In today’s mortgage business, Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) have their hands full. From the beginning, technologists working in the home finance industry had a tough job. First, they had to identify automation that would improve the lending process, get it implemented, and then get company personnel to adopt it.
Now that we’re more than halfway through 2017, let’s take a pause and reflect on the trends that have shaped our industry the most this year.
Today’s mortgage industry CEOs are focused on digital transformation because it holds the key to competitive advantage, as well as the way to improve efficiency and lower costs. To make the leap from traditional mortgage loan origination to the digital mortgage, CEOs must drive optimization and transparency while also delivering an excellent customer experience.
Technology is extremely complex today and the compliance requirements are so high that more and more providers are offering pre-configured software to avoid customizing code. There are good reasons to avoid a custom implementation when possible, but there are also reasons that software providers must remain flexible if they hope to meet the changing needs of today’s mortgage lenders.
As production expenses per loan rise to the highest level ever and lenders continue to strive to not only digitize but streamline their operations, dynamic document packages are increasingly important.
Recently published data reflects declining originations, however; is a different story beginning to emerge? For example, the Monitor Report recently published by Black Knight Financial Services, showed that overall mortgage originations took a dive by nearly 35 percent in the first quarter of 2017. The report also disclosed other statistics of potential concern, including the fact that refinance originations dropped by 45 percent (a 20 percent drop from last year) and the amount in first-lien mortgages originated decreased by 9 percent to settle at the lowest point since the end of 2014.
On June 8, the House approved the latest attempt at reforming the regulatory structure of the financial industry by passing the Financial CHOICE Act. The bill aims to dramatically revise the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that was instituted after the 2008 housing market crash.
In our previous blog post, we explored eMortgage’s complex past and how the convergence of multiple technological and legal developments enabled eMortgage to arrive at its present state. But where exactly is eMortgage today?
To refresh, eMortgage refers to the electronic completion of the entire mortgage documentation and closing process, including document generation, delivery, signatures, notarization, authentication, closing and validation.
