Tag Archives: FinTech

After, Inc.’s QuickCover Extension is Now Available on the Top Four eMarketplace App Stores – Shopify, Adobe Commerce, Woo Commerce, and BIG Commerce

NORWALK, Conn. /ScoopCloud/ -- After, Inc., a pioneer in the Warranty Services industry, just announced that its QuickCover® product protection technology is officially available on Shopify, Adobe Commerce, Woo Commerce, and BIG Commerce. QuickCover® is one of five post-sale customer experience platforms that After, Inc. calls its QuickSuite.

Designed to work together at each stage of the post-sale lifecycle, QuickSuite enables e-commerce sellers to build meaningful relationships with their customers. The five platforms in the QuickSuite include: QuickReg® (registration), QuickCover® (product protection), QuickClaim® (claims management), QuickInsight® (analytics and reporting), and QuickRenew® (add-on consumable subscriptions).

With QuickCover® now available on all four e-commerce marketplaces, it is poised to power over 2/3 of all e-commerce protection plan sales. According to Oberlo, current U.S. market share percentages for the four emarketplaces as of May 2022 are: Shopify (32%), Woo Commerce (23%), Adobe Commerce (9%), and Big Commerce (3%).

"After has been a best-in-class warranty services company for over 15 years, helping global manufacturers optimize their businesses after the point of sale," said Nate Baldwin, CEO of After, Inc. "QuickCover - and the whole QuickSuite - didn't happen overnight. We saw a shift in the market several years ago, with many of our manufacturing and retail clients moving significant percentages of their product sales online. They needed a solution to offer their own branded protection plans across all of their e-commerce channels.

"What's great about QuickCover is that OEMs and Third-Party Administrators can white label the technology to drive more online protection plan sales. We partner with them to launch their own branded plug-in on Shopify, Woo, BIG and/or Adobe Commerce. They can use it on their own website and provide the extension to online dealers and distributors, allowing them to maintain control over the entire post-sale customer experience."

Learn more: https://www.afterinc.com/product/quickcover/

ABOUT AFTER, INC.:

After, Inc. (afterinc.com) is a pioneer in the Warranty Services industry. Since 2005, After, Inc. has been partnering with some of the world's top brands to help transform their warranty businesses. After, Inc. launched QuickSuite in 2020, a modular set of platforms, designed to help manufacturers, retailers, and e-commerce sellers of any size build deeper relationships with their customers and increase loyalty and lifetime value. In 2022, After acquired Accentf(x), adding vertically integrated capabilities to our post-sale marketing solutions.

Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn. and with offices in New York City, After, Inc. is part of Galway Holdings, a financial services distribution company with a focus towards data analytics, technology transformation, and innovative risk sharing solutions.

Learn more: https://www.afterinc.com/

After, Inc., a pioneer in the Warranty Services industry, just announced that its QuickCover® product protection technology is officially available on Shopify, Adobe Commerce, Woo Commerce, and BIG Commerce. QuickCover® is one of five post-sale customer experience platforms that After, Inc. calls its QuickSuite.

Related link: https://afterinc.com/

PitBullTax Software Integrates with Major Tech Companies to Further Dominate The IRS Tax Resolution Industry

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. /ScoopCloud/ -- PitBullTax Software, the Nation's Leading IRS Tax Resolution Software for CPAs, EAs and Tax Attorneys has announced the release of Version 7.0. Version 7.0, a quantum leap in automation, integrates with other major high-tech platforms to provide its licensees with elevated efficiency and workflow to handle more cases and to adapt to the "new normal," a more virtual work environment.

Major tech enhancements now include seamless Zoom Meetings Integration, File Storage Synchronization with Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive, SMS text communications, and Outlook and Google Calendar synchronization. In addition, other new features are a state-of-the-art proprietary Notifications Dashboard and a new user-friendly interface.

In conjunction with creating a more advanced platform for the virtual and workplace environments, the release is also perfectly timed to the significant ramp up of IRS collection enforcement that delinquent taxpayers are now experiencing, the exact clients of PitBullTax's licensees.

Jaime S. Buchwald, CPA, Co-Founder and CEO explained, "Now with the dire aspects of the pandemic hopefully behind us, the IRS has dramatically increased its collection efforts. With approximately 50 million troubled taxpayers in the U.S. and approximately 15 million troubled taxpayers currently in the IRS collection division, the demand for IRS tax resolution services is at an all time high. With PitBullTax Software Version 7.0 our licensees stand ready to efficiently, profitably and successfully handle this major influx of new business."

"Our company has been at the forefront of the IRS tax resolution industry for over 12 years, with a team of software engineers, developers, tax resolution specialists, customer service representatives and security professionals who are keenly aware of the constantly changing landscape of technology advancements, professional workflow, and tax law procedures," stated Jose Alfaro, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer. "With our Version 7.0 enhancements and integrations our licensees will be able to continue to provide outstanding IRS tax resolution services."

To demonstrate the full impact of version 7.0, the company will be hosting webinars to introduce licensees and potential licensees to the new integrations and enhancements.

"Of course, we will also be doing deep dives into the software in our classes in PitBullTax Institute, our IRS and NASBA accredited educational division. Not only will attendees gain tremendous insights and value in learning how to incorporate these cutting-edge tools into their practices, but they will also receive continuing education credits," said Irina N. Bobrova, MST, EA and Chief Operating Officer.

ABOUT PITBULLTAX SOFTWARE:

PitBullTax Software has licensees in all 50 states that rely on their software to prepare their clients' IRS resolution cases and automate their IRS Tax Resolution practices. Innovation, efficiency and making its licensees more profitable are the cornerstones of the company's philosophy.

Learn more at: https://www.pitbulltax.com/.

PitBullTax Software, the Nation's Leading IRS Tax Resolution Software for CPAs, EAs and Tax Attorneys has announced the release of Version 7.0. PitBullTax Software has licensees in all 50 states that rely on their software to prepare their clients' IRS resolution cases.

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

FormFree announces support for new Freddie Mac Loan Product Advisor enhancement aimed at expanding sustainable homeownership for renters

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree® announced that mortgage lenders using AccountChek® verification of asset (VOA) reports in conjunction with a Freddie Mac Loan Product Advisor® (LPA℠) solution will soon benefit from an enhancement that takes loan applicants' 12-month on-time rent payment history into consideration when assessing eligibility for qualified first-time homebuyers.

The enhancement, which is effective once announced in the Freddie Mac July Guide Bulletin, is designed to expand sustainable homeownership for the millions of Americans by taking their rent payment history into account when assessing eligibility. The expansion of rent payment history can increase the number of mortgage loan applicants who receive an Eligible/Accept recommendation in LPA.

"Freddie Mac is focused on offering value to our clients and improving the borrower experience as we continue to modernize the mortgage process," said Kevin Kauffman, Freddie Mac Single-Family Vice President of Client and Partner Delivery. "FormFree has been a strong partner on this journey by helping lenders assess credit eligibility for qualified first-time homebuyers."

