By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Technology is helping servicers with programs that provide systematic and automated approaches to loan due diligence, leading to partnerships that will enhance market compliance.
Third-party subservicer Cornerstone Servicing, a division of Cornerstone Capital Bank in Houston, Texas, announced last month that they are using compliance technology from Bizzy Labs to perform daily exception processing on servicing portfolios. The goal is to reduce errors, provide business risk transparency, and reduce per loan servicing costs.
Bizzy Labs is an affiliate of BSI Financial Services in Irving, Texas, and their compliance technology, Libretto, uses a comprehensive library of over 1,000 business rules to identify servicing deadlines and data quality anomalies that could lead to red flags.
Toby Wells, the president…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
A total of 1,250 team members at Rocket Companies dove headfirst into the topic of leveraging generative AI during their most recent HackWeek.
More than 250 experiments were tackled as these team members explored how technology can streamline the homeownership journey. They ranged from finding solutions for when buyers first start browsing home listings to creating a system that presents payment assistance options to homeowners if they experience hardships.
CEO Varun Krishna said in a post on LinkedIn that harnessing the capabilities of GenAI is a major goal for the company and having a week of dedicated time to focus solely on breakthrough innovations was “incredibly valuable.”
“It is incredible how many great ideas can come from…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Leaders at United Wholesale Mortgage are doubling down on accusations that an explosive report released last week by Hunterbrook Media is inaccurate and tied to their main competitor, Rocket Mortgage.
Authors of the report, published on April 2, claimed that $39 billion in mortgages were referred to UWM by independent brokers who sent more than 99% of their business to the lender. They estimated that borrowers paid “between hundreds of millions and billions more in closing costs than people whose brokers found them typical loans.”
“Litigators and mortgage experts say UWM’s conduct could constitute fraud and run afoul of laws passed after 2008 to protect borrowers,” the report’s introduction said.
In a social media post published Tuesday…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Leaders at United Wholesale Mortgage are lashing out after a bombshell report that was followed up with a consumer class action lawsuit filed on behalf of borrowers.
Hunterbrook Media published the report on Tuesday, which claimed that $39 billion in mortgages were referred to UWM by independent brokers who sent more than 99% of their business to the lender.
These brokers were supposed to represent homebuyers and shop around for the best deal on their behalf. Instead, they became “loyalists” to UWM, according to the report.
Hunterbrook estimated that borrowers paid “between hundreds of millions and billions more in closing costs than people whose brokers found them typical loans.”
UWM CEO Mat Ishbia‘s “All In” ultimatum helped…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
The CEO of a workflow automation company says she is trying to help the mortgage industry modernize by making it easy for servicers to adopt technology they can manage from the front end.
Jane Mason is the founder of Clarifire in St. Petersburg, Florida. The company uses a Software-as-a-Service model to reduce manual processes and increase efficiencies.
Mason said in a recent interview with The Mortgage Note that there has been a seismic shift in the industry over the course of the last four years to accommodate the needs of borrowers but now that the Covid pandemic is over, market conditions point to the rising potential for mortgage delinquencies and defaults, leading to an increase in volume…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
The CEO of a real estate technology company that helps homeowners buy a new house before they sell theirs says an equity crowdfunding campaign they launched last month has been well received.
Sean Black, who co-founded Knock with Jamie Glenn and Karan Sakhuja in 2015, said during a recent interview with The Mortgage Note that the timing seems to be right for this venture.
Black and Glenn were on the founding team at Trulia, which went public on the NYSE and was acquired by Zillow in 2014 as part of a $3.5 billion stock-for-stock transaction. Back then, individuals couldn’t invest in these companies until they went public.
“Crowdfunding regulation has matured quite a bit in the last…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Foreclosure starts are up nationally and some industry leaders say that better financial literacy could help prevent homeowners from becoming distressed.
Lenders started the foreclosure process on 22,575 properties last month. That’s up 11% from a year ago, according to the February 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report by ATTOM.
There were a total of 32,938 properties with foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions – according to the report, and lenders repossessed 3,397 properties through completed foreclosures last month.
Donna Schmidt, managing director and owner of DLS Servicing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said in a recent interview with The Mortgage Note that the people most likely to be foreclosed on this year are people…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
In a move that was not surprising, members of the Federal Open Market Committee held the target range for the federal funds rate steady at 5.25% to 5.5% at their meeting this week.
Inflation has eased over the past year but committee members do not believe it will be appropriate to reduce rates until they have gained more confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, which has been their goal.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that inflation may not reach 2% until 2026 but it is likely rates have hit their peak and the committee plans to start dialing them back at some point this year.
Powell did not…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
The CEO of Land Gorilla says advancements in technology are creating opportunities for more profitable construction lending.
Sean Faries said since the California-based technology service provider for banks, credit unions, and mortgage bankers started in 2010, there has been a move from spreadsheets to digitization.
Land Gorilla is now taking things a step further, allowing lenders to build their own workflows with automation to complement them.
“We are creating efficiencies for the financial institution that’s utilizing the software, where they’re able to reduce headcount or they’re able to improve processing times at such a magnificent return that the software far pays for itself,” Faries said.
Faries said that they use machine learning combined with “a lot of…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
The president of Cornerstone Servicing says they are prepared for both ups and downs in 2024.
Toby Wells said in a recent interview with The Mortgage Note that although industry leaders hope for improvements after a tough year in 2023, people are worried about how much financial pressure American homeowners are under.
Inflation, the rising costs associated with ownership, as well as increases in taxes and insurance are at play.
“All of that kind of resonates in the potential for higher delinquencies and defaults leading into the latter part of ‘24. There’s concern about how to manage that,” Wells said.
Although there has been historically low foreclosure activity in recent years, lenders started the process on 22,575…
