Written by Nathan Batts

The mortgage process is time-tested and ancient. While there has been considerable innovation, such as in the ability to shop for rates and apply online, many facets of the mortgage process have remained essentially unchanged. Paper and ink signatures continue to dominate transactions, closings are face-to-face, many documents are mailed, and filings with a local land records office are often still done in person. 

With wholesale transformations occurring everywhere in the banking business, we are at a critical point when changes in both technology and the law underpinning transactions are combining to bring about a new advancement for the mortgage industry. Electronic mortgages are positioned to transition from pilot project initiatives to routine occurrences and finally the new norm. In this article, the focus is on providing a high level explanation of these transactions and how the changes will benefit customers, financial institutions, and other market participants.

eMortgages and eClosings

Let’s start with a few basic terms. In an FAQ entitled “eClosings and eMortgages (eNotes)” last updated on May 18th of this year, the government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae includes the following helpful information.

“What is an eClosing? An eClosing is the act of closing a mortgage loan electronically. This occurs through a secure electronic environment where some or all of the closing documents are executed and accessed online (also known as the ‘execution’ phase of creating an electronic mortgage loan). This is often a hybrid process in which certain key documents (e.g., Note, Security Instrument) are printed to paper and traditionally wet-signed while other documents throughout the process are signed electronically.

What is an eMortgage? An eMortgage is a mortgage loan where the critical loan documentation, specifically the promissory note (eNote), is created electronically, executed electronically, transferred electronically and ultimately stored electronically. An ‘eClosing’ produces an ‘eMortgage’ only if the promissory note is signed electronically. Note: This can still include a traditionally wet-signed security instrument.”

“eClosings and eMortgages (eNotes)” Frequently Asked Questions, Fannie Mae, https://www.fanniemae.com/content/faq/emortgage-faqs.pdf. 

Thus, two key terms, eClosings and eMortgages, have emerged. For now, we can use electronic mortgages as a more general term encompassing both concepts. The term digital mortgage is also widely circulating.

Characteristics of the First Transactions

The eClosing for the first documented end-to-end electronic mortgage in North Carolina occurred on May 5, 2017 as part of a pilot initiative by the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State and North State Bank Mortgage.

The second eClosing occurred on August 10th as a hundred industry and regulatory agency observers, who had signed nondisclosure agreements to protect borrower information, gathered in Raleigh and watched the transaction unfold remotely on video screens. 

For the observers at the second eClosing, the left-hand side of the screen was split between streaming video of the closing attorney sitting in her office and below streaming video of another location where the borrower was seated together with a certified electronic notary. On the right-hand side of the screen, observers saw an open application window displaying the mortgage documents. A sidebar in the document window showed by name which document was being displayed and listed the other documents in the closing package. Thus, video-conferencing replaced a transaction which has traditionally been conducted in an attorney’s conference room, where everyone would gather around a table and sift through a stack of paper documents.

In transactions such as these, the software platform used by the lender and the closing attorney helps to guide the workflow and keep everything organized. The borrower simply goes through a few steps on the screen to consent to electronic records and to adopt an electronic signature which is held in the system. Then, the closing attorney explains to the borrower the mortgage disclosures and loan documents, steadily scrolling forward using mouse clicks and a scroll bar. At intervals a tab pops up on the screen where a digital signature needs to be applied. The closing attorney then temporarily transfers control to the borrower, who in turn with mouse clicks applies the previously selected digital signature to those tabbed places in the agreement or disclosures. After a digital signature has been applied, control transfers back to the closing attorney who continues his or her explanation and scrolls to the next area where a signature is required. One safeguard in the software platform is that documents will not continue to advance on the screen until necessary signatures have been obtained, which prevents many of the mistakes that occur at closings.

Once all borrower signatures have been obtained, the closing attorney and the electronic notary can carry out any remaining steps. For example, the closing attorney can pass control to the notary to apply electronic notarizations to the documents, with the notary’s signature and seal being applied in much the same manner used by the borrower to apply digital signatures. The closing attorney can review the documents and, using the dashboard in the eClosing platform, send the documents electronically to the lender for final funding approvals.

When the approvals have been obtained, any documents such as the deed of trust that require local recordation can be sent electronically, along with the recording fees, using an eRecording platform to the local Register of Deeds for the county where the real property is located. What the observers at the second eClosing saw was a software product that integrated both the eClosing and eRecording features. Once received by a Register of Deeds, the documents are reviewed by staff and either approved, with a book and page number assigned, or the closing attorney is notified where there may be any deficiencies that need to be corrected before the recording can be accepted.

