National Mortgage News - January/February 2020

Engage engines

Mortgage lenders' uptake of innovations in artificial intelligence, big data and other technologies has been relatively slow. It's an approach that may not be tenable in 2020.

First mortgage volumes continue to rise at credit unions, but home equity lines of credit have fallen dramatically in recent years.

Getting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship has been an elusive goal. It will remain elusive, says DeMarco, in the absence of broader reform of housing finance, something that will require bipartisan support.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will start requiring mortgage lenders to use the new uniform residential loan application late next year.

The Department of Banking and Insurance in New Jersey is warning that enforcement of a 2019 residential mortgage servicer licensing law will begin in 2020.

November's foreclosure starts hit their lowest level since Black Knight started tracking this data in 2000, while the foreclosure rate reached a 14-year low.

Sagent Lending Technologies has agreed to buy ISGN Corp. in a deal that would enlarge the company's loan servicing division.

The former head of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight explains why he thinks the mortgage industry is closer than ever to having a truly paperless process, and weighs in on GSE reform.

Wealthfront will add third-party mortgages to its investing platform, while Varo Money says robo advice and mortgages are in its long-term plans.

Despite assurances by Director Kathy Kraninger that the agency is cracking down on discrimination, it has not filed an enforcement action or sent a Department of Justice referral on a fair-lending violation in two years.

The Federal Housing Administration has implemented defect taxonomy revisions for 2020 that it considers one of several milestone achievements in its efforts to "provide greater clarity and consistency for lenders.”

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Jan. 3

From the municipalities surrounding Silicon Valley to New York's concrete jungle, here's a look at the 14 most expensive ZIP codes to buy a home in 2019, according to PropertyShark.