The Mortgage Bankers Association is investing $2 million in the Mortgage Industry's Standards Organization, or MISMO.
Chris George, MBA’s 2019 chairman and the CEO of CMG Financial, announced the investment Monday morning during the opening session of MBA’s 2019 Technology Solutions Conference.
The investment allows MISMO to expand resources in order to support key initiatives in the mortgage industry, according to George.
“MBA’s investment will provide seed funding to accelerate the development of new initiatives. We hope that lenders, vendors and others across the mortgage industry will follow MBA’s lead by contributing additional funding and the human resources necessary to deliver the standards that will support innovation throughout the industry,” said Kurt Pfotenhauer, MISMO’s chairman of the board of directors and vice chairman at First American Title Insurance.
The initiatives include a uniform dataset for private label mortgage-backed securities, a standardized closing instructions template, standards for remote online notarization, common standards to encourage business-to-consumer communications on smartphones and tablets, as well as appraisal and rent roll standards for commercial and multifamily lenders, according to a press release.
“This investment will speed the development of industry-wide standards, benefiting lenders of all sizes and business models, by improving the integration and flow of data across the entire industry,” said Mike Fratantoni, president of MISMO and MBA’s chief economist.
“MISMO standards have been adopted by nearly all industry stakeholders including regulators, housing agencies and the GSEs,” said Rick Hill, EVP of MISMO and MBA’s vice president of technology. “With MBA’s commitment to MISMO, we will be able to continue to effectively serve the industry.”