The effective date requiring the new Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) is fast approaching—starting March 1, the updated form will be required in residential mortgage loan packages that lenders intend to sell to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The new form, which includes several changes, was first announced in 2016, and since then its mandatory implementation date has been delayed twice. With so much prep time, many lenders are prepared for the new URLA from a technical standpoint, with their loan origination systems (LOS) integrated with the new form.

But lenders’ work is still only partly done. They simply won’t be ready until they also conduct this key step: testing, testing, and some more testing.

For more information, visit DocMagic's URLA Resources page

“The forms have been around for a while and lenders may not have tested in some time. With the effective date just around the corner, lenders should be testing the latest updates, both with the form and their LOS and integrations,” said Gavin Ales, DocMagic’s Chief Compliance Officer.

At DocMagic, the bulk of clients’ requests for URLA-related customizations began in January and have been picking up every week ever since. Clients’ customization requests have concerned issues as varied as the exclusion indicator, properly classifying credits, and how the Lender Loan Information’s Qualifying the Borrower section is completed, to name a few.

“These are examples of things lenders wouldn’t know they needed until they actually start testing,” Ales said.

For DocMagic clients who are ready to test the new URLA, it’s easy to generate the new forms: Within DocMagic Online, just go to the Tools > Options menu and select “Use 2020 URLA.” Otherwise, we will keep providing the existing URLA/Form 1003 until March 1.

To handle joint borrower applications, clients have three configuration options for the new form’s main Borrower Information Document (BID):

• A dynamic version, which includes the dynamic addition of joint borrowers to the same Borrower Information Document.
• A separate Borrower Information Document for all borrowers, including joint borrowers.
• The use of an additional Borrower Information Document for joint borrowers, in lieu of their own BID or dynamic BID.

Additionally, the Unmarried Addendum—which replaces the state-specific Civil Union/Domestic Partnership forms—will dynamically append to the BID for any unmarried borrower, no matter the state, while the Continuation Sheet discloses any state-specific required language and can also be used to provide explanations to any questions, if needed.

If your company hasn’t already started, it’s time to begin testing the new URLA form. Make sure you’re ready to go by March 1.

Related Content:

• IRS releases new form 4506-C (11/16/2020)
• The redesigned URLA will be required in a few months; are you ready? (9/4/2020)
• Testing the URLA (6/11/2019)

On Jan. 13, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a “Statement Regarding the Provision of Financial Products and Services to Consumers with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)." The statement encourages financial institutions to expand services to LEP consumers who often face barriers such as language access issues when obtaining credit.

The statement highlights that the CFPB has been engaging with industry stakeholders, consumer advocacy organizations, and trade associations to get feedback on challenges specific to serving LEP consumers. In August 2020, the CFPB issued a Request for Information (RFI) which asked for comments on how to provide clarity under applicable laws and encourage creditors to provide services to LEP consumers.

In comments responding to the RFI, financial institutions expressed a need for further guidance on how to expand their products and services to LEP consumers while staying compliant. The CFPB received comments regarding concerns of potential fair lending risks under ECOA and potential UDAAP risks when stakeholders decide how and in what languages to offer products and services. For example, with hundreds of languages spoken in the United States, comments expressed concerns of prioritizing services in one language over another, and what factors may be considered in those decisions.

Additional comments asked the CFPB to clarify that institutions unable to provide support in other languages besides English are not in violation of ECOA, and that offering support in only some but not all non-English languages would not be considered an unfair, deceptive, abusive, or discriminatory practice. Some stakeholder groups suggested that the CFPB provide more translated documents and notices. Other comments asserted that verbal interpretation via telephone is a more effective short-term solution to improving services for LEP consumers.

In response to the feedback, the statement emphasizes the CFPB’s duty under the Dodd-Frank Act to ensure “fair, equitable and nondiscriminatory access to credit.” The CFPB encourages financial institutions to better serve LEP consumers, while remaining compliant with applicable legal requirements. To achieve this goal, the CFPB suggests that financial institutions may consider:

• Implementing pilot programs or a phased approach to prove products and services to LEP consumers. 

