How Tech-Savvy Is Commercial Lending?

The Mortgage Bankers Association has released its first-ever Commercial Technology Survey, which was designed to measure the extent of computer automation in commercial lending.The survey found that more than three-fourths of survey participants have started efforts to store electronic images of loan documents, and that nearly two-thirds of the loan proposals sent from originators to lenders were submitted in electronic format, the MBA reported. The survey also found that more than half of loan underwriting packages received by lenders were received in electronic format; usage of electronic communications is high among servicers, and larger servicers are generally more electronic than smaller ones; investor reporting and remittances are almost entirely electronic; and processing property inspections is largely electronic. The survey was developed by the Technology Initiatives Committee of the MBA's Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors. It drew responses from originators and lenders responsible for roughly $70 billion in 2004 loan originations and servicers responsible for more than 130,000 loans with an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $525 billion, the MBA said.