Author: PROGRESS In Lending

Total commercial and multifamily mortgage borrowing and lending is expected to fall to $766 billion this year, down 14 percent from 2021 totals ($891 billion). This is according to an updated baseline forecast released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

CLARIFIRE, a mortgage servicing workflow automation solution, has partnered with IndiSoft’s National Housing Advocacy Platform (NHAP) to seamlessly integrate HUD-approved housing counselors (HCAs) who provide foreclosure alternative counseling and loss mitigation assistance to homeowners into servicing workflows. A game-changing innovation for all parties, the integration expands the borrower assistance digital ecosystem and alleviates servicer-borrower interactions.

While you are attending The MBA Annual 22 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, this is one event that you can’t afford

Accurate Group, a provider of technology-driven real estate appraisal, title data, analytics and e-closing solutions, plans to expand its nationwide appraiser network in response to growing demand for real estate appraisals. Accurate Group already has one of the largest appraiser panels in the U.S. and now plans to double both its in-house appraiser panel and its outsourced network of independent appraisers. By proactively expanding its appraiser network, Accurate Group hopes to mitigate the risk of an industry appraiser shortage and ensure lenders and servicers continue to receive high service levels and the fastest possible appraisal turnaround times.

MISMO, the real estate finance industry standards organization, announced the availability of updated MISMO Engineering Guideline (MEG) 27, which provides guidance to help determine if a new version of the MISMO Reference Model is compatible with a previously-implemented solution.

Williston Financial Group® (WFG®), a Portland-based, full-service provider of title insurance and real estate settlement services for commercial and residential transactions nationwide, announced that its technology subsidiary, Williston Enterprise Solutions and Technology (WEST™), is changing its name to MyHome, a Williston Financial Group Company™ (“MyHome”).

CertifID, a leader in wire fraud protection, launched PayoffProtect, which gives title, escrow and settlement companies peace of mind by preventing property loan payoffs from being sent to fraudsters. Also, Minneapolis-based growth equity firm Arthur Ventures led a $12.5 million series A round in CertifID. Arthur Ventures is known for leading investments in high-growth, capital-efficient business-to-business software companies. 

ATTOM released its third-quarter 2022 U.S. Home Affordability Report showing that median-priced single-family homes and condos remain less affordable in the third quarter of 2022 compared to historical averages in 99 percent of counties across the nation with enough data to analyze. That continues to be far above the 69 percent of counties that were historically less affordable in the third quarter of 2021 and marked yet another high point reached during the country’s 11-year housing market boom.

Global DMS, a provider of cloud-based valuation technology solutions, has launched the addition of Bias Alert to the award-winning EVO-Residential valuation technology platform.  Bias Alert is new technology that alerts Lenders about the potential presence of bias in an appraisal before the appraisal is released externally to the borrower(s).

VeriFast, the AI-powered Verification-as-a-Service platform that automates financial analysis and decision making for tenant screening, mortgage underwriting, and other verticals, has secured an initial funding round led by M3 Financial Group and noted real estate investor and HGTV star Scott McGillivray, Michael Sarracini of Keyspire, and “Millionaire Mom” investor Susan White Livermore.

OptifiNow, a provider of custom CRM solutions for the mortgage industry, has released OptifiNow TPO, a ready-made version of their sales and marketing platform designed for wholesale and TPO lenders. OptifiNow TPO includes an array of features that makes it easy for wholesale lenders to accelerate their sales and marketing process. “OptifiNow TPO is an out-of-the-box solution for wholesale lenders,” said John McGee, president of OptifiNow. “Our goal is to help wholesale lenders increase their visibility, smartly manage sales processes, and increase loan volume per broker customer.”