Lender achieves full eClosing benefits, faster and more reliably, as the result of DocMagic’s consultative implementation process, single-source platform, and intuitive UI

Torrance, Calif. and Salt Lake City, Dec, Dec. 19, 2018—Annual CUNA Lending Council Conference - DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, and QRL Financial Services (QRL), and SecurityNational Mortgage Corporation (SNMC), an independent national mortgage banker, jointly announced that they successfully rolled out DocMagic’s comprehensive Total eClose™ platform.

Since rolling out Total eClose in September, SNMC has reduced borrower time at the closing table to as little as 15 minutes, and become one of the first national lenders to offer a true eClosing solution that involves no paper whatsoever. It has dramatically sped up the closing process, ensuring accuracy and loan quality, and delivering newfound efficiencies for borrowers, notaries and settlement providers. Total eClose enables SNMC’s customers to preview documents prior to closing, eSign all documents, and complete both remote and in-person eNotarizations. As a result, SNMC is now positioned to capture more market share, reduce operational costs, expedite closing times and elevate the borrower experience.

“Our goal was to perfect a completely digital eClosing process, not to be just another lender offering a basic hybrid closing,” said Steve Johnson, president of SNMC. “Achieving our goal required a powerful end-to-end technology, a perfectly executed seamless implementation, and an intuitive interface that everyone—staff, settlement service providers and borrowers—could use immediately, without a steep learning curve. We got that and more with DocMagic. Plus, the DocMagic implementation team was with us all the way. We never had to worry about a thing.”

The two companies approached the project as partners to ensure swift adoption and a quick understanding of the new workflow-driven eClosing process for both SNMC’s staff and customers. DocMagic worked hand-in-hand with the lender, leveraging its vast eMortgage expertise to help sculpt a unique strategy and a successful go-to-market launch. Unlike other document and eClosing solution providers, DocMagic takes an ultra hands-on approach to implementations, from developing the project roadmap, to training all parties—such as staff, title agents and notaries—to synchronized testing of each facet of the Total eClose platform.

“Our implementation teams function like expert consultants—we work very closely with each client, guiding them literally every step of the way,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “There is a huge number of moving pieces in an eClosing solution. As a single source solution, we have intricate knowledge of every one of them, so there are none of the issues that plague other providers—not only immediately after the implementation, but over the long haul as well. In contrast, lenders who choose incomplete or cobbled-together eClosing technologies may have to hit the restart button within 12 to 18 months and search for a comprehensive solution.”

DocMagic is a recognized eClosing pioneer, and has been a part of virtually every state-first eClosing in the U.S.

“We’re pleased to work with companies like SecurityNational Mortgage that truly understand the value of implementing a 100 percent paperless eClosing process,” said Iannitti. “They have taken a leadership position in facilitating eClosings and are ready for an inflow of new business that will be conducted very efficiently.”

DocMagic’s comprehensive suite of eSolutions and eServices also includes SMARTDocs, eNotes capability, eVault technology, eWarehouse lending, and even loan servicing.

Online eMortgage Education Module was developed to help attorneys, title agents and notaries successfully conduct eClosings

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 15, 2018—Secure Insight, a New Jersey-based data intelligence and vendor management firm, announced today at the MBA’s Annual Convention & Expo that it teamed with DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, to develop and host an online training program to teach attorneys, title agents, notaries and other entities how to accomplish clear, compliant and completely paperless eClosing transactions.

Secure Insight noted that while lenders have made good progress installing digital mortgage point-of-sale solutions, it is just the initial step to implement a true eClosing solution. DocMagic developed Total eClose™, a comprehensive solution that enables a 100 percent paperless eClosing process from start to finish using a single-source vendor.

“Getting over the adoption hump starts with ease of use and adequate training so users feel comfortable conducting business within the eMortgage ecosystem,” stated Andrew Liput, president of Secure Insight. “We partnered with DocMagic because their Total eClose solution is one of the easiest and most intuitive in the industry, which is conducive to adoption for title agents, attorneys and notaries to understand and leverage.”

Secure Insight has an extensive database of more than 70,000 closing professionals that can take advantage of this vital training program, which provides the educational foundation that paves the way for their business practices to include eMortgages and eClosings. Lenders are increasingly seeking well-qualified professionals to work with and this wide-scale training program is poised to significantly move the adoption needle.

