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8 | TH E M R EP O RT TAKE 5 Chasing Loan Automation MReport talks with Leah Fox, EVP of Technology and Services Delivery for LoanLogics, about ways the industry can further embrace automation. Nearly two full decades into the new century, many correspondent lenders are still stuck in the past. The sheer amount of data required to be sifted, sorted, and interpreted can be daunting for a business of any size, but emerging technology will allow lenders to automate more of this process, more easily catching defects before the purchase is already made. It sounds like a no-brainer, but many in the industry are still relying on an LOS. What's the hold-up in embracing digital? Leah Fox is EVP of Technology and Services Delivery for LoanLogics, a recognized technology leader in loan quality management and performance analytics that helps lenders improve transparency and reliability throughout the loan lifecycle. Fox previously worked as Head of Solution Delivery Services for eBay Enterprise. There were charming real estate investors looking to restore distressed properties around the country. RCN Capital's responsive team was able to work their magic and provide the renovation funding they needed when they needed it. But our tale is far from over, contact us today to see how RCN can fund your next fix and flip story. M // Why is there a lack of automation in the correspondent business today? FOX // There is no single reason why there is a lack of automation in the correspondent business. The right automation, properly applied, can solve some of the biggest challenges facing today's correspon- dent lender. All lenders collect an insane amount of information from borrowers—bank balances, income, credit history, tax data, you name it—and then they go out and get even more data from third-party vendors, not all of which is saved or sent in the same format. Gathering so much data form different sources and formats inevitably creates data contamina- tion problems. For correspondents who buy these loans, there is significant value in technology that can automate the process and identify defects prior to purchase. Most correspondent lenders today are forced to rely on an LOS—or parts of an LOS—for loan acquisition due diligence. Unfortunately, LOS solutions are not really equipped to verify and validate data, nor are they capable of automating the quality control aspects of a loan file review. On a broader level, the decision to invest in automation usually hap- pens at the higher levels of an organization. Standardizing on an LOS to serve needs across channels is not uncommon. Unfortunately, the organiza- tion's correspondent division is then left to absorb or "eat" the cost of functionality they simply won't use. Also, they