a call for automation
NOVEMBER 2012 IDAHO
MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE
NationalMortgageProfessional.com
46
continued from page 45
with all of the parties involved in a transaction to ensure that the transaction is being conducted at arm’s length. This process alone has the potential to slow down the delivery of a loan and invites opportunity for human error to occur, thus affecting loan quality. Automated verification that all people involved in the real estate transaction are properly licensed, checked against exclusionary lists and cleared via third-party background checks would also benefit the process, as this would remove uncertainty concerning the legitimacy of any party’s individual role in the process. Appropriate databases to run these checks against would include investor/government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), warehouse facilities, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In an ideal scenario, these checks would automatically be conducted in real-time, stage-to-stage, from application through closing, just in case something was to pop up in the middle of the transaction that could affect a loan’s legitimacy.
Loan pricing and eligibility To eliminate unwanted and unnecessary surprises at closing, qualification checks concerning loan price and eligibility should be routinely conducted and repeated throughout the lending process, as opposed to at the very beginning and the end. Any changes to loan programs, debt-to-income ratios, loan amounts or credit profiles should be noted in real time and automatically trigger adjustments or notifications when they cause the loan to fall outside of its set parameters. Automation is essential here, since constantly repeating these checks throughout the process manually is time consuming and allows for human error.
Automated underwriting An analytical comparison of real-time findings between an organization’s automated underwriting system and its current data is needed. Conducting
an automatic and ongoing audit of initial underwriting findings and loan documentation while the transaction is in process is crucial to detecting critical errors that might either prevent a good loan from being approved or push through a loan that may no longer meet eligibility. Whenever a loan’s qualifications change or extend beyond the parameters of the automated underwriting system’s findings, this would trigger the necessary notification and resolution.
How Far Will You Go? Taking your business on the road By BJ Bounds
When it is your own business, you and exchange information and docuhave to own it. Those of you who have ments throughout the loan process. succeeded in your businesses and Once your site and your LOS start those on the road to success know talking, there is no stopping them— exactly what I am talking about. There and that is what you need to make is no eight-hour work day with a one- your loan process efficient and convenient for you and hour lunch and then you your clients. go home. You work when When your Web site work comes, and that visitors decide to start could be any time of the the application process, day or night. And, it folLoan delivery you want them to be If it became possible to automatically lows you everywhere … able to do it right then. detect critical issues concerning loan wherever you are, it is The time it takes for documents during the post-closing important that you can them to call you or process and prior to delivery, the stay on top of your download and print a appropriate modifications could be pipeline and constantly paper application is bring in additional busimade before delivery of the final loan time during which any package, thus eliminating any need ness. Just how far will number of distractions for corrections after the fact. The you go with your busi“Instead of using can take place and the result would be a more streamlined ness? How far can you your site to bring spell can be broken. delivery of the loan to the investment go? With technology in people in, you can Don’t take that chance! community and reduced expense to your back pocket, you actually use it to Make sure you have can decide for yourself. lenders. communicate and online application funcWe have all heard At funding/closing, the system exchange information tionality! Then, make about the importance of would ideally compare loan docuand documents sure those applications ments to corresponding data, check having a Web presence throughout the loan drop into your LOS so signatures for accuracy and flag any that works for you 24 process.” you do not have to reblank boxes when documents are hours a day, bringing returned seemingly completed. The you business and giving your poten- key important data. Now that you have the application result would be a more efficient, tial clients a glimpse into who you are and why they should want to work in the system and your applicant is cleaner delivery of the loan. As we move into 2013, there are a with you instead of your competitors. now a “borrower,” staying on top of number of solutions in development Your personalized Web site is not only the loan while in process is highly in the industry intended to bring us a tailored for your business, but it is significant for compliance purposes few steps closer to meeting these also tailored for the clients you seek. and customer satisfaction. Knowing needs. Automating the origination, Design and messaging gives your visi- what is coming and going keeps you compliance and loan delivery process tors the information they need to on top of your files at all times. To is crucial to realizing what is desper- determine if you are the business they achieve that type of autonomy, you ately needed in the industry—improv- want to work with. And then they can need to be able to see your files ing the customer experience, reducing begin the process of applying right without being tethered to your desk the time of the origination process there on your Web site. That is a at the office and the knowledgeable tremendous step for them, but for communication you will be able to and improving quality. today’s tech-savvy buyers, the conven- offer your clients helps build lasting Scott A. Reed is senior vice president of ience and real-time experience should relationships and will make the entire process more pleasant for administration for Carrington Mortgage not end there. Your Web site can and should be so everyone. Your options here can give Services LLC’s Mortgage Lending Division, where he is responsible for compliance, much more than just a marketing and you the freedom and mobility you process improvement, vendor manage- application platform. Integrating your want with the productivity you need ment, training and the implementation of Web site with your loan origination in the office or anywhere else. The most “mobile” option you have policies and procedures. Scott holds a software (LOS) can give you so much for mobile productivity is the LOS California broker’s license, and has a bach- more than you would expect from elor of science degree in finance from such a technology blend. Instead of mobile application. A mobile app Arizona State University. He may be using your site to bring people in, you synched to your LOS is an excellent can actually use it to communicate tool for on-the-go prospecting and reached by phone at (949) 517-7000.