ICE Mortgage Technology, a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, is deploying an eVault solution for secure storage of digital mortgages and notes, based upon technology acquired from DocMagic.

The eVault technology will be integrated into ICE’s mortgage closing platform, Encompass eClose, a leading-edge solution that helps to transform the way loans are electronically closed in the United States. Encompass eClose enables lenders to electronically facilitate every aspect of the eClosing workflow, from ordering documents to delivering loans to investors — and all steps in between — without ever having to leave Encompass, the industry’s most recognized loan origination system (LOS).

“ICE Mortgage Technology and DocMagic have been helping lenders implement digital mortgage processes for years,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “The migration towards digital mortgages is progressing quickly, and we’re happy to have provided ICE with capabilities to enable fully-paperless lending workflows along with better supply chain connectivity.”

Both ICE and DocMagic are committed to delivering technology to increase eClosing adoption in the mortgage industry.

“By creating an end-to-end solution and further automating the mortgage closing process, we’re helping the industry transition to paperless closings and enabling more efficient processes for our customers,” said Joe Tyrrell, President, ICE Mortgage Technology. “We acquired technology from DocMagic, who has deep experience in the mortgage space, and when this technology is integrated with our other services, Encompass eClose will enable customers to eliminate time and cost in the closing process and create better experiences for borrowers.”

ICE Mortgage Technology combines technology, data and expertise to automate the entire mortgage process from consumer engagement through loan registration. Today, more than 3,000 mortgage lenders, 45,000 agents, as well as technology partners and mortgage investors can use the powerful capabilities of ICE Mortgage Technologies solutions to drive efficiencies and profitability for their businesses.

Related Content:

• AmeriSave leverages DocMagic's Total eClose, doc gen solutions to maximize productivity (6/10/2021)
• Atlantic Bay surpasses 10,000 eClosings using DocMagic's Total eClose (5/25/2021)
• DocMagic client Truliant transfers FHLBank Atlanta's first eNote (4/15/2021)

AmeriSave, one of the country’s largest mortgage lenders — best known for pioneering the first truly digital mortgage experience for borrowers — has been utilizing DocMagic’s Total eClose and document generation solutions to drive digital mortgage efficiency.

"DocMagic has been a wonderful partner to work with throughout the pandemic and refi boom, proving to be a key technology partner that has helped rapidly scale AmeriSave," said Magesh Sarma, AmeriSave’s CIO. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with DocMagic to establish even more efficiencies for our customers and internal teams."

AmeriSave, which offers simple self-service options so that borrowers can directly engage in the loan process, has grown exponentially over the past several years, in part by leveraging DocMagic’s technology to establish system-wide interoperability, newfound business process efficiencies, compliance adherence, and more. DocMagic’s document preparation solution, eSigning and eClosing technology, which integrate tightly with AmeriSave’s proprietary loan origination system (LOS), has helped AmeriSave operate smoothly throughout a volume-intensive environment.

Many of DocMagic’s functions automatically occur at the appropriate time within the workflow of AmeriSave’s LOS — without any human intervention whatsoever. This maximizes employee productivity throughout the lending process, including with many of AmeriSave’s vendor partners.

“AmeriSave understands the importance of always ensuring that borrowers have as many options and tools as possible available at their fingertips to walk away with a good experience that ultimately creates repeat business,” said Dominic Iannitti, DocMagic’s president and CEO. “Everything we do at DocMagic places ease of use, simplification and elegant design as a top innovation priority, which is reflected by AmeriSave’s ongoing achievements. We are elated that AmeriSave is having such immense success with our technology.”

Moving forward, AmeriSave plans to implement DocMagic’s remote online notarization (RON) capability, eNotes and eVault technology to establish further lending efficiencies.

Related Content:

• Ask the eClosing Team: What steps should lenders take to get set up for eClosing? (6/2/2021)
• Atlantic Bay surpasses 10,000 eClosings using DocMagic's Total eClose (5/25/2021)
• DocMagic client Truliant transfers FHLBank Atlanta's first eNote (4/15/2021)

Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group has processed more than 10,000 eClosings — including thousands of eNotes — with the help of DocMagic’s Total eClose solution.

A long-time DocMagic client, Atlantic Bay processed its first hybrid eClosing in 2018 and executed its first eNote in January 2020; by year’s end, the lender had registered more than 7,000 eNotes. As of May 2021, Atlantic Bay has surpassed 10,000 eClosings, representing more than 20% of all loans originated as paperless closings.

