Companies key on IT talent to ensure transparency

While many in the industry were reluctant to embrace the new TRID rules, it has created jobs for those IT people who are needed to ensure transparency for investors

Traditionally a sales-driven industry, many real-estate investment management firms are looking to hire from the software development sector.

One such company that operates in the online realm, HomeUnion, based in Irvine, Calif., hired Vivek Pendharkar as their new Chief Development Officer.

“Vivek’s success with startup companies and record of leadership with large corporations is the type of balanced experience that we will use to help us scale up our platform while continuing to improve our customer experience,” said Don Ganguly, CEO of HomeUnion.  “He will provide a seasoned voice as we expand our footprint in real estate markets across the country and continue to develop our real estate investment platform.”

In this new position, Pendharkar will lead HomeUnion’s data science, product management and software development efforts to create products and services that make single-family rental investing simpler, transparent and efficient for investors.

Pendharkar brings more than 20 years of management expertise to HomeUnion with experience at both Fortune 500 companies and venture-backed startups. Most recently, he served as an EIR with Artiman Ventures, a venture capital firm that is also an investor in HomeUnion.

The Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure (TRID) Rule, instituted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, requires lenders to disclose all final costs and details of a mortgage at least three days prior to closing; that necessitated financial institutions to revamp their software programs and retrain employees in new procedures.

It is this rule that had companies actively recruiting for IT and software experts to ensure that they were compliant, keeping the loan process operating smoothly to ensure there were no delays in closing that might cause a catastrophic domino effect for buyers and sellers.