• Developing a variety of compliance approaches depending on relevant factors such as the “size, complexity, and risk profile of an institution.”

• Mitigating compliance risks by providing LEP consumers with clear and timely disclosures in non-English languages that include the extent and limits of any language services provided. This would include providing how LEP consumers can obtain additional information or ask questions.

• Extending credit under a special purpose credit program (SPCP), following the standards and rules provided in Regulation B. The CFPB previously issued an advisory opinion on how to develop and implement a compliant SPCP.

The CFPB recommends specific considerations to help financial institutions mitigate ECOA, UDAAP, and other legal risks when developing compliance solutions related to serving LEP consumers. When considering whether to provide non-English language services, the CFPB recommends that a financial institution consider documented and verifiable information such as U.S. Census Bureau demographics. Local demographics may help regional institutions decide to provide language services that differ from what would be provided by a more national focus. Product and service selection and language preference collection and tracking is also recommended to improve needed services and “facilitate communication with LEP consumers in non-English languages.”

The statement also emphasizes that financial institutions must follow federal and state law requirements for providing consumers with translated documents and must ensure the accuracy of the translations. Further, the CFPB recommends that financial institutions implement a compliance management system (CMS) that can document policies and procedures, and monitor services and consumer complaints.

Related Content:

• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)
• IRS releases new form 4506-C (11/16/2020)
• The redesigned URLA will be required in a few months; are you ready? (9/4/2020)

Brian D. Pannell, DocMagic’s Chief eServices Executive, examines some of the key changes the mortgage industry has seen over the last year.

What a difference a year makes. A year ago, many lenders in the mortgage industry were still inching their way toward an electronic closing. Now, after facing an unexpected pandemic, most lenders realize that paper-intensive processes are outdated and they are clamoring for some form of digital transformation.

Looking back to an industry-wide survey of lenders that DocMagic conducted near the end of 2019, the contrasts to today are stark. Lenders’ pre-COVID attitudes toward digital readiness have shifted dramatically compared with what we know now, after 10 months of a deeply shifted post-pandemic mindset.

Here are some paradigm shifts I witnessed in the mortgage industry from last year to now:

#1: Lenders had been hesitant to overhaul their existing systems, preferring to cobble together a solution that fit into their current infrastructure. They no longer have that mindset.

In 2019: The reason you saw lenders using so many disparate software applications was because they’d been leery of upsetting their existing workflow. The mentality was, “I’d rather stick with what works than worry about trying to improve it.” So instead of upending legacy systems—loan origination systems, in particular—to create a more streamlined process with a single software provider, many lenders simply cobbled together solutions that fit into their existing infrastructure, despite the fact that multiple integrations like this are far costlier than using a single-source provider.

Today: A company’s long-term product strategy may have been developed over years of experience—but can it be expanded in months? Some of the ways that lenders have been operating are now being challenged. So, how quickly can you pivot to something else? Because if lenders can’t pivot, they may find themselves left behind.

Analysis: In 2019 we asked lenders to name their biggest challenge to adopting a digital mortgage strategy; survey respondents’ top answer was system integration (48%). When it came to updating their mortgage processes, many lenders had been content to move slowly, believing they could take their time to modernize their systems. However, as borrowers’ pandemic-driven preferences have shifted toward demanding more options for remote closings and notarizations, and as more lenders recognize the benefits of going digital—among them increased accuracy and speed, enhanced compliance, and a higher return on investment—lenders are realizing that they need paperless processes sooner rather than later.

#2: For many lenders, investor interest in fully digital mortgages was still low enough that it wasn’t worth the cost to install new systems. That’s no longer the case.

In 2019: The upfront cost of upgrading systems didn’t make sense if you didn’t have the volume. Organizations interested in implementing a digital mortgage process would raise a lot of questions with regards to, how do I get paid, how do I get funded, who am I going to sell my loans to? There was often a concern about generating the savings per loan to pay for the cost to install these systems.

