progressinlending.com | And The 2017 Winners Are … //

PROGRESS in Lending Association has named the work done by DocMagic a top innovation. As the mortgage industry slowly embraces the Digital Mortgage, DocMagic launched what was dubbed its “Total eClosing solution,” which enables a comprehensive, true 100% paperless eClosing that automates the entire process — from start to finish. Looking back, DocMagic was brought to the forefront of eClosing technology awareness with its participation in the CFPB’s eClosing pilot in 2014. This vendor was 1 of only 12 firms that was invited by the CFPB to participate. If the industry is going to go digital it will need vendors like DocMagic to lead the way. The Total eClose solution includes the seamless incorporation of its eSignature-enabled SMART Documents, a nationwide eNotary network, MERS eRegistry access, eWarehousing, eNotes, a secure eVault, and secure investor eDelivery — all in a single, comprehensive eClosing platform and completely TRID-compliant. There is absolutely no paper involved at any point, at any time.

TORRANCE, Calif., March 16, 2017—DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that it was named to National Mortgage Professional (NMP) magazine’s annual ‘Top 100 Mortgage Employers’ list for 2017. This is the second consecutive year that DocMagic has earned placement on the annual list.

Winners were selected using NMP magazine’s proprietary Mortgage Company Employer Score (MECS), which weighs and scores various areas in a company to arrive at the list each year. A polling of NMP subscribers is used with the following criteria: corporate culture; compensation; day-to-day management; internal communications; marketing; training; resources; long-term strategy; ingenuity; speed; technology; and industry participation.

“Employees are the heart and soul of DocMagic—it’s their ingenuity, dedication, and constant commitment to raising the bar that continues to make us one of the mortgage industry’s longstanding category leaders,” stated Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic, Inc. “We are pleased that National Mortgage Professional magazine has recognized the contributions the DocMagic team makes to the industry, and we’re proud to be selected as a Top 100 Mortgage Employer for the second consecutive year.”

NMP is one of the mortgage industry’s leading go-to sources for extensive news coverage for mortgages, origination, compliance, secondary marketing, servicing, settlement, technology, trending, and more.

DocMagic, Inc. is proud to announce that president and CEO, Dominic Iannitti, was honored by HousingWire with its 2016 Vanguard Award, which recognizes top mortgage executives for professional accomplishments and for their positive impact on the industry at-large.

The Vanguard Award list is limited to business unit executives within the housing and mortgage finance spheres, specifically those who stand out as innovators and trailblazers. The bar is set extremely high, so all Vanguard nominees represent the highest caliber and demonstrate substantial industry influence.

“The HW Vanguards continues to impress going into its second year; the winners are second-to-none and this list represents the finest cross section of mortgage talent available,” said Jacob Gaffney, HousingWire editor-in-chief.
This was a momentous year for Iannitti. 2016 saw the launch of two industry-altering platforms at DocMagic, and Iannitti’s role at the helm of those projects no doubt earned him a spot on the Vanguard list.

In the first half of the year, Iannitti led the charge in rolling out SmartCLOSE™, DocMagic’s award-winning collaborative closing portal, a solution for TRID compliance that brings lenders, settlement service providers, and other relevant parties together in a secure environment to share, edit, validate, audit, track, and collaborate on documents, data, and fees. Since its launch, SmartCLOSE has gained rapid industry adoption, proving it to be a true game-changer in loan closing today.

Following the launch of SmartCLOSE™, Iannitti shifted his focus to DocMagic’s single-source Total eClose™ solution, where he once again played an integral role in the project’s conception and development for the marketplace. The Total eClose™ suite contains all of the components needed to facilitate a completely paperless digital closing — from start to finish.

By October of 2016, DocMagic completed the mortgage industry’s first comprehensive eClosing for radius financial group, inc. The eClosing included both lender and closing/settlement agent documentation, eNotarization, eWarehousing and eNote acceptance. Unlike other so-called eClosing solutions (often merely hybrids which still require that certain documents be papered out), DocMagic’s centralized Total eClose™ platform facilitates a truly paperless digital closing, an industry milestone that cannot be underestimated.

