MISMO, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, has announced that it is simplifying its membership structure to encourage broader participation in the creation and use of standards across the mortgage industry lifecycle. Starting next year, there will be a single membership level for all corporate members.
Effective Jan. 1, 2017, MISMO will be consolidating its existing membership tiers into a single membership level. All MISMO members will have the same annual membership fee and receive the same membership benefits, and all memberships will convert to a calendar year term (Jan. 1-Dec. 31). Annual membership dues will be $2,500. This is the same amount as the existing Silver Level Membership, which is the minimum current fee for most corporate members. For individuals who do not belong to corporations or government agencies (e.g. sole proprietor), MISMO will retain its existing individual contributor membership for an annual rate of $500.
In addition to the new membership structure, MISMO plans to continue to enhance the benefits for all members which include creating new products, tools and services and making them available to members at no charge. MISMO will continue to make versions of its standards freely available to the public.
“We expect that the simplified membership structure, along with increasing membership benefits, will encourage greater participation in the organization” said Bill Beckmann, MISMO Board Chairman and CEO of MERSCORP Inc. “Increased participation will provide for a broader and deeper set of perspectives when standards are developed, which should continue to result in improved standards for all parts of the mortgage industry.”
A new program will be announced in the near future that will enable current Gold, Platinum and Diamond Level Members to retain the additional benefits that have been offered to them under the current plans. This new program will be distinct from the new Membership Plan.
MISMO was created in 1999 as a subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) to advance the development and adoption of standards for the mortgage finance industry. Today, those standards are accepted and deployed throughout the mortgage industry and are required by many industry regulators, housing agencies and by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs).
“More than ever, the mortgage industry needs to adopt standards in order to reduce costs and improve data quality. MISMO is evolving to enable better collaboration between lenders, service providers, credit agencies, mortgage insurers, title insurers, investors, and government to improve the quality of information that is shared across the industry,” said Mike Fratantoni, MISMO president and chief economist and senior vice president of Research and Industry Technology at MBA. “These changes will enable MISMO to better serve its members and the industry by providing additional tools and resources to support collaboration and standards development efforts."
MISMO members receive significant discounts on MISMO products and services, and get access to productivity enhancing tools and resources. Members also receive information about, and access to new standards before they are released publicly and the opportunity to network with industry peers and others such as GSE and agency personnel that actively participate in the group.
“MISMO’s standards are at the core of our day to day operations and really our entire industry. Lenders that maximize the full breadth of MISMO’s membership and resources position themselves ahead of the curve and are able to achieve higher profits, greater efficiency, better loan quality and lower loan costs,” said Josh Weinberg, MISMO board vice chair and senior vice president of Compliance at First Choice Loan Services Inc. “As lenders continue to face increased investor requirements resulting largely from the frenetic pace of regulatory and compliance changes, there’s really been no better or more important time to get involved with all that MISMO has to offer.”
