Join the eClosing evolution!

DocMagic recently helped a Massachusetts lender close on a series of fully paperless mortgages! DocMagic’s eclosing technology, Total eClose™ tracked each completely paperless loan process in real time, combining an electronic closing with an electronically signed promissory note and deed of trust!

Stop by booth #50 at the New England Mortgage Expo on January 13th to learn how DocMagic continues to move the needle in digitizing the mortgage process by working with our customers and partners at every stage of their eClosing evolution!

Get Started with Total eClose™ NOW!

DocMagic's eClosing solution seamlessly integrates every component of a totally paperless eClosing process, including:

• Access to an extensive eDocument library featuring eSignature technology
• Generation of a MISMO category one compliant SMARTDoc eNote
• eNotarization technology for all 50 states
• Direct connectivity with the MERS eRegistry
• Long-term storage within a secure, certified eVault
• An Investor eDelivery channel
• An irrefutable Audit Trail for proof of compliance
• Backed by a $5M set of Reps & Warrants, our TRID compliance is guaranteed

Let us show you the benefits of working with a single eClosing provider!{{cta('be1de92d-98a6-4e3d-9c3a-ed63eba9b4c6','justifycenter')}}

The holidays always offer an opportunity to reflect on the past year, to recall the moments and people that made this or that year such a success. First and foremost, all of us here at DocMagic wish to thank you for the loyalty and trust you, our clients,extended to us over this exciting year. 2016 has been an amazing year for this company and the industry as a whole.  Allow me to highlight some of the year’s milestones.We started theyear with a bang when we announced the rollout of Total eClose™ at DocMagic’s “The eFuture is Now” bash at LA Live for the MBA’s annual Tech Conference.  A massive turnout of guests learned about our newest innovation and danced the night away in gifts of comfy bunny slippers… inspired by our mascot and spokesperson “Doc”.  The success of this occasion foreshadowed a banner year of growth in all areas of our business.

From the introduction of both the SmartCLOSE™ and Total eClose™ solutions, we have experienced record business growth, resulting in the need for some of the new faces you may have encountered at our headquarters. It has been a spectacular year for adding new clients and strategic partnerships, and to provide a heightened level of service quality, we’ve added an account management tier within the Customer Support Department.  We launched our NEW Premium Reps and Warrants Program to great support. Our eVaulting service took off with several of the nation’s largest financial institutions, and DocMagic’s NEW investor eQC service began delivering automated data and compliance services to investors.

While our internal tech wizards were burning the midnight oil to develop these solutions for our clients, we were selected to be the lead participant in the State of North Carolina’s eClosing Pilot, and DocMagic was named to the vendor technology advisory boards of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Most significantly, we executed many of the first paperless eClosings in the country and all participants worked hard to change the landscape of the industry by helping make the digital mortgage a reality.

We are so proud of our accomplishments and the employees that made it all possible. Year after year DocMagic invents and refines products and services that keep our clients compliant, successful and working smarter.  Our commitment remains the same -- to provide the best loan document, automated compliance and eServices solutions available… anywhere.

We extend warm wishes for a joyous Holiday Season and look forward with optimism to what lies ahead in 2017.

This fall, a Massachusetts lender closed on a fully paperless mortgage. The work that led to this rare achievement captures the difficulties originators still face in digitizing the loan process.

Radius Financial Group in Norwell electronically closed six loans beginning in October. The process was created in partnership with the tech vendor DocMagic, the MERS loan registry, Fannie Mae and Santander Bank.

Electronic closings and e-notes have been kicking around for a long time. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have purchased e-mortgages since the early 2000s. But they remain rare, partly because there are few warehouse lenders that can handle these transactions. Rarer still are completely paperless loan processes that combine an electronic closing with an electronically signed promissory note and deed of trust.

Lately, however, momentum has been building to accelerate the move toward paper-free mortgages. A report last year from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that transactions were faster and borrowers walked away feeling better when a loan was closed using digital means rather than paper.

While the choice to push for a digital mortgage process was largely a matter of improving the customer experience, it also has bottom-line benefits for the company as well, Radius co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Keith Polaski said.