“I am very honored and humbled to have been selected by HousingWire’s editorial board to appear on this list of esteemed mortgage executives,” commented Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “This award is absolutely the result of our continual technology innovations and the unwavering commitment and enthusiasm of the exceptional team at DocMagic.”

MReport Announces 2016 Women in Housing Honorees

DALLAS, August 17, 2016 – Today The MReport announced its 2016 “Power Players,” “Leading Ladies,” and “Emerging Leaders” honorees as part of its September 2016 special issue celebrating the accomplishments of women in the mortgage industry.

The 2016 “Power Players” are five mortgage and housing veterans with roles in both the government and private sector. In addition to powerful female leaders, 50 additional women were selected for MReport’s 2016 “Leading Ladies” and “Emerging Leaders” list. The women selected for these honors were nominated by their peers in the industry, who cited all the qualities that make them strong leaders—such as their intelligence, drive, and pursuit of innovation.
MReport’s Women in Housing honorees will also be acknowledged at the Women in Homeownership Leadership Forum at the Five Star Conference on Tuesday, September 13, 2016, from 2:15 PM to 3:15 PM, where the keynote speaker will be Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States (2001-2009).

"I believe it is essential for the industry to identify and give recognition to women leaders that have shaped the careers of so many," said Five Star President and CEO Ed Delgado. "This list while partial, it is emblematic of the rich and powerful base of women leaders that support the mortgage industry. We are proud to present their accomplishments."

2016 “Power Players”
• Amy Bonitatibus, Chief Communications Officer, Mortgage Banking and Credit Card Business, JPMorgan Chase
• Dana Dillard, Chief Customer Officer, Nationstar Mortgage
• Deborah L. Jenkins, SVP Multifamily Customer Engagement, Freddie Mac
• Glenda Gabriel, Neighborhood Lending Executive, Bank of America
• Kimberly Johnson, SVP & Chief Risk Officer, Fannie Mae

2016 “Leading Ladies”
• Carolyn Thompson, President and Owner, ASONS
• Charmaine Brown, Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Fannie Mae
• Cheryl Feltgen, EVP & Chief Risk Officer, Arch MI
• Debbie Lastoria, VP Business Development, Nationwide Title Clearing
• Donna DelMonte, SVP Operations, Assurant
• Hilary B. Provinse, SVP Multifamily Customer Engagement, Fannie Mae
• Jackie Oliver, SVP Nationstar Mortgage
• Jill A. Showell, SVP Government and Community Relations, Ocwen Financial Corporation
• J.K. Huey, SVP Mortgage Asset Management and Preservation, Wells Fargo
• Jody Collup, VP Marketing, Global DMS
• Julian Grey, Mortgage Market Leader Data & Analytics, Black Knight Financial Services
• Kellie Chambers, AVP Investor Relations, Safeguard Properties
• Kelly Chapman, SVP Client Management, Auction.com
• Kimberly Johnson, SVP & Chief Risk Officer, Fannie Mae
• Kristy Fercho, SVP Customer Delivery Executive, Fannie Mae
• Laurie Maggiano, Manager for Servicing and Securitization Markets, CFPB
• Lisa Sadaoui, President & CEO, First Allegiance
• Maria V. Moskver, General Counsel & Enterprise Compliance Officer, LenderLive
• Marianne Sullivan, SVP Single-Family Business Capabilities, Fannie Mae
• Marion McDougall, EVP Operations, Caliber Home Loans
• Marnie Ronda Lacue Applegate, SVP Credit Risk/Policy, Pacific Union Financial
• Meg Burns, Managing Director, The Collingwood Group
• Melanie Feliciano, Chief Legal Officer, DocMagic
• Mercedes Henricksson, Director of Sales, CPM Real Estate, Fannie Mae
• Michelle DeLeon, Managing Partner, Default Legal Services, Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer
• Min Lee Alexander, SVP Real Estate Services, Altisource
• Nadine Bates, SVP & Treasurer, Fannie Mae
• Pam Kosanke, Chief Marketing Officer, Renters Warehouse
• Patricia Raymo, COO Retail, Loandepot
• Phyllis L. Wright, Ph.D., SVP HR Strategies, VRM Mortgage Services
• Ramie Word, SVP Performing Acquisitions & Borrower Communication, Nationstar Mortgage
• Rebecca Smith, Director, Client Relations, Green River Capital
• Renee Schultz, SVP Capital Markets, Fannie Mae
• Sally French Tyler, EVP, First American Title Insurance Company
• Sally Taylor-Shoff, Scores Vice President, FICO
• Sandra J. Troutman, Director, Corporate Communications, MERSCORP Holdings
• Sarah Alexander Goldfrank, SVP & Deputy General Counsel, Fannie Mae
• Serena Yang, VP & Complience Officer, Civic Financial Services
• Sharron P.A. Levine, Director, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, FHFA
• Susheel Mantha, CFO, LRES Corporation
• Tami Bonnell, CEO, EXIT Realty Corp International
• Terri Hunter, SVP Asset Management and Portfolio Oversight, Chronos Solutions

