Welcome to Ask the eClosing Team, a new series where DocMagic’s eClosing pros tackle real questions that we’re hearing from lenders. Today’s response is supplied by eClosing Team leader Dan McGrew, president and CEO of Elite Digital Advisors.

What do lenders need to do to get set up for eNotes?

When a lender wants to produce eNotes, Dan McGrew says one of their first steps should be to get integrated with the MERS eRegistry, which is where the closed eNote will be registered (and ultimately transferred, if it’s sold to an investor down the line). This step could take some time. Lenders should follow the steps on this checklist to prepare for integration. They will also need to sign a MERS eRegistry Addendum, which includes additional terms and conditions related to their use of the eRegistry. After that, a MERS representative will reach out to the lender to continue the integration process.

Free article: Everything you need to know about eNotes

Lenders will also need to set up an eVault to access, manage, and store electronic files such as eNotes, and which can connect to the MERS eRegistry. There are several technology vendors, including DocMagic, who offer such eVault technology.

After that things get a little more complex: Lenders need all of their secondary partners to also be set up for eNotes. “One of the biggest challenges is, do their secondary partners participate in either the funding, servicing, or purchasing of electronic notes?” McGrew said.

Each stakeholder in the chain — including warehouse lenders, sub-servicers, and investors — needs to become a MERS member and to have their own eVault (though they can use different technology vendors for their eVaults. For example, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks system use DocMagic’s eVault technology, but Fannie Mae doesn’t).

Depending on the partner’s willingness to go “e,” getting secondary partners on board can be one of the more difficult parts of the process. McGrew says he usually asks the lender to introduce him to their current partners, such as their warehouse lender. He then reaches out to the warehouse lender, gives them a demo, answers their questions, explains the compliance requirements, and more.

“Once we take the mystery out of it, that typically does the trick,” McGrew said. “But a lot of times they’ll say they’re still not ready. So, in that case I have to go back to the lender and ask them, would you like me to introduce you to some other warehouse lenders that will fund eNotes and have an eVault? And typically, they’ll say yes.”

McGrew may also help lenders find new sub-servicers, investors, or aggregators who are either ready to offer eNotes or willing to do what it takes to begin offering them.

“I can have a lender that's fully committed and fired up to do eNotes, but if their secondary partners don't participate, that’s a big roadblock,” he said.

How long does the eNote setup process take?

That depends entirely on how prepared the lender and their secondary partners are. If the lender’s partners already have eVaults — or are willing to get one — and the lender plans to sell to an investor who already accepts eNotes such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, then the whole process can move fairly quickly. After the lender signs their agreement with MERS, they need to conduct grid testing (the process of testing any eNote being closed), register the eNote with MERS, and then deliver it to the next partner in the chain.

“In an ideal world, from day one we could set them up, do the grid testing in a week and a half, and get them live to producing eNotes in a couple of weeks,” McGrew said.

However, that's rare because the secondary partners usually aren’t already ready for eNotes; it may take everybody a few weeks just to get set up with MERS. “If all the parties in the chain still need an eVault, or if the lender needs to find new partners willing to play ball, then we're looking at 45 to 60 days, at least, to get them set up to produce eNotes,” McGrew said.

The time factor is one of the benefits of choosing DocMagic as a technology vendor — the process can go a lot quicker with the help of experienced eClosing experts. “Our eClosing Team is going to help them get there,” McGrew said. “At DocMagic, we hold your hand like a fishing guide, to walk you through every step of the process."

What’s the main issue stopping more lenders from offering eNotes?

The biggest obstacle — bigger even than recalcitrant secondary partners — is that lenders need to shift their mindset away from the idea that paper is the be-all, end-all in the mortgage industry.

“About 85 to 90 percent of lenders still rely heavily on paper. They’ve spent all their time and energy trying to make paper processes more efficient,” McGrew said. “We’re introducing them to a totally new way of doing things, so the biggest challenge for them is committing to that new mindset.”

McGrew recalled a recent meeting with an investor where the head of the compliance department admitted to having a hard time understanding eNote concepts such as the “controlling location,” “authoritative copy,” and the fact an eNote has multiple copies. The executive said, “We're just accustomed to getting a paper note and taking our thumb and smudging the ink to make sure we have the original.”

During the pandemic, McGrew has seen a sharp uptick in lenders wanting to offer eNotes; however, he’s noticed that many back off when they realize the amount of effort involved.

