Good morning! Welcome back from the Memorial Day holiday—or, as we working remotely folks call it, “Monday.”
Category: News and Trends

Improving the Loan Process With eNotes: A Game Changer for Risk Reduction, Processing Speed and Overall Efficiency
Paper promissory notes have long been the mortgage industry standard. But should they be? The electronic equivalent, eNotes, are quickly rising in popularity; over 124,000 were filed in 2019, a huge jump from the 18,000 filed in 2018 and 5,000 in 2017. It’s not hard to see why they’re so in demand —eNotes are faster, cheaper and more secure.

MBA Advocacy Update
On Tuesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced temporary guidance from the GSEs to improve access to credit for borrowers who previously had entered forbearance. On Wednesday, FHFA released its highly anticipated proposal outlining a new capital framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Abhinav Asthana: The Changing Landscape of Customer Acquisition & Engagement in the Lending Industry
Creating frictionless experiences is imperative to customer-facing businesses, and reducing friction is now a core driver of competitive differentiation. Lending organizations are continuously thinking about how to attract and retain customers by offering consistently relevant, personalized, and frictionless experiences while taking nothing for granted.

MBA Education Path to Diversity Scholar Profile: Austin Miller
(One of a continuing series of profiles of participants in the MBA Education Path to Diversity (P2D) Scholarship Program, which enables employees from diverse backgrounds to advance their professional growth and career development.)

Mortgage Vendor News & Views With Scott Roller
In this ongoing article series, we report on mortgage and credit union vendor marketplace events and trends, and we then share our viewpoints. The theme for today’s article is a unique set of circumstances that is enlisting homeowners to be an active participant within the appraisal process during the pandemic – and likely into the future.

John Walsh: Tax Service – A New Era
For decades, tax service has gone unchanged. There are many efforts to change this dynamic; layering in new technology for servicers to engage with their tax vendor and improving transparency in a historically monochromatic space.

Josh Friend: Engagement is Critical During Challenging Times
Amid COVID-19 and these rapidly changing market conditions in the mortgage industry, communication and engagement with your current borrowers and prospective borrowers are vital. The need to educate and inform is more critical now than ever before.

April Existing Home Sales Continue Skid—But ‘Green Shoots’ Appear
Existing home sales plunged in April, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday, continuing a two-month skid in sales brought on by the coronavirus pandemic to the lowest level in nearly 10 years.

Labor Dept. Reports 2.4 Million New Jobless Claims; Total Now 38.6 Million
Another 2.4 million Americans filed initial jobless claims last week, the Labor Department reported yesterday, bringing to 38.6 million workers who have applied for unemployment assistance since the coronavirus pandemic clobbered the U.S. economy nine weeks ago.