Tag Archives: CEO Brent Chandler

FormFree’s Brent Chandler named an Inman Best of Finance award honoree

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree(R) today announced that its founder and CEO Brent Chandler was named to Inman's 2023 Best of Finance award program, which recognizes the leaders who are reshaping the mortgage and finance industries for both professionals and consumers. The inaugural class of Inman's Best of Finance winners were honored for their unwavering commitment to innovation and service in the residential mortgage space.

"For the first time in Inman history, we are shining a spotlight on the companies and individuals helping to raise the bar for mortgage and financial services," said Emily Paquette, Inman chief executive officer. "Their dedication to the communities they serve is driving change across our industry."

Inman recognized Chandler for revolutionizing the way lenders operate with FormFree's Residual Income Knowledge Index(tm) (RIKI(tm)), which provides insight into consumers' ability to pay by analyzing borrower-permissioned bank transaction data. RIKI's groundbreaking capabilities help financial institutions offer a more inclusive path to homeownership for consumers with thin credit files or no credit score.

Chandler was also honored for being the mastermind behind FormFree's Passport(R) mobile app. Passport verifies and perpetually updates consumers' Financial DNA(R) - identity, assets, income, employment, public records and credit data - in a secure, sharable token. The app puts consumers in control of their self-sovereign financial identity (SSFI) and facilitates seamless sharing with lenders.

"It's an honor to be recognized by Inman's Best of Finance award program for the work we are doing at FormFree to revolutionize the way lenders serve fiscally responsible consumers that don't fit the traditional credit mold," said Chandler. "RIKI and Passport are important to making home homeownership more inclusive and accessible."

The complete list of Inman's 2023 Best of Finance Award winners is available online at https://www.inman.com/best-of-finance-awards/.

About FormFree(R)

FormFree helps lenders understand credit risk like never before with its patented Passport(R) product, which opens doors to more inclusive credit decisioning by revealing each customer's true ability to pay (ATP(R)), and patent-pending Residual Knowledge Income Index(tm) (RIKI(tm)), an innovative method for evaluating consumer creditworthiness based on residual income analysis. For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

FormFree(R) today announced that its founder and CEO Brent Chandler was named to Inman's 2023 Best of Finance award program, which recognizes the leaders who are reshaping the mortgage and finance industries for both professionals and consumers. The inaugural class of Inman's Best of Finance winners were honored for their unwavering commitment to innovation and service in the residential mortgage space.

Related link: https://www.formfree.com/

FormFree and Brimma Tech announce partnership to expedite matching of prospective homebuyers with best-fit loan products and lenders

RALEIGH, N.C. /ScoopCloud/ -- Mortgage software development and solutions firm Brimma Tech (Brimma) today announced a strategic collaboration with ability-to-pay fintech FormFree®. The integration of Brimma's AI-enabled chatbot service into FormFree's Passport® mobile app will make it possible for prospective homebuyers to find their ideal loan product from the convenience of their mobile device, without the need to first complete a detailed loan application.

Passport gives consumers one place to manage their complete Financial DNA® - including assets, employment, income, public records, credit score and rent payment history - and makes it easy to securely share this information with lenders when shopping for a mortgage loan or other financial service.

Founded in 2016, Brimma is a sanctioned Solution Provider Partner for ICE Mortgage Technology® that helps mortgage lenders optimize their investments in technology through bespoke business optimization solutions. Brimma's Vallia Chat bridges the gap between the information in a lender's loan origination system (LOS) and the people who need it by allowing loan officers and consumers to ask questions and get answers in plain English.

"We're thrilled to partner with Brimma Tech to enhance our Passport mobile app with conversational interactions that expedite the matching of prospective homebuyers with best-fit loan products and the lenders that provide them," said FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler, who will join Brimma's advisory board as part of the deal. "Together, we can provide consumers and lenders with even more accurate and timely data to make informed lending decisions."

