VA Automated Servicing Upgrade Schedule Revealed

The Department of Veterans Affairs has published a proposed schedule for phasing in its automated loan servicing information system and the largest VA servicers, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Countrywide Home Loans, are slated to go first.Wells Fargo and Countrywide are due to go live on the new VA Loan Electronic Reporting Interface system, known as VALERI, in November and other servicers will be phased-in over the first three quarters of 2008. Wells Fargo will go first because its servicing system is similar to the VALERI system that National Financial, Jacksonville, Fla., has developed and customized for the VA. Countrywide will go second because it has a proprietary servicing system. The proposed phase-in schedule is out for public comment until June 15. "VA's goal is to bring on board the largest number of loans as early as its system can handle them, while also taking into account the number of servicers, the extent of servicers' interfaces, the types of loan portfolios, and other unique testing factors that VA can anticipate at this stage," the Federal Register notice said.