LPA will automatically identify on-time rent payments - including those made via mobile apps like Venmo, Zelle and Paypal - within AccountChek VOA reports and take them into consideration when assessing eligibility for qualified first-time homebuyers. Only on-time rent payments will be considered; LPA will not assess late or missing rent payments.

"Freddie Mac's move to have Loan Product Advisor consider rent payment history in its assessment is part of a much larger push for more equitable home financing practices," said FormFree Chief Customer Officer Christy Moss. "People of color, who have disproportionately low homeownership rates and are overrepresented among credit invisible consumers will be most positively impacted by this enhancement to LPA."

"FormFree takes great pride in helping borrowers communicate their ability to pay and equipping lenders with the tools to confidently and efficiently verify borrower credentials," continued Moss. "We look forward to supporting Freddie Mac as it continues to deploy technology that improves access to sustainable credit for homebuyers."

Lenders can leverage rent payment history assessment through LPA asset and income modeler (AIM) when they order AccountChek reports of any length, including 30-, 60-, 90- and 180-day reports. In supplying LPA with 12 months of rent payment history, AccountChek has established safeguards that ensure the collection of extended rent payment history does not expose lenders to non-rent transactions, such as large gift deposits, that occurred more than 90 days in the past.

"FormFree remains committed to developing and supporting solutions that correct the racial homeownership gap," said FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler. "Using FICO scores alone to evaluate creditworthiness excludes a large swath of minority homeowners who pay their rent on time and responsibly manage their finances without borrowing money from creditors. Direct source financial data is the key to understanding consumers' true ability and FormFree applauds Freddie Mac's efforts to help lenders finance homeownership more equitably."

For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/rent/.

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.

FormFree® announced that mortgage lenders using AccountChek® verification of asset (VOA) reports in conjunction with a Freddie Mac Loan Product Advisor® (LPA℠) solution will soon benefit from an enhancement that takes loan applicants' 12-month on-time rent payment history into consideration when assessing eligibility for qualified first-time homebuyers.

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

Ruoff Mortgage Selects ACES Quality Management & Control to Improve Loan Quality Enterprise-wide Across Multiple Product Lines

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced that Ruoff Mortgage Company, Inc. (Ruoff Mortgage), a full-service residential mortgage lender, has selected its flagship audit platform ACES Quality Management & Control® Software to support the company's origination and servicing quality control (QC) audits.

"By prioritizing compliance and loan quality, lenders can gain deeper business insights while staying ahead of ever-changing regulatory requirements. Given Ruoff Mortgage's 70 retail locations throughout the Midwest, as well as its online reach to 45 states, there's a significant amount of compliance ground to cover," said ACES CEO Trevor Gauthier. "Our technology enables lenders to ensure compliance at all levels while also providing lenders with the flexibility to align our system with their unique needs and internal structure to improve internal reviews, communication and defect remediation, with the overall goal of reducing risk and enhancing loan quality."

Ruoff Mortgage selected ACES to help support its quality assurance, quality control and internal audit processes enterprise-wide to help track loan quality and effectively and quickly identify, communicate and remediate exceptions. Using ACES managed questionnaires, action planning capabilities and the ACES CONNECT communication portal, Ruoff Mortgage can seamlessly review 300 loans monthly while communicating report findings internally and reviewing its quality control and assurance procedures.

"ACES will tremendously improve our audit accuracy and produce clear, easy-to-read reports in minutes," said Diana Ringer, Chief Compliance Officer at Ruoff Mortgage. "It will help increase productivity, efficiency and quality, all while controlling overall costs."

About Ruoff:

Ruoff Mortgage is a full-service residential mortgage company with 70+ retail locations and originates in 45 states through their online consumer direct division. They have been recognized by several prominent industry publications such as the Scotsman Guide's list of Top Mortgage Lenders and Mortgage Executive Magazine's Top 100 Mortgage Companies in America and have been listed on the Inc. 5000's Fastest Growing Companies for nine years in a row. Ruoff Mortgage has a 98.2% customer satisfaction rating, as compiled by CX leader, Customerville. For more information, visit www.ruoff.com.

About ACES Quality Management:

ACES Quality Management is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control® Software to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:

* 4 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;

* 7 of the top 10 loan servicers;

* 11 of the top 30 banks; and

* 1 of the top 3 credit unions in the USA.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology®, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit www.acesquality.com or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced that Ruoff Mortgage Company, Inc. (Ruoff Mortgage), a full-service residential mortgage lender, has selected its flagship audit platform ACES Quality Management & Control® Software to support the company's origination and servicing quality control (QC) audits.

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

Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach Merge, Appoint Richard Harris as CEO

OWINGS MILLS, Md. /ScoopCloud/ -- Sales Boomerang, the mortgage industry's top-rated automated borrower intelligence and retention system, and Mortgage Coach, a platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive home loan presentations, today announced their merger and the appointment of SaaS executive Richard Harris as CEO.

Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach have been working toward the merger since LLR Partners' investment in the firms, which was announced in January.

Founded in 2009, Mortgage Coach is an award-winning platform that gives borrowers the confidence to make a home loan decision by providing educational presentations that model loan performance over time. Established in 2017, Sales Boomerang launched the first automated borrower intelligence system for mortgage lenders. Together, Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach will position lenders to reach borrowers with the right information at the right time, empowering borrowers to build wealth through homeownership by helping them select the best mortgage strategy for their unique housing needs.

"Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach are both impressive, mission-driven organizations that have earned tremendous brand equity in the mortgage realm through their expert grasp of the industry and proven ability to deliver substantive value to mortgage lenders and borrowers," said Harris. "I look forward to bringing the organizations together and leveraging my background in data, analytics and insights to help mortgage lenders better understand their borrowers and provide personalized service that helps them attain their homeownership and financial goals."

Prior to taking the helm of Mortgage Coach and Sales Boomerang, Harris was CEO at SparkPost, an email sending and optimization platform delivering 40% of the world's commercial email. He led that company through tremendous growth and oversaw its $600 million acquisition by omnichannel communication platform MessageBird. Before his tenure at SparkPost, Harris was group vice president at cloud technology company Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), where he led international operations of its Data Cloud business unit. He was previously CEO at consumer insights and digital ad personalization company AddThis, where he rapidly scaled the company and facilitated its acquisition by Oracle. Harris holds J.D. and MBA degrees from the University of Maryland.

Alex Kutsishin and Dave Savage, founders of Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach, will continue to actively nurture the company and its relationships in leadership roles.

"By bringing together the very best in database monitoring, market intelligence, automation, personalization and education, Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach deliver the short- and long-term financial results lenders crave," said Kutsishin. "We are united in our mission to provide borrowers with the right loan at the right time, and I am confident we will reach new heights under Richard's leadership."