Said Brimma CEO Supree Periasamy, "We are excited to join forces with Brent and his team to combine FormFree's industry-leading ability-to-pay analytics with Vallia Chat's comprehensive understanding of loan underwriting guidelines and sophisticated parsing of borrower interactions. We also welcome Brent to our advisory board, where his experience will be invaluable as we continue to innovate and enhance our offerings in the financial technology space."

About Brimma Tech:

Brimma Tech is a software development company that specializes in building innovative software products, including enterprise software, web applications, and mobile apps. The company's global team of developers and engineers have expertise in a wide range of technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. Brimma Tech works with clients across industries to leverage its broad solution catalog as well as to develop custom software solutions that meet their unique needs. Learn more: https://brimmatech.com/.

About FormFree®:

FormFree helps lenders understand credit risk like never before with its patented Passport® product, which opens doors to more inclusive credit decisioning by revealing each customer's true ability to pay (ATP®), and patent-pending Residual Knowledge Income Index™ (RIKI™), an innovative method for evaluating consumer creditworthiness based on residual income analysis. For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

Twitter: @FollowBrimma @RealFormFree

RELATED LINKS:

https://vallia.brimmatech.com/

https://www.formfree.com/passport/

Mortgage software development and solutions firm Brimma Tech (Brimma) today announced a strategic collaboration with ability-to-pay fintech FormFree®. The integration of Brimma's AI-enabled chatbot service into FormFree's Passport® mobile app will make it possible for prospective homebuyers to find their ideal loan product from the convenience of their mobile device, without the need to first complete a detailed loan application.

Related link: https://brimmatech.com/

FormFree applauds new Fannie Mae positive rent payment history enhancement to Desktop Underwriter as major advancement in homeownership access

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- ormFree® Founder and CEO Brent Chandler today released a statement commending Fannie Mae's efforts to remove barriers to homeownership by adding a positive rent payment history feature to Desktop Underwriter® (DU®).

The feature, which went into effect September 18, is designed to expand sustainable homeownership - particularly for renters with limited credit history. The feature is anticipated to benefit prospective homebuyers and mortgage lenders alike by increasing the number of applicants who receive an Approve/Eligible recommendation in DU.

"According to Fannie Mae research, factoring in first-time homebuyers' history of consistent rent payments is one significant difference between the lender qualifying and not qualifying applicants for a mortgage," said Steve Pawlowski, senior vice president of Fannie Mae Single-Family Products and Solutions. "Digital technology enables us to pull the data necessary to unlock more homeownership opportunities for qualified renters. Enhancements to Desktop Underwriter such as this one are a step toward making meaningful change."

Using verification of asset (VOA) reports supplied by authorized report suppliers like FormFree, DU automatically identifies recurring rent payments and takes them into consideration when assessing credit eligibility for certain, qualified first-time homebuyers. Only positive rent payment history is considered; DU does not evaluate late or missing rent payments or count them against a borrower.

Lenders using FormFree's AccountChek® VOA reports in conjunction with Desktop Underwriter have already begun taking advantage of positive rent payment history without disrupting current workflows.

"Back in 2015, FormFree identified rent payments as highly relevant to determining a consumer's ability to pay," said Chandler. "In the years since, we've independently developed and honed algorithms that can isolate rent payments in direct-source checking account data with great veracity. We applaud Fannie Mae for embracing this kind of technology as a tool for helping break the cycle of systemic racism that widens homeownership, wealth and quality-of-life gaps."

As a longtime authorized report supplier for the DU validation service, FormFree has an extended history of providing asset data for lenders to verify borrower eligibility. FormFree has also enhanced AccountChek with proprietary features that may not be available in competing VOA solutions. For instance, lenders do not have to order a 12-month AccountChek VOA report to supply 12 months of rent payment history to DU; instead, this feature is available with AccountChek reports of any length, including 30-, 60-, 90- and 180-day reports.

