TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1379186
32 | M R EP O RT FEATURE R evolution, by its very nature, encompasses the overthrow of the status quo. It thrusts change upon everyone involved and can be particularly challenging to manage in the world of business, which is more comfortable with the smooth and gradual evolution of ideas. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the global economy found itself in the midst of a revolution that sent leaders in every industry scrambling to adapt. Far from being over, this period of revolution in the mortgage space has only just begun. The coming change in the industry will require lenders to continue to adapt. And for most, the very future of their business will be at stake. Setting the Stage P rior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the technology supporting mortgage lenders was evolving quite nicely. Each year, new tools were introduced that made it easier for lenders to interact with and serve their borrowers. What had been a smooth (if not fast-paced) evolution of new technologies into the marketplace suddenly went into overdrive when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Overnight, nice-to-have technologies became essential as loan officers, underwriters, and processors took their work home. Suddenly, paperless lending tools that had been sitting on the shelf were put into play in an effort to keep the industry afloat. The success of this effort has set the stage for the next revolution. The pandemic increased the pace of change and drove the in- dustry to implement technologies that were designed specifically to meet the changing needs of con- sumers during this difficult time. In that respect, what the mortgage industry has achieved over the past year can only be called a great success. This would be true even if loan volumes weren't at historic highs. However, like any revolution- ary change, there are negative side effects that must be considered. One of these is that some lenders have invested in far too many new technologies. With multiple licenses to multiple platforms to manage and too many new tools to integrate into their legacy database of record, many lenders are experiencing a growing sense of frustration. The pandemic forced the industry to focus on mission critical technologies, linking them together in a new connected ecosystem made up of industry technology developers, service providers, and other third parties to the mortgage origination and servicing process. The resulting complexity of this ecosystem can negatively impact data accuracy. The coming revolution involves the shakeout that will focus the industry on the specific tools required and the technology to ensure that they deliver the re- sults needed to operate in a fully compliant manner. Ensuring Data Accuracy in a Connected World A ny outside observer could easily become overwhelmed by the vast quantity of technolo- gies available to the mortgage in- dustry. Lenders now have access to great tools woven together via a robust API infrastructure into an end-to-end collection of best- of-breed technologies from which each originator can choose. It sounds like the perfect outcome, given all we've gone through to get here. Having the data and systems required to source, underwrite, process, and close a mortgage in a decentralized manner is no bad thing, but without some method of ensuring that the information flowing through this connected network of systems is accurate, the lender faces many risks. As more lenders realize that they currently have insufficient controls on the data flowing through their systems, we will see another period of very rapid change, a revolution that will result in a new layer of techno- logical oversight on the mortgage origination process. In the end, it will all come down to the quality and accu- racy of the information flowing through these systems. How do you ensure data quality and accuracy in a fully Readying for the Next Mortgage Revolution When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the global economy found itself in the midst of a revolution that sent leaders in every industry scrambling to adapt. Here's what comes next. By Nicole Valentin-Smith