"The first thing for us was the consumer experience, but without a doubt there are tremendous derivative economic gains and efficiencies," Polaski said. "At the end of the day, decisions are made on surrounding economics. If I can save myself 200 bucks a loan, we should be looking at that."

The first loan done through the completely paperless process was closed on a Friday morning at the closing attorney's office "with cups of coffee and chocolate chip cookies," Polaski said. Radius had its technical staff on-site for the first two e-closings to ensure the process went smoothly.

The documents were signed using a tablet. (Notarized documents were also signed with ink for recording purposes because Massachusetts does not yet allow registries to accept electronically notarized documents, though the note and all other documents were electronic.)

That same day, Fannie Mae purchased the loan from Santander, the transaction's warehouse lender.

"For every [paper] transaction, there's five FedExes for that note — those go away," Polaski said. "How fast things turn around will save money."

More than 3,000 miles away, in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic followed the closing as it happened.

"What was interesting about the transaction was our ability to monitor its progress in real time," DocMagic CEO and President Dominic Iannitti said. "Because we were controlling all of the different web service calls that collectively made up that entire process, we were able to monitor it from our offices and watch it transpire without actually being there."

These half-dozen loans were the culmination of a journey that took more than two years. It began when Radius was approached by an aggregator — Polaski declined to identify the company by name — about working together on an e-note pilot program, having heard of Radius' interest in this area. After a promising start, this project ultimately fell through.

"All of sudden everyone was moving in the right direction and then it stopped," Polaski said.

Still the experience positioned Radius well to keep trudging along. In August 2015, Radius received seller-servicer approval from Fannie Mae, a process that Polaski said took roughly four months. Then, the company lined up its e-note approval from Fannie, which Polaski said took only 45 days thanks to the work already completed in the e-note pilot program.

"We were lucky because we had done a lot of the MERS and e-vault work ahead of time," he noted.

Radius and DocMagic were not the only parties to the closing that had to get the proper technology in place. Massachusetts is an attorney-closing state; Radius' closing agent had to get approved as an electronic notary from World Wide Notary, a vendor. This required him to obtain an electronic signature pad and install and learn software.

Perhaps the biggest challenge throughout the entire process though was securing a warehouse lender that was equipped to do electronic closings; there are only a handful of such providers.

"There are only a few e-warehouse lenders and that is definitely a factor," Iannitti said. "If you don't have a company that's ready to purchase that e-note then you haven't really accomplished anything at all."

Santander did not make executives available for interviews. According to Polaski, the bank had been pursuing the e-warehouse business for more than two years, and company executives even had to travel to the bank's parent company in Spain to receive the OK.

"The stars were aligned and we finally had everybody aboard," Polaski said.

The next step was identifying the borrowers from the large pool of customers who already had a digital relationship with Radius from the application stage and could act as guinea pigs for the new closing process. That included making sure they were "friendly," Polaski said, "because if stuff went sideways we wanted to be able to put a paper note in front of them and have them understand they were part of a pilot."

With a handful of loans closed, Polaski said, Santander is now reviewing the experience before it moves forward with further e-warehouse lines. He expects that his company will move "robustly" into the e-closing space next year.

Radius is close to receiving Freddie Mac seller-servicer approval. Currently, the company hopes to sell roughly 20% of its originations to the agencies annually; the company is aiming for $1 billion in originations total next year. Selling to Fannie and Freddie is one piece of its e-close strategy. One remaining obstacle Polaski sees on the horizon is the lack of aggregators willing to purchase these loans.

"If the only place to sell these loans is Fannie, I just don't have the execution there," Polaski said. "If I had a handful of aggregators step in, I think we would move the entire book of business to e-note if the consumer has e-consented."

DocMagic, meanwhile, came out of the transactions with no items left on its to-do list. And while the move toward greater adoption of e-closings has been a slow one, Iannitti said he is happy with where things are.

"We're very pleased with the rate of adoption and rate of interest that we're seeing right now," Iannitti said. "It definitely took longer than we thought, but now we're seeing the momentum and feel that everything is moving in the right direction."