Company officials at Secure Insight say their ultimate goal is to become the industry’s go-to resource for lenders to access settlement professionals who are well-trained in eClosings, similar to what the Nationwide Multi-state Licensing System & Registry (NMLS) provides for loan officers. Lenders can provide a list of approved title companies and Secure Insight then works to implement a common and consistent process for training on a national level.

Tim Anderson, director of eServices at DocMagic stated: “The new training program and centralized database will provide key information and knowledge for professionals about our industry-leading Total eClose technology and assist lenders in locating professionals who are qualified to leverage it for the benefit of consumers. Further, one of the primary issues it solves is that in a purchase market, lenders really don’t choose the settlement professionals and typically don’t have direct relationships with them either nor the dedicated resources to continually train them to effectively support full eClosings. The online training eMortgage Education Module helps alleviate this impediment.”

The online training is officially set to launch on November 15, 2018 and will be available through a link on Secure Insight’s website. To learn more, contact Secure Insight at info@secureinsight.com or (877) 758-7878.  The company will also be holding discussions at the MBA’s Annual Convention & Expo from Oct. 14 – 17 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

MBA and ALTA are collaborating to make it easier for states to accept remote online notarizations

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018—DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, and NotaryCam the leader in online notarization solutions, announced an integration that eliminates the need to wet-sign loan documents in the physical presence of a notary by allowing loan documents to be quickly and compliantly eNotarized online.

The integration works inside Total eClose™, DocMagic’s comprehensive end-to-end eClosing solution. It allows customers to initiate eNotarizations using NotaryCam’s remote service with just a few clicks, thus extending the convenience of a fully online eClosing experience through notarization – the final step in loan closing — without any hard stops or papering out.

“More and more states are permitting remote online notarization and as they do, we can expect to see consumer demand and expectation for remote eNotarizations to grow,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “This integration allows DocMagic customers to meet consumer demand without any delays, which is a big part of our value proposition for all DocMagic products.”

The Mortgage Bankers Association has been collaborating with the American Land Title Association (ALTA) to prepare model legislation that would provide a framework for any state to adopt remote online notarization processes.

“Mortgage eClosings have progressed incrementally, and both DocMagic and NotaryCam have been pioneers and champions in the adoption the industry has achieved—so this integration is a natural fit,” said Rick Triola, founder and CEO of NotaryCam. “Our companies are very similar in what we deliver: the industry’s most flexible and customer-friendly experiences, backed by unfaltering accuracy, data integrity and compliance. We are looking forward to moving the industry forward, together.”

Prior to the addition of NotaryCam, DocMagic’s Total eClose solution supported eNotarizations by leveraging in-person notaries equipped with electronic notary signing technology, which it will continue to offer in addition to remote online notarizations, where permitted. Both DocMagic and NotaryCam are approved eMortgage technology vendors with the GSEs, having passed an extensive approval process.

A complete eClosing solution for Lenders One members to help accelerate the eMortgage journey

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lenders One Cooperative, a national alliance of independent mortgage bankers, today announced the launch of Lenders One^® eClosing by DocMagic, a complete eClosing solution for borrowers, lenders and investors. The eClosing solution provides an entirely paperless workflow that integrates every component of the closing process and guides users through each step.

Launched for Lenders One members today at the Lenders One Summer Conference in Salt Lake City, Lenders One eClosing by DocMagic is evidence that eMortgages and eClosings are no longer a future-state vision. When using the solution, the average loan closing “at the table” can be reduced from 60 minutes to 15 minutes, helping to dramatically improve the borrower experience. 

The solution includes the following features:

• Integrated with all of the major LOS platforms to generate e-enabled documents.
• An embedded compliance engine that automatically audits documents and data against applicable industry laws and regulations to help ensure compliance throughout the loan lifecycle.
• eNotary technology for in-person electronic notarization or remote online notarization where permissible.
• The ability to deliver a MISMO SMARTDoc^® eNote with direct connectivity to the MERS^® eRegistry.
• A secure, certified eVault which provides long-term storage and eDelivery to warehouse banks and investors and features a date-stamped and time-stamped audit trail to help show proof of compliance at all times.