“They didn't realize what they had to do with MERS, or that their secondary partners had to have eVaults.” he said. “When they discover that, it causes many of them to stop and say, 'We'll figure out a different solution and come back to this at another time.'”

McGrew encourages lenders to bolster their commitment to eNotes because the benefits — which include greater efficiencies and fewer errors — are worth the effort. One lender he works with has been producing eNotes for several months now, but McGrew recalled that when they first started the process, some internal stakeholders were slow to embrace it. He recently asked his contact at that company: “If you went to the folks on your team that were previously hesitant and said, ‘We're going to go back to the old way, to the pure paper process,’ what would be their reaction?”

She laughed and answered, “They would shoot me.”

The eClosing Team can be reached at eClosingTeam@docmagic.com.

Related Content:

• Paradigm shift: 4 key mortgage industry changes over the last year (1/27/2021)
• Relive some key mortgage industry milestones in 2020 (12/29/2020)
• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)

By a large margin, PROGRESS in Lending magazine’s 90,000+ readers say that eClosing technology is in high demand. 

The magazine ran a reader survey asking whether, in their experience, demand for eClosing technology was poor, average, or huge. The response: 75% said demand was huge, 25% said it was average, and 0% said poor.

“Whereas in previous years eClosings were a ‘nice to have,’ the events of 2020 made them a ‘need to have,’” Michael Chaney, DocMagic’s National Sales Director, told PROGRESS in Lending. 

“Although most lenders were aware of the benefits that borrowers could gain from automating and removing paper from the closing process, it simply wasn’t enough of a driver to create widespread adoption. However, the need for social distancing, stay-at-home requirements, and safety as a result of the pandemic ended up catapulting eClosing technology to the top of lenders’ must-have technologies pretty much overnight.”

There is increasing evidence of the industry’s growing embrace of eClosings. In January, Ginnie Mae — which announced last year that it would start accepting eNotes as digital collateral — issued its first mortgage-backed security (MBS) backed by digital pools consisting entirely of eNotes, with a total value of approximately $24 million. Ginnie Mae says it expects to see even more growth in the volume of eNotes securitized under its MBS Program in 2021.

“The issuance of securities backed by digital pools validates the viability of the securitization model outlined in our Digital Collateral Program and sets the foundation for broader and more rapid adoption of digital mortgages,” said Angel Hernandez, Ginnie Mae’s Director of Policy and Program Development, in a statement. “This event is the culmination of efforts by numerous internal and external stakeholders in our digital initiatives, including issuers, document custodians, warehouse lenders, technology providers, and other industry partners.”

Vendors have responded to growing demand by enhancing their offerings.

“Whether a lender takes a phased approach to implementing eClosing technologies with various hybrid models or they elect to establish a 100% paperless eClosing workflow complete with RON technology, eNotes, and eVaults, it is nonetheless refreshing to see the industry as a whole working to create a better mortgage experience for borrowers,” Chaney said.

Related Content:

• Survey: Homebuyers adapt to eSignings, remote closings during pandemic (10/29/2020)
• DocMagic's CEO honored with Lending Luminary Award (10/27/2020)
• Ginnie Mae, 3 FHLBanks start accepting eNotes (8/5/2020)

The first remote online notarization (RON) law of 2021 has passed, and it has a surprising detail—it also expressly enshrines remote ink-signed notarization (RIN) in the state’s statute.

On Feb. 9, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) signed SF0029, which the state Legislature had passed during an eight-day virtual session. This move means there are now 29 states with permanent RON laws on the books.

In addition to RON, the new Wyoming law also includes clear provisions allowing for RIN, a lower-tech alternative to RON in which a borrower connects with a notary via an audiovisual program (such as Zoom) and then ink-signs a paper document before mailing it to the notary to complete the process. Before the pandemic, Wyoming was one of a dozen states that did not allow either RON or in-person eNotarization (IPEN).

Take a look at the state of RON around the nation:

• Here are the 29 states with permanent RON laws: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and now Wyoming. 
• While a RON law is on the books in 29 states, some haven't taken effect yet (or are only currently in effect due to emergency orders). For example, Wyoming’s new law isn’t effective until July 1, but the state currently allows RON via emergency guidance that expires the same day the new law takes effect. Louisiana’s law will take effect in 2022, unless a federal law is enacted sooner.
• Vermont is another RON state with an asterisk. It passed a permanent RON law in 2018, but RON transactions aren’t allowed until the Vermont Secretary of State issues guidelines for it, which hasn’t happened yet. However, last year the Secretary of State did issue emergency rules allowing RIN—while expressly clarifying that RON was still not allowed.
• South Dakota had previously been lumped in with the RON states, but its law actually permits a very limited version of RIN. The state only allows remote notarization of paper documents, and only by notaries who can identify signers through personal knowledge. South Dakota's law was enacted in 2019, a year before the concept of (and term for) RIN became popularized due to the pandemic.
• Wyoming’s new law appears to be the first time since the pandemic that a state has passed a permanent law allowing RIN. The move is surprising because RIN laws have largely been seen only as temporary measures—not as permanent legislation. When Fannie Mae issued its RIN guidance, it noted, “We do not expect these temporary governors’ executive orders and authorizations related to RIN to extend beyond the COVID-19 national emergency” and encouraged lenders to only consider RIN if RON wasn’t available. (A dispute over the validity of emergency RIN orders caused a brief dustup in Michigan late last year.)
• With the exception of California and South Carolina, almost every state has taken action to allow some form of remote notarization via permanent legislation or temporary emergency orders, several of which have been renewed multiple times as the pandemic continues.

Wyoming may be the first state in 2021 to enact a permanent RON law, but in all likelihood it won't be the last.

Related Content:

• Remote online notarization (RON) has several benefits beyond safety (10/22/2020)
• RON update: Remote online notarization sees forward momentum—and a setback (6/26/2020)
• RON vs. RIN (remote ink-signed notarization): What's the difference? (6/10/2020)

The effective date requiring the new Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) is fast approaching—starting March 1, the updated form will be required in residential mortgage loan packages that lenders intend to sell to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The new form, which includes several changes, was first announced in 2016, and since then its mandatory implementation date has been delayed twice. With so much prep time, many lenders are prepared for the new URLA from a technical standpoint, with their loan origination systems (LOS) integrated with the new form.

But lenders’ work is still only partly done. They simply won’t be ready until they also conduct this key step: testing, testing, and some more testing.

For more information, visit DocMagic's URLA Resources page

“The forms have been around for a while and lenders may not have tested in some time. With the effective date just around the corner, lenders should be testing the latest updates, both with the form and their LOS and integrations,” said Gavin Ales, DocMagic’s Chief Compliance Officer.

At DocMagic, the bulk of clients’ requests for URLA-related customizations began in January and have been picking up every week ever since. Clients’ customization requests have concerned issues as varied as the exclusion indicator, properly classifying credits, and how the Lender Loan Information’s Qualifying the Borrower section is completed, to name a few.

“These are examples of things lenders wouldn’t know they needed until they actually start testing,” Ales said.

For DocMagic clients who are ready to test the new URLA, it’s easy to generate the new forms: Within DocMagic Online, just go to the Tools > Options menu and select “Use 2020 URLA.” Otherwise, we will keep providing the existing URLA/Form 1003 until March 1.

To handle joint borrower applications, clients have three configuration options for the new form’s main Borrower Information Document (BID):

• A dynamic version, which includes the dynamic addition of joint borrowers to the same Borrower Information Document.
• A separate Borrower Information Document for all borrowers, including joint borrowers.
• The use of an additional Borrower Information Document for joint borrowers, in lieu of their own BID or dynamic BID.

Additionally, the Unmarried Addendum—which replaces the state-specific Civil Union/Domestic Partnership forms—will dynamically append to the BID for any unmarried borrower, no matter the state, while the Continuation Sheet discloses any state-specific required language and can also be used to provide explanations to any questions, if needed.

If your company hasn’t already started, it’s time to begin testing the new URLA form. Make sure you’re ready to go by March 1.

Related Content:

• IRS releases new form 4506-C (11/16/2020)
• The redesigned URLA will be required in a few months; are you ready? (9/4/2020)
• Testing the URLA (6/11/2019)

On Jan. 13, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a “Statement Regarding the Provision of Financial Products and Services to Consumers with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)." The statement encourages financial institutions to expand services to LEP consumers who often face barriers such as language access issues when obtaining credit.

The statement highlights that the CFPB has been engaging with industry stakeholders, consumer advocacy organizations, and trade associations to get feedback on challenges specific to serving LEP consumers. In August 2020, the CFPB issued a Request for Information (RFI) which asked for comments on how to provide clarity under applicable laws and encourage creditors to provide services to LEP consumers.

In comments responding to the RFI, financial institutions expressed a need for further guidance on how to expand their products and services to LEP consumers while staying compliant. The CFPB received comments regarding concerns of potential fair lending risks under ECOA and potential UDAAP risks when stakeholders decide how and in what languages to offer products and services. For example, with hundreds of languages spoken in the United States, comments expressed concerns of prioritizing services in one language over another, and what factors may be considered in those decisions.