2016 Emerging Leaders (35 years old and under)
• Kelly Brooks, CEO, Property Masters
• Tonia Conner, AVP, Acquisitions, Nationstar Mortgage
• Erika Cheyney, AVP, Operations, ZVN Properties
• Amy Sanchez, EVP, Prescient
• Tiffany Williams, Director of Default Services, Guardian Asset Management

RELATED LINKS
TheMReport.com
TheFiveStar.com
FiveStarConference.com

Press Release:

TORRANCE, Calif., -- DocMagic, Inc. the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions, announced that it was named to National Mortgage Professional magazine's annual "Top 100 Mortgage Employers" list for 2016.

The award is based on the magazine's Mortgage Company Employer Score (MECS), which weighs various factors in order to compile the list. A polling of readers is used with the following criteria: corporate culture; compensation; day-to-day management; internal communications; training resources; long-term strategy; innovation; speed; technology; and industry participation.

"We are honored to be recognized by National Mortgage Professional magazine as one of the Top 100 Mortgage Employers in the country to work for," said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic, Inc. "Our employees take a great deal of pride in and are very passionate about the innovative products and services we develop and support. DocMagic's ongoing success is predicated on its greatest asset-our highly valued personnel. This award is the result of their hard work and unwavering commitment to our mission."

Employees are offered a number of unique benefits that include catered lunches, regular company outings, an onsite gym and game room dubbed the Rabbit Hole, informal and formal breakout rooms, relaxation lounges, ad hoc staff appreciation awards, recreational events, and more. DocMagic's corporate culture is designed to inspire teamwork, creativity, and synergy.

The company brings personnel together in an open working environment that is conducive to collaboration, intrapreneurship, company building, and out-of-the-box thinking. DocMagic is known for its reputation of treating staff as not just employees but as family; many of them have been with the company since its founding, which speaks volumes.

Notable is that DocMagic's multi-million dollar facility was recently recognized by the American Institute of Architects with a 2013 AIA Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture. The twenty-five thousand sq. ft., state-of-the-art company headquarters was developed with the comfort of its employees in mind to operate in an optimal, very unique and collaborative work environment.

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 http://www.docmagic.com/.

SmartCLOSE^TM, DocMagic's collaborative TRID compliant closing portal is a winner of the 2016 Progress in Lending Innovations Award! With a goal to recognize true industry innovation, The Progress in Lending Association Executive Team judged every entry in several important categories; Industry Significance, Overall Uniqueness, Positive Change, Intangible ROI and Hard Savings ROI.