“More than anything, our success has been predicated on being early adopters of RON (remote online notarization) and eNotes, helping settlement agents become comfortable with DocMagic’s software, working closely with our warehouse lenders and investors to accept eNotes, and having a ‘just do it’ attitude toward eClosings with eNotes,” said Christina Brown, Atlantic Bay’s Chief Operations Officer. “All of the legwork that we performed before and in the early days of the pandemic helped us gain a lot of experience and we were able to execute thousands of eClosings. It’s now become a competitive advantage for us.”

This recent success makes Atlantic Bay a leader in the lending space.

“Atlantic Bay exemplifies an incredibly efficient lender that has made all the right moves to fully embrace digital lending and completely remove paper from the closing process with our Total eClose platform,” said Dominic Iannitti, DocMagic’s president and CEO. “When you put the necessary pillars in place like Atlantic Bay has, it paves the way to more scalable operations with paper-free eClosings at the heart of the workflow. … We’re excited to showcase them as a client that’s perfected the eClosing process.”

Total eClose allows lenders to implement every type of hybrid eClosing — including eNote and eNotarization options — as well as a 100% full eClosing. It offers an end-to-end paperless workflow that seamlessly connects every component of the closing process.

Brown said eNotes have been a boon for her company.

“From origination through closing, warehouse lending and onto secondary marketing, we’ve seen a tremendous upside to producing eNotes that has benefited us as a company, our staff and our customers,” she said.

Atlantic Bay has already been conducting eClosings with RON, but plans to increase its volume of RON closings. The lender reports that it has experienced increased accuracy; quicker turn times; strict compliance adherence; better secondary marketing sell-side efficiencies; more warehouse line liquidity; and a straightforward, speedy and pleasant closing experience for borrowers.

Related Content:

• DocMagic client Truliant transfers FHLBank Atlanta's first eNote (4/15/2021)
• DocMagic, Secure Insight partner to create national eNotary training program (3/18/2021)
• Community State Bank now offering paperless eClosings via Total eClose (11/23/2020)

North Carolina-based Truliant Federal Credit Union has become the first lender to transfer an eNote, or electronic promissory note, to FHLBank Atlanta. The move marks one of the first successful eNote transfers within the 11-member Federal Home Loan Bank system.

“This is the culmination of years of work by the state of North Carolina, FHLBank Atlanta and a dedicated team at Truliant,” said Todd Hall, Truliant’s president and CEO. “This final digital step makes the whole homebuying experience quicker, more accurate and secure.”

The transfer was conducted as part of FHLBank Atlanta’s eNote pilot program, meant to test the bank’s infrastructure and ensure that more lenders can report eNotes as collateral. Truliant, which serves more than 270,000 members at over 30 locations across the Carolinas and Virginia, was invited to participate in the pilot.

Learn why eNotes are a game changer for the mortgage industry

“Interest in the ability to pledge eNotes as collateral continues to grow among our members and this initial transfer demonstrates that we now have the ability to meet this growing demand,” said Rob Kovach, FHLBank Atlanta’s Chief Credit Officer.

Truliant completed the eNote transfer on March 26 using the MERS eDelivery system and DocMagic’s eVault — almost exactly a year after they completed their first end-to-end eClosing on March 27, 2020, via DocMagic’s 100% paperless Total eClose solution.

To conduct the transfer Truliant had to meet a series of standards set by the FHLBank system relating to eSignatures, eNote documentation, eRegistry requirements, eVaults and more. For example, the standards covered what processes Truliant has in place if the eNote should need to be modified or papered out, or if a loan goes into foreclosure, said Beth Eller, Truliant’s vice president of mortgage services.

“We had eNotes in our portfolio so we had the ability to collateralize a note with them,” Eller said. “FHLBank Atlanta is a great institution. We were just really honored to be asked to participate.”

eNote usage is skyrocketing. In 2020, there were 462,671 eNotes registered on the MERS eRegistry, which shattered the 2019 record of 127,178 eNotes. 

The individual members of the FHLBanks, the majority of which selected DocMagic’s eVault technology, are in disparate stages of accepting eNotes as collateral. FHLB Des Moines is the only other member to have completed an eNote transfer, while Chicago and Dallas announced in mid-2020 that they would begin accepting eNotes. Other members are still in various planning stages.

In 2020, Truliant became the first credit union and second financial institution based in North Carolina to offer full eClosings. 

“DocMagic was critical to our success and in being able to do eClosings,” Eller said. “Without DocMagic’s help, we would have really struggled to get eNote adoption as quickly and efficiently as we did. It’s been a real plus to have a partner that is engaged in your success and that really has a vested interest in making sure that things go well.” 