Assuming the recordation has been done, the electronic promissory note is ready for eVaulting and registration on the MERS® eRegistry.

Under these steps, ownership can be transferred and view or access rights can be granted to various participants like warehouse lenders and Government Sponsored Enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While there may be many copies of the documents, the registry is set up so that there can be only one “authoritative copy” of the eNote, with information stored about who is the current controller/holder and the location where the authoritative copy is stored.

Thus, the cycle or workflow is from Pre-Closing (loan origination, title production, and document preparation, with any associated platforms or software systems), to eClosing, eRecording, and finally eAsset Management. Much of the flow can be controlled through simple software dashboard steps through the selected technology provider. 

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and a team led by Ozie Stallworth, Electronic Notarization and Notary Enforcement Director, have posted an excellent video online that walks viewers through these steps and shows how the transactions look. The video is available on YouTubeᵀᴹ and is entitled “North Carolina Secretary of State eClosing Pilot: From Aspirational Vision to Commercial Reality.”

North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. “North Carolina Secretary of State eClosing Pilot: From Aspirational Vision to Commercial Reality” Online Video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 15 August 2017. Web. 25 September 2017. 
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We'll continue the 2nd part of the series next week when we dive into "What's is Driving the Transition" and "Future Considerations."

Nathan Batts, Senior Vice President and Counsel, North Carolina Bankers Association (NCBA)

Reposted with Permission from Carolina Banker Magazine. 

By Tim Anderson

Today, digital technology is driving more of the loan transaction away from paper to online. The industry is realizing that it’s time to get the paper out of our systems and manual processes. Paper documents take more time to process, require more people to validate, and key information from and follow-up efforts to track down missing pages, signatures, or total file loss.

For example, delivering a correct closing disclosure (CD) to the borrower three days before closing highlights just how difficult it is to get everything right and on time in a paper world.

Ensuring proof of compliance on confirming something like receipt of delivery is next to impossible in a paper world. Taking the mortgage process fully electronic will be the only way to ultimately ensure a totally verifiable, auditable compliant process.

Beyond the improvements gained by eliminating the paper process, digital collaboration during the loan transaction promises a better consumer experience from the start. For lenders, the increase in operational efficiencies and consistency are measurable. Overall, a digital process ensures greater data and document integrity, compliance and control.

Digitizing the mortgage process has the potential to greatly improve both productivity and the customer experience. Lenders who incorporate a digital workflow gain efficiency, better satisfy borrower expectations for collaboration and communication, and ultimately capture more market share.

• Go from a 50-minute to 15-minute closing
• Eliminate last minute surprises at the closing table
• Significantly reduce time and cost
• Close without exceptions
• Ensure a “consistently clean and clear” closing every time
• Better authentication and security (reduce fraud)
• Tamper evident seal on data and documents to protect data and document integrity
• Differentiates yourself in the marketplace
• Ensure greater service
• Ensure better loan quality and compliance

The technology is available and the process, albeit not widespread, is gaining momentum. Selling something that everyone else already does and has makes it a commodity. Digital Mortgages are for those that want to introduce a new way of doing business that gives you a competitive market advantage. It presents a new opportunity to truly differentiate yourself in an otherwise crowded  mortgage market. With immense regulatory pressure looming, historical methods will no longer be sufficient. And, as more organizations discover the demands of the marketplace, and today’s borrower, more parts of the lending transaction will happen electronically.

Press Release: 
TORRANCE, Calif., May 16, 2017- DocMagic, Inc., the mortgage industry’s leading provider of document production, automated compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that it completed North Carolina’s first 100 percent paperless eClosing. The DocMagic-driven eClosing was completed on Friday, May 5th at North State Bank and was carried out in the presence of borrowers Jason and Karen Boccardi, the North Carolina Secretary of State, a closing paralegal, an eNotary, and members of the media who documented the historical event.

Attorneys from the Hunoval Law firm attended via interactive video. The entire eClosing took only about 20 minutes to complete.

DocMagic’s Total eClose™, which contains all the components to facilitate a fully compliant, 100 percent paperless digital closing, served as the single platform that enabled the entire transaction. eNotarization was facilitated by long-time DocMagic strategic partner World Wide Notary (WWN).