Additional comments asked the CFPB to clarify that institutions unable to provide support in other languages besides English are not in violation of ECOA, and that offering support in only some but not all non-English languages would not be considered an unfair, deceptive, abusive, or discriminatory practice. Some stakeholder groups suggested that the CFPB provide more translated documents and notices. Other comments asserted that verbal interpretation via telephone is a more effective short-term solution to improving services for LEP consumers.

In response to the feedback, the statement emphasizes the CFPB’s duty under the Dodd-Frank Act to ensure “fair, equitable and nondiscriminatory access to credit.” The CFPB encourages financial institutions to better serve LEP consumers, while remaining compliant with applicable legal requirements. To achieve this goal, the CFPB suggests that financial institutions may consider:

• Implementing pilot programs or a phased approach to prove products and services to LEP consumers. 

• Developing a variety of compliance approaches depending on relevant factors such as the “size, complexity, and risk profile of an institution.”

• Mitigating compliance risks by providing LEP consumers with clear and timely disclosures in non-English languages that include the extent and limits of any language services provided. This would include providing how LEP consumers can obtain additional information or ask questions.

• Extending credit under a special purpose credit program (SPCP), following the standards and rules provided in Regulation B. The CFPB previously issued an advisory opinion on how to develop and implement a compliant SPCP.

The CFPB recommends specific considerations to help financial institutions mitigate ECOA, UDAAP, and other legal risks when developing compliance solutions related to serving LEP consumers. When considering whether to provide non-English language services, the CFPB recommends that a financial institution consider documented and verifiable information such as U.S. Census Bureau demographics. Local demographics may help regional institutions decide to provide language services that differ from what would be provided by a more national focus. Product and service selection and language preference collection and tracking is also recommended to improve needed services and “facilitate communication with LEP consumers in non-English languages.”

The statement also emphasizes that financial institutions must follow federal and state law requirements for providing consumers with translated documents and must ensure the accuracy of the translations. Further, the CFPB recommends that financial institutions implement a compliance management system (CMS) that can document policies and procedures, and monitor services and consumer complaints.

Related Content:

• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)
• IRS releases new form 4506-C (11/16/2020)
• The redesigned URLA will be required in a few months; are you ready? (9/4/2020)

Brian D. Pannell, DocMagic’s Chief eServices Executive, examines some of the key changes the mortgage industry has seen over the last year.

What a difference a year makes. A year ago, many lenders in the mortgage industry were still inching their way toward an electronic closing. Now, after facing an unexpected pandemic, most lenders realize that paper-intensive processes are outdated and they are clamoring for some form of digital transformation.

Looking back to an industry-wide survey of lenders that DocMagic conducted near the end of 2019, the contrasts to today are stark. Lenders’ pre-COVID attitudes toward digital readiness have shifted dramatically compared with what we know now, after 10 months of a deeply shifted post-pandemic mindset.

Here are some paradigm shifts I witnessed in the mortgage industry from last year to now:

#1: Lenders had been hesitant to overhaul their existing systems, preferring to cobble together a solution that fit into their current infrastructure. They no longer have that mindset.

In 2019: The reason you saw lenders using so many disparate software applications was because they’d been leery of upsetting their existing workflow. The mentality was, “I’d rather stick with what works than worry about trying to improve it.” So instead of upending legacy systems—loan origination systems, in particular—to create a more streamlined process with a single software provider, many lenders simply cobbled together solutions that fit into their existing infrastructure, despite the fact that multiple integrations like this are far costlier than using a single-source provider.

Today: A company’s long-term product strategy may have been developed over years of experience—but can it be expanded in months? Some of the ways that lenders have been operating are now being challenged. So, how quickly can you pivot to something else? Because if lenders can’t pivot, they may find themselves left behind.

Analysis: In 2019 we asked lenders to name their biggest challenge to adopting a digital mortgage strategy; survey respondents’ top answer was system integration (48%). When it came to updating their mortgage processes, many lenders had been content to move slowly, believing they could take their time to modernize their systems. However, as borrowers’ pandemic-driven preferences have shifted toward demanding more options for remote closings and notarizations, and as more lenders recognize the benefits of going digital—among them increased accuracy and speed, enhanced compliance, and a higher return on investment—lenders are realizing that they need paperless processes sooner rather than later.