“Our eClosing technology puts Lenders One members at the forefront of the eMortgage evolution, a sought after capability made possible through our collaboration with DocMagic,” said Michael Kuentz, CEO of Lenders One. “Importantly, the eClosing solution incorporates feedback received from our members and service providers, helping ensure we address their needs. Our comprehensive eClosing solution provides our members with options to choose full eClose or hybrid eSign/ink-sign workflows. The technology adapts to the lender’s production environment and compresses the overall timeline to loan sale, generating material savings for lenders facing historically high loan production costs.”

“Effective implementation of eClosing begins with a well-defined eMortgage strategy, and by working in concert with Lenders One, we are helping originators set up their eClosing production lines at a pace, and in a manner, that is consistent with their overall business goals,” said Dominic Iannitti, President and CEO of DocMagic. “The deep working relationships that Lenders One has established with its members are critical, and through our combined strength we are accelerating the eMortgage journey for progressive lenders nationwide.”

About Lenders One^® Cooperative 
Lenders One (LendersOne.com) was established in 2000 as a national alliance of independent mortgage bankers, correspondent lenders and suppliers of mortgage products and services. Participants on the Lenders One platform originated approximately $270 billion of mortgages during 2017, collectively ranking as one of the largest retail mortgage entities in the U.S. Lenders One is managed by a subsidiary of Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A.

About DocMagic 
DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, 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, visit www.DocMagic.com

About Altisource^®

Altisource Portfolio Solutions, S.A. (NASDAQ: ASPS) is an integrated service provider and marketplace for the real estate and mortgage industries. Combining operational excellence with a suite of innovative services and technologies, Altisource helps solve the demands of the ever-changing markets we serve. Additional information is available at altisource.com.

Borrowers can have a 10-minute closing appointment when reviewing and electronically signing documents in advance

DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that retail mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate can now cut closing time by electronically signing mortgage closing documents in advance.

Guaranteed Rate has branded the solution FlashClose, which allows customers to opt-in, review and complete most documents in advance of the notary arriving, saving an hour or more at the closing table – with some averaging a mere 10-minute appointment to provide inked signatures.

“Guaranteed Rate is always looking for ways to simplify the process using innovative technology to enhance the customer experience,” says Jim Hettinger, executive vice president of operations for Guaranteed Rate. “With the successful launch of FlashClose, powered through our partner DocMagic, this tool adds speed, convenience and accuracy to the closing process.”

“Guaranteed Rate is a leader in mortgage technology innovation and collaborating with them on this project has created a solid hybrid eClosing approach that saves a lot of time for both borrowers and closing agents,” stated Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO at DocMagic. “The fashion in which Guaranteed Rate is leveraging our technology has resulted in the successful adoption of a sound, compliant, secure hybrid eClosing that is unique to their retail lending business strategy.”

Of note is that DocMagic offers a comprehensive eClosing solution called Total eClose™ that delivers fully paperless closings from start to finish. DocMagic’s proprietary eSign platform is a component of Total eClose and can be accessed and implemented by lenders to help automate the closing process.

For more information about FlashClose, visit https://www.guaranteedrate.com/flashclose.

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  https://www.docmagic.com/.

About Guaranteed Rate:
Guaranteed Rate is one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the company has approximately 210 offices across the U.S. and Washington, D.C., and is licensed in all 50 states. Since its founding in 2000, Guaranteed Rate has helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners with home purchase loans and refinances and funded nearly $19 billion in loans in 2017 alone. The company has become the Home Purchase Experts® by introducing the world’s first Digital Mortgage technology and offering low rate, low fee mortgages through an easy-to-understand process and unparalleled customer service.

Guaranteed Rate won an American Business Award for its Digital Mortgage technology in 2016, ranked No. 1 in Scotsman Guide’s Top Mortgage Lenders 2016, was chosen as Top Lender 2016 and 2017 by Chicago Agent magazine, made the Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces list seven of the past eight years, and was named Best Overall Online Lender and Best Lender for FHA Refinance by NerdWallet in 2018. Visit https://www.guaranteedrate.com/ for more information.

The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts When it Comes to Digital Mortgage Solutions and eNotes

By Tim Anderson,
Director of eServices, DocMagic, Inc.

Having worked in the mortgage industry for over 30 years, I’ve pretty much seen it all. As a mortgage technologist, I’ve watched vendors and lenders alike create hype around various technologies and new buzz words over the years, only to see so many of them never gain adoption or provide value. Sometimes, the rollout is flawed or it’s an outright failed go-to-market strategy. I recall when the likes of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), cloud-based computing, and so many others instantly became attractive terms and acronyms with mortgage technology vendors flocking to incorporate them into their marketing speak—whether they delivered on their promises or not.  