{{cta('92144eec-8ead-4b32-969f-8ddeea62763b')}}

Press Release:

DocMagic's cutting-edge technology seamlessly incorporates eSignature-enabled SMART™ Documents, a nationwide eNotary network, MERS eRegistry access, a secure eVault, and Investor eDelivery in a single comprehensive eClosing platform.

TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 29, 2016—DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that it has successfully completed the mortgage industry’s first comprehensive eClosing in Massachusetts, which included both lender and closing/settlement agent documentation, for radius financial group, inc. 

Unlike other eClosing technologies, DocMagic’s Total eClose™ solution is a single-source platform that contains all of the components needed to facilitate a completely paperless digital closing.  Paramount to achieving the end-to-end eClosing was eNotarization services provided by strategic partner World Wide Notary (WWN).  Once the eClosing process begins, documents requiring notary acknowledgment are automatically grouped by the system and electronically executed in the presence of the notary. The entire process takes only minutes and can happen in the comfort of the borrower’s home.

“There are a few mortgage technology vendors that have been working to deliver an eClosing for some time now, but they have all fallen short in various ways,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “Most of these solutions are merely hybrids that require certain documents to be executed on paper and often force lenders to maintain numerous complex integrations. With Total eClose, however, you work with a single vendor, on a single platform, and clients need only access DocMagic or the company’s SmartCLOSE™ system to seamlessly and compliantly fulfill a paperless closing.”

DocMagic's solution includes all of the critical components required to execute a fully digital eClosing transaction: its dynamic eDocument library that features eSignature, eNotary, and MERS eRegistration capabilities, and the system automatically stores all data and documents within a secure eVault designed to make investor eDelivery as simple as a few clicks. The single-source platform creates a highly-efficient, transparent and fully compliant eClosing process that guides users through every step, logs all activities and creates an irrefutable audit trail. 

Also key to DocMagic enabling radius’ first eClosing was the participation of Santander Bank, which served as the eWarehouse lender.  “In addition to having integrated eNotary capability, one of the last remaining obstacles to adoption has been the reluctance of warehouse players to fund eNotes,” said Tim Anderson, director of eServices at DocMagic.  “We helped test and implement an eWarehouse process to eDeliver acceptance of the eNote to Santander Bank within seconds after the eClosing was completed.  This is an industry-altering achievement.”

DocMagic maintains detailed evidence of TRID compliance from the original loan application and Loan Estimate (LE) to delivery of the final Closing Disclosure (CD) with data, compliance determinations, calculations and documents all stored within DocMagic’s eVault for proof of compliance.

Also notable is that in 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) selected DocMagic as one of only 12 participants in its eClosing pilot project that was created to explore the benefits of digital mortgage technology for consumers.  CFPB Director Richard Cordray determined the pilot to be a success and encouraged lenders to implement an eClosing strategy.  Since that time, DocMagic has worked to perfect its end-to-end eClosing solution.

DocMagic’s integration with World Wide Notary (WWN) is an exclusive partnership for eNotarizations.  Founded in 2003 and based in Vernon, Texas, WWN is the developer of DigaSign, a proven solution that enables efficient, electronic notarizations.

About DocMagic

DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops software, mobile apps, processes and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. The company’s compliance experts and in-house legal staff consistently monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit www.docmagic.com.

By Brian Hornea

Cybersecurity has become an increasingly pressing issue in all industries that store personal information, particularly after a cyber-attack in 2014 against JPMorgan Chase that compromised some 83 million accounts.

Protecting data has become a larger concern to mortg

age professionals in recent years as the industry has become more and more digitized—many mortgage loans now are completed electronically to where no paperwork is involved at all. On top of that, mortgage lenders collect more personal information on customers than any other sector in the financial services industry, making them prime targets for hackers.Digital data security came to the forefront again this week as the CFPB made an announcementthat it is seeking input from stakeholders on consumer access to their personal financial data—particularly, how much access consumers have to that data and how secure the data is when it is being shared.

