TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1490083
M R EP O RT | 5 MTECH Blue Sage's Core Seller Portal and process them through AI-Cloud, Paradatec's automated document indexing and data extraction solu- tion, which uses machine learning tools and pre-trained libraries to extract over 8,500 data points from more than 850 documents to eliminate rekeying of data and manual indexing tasks. Paradatec's engine then returns indexed documents and data to the Blue Sage platform where au- tomated workflows perform miss- ing document checks and data audits, with intake staff notified of any data exceptions for manual review. Finally, the perfected data is then accessible via integrations for third-party compliance and due diligence reviews—eliminating manual work typically associated with these tasks. "Increasing our customers' productivity through integra- tions has been a key focus at Blue Sage," said Carmine Cacciavillani, Founder and President of Blue Sage. "With the Paradatec in- tegration, automated document recognition and data element extraction further streamlines the intake and purchase process and allows our customers to focus on other critical tasks and complete reviews faster while providing an improved seller experience." Planet Home Lending, a top 10 correspondent lender, found the combined tools helped improve customer experience while reduc- ing costs and approval turn-times. "We continue to invest in new streamlined solutions to sup- port existing sellers and make it easy for new sellers to become productive immediately," said Planet Home Lending SVP of National Sales, Correspondent James Loving. "While we have been partnering with Blue Sage since 2015, this combination of process updates and new technologies from both Blue Sage and Paradatec increased our productivity at a critical time. This allowed us to continue to offer outstanding seller experience, turn times and pricing even as the number of correspondents locking loans with Planet quickly rose." Neil Fraser, Paradatec's Director of U.S. Operations, added, "We're thrilled to support Planet Home Lending and Blue Sage. Using Paradatec embedded within Blue Sage's fulfillment platform means lenders can enhance their productivity and quality through automation while reducing the time spent to complete their loan review processes." Serving the Underserved ROCKET MORTGAGE INTRODUCES NEW PURCHASE PLUS PROGRAM R ocket Mortgage, part of Rocket Companies, has in- troduced Purchase Plus, a special purpose credit program intended to increase accessibility to homeownership in under- served communities. The new initiative offers up to $7,500 in credits for first-time homebuyers to use toward their mortgage costs. Purchase Plus is available in specific census tracts across six major cities where poten- tial homebuyers could benefit the most–Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia. "Homeownership has a significant impact on strong communities and the creation of generational wealth," said Bob Walters, CEO of Rocket Mortgage. "Our Purchase Plus program is a catalyst that will help narrow the homeowner- ship gap by addressing a concern we've heard time and again–the difficulty of saving for out-of- pocket expenses when buying a home." Saving for a down payment is often cited as one of the larg- est barriers to buying a house. Purchase Plus can help alleviate this hurdle by providing eligible homebuyers in one of the six cities with a base credit of $5,000, plus an additional lender credit totaling 1% of the home's purchase price–up to $2,500–for a potential savings of $7,500. Another benefit of Purchase Plus is the elimination of exclu- sions based on area median income, broadening the scope of who can take advantage of the program. The first phase of Purchase Plus will focus on spe- cific census tracts in each of the six cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas–areas where the initiative can make the largest impact in bridging the homeown- ership gap. In addition to Purchase Plus, Rocket Mortgage offers sev- eral programs with the goal of expanding access to homeown- ership. In 2021, the company launched a program in its home- town of Detroit called Detroit Home Loan+ to support those who are looking to purchase in the city through a $2,500 lender credit and homebuyer resources. To further build on this mission, Rocket Community Fund–the philanthropic partner of Rocket Mortgage–recently introduced the Rocket Wealth Accelerator Program, providing residents of Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Atlanta with coaches who will work with them to improve their ability to meet emergency needs, build their credit and grow generational wealth. Safely Navigating a Volatile Rate Market GUILD OFFERS NEW PAYMENT ADVANTAGE PROGRAM G uild Mortgage has launched Payment Ad- vantage, a new conven- tional loan program to help homebuyers save on their pay- ments as rates continue to rise. Guild's Payment Advantage program allows homebuyers to lock in a conventional mortgage and Guild will pay 1% of the borrower's interest rate for one year with a lender paid tempo- rary buydown. After the first year, the borrower will have a predictable payment increase and may be eligible to refinance with Guild through programs such as the Payment Protection program which has no lender fees. Conventional financing options, available for first-time and repeat buyers, include primary purchase transactions with as little as 3% down and credit scores as low as 620. The program is available for locks until March 31, 2023. Mary Ann McGarry, Guild CEO, said new programs are needed because of the current trends in interest rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association "Homeownership has a significant impact on strong communities and the creation of generational wealth." —Bob Walters, CEO, Rocket Mortgage