While visiting a friend in Chicago a few years back, I made the mistake of asking for directions to Wrigley Field. Cubs weren’t in town and I’m not a fan of the cursed north siders but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see the storied ballpark. The response surprised me and got me thinking – something I don’t enjoy doing while on vacation. The sharer of directions proceeded to tell me five different ways to get to the ivy walls. Five! Mid-way through the fifth option I had enough.

To conclude our discussion on the three safe harbor tests offered to loan originators under the QM rule as it relates to the Ability to Repay rule, we come at last to the third test. This involves borrower paid discount points in connection with the loan.  

As we discussed in the preceding post, under the new QM rule, if a loan is classified as a safe harbor loan it will be substantially protected from litigation and class action suits for the ATR (ability to repay) compliance regulation. We spoke about the first safe harbor under that rule. The second is called the “3% points and fees” rule.  

The whole point of the Qualified Mortgage was to give the mortgage industry some product it could sell to consumers that carried with it a relatively high probability that it would not come back to haunt the originator in the future. Protection from buyback requests, a safe harbor from future losses, if you will, is what the whole thing is about. Given that, it’s in our best interest to explore the various safe harbors the regulator is building into the QM in order to assess its overall ability to reach that goal.

For more information on Lead Management, including how Mortech can help you generate and nurture more leads, click here.

More people than ever are going online to shop for mortgages. According to Lieberman Research Group, banks expect their online application volume to more than triple, while credit unions expect their online applications to grow from 20% to 31% of total volume. Because of this influx of online borrowers, it is imperative to have smart online lending mortgage software. Don’t believe me? Check out two stats that might change your mind. 

In the wake of its acquisition of Mortech, Zillow is added to the exclusive list of industry’s top services. 

Mortech, Inc., a Zillow^® business that provides mortgage technology software solutions for mortgage bankers and secondary market teams, announced today that parent company Zillow has been listed among the top 50 service providers in the U.S. mortgage lending industry, according to Mortgage Technology magazine. A story that included the list was published in the magazine’s spring edition.

The following post was written by partner company, LendersApps' founder, Einar Vollset.

Mobile apps are all the rage, and I’m sure you’ve seen more and more competitors beginning to offer apps capable of various degrees of sophistication. However, you might still be thinking to yourself: “What’s the point? Why can’t my prospects just visit my website from their smartphone?”  - Well, I’m here to give you the top 4 reasons why getting a mobile app will give you a distinct advantage in today’s marketplace:

Just a few minutes ago, we announced some exciting news. Mortech has agreed to be acquired by Zillow. You can read details in the press release here. 

Customer Service.  We all hear about it.  We’re taught about it.  We’re told we need to do it well.  Heck, we expect it ourselves from others.  Most likely if we’re honest, it’s not always the easiest thing to do.  We all have bad days.  Not to mention customers that don’t always lend kindly to us wanting to treat them well.