DocMagic facilitated four of the five statewide-first eClosings, as well as the CFPB’s eClosing pilot program. The North Carolina eClosing was part of a state sponsored eClosing Pilot Program that was established in 2016 by North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall to create a best practices guide for mortgage lenders seeking the heightened security, speed and efficiency of eClosings.

North State Bank is the only lender in North Carolina, and one of only a handful of lenders nationwide, to have successfully completed a 100 percent paperless eClosing. The eNote was registered on the MERS eRegistry and made available to Mid America Mortgage, the investor in the transaction—within minutes of being executed by the borrowers.

Unlike hybrid systems that still require various documents to be papered-out, DocMagic’s eClosing system enables a 100 percent paperless process—this means that the eClosing requires zero paper from any party whatsoever, including documents requiring notarization.

“There’s a big difference between 100 percent paperless eClosings, and semi-paperless eClosings when it comes to quality, speed, security and efficiency,” stated Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “Together, DocMagic and our partner World Wide Notary provided the most comprehensive, advanced technology solution to enable the safest, highest quality, fastest, most efficient experience—not only for the borrowers, but also for the lender, investor, and every settlement services provider at the closing table.”

“This was our first North Carolina eClosing; it is not our last. We want this to become a regular option for lenders and their customers because of the many advantages eClosing offers versus the slower, traditional paper-based system,” Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall said in a statement.

Secretary of State Marshall has been a leading advocate for modernizing traditional business practices in North Carolina to better compete at the national and international levels.

“We’re proud to have been selected by the state of North Carolina to participate in this historic event and to work with progressive lenders like North State Bank who are moving the industry forward into a faster, safer and more efficient closing process,” said Iannitti. “We’re looking forward to further supporting Secretary of State Marshall’s efforts to elevate the competitiveness of businesses in North Carolina.”

DocMagic’s digital mortgage suite includes all the critical components required to execute a 100% paperless eClosing transaction. 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.

About DocMagic:
DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance, eSign, eDelivery and comprehensive eMortgage services 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 http://www.docmagic.com/.

Press Release:
DocMagic, BeSmartee and LendingQB Host Webinar on Digital Lending To Improve Loan Process

Costa Mesa, CA, April 24, 2017 – DocMagic, the mortgage industry’s leading provider of document preparation, automated compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, BeSmartee, a leading online mortgage automation company and LendingQB, a provider of lean lending loan origination technology solutions, will hold a webinar discussing the opportunities and challenges of the “Digital Lending” paradigm on April 26, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST.

Webinar attendees can expect to hear how the mortgage lending process is being transformed into a pure digital format, and how that impacts borrowers, lenders and institutional investors. Webinar topics will include a discussion of current-day digital lending efforts on the point-of-sale, loan origination, closing and delivery phases of mortgage lending. The three hosts will demonstrate how their systems interact with each other and highlight the critical aspects of data integrity, workflow, exchange and compliance that provides the necessary framework for a pure digital lending process. 

“Digital lending is more than just a mobile loan application,” said Tim Nguyen, President of LendingQB. “The webinar will help broaden people’s perspective on what digital lending is and what its true potential is. Leveraging a data-driven mortgage lending process reduces the risk to investors because it provides the accessibility and transparency they need. To achieve this level of data clarity, it’s important that every participant in the process – the point of sale system, the LOS, the e-Vaulting system – be equipped with the best integrations that can communicate securely and seamlessly throughout the entire loan life cycle.”

“The point-of-sale is key to creating a positive digital experience with the consumer,” said Tim Nguyen, Co-Founder and CEO of BeSmartee. “But the consumer experience extends beyond a loan application. Lenders need to stay engaged with their borrowers by providing value-added services such as loan status updates, condition tracking, closing disclosures – activities that reach deep into the functionality of the LOS. Seamless integrations between the LOS and POS bridges the gap between consumer experience and a lender’s workflow that not only saves time and money, but ensures data integrity.”

“Lenders need to understand all the components of the eMortgage process so they can avoid costly mistakes,” said Dominic Iannitti, President and CEO of DocMagic, whose Total eClose™ solution seamlessly integrates every component of the closing process. “Digital mortgages require numerous technologies working in tandem. The way they communicate and interact with each other can have a huge impact on the effectiveness—and the cost—of the process.”

