Servicing systems

Black Knight Financial Services has integrated its Lien Alert portfolio monitoring tool with its LoanSphere MSP servicing system.

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings has unveiled a new website and mobile application, which will include educational content, interactive data tools and modules regarding mortgage payments.

Fidelity National Financial plans to distribute the stock it owns in Black Knight Financial Services to its shareholders as part of a plan to simplify the corporate structure of the two companies and increase Black Knight's liquidity.

Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin wasted no time Wednesday wading into one of the thorniest debates in the financial services arena, saying the Trump administration would seek to end government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

While nonbank servicers are expected to continue to gain greater market share in 2017, much of that growth will come from their own loan origination activity rather than mortgage servicing rights purchases and subservicing, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.

The Federal Communications Commission has denied a request to exempt servicers from getting consent before robo-calling borrowers' mobile phones, rejecting arguments that the waiver would enable the mortgage industry to better help delinquent borrowers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will require underperforming servicers to document the technology and process changes they're making to implement the agency's recently released servicing regulations.

By decreasing costs through technology, outsourcing and scale, servicers not only can give their margins a much-needed boost, but also set themselves up to reap rewards in the future.

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. Unfortunately, it's taken years of widespread regulatory upheaval for mortgage servicing to find it necessary to start thinking about technology innovation.

Servicers have long skimped on technology investment, leaving legacy systems that can't keep pace with compliance demands. But rising costs and a new round of regulations are compelling both servicers and vendors to finally address these deficiencies.