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Special Reports
Document Services
Disclosures to Be Delivered Online
By Joshua Brustein
SAN DIEGO -- Data-Vision Inc. introduced a new product that allows for electronic
delivery of initial disclosures at the recent Mortgage Bankers of America annual convention here. John Dempsey,
the company's vice president said there was a "phenomenal" interest in the product - DisclosureDocs.
The interest, said Mr. Dempsey, stems from the fact that DisclosureDocs offers
an electronic solution to a part of the mortgage process that is currently stuck in the paper age.
"From a document delivery standpoint, though, there's a lot of people who
have been delivering mortgages and notes for a number of years. The delivery of initial disclosures is basically
a brand new field for many of these people," he said.
Data-Vision is currently running internal tests on the system, and plans to offer
it to its existing clients by the first of the year. It will be offered to new clients shortly thereafter.
Even before the launch, Data-Vision had been enjoying quite a bit of success,
said Mr. Dempsey. Its volume is 230% higher for the first 10 months of this year, as compared to all 12 months
of 2002.
In part, this success reflects how effective getting popular vendors online can
be as a marketing tactic.
"We didn't go after the banks ... we went after the loan origination vendors
who everyone uses," said Mr. Dempsey. "It's because of our relationship with these people that our product
is so widely accepted."
Currently the company has relationships with about 10 vendors. Its most recent
interface is with Gallagher Financial Systems. The company also has its eyes on two or three other possible partners,
said Mr. Dempsey. If Data-Vision were able to establish relationships with these companies, it would have relationships
with all the major vendors in the country, he said.
There are 175% more clients using Data-Vision products than were at the beginning
of 2003. Its client base is 210% larger than it was at the beginning of the year including those who have signed
on but are not yet active.
And as the market slows, the entire document services sector is bound to heat
up more, according to Mr. Dempsey. Investments in technology are time-consuming, and during the refinance boom
originators were spending all of their time originating loans. They did not have time to learn how to use new programs,
no matter how novel. The slowdown will give originators time to reflect and discover the usefulness of companies
like Data-Vision.
But while it does expect to thrive, Data-Vision is not yet moving forward on one
of the most talked about innovations in document services - electronic closings. Most of the discussion concerning
this innovation is about what will happen soon, rather than about what's happening now. With several systems vying
for dominance, Data-Vision is going to wait and see which one comes out on top.
Mr. Dempsey compares the current situation to consumers trying to decide whether
to buy a video cassette recorder in Beta or VHS formats, in the years before the former fell to the wayside. He
wants to make sure he's not stuck holding a Beta.
"When the marketplace is ready to accept it, we will be ready to deliver
it. Right now, there are three or four competing technology bases that have yet to shake out in terms of what it's
really going to be," he said. "Whichever one is going to stick is the one we want to develop."
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