For more information and to register for the free webinar, please visit http://info.docmagic.com/digital-lending-webinar.

About DocMagic

DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services for the mortgage banking 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 BeSmartee

BeSmartee, Inc. has developed a best of breed mortgage origination technology, enabling lenders to compliantly take their borrowers from the initial contact into Underwriting in 20 minutes with a complete application, credit report, income/asset documentation, eSigned/eDelivered disclosures and paid appraisal. Founded in 2008 with headquarters in Huntington Beach, Calif., the BeSmartee, Inc. team has worked on the front and back-end of mortgage originations for over a decade, using their knowledge and experience to shift the paradigm and develop a truly unrivaled experience with an array of tools and features catering to the specific needs of mortgage lenders and their borrowers.

For more information on how BeSmartee's Smart Mortgage can reduce the mortgage process by up to two weeks, visit www.besmartee.com.

About LendingQB

LendingQB is a provider of Lean Lending solutions. The Lean Lending solution consists of a 100 percent web browser-based, end-to-end loan residential mortgage origination system, best of breed integrations with key industry partners and ‘adoptimization’ services that result in faster cycle times and lower costs per loan. For more information, please call 888.285.3912 or visit www.lendingqb.com.

One of the nation’s largest lenders completes its first eClosing as an eWarehouse lender, using DocMagic’s Total eClose™ solution for eWarehouse lending

TORRANCE, Calif., April 21, 2017—DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that Texas Capital Bank has implemented its Total eClose™ solution. This implementation enables the bank to function as an eWarehouse lender. They can now accept and fund eNotes from its lender customers that want to drastically speed up the process of closing and selling loans.

Total eClose™, DocMagic’s eClosing technology, is a single-source, centralized platform that provides all necessary components to enable a completely paperless digital closing. Texas Capital Bank is a leading provider of warehouse credit facilities to fund mortgage origination and acquisition.

Texas Capital Bank recently funded its first eNote with a key lender client using DocMagic’s eMortgage technology suite. The eNote was instantly delivered to the bank, registered with MERS, and securely stored in DocMagic’s eVault. They completed the entire transaction electronically and transferred the eNote to Fannie Mae in minutes, rather than days.

“DocMagic’s eClosing and eMortgage solutions have provided Texas Capital Bank with the tools necessary to incorporate the funding of eNotes into our everyday operational procedures,” said Donnie Martin, Executive Vice President at Texas Capital Bank. “We believe the digital mortgage revolution and acceptance of eNotes will continue to grow. We are pleased to have partnered with DocMagic to build out the infrastructure needed to support the eNote funding process at the bank, which in turn supports the trend towards digital mortgages.”

“It’s very rewarding to support Texas Capital Bank as they move forward and break ground as an eWarehouse leader,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “In this industry, it’s forward-thinking, tech-savvy organizations like this that thrive, set the pace and reach their goals. They understand the fundamental role that advanced technology plays in their—and the industry’s—progress. We look forward to collaborating further as we help drive true end-to-end eMortgage adoption.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has repeatedly encouraged lenders to implement eClosing technology and operational processes to make obtaining a home loan as easy as possible for borrowers.

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall wants the state to be a leader in eCommerce. It adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act and the Electronic Notarizations Act. All of this was to prepare for the day when the state could institute eClosings.

“We have been working diligently over the past 15 years to build the infrastructure to build electronic commerce,” Director of Electronic Notarization and Notary Enforcement Ozie Stallworth said. “We thought it was a prime time for North Carolina to step forward and lead in this space because we have the legal infrastructure in place to support a full end-to-end eClosing. We looked to our state’s lending institutions to see whether or not they understood and believed that the industry was headed down the road towards eClosings.”

Stallworth determined the financial institutions were eager to move forward. North State Bank Mortgage President J. Kenneth Sykes agreed and said the state’s efforts are cutting edge.

“We believe that eClosings will enhance the customer experience and provide a more secure method of mortgage loan closings,” Sykes said.

Invitations were set out to financial institutions, title agents and technology providers asking them to participate in the pilot. Together the participants began educating each other on what was possible, potential barriers and what the eClosing transaction would look like.

“What we are trying to accomplish through this pilot is the full end-to-end electronic process,” Stallworth said. “Not the hybrid version. We encourage all forms of electronic commerce, whether it’s hybrid or not, but this pilot is focused on incorporating in-person electronic notarization so that the entire process from start to finish can be completely electronic without any paper in the process at all.”

