TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/663718
14 | TH E M R EP O RT COVER STORY By Brian A. Lee G ood, Better, Best. Never let it rest, until your good is better, and your better is your best." Used by basketball MVPs and motivational moms, the credo is not readily associated with the mortgage technology sector, but it definitely could be. Great in size and effect and vast in its volumes of data, the housing industry constantly demands big- ger, better, faster in the way business is done and tech service providers continue to answer the call. "Effectively leveraging technol- ogy to combat an ever-increasing cost to originate, while continuing to drive risk out of the loan manu- facturing process, is critical to the long-term success of [lenders]," said Andrew Higginbotham, SVP, SF Strategic Delivery, at Freddie Mac. Kevin Brungardt, chairman and CEO of Charlotte, North Carolina-based RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corp., said, "The days of servicing mortgage loans with a mainframe to send out monthly statements and an envelope slitter to process the payments are long gone." The one constant for the mort - gage industry is change. Just look at the past decade. Whether new cycles, regulations, initiatives or platforms, mortgage services and technology companies are con- stantly addressing new demands from lenders and servicers. Of course, the goals remain the same: technology that helps maintain consistent, efficient, integrated mortgage operations. As seen during the housing downturn, everything in the mortgage industry is more inter - connected and therefore affected, from Main Street to Wall Street. Thus came the increased regula- tory demand from G Street. "More so than demanding new features and functionality, we are responding to our customers' demands to generate reports, often on hourly intervals on a daily basis, to help them prepare for upcoming audits or respond to an audit need," said Angela Hurst, SVP of USRES and RES.NET. Risk management has always been a key part of the mortgage modus operandi. The imple- mentation of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule in late 2015 created a heightened risk environment for lenders in an industry already loaded with potential liabilities. "As a result, technology vendors whose clients are affected by TRID have been laser-focused on developing software and/ or making adjustments to their existing software in order to effectively support the new rule," said Vladimir Bien-Aime, president and CEO of Lansdale, Pennsylvania-based Global DMS. Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of Torrance, California- based DocMagic, Inc., said, "We're going to continue to hear more about TRID throughout 2016. Currently, there are roughly over 30 TRID portal solutions of varying degrees of functionality. Most, however, are sorely lacking. We believe the industry will see the bulk of those not surviving with only a handful of the more feature-rich [ones] remaining." Regarding product enhance - ments and innovation, DocMagic added to its SmartCLOSE technol- ogy the capability to eClose loans, which gives clients speed and documentation advantages when dealing with TRID's three-day delivery and receipt requirements. "Having an electronic date and time stamp audit record to show what you did and when you did in full compliance is paramount," added Iannitti, whose company worked closely with the CFPB on its eClosing pilot program. "It will greatly aid lenders to protect them - selves in any future CFPB audit, or anyone that may contest the loan and request proof of compliance." In 2016, a key focus for Ernst Publishing Company, which processed its 1 billionth transac- tion last year, is providing tools that help lenders and settlement agents stay TRID compliant and thus stay together. The Albany, N.Y.-based company has created a program that enables settlement agents to guarantee their fees and lenders to approve and integrate those fees into quotes even before generation of the loan estimate. "We've seen lenders move away Star Tech Necessity is the mother of invention, but much more drives innovation in the high-stakes mortgage marketplace.