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Special Reports
Document Services
More See 5-7 Year E-Mortgage Goal
Benefits include lower costs, less people.
By James Comtois
Despite the majority of mortgage industry executives seeing the advantages of
paperless processing and planning on creating a paperless environment, a growing percentage believe that a true
e-mortgage environment will take five to seven years to achieve, according to the results of the third annual survey
sponsored by Advectis Inc., an electronic document collaboration software provider here.
In Advectis' latest "Path to Paperless" survey, 40% of respondents believed it would take five to seven
years for the mortgage industry to process more than 50% of all loans as a completely paperless e-mortgage, up
from 28% in 2004 and 37% in 2005. Only 6% said they believed that a true e-mortgage environment would permeate
the mortgage industry in the next year or two.
Despite this, most executives believe a paperless environment is on the horizon and are getting ready.
Mortgage industry executives were asked about key attributes of evaluating mortgage technology. Approximately seven
in 10 responded that it is very important that the technology integrates with existing systems and 64% said it
is very important to have a Web-based system. More than half, 56%, said it is very important for the technology
to enable collaboration with other mortgage players, an equal number (56%) said the solution should work during
the entire loan processing lifecycle. Fifty-three percent said it is very important that the solution incorporate
industry standards, such as MISMO.
When asked what a critical component of going paperless is, 92% said using document images in the underwriting
process. Survey participants also found the following to be among the most important benefits of going paperless:
decreased processing cost per loan (78%), decreased turnaround and processing time per loan (75%), decreased overall
costs of entire loan lifecycle (73%), decreased overall costs of entire loan lifecycle (73%) and better service
(69%). The survey also revealed that 59% found the decreased manpower needed to process loans to be among the most
important benefits of going paperless. Of those who responded, 53% believed being able to deliver loans electronically
to investors or correspondents was among the best reasons for going paperless, while 45% cited securing more loans
among the best reasons for going paperless and 42% said securing better loans was among the best reasons for going
paperless.
"Our research indicates that integration, Web-based technology and true electronic
collaboration are vital components toward developing a paperless solution," said Greg Smith, president and
CEO of Advectis. "Service, cost and competition for loans will continue to drive paperless solution adoption.
As companies expand their use of paperless technology and the industry evolves toward a paperless e-mortgage, Advectis
is poised for continued growth as it delivers these industry needs."
The Advectis-sponsored study examines trends in paperless mortgage loan processing, including plans to implement
paperless solutions, key requirements of paperless technology and desired benefits. Mortgage industry executives
were asked about their plans to move their organization towards paperless processing. Of the companies involved,
91% perform closings, 91% perform underwriting, 89% originate loans, 86% perform post-closing services, 82% are
investors/funders, 68% perform archiving and 54% perform servicing.
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