DocMagic Director of eServices Tim Anderson said this pilot is unique because it is one of the first to be officially sponsored by the state.

“This will be a full paperless eClosing, including eNotary and both title and lender documents,” Anderson said. “We not only see this as providing a better consumer education and experience, but for the lenders selling the loan to investors to eliminate the post-closing issues, and if you can do that, investors can fund the loan with certainty and avoid any post-closing trailing doc issues that may hold up funding the loan. Everyone wins.”

eOriginal General Manager of Digital Mortgage Simon Moir agreed. He said the pilot offers an opportunity to bring all the players together in one place to remove the barriers — both real and perceived.

Potential barriers include jurisdictions that aren’t eRecording or still keep all files on paper. Sykes said with any major change of format within the lending industry caution is expected. But Stallworth said there hasn’t been any push back so far.

“The active participants in the pilot are reaching out individually and collectively to various stakeholder groups such as the Realtor association and the State Bar, the Bar association, the bankers association and others, to make sure they are aware and informed of this transformative effort. It is important to have the input of all the stakeholders to ensure that eClosing in North Carolina will be a benefit to all in the state and to the consumers in particular.,” Stallworth said. “We anticipate hearing more of those voices.

“Secretary Marshall has long stressed the importance of making technological advances to ensure that those doing business in North Carolina would be able to compete at the highest levels in an increasingly global marketplace.  This eClosing pilot program is the fruition of the many years of working to construct the statutory framework to support electronic commerce and will potentially be a model for other states to follow.”

By Tim Anderson

The days of no pressure are over. Any lender that hasn’t already waded into the ePool had better be ready to jump. With immense regulatory pressure looming, the old method of just doing something is no longer sufficient. It's time for a new tack.

The recent news about the IRS decision is an ex- ample of this. With all the buzz around this news, we’re already hearing from lenders who are interested in a point solution that will allow them to take advantage of this decision for doing business with the IRS. This makes sense because this is front and center in the news, but since these lenders are not considering how this decision impacts the rest of their business, it’s short sighted.

The 4506-T is just one document and while it makes good sense to make the ordering, accepting, processing, filing and storing that document all electronic, what about all the other documents? The e-signature part of this solution can and should be applied elsewhere in the enterprise. When it is extended, it should be done the same way. If it’s good enough for the goose, it’s good for the gander as well.

Seeking a paperless map. Electronic signatures are more than a digital picture of a signature; they are a process, a ceremony. E-sign is a legal process that includes proof that the borrower actually viewed every document, whether there’s a signature or not. Auditors will demand to know if the borrower actually viewed every document. There are also requirements around whether the signature is embedded or an overlay. There are other requirements around how the lender provides the tamper- evident seal. Investors have a lot to say about what is actually involved.

Providing a common and consistent eSigning experience. These processes can vary by vendor, but using different types of e-sign technology across an enterprise can cause problems with investors, to say nothing of confusing borrowers and degrading the consumer’s experience. Remember, from the consumer’s perspective, there are many other documents they would like to sign electronically. If the lender hopes to get consumer adoption, the same tools should be used across the entire process and borrowers should not be asked to sign some documents electronically and others traditionally.

Lenders no longer have the luxury of gently moving into the paperless world. They need to get in soon and they need to take their entire lending process with them. That means that institutions will be seeking solutions that will get all of the paper out. Lacking that, they will seek out partial solutions that already carry within them the map for the future steps that will get them fully electronic.

The very best way to ensure that is to work with a vendor who can take you down that road as fast and as far as you want to go, but in no case slower than the government requires. Choosing a vendor that can only provide a point or piecemeal solution, without a plan for getting to the next step, will put the institution at risk.

An “e”nterprise solution, from application, to closing, to servicing. A good RFP will go a long way toward separating those players who cannot provide a complete solution from those that can. It will also reveal which vendors understand the nuances—from application all the way to closing and loss mitigation—that could impact the lender’s ability to comply with investor and regulatory guidelines. Moving into electronic lending is no longer a simple, cheap or fast implementation. Like everything else in this business, it requires careful consideration.

This is part one of a two-part article on the industry-wide transition out of paper-based processes to electronic, from application through to closing and servicing. Tim Anderson is the Director of eServices at DocMagic.

Posted with permission from The Mortgage Executive Magazine.

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')}}