As digital data is becoming more difficult to protect—after all, the CFPB’s Office of Inspector General listed information security as one of the Bureau’s biggest challenges—companies that handle sensitive information are going to great lengths and expense to make sure that data is safe.

“Our IT’s department’s No. 1 priority is protecting data,” said Mark Mackey, CEO of International Document Systems. “You wouldn’t risk security for anything. It wasn’t as big of a deal 10 years ago because you didn’t hear about it as much.”

Mackey continued, “We try to put in as much security as we can from all sides. We put a lot of safeguards in place. Everything that can be encrypted is encrypted. We have to take everything to the extreme, unfortunately.”

DocMagic CEO Dominic Iannitti said of his company's security procedures, “DocMagic employs a multifaceted defense in depth approach to ensuring customer sensitive data is always protected. Multiple next generation firewalls are used to keep out unwanted traffic and intruders. Additionally, an intrusion detection and prevention system is used to analyze traffic and alert network security personnel of suspicious activity. Advanced encryption is used when data is transmitted to or from DocMagic servers. Secure Document Delivery to partners and third-party providers is provided through the WebDocs platform. This system utilizes a secure combination code along with a client configured challenge password that is entered prior to downloading documents.”

James Deitch, CEO of Teraverde Management Advisors, noted to MReport earlier this year that it has gotten easier for hackers: “They are usually invited in by having an employee click on an email that has an attachment or go to a website which has malware contained on it. And that malware can be downloaded onto a machine simply by browsing on the website.”

Should a data breach occur, Deitch said, “The first item is to do a pretty broad risk assessment and just understand what the risk elements to the company are. One can do a social engineering susceptibility test that are fairly straightforward. They can either be done by the company or independently. The second is just to go through what is called ‘patch management,’ just to make sure that all the updates on software, servers, or computers are all done. And to train employees on the techniques that hackers use to get in.”

This article originally appeared on the MReport Blog on November 17, 2016.

The DocMagic team was thrilled to be a part of Pediatric Therapy Network's (PTN) Halloween celebration this year. PTN invited its corporate sponsors to donate treats for the children and even gave DocMagic the opportunity to participate in the festivities as well! Anula Mohan and Mike Zarrilli attended the event on behalf of DocMagic and were given their very own station in the costume parade to distribute toys and treats (and high fives) to the halloween-clad children. 

We're excited to attend the upcoming MBA Annual Convention & Expo at the Hynes Convention Center October 23-26, 2016, in Boston, MA. Come see us in Booth 404 and let us tell you about our full suite of compliant & integrated eMortgage solutions:

• Compliance Management Solutions
• Comprehensive eMortgage Services
• Mobile Mortgage Technology
• Collaborative Closing Technology
• Intelligent Document Generation
• Print Fulfillment

We are also proud to announce our Total eClose™, DocMagic's eClosing solution, which seamlessly integrates every component of a totally paperless eClosing process, including:

• Access to an extensive eDocument library featuring eSignature technology
• Generation of a MISMO category one compliant SMARTDoc eNote
• eNotarization technology for all 50 states
• Direct connectivity with the MERS eRegistry
• Long-term storage within a secure, certified eVault
• An Investor eDelivery channel
• An irrefutable Audit Trail for proof of compliance
• Backed by a $5M set of Reps & Warrants, our TRID compliance is guaranteed

Our eClosing technology is available NOW! Let us show you the benefits of working with a single eClosing provider.

We're proud to be Platinum Sponsors of the Calyx Ascend16 Symposium and User Conference October 5-8, 2016, in New Orleans, LA. 

Come see us in Booth 200 and let us show you our compliant integrated eMortgage solutions!

Our end-to-end compliant solutions include mobile technology that delivers connectivity your borrowers expect, a collaborative closing environment that features our proprietary ClickSign technology, intelligent content-enabled TRID-compliant document generation, a secure eVault for long-term data and document storage, and a rep and warrant program that wraps our entire process from start to finish.