Collaborating closely with the GSEs, investors, lenders, servicers, warehouse lenders, and many other industry participants, I’ve worked to forge ahead and evangelize the far-reaching benefits of a comprehensive “eMortgage” process, a term that has essentially been replaced by “digital mortgage.”  No matter what you call it, it’s always been about replacing and automating paper-based processes with automation.

Now we’re living in a world of digital mortgage. We’ve seen many new and small software companies pop up, driving hard to attract lenders with slick marketing speak and often low price points for what is sometimes immature, unproven technology.  

Many of these newbies don’t have the much-needed mortgage industry domain experience needed to succeed, as some vendors stumble once they become immersed in the overwhelming minutia, nuances, and complexities of the mortgage manufacturing process. On top of that, even some well-established mortgage technology vendors have jumped on the “me too” digital mortgage bandwagon.

Who can blame them? It’s a shiny new object that lenders are naturally drawn to. How can we forget TRID readiness? Remember when so many tech vendors became TRID compliant virtually overnight, offering some sort of solution—of varying degrees? However, that was far from reality; it was mostly just vendor marketing speak.

The mortgage industry has slowly but surely been working to achieve a true end-to-end digital mortgage process that is fully integrated and 100 percent paperless. But the reality is that, while progress has been made over the past few years, the industry as a whole still isn’t fully grasping everything that is needed to create a total, seamless, comprehensive and scalable digital mortgage solution. Many vendors are still falling short.

Of note, however, is that some of the new entrants that automate the point-of-sale have, in fact, done an outstanding job. Being able to instantly pull and validate things like VOE, VOI, VOA/banking information, IRS/tax returns, etc. while at the point-of-sale has definitely been a huge help to supporting the digital mortgage cause to elevate the borrower experience.  But there is a lot more that needs to happen thereafter, such as a full eClosing.

Is digital mortgage about the borrower experience?  In part, yes. But it also encompasses so much more. Value is gained for nearly all the participants in the digital mortgage process, but only if it’s done right.  What do I mean by right? The technologies cannot be siloed, poorly integrated, or offer just enough automation to address bits and pieces of the process in order to get by for now. Digital mortgage for the consumer is starting ‘e’ and staying ‘e’ with the same common and consistent end-user experience.

The Digital Mortgage Challenge
There is no way to say this tactfully. It’s the tech vendors that created the problem and continue to create confusion in the marketplace. I can’t be more pointed when I say that the mortgage industry, for the majority of vendors, is a big, fat fail. It isn’t the lender’s fault.

Many digital mortgage technology providers (both newbies and established vendors) are offering one-off pieces of the overall process. These solutions are merely workarounds that most often create inefficient stopgaps in the workflow, communication challenges, integration breaks, compliance risk, solution deficiencies, and other problems.

Use of an eVault Isn’t a Digital Mortgage
Some applications create initial excitement and address components of the overall problem. For instance, lenders can jump into the digital mortgage arena and store their loans in an eVault, but that doesn’t mean the promissory note includes all of the necessary documents to ensure a legally compliant closing.  

Some solutions just OCR docs and store them in an eVault, which isn’t always 100 percent accurate; anytime you are manipulating a source document, there is always the risk of errors and omissions that could easily get lenders into trouble at a later date. And what if something changes? How are they adjusted and properly tracked to ensure a full audit trail and electronic evidence of compliance within an eVault?

A Complete Digital Mortgage Solution
Put simply, make sure that you are dealing with a vendor that has a proven, single-source solution that supports all documents and functions that you need to deliver a complete digital/paperless process to the consumer and across multiple lending entities.

This all starts at the time of application with MISMO SMART Doc creation and management (TRID compliant initial disclosures to the borrower and the LE/Loan Estimate). You, of course, need eSign technology to securely and compliantly allow the borrower to sign all documents throughout the mortgage process.

Lenders must also implement a comprehensive eClosing technology platform, where the LE/Loan Estimate and CD/Closing Disclosures are automatically compared and matched for any change of circumstance and TRID compliance. eNotarization capability needs to be integrated into the documents and the process as well. MERS eRegistry of the note is a requirement. All documents, signatures, and proof of compliance must be stored in a certified eVault.  