While the TRID compliance frenzy swept the industry there were a large number of Collaborative Closing portals launched in a short time period. Like many technology vendors, DocMagic saw the need for a portal that allows lenders, settlement service providers and others to work in sync inside a secure environment to view, share, update and exchange data prior to closing. That’s just the beginning however, as SmartCLOSE’s industry significance lies in the fact that its functionality moves far beyond the simple back and forth of email communications.

The TRID rule created an atmosphere that demanded a more fluid and constant collaboration between lenders and settlement service providers. This is where DocMagic’s SmartCLOSE portal flexes its overall uniqueness in the marketplace. The collaboration inside SmartCLOSE runs continuous and constant compliance checks throughout the process.Not only is the portal intuitive, its technology provides all participants with proof of compliance every step of the way.

This complete and total focus on compliance is part of the built-in design in all of DocMagic’s technology. SmartCLOSE comes equipped with DocMagic’s industry-proven Compliance System and Audit Engine. Running continuous compliance checks and audits assures that issues are caught early while there is still time to correct for compliant documents throughout the process. The result: positive change can be measured in fewer delays and reduced costs.

SmartCLOSE was designed to help lenders and settlement service providers comply with TRID but the portal’s superior functionality makes it so much more. As a collaborative environment where all key parties are participants in the compliant document process, SmartCLOSE ultimately becomes a workflow and document management tool. With constant audit trails of every change, and time and date stamped records securely housed in one central location, SmartCLOSE’s intangible ROI is evident in how easy it is for all parties to deliver compliant closing documents.

“Feature-rich” and “easy to use” are what users say about the SmartCLOSE collaborative portal.  The Hard Savings ROI is easy to see and feel in the workflow between lenders and settlement service providers. Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosures are both handled efficiently and easily by the portal’s workflow, giving lenders and settlement service providers a one-stop shop to prepare and submit compliant documents.

Click here to learn more about SmartCLOSE

Press Release:

TORRANCE, Calif., Aug. 18, 2015 -- DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions, announced that it has named Gavin T. Ales as chief compliance officer (CCO).

Mr. Ales has hands-on involvement in the development, implementation and maintenance of DocMagic's compliance products and services. This includes managing DocMagic's library of mortgage loan documents, which are used by lenders and brokers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories, monitoring legal and regulatory changes, and developing and maintaining DocMagic's automated compliance tests and audits.

Prior to joining DocMagic, Mr. Ales was the deputy chief compliance officer at Prospect Mortgage, LLC. He specializes in mortgage banking compliance; federal and state regulatory compliance; financial services law; real estate law; and consumer credit law, among other disciplines. 

"We are pleased to have someone with Gavin's depth of compliance experience and thorough understanding of regulatory rules join our growing team," said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. "Gavin's solid background in mortgage compliance will undoubtedly help us effectively manage loan document compliance and continue to provide robust automated compliance audits in today's very fluid mortgage marketplace." 

Mr. Ales holds a JD from American University's Washington College of Law, and a BBA with a concentration in Economics as well as a BA in International Studies, both from the University of Mississippi. He is licensed to practice Law in California as well as Maryland.

About DocMagic:
DocMagic, Inc. is a 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 http://www.docmagic.com/.

It was like coming home. “The first moment Iwalked into this building, I knew it was the right place for our company,” Dominic “Don” Iannitti says.

Iannitti is president and CEO of DocMagic, the largest loan document production company in the U.S., and the building he’s speaking of is an impressive, 25,000-square-foot state-of the art technology center in Torrance, California. Within the mostly curved walls of this modern office space, more than 100 employees dedicate themselves to providing unparalleled service for their clients, some of which are the nation’s top lenders.

Iannitti founded DocMagic back in 1988, and as he explains the open-office concept of the building to us, he can’t help but reminisce over the company’s humble beginnings— three employees (including Iannitti) in a 1,000-square-foot office. The company’s first sales person joined the team as a part-time employee after successfully selling the company its first fax machine, a critical component in those early days of taking orders.