In addition, AccountChek has safeguards in place to ensure the collection of 12-month rent payment history does not unnecessarily expose lenders to non-rent transactions, such as large gift deposits, that occurred more than 90 days but less than 12 months in the past.

For more information about positive rent payment history, visit https://www.fanniemae.com/positive-rent-payments.

Current AccountChek customers who have questions about taking advantage of this feature should contact their FormFree account representative.

About FormFree®

FormFree® is a market-leading fintech company whose revolutionary products AccountChek® and Passport® make for a more inclusive credit decisioning landscape by enabling lenders to understand people's true ability to pay (ATP®). Our vision is to leverage source data and data-driven intelligence to usher in a new era of transparent, fair and liquid credit markets. To date, thousands of U.S. lenders and brokers have ordered millions of FormFree's patented verification reports representing trillions of dollars in loan verifications. FormFree delights borrowers and lenders with a paperless experience, dramatically reduces origination timelines and offers automated analysis and standardized delivery to lenders and investors using a secure ReIssueKey®.

For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/formfree/.

FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler today released a statement commending Fannie Mae's efforts to remove barriers to homeownership by adding a positive rent payment history feature to Desktop Underwriter® (DU®).

Related link: https://www.formfree.com/

FormFree Founder Brent Chandler Named HousingWire Tech Trendsetter for Second Year

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree(R) today announced that Founder and CEO Brent Chandler has been named a HousingWire Tech Trendsetter for a second consecutive year. The list honors executives, product leaders and technology professionals bringing the latest digital lending technology to market for their mortgage and real estate clients.

Chandler was recognized for driving innovation and challenging the status quo at FormFree, an award-winning provider of lending technologies setting industry standards for simplicity, accuracy and safety. Under Chandler's direction, FormFree has pioneered the effort to modernize and democratize credit decisioning with its AccountChek(R) and Passport(TM) products used by millions of consumers and thousands of lenders, including over 60% of the industry's top-50 lenders.

In the last 12 months alone, FormFree has announced new partnerships with Blue Sage and Ocrolus, enhanced its integration with Encompass Consumer Connect and earned a new patent for its proprietary technology. Currently, Chandler is working to bring FormFree's Passport(TM) all-in-one verification service to the blockchain. By enabling on-demand access to consumers' tokenized ATP information - including asset, employment, identity, income, credit and public records data retrieved directly from financial institutions and other authoritative sources - FormFree hopes to make mortgage underwriting even speedier while improving access to credit for low- and middle-income families in accordance with the OCC's Project REACh.

"Making loans simpler and safer for everyone is our philosophy. To accomplish that, we've built trusted financial solutions that are more intuitive and responsive than the industry's legacy technologies," said Chandler. "Our products are enhancing the lending experience for all people, and we will continue to challenge convention into the future."

"Our Tech Trendsetters award recognizes a group of leaders who were critical to the outstanding performance of housing and real estate during this pandemic, finding innovative solutions when everything changed on a dime," said HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler. "We're very proud to celebrate their achievements and honor the impact they've had at such a crucial time."

The 2020 HW Tech Trendsetters will be profiled in the December/January issue of HousingWire magazine. Winners were selected by a panel of HousingWire editors and reporters based on their accomplishments and professional success over the last 12 months. The complete list of HW Tech Trendsetters can be found online at https://www.housingwire.com/articles/introducing-the-housingwire-2020-tech-trendsetters/.