Also, seamless integrations must exist with the lender’s LOS platform to auto-generate smart documents (embedded signatures and notary tags) from the start, as well as integrations with the title company software platforms to do the same with their documents. Delivery of not only the eNote but all critical closing documents to investors/GSEs is made to be quick and easy. A fully integrated platform and process includes everything from the warehouse lenders to eMods and refis within the servicing system as well as what I consider a cradle-to-grave, lights out digital mortgage technology solution.

It’s a total, fully paperless digital mortgage—one that doesn’t involve lots of different vendors doing their best to work together—whether it’s de novo software providers, aggressive fintechs, on down to the long-time mortgage technology incumbents.

We need to deliver actual, comprehensive solutions to the industry that are fully integrated and scalable, not bits and pieces/hybrid offerings. Put simply, they just fall short of achieving a total solution. It’s a menagerie of vendor hodgepodges, which are mostly light applications that only address parts of the overall digital mortgage process.

Digital Mortgage Hype versus Reality 
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I feel that the mortgage industry was steered in the wrong direction from the beginning by tech vendors that were all too eager and rushed to launch and market some sort of digital component offering. By and large, many tech vendors did so in order to effectively compete. Marketing puffery can easily trick unsuspecting ultra-busy lenders.

Going completely paperless really boils down to two factors:  

1. Implementation of a comprehensive digital mortgage technology solution; and
2. lender adoption of e-automate everything, not just pieces of the process. The mortgage industry still faces an uphill adoption curve.  

There are, however, some complete end-to-end solutions available on the market today from single-source vendors. Those lenders that implement the right end-to-end digital mortgage technology now will have a significant competitive advantage over those who remain in a wait and see mode or those that merely dip a toe in the water, adding a multitude of different hybrid vendors. It just doesn’t work well and by no means is it a long-term digital mortgage loan production, workflow, and back-office business strategy.

Before buying any type of digital mortgage technology, be sure to fully educate yourself and conduct deep-dive due diligence on everything you will need to implement a successful total digital mortgage solution from soup to nuts. Think of where you want to be 18-24 months out. Implementing a short-term solution will likely later need to be replaced by a complete solution. Your long-term viability and success depend on making the right choice the first time.

As featured by MReport, April, 2018

About Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson is the Director of eServices for DocMagic, Inc. He has held executive management positions with LPS, Stewart, Fidelity, FreddieMac and HomeSide Lending where he ran the eCommerce Division and worked at technology companies like Dexma, Microsoft and Tuttle Information Services. He was also the original founder of the eMortgage Alliance which promoted MISMO standards for delivering legal paperless processes.

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National Mortgage Professional Magazine recently sat down with Tim Anderson, Director of eServices at DocMagic, to gain insight and trending into the mortgage industry’s current progress and needs to achieve a completely paperless lending transaction. Tim is a subject matter expert in end-to-end digital mortgage processes, electronic compliance and supporting eServices, among an array of other mortgage technologies. He has more than 30 years of industry experience working on both the lender and vendor side of the business.

NMP: Lots of attention has been placed on the importance of digital mortgages as of late, in particular in the last 18 months. Why the sudden rush?

Tim Anderson: The advent of fintechs to focus and improve on the consumer experience in order to capture more business has been significant. Couple that with the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) moving their traditional post-closing pre-funding review process to a more automated pre-closing quality control (QC) process, along with Day One Certainty and Loan Quality Advisor, and these have become major factors and drivers of change.

eMortgage services that facilitate a paperless lending process have been available for quite some time, but industry-wide adoption has been slow up until lately. However, you are with an organization that is currently at the right place at the right time. Can you elaborate as to how you got here?

The mortgage industry, as a whole, takes quite a long time to flex with significant changes, especially from its entrenched paper-based processes, which is a long-term commitment. At DocMagic, we developed our own eSign technology back in 2011. We later acquired eSignSystems from WAVE in 2014 to add a total enterprise on-premise eSign, eClosing and eVaulting solution for lenders and vendors to implement within their own firewalls. With great fanfare, we launched our hosted Total eClose SaaS version in the spring of last year.