But while the company’s start may have been unassuming, its vision was always clear.

“The core of what I found interesting when forming DocMagic was taking data in and leveraging it to produce documentation that would otherwise take hours to type out,” Iannitti says. “It was amazing to me that we could now leverage a data point across many forms and reduce errors because there wasn’t any re-typing going on. Of course all this grew into much more.”

A source of great pride for Iannitti is the fact that a high percentage of the company’s 100+ employees have been with the company for the long haul. This not only includes his COO Alan Brisbane, who has been with DocMagic since day one, but many of the support staff as well. “

DocMagic as a whole understands the immense value of its most important resource—the people that make this place run,” Iannitti says. “A lot of companies get to the point of where they are patting themselves on the back for their own ingenuity, when the reality is it’s the people that make up the organization that make it happen. We take a lot of steps to make sure our employees are comfortable.”

When you look at the design of DocMagic’s headquarters, the high-esteem employees are held in is obvious. The open-office layout encourages workers to wander away from their desks, often convening together in one of the office’s many lounges. While each employee has their own individual workspace with big, dual monitors on their desk, anyone can grab a notebook computer and log in from another location in the building. It’s a type of collaborative design that’s borrowed from forward-thinking companies like Google, which pride themselves on breaking the mold in office design and employee culture.

Dramatic art, inspired by previous ad campaigns, adorns the walls,chronicling different periods in the company’s exponential growth. In between the art are large, dramatic windows that look out on the scenic greenery of the campus. Not just for gazing at, employees are encouraged to take advantage of all the amenities the building has to offer, including its outdoor space.

“We enforce breaks,” Iannitti confidently proclaims. “You can come and sit at your desk for the next eight hours and never move at another company, but that’s not the way it works here. The company is positioned specifically so that our employees can go outside and relax, walk around, and get anything they may need within one block of the office. We also have an on-site gym. We try to promote good, healthy behavior in the sense that we make sure you’re eating, taking breaks, and going out and walking. There are plenty of areas for play, such as our Ping-Pong table, where we have tournaments.”

It is this dedication to playing hard that Iannitti believes makes his employees dedicated to working hard, too. And at a time when adoption of e-lending solutions is up and TILA-RESPA is on the horizon, this steadfast work ethic is crucial.

For DocMagic, the move to the paperless loan is nothing new, and as an early adopter of e-sign technology, they have made it their mission to promote it not only within the industry but among the general public as well. One way in which they have done this is to open up their e-sign tool for free, for anyone who wants to upload a document and use it.

“You can come to our website today, and within a couple minutes, upload your documents and send them to whoever you need to with your signature included,” Iannitti says. “The whole process is completely automatic and absolutely free of charge. This initiative demonstrates the fact that we are a technology company and want to do everything we possibly can to help our clients and potential clients leverage the technology we create and do a better job extending their service to their clients.”

The company is currently gearing up for the adoption of TILA-RESPA on Aug. 1.

“It’s one thing to prepare from a technical perspective, but we have a lot of training sessions going on because, of course, our support people have to answer every question that will come in,” Iannitti says. “So already everyone is being trained to understand exactly how everything works and how to answer questions correctly. It’s a major undertaking but it’s exciting at the time—these things shake the industry up. For companies like us, we enjoy change, so we thrive in this type of atmosphere.”

In addition to helping clients ensure they are compliant with TILA-RESPA, DocMagic helps their clients adjust to changing MISMO, standards as well.

“Today’s clients needs are much more extensive. All of our integrations are based on the latest, greatest versions of MISMO.” Iannitti says. “Our clients have never dealt with this before, and it is radically different than the previous version, so having the ability to have a professional services arm has been critical to us to be able to help these clients with those types of needs.”