About FormFree:

FormFree is a market-leading fintech company whose revolutionary products AccountChek and Passport are building a more inclusive credit decisioning landscape by encouraging lenders to view borrower ability to pay (ATP) more holistically. To date, thousands of U.S. lenders and brokers have ordered millions of FormFree's patented verification reports representing over a trillion dollars in loan verifications. FormFree delights borrowers and lenders with a paperless experience, reduces origination timelines by up to 20 days and offers automated analysis and standardized delivery to lenders and investors using a secure ReIssueKey(TM). For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

About HousingWire:

HousingWire is the most influential source of news and information for the U.S. mortgage and housing markets. Built on a foundation of independent and original journalism, HousingWire reaches over 60,000 newsletter subscribers daily and over 7.5 million unique visitors each year. Our audience of mortgage, real estate, financial services and fintech professionals rely on us to Move Markets Forward. Visit https://www.housingwire.com/ or https://www.solutions.housingwire.com/ to learn more.

Twitter: @RealFormFree @HousingWire #hwtechtrendsetters #mortgageindustry #fintech

FormFree today announced that Founder and CEO Brent Chandler has been named a HousingWire Tech Trendsetter for a second consecutive year. The list honors executives, product leaders and technology professionals bringing the latest digital lending technology to market for their mortgage and real estate clients.

Related link: https://www.formfree.com/

FormFree Founder Brent Chandler Commends CFPB Proposal to Eliminate DTI, Citing Ability to Pay as a ‘Best Consumer Borrowing Risk Indicator’

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree(R) Founder and CEO Brent Chandler today responded to this week's news that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger indicated the bureau's decision to propose amending the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule so as to "move away" from debt-to-income (DTI) calculations as a mortgage underwriting factor:

First, I commend the CFPB for their courage to engage in thoughtful discussion of alternative methods for assessing a borrower's ability to afford a loan and calculating what is affordable for them specifically.

DTI is an archaic evaluation that has outlived its usefulness for consumers, and particularly mortgage-seeking consumers. DTI has left tens of millions of consumers in the cold because they do not meet this threshold, when in fact, based on their actual cash flows, they could afford a loan and possibly even be a superior borrower to someone who does meet it.

With the advent of and 10 years' success using digital data to dependably deliver voluntary 'source truth' on users' personal solvency or money management lifestyle, we can calculate ability to pay definitively based on residual and discretionary income.

In other words, digital financial tools allow us to clearly identify what consumers can afford based on their money management habits better and more transparently than a rigid one-size-fits-all formula. That's why ability to pay is the best consumer borrowing risk indicator.

It is gratifying that the CFPB and the powers that dictate what makes a safe and solvent loan have begun acknowledging technology as a useful tool for creating more efficient, safer, more secure, more accessible models of lending.

Our board member and close industry advisor Faith Schwartz reminds me that the myriad policy considerations driving the CFPB's proposal are not limited to technology-driven advances. While I am not blind to other considerations, I see the world through the lens of how technology is driving positive change. I am fascinated by and ardent about the doorway we are finally stepping through as an industry that lives or dies, fails or thrives, based on its ability to lend responsibly to consumers.

About FormFree

FormFree(R) is a market-leading fintech company whose revolutionary products AccountChek(R) and Passport(tm) are changing the credit decisioning landscape and encouraging lenders nationwide to incorporate a more holistic view of each borrower's financial DNA. To date, thousands of U.S. lenders and brokers have ordered millions of FormFree's patented verification reports representing over a trillion dollars in loan verifications.

FormFree delights borrowers and lenders with a paperless experience, reduces origination timelines by up to 20 days and offers automated analysis and standardized delivery to lenders and investors using a secure ReIssueKey(tm). A HousingWire TECH100(tm) company for four consecutive years, FormFree is based in Athens, Georgia.

More information: https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

Twitter: @RealFormFree #digitalmortgage

FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler today responded to this week's news that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger indicated the bureau's decision to propose amending the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule so as to "move away" from debt-to-income (DTI) calculations as a mortgage underwriting factor.

Related link: https://www.formfree.com/

FormFree’s Brent Chandler Named Among Mortgage Professional America’s Hot 100

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree(R) today announced that company founder and CEO Brent Chandler has been recognized by Mortgage Professional America (MPA) magazine in its annual Hot 100 list of mortgage professionals whose contributions are shaping America's home finance future. Chandler was recognized as the creator of AccountChek(R) - the mortgage industry's first automated asset verification tool - and for advancing innovative approaches to income and employment verification using asset data and augmented intelligence (AI).

