Saturday, November 1, 2008

Mortgage Company Goes Green





Anyone who has ever bought a home knows that the process involves mountains of paperwork. There are applications, disclosures, bank statements, pay stubs, and a never ending supply of other forms that require signatures when buying a home. In today’s day and age mortgage companies are finding it both cost effective and environmentally friendly to attempt to decrease the amount of hard copy paper that has to be transferred around and “go green”
There are a number of ways that Florida based Five Stars Mortgage has managed to do this.

The first is right at the beginning with the loan application. Through the online loan application a potential homeowner can input all of the necessary information and avoid having to use hard copy papers for the loan application. This allows the information to be automatically delivered to a loan officer that can immediately follow up with and finish the application process for a client.
Once the application is taken the loan officer can email a client all of the necessary loan paperwork that would require their signatures. There is a new product in the industry that is accepted by banks and lenders nationwide that allows for e-signature of the online documents. This avoids so much paperwork alone that if every mortgage company in America used it we could put a significant impact on the paper use in our country. The signed digital documents are delivered back to the lender without having to have printed signed, and then faxed back to the mortgage company where they would have had to once again print the documents.

These digitally signed documents can then be uploaded into bank websites where they can be underwritten without having to print them out once again. Now at this point you have saved from having to manually print this same set of documents three separate times. This is hundreds of sheets of paper you have saved in one loan scenario!

Once the file is being underwritten by the bank the client can access up to date status of their loans by logging into the Five Stars Mortgage and entering their tracking number in the loan tracker field. Through this interface each client can track the status of their loan in real time 24-7. In addition florida mortgage companies can update all of the other parties involved such as appraisers, realtors, inspectors, and loan officers through online tracking software and email. This allows everyone to stay in direct communication on a regular basis and ensures the loan moves faster through the entire process. Ask any realtor and they will tell you that communication during the loan process is invaluable to helping them do their jobs.

Finally the closing day comes and the client will have to manually sign ONE time documents that can be dispersed to all appropriate parties. In the near future we believe that even the final closing will involve a digital signature that will be used to send back to the lender, and even recorded digitally at the courthouse to have a complete paperless loan transaction.

These are just some of the ways that Five Stars Mortgage and the rest of the mortgage industry are attempting to do their part to responsibly manage their environmental footprint. Staying ahead of the curve with technology is the best way to benefit home buyers and other partners in the industry during these trying economic times. We look forward to the financial recover of the nation but until then every little bit helps!

Source: http://www.fivestarsmortgage.com/mortgage-articles/18/

4 comments:

TJ said...

Glad to see more and more of this. With tools like DocuSign being used more and more in Real Estate and Mortgage to manage the transaction flow, we will cut down on MASSIVE amounts of paper and cost to this industry. ONE large mortgage company in 2006 spent $100M in postage alone!

Check out www.docusign.com and start doing your part if you have not already!

Eric said...

Thanks T.J. Yes the docusign software is a great example of an inexpensive way for a mortgage company to get access to digital signature software.

Unknown said...

It's great to see that companies--like a mortgage company are trying to cut down on unnecessary costs.

Unknown said...

Yes, this is great and very exciting! And it can all be accomplished for any Mortgage Company in the US through Vertical Insight.

Call (607) 821-2636 to speak with the Director, Lisa Cutter and she can help you achieve higher efficiency, better customer service and above all a GREEN atmosphere in your mortgage office.