The mistake that many people make, however, is that they think eSign equates to eMortgages and that couldn’t be further from the truth. It is so much more involved than licensing an eSign tool. There is a dominant eSign player out there today that focuses on serving multiple industries, but the ability to auto-enable all the legal documents required to facilitate a legal and compliant closing, including the GSEs’ requirements to deliver a category one SMARTDoc eNote takes a level of sophistication and industry knowledge that no eSign tool or dumb PDF-based doc provide can deliver. That is why DocMagic is in a unique position to deliver a “total” solution, (eSign, eClosing, eVault, eDocuments, eNotary) than most vendors that are just hocking a technology that lenders still must figure out on how to implement on their own.

Believe me, when you are a national player and you start looking at the magnitude of creating and supporting thousands of mortgage templates for closing documents that are dynamic and variable, those types of broad, non-industry focused systems are not sustainable and just won’t scale with industry complexities and constant regulatory changes.

DocMagic’s technology facilitated most of the nation’s first successfully completed eClosings. What can the industry learn from those eClosings?

This is a very insightful question. We knew early on that as eMortgages became mainstream many “Johnny-Come-Lately” companies would eventually jump into this space and offer hybrid solutions. Depending upon your lending footprint, at the local jurisdiction level there are still a lot of variables in what they accept as legal and compliant from an eSign, eNotary and eRecording perspective and because of this many of the major players are hesitant to jump in. Again, this is a key differentiator for us as we make our documents “intelligent” to provide visual cues and automated compliance rules so we know down to document and county level which documents can be eSigned, eNotarized or need to be papered out and “wet” inked signed so the lender does not have to manage all of this.

The other key piece of the equation is that you cannot just automate the lender side of the transaction and ignore the title aspect. So we auto “e” enable those documents for automated eSign and eNotary to deliver a full paperless closing and better consumer experience for all parties involved.

eClose adoption is well on its way. Can you tell us a little bit about how eClosings are most effectively addresses with technology, and how it will help the industry advance digital mortgage adoption?

This also ties into the previous question of us having been out there longer than most to develop a more total, feature rich and robust solution than just a basic, simple eSigning tool. Delivering a system that does not include an automated way to “e” enable the documents is not a solution. Although we offer our system with or without embedded documents, in most installs where it was left to the lender to enable their documents, it never seemed to get off the ground. It’s one thing to enable a few static documents that incorporate a couple pages like the 1003 loan app, but it’s a totally different level of scale and complexity to attempt to do this with thousands of closings documents that must be dynamic and variable in nature.

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintain a list of approved vendors that support eNote, eClosing and eVaulting, but for many on that list they are dependent upon other vendors to provide the key pieces needed to deliver a complete process and solution. That means that lenders have to separately vet out and sign multiple agreements to get and do what we do as a single provider. This introduces additional third party processes and risk into an already fairly complex process and service. At the end of the day, who is that one throat to choke that is going to stand behind and rep and warrant the process? People forget this is more than buying shoes online via Amazon. This is one of the most important legal transactions that a majority of consumers will make in their lifetime. I would go with a vendor that has a sole purpose of ensuring legal compliance.

Are there any pitfalls that lenders should look out for when selecting a vendor and implementing a digital mortgage process?

Yes. One key pitfall is what I mentioned above: Go with a vendor that can automate and support the entire process. Also, make sure they have been thoroughly vetted and approved by MERS, Fannie and Freddie and are currently on their vendors list. And finally, to ensure success, go with someone that actually has some experience and has been doing this for a while. Trust me, I’ve seen many initial failed “pilots” take place that have consumed a lot of time and resources, basically learning as they go along. This is not the best path or process you want to take.

There still seems to still be quite a bit confusion in the marketplace as to what actually comprises a digital mortgage. We’ve heard about hybrid solutions making some headway, but what about a completely paperless, comprehensive digital mortgage? Can you break it down for us?

Yes, and some of it is in terms of how we define a “Digital Mortgage” versus an “eMortgage.” We really don’t even talk about eMortgages anymore, as the industry coined the new term digital mortgages as if this is something totally new and different. When I talk about digital mortgages it’s more about providing additional automated data validation around systemically verifying the compliance of the data before you include it a document. eMortgages are really about making the process of generating, executing, storing and delivering the documents in a totally paperless and legal process. To ensure compliance, you need a solution that does both. That is the entire reason and need for an intelligent or SMART Document process. To fully break that critical component down, however, it would take another article to describe the importance of why.