2018 marks the sixth year that MPA has recognized mortgage industry trailblazers in its Hot 100 list, which is published each February. Hot 100 honorees are peer-nominated and recognized as leaders within the mortgage community.

In the past twelve months, Chandler has also received awards from other prominent industry publications, including MBA Insights' 2017 Tech All-Star Award and HousingWire magazine's 2017 HW Vanguard Award. FormFree was named to HousingWire's HW TECH100(TM) for the fourth consecutive year in 2017.

Chandler is a widely recognized innovator in mortgage and financial services technologies whose guidance has been instrumental to FormFree's staggering growth over the last few years. Since Fannie Mae designated FormFree as an official vendor for asset verification as part of the Day 1 Certainty(TM) initiative in 2016, FormFree has signed over 800 new lender customers and verified more than 1.25 million Asset Reports.

"FormFree's success would not be possible without our outstanding team of professionals dedicated to providing the most secure, accurate and complete asset verification service in home finance," said Chandler. "I couldn't be prouder of FormFree's achievements. To be recognized among the esteemed list of professionals named in the Hot 100 is truly an honor."

For a full rundown of 2018 MPA Hot 100 winners, visit https://www.mpamag.com/contents/e-magazine.aspx?id=91568.

About FormFree(R):

FormFree is a fintech company whose market-leading AccountChek(R) Asset Reports are used by lenders nationwide to verify borrower assets, employment and income in minutes. To date, more than 1,000 U.S. lenders have ordered over 1.25 million AccountChek Asset Reports, delighting their customers with a paperless experience and reducing origination timelines by up to 20 days. FormFree offers automated analysis and standardized delivery to lenders and their investors using a secure ReIssueKey(TM). A HousingWire TECH100(TM) company for four consecutive years, FormFree is based in Athens, Georgia. For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

About Mortgage Professional America:

Mortgage Professional America (MPA) is the mortgage and finance industry's most trusted source of news, opinion and analysis. MPA keeps mortgage and finance professionals up-to-date with breaking news, cutting-edge opinion and expert analysis of the trends affecting individual mortgage businesses and the industry as a whole.

FormFree today announced that company founder and CEO Brent Chandler has been recognized by Mortgage Professional America magazine in its annual Hot 100 list of mortgage professionals whose contributions are shaping America's home finance future. Chandler was recognized as the creator of AccountChek - the mortgage industry's first automated asset verification tool - and for advancing innovative approaches to income and employment verification using asset data and augmented intelligence (AI).

Related link: http://www.formfree.com/

FormFree Voted Among ‘Best in Show’ at Digital Mortgage Conference

ATLANTA, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree today announced it was selected as one of the top demos of the inaugural Digital Mortgage Conference, presented by National Mortgage News and held December 8-9, 2016, in San Francisco.

After walking attendees through a live demo of AccountChek(TM), part of Fannie Mae's Day 1 Certainty(TM) initiative via the Desktop Underwriter(R) (DU(R)) Validation Service, FormFree executives offered a glimpse of the company's next project - a comprehensive service for asset, income, identity and employment verification called Passport.

"So much emphasis has been placed on taking the mortgage closing process digital, but there are other borrower-facing aspects of the loan origination process that could use an injection of automation," said Brent Chandler, CEO and founder of FormFree. "By extracting paper from the verification process through automated solutions like AccountChek and, one day soon, Passport, lenders are putting themselves that much closer to realizing a fully digital mortgage transaction."

Conference attendees were asked to vote for the demo they found most successful after each round of presentations. From there, all session winners were entered into a final round of voting to be named "Best in Show."

To see recorded footage of FormFree's demo, visit http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/conferences/digitalmortgage/formfree.html.