Today: We've heard for a long time that Ginnie Mae and the 11-member Federal Home Loan Banks were on the cusp of accepting eNotes; they both began doing so in 2020. The fact that both are now accepting eNotes is crucial because it introduced a whole new level of participants to the eNote world. Between the FHL Banks and Ginnie Mae, there are a lot of advancements in the ability to make those eNotes saleable. 2020 was the year of the eNote.

Analysis: The foundation of a 100% paperless mortgage is the electronic promissory note (eNote). While eNote registrations were steadily on the rise before the pandemic, in 2020 they reached their tipping point, boasting almost 463,000 registrations—a 264% increase over the previous year. One key reason for this jump is the fact that, after years of planning, Ginnie Mae and the FHL Banks system finally joined Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and began accepting eNotes as collateral. The impact on the mortgage industry can’t be overstated: With these two major players on board, the pool of investors willing to buy digitized mortgages has vastly increased.

Additionally, along with this greater acceptance of eNotes, there has been a corresponding increase in eWarehouse lenders—which has also been critical to increased adoption of digital mortgages.

#3: Prior to COVID-19, many lenders’ primary focus, as it related to digital mortgage decisions, was to improve the customer experience. Now, lenders are focused on meeting borrowers’ vastly changed risk tolerance.

In 2019: As far as what moves lenders to go digital, of the organizations we surveyed, the prime motivator was to improve the customer experience, with 86% of respondents citing this as a reason for adopting new software. This was followed closely by the desire to reduce errors (85%) and improve security (83%).

Today: As we continue to find ourselves within a pandemic-operating environment, borrowers’ risk tolerance must increasingly be taken into consideration. The borrower has a new risk tolerance for in-person contact nowadays, and lenders need to be able to execute on that from borrower to borrower. A lot of people have a very low tolerance, especially folks who are high-risk. They’re not going to tolerate putting themselves and their families in a situation where they need to leave the house and go to another location to execute an in-person closing. As an industry, we need to reduce the amount of in-person contact that’s occurring.

Analysis: Before the pandemic, lenders’ primary reason for offering eClosings was to improve the customer experience. That’s still true, but whereas before COVID-19 lenders provided electronic mortgages as an optional convenience, now they have become a necessity. Borrowers want more eClosing options, whether hybrid or 100% paperless, both for their safety and because pandemic restrictions have made people less mobile. If an eClosing is the only process borrowers will accept, lenders don’t have any choice but to give borrowers the experience they demand.

#4: Some states were still on the fence about remote notarization a year ago, but the overwhelming majority are now allowing it—in some form.

In 2019: When I went to North Carolina and spoke to closing attorneys, they told me there would never be remote online notarization (RON) in N.C. The reason? They wouldn’t know who the notary was at that point and they wanted to have the notary there. It also made sense because they didn’t want their business to come from outside the state.

Today: As the pandemic hit and as jurisdictions were making adjustments to allow for and minimize in-person contact, they had to come up with new ideas for notarization. In response, concepts like remote ink-signed notarization (RIN), or online in-person eNotarization (IPEN) were introduced. The advent and the necessity of coming up with unique ways to execute on any notarization came into play because there simply wasn't enough time to push through all of the regulatory concerns and considerations associated with RON and to make it more mainstream. Some states were able to accomplish it, but others had to make accommodations in order to support it. Looking ahead, if 2020 was the year of the eNote, 2021 could very well be the year of RON.

Analysis: Due to the pandemic and social distancing guidelines, states have welcomed all forms of remote notarization, including RON. Almost every state now allows some form of remote notarization, mostly via temporary emergency orders passed in response to COVID-19. These methods include RON or lower-tech alternatives such as RIN, online IPEN, or PRON (paper remote online notarization).

In addition to the spate of temporary orders, permanent RON laws also saw an increase in 2020, with an additional seven states jumping on board to bring the nationwide total to 29 by year's end. North Carolina also made remote notarization legal—albeit via a temporary law that’s set to expire on March 1, 2021. Still, it’s a once-unthinkable turnaround for a state where closing attorneys swore only a year ago that RON would never be allowed.

