A New LOS Development

As we all know the loan origination space is becoming very competitive. As a result, winning LOS companies will start innovating.

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Southfield, MI, May 5, 2011 – As we all know the loan origination space is becoming very competitive. As a result, winning LOS companies will start innovating. For example, PROGRESS in Lending has learned that Mortgage Builder Software rolled out its new digital document management capability. They didn’t expect the phones to light up within minutes, however, and they certainly didn’t expect to spend the next several weeks booking and performing nonstop demonstrations. Apparently, Mortgage Builder’s clients found the new offering from their preferred provider not just well conceived, but perfectly timed for their needs in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

“We heard from dozens of clients literally within minutes of our release,” says Bill Mitchell, Mortgage Builder’s vice president for sales. “It was clearly a home run.” Mitchell and Mortgage Builder CEO Keven Smith believe that the first generation of document management automation had run its course, and many companies had either tried or at least investigated the multiple offerings available but found them insufficient for their needs. “The demos we’re doing have revealed several interesting things about the market and the desire for efficiency,” Smith says. “Clients are telling us that they have been waiting for the right combination of features to allow them to become fully digital with their files, from first contact to investor delivery, and now they have that opportunity without ever leaving Mortgage Builder,” he explains. “We’ve had imaging and document management capabilities built into our platform for years, but the market really responded to this next generation approach.”

Mortgage Builder’s objective was to set a new standard for built-in LOS digital document management, says Product Strategy Manager Brian Abbott, who has a unique perspective on the topic. Before joining Mortgage Builder in 2010, Abbott held senior positions in compliance and operations over the years with three different high volume lenders that had implemented the Mortgage Builder platform. “I’ve seen every technology available for paperless document management and that gave me the advantage of knowing where the gaps were in both production and operations in the real world,” Abbott says. “The goal is to have the system gather all relevant documents in a virtual loan file, recognizing them automatically as they flow into the organization through the various means, and have them interact with automated workflows to go where they are instantly useful,” he says. “This takes a great many steps out of manual processes and immediately makes lenders more efficient. Service levels go up because they are able to respond more quickly to borrowers and investors, with significantly reduced net origination costs.”

Mitchell adds that electronic investor delivery is of great interest to the majority of the clients for whom he has been performing demonstrations. “Many of them have been using manual workarounds with extra-cost third party delivery providers to send files to investors in their preferred stacking orders and with documents specific to them,” Mitchell notes. “When we announced that we had built in a one-click, customizable loan delivery feature, there was a big reaction from everyone, including the secondary marketing side.”

Keven Smith feels the mortgage business has largely moved away from paper files over the last few years, but sees the new advanced digital document management capability as the final nail in paper’s coffin other than for closing documents. “Investors don’t want paper anymore, and with the Uniform Mortgage Data Program (UMDP) spelling the end for paper at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, lenders, borrowers and the environment will be reaping the benefits,” he says. “Electronic loan processing is the new reality, and the tremendous interest our clients and prospects are displaying in our advanced version is yet another indication that the new paradigm is all about efficiency and cost savings.” Part of that efficiency, Smith adds, comes from web portals that assist retail loan officers and wholesale account executives in streamlining the process for their customers. “With wholesale becoming invigorated by mid-market lenders reentering the market, talented origination people are more interested than ever in joining companies with superior technology,” he says. “The LOS system has never been a more important tool than it is today, and we are working hard to continuously improve its capabilities.”

Visit Progress In Lending at www.progressinlending.com.