- 07.28.20 •
- Topics:
- Technology
While Docutech™ has been on the leading edge of the digital revolution for many years, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the industry’s acceptance of eClosings in ways no one could have anticipated. Coronavirus has driven the mortgage industry to expedite plans to roll out digital mortgages. Every step of the loan process has had to adapt to a remote workforce and borrowers preferring to conduct business digitally.
The American Land Title Association reported in May that the number of companies capable of performing digital mortgage loan closings doubled since Fall of 2019. Docutech has seen a similar growth in demand – in 2020 alone, Docutech has already helped lenders to perform over 100,000 eClosings.
Solex™ eClosing is an end-to-end integrated eClosing solution that enables each mortgage closing transaction to be as “e” as it can be, in accordance with state and county regulations and investor preferences, through an intelligent eEligibility evaluation.
Fast-tracking Digitization of the Mortgage Workflow
In addition to the eSigning aspect of mortgage lending, other components of the mortgage process have gained urgency due to the new demands for digital options. In March, Congress made a bipartisan push for nationwide acceptance of Remote Online Notarization (RON). Many state-level legislations followed suit, hoping to broaden support for in-person eNotarization (IPEN), RON, and even remote ink-signed notarization (RIN).
In July, The Mortgage Bankers Association, ALTA and the National Association of Realtors worked together to develop a model executive order for states to enable remote notarizations during the coronavirus pandemic. This model order, designed for use by state governors, proposes legal protection of remote notarizations to preserve the public’s health and well-being in light of COVID-19. The order emphasizes use of electronic documents and virtual communications to satisfy the legal requirements of notarizations.
Key to a true digital mortgage is the eNote and we’ve seen increases in eNote registration as well as investor acceptance. MERSCORP Holdings reports that as a result of increased digital mortgage adoption, they have seen record growth in eNote registrations on the MERS® eRegistry in nine of the last 12 months, including an all-time record of 36,744 eNotes in June 2020.
The trend will continue to rise, as MERSCORP also cited a 1,300% increase in companies looking to integrate their operations with MERSCORP and a surge in the number of companies transacting on the MERS eRegistry, and has responded to the demand with options for streamlined onboarding.
We’ve also seen more investors ramping up on eNote acceptance. Fannie and Freddie are the largest mainstream investors accepting eNotes, and in May they expanded their acceptance of eNotes from RON eClosings to include 45 states plus DC.
Wells Fargo has recently jumped on board as well, with eNote acceptance for correspondent originators. Last fall, MERSCORP introduced the Secured Party field in the MERS eRegistry, intended to drive adoption by warehouse banks and other interim funders. To that end, other government-sponsored investors like Ginnie Mae and the FHLBs have been working on their own eNote programs. Ginnie Mae is now accepting applications from eIssuers and eCustodians, and FHLB Des Moines began accepting eNotes as eligible collateral on July 1.
Docutech’s proprietary Solex eVault is integrated with the MERS eRegistry and eDelivery for all eNote management transactions to securely store and manage all loan documents. Solex eVault supports the Secured Party Field, allowing warehouse lenders, the Federal Home Loan Banks and Ginnie Mae to more effectively protect their security interest in eNotes.
On the post-closing side, our integrated vendor Simplifile® hit a major milestone in reaching 100M recorded documents on April 1. As of today, their eRecording network covers 2,153 counties in 49 states, representing 85% of the U.S. population. Year-over-year for June, they’ve seen a 186% increase in new eRecording customers, 40% increase in active accounts, and an amazing 76% increase in eRecorded documents.
Be as “e” as you can be
For years now we’ve been encouraging lenders to be as “e” as you can be and we’ve advocated a “crawl, walk, run” approach. Starting with a hybrid eClose process, lenders can improve loan quality, data accuracy and compliance while also accelerating the overall loan process. Not only does this promote greater efficiency from an operational standpoint by eliminating reliance on manual, paper-based processes, it also provides significant cost savings.
As an example, a lender originating 12,000 mortgages per year with an average loan value of $250,000 can save approximately $155 per loan, which adds up to $1.8M in savings annually when moving from paper closing processes to hybrid eClosing. Hard cost savings for a full eNote eClosing are even more significant. See for yourself how much you could save by using our ROI calculator.
Get Started, Today!
Existing Docutech clients utilizing the ConformX doc gen engine can have Solex eClosing turned on in as little as two days for testing and in two weeks to start generating eNotes.
To see how you can incorporate eClosing into your processes, schedule a customized demo, today.