Industry Briefs Dec. 9, 2020
SimpleNexus, Unify Partner on Streamlining Loan Process
SimpleNexus, Lehi, Utah, announced a two-way integration with Unify’s Business Growth Platform that streamlines the loan application process to improve efficiency and help mortgage lenders reduce application abandonment.
Through the integration, loan applicant information entered into SimpleNexus automatically creates new contact records in Unify, where mortgage professionals can manage customer relationships and deploy automated marketing campaigns. When SimpleNexus detects a loan application abandonment — which occurs when borrowers start, but do not finish their loan applications — Unify is alerted to this abandonment. Unify can then send automated outreach campaigns, which include pre-written emails, call scheduling and appointment setting. This enables loan originators to convert more “drop-offs” into completed loan applications.
The integration also pushes data from Unify to SimpleNexus. With a simple push of a button, Unify contact record information is sent to SimpleNexus to populate a contact’s application record. This eliminates the need for mortgage originators to manually enter information in 32 distinct data fields.
The Orogen Group Acquires Majority Stake in Westcor Land Title Insurance Co.
The Orogen Group, New York, and Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. completed their previously announced transaction following the receipt of regulatory approval.
As a result of the transaction, Orogen has acquired a majority stake in Westcor, a privately held title insurance company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Espresso Capital Extends $5 Million Credit Facility to Sales Boomerang
Espresso Capital provided Sales Boomerang, Owings Mills, Md., a borrower intelligence platform for mortgage lenders, with a $5 million credit facility. Sales Boomerang will use the funds to support the company’s continued growth.
Sales Boomerang said it will use the funds to make strategic investments across its business. That includes increasing its number of sales development reps, streamlining its customer onboarding process and enhancing its go-to-market strategy.
Black Knight: ‘Modest Decline’ in Active Forbearance Plans
Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., reported a modest decline in the number of active forbearance plans last week, likely driven in part by the 200,000 forbearance plan expirations that were scheduled for the end of November.
The report said active forbearance plans fell by 39,000 for the week, with GSE forbearances falling by 25,000 and FHA/VA forbearances falling by 14,000. Active forbearances among loans held in banks’ portfolios or private label securities held steady.
Black Kinght said as of Dec.1, 2.76 million homeowners remained in active forbearance plans, representing 5.2% of all active mortgages. Overall, forbearances are now down 91,000 (-3.2%) month-over-month. However, the report also noted while November saw comparatively limited forbearance expiration activity, more than one million plans are scheduled to expire in December, representing nearly 40% of all active forbearance cases Eighty-one percent of forbearances still active have had their terms extended at some point since March.
SmartSearch Opens First U.S. Office
SmartSearch Lehi, Utah, opened its first office in the U.S., to deliver its digital platforms. Based in the U.K., this new office will enable the company to make inroads into the U.S. market and protect firms against fraud.
Heading up the SmartSearch Utah office is national sales director Chad Rawlings. SmartSearch makes it simple for firms in sectors such as property, real estate, legal and financial services to onboard new customers. By providing a complete Customer Information Program platform it meets all KYC compliance under the Bank Secrecy Act, the Patriot Act and now the California Consumer Privacy Act. In the U.K., SmartSearch currently serves more than 4,500 client firms and 40,000 users with national and international compliance checks.
