Ranieri taps blockchain company to streamline mortgage market

Ranieri Solutions, led by the "father of the securitized mortgage market," Lewis Ranieri, has partnered with blockchain and smart contract company Symbiont to explore opportunities in implementing blockchain technology in the mortgage space.

Blockchain technology is a distributed ledger capable of streamlining the distribution of data at all stages of the mortgage life cycle. And though it has gained increased interest in the mortgage space, it has yet to be utilized.

The partnership between Ranieri and Symbiont aims to tackle mortgage industry challenges by investigating the potential of blockchain tech and assisting in streamlining the mortgage process.

Blockchain is in its early stages of introduction to many companies, but is still being deployed in financial institutions for things like trading platforms being built and in government and health care for record management. The mortgage industry is however historically slow in embracing new technology.

"The mortgage market, despite significant efforts, continues to lag behind from a technological standpoint creating inefficiencies that impact mortgage loans throughout their life cycle," said Ranieri in a press release.

"By partnering with Symbiont, a proven blockchain pioneer, Ranieri Solutions believes that together we can implement this transformative technology to bring necessary efficiencies, transparency and security to the mortgage markets," he said.

Blockchain technology can also assist the mortgage space by improving data distribution, integrity and supporting compliance. Perhaps the biggest hurdle in employing the tech is lack of knowledge from industry participants.

"When Symbiont was founded, it was my dream and vision to develop decentralized technology solutions that could solve the root problems that were at the heart of the financial crisis. Blockchain and smart contract technology is proving to be that solution," said Symbiont CEO Mark Smith.

"To solve these problems alongside Lewis Ranieri, the genius behind modern securitized markets and his team is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me personally and a seminal moment in the history of Symbiont as an organization," Smith said.