JOIN OUR PANEL SESSION 
FRIDAY 11:15AM - 12:15PM 

At DocMagic, we know that automation can not only improve the efficiency of your workflow, but also helps ensure regulatory compliance from LE to CD.

This session covers the points in the process where technology plays a critical role in compliant delivery, workflow, and documentation. We'll define how automated solutions affect the changing roles of loan originators, brokers, lenders and settlement agents.
And you'll understand why integrated and automated technology is critical for
proving compliance with TRID.

{{cta('f2c4c318-7046-45e7-ad56-50e154470952')}}

Press Release:

Fully TRID-compliant solution delivers superior service and a competitive advantage

TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 29, 2016—DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions, announced that Corporate Settlement Solutions (CSS), a title and settlement services company, has successfully implemented DocMagic’s Total eClose™ solution.As a result, CSS can offer a completely new customer experience, gain a competitive advantage, and remain 100 percent TRID compliant at all times.

“We recognized early on that in order to differentiate ourselves from a crowded marketplace, it was paramount to offer elevated service to our clients,” said Jerome Jelinek, CEO and general counsel at CSS. “With the addition of DocMagic’s Total eClose, we offer lenders the opportunity to transform their mortgage origination process through the elimination of paper, thereby significantly reducing costs and increasing efficiencies.”

CSS combined DocMagic’s functionality, services and integrations into a single offering to create an easy-to-use, out-of-the-box eClosing solution. DocMagic’s Total eClose functionality unites eNote, eSignature, eNotary, MERS eRegistration, eDelivery, and eVault services to provide a highly-efficient, paperless end-to-end eClosing. In addition, documents that need to be notarized can be conveniently eSigned and eNotarized without leaving the comfort of their home.

“We are excited that CSS is successfully leveraging our Total eClose solution to provide a completely electronic closing process for their customers,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “As a settlement service provider, it is impressive that CSS has taken a leading role in promoting the benefits of eClosings and as an early adopter, they will enjoy a significant advantage over their competitors.”

After the introduction of TRID and its increased liability for lenders and their assignees, if you originate, sell, buy or service loans, you must be able to demonstrate TRID compliance years after a loan closes. DocMagic’s system provides electronic proof and evidence of compliant transactions for future audits with a date and time stamp audit trail of everyone who has touched the transaction at any level. From the original loan application and Loan Estimate (LE) to receipt of delivery of the final Closing Disclosure (CD), data, calcs and documents are stored in an eVault to provide the ability to replicate proof of compliance.

With TRID’s increased compliance requirements and soon the implementation of the new Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) requirement, the future is in fully-electronic transactions that help lenders meet strict timing requirements and provide the ability to fully recreate all compliance checks at every point in the transaction. The CFPB and industry experts agree that it’s better to adopt and implement the technology and processes to make eClosings a reality now as opposed to later.

About DocMagic
DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops software, mobile apps, processes and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. The company’s compliance experts and in-house legal staff consistently monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit www.docmagic.com.

About CSS
Corporate Settlement Solutions (CSS) is a dynamic, forward-thinking group of real estate settlement service professionals with a focused passion for providing a superior customer experience. The company started as a local title agency in northwest Michigan in 1992. CSS’ growth fostered expansion into a regional vendor management company offering a full range of title, closing, valuation, flood, and recording products. The company offers powerful title software for accurate and efficient
title and settlement transactions as well as an and-to-end eClosing solution. For more information, go to www.visitcss.com.

Industry experts weigh in on recent changes to Fannie Form 1003/Fredie Form 67.

By Patrick Barnard

In the first update for the form in more than 20 years, government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have redesigned the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA – Fannie Form 1003/Freddie Form 67) in order to make it simpler to use and to add new data fields for increased reporting under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).

The new version includes simplified terminology and a clearer set of instructions for users, according to the GSEs. This, in turn, will help borrowers complete the loan application with less help from the lender. As part of the project, the GSEs worked together to create a common corresponding data set, called the Uniform Loan Application Dataset (ULAD), to ensure consistency of data delivery.

Lenders may begin using the redesigned forms on Jan. 1, 2018; however, as of right now, there is no deadline set for their required use.

