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DS News July 2017

DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.

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92 pany that collects real estate data and creates products to help professionals in the industry perform. e software utilizes HouseCanary's proprietary algorithms that draw on more than 1 billion historical home transactions in the U.S., as well as the hundreds of current demand inputs collected at the block level. e integration of a mobile application allows appraisers to complete reports from start-to-finish while on site, ultimately cutting down on time and costs. America claim. "e record does not reflect that the city raised a genuine issue of material fact as to a policy or policies with a robust causal connec- tion to the racial disparity," the decision read. is is the second time Los Angeles has filed claims of this nature; in 2014, the city filed suit against the two banks claiming they violated the Fair Housing Act, engag- ing in lending practices that discriminated against minorities. e suit also claimed these practices caused increased foreclosures, which lowered local property tax revenues and increased city expenditures. According to a representative from Wells Fargo, the bank is happy with the court's "very quick decision to uphold the district court's thoughtful ruling." HouseCanary Adapts Web Appraisal Software for Mobile An appraisal software that was previ- ously only available via web browsers has been adapted to be used on mobile devices by HouseCanary, a provider of real estate valua- tion and appraisal products. HouseCanary Appraiser is a cloud-based program that is known for its ability to simplify the complex process of appraisals. e software utilizes easy-to-use features that eliminate data entry and that generate compa- rables with the smallest gross adjustments. It is also the only software of its kind that does not require plugins, which are an extra expense. "We've seen appraisers finish appraisals in under two hours using this single software—a complete game-changer," said Steve O'Brien, HouseCanary's Director of Real Estate Analytics. O'Brien has more than 35 years of experience as an assessor and chief appraiser and believes integrating the software with mobile devices makes the technology "even more groundbreaking." e software contains real-time data sync that allows information to transfer easily from a computer to a mobile device. Now appraisers can access that information directly from their phones or tablets without transferring from their browsers. "By drawing on its unique core competence in data, HouseCanary has been able to make some truly unique and powerful enhance- ments to appraisal technology," said Michael Dresden, President of Dart Appraisal, an independent appraisal company. HouseCanary is a California-based com- California Hilary Marks Woman Owned Business BRE# 01730451 www.WESALECA.com 909-529-3707 HILARYREO@yahoo.com CALIFORNIA Appeals Court Dismisses LA Case v. BofA, Wells Fargo Claims filed by the city of Los Angeles against Bank of America and Wells Fargo have been dismissed after going before an appellate panel in the Ninth Circuit Court of New York at the end of May. e city accused the two banks of pushing more expensive, riskier mortgage loans when dealing with minority borrowers. e city of Los Angeles filed the com- plaints in December 2014, claiming both banks targeted minority populations with "exploitative and predatory subprime loans until 2007," according to Law360. It was at the point, Law360 reported, that "the banks began withholding loans from minority borrowers, regardless of creditworthiness." According to the suits, Los Angeles claimed that an analysis of both banks' activi- ties showed they issued "predatory" loans to minority borrowers—as well as borrowers in heavily minority neighborhoods—more often than they did white borrowers. e suits against both banks were addressed in 2015 when two district judges failed to find evidence linking any racial homeownership disparities to specific bank policies or practices. e appellate panel ultimately agreed with these initial judgments, saying the city failed to establish a strong enough link between the policies of the two banks and any statistics ofracial discrepancy in LA homeownership. "e city failed to show a robust causal connection between any disparity and a facially neutral Wells Fargo policy," the panel's opinion stated. e panel ruled similarly on the Bank of Utah Robyn Moody SALT LAKE REO RealtyONE Group Signature Sales Agent/Owner Robyn@SaltLakeREO.com 801-566-8288 Office | 801-859-2539 Mobile www.SaltLakeREO.com Percentage of California home values that have increased in 2017, with a 2 percent increase in 2018. Source: Zillow Home Value Index through April 30, 2017. STAT INSIGHT 7.3%

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