"Combining the advice-based digital presentations of Mortgage Coach with the big data borrower intelligence of Sales Boomerang enables us to create unprecedented opportunities for consumers to achieve financial freedom faster and to help lenders and loan officers to close more loans in this rising interest rate marketplace," said Savage. "Together we have the expertise, the synergy and the platform to put game-changing tools in the hands of our lenders and loan officers."

About Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach:

Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach are trusted by more than 300 lenders, including brokers, independent mortgage companies, credit unions and banks to connect borrowers with the right loan at the right time.

Sales Boomerang transformed the relationship between mortgage lenders and borrowers with the introduction of the first automated borrower intelligence system in 2017. The company's intelligent alerts notify lenders as soon as a past customer or prospect is ready and credit-qualified for a loan. As the mortgage industry's #1 borrower retention tool, Sales Boomerang helps lenders build lasting borrower relationships that maximize lifetime customer value. To learn more, visit https://www.salesboomerang.com.

Mortgage Coach is an award-winning platform that empowers mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time. The company's side-by-side loan comparisons allow borrowers to make faster, more informed mortgage decisions while enabling lenders to consistently deliver an on-brand, consultative home financing experience that increases borrower pull-through, repeat business and referrals. To learn more, visit https://www.mortgagecoach.com.

Sales Boomerang, the mortgage industry's top-rated automated borrower intelligence and retention system, and Mortgage Coach, a platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive home loan presentations, today announced their merger and the appointment of SaaS executive Richard Harris as CEO.

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

Lender Price Launches Marketplace 2.0, Providing Wholesale Brokers and Lenders with Enhanced Pricing Capabilities and Deal Intelligence

PASADENA, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Lender Price, a leading provider of product, pricing and eligibility technology, announced today they have released Marketplace 2.0, a major enhancement to their Broker Marketplace platform, one of the largest communities of wholesale brokers in the mortgage industry.

Created to match lenders with mortgage brokers looking to find the best rates and loan products for borrowers in a volatile market, Marketplace 2.0 gives brokers the ability to pull in pricing from their existing lender relationships automatically and run pricing comparisons of participating Broker Marketplace lenders. Eliminating a lengthy signup process and a monthly fee, Marketplace now helps brokers instantly see all of their lenders and marketplace lenders inside a single location without logging into several different TPO portals.

"Marketplace 2.0 is a game changer for brokers and lenders. It helps wholesale lenders expand their audience and gain access to thousands of mortgage brokers quickly," said Dawar Alimi, CEO of Lender Price.

"For brokers, we designed the platform to help them find the most competitive loan programs in this market and help them move away from using legacy technology that typically comes with a monthly fee. Our solution is 100% free to the wholesale broker community and it's one less cost that a broker has to worry about right now."

With Marketplace 2.0, mortgage brokers can now:

* Pull in pricing from their existing wholesale lender relationships without waiting

* Quickly add comp and rate sheets and receive accurate pricing without a monthly fee moving forward

* Invite borrowers to see tailored products and scenarios from inside the system

* Create custom rate alerts and be alerted when new opportunities arise

* Find and isolate specific non-QM, non-agency and home equity products

* Get more control and freedom and run pricing from anywhere

* Find loans that compete with all-cash offers and share with realtors

* Discover products they were previously unaware of and might not know are available

Advantages for wholesale lenders participating in Marketplace 2.0 include:

* Ability to offer product and pricing to additional brokers outside of current network

* Easy access for brokers to find their specific programs and conduct business with them

* Detailed analytics on broker pricing behavior

* Quick notifications on when brokers choose their products

* Ability to showcase non-QM, non-agency and home equity products

Onboarding is now automated, extremely simple, and brokers are up and running in minutes. Brokers only need to upload their rate sheets once and the system automatically updates product and pricing moving forward. Users will be able to see accurate pricing without manual updates.

With rates on the rise, Marketplace 2.0 can help brokers keep costs under control, stay competitive in a challenging market and get wider access to additional products that they might not know exist. The solution also gives brokers access to non-QM, non-agency and home equity programs at no additional cost. Lenders can also gain access to thousands of wholesale brokers quickly and easily, helping them maintain volume during a challenging market.

Learn more about Marketplace 2.0 and the Lender Price platform at https://lenderprice.com/

About Lender Price:

Lender Price is a California-based developer of mortgage technology, including an advanced product, pricing, & eligibility (PPE) engine, digital lending point-of-sale (POS), and non-agency automated underwriting engine. Lender Price provides all types of mortgage lending institutions - wholesale and correspondent lenders, banks, credit unions, and mortgage brokers - with advanced technology designed to eliminate friction, increase transparency, and effectively engage with borrowers. More information about Lender Price can be found at https://lenderprice.com and https://digitallending.com.

Lender Price, a leading provider of product, pricing and eligibility technology, announced today they have released Marketplace 2.0, a major enhancement to their Broker Marketplace platform, one of the largest communities of wholesale brokers in the mortgage industry.

Related link: https://lenderprice.com/

New MSR Technology Empowers MSR Buyers with Live Loan-Level Pricing

SAN DIEGO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Mortgage Capital Trading (MCT®), a leading mortgage hedge advisory and secondary marketing software firm, has announced today a new technology for mortgage servicing rights (MSR) buyers to produce more granular pricing for mortgage servicing. The feature leverages an application programming interface (API) to connect MSRlive!, MCT's state-of-the-art MSR valuation platform to clients' systems for more precise and accurate loan-level pricing in real time.

Especially in a volatile climate, every basis point counts. MCT's objective is to ensure that its software additions drive more profitability and increase efficiencies. With MCT's new API, users can effectively develop a pricing strategy that includes key loan-level characteristics, such as property location, FICO, loan-to-value (LTV), and much more in real-time to evaluate a comprehensive set of data that contributes to a winning pricing strategy.

The key takeaway of this new functionality is how it informs users and helps servicing buyers avoid over-paying for potentially underperforming assets. The software provides a more prudent, thoughtful, and strategic approach achieved by leveraging a granular set of data which will result in fewer missteps. The system's functionality provides insight for the servicing buyers to ensure that the pricing levels on a loan-by-loan basis are appropriate and justified.

"The competitive landscape has exposed the challenges with applying static multiples across all LTVs and FICOs and has heightened the importance of a more strategic pricing strategy," shared Bill Shirreffs, Head of MSR Services and Sales Operations at MCT. "MCT's MSRlive! API is specifically designed to provide granular, loan-level, MSR pricing based on your cost assumptions and return expectations. Ultimately, giving you more confidence."

This technology is available to MSR buyers that want to receive more granular pricing for their MSR bidding today. Connect with MCT to start securing company profitability with a wide array of software systems and expert consultants.

Learn more: https://mct-trading.com/contact/

About MCT:

Founded in 2001, Mortgage Capital Trading, Inc. (MCT) ® has grown from a boutique mortgage pipeline hedging firm into the industry's leading provider of fully integrated capital markets services and technology. MCT's offerings include mortgage pipeline hedging, best execution loan sales, business intelligence and analytics, outsourced lock desk solutions, MSR valuation, hedging, and bulk sales, and the world's first, truly open marketplace for loan sales.

