC started earlier in July when the CFPB revealed its new rule to ban companies from using mandatory arbitration clauses, allowing consumers to participate in class action lawsuits. Noreika quickly responded to the controversial rule in a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray requesting the CFPB share with Office of the Comptroller of the Currency data used to develop and support its proposed final rule banning class-action waivers in arbitration agreements. Noreika asked that the two “agencies work together to resolve potential safety and soundness concerns with the proposal.” He also assured the CFPB that he di-

rected OCC staff to work expeditiously with CFPB staff to examine the data once they receive it and determine if their concerns are allayed by the data or to work with CFPB staff to resolve any safety and soundness concerns that persist. The CFPB didn’t see eye-to-eye with the OCC on the issues, with Cordray noting in his response letter that he was surprised to receive the letter from Noreika. “As you may be aware, the issuance of the rule marked the conclusion of a multi-year process that included the bureau’s completion in March of an arbitration study that was required by law. The rulemaking process itself spanned more than two years.” “At no time during the process did anyone from the OCC express any suggestion that the rule that was under development would threaten the safety and soundness of the banking system. Nor did you express any concerns to me when we have met or spoken.” Ultimately, Cordray wrote that Noreika’s request came too late. “Until I received your letter this week, the OCC has not expressed any interest in the data relating to that rule.” Noreika, a week letter, sent another letter to Cordray asking for the data again. But this time, he added in a request to delay the publication of the Final Rule in the Federal Register “until his staff has had full and fair opportunity to analyze the CFPB data.” Once again, and only a couple days before the Federal Register was slated to publish the rule, Cordray denied the request in a letter to the OCC, questioning “why it would be appropriate to distort the Financial Stability Oversight Council process to review a claim that is so plainly frivolous, when congressional and judicial forums are available to pursue such matters.” “I continue to fail to see any plausible basis for your claim that the arbitration rule could somehow affect the safety

CFPB Watch

and soundness of the banking system,” Cordray said. And with Cordray’s response, the door shut on the possibility of the rule not making it into the Federal Register. The cause was then taken up by Republicans in Congress, who introduced a “resolution of disapproval” on July 20 that began the process of repealing the rule. Twenty-three Senate Republicans filed a resolution that would make use of Congress’ authority under the Congressional Review Act to rescind the CFPB rule. On July 25 the House voted 231-190 to block the rule. House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said on the passing vote, “Hardworking Americans want something different in their nation’s capital. They want to change the toxic culture in Washington, DC that for far too long has allowed unaccountable bureaucrats to overreach and overregulate.” Hensarling criticized the bureau, saying, “What the Bureau and the wealthy trial lawyers want is to take away arbitration for consumers and instead force them into class action lawsuits – which, just so happens, to require consumers to hire the very trial lawyers who will benefit most from this rule.” Not surprisingly, House Democrats disagreed with Republicans. Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said, “H.J.Res 111 is an affront to hardworking Americans across the country. Using the Congressional Review Act, this Joint Resolution repeals the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule to curb forced arbitration clauses in contracts for consumer financial products.” “Let’s be clear: there is absolutely no valid public policy rationale for repealing this rule. It is part of a pattern from Congressional Republicans of irrational hostility toward the Consumer Bureau and its work and a callous disregard for

the issues facing America’s consumers. Enough is enough.” The Republican effort in the Senate is led by a number of prominent Republicans, but one of the top Democrats in the Senate is pledging a serious fight over the arbitration rule. “Almost a year after millions of fake accounts were uncovered, Wells Fargo is still using fine print arbitration clauses to cheat those customers out of the justice they deserve,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said. Brown is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. “Overturning the arbitration rule will help banks and payday lenders continue getting away with cheating customers, and I intend to put up one hell of a fight,” Brown said. “Wall Street banks and payday lenders have armies of lobbyists and lawyers on their sides. Our job is to fight for the servicemembers, student borrowers, seniors, and hardworking Americans who depend on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to look out for them.” Brown’s counterpart on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said that it is “incumbent” on Congress to overturn the CFPB rule. “Members of Congress previously expressed concerns with the proposed version of the rulemaking – concerns that were not addressed in the final rule,” Crapo said. “The rule is based on a flawed study that leading scholars have criticized as biased and inadequate, noting that it could leave consumers worse off by removing access to an important dispute resolution tool,” Crapo continued. “By ignoring requests from Congress to reexamine the rule and develop alternatives between the status quo and effectively eliminating arbitration, the CFPB has once again proven a lack of accountability,” Crapo said. HOUSINGWIRE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2017 89