Related Content:

• Ask the eClosing Team: What do lenders need to get set up for eNotes? (3/4/2021)
• Relive some key mortgage industry milestones in 2020 (12/29/2020)
• Ginnie Mae, 3 FHLBanks start accepting eNotes (8/5/2020)

DocMagic is teaming up with New Jersey-based Secure Insight to set up a training program on remote online notarization (RON) technology and processes. The move will establish a database of notaries who have been fully trained and certified on DocMagic’s industry-leading, 100% paperless Total eClose platform. The partnership combines DocMagic’s technology and Secure Insight’s unique database and individual training for notaries.

Amid rising demand for digital closings, lenders have a growing need to tap well-qualified eNotarization professionals who can ensure deals close smoothly and on time. This new certification program, which reaches the greatest number of notaries with a working knowledge of Total eClose, is poised to significantly move the adoption needle.

"Ultimately, this partnership creates a better RON process for lenders and borrowers alike, benefiting all users involved in the eClosing process," says Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. "Lenders are operating at maximum capacity right now with an influx of mortgage applications that they must ultimately close on as efficiently as possible amid heavy loan volume. Our new certification process will ensure lenders that RON eClosings will be handled quickly and efficiently by a ready supply of proficient eNotaries.”

Secure Insight’s extensive national notary database can now be easily accessed to find notaries who are qualified to complete seamless, compliant eClosings using RON technology.

"One of the primary challenges in facilitating RON transactions is that lenders are hesitant to entrust the closing process with a notary that may be ill-equipped to effectively perform an eClose transaction," says Andrew Liput, CEO at Secure Insight. "Teaming with DocMagic allows us to identify properly licensed, experienced and trained professionals whom lenders will feel comfortable leveraging to perform the specialized functions surrounding these unique transactions.”

Related Content:

• RON update: First new remote online notarization law of 2021 passes (2/12/2021)
• 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)

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 Chief eServices Executive Brian D. Pannell will be leading a webinar for the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA) this Thursday, Dec. 3, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.

ESRA is an industry trade association that works to advance the adoption of digital transactions. Pannell serves on its Board of Directors.

This year mortgage technology—especially eNotarization—evolved in order to meet the challenge of closing safely in a pandemic. “eNotarization morphed into limited-touch notarization,” Pannell notes. This led to a rush by states to pass temporary emergency orders to allow remote online notarization (RON) closings, but also alternatives such a remote ink-signed notarization (RIN) and socially distanced in-person notarizations.

After seeing up close how lenders and borrowers have adapted to pandemic-driven changes in 2020, Pannell will share his insights and stories from the field about the mortgage industry's new tech normal.

Related Content:

• RON update: Lots of forward momentum—but also a setback (6/26/2020)
• DocMagic's Brian Pannell named winner of Thought Leader Award (6/18/2020)
• Webinar: How mortgage industry should adapt to COVID landscape (6/3/2020)

Community State Bank, which has seven locations across southeast Wisconsin, has implemented DocMagic’s full suite of eClosing solutions and is now offering their customers a 100% digital mortgage process—something that’s key in the middle of a pandemic.

“During these times of uncertainty, it is extremely important that our team be able to adjust quickly in order to continue serving our customers safely,” said Scott Huedepohl, Community State Bank President and CEO. “We’re very honored to be able to provide both a high-tech experience, while still offering personalized service to guide our customers along the way.”

Community State Bank, founded in 1898, partnered with DocMagic to implement technology and help ensure the highest levels of customer safety during the pandemic. But in addition to safety, the bank also sought to offer borrowers a faster and more efficient loan process.

“By utilizing DocMagic, our mortgage team can now offer customers the option of signing mortgage documents electronically, from the moment they apply through closing,” said Community State Bank Vice President of Mortgage Operations Shakil Haider. 

Using the Total eClose platform, Community State Bank is also now offering remote online notarizations (RON), eNote generation, secure eVault storing capabilities, and direct connectivity to the MERS® eRegistry. Recently, MERS featured Community State Bank in its monthly newsletter, congratulating the lender for completing its integration. Community State Bank is, as of late November, one of just 74 originators integrated with the MERS eRegistry—nationwide.

“Community State Bank has put their customers’ needs at the forefront by implementing our automated, end-to-end lending platform,” said Dominic Iannitti, President and CEO at DocMagic. “We provide our clients with an agile and technology-forward mortgage process that ensures they can sustain and scale critical business processes.”