MCT supports independent mortgage bankers, depositories, credit unions, warehouse lenders, and correspondent investors of all sizes within its award-winning digital platform, MCTlive! ®. Headquartered in sunny San Diego, MCT also has offices in Healdsburg, CA, Philadelphia, PA and Texas.

For more information, visit https://mct-trading.com/ or call (619) 543-5111.

Mortgage Capital Trading (MCT®), a leading mortgage hedge advisory and secondary marketing software firm, has announced today a new technology for mortgage servicing rights (MSR) buyers to produce more granular pricing for mortgage servicing. The feature leverages an application programming interface (API) to connect MSRlive!, MCT's state-of-the-art MSR valuation platform to clients' systems for more precise and accurate loan-level pricing in real time.

Related link: https://mct-trading.com/

Q4 2021 Critical Defect Rate Rose to 1.95%, Per ACES Quality Management Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced the release of its quarterly ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report covering the fourth quarter (Q4) and full calendar year (CY) of 2021. The latest report analyzes post-closing quality control data derived from ACES Quality Management & Control® software.

Notable findings from the Q4 2021 report include:

* The overall critical defect increased 0.08% to 1.95%, a change of 4% from the prior quarter, as lenders transitioned to a purchase-heavy lending environment.

* Income/Employment defects declined in overall share but remained the No. 1 most frequently cited issue, even after pandemic-related verification issues had subsided.

* Appraisal-related defects rose in Q4 2021 after experiencing minimal levels throughout the last refinance cycle.

* Purchase review share was 20 points higher than refinances.

* Conventional lending share is now 8 points below the pandemic peak amid a mini-resurgence in FHA lending.

"While the overall defect rate rose slightly in Q4 2021, defect rates have improved in totality when comparing 2021 to 2020," said ACES Executive Vice President Nick Volpe. "Given the uptick in Q4 and the persistent issues we're still seeing in the Income/Employment category, lenders should focus their efforts on shoring up this component of their underwriting process."

Findings for the Q4 2021 ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report are based on post-closing quality control data derived from the ACES Quality Management and Control® benchmarking system and incorporate data from prior quarters and/or calendar years, where applicable. All reviews and defect data evaluated for the report were based on loan audits selected by lenders for full file reviews.

"As lenders battle over volume, quality control and compliance teams are more important than ever to ensure that the loans that make it through the door meet all regulatory and eligibility requirements," said ACES CEO Trevor Gauthier. "On the origination side, we're seeing the credit box expand to help qualify more borrowers and maintain share. And with 1.3 million loans still in active forbearance along with the renewed focus on servicing from the CFPB and other regulators, servicers and lenders alike must be diligent in their compliance practices to survive this increased level of scrutiny. Leveraging a system like ACES helps both sides of the house ensure they are auditing to the best and most up-to-date standards."

Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are available for download, free of charge, at https://www.acesquality.com/resources/reports.

About ACES Quality Management:

ACES Quality Management is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control® software to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:

* 4 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;

* 7 of the top 10 loan servicers;

* 11 of the top 30 banks; and

* 1 of the top 3 credit unions in the USA.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit www.acesquality.com or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced the release of its quarterly ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report covering the fourth quarter (Q4) and full calendar year (CY) of 2021. The latest report analyzes post-closing quality control data derived from ACES Quality Management & Control® software.

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

Mortgage Markets CUSO implements Mortgage Coach to increase mortgage lending engagement at credit unions

IRVINE, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Mortgage Coach, a borrower conversion platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time, announced today that Mortgage Markets CUSO, LLC has implemented Mortgage Coach to grow mortgage lending engagement at the credit unions it serves.

A subsidiary of Connecticut-based Finex Credit Union, Mortgage Markets CUSO is a credit union service organization that was founded in 2003 to fulfill credit unions' need for modern, friendly mortgage lending outsourcing. To date, Mortgage Markets CUSO's mortgage lending services are relied on by 15-plus U.S. credit unions including Connecticut State Employees Credit Union and Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union.

Mortgage Markets CUSO will use Mortgage Coach to enhance rule-based marketing campaigns with loan presentations to inspire conversion. Via integration with Mortgage Market CUSO's point of sale (POS) system, Mortgage Coach will automatically generate a Cost of Waiting loan presentation once a lead begins an online mortgage loan application. The Cost of Waiting loan presentation models how rising interest rates and home prices will increase the cost of purchasing a home six months in the future.

"Credit unions typically excel at offering warm service and competitive rates but are often challenged to keep pace with the digital service provided by large lenders," Mortgage Coach President Joe Puthur said. "Our Cost of Waiting presentations help credit unions compete by showing members they are eager to help them with their mortgage, they care about their home financing outcome and they are ready to support the financing process with modern lending technology."

"Mortgage Market CUSO strives to support credit unions with exceptional mortgage service backed by a best-in-class digital experience, and Mortgage Coach helps us deliver this in spades," Mortgage Markets CUSO President Michael Ferraro said. "We look forward to helping our customers grow their mortgage lending divisions with personalized, high-touch technology."

About Mortgage Coach:

Mortgage Coach is an award-winning borrower conversion platform that gives consumers the confidence to transact with educational presentations that model loan performance over time. The company's side-by-side loan comparisons allow borrowers to make faster, more informed mortgage decisions while enabling lenders to consistently deliver an on-brand, consultative home financing experience that increases borrower conversion, repeat business and referrals. To date, more than 140 enterprise independent mortgage banks, depository banks and credit unions rely on Mortgage Coach to deliver personalized, modern service that grows revenue and customer loyalty. To learn more about Mortgage Coach, visit https://www.mortgagecoach.com or follow @MortgageCoach.

About Mortgage Markets CUSO, LLC:

Mortgage Markets CUSO (credit union service organization) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Finex Credit Union operating for the benefit of credit unions and credit union members throughout Connecticut offering FHA, CHFA, VA, USDA and conventional mortgage products. By joining with other credit unions in a cooperative effort, Mortgage Markets CUSO has developed leading edge technology, mortgage expertise, local underwriting and excellent personal service. For more Mortgage Markets CUSO information, please log visit https://mortgagemarketscuso.com/.

Mortgage Coach, a borrower conversion platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time, announced today that Mortgage Markets CUSO, LLC has implemented Mortgage Coach to grow mortgage lending engagement at the credit unions it serves.

Related link: https://mortgagecoach.com/

ACES Quality Management Unveils Certified ACES Administrator Program at Inaugural ACES ENGAGE Event in Colorado Springs

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced the launch of its Certified ACES Administrator (CAA) program during its inaugural ACES ENGAGE event, held May 23-25, 2022 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

"The Certified ACES Administrator Program has been in the works for months, so it was particularly gratifying for us to unveil this to our dedicated ACES user base during our first ACES ENGAGE event," ACES Executive Vice President of Operations Sharon Reichhardt. "Our customers are the core of everything we do, and this program was thoughtfully designed to provide ongoing integrity and value to ACES users."