As demonstrated by the needs created by such regulatory changes, one of the greatest areas of growth for the company in recent years has been in the call center. With a magnifying glass on all the changes the industry is experiencing, Iannitti explains that there has been a substantial uptick in questions, calls, concerns, tweets and requests.

“From our call center perspective, we are now putting on a mid- and late-evening shift, so we are almost around-the clock,” he says. “There’s a lot of growth in this area, but that’s what is necessary to give our clients the quality of service that they expect from DocMagic.”

Despite these changes, Iannitti is quick to remind us that, at its core, DocMagic is and always has been a technology company.

“In every aspect of what we do we’ve leveraged technology to such an extent that it’s what allows us to be on the cutting, even arguably, bleeding edge of just about everything we do.”

Executive Corner

It doesn’t take long to realize that Dominic “Don”Iannitti is a man with a vision. Whether he’sleading his team in his role as president and CEO of DocMagic, Inc., or he’s excitedly sharing his plan for the company’s future, it’s hard to ever imagine a time when he didn’t have a clear vision of where he was headed.

This unwavering drive is a trait honed through years of hard work and approaching business the only way he knew how: by getting in the trenches with his team and never flinching from the evolving technology needs of the mortgage industry.

“I was always an entrepreneur. Even at 10 years old I was selling something,” Iannitti recalls with a laugh. “When I was a kid, it was okay to go door to door; you could sell flower seeds, brass social security cards to the elderly … there was no end. I always enjoyed brainstorming and coming up with sales ideas.”

This entrepreneurial spirit resurfaced when Iannitti and close high-school friend Alan Brisbane hatched their first great business idea in college. The idea was light years ahead of its time—a video rental delivery service back in the days when video rental stores were only just popping up in Los Angeles.

Looking back, this early business venture is the perfect example of the skill that has served Iannitti so well in the mortgage technology sector—his ability to recognize a need within an existing industry and fulfill it better than anyone else in the field.

“It was an interesting concept that worked well for us,” Iannitti says. “There were 20 or 30 stores that would work with us, and then we added food—it was kind of a big deal. It was fun. We didn’t make any money but we learned a lot. The entrepreneurial spirit has always shined bright in my persona, there’s no question about that.”

While Iannitti outgrew this business concept, the solid friendship and business partnership between Iannitti and Brisbane is an enduring one. One of DocMagic’s first employees back in 1988, Brisbane is still with the company today, now in the role of COO . Iannitti proudly considers him his right-hand man. “Don and I have known each other for more than 35 years. He has a way of empowering employees that gives DocMagic an edge on our competition. We sit right across from each other and each day still feels like the first day,” Brisbane said.

With his keen sense for business from an early age, it’s not surprising that, upon entering college, Iannitti declared a double major in business and finance. It was during this period that he first encountered the mortgage industry, albeit in an unusual way.

“At one point I had a job in accounting, working at a college in Carson, California, and there was this building across the street that was just really sharp, and I always thought to myself, ‘I want to work in that building. That’s a great looking building.’ Turns out it was a mortgage company.”

Iannitti, spurred by his enthusiasm for his business classes, put plans into place for DocMagic before graduation day even rolled around.

“You can never over-emphasize the importance of planning,” Iannitti advises. “I worked on my business plan for many, many months. It’s funny because I used that plan to go out and grab capital, which served us that first year of the operation. At the end of the year, my bottom line was within $6,000 off what my plan said it would be. Which is unheard of. Business plans are never right when it comes to that stuff.”

Today, Iannitti has his own dream office—a multimillion dollar facility that, thanks to its unique, modern design, has won accolades from the American Institute of Architects. In classic Iannitti style however, he is not done dreaming.

“We know what we want to accomplish in the next 10 years,” Iannitti said coyly, alluding to the next steps for DocMagic. “It’s our entrepreneurial spirit that makes this possible.”

