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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 93 Partnership and Innovation. Similarly, a New Mexico-based homeown- ership support nonprofit called Homewise is advocating a lending model where a low-in- come household can afford to buy a home even if they don't have a sizeable down payment ready. In this model, Homewise offers two mortgage packages, for 80 and 18 percent of a home's value, respectively. e agency then resells the higher mortgage on the secondary market to raise capital for additional clients. But it holds on to the riskier second mortgage so that the client pays only a two percent down payment, while still eliminating the need for mortgage insurance. e agency services both loans, to monitor loan performance on each and intervene if there is a problem. "ey actually have lower delinquency rates than similar households buying apart from the program," the Urban Institute, which con- ducted a study on Homewise's model said. establishing lasting relationships with custom- ers and business partners, and we share those same values," said Tim Nguyen, president of LendingQB. "Lenders want to access services from innovative vendors such as USRES in a way that improves the overall loan origination process. Using our API framework, we were able to provide USRES with an integration experience that enhances the way that lenders interact with their valuation services. We look forward to working with the USRES team and providing our mutual customers with a supe- rior solution that helps us all be successful." Making Single-Family Homes Accessible in Hot Markets What are the chances of getting a plot of land for $1 in one of the country's hottest housing markets, where the median home price is $540,000 to build affordable housing for a middle-class family with a median income of $55,000? In the case of the city of San Diego, California, this is a reality. e San Diego Union Tribune reported that nonprofit San Diego Community Land Trust (Land Trust), plans to build 16 three- and four-bedroom homes on an elbow of vacant land near the Mexican border after the city of San Diego committed to sell 3.3 acres of this land to them for a $1 per lot. Land Trust has struck a similar deal with the neighboring city of Lemon Grove to build nine row homes on an abandoned subdivision there. e houses on both these lots will be built by Land Trust and sold for $350,000 or less. is is being seen as a rare move in one of the hottest markets in California. "Affordable housing is one of the city's top priority. Because of the urgent need, this was an appropriate deal for the city and community," Katie Keach, the spokeswoman for San Diego city told the Tribune. e initiative by Land Trust is just one of the many that are being taken up by govern- ment agencies and nonprofits to make housing more affordable and sustainable for people from the middle-class or low-income strata. Recently, Fannie Mae announced the formation of an Expert Advisory Panel to support a two-year $10 million initiative by the GSE to advance the growth of sustainable communities while addressing the nation's af- fordable housing shortage. "Affordable housing is not an isolated issue. It requires a broad set of solutions and dedicated individuals," said Maria Evans, VP, Sustainable Communities commitment to provide lenders, servicers, and investors post-closing services at an unmatched scale and level of efficiency, supported by fraud detection, loan quality, and compliance analyt- ics, as well as First American's number-one in- dustry position in real property data coverage." First American Mortgage Solutions' array of post-closing products and services includes CleanFile Solutions, a single, vertically integrated suite that combines post-closing document management, loan quality control, lien release preparation and recording to cure, perfect and complete collateral files. e acqui- sition complements First American Mortgage Solutions' existing best-in-class post-closing and document-management capabilities, enhancing First American's ability to serve the lender, servicer, and investor communities. USRES Integrates with LendingQB to Enhance Mortgage Industry Presence US Real Estate Services, Inc. (USRES), a provider of REO asset management, default ancillary services, and valuation solutions based in Lake Forest, California, announced its integration with LendingQB's cloud-based loan origination solution (LOS). is will en- hance the customer experience for the appraisal management service line. ese enhancements position USRES for continued growth, en- abling the company to expand its presence and services within the mortgage industry. Keith Guenther, CEO of USRES, said, "LendingQB is a prominent player in the LOS space and therefore made our decision to partner with them an easy one. eir continued focus on integrating with the industry's most innovative and proven providers has resulted in a platform that is comprehensive, yet intuitive. ese tools and services will be instrumental as we continue to expand our presence and maintain efficient, streamlined operations." With this integration, USRES can now efficiently engage Lending QB's customers in a single, centralized environment. In addition to originating mortgages, the platform seamlessly integrates with hundreds of leading industry applications, including document preparation, compliance, mortgage insurance and title ser- vices. is addition to USRES' set of tools and offerings further cements their commitment to providing the best, most transparent experience in the AMC space. "USRES is a company that is committed to "I would argue our generation's inability to afford housing is not some moral failure or some lack of effort. It's the result of a dysfunctional system, and it's dysfunctional because the older generation made it that way." - Brian Hanlon, Executive Director of California Yimby, an activist group focused on California's affordable housing problem VERBOSITY

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