The CAA program equips administrators with the best practices, processes, workflows and troubleshooting expertise to guide internal teams on the highest and best use of the ACES platform. Upon completion of the CAA program, administrators will receive a digital certification badge and a digital certificate that includes date of certification and date of expiration to keep for personal records or professional use.

In addition to the announcement regarding the CAA program, ACES ENGAGE attendees also heard from an array of industry experts. Mortgage Bankers Association economist Eddie Seiler, Fannie Mae's Senior Director of Loan Quality Duane Gilkison, Ballard Spahr attorney Richard Andreano and SWS Risk Advisory's Steve Spies addressed topics such as housing and consumer finance industry trends, the current economic outlook, quality control, fraud/risk management and compliance.

The event's keynote speaker Aron Ralston, the author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place and the basis for the feature film 127 Hours starring James Franco, shared his story of survival and what it taught him about overcoming life's challenges and struggles with the right mindset. Attendees also received an overview of the current ACES product roadmap and previews of upcoming features and functionality to be added later in the year.

"ACES ENGAGE was a huge success, and we are thankful that so many of our users, prospects and partners could join us for this one-of-a-kind event," ACES CEO Trevor Gauthier said. "We are constantly looking for ways in which we can deliver more value to our customer base. Given that our NPS score increased to 88 post-event, I feel confident that we delivered on that promise and look forward to delivering even more value at next year's ACES ENGAGE."

ACES ENGAGE will return to The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs on May 17-19, 2023.

About ACES Quality Management:

ACES Quality Management is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control® Software to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:

* 4 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;

* 7 of the top 10 loan servicers;

* 11 of the top 30 banks; and

* 1 of the top 3 credit unions in the USA.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology®, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit https://www.acesquality.com/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced the launch of its Certified ACES Administrator (CAA) program during its inaugural ACES ENGAGE event, held May 23-25, 2022 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

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

MCTlive! Lock Volume Indices: May 2022 Data

SAN DIEGO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- MCT®, the leader in capital markets software and services supporting more lenders with hedging and pipeline management solutions than any other single provider, is pleased to present the MCTlive! Lock Volume Indices for May 2022.

MCT Data represents a balanced cross section of several hundred lenders among retail, correspondent, wholesale, and consumer direct channels. A broad-based view of the entire market provides a more accurate picture of mortgage originations versus indices that are influenced by mega lenders. The May MCTlive! Lock Volume Indices is broken out by transaction type: purchase, rate/term refinance, and cash out refinance.

May MCTlive! Lock Volume Indices, which include an adjustment for the Memorial Day Holiday, show that that total mortgage rate locks by dollar volume decreased 10.6 percent in May, and total lock volume is down 29.5 percent from a year ago as purchases now make up most of the volume. Rapid rises in rates have kept would-be borrowers on the sidelines in 2022, and we saw declines in all three lock categories.

Purchase locks are now on the decline, down 1.78 percent month-over-month and 10.1 percent from a year ago. The increase in mortgage rates is also evident as refinance volume continues to fall. Rate/term refinances are down 29.6 percent and cash out refinances are down 9.0 percent month-over-month. From one year ago, cash out refinance volume is down 57.5 percent, while rate/term refinance volume has dropped 90.0 percent. Given rate/term refinance volume was already down 88 percent year-over-year in the April MCTlive! Lock Volume Indices, this month's drop does not change the total much.

Please note that loan sizes were up 8.3 percent over the past year, with the average loan amount increasing from $291k to $315k.

It is important to note that MCT's rate lock activity indices are based on actual dollar volume of locked loans, not number of applications. Especially in a tight purchase market, MCT believes its methodology (using actual loans locked vs. applications) is a more reliable metric. There is a higher likelihood of having multiple applications per funded loan, and prequals do not convert at as high of a rate in the current market as has historically been the case - especially when applications are counted at the early stage of entering a property address.

INDEX VALUES TO END MAY AS A PERCENTAGE BENCHMARKED TO THE START OF THE MONTH

Category | Month-Over-Month Index Value Change

Total: -10.65%

Purchase: -10.11%

Rate/Term Refinance: -29.57%

Cash Out Refinance: -8.99%

INDEX VALUE CHANGE YEAR-OVER-YEAR

Category | Year-Over-Year Index Value Change

Total: -29.54%

Purchase: -1.78%

Rate/Term Refinance: -90.03%

Cash Out Refinance: -57.52%

MCT will be publishing the MCTlive! Mortgage Lock Volume Indices monthly, intending the data to serve as an enduring informational tool for industry participants, analysts, and watchers.

About MCT:

Founded in 2001, Mortgage Capital Trading, Inc. (MCT) ® has grown from a boutique mortgage pipeline hedging firm into the industry's leading provider of fully integrated capital markets services and technology. MCT's offerings include mortgage pipeline hedging, best execution loan sales, business intelligence and analytics, outsourced lock desk solutions, MSR valuation, hedging, and bulk sales, and the world's first, truly open marketplace for loan sales.

MCT supports independent mortgage bankers, depositories, credit unions, warehouse lenders, and correspondent investors of all sizes within its award-winning digital platform, MCTlive!®. Headquartered in sunny San Diego, MCT also has offices in Healdsburg, CA, Philadelphia, PA and Texas.

For more information, visit https://mct-trading.com/ or call (619) 543-5111.

MCT®, the leader in capital markets software and services supporting more lenders with hedging and pipeline management solutions than any other single provider, is pleased to present the MCTlive! Lock Volume Indices for May 2022.

Related link: https://mct-trading.com/

Mortgage lenders are now able to use FormFree AccountChek to satisfy Freddie Mac’s reverification of employment requirement

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree® today announced that its AccountChek® digital asset verification service supports a new enhancement to Freddie Mac's Loan Product Advisor® (LPASM) asset and income modeler (AIM) solution that makes assessment of borrower employment easier, faster, less expensive and more fraud-resistant.

Under Freddie Mac Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide requirements, with limited exceptions, mortgage lenders must verify each borrower's employment during the initial loan application, then again within 10 days of the loan's closing date. The verification, done prior to closing, is officially known as the 10-day Pre-Closing Verification or "10-day PCV."

To fulfill the Freddie Mac 10-day PCV requirement, lenders have historically had to furnish a verbal, email or written verification of employment (VOE) or pay a third-party service provider for an electronic VOE report. Now, with the latest enhancement to AIM, lenders can automatically satisfy the 10-day PCV requirement using account or payroll data using FormFree's AccountChek.

Automation of the 10-day PCV using account data is available to all Freddie Mac clients effective June 1. Freddie Mac describes the service as "an improved way to assess borrower employment" that offers superior speed, cost and fraud resistance compared to alternatives.