Customers have praised the new digital process. Gary Strand, who recently closed a mortgage with Community State Bank, noted, “Our experience was very simple from start to finish. Having the option to close our loan online shows they are willing to accommodate their customers’ needs and busy schedules while also keeping safety in mind during the pandemic.”

Related Content:

• DocMagic, VirPack integrate platforms (10/1/2020)
• DocMagic teams up with Simplifile to facilitate eClosing adoption (7/27/2020)
• MortgageCountry closing loans in 13 days using DocMagic solutions (7/21/2020)

DocMagic has integrated with VirPack to facilitate the seamless exchange of loan files and docs for compliant eSigning through DocMagic’s eSign platform.

Using VirPack’s API, electronically signed documents can automatically be accessed and retrieved from DocMagic’s eSign platform and delivered to the appropriate party, establishing a secure and seamless exchange of sensitive borrower information and documents. Customers will be alerted to all DocMagic eSign platform events via user notifications.

RON: The last mile in the eClosing marathon

The integration centralizes a paperless environment to maximize operational efficiency, eliminate errors, and reduce costs. Furthermore, the seamless connectivity speeds up funding and quickly delivers loan files to investors, GSEs, the FHA, servicers, QC firms, MI firms, and other relevant parties.

“This integration helps our mutual clients to efficiently automate document workflows and consolidate the retrieval and packaging of documents according to their specific preferences,” said Steve Ribultan, director of business development at DocMagic. “Ultimately, we’re bringing a greater level of organization and centralization to bundling executed documents for borrowers, lenders, and investors.”

VirPack simplifies virtual document management for the lending industry by providing user-centric solutions for loan file management, e-delivery, and file indexing with full text OCR to significantly increase productivity and modernize business operations.

“VirPack is pleased to strengthen our partnership with DocMagic,” said Wayland Pond, VirPack’s COO. “The integration results in more secure document exchange and alleviates manual processes by leveraging e-signature and e-closing technology. This partnership further underscores our commitment to modernizing mortgage lending workflows. Our technology focuses on improving operations by limiting manual intervention, reducing operational overhead and oversight, and increasing loan transparency.”

Related Content:

• DocMagic teams up with Simplifile to facilitate eClosing adoption (7/27/2020)
• MortgageCountry closing loans in 13 days using DocMagic solutions (7/21/2020)
• 3 reasons why DocMagic's document generation solution is so fast (7/15/2020)

DocMagic is joining forces with Simplifile, a document collaboration and eRecording provider, to create new process efficiencies that will further digitaize the closing process.

The two companies’ technologies—which include DocMagic’s 100% paperless Total eClose™ platform and Simplifile’s eEligibility data for eNotarization acceptance—are combining to facilitate eClosing usage, instantly qualify eNotarizations by county, and automatically eRecord documents post-closing.

“This integration further streamlines the post-closing process by extending the eClosing process to include county recordings,” said Dominic Iannitti, DocMagic’s president and CEO. “Our partnership with Simplifile provides their vast network of more than 39,000 settlement agents with easy access to DocMagic’s Total eClose™ services.” 

Using Simplifile, settlement agents can seamlessly connect to all of DocMagic’s eClose-enabled lenders in one place to exchange documents, data, and closing logistics.

Additionally, loan closings implemented through Total eClose™ can now be automatically routed to the agent for eClosing coordination, streamlining access to the Total eClose™ room. The digital lift continues beyond the closing table with integrated eRecording in participating counties. Those recorded documents and the title policy are then returned electronically, along with associated recording metadata, to the lender.

“Process consistency is key to driving eClosing adoption with lender closing teams and settlement agents, regardless of what percentage of loans qualify to be closed digitally or where individual loans fall on the digital spectrum,” said Paul Clifford, president of Simplifile. “The combination of DocMagic’s proven eClosing technology and Simplifile’s settlement agent network creates a powerful foundation that enables lenders to scale their digital mortgage efforts as jurisdictional, and investor requirements allow and capture every drop of efficiency and cost-savings possible.”  

Simplifile is a part of ICE Mortgage Services, which applies technology and high-capacity infrastructure to make the mortgage process electronic and more efficient.

Related Content:

• MortgageCountry closing loans in 13 days using DocMagic solutions (7/21/2020)
• 3 reasons why DocMagic's document generation solution is so fast (7/15/2020)
• DocMagic offers free verson of its eSign technology for non-mortgage uses (6/1/2020)