Do you use make up? Charles Revson of Revlon observed, back in the days when you could observe these things, "In the factory, we make cosmetics; in the store, we sell hope.” Informed mortgage people know that hope is not a strategy, and companies can’t hope that they’re never the victim of a hack. Here in the Dallas, Texas, area, headquarters of Mr. Cooper, the company was hit with a cyberattack forcing it to lock down its systems and impacting thousands and thousands of clients of hundreds of lenders whose clients rely on them. I don’t know if live-time cyber-attack maps are for real, but they are mesmerizing. Be careful out there! As of 2023, the average cost of a data breach in the United States amounted to $9.48 million dollars, up from 9.44 million U.S. dollars in the previous year. The global average cost per data breach was 4.45 million U.S. dollars in 2023. (Today’s podcast can be found here, and this week is sponsored by nCino makers of the nCino Mortgage Suite. With three products tailored to the needs of the modern mortgage lender, nCino Mortgage, nCino Incentive Compensation, and nCino Mortgage Analytics unite the people, systems, and stages of the mortgage process.) Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services How to Avoid Racial Redlining: A Lesson from a Recent $9 Million Redlining Suit. The Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to fulfill Attorney General Merrick Garland's 2021 promise that his department would “spare no resources” in upholding fair lending laws. In fact, over the past two years, its Combatting Redlining Initiative has secured $98 million in agreements with banks from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J. Most recently, the DOJ settled a $9 million redlining suit with a $7 billion-asset Rhode Island bank. While most financial institutions do not deliberately engage in racial redlining, regulators and the DOJ don’t care about a financial institution’s intentions. They care about its impact. They also want every institution, big and small, to have a strong fair lending compliance program. In a new article from the experts at Ncontracts, learn how to avoid redlining, with lessons learned from recent settlements. Read the full article for more.