"Verifying a loan applicant's employment in the runup to the loan closing protects lenders, investors and borrowers alike. But the process can be time-consuming and expensive, and it's only gotten worse with so many Americans working remotely," said FormFree Chief Customer Officer Christy Moss. "The Work Number is expensive. Manual employment verification is time-consuming. Using direct-source asset data to fulfill the 10-day PCV is an economical and efficient solution, and it couldn't come at a better time for an industry that is losing sleep over razor-thin margins."

AccountChek streamlines the mortgage process by empowering borrowers to share their asset and payroll data electronically in an underwriter-friendly format lenders can use to assess asset, income, and employment in seconds. By leveraging a business-applicable refresh period, lenders that use AccountChek for a loan applicant's initial employment verification will be able to generate the VOE report within 10 days of closing.

For more information, visit https://formfree.com/pre-closing-verification.

About FormFree:

As the industry's go-to provider for direct-source VOA and VOI/E data, FormFree® helps lenders understand credit risk like never before. Our patented AccountChek® and Passport® products open doors to more inclusive credit decisioning by revealing each customer's true ability to pay (ATP®). We have completed over $3 trillion in loan verifications that help lenders lower operating costs while improving the borrower experience. For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

FormFree® today announced that its AccountChek® digital asset verification service supports a new enhancement to Freddie Mac's Loan Product Advisor® (LPASM) asset and income modeler (AIM) solution that makes assessment of borrower employment easier, faster, less expensive and more fraud-resistant.

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

Cheryl Messner joins Sales Boomerang to oversee customer experience department

WASHINGTON, D.C. /ScoopCloud/ -- Sales Boomerang, the mortgage industry's top-rated automated borrower intelligence and retention system, today announced that it has tapped Cheryl Messner to manage its customer experience departments. In her new role, Messner will define strategies to enhance Sales Boomerang's customer experience, engagement, success and operations as well as help the company build upon its growth from a fintech startup to the industry's leading borrower intelligence solution.

Messner joins Sales Boomerang following 15 years at Optimal Blue, where she swiftly worked her way up the ladder. She began working in the customer service department as an Account Manager and later transitioned to the product management department, where she advanced to a director role in under five years. Prior to her tenure at Optimal Blue, Messner worked for three years in sales at GE-owned WMC Mortgage.

Messner will use her breadth of experience to inform her new role as EVP, Customer Success for Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach, which recently announced an enhanced integration to become the mortgage industry's first borrower conversion and retention platform. She will expand the two organizations' shared market influence by identifying new opportunities for growth, streamlining operations and developing a client services structure that deepens customer relationships.

"Sales Boomerang's unique value - helping lenders help more borrowers reach their financial goals more quickly - is incredibly attractive to me as someone who has spent my entire career in mortgage," said Messner. "I look forward to supporting Sales Boomerang users by giving them the tools to track consumers' financial data and encourage financial wellness by layering in interactive loan comparisons powered by Mortgage Coach."

"With ample experience in sales, customer service and product management, Messner is the ideal candidate to take our rapidly growing organization to the next level," said Sales Boomerang CEO Alex Kutsishin. "Her customer-first, digital vision will prove vital to increasing adoption and helping Sales Boomerang customers maximize their success as we continue to expand our partnership with Mortgage Coach."

About Sales Boomerang:

Sales Boomerang transformed the relationship between mortgage lenders and borrowers with the introduction of the first automated borrower intelligence system in 2017. The company's intelligent alerts notify lenders as soon as a past customer or prospect is ready and credit-qualified for a loan. As the mortgage industry's #1 borrower retention tool, Sales Boomerang is trusted by more than 150 lenders - including brokers, independent mortgage companies, credit unions and banks - to help build lasting borrower relationships that maximize lifetime customer value. To date, Sales Boomerang alerts have enabled lenders to close more than $150 billion in additional loan volume that would have otherwise been overlooked and achieve customer retention rates that outperform industry norms by an average of 3-5X. To learn more about Sales Boomerang and its No Borrower Left Behind(tm) ethos, visit https://www.salesboomerang.com.

@SalesBoomerang

Sales Boomerang, the mortgage industry's top-rated automated borrower intelligence and retention system, today announced that it has tapped Cheryl Messner to manage its customer experience departments. In her new role, Messner will define strategies to enhance Sales Boomerang's customer experience, engagement, success and operations as well as help the company build upon its growth from a fintech startup to the industry's leading borrower intelligence solution.

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

MISMO Certifies DocMagic’s Total eClose™ Platform and Proprietary RON Technology

TORRANCE, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of compliant loan document generation, automated regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that it attained MISMO's eClosing System and remote online notarization (RON) certifications for its Total eClose™ solution.

Both certifications are part of MISMO's eMortgage Technology Certification Program created to support, advance and increase the mortgage industry's adoption of digital solutions and is specifically designed to facilitate and encourage eClosing transactions. Moreover, the RON certification confirms that the provider's platform, procedures, and policies comply with MISMO standards and the eClosing certification confirms that the platform meets MISMO-specific requirements.

MISMO standards are widely accepted and used throughout the real estate finance industry, and most major institutions, including government agencies and GSEs, which are utilizing MISMO standards to exchange data with business partners. In addition, agencies like the CFPB have made it clear that their examination and data exchange tools will rely on and conform to the MISMO standard.

DocMagic became Certified MISMO Compliant for eClosing in February of this year and is the only document generation provider with the eClosing certification. In 2021, DocMagic's proprietary RON capability was offered to its existing client base. The company's Certified RON solution seamlessly integrates with the company's industry-leading Total eClose platform, enabling lenders and their borrowers to realize a fully digital closing experience.

"We are pleased to have received these important certifications, which establish standards that improve lenders' ability to evaluate eClosing technology providers," stated Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. "DocMagic has consistently championed the utilization of eClosing and RON technology in an effort to move the industry forward. These certifications help facilitate the adoption process and we fully embrace them."

DocMagic's Total eClose platform is a single-source solution that contains all components needed to execute fully paperless eClosings. The award-winning innovation was the first of its kind to be introduced to the mortgage industry in 2014 and since that time has gained widespread market adoption.

About DocMagic:

DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully compliant document generation, automated compliance, eSignature and comprehensive eMortgage solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops award-winning software, mobile apps, and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. The company's solutions connect industry participants, promote collaboration, and ensure data integrity to execute precision-based digital lending transactions. The company's compliance experts and in-house legal staff consistently monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit https://www.docmagic.com/.

About MISMO:

MISMO is the standards development body for the real estate finance industry. MISMO developed a common language for exchanging information for the mortgage finance industry. Today, MISMO standards are accepted and deployed by every type of entity involved in creating mortgages, and they are required by most regulators, housing agencies and the GSEs that participate in the industry. Use of MISMO's standards has been found to lower per loan costs, improve margins, reduce errors and speed up the loan process by reducing manual, paper-based processes while creating cost savings for the consumer.. For more information, please visit https://www.mismo.org.

DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of compliant loan document generation, automated regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that it attained MISMO's eClosing System and remote online notarization (RON) certifications for its Total eClose™ solution.

