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Special Reports
E-Documents
Solution Suite Provides Online Docs For HELOCs
By Jennifer Harmon
AUSTIN, TX -- ARC Systems here and Guardian Mortgage Documents, Lakewood, Colo.,
have united to offer an end-to-end system that blends a lender's guidelines and credit criteria with an automated
underwriting and document-preparation process for home equity line of credit lenders.
Called "HELOC Solution Suite," the application service provider solution
is a Web-based application that allows a user to enter all the information needed to decision a home equity loan.
Required documents are then drawn at the end of the process. The suite requires neither software nor hardware purchase
by the end-user. Only a desktop PC with high-speed Internet connectivity and a Web browser is needed.
"Home equity loans and lines of credit are at an all-time high," said
Tim Anschutz, GMD vice president of marketing. "Guardian and ARC have put together a solution that allows
the lender to become a key player in the marketplace."
The rules-based application, customized to the lender's specifications, contains
all the fields relevant to run the decision based on the lender's specific guidelines. The system also offers a
Desktop Underwriter file format upload feature, which automatically populates the application by importing the
relevant data from a DU file exported from a third-party system.
According to Mr. Anschutz, the HELOC Solution Suite greatly reduces the work the
lender has to do to complete the loan process. And lenders who do not currently offer home equity loans are quickly
plugging in to the system.
"This is a solution that allows them to get into the home equity game market
very quickly instead of having to go out and figure out how to decision these loans," he said.
"Guardian provides the document production to support the solutions from
A to Z. The big advantage here is it really reduces the time, effort and cost somebody would have to spend to get
into the ballgame and start generating those types of loans."
Thousands of HELOCs have already been originated through the system's technology
on a monthly basis, according to Jamie Lynch, vice president of ARC Systems.
"We have had the ability to do HELOCs for quite some time. Now we are joining
forces and adding the document component to comprehensively get it out in the market. It's a quality product and
the early feedback has been extremely positive," Mr. Lynch said.
The Web-based model is specifically designed to meet the need of each client's
business. Lenders have access 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via the Internet.
ARC Systems president Ed Jones said, "Our clients have seen an outstanding
300% increase in productivity as a result of implementing our timesaving, cost-cutting technology." After
a steady surge of refinances and purchases at the lowest rates seen in several decades, he speculated, most consumers
will turn to HELOCs to capitalize on their equity as home property values continue to appreciate.
"As interest rates continue to rise, consumers will search for alternatives
to cashing out equity in their properties," said Mr. Jones.
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