In total, 82% of respondents to this publication believe that e-disclosures can keep a lender more compliant. While no one technology can solve all of the problems that lenders face, electronic upfront disclosures does have its benefits.
According to Kevin Marconi, chief operating officer at United Fidelity Funding Corp., "The use of paper disclosures requires certain assumptions to be made: first, that the originator who prepares them is knowledgeable of all state and federal required disclosures; second that the originator is aware of the timing requirements of the initial disclosures; third, that all of the required information is completed on these forms; fourth, that they have the most up-to-date version of all of the required disclosures. In comparison, e-disclosures ensure that all of these items are properly addressed.
"Nearly all LOSs have document integrations with vendors, which easily passes all of the required data to the document provider's website. All critical information is automatically filled into the forms, and all forms are verified to be current by the document vendor's legal staff. Triggers are also set to include the proper federal, state and local applicable documents based on the subject loan criteria. Automatic compliance checks can be performed to ensure a myriad of eligibility tests. Documents can then be sent via e-mail with a full log of the transmission and the receipt by the borrower, which has been generally accepted throughout the industry."
In fact e-signatures around disclosures is picking up considerable momentum. For example, a la mode has said that through SureDocs, the company's e-signature system, the company has applied its 3.5 millionth e-signature. SureDocs has been used by thousands of mortgage professionals to apply secure e-signatures on mortgage disclosure docs.
"We've saved $61,250 this year alone in overnight shipping bills, copier and storage expenses", said Andy May with American Dream Residential. "We'll send the GFE with SureDocs and if something changes or if we switch lenders, we would be hit with shipping fees and delays every time if we didn't have SureDocs. And the other thing you can't put a price on is the peace of mind. With SureDocs, there's a full audit trail I can access for any signature on any doc."
With increasing regulatory scrutiny on mortgage professionals, an electronic audit trail provided by these types of tools has become as important as the time and cost savings associated with e-signatures. The end-to-end audit trail helps mortgage originators document HERA compliance, prevent GLBA violations, and provide safeguards against mortgage fraud.
"Through the use of e-disclosures this process has been streamlined to minimize the frequency and number of compliance violations which occur," concluded Marconi. "This is good for banks and good for borrowers."
