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88 Florida Minority Certified Business MIAMI-DADE & BROWARD COUNTIES 786-499-6994 www.REOPitStop.com Luis@ContinentalRealtors.com RESNET ID: 106089 | Equator ID: 272261 Luis F. Guzman Broker/Owner FLORIDA Black Knight Launches Municipal Lien Search Black Knight Financial Services launched its Municipal Lien Search solution in May to help uncover property debts and reduce risk associated with liens not included on prop- erty reports or outside of the scope of title insurance coverage. County debts; code and force violations; waste, water, and sewer are examples of these liens. Undiscovered and unrecorded mu- nicipal liens become the responsibility of the new property owner upon closing. According to Black Knight, the company's Munici- pal Lien Search solution is a faster and simpler way to help identify unrecorded property liens by offering more property and tax data than can be pulled from a traditional online title search. e tool can help identify outstand- ing property liens, violations, assessments, and more that would fail to show up in a standard title search. e search presents findings in a clear, concise report with the necessary contacts to resolve outstanding issues, Black Knight reported. e Municipal Lien Search solution is available nationwide and can be requested and delivered through Black Knight's OrderPoint technology, an online tracking and delivery tool that is integrated with Black Knight's national title production network. "With this innovative tool, which is part of our national, comprehensive title solution suite, we are helping buyers and title companies keep informed during the origination process by shedding light on any outstanding debts on a property," said Lisa Roessler, Vice President of Title Solutions at Black Knight. "Making buyers aware of any outstanding liens before closing helps reduce their risk and provides for a better borrower experience." Empower LOS Gets HMDA, Compliance Updates Black Knight Financial Services recently announced the release of LoanSphere Em- power 7.0, a new version of its loan origina- tion system (LOS), including updates aimed at compliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), and enhanced technological integrations. "Empower 7.0 offers dynamic, innovative capabilities to help clients deliver an excep- tional customer experience, increase productiv- ity, and address regulatory requirements," said Jerry Halbrook, President of Black Knight's Origination Technologies Division. Empower, which serves retail, wholesale, and direct consumer lenders, now has data requirements such as borrower demographics, loan costs, property information, automated underwriting system information, a Legal En- tity Identifier, and Universal Loan Identifier— all to comply with the final HMDA rule. Additionally, the newly released version of Empower allows lenders to access and use the LOS from multiple devices, including mobile devices. Empower 7.0 features a new user interface aimed at "more intuitive navigation and a simplified screen presentation," according to Black Knight. e company also integrated other tech of- ferings into Empower to streamline the origi- nation process. Lenders can now access Black Knight's Tax for Loan Estimation and Tax for Closing Estimation; PitchPoint for fraud-risk detection; LoanSphere Loan Boarding file optimization for servicing; and LoanSphere Expedite's eSign and eDelivery functions. Empower is fully integrated with Loan- Sphere MSP, Black Knight's loan servicing system. Also, Black Knight offers Empower Now!, which aims to streamline implementation for regional, midmarket, and independent mort- gage lenders. GEORGIA Ocwen Ratings to Remain Despite Sale Ocwen announced in May that it would sell its mortgage-servicing rights to New Residential Investment Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of NRZ. e sale, which in- cludes $117 billion in unpaid principal balance, leaves Ocwen as a subservicer under a five-year contract with New Residential. As such, Fitch Ratings does not foresee "any change or disruption to servicing activity" that would warrant an update in ratings. "Fitch believes that the agreement allows Ocwen to continue to perform key activi- ties and to receive ongoing fee income in its subservicing role," according to Fitch. "e agreement may also reduce the servicing disruption risk, as it is generally easier to replace subservicers than primary servicers in the event the servicer's financial condition or performance deteriorates." In addition to purchasing Ocwen's mortgage servicing rights, New Residential also bought a 4.9 percent equity stake in the company. e announcement of the sale sent Ocwen stock soaring. In the days following the news, stock rose 46 percent, hitting a peak of $3.32 per share. e jump in stock was welcome good news for the servicer which, just days before the sale, was sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as a number of states. Both parties filed suit against Ocwen alleging the company "engaged in significant and systemic misconduct at nearly every stage of the mortgage servicing process." Ocwen re- sponded by filing a motion to expedite a court ruling on the constitutionality of the CFPB in the case of PHH Corp. v. CFPB. A three-judge panel from the Washing- ton, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals deemed the CFPB structure unconstitutional back in October. e full court is set to rehear the case later this year. Percentage of home values predicted to go up in Georgia by 2018. Source: Zillow Home Value Index through April 30, 2017 STAT INSIGHT 3.4% Florida Realtors reported housing markets saw a total of 60,733 closed sales of single-family homes this quarter, which is a 5.1 percent increase from the first quarter of 2016. KNOW THIS