|
Special Reports
Electronic Documents, Paperless
Loans
Methods of Going Paperless Today
Outsource technology to the tech experts.
By Anthony Garritano
MIAMI -- While going paperless may seem like a great goal that is always unreachable
for one reason or another, it is becoming reality if the originator partners with the right vendor and employs
an imaging solution at the front end.
"What's enabling originators to go paperless is that there's more access
to broadband," said Joe Machado, chief executive officer at E-OPS Loan Processing here. "Brokers' best
option is looking at outsourcing because it's prohibitive to do everything internally. Through using companies
like E-OPS, brokers get a backend platform and better prices on bundled services.
"The software consolidates everything into one platform," he said. "There's
even an opportunity for electronic document delivery and vaulting. It makes more sense to stay in the mortgage
business and outsource the technology to someone whose core competency is technology. Past the point of origination
the broker can automate all the third-party services and processing today."
Dublin, Calif.-based broker point-of-sale vendor Ellie Mae agrees. "Everybody
wants to go paperless," said Jonathan Corr, senior vice president at Ellie Mae. "The endgame of course
is the e-mortgage. Brokers can take that fist step today, which I call the e-origination.
"At a minimum, the broker should make sure they are taking the loan app in
the LOS so the 1003 data is electronic," he said. "From there, the broker sends the request to your lender
in an electronic fashion using the various portals out there. From there, have the lender fax that back to you
and employ an imaging system to go digital.
"Also, image all the W-2s and pay stubs once they come," added Mr. Corr.
"That's a more natural change when compared to something dramatic like an e-signature. From there, order the
settlement services electronically using an automated platform. If the broker's orders are electronic, everything
the broker gets back will also be electronic. In the end, this is all building up to an electronic loan folder
that the broker can submit to anyone - my borrower, lender, investor, etc. All of this is the first step and it's
realizable today."
But how does a broker make that first step to get there? "There are a lot
of pieces there so you need a single solution that can capture the info, send out disclosures, get them back in,
do all the settlement services and have that all come back into the LOS in an e-folder," said Mr. Corr.
"Ultimately, I should also be able to click a button that will electronically
archive the e-folder for up to seven years.
"Most brokers are not completely paperless. A lot of them are doing settlement
services and sending disclosures. Is it most? No. It's the early adopters that are doing it to differentiate themselves.
In the end, you'll have to do it to survive, not just to differentiate yourself. The challenge is there and there
are a lot of silos of solutions that a broker would have to employ in order to put this together to make this happen.
In the end, the LOS has to make those pieces native so there can be a turnkey solution. In a few years this will
be the way it is."
For Lenexa, Kan.-based Leader Mortgage, the future is today. The company has been
using an imaging solution to go paperless and is now extending it to allow for electronic document delivery. "We
did it for two reasons," said A.W. Pickel III, the president of Leader Mortgage. "First, I wanted my
processors to be able to go to the imaging solution, hold down the enter key and highlight all the docs to go to
the investor and hit the send button. From there the solution works in such a way that all the docs are sent to
a secure site, and I get the underwriting decision and notification back almost immediately.
"I also did it to have everything in one solution," he continued. "It
is much more efficient all around. I told my staff if this doesn't work I'm going to throw it all out and it has
worked so well that everybody is just excited about it. I really wanted an end-to-end solution and not just imaging
on the tail end. Now we have it on the front end where we can gain even more efficiency."
|
