Two providers of loan origination systems have reported significant recent growth, with the increase in business at one of the firms attributed to its early adoption of features for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans. A third firm reported that 15,000 users have adopted its latest technology, while several others touted their LOS enhancements.
The number of new LOS clients signed up by Mortgage Builder Software between just January and September were up by half from the record set for all of 2008, an Oct. 12 news release said. The growth was fueled by smaller and mid-sized mortgage bankers — many who are members of the Lenders One Alliance. Record growth is also projected for next year.
The offering includes a compliant document engine. The technology provider attributed its success to increased demand for FHA-ready LOS technology. Mortgage Builder said that its system has handled FHA loans ever since it entered the LOS space 11 years ago.
“When FHA came storming back to the forefront, Mortgage Builder found itself riding the wave of HUD’s renaissance, completely prepared with full documentation, automated workflow and an inside track for lenders to use when communicating with HUD,” the Southfield, Mich., firm boasted.
Most of Mortgage Builder’s customers are foregoing traditional software arrangements and moving to the software-as-a-service model — a dominant theme among technology providers attending last month’s annual Mortgage Bankers Association conference. Instead of paying for software, lenders are charged by the loan with the SaaS model.
Also touting its growth was OpenClose, which indicated in a September statement that the number of AssistSeries customers now exceeds 300 companies. The AssistSeries included LenderAssist, a Web-based LOS. One of OpenClose’s customers, Mid Nation Mortgage Corp.’s Ben Robinson, was quoted as saying that even though their production had doubled from six months earlier — no additional staff was needed.
More than 1,000 mortgage lenders and 15,000 end users have upgraded to Encompass360, which was launched in July, Ellie Mae announced on Oct. 12. More than $29 billion in loan applications had been processed through the system as of the announcement.
Encompass360 customer Shmuel Shayowitz, who is president of Approved Funding, was quoted as saying that the system enables users to identify “which initiatives are producing the best returns, which branches and originators are doing the most production, and what type of programs are taking off or lagging behind.”
Among new Encompass360 customers is Calabasas, Calif.-based Skyline Financial, according to an Oct. 26 news release from Ellie. The 24-year-old is currently in acquisition mode.
“We’re in a competitive market marked by heightened regulations and investor scrutiny, and it’s more important than ever to originate high quality loans in the most efficient manner possible,” Skyline Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Dallas said in the statement. “With upcoming changes to RESPA, the SAFE Act and HVCC, originators can find that they’re spending an inordinate amount of time making sure they’re compliant.”
Pleasanton, Calif.-based Ellie claims its ePASS technology is used on one-quarter of all U.S. residential originations.
In an Oct. 13 announcement, Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc. touted the latest version of its mortgage loan application system, LPOnline. The upgraded offering features a loan officer module that offers prospective borrowers only the options that they qualify for. It also enables originators to order up-front credit reports and view the full report online.
FICS’s online system, which is branded as the lender’s system, also includes an option to submit to Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting system, Desktop Underwriter. It is directly connected to FICS’s LOS — LoanProducer.
Dallas-based FICS announced in August a series of Webinars for users of its LoanWare products.
Coastal Banking Company Inc. hopes to exceed a record $1 billion in June wholesale originations with its agreement to use Avista Solutions Inc.’s Web-based mortgage origination software, a recent statement indicated. This new software is expected to be operational by the end of the year.
The XetusOne LOS enabled Member Advantage Mortgage to triple its originations from around 60 units monthly to more than 200 with just three processors, Xetus Mortgage Corp. said in a September statement. Member Advantage is owned by, and serves, credit unions.
