Digital Mortgage 2020

When both origination and forbearance demand spiked in the early weeks of COVID-19, quick thinking lenders were able to leverage their expertise and tech stacks to respond quickly.

From finding new efficiencies to redefining the customer experience; fintechs are permanently changing financial services. But what does the actual acquisition process look like?

The coronavirus pandemic has turned every industry on its head. For lending, it exposed the need for modernized, fully digital platforms.

Banks, lenders, and fintechs have been on a path toward digitizing the mortgage process from end-to-end — long before the term coronavirus entered our daily lexicon. How has the pandemic affected progress?

There will be no cocktail parties, breakfasts, lunches and dinners at this year's annual convention for the Mortgage Bankers Association. Instead of industry folks traveling to Chicago as was planned, arranging meet and greets in the exhibit halls, participants will sit in front of their computers in homes scattered across the country, thanks to the precautions created by the pandemic.

Remote, homeowner-assisted appraisals used amid the coronavirus could be a useful tool post-pandemic, in limited circumstances.

Data security, while better than paper-based processes, still can be a problem, according to panelists at Digital Mortgage 2020.

Although it moved from the glitz of Las Vegas to a fully virtual event, the 2020 Digital Mortgage Conference delivered insights and acumen from the industry.

The Flagstar MortgageTech Accelerator program was designed to give qualified fintechs access to experienced mentors and potential customers. Applicants also may obtain access to seed capital funding.

Lenders and vendors are starting to realize that there are both areas in which artificial intelligence can be used more broadly, and areas in which technology’s role should be limited.

A deep understanding of the history of racial discrimination in both lending and technology is a prerequisite to the development of new technologies, panelists said.

Electronic notes did come in handy this year given the mortgage industry's need to operate remotely, but they also increase the government-sponsored enterprises' responsibility for monitoring the risk of multiple counterparties.

Any roadmaps for client service that existed before the pandemic have changed, according speakers at DigMo2020.

The government-sponsored enterprise’s seller/servicer guide is now integrated into the online portal. Freddie also improved the readability of loan-level reporting it provides, and has further changes in the works.

Quicken Loans president and COO, Bob Walters, provided the first keynote of the 2020 Digital Mortgage Conference and gave insight into how this year changed the industry.

After flattening over the three prior weeks, the number of loans going into coronavirus-related forbearance dove at a rate not seen since early August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Many states currently have temporary work-from-home guidance for licensed mortgage professionals that extends through at least Dec. 31, but some have fall expiration dates.

Jonathan Corr's departure from the nation's largest loan origination system company follows the completion of its sale to Intercontinental Exchange.

From an increased interest in outdoor space to a need for a dedicated home office, the pandemic has created new drivers for refinancing, moving and other housing decisions, TD Bank found.

The company's remote online notarization provider, Notarize, says it's on track to close $100 billion in mortgage volume over the next 12 months.