Consumers took a deep breath in May, and it showed. The Conference Board, New York, reported its Consumer Confidence Index held steady in May, following sharp declines in March April that saw it drop to its lowest level in six years.

The commercial real estate mezzanine loan market is ripe with interesting market developments this year.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(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.)

Arbor Realty Trust, Uniondale, N.Y., funded $73.2 million in Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing loans in Texas and Kansas