MERS has held the first trimester meeting of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization since taking over as the managing entity of the standards body. Us journalists are not allowed in these top-secret meetings, even though we’d like to participate, hint, hint. So, we have to rely on the comments from those that are allowed in. And in my conversations with attendees, they all agreed that this first meeting was a success.
Why was it a success? Attendance didn’t suffer first of all. Granted attendance wasn’t up, but it wasn’t down either. That’s important because the all-volunteer army is what makes MISMO tick. Despite concerns of a potential conflict of interest given that MERS is a for-profit group owned by mortgage participants, those dedicated to industry standards showed up in full force.
Sure, some vendors have complained to me about MERS managing MISMO. However, I’ve found that a lot of those people complaining don’t usually show up to MISMO meetings anyway. As long as they continue to pay their dues I’m sure MERS and MISMO will withstand their insults just fine.
In another positive sign for MISMO, after literally years and years of hard work, it seems like Version 3.0 is ready for primetime. With this new version the standard will move away from a DTD format in favor of schema. Why is that important? The schema format allows for greater transparency and a more complete view by all participants into the loan.
So, with everyone screaming about how transparency will restore confidence, here you go. MISMO isn’t just talking about transparency, they are delivering transparency through this new release. And industry heavyweight Fannie Mae has already endorsed Version 3.0. The GSE will begin supporting it early next year. Talk about a quick vote of confidence.
We at Mortgage Technology magazine have been a longtime supporter of industry standards and the work MISMIO in particular. Back in 2002 this publication was happy to give MISMO our Steve Fraser Visionary Award. This award goes to an outstanding mortgage technology innovator, visionary or evangelizer. And in the case of MISMO we’re talking about a group of hardworking volunteers who are all innovators, visionaries and evangelizers.
Continuing on this tradition, MISMO Version 3.0 is a finalist for the prestigious Mortgage Technology magazine 10X Award this year. This award goes to a company, product or technology application having an exponential impact on mortgage lending. Surely this new version goes a long way not just to update the standard, but to solve larger industry problems that could have an exponential impact on mortgage lending going forward.
Will they win? I don’t know, but they’re finalists and they’re deserving. So, for all those still holding a fit about MERS managing MISMO, I say, “Give them a chance.” Industry standards are too important to give up on. I hope MERS continues to manage MISMO well and that the volunteers that fuel the development of MISMO standards don’t give up. Keep working. Keep innovating. The mortgage industry needs your efforts if it is to flourish again.