As featured by TheMReport, April 2015

By Phil Hall

On the company Web site, DocMagic bills itself as “The largest loan document production company in the U.S.” And while that is a grand definition, it doesn’t capture the intelligence, innovation and celebrated customer service level that has earned the company the respect of the industry.

National Mortgage Professional Magazine spoke with Don Iannitti, the company’s founder, president and chief executive officer, to discuss how DocMagic emerged to become a leader in its field.

What was the inspiration behind starting DocMagic?
Don Iannitti: When I was in college back in 1987, I was reading a book that focused on emerging technologies. There was one chapter that focused on the “repackaging of data.” After I read about it, I wasn’t sure of applications relating to that—I wondered who in the world would want to buy repackaged data.

At the time, I had a part-time job that did speed typing of other types of documents. I then realized that we were doing what was in the book. So, I brainstormed and came up with a concept related to this. Also at this time, I found someone who was looking to get into a different type of business—a mortgage banker looking to customize appraisals. I floated my idea on how he could automate that concept.

Customized appraisals? Did that business take off?
No, and I am happy that it did not happen.

So what happened next?
I went to work on another business plan. I micro-analyzed every number, every night, and put threeto four months into it. That mortgage banker was Patrick Theodora of American City Mortgage. He and his father, Pasquale Theodora, decided to
fund me.

How close did your business plan coincide with the actual business?
In our first year of business, our bottom line was within $6,000. In our second year of business, our bottom line was within $10,000. So, it was close to what I planned.

When the company began operations in 1988, what was the state of loan document production?
It was all over the map. A lot of typing was going on, and lenders had between 25 and 50 percent of the burden of doing those tasks themselves. You had typewriters, and the best ones were just adding computer interfaces to those machines. Word processing was not very common at that time. When we opened our doors, a company came by and gave us a word processor to see if we liked it. But there were no laser printers yet, just dot matrix printers at that stage. Oh, the dot matrix printers–they sounded like machine gun fire! But this was before the Internet, yes? There was no Internet, no modems. It was an interesting time.

So what were the important milestones in growing your company?
First was the introduction of the laser printer. Before that, we had between 5,000 and 7,000 documents that were photocopied. And every time we needed a new batch, we had to walk over to the photocopier and make another 500 to 700.

Next was the introduction of the modem. That was critical. The first use of the modem was in calling and talking to a remote laser printer, in order to make it print across the phone line. Needless to say, that was not the most efficient use of technology.

Our first version of DocMagic had a computer talking to a computer. When that happened, all of the issues involving a laser printer going offline or running out of paper went away.

Increasing the speed in modems was also helpful. But when the Internet came along, our racks of modems were replaced. Also, increasing the speed of the computers was important. In our beginning stages, we’d make the computers. When we first got into the markets, companies had to use mini-frame or mainframes. We had PCs, but with each new machine running at faster speed, we’d always be at the point of being maxed out. We were always riding the tech wave–as soon as any computer came out that made work faster, we were on it.

What have been DocMagic’s greatest challenges, and how did the company face these challenges?
Our greatest challenge was in maintaining employees. This was crucial because when clients call us, we didn’t want to have them deal with an employee turnover. One thing we did was to make sure that our employees knew how important they were, and to make sure they feel like they are part of the family. We have employee events and company picnics. Now we’re at over 100 people, and many people have been with our company for 25 years.

What do you look for when recruiting new people to be part of your team?
We are looking for a certain spark and a certain sense of humor. We prefer an extroverted applicant, someone who can carry on a conversation. We ask applicants a lot of questions and drill into their past jobs, asking about their work experience. We are looking at their history of job longevity–someone who had jobs for one or two years will never work. We want to make sure that we have the right people. This job involves a lot of compliance issues, and we want to make sure that anyone we hire is well-educated.