#2: For many lenders, investor interest in fully digital mortgages was still low enough that it wasn’t worth the cost to install new systems. That’s no longer the case.

In 2019: The upfront cost of upgrading systems didn’t make sense if you didn’t have the volume. Organizations interested in implementing a digital mortgage process would raise a lot of questions with regards to, how do I get paid, how do I get funded, who am I going to sell my loans to? There was often a concern about generating the savings per loan to pay for the cost to install these systems.

Today: We've heard for a long time that Ginnie Mae and the 11-member Federal Home Loan Banks were on the cusp of accepting eNotes; they both began doing so in 2020. The fact that both are now accepting eNotes is crucial because it introduced a whole new level of participants to the eNote world. Between the FHL Banks and Ginnie Mae, there are a lot of advancements in the ability to make those eNotes saleable. 2020 was the year of the eNote.

Analysis: The foundation of a 100% paperless mortgage is the electronic promissory note (eNote). While eNote registrations were steadily on the rise before the pandemic, in 2020 they reached their tipping point, boasting almost 463,000 registrations—a 264% increase over the previous year. One key reason for this jump is the fact that, after years of planning, Ginnie Mae and the FHL Banks system finally joined Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and began accepting eNotes as collateral. The impact on the mortgage industry can’t be overstated: With these two major players on board, the pool of investors willing to buy digitized mortgages has vastly increased.

Additionally, along with this greater acceptance of eNotes, there has been a corresponding increase in eWarehouse lenders—which has also been critical to increased adoption of digital mortgages.

#3: Prior to COVID-19, many lenders’ primary focus, as it related to digital mortgage decisions, was to improve the customer experience. Now, lenders are focused on meeting borrowers’ vastly changed risk tolerance.

In 2019: As far as what moves lenders to go digital, of the organizations we surveyed, the prime motivator was to improve the customer experience, with 86% of respondents citing this as a reason for adopting new software. This was followed closely by the desire to reduce errors (85%) and improve security (83%).

Today: As we continue to find ourselves within a pandemic-operating environment, borrowers’ risk tolerance must increasingly be taken into consideration. The borrower has a new risk tolerance for in-person contact nowadays, and lenders need to be able to execute on that from borrower to borrower. A lot of people have a very low tolerance, especially folks who are high-risk. They’re not going to tolerate putting themselves and their families in a situation where they need to leave the house and go to another location to execute an in-person closing. As an industry, we need to reduce the amount of in-person contact that’s occurring.

Analysis: Before the pandemic, lenders’ primary reason for offering eClosings was to improve the customer experience. That’s still true, but whereas before COVID-19 lenders provided electronic mortgages as an optional convenience, now they have become a necessity. Borrowers want more eClosing options, whether hybrid or 100% paperless, both for their safety and because pandemic restrictions have made people less mobile. If an eClosing is the only process borrowers will accept, lenders don’t have any choice but to give borrowers the experience they demand.

#4: Some states were still on the fence about remote notarization a year ago, but the overwhelming majority are now allowing it—in some form.

In 2019: When I went to North Carolina and spoke to closing attorneys, they told me there would never be remote online notarization (RON) in N.C. The reason? They wouldn’t know who the notary was at that point and they wanted to have the notary there. It also made sense because they didn’t want their business to come from outside the state.

Today: As the pandemic hit and as jurisdictions were making adjustments to allow for and minimize in-person contact, they had to come up with new ideas for notarization. In response, concepts like remote ink-signed notarization (RIN), or online in-person eNotarization (IPEN) were introduced. The advent and the necessity of coming up with unique ways to execute on any notarization came into play because there simply wasn't enough time to push through all of the regulatory concerns and considerations associated with RON and to make it more mainstream. Some states were able to accomplish it, but others had to make accommodations in order to support it. Looking ahead, if 2020 was the year of the eNote, 2021 could very well be the year of RON.

Analysis: Due to the pandemic and social distancing guidelines, states have welcomed all forms of remote notarization, including RON. Almost every state now allows some form of remote notarization, mostly via temporary emergency orders passed in response to COVID-19. These methods include RON or lower-tech alternatives such as RIN, online IPEN, or PRON (paper remote online notarization).

In addition to the spate of temporary orders, permanent RON laws also saw an increase in 2020, with an additional seven states jumping on board to bring the nationwide total to 29 by year's end. North Carolina also made remote notarization legal—albeit via a temporary law that’s set to expire on March 1, 2021. Still, it’s a once-unthinkable turnaround for a state where closing attorneys swore only a year ago that RON would never be allowed.

