Daily Briefing Weekend Edition

E-Docs for Foreign Real Estate

By Bonnie Sinnock

First American Loan Production Solutions here has begun offering electronic document packages that allow lenders to originate and close mortgages on U.S. purchases of investment properties and second homes in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

The company said the international e-doc packages include federal-and state-mandated disclosures and program-specific notes and security instruments compliant with local regulations that are unique to respective countries.

In addition, the packages include Internal Revenue Service forms for tax reporting purposes and country-specific closing docs.

Providing automated services based on cross-border mortgage business is a relatively small but growing part of First American Loan Production Solutions' business, Randy Gilster, president of First American Loan Production Solutions, said. "In another year or two it ... may be 5% of the business."

Cross-border strategies he said FALPS has seen in today's market include two somewhat similar to those the recent set of international e-docs was created for, only in the Caribbean.

First American also offers international document solutions for Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Great Britain, and documents are available in Spanish and as well as other foreign languages.

Mr. Gilster said the move is part of growing efforts by the FALPS unit to diversify its offerings beyond it core U.S. residential focus into international and commercial markets.

He said the main benefit to clients in offering the forms is the time it saves clients, allowing them to complete transactions that might take "a few days to a week" in as little as 60 seconds.

Mr. Gilster said clients typically pay for FALPS' offerings on a transactional basis but the company is flexible on that count.