MISMO^®, the mortgage industry's standards organization, today announced that Jonathan Kearns has joined MISMO as Vice President of Technology. Under MISMO’s management by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Kearns will also serve as MBA Associate Vice President, Product Development.

The hiring of Kearns comes on the heels of MBA’s $2 million investment in MISMO – announced in March – to enable the organization to expand its resources in support of key initiatives. Kearns will help take the lead on MISMO’s top priorities of focus, including: a uniform dataset for private label mortgage-backed securities; a standardized closing instructions template; harmonized remote online notary (RON) standards; common standards to encourage business-to-consumer communications on smartphones and tablets; and appraisal and rent roll standards for commercial and multifamily lenders.

“Jonathan is a thought leader in the mortgage technology space, with substantial experience developing technology and product strategy,” said Mike Fratantoni, President of MISMO and MBA's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research and Industry Technology. “Jonathan is going to energize MISMO’s ability to develop standards and new technology initiatives that will benefit small and large companies and the entire industry.”

Kearns, who previously served on MISMO’s Residential Standards Governance Committee, comes to the organization most recently from DocMagic, Inc., which acquired eSignSystems, where he had been since 1999. He held various leadership titles through mergers and acquisitions over the past two decades, and was most recently Senior Vice President of Technology.

“We are excited to have someone with Jonathan’s experience and acumen join MISMO,” said Rick Hill, Executive Vice President of MISMO and MBA Vice President of Technology. “His background with digital technologies and product development will enable MISMO to better serve the entire mortgage industry.”