Leading up to this point a lot of lenders had been trying to convince themselves to make the switch to eMortgages, but there was no definitive tipping point. Now you have a pandemic. There's your tipping point.

Related Content:

• Relive some key mortgage industry milestones in 2020 (12/29/2020)
• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)
• Brian D. Pannell honored with HousingWire's 2020 Tech Trendsetters Award (12/4/2020)

At the start of the pandemic, companies across America were abruptly forced to send their employees home and quickly scramble to adjust to remote work. But even though new lender MortgageCountry had just begun operations, its president, Ira Brownstein, wasn’t worried.

Download the MortgageCountry case study

“You can be much more connected on a virtual basis and be much more productive, and we’re living proof—not by force, but by foresight,” Brownstein said.

The new company began accepting loan applications as most of the country was shutting down. And yet, with the help of DocMagic’s Total eClose and dynamic document generation solutions, MortgageCountry was able to implement an electronic workflow from start to finish in less than 30 days. 

MortgageCountry’s success has only continued since then:

• In its first month of accepting applications, it closed loans in an average of 13 days.
• It has partnered with the four largest financial institutions in the mortgage space—even though these institutions rarely partner with startups.
• It secured $35 million of mortgage credit facilities during an economic calamity, providing a runway to originate more than $700 million in annual mortgage originations.

How did MortgageCountry do it? In addition to their business model, they chose the right technology partners: DocMagic for document generation and eClosing, and LendingQB for its loan origination system (LOS) and point-of-sale system (POS).

This was key because MortgageCountry set up ambitious goals for onboarding and digital closings. A week before launch, they requested that all documents be digitally enabled and wanted their first closings to be hybrid and to close on a digital platform. DocMagic made it happen.

In retrospect, Brownstein admits he was taking a risk with such ambitious goals. “It was all new. I didn't come from an environment where we were closing loans digitally. We were closing loans the way most lenders close, with outdated wet signatures,” he said. “But I'm a big believer that you make a decision, do your due diligence, test your decision, and ensure that you mitigate risk, and we did that.”

To learn more about how MortgageCountry found success amid challenging economic conditions, download the free case study.

Related Content:

• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)
• Survey: Homebuyers adapt to eSignings, remote closings during pandemic (10/29/2020)
• Remote online notarization (RON) has several benefits beyond safety (10/22/2020)

DocMagic’s Integration Services Manager, David Garrett, is set to begin a two-year term this month for the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) Residential Standards Governance Committee.

Committee members weigh in on the voluntary standards that MISMO develops for the mortgage industry.

Garrett, who was elected in November, says his experience with DocMagic should help him make a strong contribution to the committee’s work.

“The technology we work with here at DocMagic is very cutting edge because we have a wide variety of partners and clients,” he said. “We also have so many different products, processes, and services that touch MISMO in some way, whether its doc gen, eNotes, eVaults, or the whole digital lending process from end to end. Very few organizations have all of those products under one umbrella. I hope that what I see here can help influence industry standards in a way that helps everybody.”

Garrett, who has been with DocMagic for over six years, helps clients integrate their current lending systems with DocMagic products such as Total eClose and document generation.

Before joining the committee, he was involved in MISMO’s Origination and eMortgage workgroups and was previously the co-chair of the Verifiable Profile SMARTDoc Development Workgroup. 

Garrett said the committee’s biggest issue will be trying to convince large swaths of the industry to adhere to a single standard.

“You have many facets of this industry using the MISMO standard in some form that it’s hard to get so many groups and organizations to adopt a single standard and stick to it,” he said. “A lot of the problem isn’t coming up with a standard but how to make it broad enough where we can get greater adoption. Everyone wants to have their own little flavor of it and that only works up to a point.”

The committee comprises 18 people, half of whom were elected at the same time as Garrett. It includes representatives from various mortgage industry sectors, including government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), lenders, service providers, and more. Garrett won the seat for a technology vendor representative.

“We get to hear all kinds of different ways that people are solving problems,” Garrett said. “That’s what’s really nice about the meetings—you talk to your peers and your competitors and your clients and you get a broader view of the current problems the industry is facing.”

Related Content:

• The current state of eClosings: A Q&A with DocMagic's compliance chief (12/17/2020)
• DocMagic's Leah Sommerville named to NMP's Top 40 Under 40 list (12/10/2020)
• An eClosing Q&A with DocMagic's director of enterprise solutions (9/9/2020)