Leading up to this point a lot of lenders had been trying to convince themselves to make the switch to eMortgages, but there was no definitive tipping point. Now you have a pandemic. There's your tipping point.

Related Content:

• Relive some key mortgage industry milestones in 2020 (12/29/2020)
• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)
• Brian D. Pannell honored with HousingWire's 2020 Tech Trendsetters Award (12/4/2020)

At the start of the pandemic, companies across America were abruptly forced to send their employees home and quickly scramble to adjust to remote work. But even though new lender MortgageCountry had just begun operations, its president, Ira Brownstein, wasn’t worried.

Download the MortgageCountry case study

“You can be much more connected on a virtual basis and be much more productive, and we’re living proof—not by force, but by foresight,” Brownstein said.

The new company began accepting loan applications as most of the country was shutting down. And yet, with the help of DocMagic’s Total eClose and dynamic document generation solutions, MortgageCountry was able to implement an electronic workflow from start to finish in less than 30 days. 

MortgageCountry’s success has only continued since then:

• In its first month of accepting applications, it closed loans in an average of 13 days.
• It has partnered with the four largest financial institutions in the mortgage space—even though these institutions rarely partner with startups.
• It secured $35 million of mortgage credit facilities during an economic calamity, providing a runway to originate more than $700 million in annual mortgage originations.

How did MortgageCountry do it? In addition to their business model, they chose the right technology partners: DocMagic for document generation and eClosing, and LendingQB for its loan origination system (LOS) and point-of-sale system (POS).

This was key because MortgageCountry set up ambitious goals for onboarding and digital closings. A week before launch, they requested that all documents be digitally enabled and wanted their first closings to be hybrid and to close on a digital platform. DocMagic made it happen.

In retrospect, Brownstein admits he was taking a risk with such ambitious goals. “It was all new. I didn't come from an environment where we were closing loans digitally. We were closing loans the way most lenders close, with outdated wet signatures,” he said. “But I'm a big believer that you make a decision, do your due diligence, test your decision, and ensure that you mitigate risk, and we did that.”

To learn more about how MortgageCountry found success amid challenging economic conditions, download the free case study.

Related Content:

• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)
• Survey: Homebuyers adapt to eSignings, remote closings during pandemic (10/29/2020)
• Remote online notarization (RON) has several benefits beyond safety (10/22/2020)

DocMagic’s Integration Services Manager, David Garrett, is set to begin a two-year term this month for the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) Residential Standards Governance Committee.

Committee members weigh in on the voluntary standards that MISMO develops for the mortgage industry.

Garrett, who was elected in November, says his experience with DocMagic should help him make a strong contribution to the committee’s work.

“The technology we work with here at DocMagic is very cutting edge because we have a wide variety of partners and clients,” he said. “We also have so many different products, processes, and services that touch MISMO in some way, whether its doc gen, eNotes, eVaults, or the whole digital lending process from end to end. Very few organizations have all of those products under one umbrella. I hope that what I see here can help influence industry standards in a way that helps everybody.”

Garrett, who has been with DocMagic for over six years, helps clients integrate their current lending systems with DocMagic products such as Total eClose and document generation.

Before joining the committee, he was involved in MISMO’s Origination and eMortgage workgroups and was previously the co-chair of the Verifiable Profile SMARTDoc Development Workgroup. 

Garrett said the committee’s biggest issue will be trying to convince large swaths of the industry to adhere to a single standard.

“You have many facets of this industry using the MISMO standard in some form that it’s hard to get so many groups and organizations to adopt a single standard and stick to it,” he said. “A lot of the problem isn’t coming up with a standard but how to make it broad enough where we can get greater adoption. Everyone wants to have their own little flavor of it and that only works up to a point.”

The committee comprises 18 people, half of whom were elected at the same time as Garrett. It includes representatives from various mortgage industry sectors, including government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), lenders, service providers, and more. Garrett won the seat for a technology vendor representative.