That leads to the next question … how have the regulatory changes of the past several years impacted the manner in which DocMagic operates?
This is a big part of what we do. The regulatory changes directly impacted the growth of our automated auditing engine. And sometimes, regulatory changes do not directly impact new documents. Oftentimes, it involves timing changes or different types of notifications. Our compliance audit engine makes our clients aware of something that they may potentially face.

With regulations, there is always something happening. We have a team that monitors changes on a state level–there is never a dull moment. Compliance is a living, breathing thing—it never gets easier, and it always becomes exponentially more complex.

The changes that we are seeing now dwarf what we’ve seen in the past. But this is where we shine, and that brings value to our clients because that is something they do not have to worry about.

How has DocMagic approached cybersecurity?
We’re constantly monitoring that sort of thing. We have lots of new insurance policies that we need to maintain. And this despite the fact that we are somewhat under the radar; we’re not like Amazon or Google, where people want to attack us all of the time.

We have a number of services whose job is to try to hack into us and find our vulnerabilities. It is an amazing process to see what they’ve found, and it requires us to plug or solve whatever vulnerabilities exist.

We also deal with the nation’s top five lenders, and they have their own requirements on vendor cybersecurity as well.

What does the future hold for DocMagic?
A lot of our efforts are focused on esigning and e-closing. We are in two pilot tests on that with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

We are also expanding our esigning product into other industries. Right now, we are working with the insurance industry.

As for the company, we are definitely expanding. We have a vision of where we would like to be in the next decade. We are also keeping open lines of communications with our closest competitors—should they want to leave the market, we can look at their operations.

As featured by National Mortgage Professional, April 2015

Press Release:
TORRANCE, Calif., March 17, 2015 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) --DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions, announced that HousingWire magazine designated the company to its 2015 HW TECH100(TM) list. The list honors the 100 most innovative technology companies serving the U.S. mortgage finance and real estate industries.

HousingWire states that more than 250 companies were evaluated by HousingWire editors for the 2015 program, which looks at technology innovation along six different categories: uniqueness of solution, growth, market influence, market potential, elegance of implementation, and "something else entirely" -- a catch-all for disruption and other factors that drive innovation.

"This year we were struck by the level of innovation we saw, with 40 new additions to the HW TECH100," stated Jacob Gaffney, executive editor at HousingWire. "That speaks to how much change is taking place in the mortgage industry overall right now; we're seeing a lot of market disruption, and technology providers are clearly taking advantage of the opportunity that creates."

DocMagic has grown at an enviable rate over the past year, adding new staff, signing marquee clients, acquiring eSignSystems and Doc-Tech Corporation, and working closely with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on its eClosing pilot program, among other significant projects.

The company's future growth plans are aggressive. They include penetrating new markets, developing into a single-source eServices provider that is the nucleus of the eMortgage process, and continuing to guide the mortgage industry to adopt paperless origination and closing processes.

"We've had some major accomplishments and company milestones in the last year and are pleased that the editorial team at HousingWire has recognized our innovations and industry contributions," said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. "Making the HW TECH100 list is the direct result of the amazing people we have working for us, their passion for and commitment to developing leading technology solutions and providing unparalleled customer support."

About DocMagic: DocMagic, Inc. is a 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 constantly 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/.

About HousingWire: HousingWire is the nation's most influential industry news source covering the U.S. housing economy, spanning residential mortgage lending, servicing, investments and real estate operations. Winner of numerous awards, including a 2012 Eddie Award for national editorial excellence in the B2B Banking/Business/Finance category, HousingWire has been recognized for excellence in journalism by the Society of Business Editors and Writers, the American Society of Business Press Editors, the National Association of Real Estate Editors, and Trade Association Business Publications International. Learn more at http://www.housingwire.com/.

About the HW TECH100: The HW TECH100(TM) highlights the housing economy's 100 most innovative technology companies, along six unique dimensions of innovation. The annual awards program is the only program of its kind to include technology serving both the U.S. residential real estate and U.S. residential mortgage industries. Learn more at http://tech100.housingwire.com/.