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

PROGRESS in Lending Names DocMagic’s Director of Client Services to 2022 Most Powerful Women in Fintech List

TORRANCE, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document generation, regulatory compliance, and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that its director of client services, Lori Johnson, has been recognized by PROGRESS in Lending Association as a leading female technology professional in the mortgage industry.

Now in its fourth year, the Most Powerful Women in Fintech award lauds those who play a pivotal role in leading the way and reshaping how the mortgage industry thinks.

Lori Johnson has a rich background in the mortgage industry working for technology start-ups and growth focused companies. She joined DocMagic in 2014 after helping facilitate the acquisition of Document Express by DocMagic. The entire customer base was successfully migrated over to DocMagic's dynamic document generation platform.

Today she serves as the director of client services for DocMagic. Lori has been instrumental in helping lender clients realize the benefits of digital lending automation, eClosings, eNotes, eVaults, and the importance of system-to-system interoperability as the mortgage ecosystem expands.

"Lori has and continues to serve as an invaluable asset to our customers and company," remarked, Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. "Her solution-oriented approach and hands-on style to clients embody the way DocMagic does business. We commend Lori for her ongoing industry contributions and are elated that PROGRESS in Lending recognized her successes."

At DocMagic, Lori leads the company's team to onboard lenders with its Total eClose platform and supporting technologies. She collaborates with lenders and third-party vendors to optimize workflows and maximize ROI. Lori is committed to innovation and perfection, always seeking the most effective way to harness technology.

"I am honored to be acknowledged by PROGRESS in Lending on this year's list along with other women who are moving the industry and their companies forward," stated Johnson. "There are many advances being made with digital lending technologies right now. It is exciting to see so many women playing key roles in helping expand the digital mortgage ecosystem for the good of the industry."

About DocMagic:

DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully compliant document generation, automated compliance, eSignature and comprehensive eMortgage solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops award-winning software, mobile apps, and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. The company's solutions connect industry participants, promote collaboration, and ensure data integrity to execute precision-based digital lending transactions. The company's compliance experts and in-house legal staff consistently monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit https://www.docmagic.com/.

DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of fully-compliant loan document generation, regulatory compliance, and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that its director of client services, Lori Johnson, has been recognized by PROGRESS in Lending Association as a leading female technology professional in the mortgage industry.

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

Black Knight Empower LOS Now Integrated with DocMagic

TORRANCE, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of loan document generation, compliance support and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced an integration with Empower, Black Knight's loan origination system (LOS), to help automate the DocMagic document generation process for lenders and provide access to additional DocMagic services.

Lenders now have access directly from Empower to DocMagic's intelligent document generation solution, supporting compliance, data integrity and trackability. DocMagic's data-driven technology leverages its sophisticated audit engine for automated data validation testing and regulatory compliance audits to analyze relevant compliance rules, regulations and applicable laws, assisting lenders with compliance on pertinent loan documents throughout the lending process.

"We are pleased to integrate with Black Knight to facilitate digital document generation and compliance support for the mortgage industry's leading lenders," stated Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. "Black Knight has done an outstanding job aligning with key market providers to support their customer base, significantly growing its LOS business. We're excited that this integration for document generation will also pave the way to provide lenders with the benefits of additional DocMagic solutions."

Black Knight's end-to-end, feature rich LOS platform supports a growing digital lending ecosystem designed to support business expansion. The cloud-based system offers advanced capabilities that automate the lending process from start to finish. Empower is configured to support a lender-specific workflow and operates in tandem with DocMagic's automated and continuous compliance checks on relevant documents at key points throughout the process.

"Empower's strategic integration with DocMagic offers tremendous benefits to Empower users by providing innovative, lights-out integration to support best-in-class document generation, while preserving the integrity of the data and tracking it throughout the loan process," said Rich Gagliano, president, Black Knight Origination Technologies. "Together, Black Knight and DocMagic can help lenders support their compliance efforts and provide borrowers with a more satisfying loan experience."

Kansas City-based Nutter Home Loans, the first mutual Black Knight and DocMagic client to go-live with the Empower integration to DocMagic, is experiencing positive results. The national lender was founded in 1951 and originates Conventional, FHA, VA, Jumbo, and USDA loans.

"Nutter is committed to making the lending process as easy as possible for our customers," stated Tera Guy, EVP of operations at Nutter Home Loans. "DocMagic's integration with Black Knight delivers multiple efficiencies for our borrowers and our support staff. Like Nutter, the team at DocMagic places paramount emphasis on delivering service excellence, and in part, this is one of the primary reasons we engaged with them. We look forward to continued optimization of our service through future capability expansions."

About DocMagic:

DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully compliant document generation, automated compliance, eSignature and comprehensive eMortgage solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops award-winning software, mobile apps, and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. The company's solutions connect industry participants, promote collaboration, and ensure data integrity to execute precision-based digital lending transactions. The company's compliance experts and in-house legal staff consistently monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit https://www.docmagic.com/.

Media Contact:

Joe Bowerbank

Profundity Communications, Inc.

949-378-9685

jbowerbank@profunditymarketing.com

DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of loan document generation, compliance support and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced an integration with Empower, Black Knight's loan origination system (LOS), to help automate the DocMagic document generation process for lenders and provide access to additional DocMagic services.

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

Agile Launches Agile Chat for Lenders and Broker Dealers

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. /ScoopCloud/ -- Agile, a groundbreaking fintech bringing mortgage lenders and broker dealers onto a single electronic platform, today announced the launch of Agile Chat, a new chat feature designed to increase transparency and efficiency between lenders and broker dealers.

With the addition of messaging functionality on Agile's electronic MBS platform, dealers and lenders can discuss transaction details, trade levels, MBS pooling, and more through the embedded functionality. As Agile builds on its mission to digitize TBA MBS trading, the chat functionality has been designed to help close the gap between trading counterparties and encourage a sense of community.

"The new chat functionality deepens the lines of communication between dealers and lenders for a more efficient trading experience," said Andrew Rhodes, Director of Technology at Agile. "We believe that every counterparty deserves access to a fair, efficient, and transparent marketplace, and we hope this feature will help streamline communication between lenders and dealers on our platform and further democratize TBA MBS trading."

Agile Chat is enabled with retention and monitoring features for compliance and is ready for use on Agile's electronic platform today. Chat will further enhance Agile's TBA RFQ Platform and MBS Pool Bidding. The combined offerings give the MBS market participants the ability to achieve best execution from any device, anywhere and anytime.

To learn more about Agile's award-winning software which enables lenders and dealers to gain much-needed efficiencies and data through technology, visit https://trade-agile.com/.

To schedule a demo of Agile's new Agile Chat feature, please visit https://trade-agile.com/contact-us/.