But it is also a reason why many doc companies still can’t support a full eClosing process because their systems are based upon and can only produce dumb PDF documents as standard output. DocMagic’s docs, on the other hand, are native XML so we can embed the original source data to be electronically boarded and re-verified for any system to not only ensure the integrity of the document but the compliance of the data securely embedded within it. This is a revolutionary concept that many still do not understand today but if you look at where the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are going, all the new CFPB and GSE’s documents are moving to support MISMO 3.3 data format to verify the data before documents are drawn. But what good is verifying data if the originator cannot ensure the data that was last verified is in the documents they are purchasing? The only way to do that is to create an intelligent document and then eClose it to provide a tamper evident seal to ensure that.

That is why most doc systems can only support a “hybrid” eClosing because they cannot produce a SMARTDoc eNote or any other intelligent document that can be systematically verified and boarded. That is also why they do not have good solutions to auto tag eSignatures and eNotary just like the embedded data tags on those documents.  SMART Documents is what allows lenders to create more automated processes and auto boarding and verification of the data without having to OCR dumb PDF’s to extract the data to verify data after the fact. That is what intelligent processes and documents is all about and where the industry is moving.

This article originally appeared in the February 2018 edition of National Mortgage Professional Magazine.

Press Release:
TORRANCE, Calif. — DocMagic, Inc., the mortgage industry’s leading provider of document production, automated compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that it has been accepted into the Elite Provider Program for American Land Home Title Association (ALTA).

Applicants to the ALTA Elite Provider Program must provide their five most recent balance sheets demonstrating the company’s financial stability and a list of ten references. Each is assessed based on its financial strength, its commitment to the overall industry, its national distribution capabilities, and reference checks with existing customers.

Acceptance into this program means that DocMagic now joins an elite group of premier service providers that promote the highest industry standards and benefits for the title and settlement services industry. In addition, as an Elite Provider DocMagic is now able to offer all ALTA members various discounts on its solutions and services.

“This designation underscores DocMagic’s mission to deliver critical, robust technology solutions that address complex compliance issues and needs for both lenders and title companies,” said Tim Anderson, director of eServices at DocMagic. “ALTA’s rigorous vetting process and high standards mirror DocMagic’s own internal guidelines, and we’re pleased not only to be named to the Elite Provider Program, but also to demonstrate the soundness of our solutions and our practices to the title community.”

DocMagic’s solutions, which are currently being leveraged by the title and settlement services industry, deliver a comprehensive, easy-to-use collaboration system for live fee data exchange and paperless eClosing between lender and title systems. To date, solution adoption has been well-received and continues to gain momentum.

Key initiatives that helped make DocMagic an ALTA Elite Provider:

• SmartCLOSE™ – a robust collaborative closing portal for TRID compliance that connects lenders, settlement provider and other real estate entities to ensure that all data is accurate, complete and compliant before documents are drawn.
• Total eClose™ – a comprehensive digital mortgage solution that ensures all documents (not just the final CD) are completed consistently, compliantly and more efficiently, which greatly increases loan funding turn times by reducing any post-closing trailing docs and potential buy back issues.
• Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) approved technology – DocMagic is now certified by both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to deliver copies of the borrower CD and XML data at the time of closing, as well as any data changes made 90 days after closing.

DocMagic’ solutions have been proven to solve the title and settlement services industries’ mounting challenges regarding data integrity, document versioning, process accuracy and compliance via real-time collaboration tools and final approval by lenders. Data updates are automatically validated inside DocMagic’s industry-leading compliance engine to ensure that clients are always within tolerance thresholds; final documents cannot be generated until all conditions are cleared.

DocMagic will be attending the 2017 National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) being held June 7-9 at the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, Texas. To arrange a meeting with DocMagic at the show, contact Tim Anderson at 904-608-3966 or tim@docmagic.com.

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/.

Going to the National Notary Conference in June? Stop by booth #2 and learn how DocMagic unites eNote, eSignature, eNotary, MERS eRegistration, eDelivery and eVault solutions inside a single offering  — with Total eClose™.

Lender's are going digital. Are you prepared?

Total eClose™ is giving notaries, settlement service providers an edge.

• A regional settlement service provider slashed closing times 70%, while satisfying TRID’s “receipt of delivery” requirement
• The state of North Carolina made history when it hosted its first paperless, 
  all-electronic e-closing — complete with eNotarization
• A Massachusetts settlement agent reduced closing times by over 30% and virtually eliminated trailing doc issues

See Total eClose™ in action... and start offering a completely new customer experience! 

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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/.