The Mortgage Bankers Association joined more than 90 industry trade groups in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, urging DHS to designate construction of single-family and multifamily housing as an “Essential Infrastructure Business.”
Category: News and Trends
For 3.3 Million Americans, Coronavirus Economy Just Got Real
The Labor Department on Thursday said unemployment claims skyrocketed to 3.3 million—the first real indicator of just how potentially devastating the economic effects of the coronavirus can be at the personal and national levels.
GDP Report Positive, BUT…
Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the “third” (final) estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Commercial/Multifamily Briefs
Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies postponed its annual State of the Nation’s Housing report due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Two Months Without Pay Pushes Many Workers to Spend 40% of Income on Rent
Zillow, Seattle, said renters working in food service and retail could spend 40 percent of their annual income on housing if they cannot work for two months–a nearly 6 percentage point increase from their current rent burden.
MBA, Trade Groups Outline Challenges Facing Borrowers Amid COVID-19
The Mortgage Bankers Association and a half-dozen industry trade groups this week sent a letter to the White House and other government agencies discussing concerns and challenges facing homeowners in paying their mortgage due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Mark P. Dangelo: Are Bankers Necessary?
In an age of innovation and rising artificial intelligence, are major functions facing commoditization, disintermediation, or automation as synthetic intelligence increases? What will remain after data science advancements improve the efficacy of automation, as consumers increasingly move into a fully digital delivery model?
Industry Briefs
Evolve Mortgage Services, Frisco, Texas, a provider of outsourced mortgage services, and Pavaso, Plano, Texas, a provider of digital mortgage closing technology, announced the ability to deliver a digital mortgage experience that includes a library of electronic- or e-enabled documents built entirely of Category One SMARTDocs and an eClosing platform that seamlessly supports Remote Online Notarization.
MBA Launches COVID-19 Members-Only Online Network
The Mortgage Bankers Association launched a new members-only online network, MBA’s COVID-19 Residential Policy Community.
Matt Hansen: New-Era ‘What-if’ Scenarios
The pandemic is evolving rapidly, requiring businesses to respond quickly. By this point, most lenders have confirmed employee well-being and transitioned workers to remote environments where possible. For their next move, lenders need to start playing an aggressive game of “what if.”