Full Disclosure

LLL recently had the pleasure of visiting with Chuck Cain, SVP, National Agency Division with the FNF Family of Companies. Chuck is also the host of the popular FNF Unplugged podcast.

This week we had the pleasure of chatting with Big Dave about his journey and his new book!  Check out the giveaway here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7cb36cb41/?

LLL had the pleasure of visiting with Briana Ings, Head of Product and Design and Snapdocs.

LLL had the pleasure of visiting with Melissa Johnson Eldridge recently. Melissa is the President of NEMA Online Signing Solutions & Consultants as well as the creator of NEMA’s Online Notary Training. At a time when topics like Remote Online Notary (RON) closings are taking center stage, Melissa is certainly in the center of the action!

We recently visited with cryptocurrency and blockchain expert, Wes Williams, attorney at RELAW, APC.

Wes also has roots in the title and real estate industry, so we talked a bit about where, if and how blockchain could eventually fit in our space. We think you’ll agree that the conversation was educational as well as very interesting!

We recently had a return visit with the dynamic Josh Pitts, CEO or S.H.R.E.D. (Show up. Hustle. Repeat. Every Day!) The next 30 minutes were, as always, a great combination of high energy and compelling conversation—as is always the case when it comes to Josh! Our own Joe….er, Jim Paolino hosted the podcast.

We recently visited with Dan Smith, VP of Sales for one of LodeStar’s partners, Lending Pad.

An accidental start to a fruitful journey

Like many, Dan joined the mortgage industry almost by accident. However, he has thrived—especially in mortgage technology, in the 20+ years (including stints with Fiserv and ComplianceEase) since. Dan told us that it was the complex, heavily nuanced nature of the industry, as well as the opportunity to solve problems and build relationships, that have kept him coming back every day!

The slow, steady progress of tech in the mortgage industry

Dan shared that he sees a slow, but progressive, evolution in our industry from a time when tech was viewed as a necessary evil to a point where it’s viewed as a great tool to do business facilitating the American Dream. He believes that we’ve been a bit slow to adopt new technology because of the complexities of the industry itself, the heavy regulatory/compliance burdens we face and the fact that the business model is sales driven.

While both Dan and Jim commiserated about their early experiences in the space assembling boxes to contain paper-based data, they marveled at how far we’ve come. Dan specifically referenced the growing ability to transition to a process based increasingly on API and verified data, all of which will continue to improve customer relationships. Even back-office or other production technologies which are directly invisible to the consumer are improving the experience by increasing confidence in the process and improving speed as well. Dan believes that the industry can additionally improve CX by “getting organized,” by means of things like MISMO or URLA (Uniform Residential Lending Application) to increase the standardization of data and, eventually, improved integration and collaboration among entities in the process.

On lender-service provider relationships and “future-proofing”

Asked about the lender-service provider/vendor relationship, Dan observed that there’s “more right than wrong” happening there these days. The process can suffer hiccups, however, if a lender’s due diligence process—no matter how much earnest effort is put into it—is not executed properly. He noted occurrences of lenders not asking the right questions of potential vendors or not seeking out more “future proof” partners as two great examples.

Dan does believe lenders are finally, by and large, getting the message about improving their tech stacks in all aspects, not just sales. He mentioned an industry blog which stuidied FinTech lenders as compared to traditional lenders, noting that the FinTech lenders, by and large, were closing loans faster with lower delinquency rates.

Preparing for the Unexpected

Asked about the cyclical nature of the industry, especially in light of the recent disruptive events such as the pandemic, and how lenders can be prepared, Dan told us that the best prepared lenders stay true to their values, focus on their missions and lean on the relationships they’ve built along the way.

The reason we come to work every day

While Dan did jokingly pine for the go-go days of the early 2000’s when unlimited budget corporate events were a reality, he quickly admitted that those days are long gone. Asked about what gets him excited to come to work in the morning, Dan unhesitatingly responded that the members of one’s team and the people one works with every day make all the difference.

This week we sit down with George Baker from Talkuments to discuss the importance of translation in the mortgage industry. 

As you may already know, we at LodeStar are passionate about promoting mental health awareness. September was National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, so there was no question we would be getting out, spreading the word and doing our part toward raising awareness. As part of that effort, we were honored by a visit with Dr. Shira Kafker to discuss this critical topic.

Marcia Zaruba O’Connor visited with us at LLL recently. She’s a fellow Philadelphia 100 honoree and the CEO and founder of the O’Connor Group, a talent acquisition and human resources provider.