TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1357006
10 | M R EP O RT MTECH As part of the enhance- ments, OpenClose developed new data points and complex rule structures that support income verification, loan grad- ing, and debt-service-coverage ratio (DSCR), which have been incorporated into DecisionAssist's pricing and eligibility logic. Also added is the ability for lend- ers to load base pricing using FICO range, LTV range, and document type. At the founda- tion of these new enhancements is the OpenClose Investor Data Management System, which also enables data aggregation and ongoing management to support real-time market changes. The company said that DecisionAssist helps lenders automate point-of-sale tasks, lower costs, reduce cycle times, increase pull-through rates, and gain a competitive advantage. The ability for salespeople to quote borrow- ers using DecisionAssist provides better service, convenience, and also helps ensure that non-QM eligibility and compliance is met upon first borrower contact. "Non-QM products have been housed in our library of loan products for several years now," stated Vince Furey, CRO at OpenClose. "Implementing new or changing existing guidelines for the retail, wholesale, corre- spondent, and consumer direct lending channels is easy for us given the flexible structure of the DecisionAssist's centralized data- base. Using DecisionAssist, origi- nators don't have to jump through hoops to get borrowers accurate answers on non-QM financing options in a timely manner; it's accomplished within seconds." Supporting Working Americans FORMFREE EXPANDS INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION TO COVER 85% OF WORKFORCE. F ormFree® announced its AccountChek® 3n1 (3n1) asset, employment, and income verification service now covers 85% of U.S. workers whose employers utilize a payroll pro- cessing service, representing over 100 million wage earners. FormFree has enhanced income and employment verification for its 3,000-plus lender customers with direct-source data from 35 of the nation's largest payroll service providers. The company revealed that 3n1 addresses a critical need for lenders and GSEs to capture structured, direct-source data and original income documentation at a cost- effective price point. Direct-source payroll data provides a more cur- rent understanding of a borrower's ability to pay (ATP) and mitigates risks associated with human error and document fraud. Said David Battany, EVP of capital markets for Guild Mortgage, "Instant employment and income verification supported by paystubs and W-2s is something we've been waiting for. We are committed to offering a best-in-class borrower experience. With innovative part- ners like FormFree by our side, we are confident we can achieve our goal of increasing financial inclu- sion." Guild Mortgage has worked with FormFree since participating in Fannie Mae's Day 1 Certainty® pilot in 2016. "We are always looking for innovative solutions that make mortgages faster and easier for our borrowers and teams," Trinity Oaks Mortgage President Michael Kuentz said. "We've relied on FormFree's asset solution to streamline the loan process and cut down on time to close for sev- eral years. FormFree's new income and employment solution is the right product at the right time." With 3n1, borrowers authorize payroll providers to electronically share their six most recent pay- stubs and most recent W-2 with lenders and refresh that documen- tation within 10 days of the loan closing. 3n1 saves lenders time and money by providing accurate data and universally accepted sup- porting documents up-front. The company says that this makes for a faster, cleaner underwriting and closing experience and prevents lenders from having to going back to borrowers to chase down more documents. "Mortgage lenders have been longing for an income and employment solution with wider employer coverage. FormFree's vision goes even further, combin- ing expansive coverage with their time-tested asset solution," said Rajesh Bhat, CEO at digital mort- gage platform Roostify. "This is a welcome innovation that we look forward to offering through our platform." "Getting investor-accepted, up-to- date employment and income veri- fication along with the most recent paystubs and W-2s—all in less than 30 seconds—is a game changer," said Ben Miller, Co-Founder of home- ownership platform SimpleNexus. "This is the kind of advancement our industry needs and borrowers deserve." "We hear loud and clear that our lenders and partners are looking for better ways of validating borrower employment and income with the security, accuracy and efficiency of direct-source data at a disruptive price point," said Brent Chandler, CEO at FormFree. "As the pioneers of automated asset verification, we will continue to lead the mortgage industry to its fully digital destina- tion, ultimately arriving at a holistic view of a consumer's financial DNA in a single Passport." Creating a Buzz BEE MORTGAGE APP HITS FIRST SEED RAISE GOAL AND THOUSANDS OF ORGANIC APP DOWNLOADS. B ee Mortgage App, which lauds itself as the first app built for an exclusive mobile mortgage experience, suc- cessfully hit the first raise mark of its seed round. Additionally, the "Bee Team" reported an increase in brand awareness with over 3,500 organic downloads generat- ing quality mortgage leads for its banking customer. "We're thrilled our strategy of capturing customers early in the user home buying journey has begun paying off with the pro- duction of high-quality mortgage leads for our customers," Bee Lead Designer Angie Luu said. "We're pleased to get traction by serving a small part of the market that's being overlooked by major lend- ers and will roll out even more features this year based on the strong demand from first time home buyers using Bee to kick off "Getting investor-accepted, up-to-date employment and income verification along with the most recent paystubs and W-2s—all in less than 30 seconds—is a game changer." —Ben Miller, Co-Founder, SimpleNexus