TheMReport

MReport Jan 2019

TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.

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18 | TH E M R EP O RT FEATURE answer, especially by millennials, was, "make the process go faster." The second-most-important reason given by the respondents, how- ever, was more surprising, Tyrell explained. "It was to have more personal interaction with their lender," he said. So how could lenders integrate their capabilities for the high-tech human-touch experience? "It really starts with asking yourself as a lender three basic questions," Tyrell said. First, he said, lenders must ask how they were creating interest. It could include channels such as buying leads, sending emails, and count- ing on the loan officers to bring in the business. The second question, according to Tyrell, was how could lenders engage consumers once they re- sponded to the interest created by them? And third and most impor- tant was "what is your strategy to cover 100 percent of those people who expressed interest and are willing to engage?" Vella agreed, saying that both technology reach, as well as a per- sonal touch, were key requisites for customer engagement today, a thought echoed by Ebers as well. "For our industry to be successful, we need to meet customers where they want to be met, whether it's on the web or their mobile device, over the phone or even face-to-face through a web call," he said. Additionally, according to Ebers, throughout the life of a loan, homeowners can benefit from more self-service options and greater education to provide them with the information they need when they want it. But customer service also means improving the back-end processes and systems and reduc- ing timelines while remaining within compliance of federal regu- lations, which, for many lenders is a tough act to balance. 3. Managing Risks and Compliance I n a recent article on theM- Report.com, Eric Wilson, SVP, Business Leader - Mort- gage for SLK Global had said that there was no part of the mortgage lending business that was not subject to the continu- ing pressure from federal and state regulators. "Even with the recent Dodd-Frank rollback legislation signed by President Trump in May, compliance will likely remain a top concern for the industry," he wrote. "It is anticipated that any regula- tory slack offered by the federal government will be taken up by state regulators. This is espe- cially true on the servicing side, where consumers are captive to the servicer and have no choice in how these firms operate." 2019 will be no different from a compliance and risk perspec- tive according to Regina M. Lowrie, President, and CEO of RML Advisors who said that the industry was becoming more dependent on third parties to perform critical services in manu- facturing, hedging, and servicing. "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and various regulato- ry requirements dictate that firms must manage high and moderate risk vendors whose actions can significantly impact the lender's risk profile," she said. Lowrie also observed the risks of wire and identity fraud associ- ated with real estate as another factor that could impact lender bottom lines in 2019 if they took these threats lightly. "Borrowers and lenders need to recognize that the size of the average home pur- chase transaction is so significant that it attracts cybercriminals who closely follow public and social media data to try to have down payment and closing funds wired to bogus bank accounts. We hear reports of at least one attempt every week," Lowrie said. "As the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has noted, lenders and borrowers should be verifying the bank account to where funds are being transferred before wiring any funds." Yet, it is easy to mitigate these issues and many real estate professionals are using fintech to ensure a more secure mortgage experience for their borrowers, according to First American's Real Estate Sentiment Index for the fourth quarter of 2018. First American noted that 45 percent of title agents and real estate professionals surveyed said that the most important financial technology that helps potential homebuyers accelerate transactions is secure collabora- tion and communication portals. The respondents indicated that a secure platform allowed them to correspond with lenders, real estate agents, escrow officers, and other parties involved with the real estate transaction. The report also noted that 34 percent of real estate profession- als believed that remote online notarization and eClosings would have a larger impact in helping homebuyers close their transac- tions faster and more efficiently. "eClosing, the electronic execution of mortgage loan closing, can also reduce the risk of manual errors in the closing process, improving loan quality alongside efficiency," said Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American in the report. According to Vella, fintech capa- bilities also help lenders in manag- ing risks and compliance issues. "In the mortgage origination process, there are several key data capture points and timeline adherence that must be met, especially from a compliance and regulatory issues standpoint," he said. "The success- ful operators in the industry are using artificial intelligence and data mining to make faster and more informed decisions throughout the process. Implementing dashboard reporting and workflow analytics also improves timelines and trans- parency in the process." 4. Talking Technology W hile fintech is being embraced by lenders and real estate professionals to enhance the home buying experience of their customers, Vella said that while lenders were optimistic about using new technology, implementing the technology could take longer due to various reasons. One key reason, according to Vella, was the tendency to overcomplicate the implementation process, and trying to absorb too much change. "The technology decisioning process should include selecting a vendor and then simplifying and getting in 70 percent of what you want versus trying to do too much with the technology," Vella advised. "When you try to do too much with the technology, it extends the timeline to install and integrate it, leading to additional costs in terms of resources and time to market." The key to solving this issue, therefore, was to try and not overengineer it. "Great service isn't a nice to have, it's critical." —Tony Ebers, COO, Mr. Cooper NEW YEAR'S ISSUE

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