“We get to hear all kinds of different ways that people are solving problems,” Garrett said. “That’s what’s really nice about the meetings—you talk to your peers and your competitors and your clients and you get a broader view of the current problems the industry is facing.”

Related Content:

• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)
• DocMagic's Leah Sommerville named to NMP's Top 40 Under 40 list (12/10/2020)
• An eClosing Q&A with DocMagic's director of enterprise solutions (9/9/2020) 

2020 has been a year unlike any other—and that includes for the mortgage industry, which faced some of the biggest changes the industry has ever seen.

DocMagic has been tracking these momentous changes on our blog. As we say good-bye to 2020, we highlight some of the biggest mortgage stories of the year:

#1: The rise of eNotes

In 2019, there were over 127,000 eNotes registered on the MERS eRegistry. In 2020, through November, the number skyrocketed to over 407,000—a 264% year-over-year increase. At the same time, the number of companies transacting on the eRegistry rose 121%. It’s official: 2020 was the year of the eNote.

Another major event took place in 2020 that also pushed eNotes forward: After years of planning, Ginnie Mae and three members of the 11-member FHL Banks system began accepting eNotes as collateral. The other members will eventually follow suit.

“The fact that both are now accepting eNotes is crucial because it just introduced a whole new level of participants to the eNote world,” said DocMagic’s Chief eServices Executive Brian D. Pannell. “So, between the FHL Banks and Ginnie Mae, there are a lot of advancements in the ability to make those eNotes saleable.”

#2: The rise of RON

At the beginning of the year, 22 states had a remote online notarization (RON) law on the books. In 2020 another seven states jumped on board—Hawaii and Pennsylvania were the latest to enact a law—bringing the total to 29 states.

On top of that, a Senate bill was introduced at the federal level that would have allowed RON use nationwide (though it didn't pass), and several other states permitted RON for the first time ever—albeit via temporary emergency orders that were passed at the height of the stay-at-home orders. Many of the emergency actions have been repeatedly extended as the pandemic drags on.

As a result, RON transactions have increased 547% in 2020, according to a new survey from the American Land Title Association of vendors working in the RON space.

RON had already been increasing—due to a host of reasons that have nothing to do with social distanced-based safety—but the events of 2020 have given the practice a huge boost.

#3: And don’t forget RIN

Even though the demand for remote notarization was high, several states weren’t yet ready to commit to RON. Enter remote ink-signed notarization, a lower-tech and less secure alternative in which borrowers use a videoconferencing program like Zoom or FaceTime to connect with a notary and wet sign a document that is then physically mailed to the notary for their stamp.

Several states passed emergency orders to allow RIN, even ones that already permit RON, like Michigan and Texas.

RIN has several drawbacks, however, and draws its legitimacy solely from emergency orders. In Michigan, some RIN closings were even at risk after the state Supreme Court ruled that the governor didn’t have authority to extend her emergency powers—which allowed RIN—without the legislature’s approval. The legislature had to later pass a law to ensure that RIN transactions were valid.

#4: The new URLA is coming—at last

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced back in 2016 that they were unveiling a new Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) for all lenders who intend to sell their loans to the GSEs; the mandated use-by date was then pushed back twice, with the latest delay—from November 2020 to March 2021—taking place this year as a result of the pandemic.

It looks like the latest deadline will stick. If so, lenders need to be ready by March 1, 2021, but they can get started now—the new URLA’s earliest effective date is Jan. 1, 2021.

#5: DocMagic employees shine

It was a banner year for DocMagic employees, several of whom were honored with industry accolades. This included DocMagic CEO Dominic Iannitti’s Lending Luminary Award; Lori Johnson’s HousingWire Insiders Award; Leah Sommerville’s Top 40 Under 40 honor; Brian D. Pannell being named a Thought Leader and HousingWire Tech Trendsetter; David Garrett’s appointment to the MISMO Residential Standards Governance Committee; and Chris Lewis’s recent Trailblazer Award by PROGRESS in Lending.

