The Mortgage Action Alliance, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s free grassroots advocacy network, extended its fifth annual Action Week to the end of the month, through May, following a successful campaign that has seen its membership nearly double since February.

MBA NewsLink interviewed PGIM Real Estate Finance Managing Director Mike McRoberts, who serves as Chairman of the firm’s Agency platform.

Jina Choi is Vice President of Enterprise Innovation with loandepot.com

Necessity is the mother of all invention, so the saying goes. No, not exactly true here. RON was already being deployed in pockets across the industry pre-coronavirus. Therefore, its more appropriate to proclaim, “perplexing problems produce instant popularity where past procrastination persisted.” Said more plainly – nothing is more white-hot than RON right now, and everyone suddenly cannot live without it. Demand far-outstrips supply by a factor too large to contemplate.

As the industry becomes increasingly digital, mortgage professionals must find a way to survive and keep up with demand at rapid speed. Unfortunately, the latest and greatest technology comes at a price. To truly succeed, mortgage professionals need to determine strategies that reduce expenses while offering a convenient relationship-based mortgage experience for borrowers.

MBA continues to advocate for the industry to help MBA members address the financing needs of their customers during the ongoing pandemic, and will provide updates as they become available. Several updates pertaining to COVID-19, along with other industry activities, are included in this week’s communication.

Essent Guaranty Inc., Radnor, Pa., and Cloudvirga, Irvine, Calif., announced an integration in which Cloudvirga will offer Essent’s products and services.