The updating of the form is part of the GSEs’ Uniform Mortgage Data Program (UMDP), a larger joint initiative under the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), to standardize single-family mortgage data in the U.S.


Although at first glance these updates might not seem like a big deal, they are, in fact, an important step toward standardizing the loan information used for underwriting single-family mortgages. To learn more about how the industry is viewing these changes, MortgageOrb recently interviewed Tim Anderson, director of e-services for DocMagic, a provider of loan document software and services; Mike Vitali, senior vice president and chief compliance officer at LoanLogics, a provider of technology and outsourced audit services; and Annemaria Allen, CEO and president of The Compliance Group, a consultancy that assists lenders with mortgage compliance and quality control (QC).

Q: What is your initial reaction to the changes? Do you feel the changes were necessary? Are there some changes that you feel were more needed than others?

Anderson: These changes were needed. With the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) forms (the loan estimate and the closing disclosure), it’s good to try and standardize them as much as possible to have the same look and feel to them for the consumer. I still wish they would have moved to a full intelligent, or, as some refer to them, SMARTDoc, format so that only the exact terms specific to the loan would be shown. They did incorporate the idea of a “dynamic” document, so if a consumer is filling out the form online, some of it expands or contracts based on some of the loan types and conditions. It should be the same if one is printing and filling it out manually, producing less data and fewer pages that are not relevant.

Vitali: I believe the changes will prove beneficial to both lenders and consumers. The additional information will help lenders make an earlier, more informed decision on borrower qualifications and whether they should proceed with the processing of the loan. They will also be in a better position to explain what additional information may be needed and why. With the increased scrutiny on loan quality and customer service, the need for more comprehensive borrower information became more important. The added data will also provide a more complete picture of the applicant – which may assist lenders and the agencies in making better determinations about risk factors that can lead to borrower defaults.

Allen: Let’s just say that we have been using basically the same URLA for the past 30 years, with very few to moderate changes. So, yes, I feel the current URLA needs a complete update. Times have changed, and laws have changed, so my initial reaction to the changes is that, for the most part, they are good. From a compliance standpoint, of course the HMDA changes are needed. The URLA is the primary form in which we collect all of our data. It tells us the story we need to know about the borrower. The better documented the story is, the faster it speeds up the lending process. I have some concerns with documenting co-borrowers’/joint credit and perhaps some inconsistencies there, but it could be a product of looking at the same form for 30 years and then trying to review this new form to determine how certain aspects apply. Generally, after several months of using the form, it all starts falling into place. I would suspect that there would be a need for an amended version about a year after the form comes out.

Q: Do you feel that the form is “clearer” and will be easier to use, as the FHFA says? Are the instructions clearer?

Anderson: Yes. I like the idea that they separated the borrower information from the lender so there will be less confusion on who fills out what. They also used the same company that designed the TRID documents – and so leveraged some of the consumer feedback they received from that to include in the new URLA. Yes, the instructions are clearer. They used more simplified consumer language than business loan officers (LOs).

Vitali: Definitely. The form is like a road map for originators or consumers who are providing lenders with the information needed to move forward with their loan applications. It will also highlight areas that may need additional research or information.

Allen: There are parts that are definitely clearer, but then there are parts that are more confusing. For example, Sections 3a and 3b were a bit more confusing for me. For example, Section 3 asks the borrower to list all properties owned and what is owed on them, but in Section 3a, it only gives one spot for one address. Then it says, if you are refinancing, list the property you are refinancing first – well, there is only one spot, so it doesn’t really matter. Then you go to 3b, which is where you would put any additional property, but again, it only provides one spot for one address. What about the borrower who owns multiple properties? As I looked at it several times, it became clearer, but the flow was a bit awkward. I thought providing the borrower with details for each section was helpful, such as listing income from other sources and the assets section.

Q: What do you think were the main reasons why the FHFA sought to update the form at this time?

