Thursday, December 4, 2025

From The Orb

Miki Adams: The Growth of Down Payment Assistance Over the Past Decade

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Down payment assistance (DPA) programs have skyrocketed in popularity during the past two years, in response to the erosion of...

How Mortgage Lenders Can Prepare for 2024: Emerging Trends, Technologies and Threats

BLOG VIEW: 2023 has been quite a wake-up call for the mortgage industry. Market forces such as low inventory and sustained high home prices,...

Five Best Practices to Guide the Migration to Digital Lending

BLOG VIEW: Digital lending is looming large over the industry, and lenders are at various stages of incorporating digital processes with many not knowing...

The ‘Five to Thrive’ Strategy for Success in a Challenging Mortgage Market

BLOG VIEW: The housing market currently faces unprecedented challenges and a constant sense of uncertainty. Originations are at or near the lowest point in...

Steve Wiese: Lenders Must Focus on Mitigating Bias in the Appraisal Process

PERSON OF THE WEEK: For years it has been widely acknowledged in the appraisal industry that fostering greater diversity in all facets of the...

Matt Stadler: With Default Servicing, Timing is Critical

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Default servicing is an important yet very distinct segment within the mortgage servicing industry. On the surface, its purpose seems...

Randy Kozlowski: Mortgage Servicers Can Expect More Problems with Escrow in the Near Future

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Having access to current and accurate property tax data is critical for any mortgage servicer. The monitoring of property tax...

Mohammad Rashid: AI and Big Data are Revolutionizing Mortgage Lending, But Will They Reduce...

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Artificial intelligence and big data hold great promise for the mortgage lending industry. As lenders implement new and advanced AI-powered...

Susan Graham: Lessons Learned From 40 Years in Mortgage Servicing Software

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Financial Industry Computer Systems (FICS) is one of the oldest mortgage software companies in the industry. Since 1983, the firm...

Hassan Rashid: When Adopting AI, Mortgage Lenders Must Consider Both the Benefits and the...

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to further revolutionize the mortgage lending process, which has already been undergoing a transformation with...

Mortgage Servicers Must Navigate Many ‘Danger Zones’ in This Current Regulatory Environment

BLOG VIEW: Mortgage servicers are under ever increasing regulatory scrutiny. Regulatory bodies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), are now more focused on...

Rod Griffin: Education is the Key to Boosting Homeownership

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Today’s first-time homebuyers face a lot of obstacles - in particular, higher mortgage rates, rising home prices, lack of inventory,...

Three Reasons Why Mortgage Lenders Should Embrace AI for Document Processing

BLOG VIEW: The mortgage lending industry has come a long way from the days of simple automation to create document sets for borrower closings....

Toby Wells: Seamless MSR Transfers Are Not Pie in the Sky

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Smooth and efficient MSR transfers are crucial to keeping borrowers happy and achieving operational excellence. Unfortunately, smooth MSR transfers are...

Driving Digital Innovation and Tech-Enabled Transformation

BLOG VIEW: The mortgage industry is at a tipping point in terms of technology adoption. Most lenders acknowledge the importance of adopting new technologies,...

Reena Agrawal: How AVMs Can Promote More Equitable Home Valuations

PERSON OF THE WEEK: Minority communities are facing significant hurdles in their quest to build equity and accumulate wealth when it comes to access...

Defaults Ahead: Are Lenders and Servicers Prepared? 

BLOG VIEW: There is a notable shift afoot in default servicing. Defaults are ahead, and there is an impending need for mortgage lenders to...

Capitalizing on Home Equity Trends Amid an Economic Downturn

BLOG VIEW: As the mortgage market contracts in the face of inflation and high interest rates, lenders are increasingly competing for a smaller number...

Strategies LOs Can Use to Boost Sales in This Difficult Mortgage Market

BLOG VIEW: Having started in the industry as an LO and then an AE, I know full well that trudging through difficult mortgage markets...

Top Challenges Facing Residential Real Estate Appraisers Today

BLOG VIEW: The process of property appraisal is an integral element of the real estate industry. The goal of the appraisal is to determine...