Verification, Title/DSCR, Escrow Reporting, BI Asset Products; Disasters Shifting, as is FEMA; AI and Data

While Lake Powell and the Colorado River are at their lowest levels ever, and states like Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington are in a drought, would you like a short clip of what they’re experiencing in Hawai’i? So far, the North Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 to November 30) has been light, which pleases homeowners, servicers, lenders, and insurance companies. But elsewhere this year’s tornado season showed the continued trend of Tornado Alley shifting eastward and into more populated areas, with Illinois leading all states in tornado activity (220 confirmed tornadoes) and Indiana and Wisconsin also setting record high numbers. The insurance industry is far ahead of the mortgage industry in terms of monitoring damage, and it reports that “Tornado Alley” appears to be shifting from Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas thanks to a warming climate that is moving warmer and more-humid air further north and further east. Mortgage servicers can’t ignore the fact that Illinois’ annual tornado report average was up 45.6 percent in the 2020 to 2025 period than it was in the 2000 to 2025 period; by comparison, in Kansas, the average was down 49 percent in the five-year span compared to the 25-year span. Look for this to impact the value of servicing. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by JazzX, the first true end-to-end AI platform built for mortgage. From application to close, JazzX is a new operating model that helps you scale growth, boost productivity, and transform how your team performs. Today’s has an interview with Yardi’s Doug Ressler on affordability-driven housing demand, favoring markets where housing costs, jobs and migration align and challenging lenders and the mortgage industry to rethink traditional paths to homeownership.)