Processing mortgage loans is easier now than it has ever been. Long gone are the days of faxing submission after submission just to get a credit grade. Long gone are the days of putting together a full file and shipping it to the lender only to find that the deal won't fly. Long gone are the days of waiting and waiting for that appraisal hard copy only to find that pages are missing when you get it. Thank goodness times have changed! If you're still doing it the old way, make a change for the new year. You'll be glad you did. There are many activities that were once pure drudgery that can now be done quickly and inexpensively. A few of our favorites include:
1. Using Fax-on-Demand and Rate-Sheet-By-E-mail in lieu of a mountain of faxed rate sheets. 2. Using E-fax or a similar system to receive faxes via e-mail anywhere, anytime 3. Saving faxed images to a PC for retrieval at a later time. Print only the pages you need. 4. Receiving appraisal and title reports via e-mail 5. Ordering title, flood certs, and surveys online 6. Using the lender's AUS or automated PreQual 7. Ordering credit reports on-line 8. Paperless loan file submissions 9. Wiring loan proceeds into an account 10. Verifying employment online 11. Using DU on the Web 12. E-mailing closing documents
Save yourself a little time and stress this year. ---------------- INDUSTRY NEWS BRIEF
A CLUE report (for insurance claim history), an Employment history, and Tenant history report can be obtained free annually at www.choicetrust.com. The free annual credit reports that became available on Dec. 1, 2004 to consumers in 13 states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming) are available at www.annualcreditreport.com.
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Q. Although I enjoy mortgage processing, I often find myself feeling overwhelmed or upset. What suggestions do you have to help me manage my processing responsibilities better?
A. Processing can be even more enjoyable if you institute a few stress reducing and time saving practices in your workday. The following are a few suggestions: 1) Work with your manager or originators to designate some "quiet time". This will allow you to prioritize daily. You will also find that you can accomplish a lot of mini projects during this time that really make a difference. 2) Use form templates to make routine requests such as updates for hazard insurance, payoff requests, appraisal orders, title orders, etc. 3) Establish a designated day and time for pipeline updates with your originators and stick to it! This will significantly reduce the number of "what's happening with this file" calls. During this update, don't hesitate to enlist the help of your originators to expedite document requests that have been delayed or gone unanswered. Don't allow too many "rush" requests. 4) Last, but certainly not least, use your conversation sheet to make detailed notes regarding the file status. It's a great resource for answering the originator's and borrower's inquiries quickly and accurately. ----------------
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