Industry Briefs Aug. 28, 2020

SimpleNexus, Lehi, Utah, enhanced its integration with MobilityRE with new features that improve the home search experience for borrowers and enable lenders and realtors to respond more swiftly to borrower requests.

State Regulators Seek Industry Input on MLO Licensing Test

State financial service regulators launched a survey of licensed mortgage loan originators yesterday to gather information on various job functions as part of a process to validate the nationwide licensing exam.

Office Vacancy Rate Could Reach 20% in 2022

The office sector saw downward pressure even before the COVID-19 crisis. Now, burdened with a shift toward remote working, it could be particularly hard hit in the coming years, said Moody’s Analytics.

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“MBA and its members appreciate FHFA and the GSEs extending these important features. Both the origination flexibilities and the program to purchase loans in forbearance are providing important stability to the mortgage market during the pandemic, and today’s announcement will enable lenders to continue to make low rate mortgage financing readily available to consumers and avoid the inevitable credit tightening that would have resulted from their expiration.”
–MBA President & CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB.

‘Zombie’ Foreclosures on the Rise

ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., said its third quarter Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report showed 1.5 million residential properties in the United States are vacant, representing 1.6 percent of all homes. Nearly 4 percent of these vacant homes face foreclosure—so-called “zombie foreclosures.”