The housing market has shown significant resilience to the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet despite the impressive “V-shaped” recovery, the mortgage industry is currently operating in various states of unknowns. First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming referred to this unique alignment of circumstances – high demand, low rates and competition driving up prices – as “the game of housing musical chairs”. With the lingering question of how these trends will evolve over time, it is more difficult for financial institutions to anticipate what tools and services will be needed to effectively mitigate risk and best serve the needs of the customers they serve.
While First American DataTree data and analytics tools have added significant value to mortgage lenders under normal conditions, the current state of the market has stressed the importance of being able to proactively identify portfolio risks, support refinance volumes and find meaningful ways to support customers in need. Here are five of our data and analytics tools designed to do just that.
1. Automated Forbearance Monitoring
FraudGuard Mortgage Forbearance Indicator
Having to verify and re-verify whether there is forbearance activity on a borrower is critical to mortgage origination — but done manually, it’s a process that is often inefficient and costly. Available via First American FraudGuard, and fully compatible with major loan origination systems (LOSs), the Mortgage Forbearance Indicator (MFI) module continuously monitors a borrower’s forbearance, alerting processors and underwriters of any new activity it discovers. Not only does this make it faster to underwrite a loan, but more cost-effective too.
2. Market Share Reporting
First American MarketView
As the demands of the real estate market evolve, lenders need to know how they’re faring in the market and identify new opportunities for business growth. With expansive geographic coverage that stretches from nationwide to the ZIP code level, First American MarketView delivers instant insights that help lenders understand and expand their share of the market. Automated reports, generated via email, create efficiencies that drive cohesive strategies throughout the business, while unique Loan Officer and Title/Lender Intersection Reports offer a competitive edge and facilitate meaningful partnerships.
3. On-Demand Reporting For Current Property Tax Status
First American TaxSource™
While mortgage lenders rely on transactional tax data to make informed decisions, they don’t have time to wait for the next cyclical report — often up to a number of days, weeks or months. First American TaxSource eliminates inefficiencies with on-demand access to the most current property tax status available nationwide. Verified for accuracy and completeness, this transactional tax data enables processors and underwriters to streamline the loan approval process, while supplying verification for default management decisions.
4. Involuntary Lien Data
When it comes to encumbrances on a property, mortgage professionals need to be aware of both voluntary and involuntary liens. The issue with the latter is that such data is normally not accessible through public records. Involuntary lien data is included in the data assets provided by First American DataTree. From state/federal tax liens to mechanic’s liens, lenders have instant insights into involuntary financial holds on a property — information that can avoid unpleasant surprises later in the mortgage lifecycle and prevent deals from going awry.
5. Propensity to Default Data
Payment or credit history may reveal some borrower distress or underwater properties, but it often doesn’t paint the full picture. The Propensity to Default intelligence score from DataTree by First American is designed to help bridge this gap. Considering factors such as home equity, loan type, ownership and past foreclosure history, this score delivers the in-depth details lenders can use to estimate and prepare for moving forward with confidence, targeting new prospects, or intervening to help their customers with modifications.
The Added Value of Professional Services
The team of data experts at First American DataTree is on-hand to help translate property and homeownership data into actionable intelligence based on a business’s needs. With more than 200 years of combined industry experience, the Professional Services Team is well-versed in successfully implementing new solutions, creating specialized delivery formats, maintaining existing platforms/systems and offering guidance on how to optimize data research and analysis.
Whether you have budget leftover from this year in light of postponed conferences or in-person meetings or are thinking of where to invest funds next year to be successful, we encourage you to keep our data and analytics tools top of mind. To learn more about how these tools can help your lending business now and in the future, request a consultation with one of our experts.