About FormFree:

Leading lenders trust Athens, Georgia-based FormFree to deliver automated verification solutions that streamline the loan origination process and provide better intelligence on borrowers' ability to repay. FormFree's flagship app, AccountChek(TM), eliminates the hassle of collecting paper statements from borrowers by using direct-access data untouched by human hands to consolidate, analyze and verify assets. Lender tested and GSE approved, AccountChek securely delivers automated asset verification data and on-demand reports to more than 200 leading U.S. lenders and their millions of customers. FormFree was named one of American Banker magazine's "Top 10 Tech Companies to Watch" in 2015.

For more information, visit http://www.formfree.com/.

FormFree today announced it was selected as one of the top demos of the inaugural Digital Mortgage Conference, presented by National Mortgage News and held December 8-9, 2016, in San Francisco.

FormFree CEO Brent Chandler Receives HW Vanguard Award from HousingWire Magazine for Mortgage Industry Leadership

ATLANTA, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree today announced that its CEO and founder Brent Chandler has been recognized by HousingWire magazine in its second annual HW Vanguard Awards(TM) program. Created to recognize outstanding leadership in the housing and mortgage finance sectors, this year's awards honored 40 C-level and business unit executives.

Chandler's award marks another honor in what has been a banner year for FormFree. In addition to being named to the HW TECH100(TM) in March, the company was announced as the first vendor for asset verification for Fannie Mae's Day 1 Certainty(TM) initiative. Through this initiative, lenders who use AccountChek for asset verification through Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter(r) (DU(r)) Validation Service will receive reps and warrants relief, beginning December 10, for the validated components of the loan.

As the magazine noted in its December issue, "These leaders from all segments of the mortgage ecosphere demonstrate that our industry is more than capable of meeting the challenges that lie ahead. Our Vanguard winners excel in a variety of skill sets, but all share the ability to energize and mobilize their employees."

"The HW Vanguards continued to impress going into its second year; the winners are second-to-none, and this list represents the finest cross section of mortgage talent available," said Jacob Gaffney, HousingWire editor-in-chief.

Winners were determined by the HousingWire editorial board, who evaluated nominees based on tangible leadership displayed within their companies and the industry at large. Of this year's winners, eight are founders of their company, and 23 serve as president/CEO.

"Our industry's future is bright thanks to its diversity and willingness to innovate," Chandler said. "It is both humbling and gratifying to be included among this peer group receiving HousingWire's Vanguard Award."

About HousingWire

HousingWire is by far the nation's most influential source of news and information for U.S. mortgage markets, boasting a readership that spans lending, servicing, investments and real estate market participants as well as financial market professionals.

Winner of numerous awards, including a 2012 Eddie Award for national editorial excellence in the B-to-B Banking/Business/Finance, HousingWire has been recognized for excellence in journalism by the Society of Business Editors and Writers, the American Society of Business Press Editors, the National Association of Real Estate Editors and Trade Association Business Publications International.

About FormFree

Leading lenders trust Athens, Georgia-based FormFree to deliver automated verification solutions that streamline the loan origination process and provide better intelligence on borrowers' ability to repay. FormFree's flagship app, AccountChek(TM), eliminates the hassle of collecting paper statements from borrowers by using direct-access data untouched by human hands to consolidate, analyze and verify assets. Lender tested and GSE approved, AccountChek securely delivers automated asset verification data and on-demand reports to more than 200 leading U.S. lenders and their millions of customers. FormFree was named one of American Banker magazine's "Top 10 Tech Companies to Watch" in 2015.

For more information, visit http://www.formfree.com/.

FormFree today announced that its CEO and founder Brent Chandler has been recognized by HousingWire magazine in its second annual HW Vanguard Awards program. Created to recognize outstanding leadership in the housing and mortgage finance sectors, this year's awards honored 40 C-level and business unit executives.