Related Content:

• Survey: Homebuyers adapt to eSignings, remote closings during pandemic (10/29/2020)
• An eClosing Q&A with DocMagic's director of enterprise solutions (9/9/2020)  
• County recorders, eRecording, and RON—by the numbers (7/8/2020) 

The mortgage industry is undergoing unprecedented change, and lenders are weighing the move to eClosings—because in the current environment, it’s no longer a question of if, but when. Gavin Ales, DocMagic’s Chief Compliance Officer, shares his insights about the compliance issues these lenders are facing.

What is still needed to make eClosings—including eNotes—more mainstream?

eNotes and eClosings need to be more readily accepted by investors. Lenders need all or most of their investors to be willing to purchase the loans; otherwise, they’ll be forced to arrange specific transactions with specific investors. Lenders will be able to close a much larger number of loans electronically when they don’t have to do all the extra leg work of checking in with their investors to confirm that they’ll accept an eClosing.

Both eNotes—which are faster and more secure than paper notes—and eClosings require more global acceptance at county recorders’ offices. For example, a particular state’s law may allow an electronic notary on a mortgage, but if the recorder’s office won’t accept it electronically then that still presents a barrier. Lenders aren’t able to realize the full benefit of an eClosing if they still have to print it out and record a paper document.

The country is moving in the direction of digital mortgages; several states already allow electronic notarizations and more will be allowing the practice, but despite that, there is still the practical problem that not all county recorders have a process to electronically record a document. The laws have passed but the processes needed to carry them out are still not in place, so lenders may face a situation that even if a state allows eNotarizations, there may be recording offices that can’t process them.

What is one impediment to eClosing that is often overlooked?

One critical issue facing lenders is the availability of notaries who are able to conduct eClosings. In some cases, both the state and county recorder may be on board, but the difficulty may become finding an electronic notary. That’s something lenders aren’t thinking about. Having a ready and reliable supply of e-ready notaries would help lenders turn out eClosings just like any other loan. Even if a lender and investor are on board, an electronic notary still must be available. In a lot of states, electronic notaries must be specially registered, and the number of electronic notaries in those states are naturally lower.

What guidelines and regulations should lenders be aware of as they start to implement eClosings?

Lenders should first be aware of their own state laws as to what’s allowed and not allowed when it comes to notarizations. Some states require that lenders use a specific system or limit provider options to an approved list. Lenders also need to pay attention to investor guidelines, as to whether or not they accept electronic documents. Then the user must ensure that they have the full workflow covered, including setting up an eSign system, getting eVault access, and becoming a MERS member with access to the MERS eRegistry. Lenders also have to ensure their documents comply with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s guidelines, such as having tamper-evident seals. Vendors such as DocMagic can ensure these requirements are met as part of our document generation solution.

From a compliance standpoint, how is RON an improvement over in-person notarizations?

Remote online notarization (RON) is a huge improvement over in-person notarization. Right now, there’s the obvious reason—in the middle of a pandemic, RON is far safer for people than being forced to meet in person to notarize loan documents. But even without a pandemic, RON would be the better choice, particularly when it comes to security. RON employs high-tech methods such as knowledge-based authentication and credential analysis to validate identification. In addition, the electronic document files must contain tamper-evident seals and the video of the signing session usually has to be stored for 10 years, both of which help to make the notarization process safer and more secure.

RON also makes it easier for borrowers to review loan documents ahead of the closing and for lenders to spot mistakes, such as missing signatures, sooner. RON is the culmination of a truly paperless eClosing.

Where is the state of eClosings headed next year?

eClosings will only grow in popularity. One look at eNote registrations is an indicator—they were already on the upswing, but the numbers have exploded compared with just last year. So far this year more than 400,000 eNotes have been registered, a 264% increase over last year, and the pace shows little sign of slowing.

The pandemic—and social distancing guidelines—have forced everyone’s hand. More companies are conducting business remotely and remote transactions have become more mainstream. Now that so many people are working from home, society is also moving away from the idea that everyone has to be in the same place when they’re working together. That mindset has also affected the mortgage industry, with more states allowing remote notarization and more borrowers wanting to conduct closings remotely. eClosings are just going to increase from here. The industry isn’t going backwards.