Anderson: It is a continuation of the UMDP that started with the mortgage appraisal form and the Uniform Appraisal Dataset and expanding it to other critical documents to ensure more transparency and better loan quality to feed its underwriting and decisioning systems. Fannie and Freddie have announced their new pre-closing QC systems that will eventually replace Loan Prospector and Desktop Underwriter, and it just makes sense if you are collecting more data sooner, lenders can focus on making good loans and spend less time and money on ones they know they cannot approve later.

Vitali: Increased data on loan applicants is a big part of it. Information is king. In the world of “big data,” the more information a company has about its customer, the better it can serve that person and analyze its risks at the same time. The more detailed information gathered on loan applicants the better. Once collected, this information can then be sliced and diced in a variety of ways to gain a much better understanding of consumers, lenders and the potential for risk in future lending.

Q: What segments or positions do you feel will be most impacted by the changes?

Anderson: Obviously, loan origination, but the expanded data requirements will also have a positive effect on better underwriting.

Vitali: Loan originators will be the first ones impacted. The new URLA requires LOs to ask more questions and gather much more detailed information. However, this should help the better LOs make a quicker decision on whether they should pursue the applications or cut bait. Although this will, at first, increase the work and time involved in taking the initial application, in the long run, it will save valuable time for everyone, including the consumer.

Q: Do you anticipate that these changes will require system upgrades? And if so, do you think those changes will be minor or major (disruptive) in nature?

Anderson: Yes, moving to a MISMO 3.4 format. The Uniform Closing Dataset scheduled for the third quarter of next year will be the next big step to get them there. Whether this will be disruptive depends. With TRID, many loan origination systems could not support the new MISMO 3.3 data requirements, so moving from the previous 2x versions to a new 3x standard was a big effort and leap for most. But once they got there, adding the data elements is really not a big task going forward.

Vitali: The layout and information on the new forms will require system upgrades. There is more information, and it’s in a brand new format. That requires changes. Each data point must also be mapped to meet the MISMO coding for the required electronic reporting of all of the data to the agencies. One change that may require some additional programming is the required use of a separate URLA for each applicant when multiple applicants are involved. This will require the capability to gather the information for each on a separate form while combining and aggregating common data and separating other information that is unique to each applicant. However, I believe technology providers can handle these changes, as the information is uniform throughout.

Allen: Yes, system upgrades – in fact, major system upgrades – and yes, disruptive. As I said, the URLA hasn’t changed in years. There are so many components tied within the application that certain changes will affect other areas, and sometimes you don’t even realize they will affect another area until they do. The application is the heart of the loan process, so our industry is literally having a heart transplant. But just like with a heart transplant – does anyone really want one? No, but they have them because the oxygen starts flowing better, the blood starts circulating through the arteries better, and once you heal, you feel amazing. I do feel the URLA needed an overdue update, but with anything in our industry, it’s never easy. Hopefully, with technology becoming more and more ingrained in our industry, change won’t be as difficult down the road. Keep in mind, though, there will always be updates and patches – it’s a work in progress.

Q: Lenders can start using the redesigned URLA on Jan. 1, 2018. A timeline for required use of the redesigned URLA and ULAD will be established at a later date. What will your company be doing to prepare for the use of these forms, and how soon do you expect to get started?

Anderson: As opposed to most doc-prep companies that based their technology on producing dumb PDFs, DocMagic’s system is based on native XML data to generate “intelligent forms.” As one of the largest doc-prep companies in the industry, we were one of the companies they asked to participate in their original testing and rollout to get valuable feedback. So, we will be ready.

Vitali: LoanLogics, a provider of technology and outsourced audit services for lenders, is now in the process of reviewing any changes needed to extract and process the data that will be captured by lenders in the new URLA. This data will be utilized to analyze and audit loans in pre- and post-closing reviews for credit underwriting and compliance. This additional information facilitates a more comprehensive loan review that helps to better identify weaknesses in the process or information gathering that could lead to loan defects or, worse, repurchases or indemnifications. The information gathered and entered into the new URLA is validated and compared with other loan documentation to ensure it is more accurate.

This article originally appeared on the MortgageOrb Blog on September 7, 2016.