I'm at the NS3 conference this week, meeting lots of title and settlement folks and sitting in on some great content sessions. One thing that is abundantly clear is how key the relationship between lenders, real estate agents and title is for moving the ball forward if we want to see a truly digital home-buying experience.
And the tsunami of Millennials hitting peak home-buying age makes that digital experience more important than ever. As Bill Burding, executive vice president and general counsel for Orange Coast Title Company and a member of the American Land Title Association's Board of Governors, said in a session today: "We need to get to a true eClosing experience, and not just one you can do on your computer, but one you can do on your phone. This is where the client wants to go."
But which party will be the one to step up and make it happen? In a high-volume environment, everyone is busy getting the loans done, but someone has to be proactive in educating their partners and finding a way to make it a reality. Sometimes the lender is the one reaching out to their title partners on this, but Burding encouraged title agents to take the lead, reminding them that it was title companies that helped their partners with TRID implementation and made remote closings a reality during pandemic shutdowns.
If lenders are looking for a good place to jump in, you couldn't pick a better issue than RON. Industry trade groups — MBA, NAR and ALTA — are lobbying together to get the SECURE Act passed, which would make RON legal nationwide. Several speakers think we'll see that happen in the first quarter of 2022, which could prove the real turning point.
But that's also when a lot of the hard work will begin, since there are so many different platforms and solutions being used right now. Standardized processes and integrations will be the next order of business and that will likely require collaboration at a very local level in some cases. The lenders who were able to start that transition during COVID have a head start. For others, it is their opportunity to get on board a train that is clearly leaving the station.
"In other words, at a moment in real estate history when the phrase 'high demand, low inventory' is cliché…have we found the one place in America where there's not high demand?" said Matthew Blake. HW+ Premium Content
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As the mortgage industry moves further into the digital era, lenders are continuing to see the value and ease of cloud-based lending to simplify outdated processes. Blend President Tim Mayopoulos will talk more about this at HW Annual on Sept. 27-28 in Dallas.
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