Related Content:

• DocMagic offers clients automatic audit of NMLS identification numbers (12/8/2020)
• IRS releases new form 4506-C (11/16/2020)
• CFPB's 5-year TRID assessment produces mixed results (10/15/2020)

DocMagic senior account executive Leah Sommerville, 33, was awarded a coveted spot on National Mortgage Professional (NMP) magazine’s annual Top 40 Under 40 Most Influential Mortgage Professionals list.

The list, now in its second year, seeks to highlight the “up-and-comers across the mortgage world who are actively scanning the profession with fresh eyes, and making it better, with enthusiasm,” according to the magazine.

The honorees, who are voted on by their peers, range from executives at large institutions such as Fannie Mae to presidents and CEOs running their own firms. They span all sectors within the mortgage industry, including compliance, loan origination, FinTech, and more.

Asked by NMP what she considers her greatest success in 2020—a year that presented multiple unique challenges, including the pandemic, social distancing requirements, stay-at-home orders, a refi boom, and new compliance rules—Sommerville said, “I’m proud to have been involved in helping many organizations make the shift to hybrid and completely digital eClosings.”

During the pandemic, she has been especially focused on helping lenders who are rushing to implement DocMagic’s 100% paperless Total eClose solution.

Over her career Sommerville has helped drive the digital processes for over 400 organizations; increased eClosing adoption among relevant organizations by over 300%; and helped execute more than 8,000 eClosings so far. A member of DocMagic’s dedicated eClosing team, her specialty is guiding lenders through the transition from paper to electronic mortgages, so much so that she’s become a subject matter expert on it.

“I was fortunate to begin my journey in the mortgage industry during a time when lenders began recognizing the importance of modernizing outdated paper processes with technology to increase efficiency and improve the borrower experience,” Sommerville told NMP. “My experience as a digital transformation coach has been especially exciting because I truly enjoy helping organizations reap the benefits of these technological advances.”

Related Content:

• Brian D. Pannell honored with HousingWire's 2020 Tech Trendsetters Award (12/4/2020)
• DocMagic's CEO honored with Lending Luminary Award (10/27/2020)
• Remote online notarization (RON) has several benefits beyond safety (10/22/2020)

DocMagic is offering an easier way for clients to automatically audit the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) identification number of every company and loan officer they interact with.

While individual borrowers may find it easy to check a loan originator’s NMLS number that way, DocMagic clients—who work with hundreds of companies and loan officers across thousands of mortgage transactions—may find the process of manually checking every stakeholder’s NMLS number cumbersome and time-consuming.

Now, however, they no longer have to do this process manually. Instead, DocMagic’s clients can request, as part of our document generation solution, that the process be automated so that every time we run an audit, we also check the NMLS number of clients’ partners to confirm that they’re properly licensed to conduct business.

If the NMLS number doesn’t register as licensed, clients can choose to make that option fatal within a DocMagic audit.

The NMLS was created in 2008 by the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage License Act, also known as the SAFE Act. A response to the mortgage meltdown, the SAFE Act aims to boost consumer protection, cut down on fraud, and increase accountability by establishing minimum standards for the licensing and regulation of mortgage loan originators.

To receive an NMLS number and maintain a license in good standing, loan officers must complete and maintain various steps, such as passing a written qualified test; providing a credit report and fingerprints for a background check; completing pre-licensure education courses; taking annual education classes; not having a felony conviction in the last seven years; and never having a felony conviction for a financial crime.

Lenders and mortgage loan originators have to publish their NMLS numbers on advertising such as business cards and websites, as well as on specific loan documents.

Related Content:

• CFPB's 5-year TRID assessment produces mixed results (10/15/2020)
• The redesigned URLA will be required in a few months; are you ready? (9/24/2020)
• Why lenders still need print fulfillment—even if they're going digital (8/25/2020)