About Agile:

The industry's first MBS fintech, Agile brings together lenders and dealers of all sizes onto a single platform. Agile facilitates the exchange of TBA MBS by securing and automating communication between mortgage lenders and broker-dealers. Agile digitizes the historically phone-based process to an electronic platform which may improve profitability and efficiency, while reducing administrative errors. Through its competitive TBA RFQ digital platform, mortgage lenders gain access to national and regional broker-dealers previously inaccessible on digital platforms, while broker-dealers gain access to an ever-growing network of lenders.

Based in Philadelphia, Agile Trading Technologies supports a national network of clients with a team of capital markets professionals who have deep trading experience at financial organizations of every size.

Agile, a groundbreaking fintech bringing mortgage lenders and broker dealers onto a single electronic platform, today announced the launch of Agile Chat, a new chat feature designed to increase transparency and efficiency between lenders and broker dealers.

Related link: https://trade-agile.com/

realMLS enhances listing service with Down Payment Resource to help subscribers connect consumers with homebuyer assistance programs

ATLANTA, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- realMLS, serving 11,000 members in Northeast Florida, today announced that it has partnered with Down Payment Resource (DPR) to enhance its platform with DPR's suite of real estate agent tools that help MLS customers connect homebuyers with homebuyer assistance programs.

realMLS is a multiple listing service (MLS) which provides advanced tools and reliable listing data to their MLS members serving Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns County, Florida. According to DPR analysis, 44 homebuyer assistance programs are available for up to 63% of realMLS listings, including 35 down payment assistance programs, six affordable first mortgage programs, two mortgage credit certificates (MCCs) and one other program.

As a subscriber benefit, realMLS has integrated DPR with its listing data so properties that qualify for one or more homebuyer assistance programs will be searchable and flagged with the DPR icon. Additionally, realMLS subscribers will receive Down Payment Connect, a unique lead generation landing page that allows visitors to search for homeownership programs and Realtors to collect prospect contact information. Subscribers will also be given access to DPR's library of marketing resources, which includes graphics, social media images and customizable flyers.

"The median home price in realMLS' coverage area has spiked 25.5% over the last year, increasing the cost of a 3% down payment by tens of thousands of dollars for most homes," said DPR CEO Rob Chrane. "DPR tools equip realMLS subscribers to sustainably grow their business by helping families overcome one of the most frequently cited barriers to homeownership: the cost of a down payment."

"realMLS is focused on providing technology such as DPR which empowers our members to best serve consumers," said realMLS CEO Nicole Jensen. "DPR gives our subscribers an edge by making them the source on homebuyer opportunities to proactively address the homebuyer affordability challenges facing people living and working in our communities."

About Down Payment Resource:

Down Payment Resource (DPR) is a nationwide database of down payment assistance and affordable lending programs. The company tracks funding status, eligibility rules, benefits and more for approximately 2,200 programs in 11 categories. Its award winning technology helps the housing industry connect more homebuyers to the down payment help they need. DPR has been recognized by Inman News as "Most Innovative New Technology" and the HousingWire Tech100(tm). DPR is licensed to Multiple Listing Services, Realtor Associations, lenders and housing counselors across the country. DPR's subscription based service, Down Payment Connect, helps agents and loan officers match buyers to available programs. For more information, please visit https://downpaymentresource.com/ and on Twitter at @DwnPmtResource.

About realMLS:

realMLS (a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEFAR) is a Multiple Listing Service for over 11,000 members in Northeast Florida focused on promoting a healthy marketplace, for members and their clients, by providing innovative tools and comprehensive listing data. realMLS partners with exceptional service providers to give members an array of choices to fit their business model. Members have access to statistical data products that are customizable, along with extensive property record data through their integration with Metro Market Trends, Inc., which provides detailed and accurate property information to its customers in Florida and Alabama. To learn more about realMLS go to https://www.realmls.com/.

realMLS, serving 11,000 members in Northeast Florida, today announced that it has partnered with Down Payment Resource (DPR) to enhance its platform with DPR's suite of real estate agent tools that help MLS customers connect homebuyers with homebuyer assistance programs.

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

Mortgage Coach promotes Suzanne Duniphin to VP, Customer Experience and David Bowser to VP, Customer Engagement

IRVINE, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Mortgage Coach, a borrower conversion platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time, announced the advancement of two of its department directors to vice president-level positions. Suzanne Duniphin was promoted from director of eLearning to VP, customer experience, and David Bowser was promoted from director of account management to VP, customer engagement. In their new roles, Duniphin and Bowser will oversee Mortgage Coach's customer-facing initiatives and services.

Suzanne Duniphin, VP, Customer Experience

Duniphin has a 25-year background in mortgage banking and technology, having previously served as training and documentation manager at Optimal Blue, and in multiple leadership roles at a mortgage consulting firm and independent mortgage lender First Horizon Home Loans. Duniphin joined Mortgage Coach in 2020 as director of eLearning. Now as VP, customer experience, she will oversee all aspects of the Mortgage Coach customer experience - from implementation to launch and user training to ongoing customer support. In this role, she will scale the Mortgage Coach customer experience team to ensure the firm's rapidly expanding customer roster receives white-glove onboarding and training, and that lenders derive the greatest value from their investment in the platform.

David Bowser, VP, Customer Engagement

David Bowser has two decades' experience connecting mortgage lenders with right-fit technology solutions, having held positions at financial services marketing platform Volly and mortgage lending platform ICE Mortgage Technology. Bowser joined Mortgage Coach as director of account management in January of 2021 and was promoted to VP, customer engagement for enhancements to strategic customer communication and growth, which has helped customers better understand the platform's wide range of capabilities. In this new role, Bowser will expand Mortgage Coach's team of customer engagement experts.

"Mortgage Coach has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years with support from Suzanne and David, who have been tireless advocates for our platform and its ability to turn lenders into trusted mortgage advisors," said Mortgage Coach COO Kelli Hodges. "Suzanne and David are excellently equipped to nurture customer success and provide an outstanding customer experience. I am thrilled to have them at the helm of Mortgage Coach's customer-focused teams."

About Mortgage Coach:

Mortgage Coach is an award-winning borrower conversion platform that gives consumers the confidence to transact with educational presentations that model loan performance over time. The company's side-by-side loan comparisons allow borrowers to make faster, more informed mortgage decisions while enabling lenders to consistently deliver an on-brand, consultative home financing experience that increases borrower conversion, repeat business and referrals. To date, more than 120 enterprise independent mortgage banks, depository banks and credit unions rely on Mortgage Coach to deliver personalized, modern service that grows revenue and customer loyalty. To learn more about Mortgage Coach, visit https://www.mortgagecoach.com or follow @MortgageCoach.

Mortgage Coach, a borrower conversion platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time, announced the advancement of two of its department directors to vice president-level positions. Suzanne Duniphin was promoted from director of eLearning to VP, customer experience, and David Bowser was promoted from director of account management to VP, customer engagement.

Related link: https://mortgagecoach.com/

Centier Bank Leverages DocMagic’s eVault Technology to Accept and Manage eNotes

TORRANCE, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of compliant loan document generation, automated regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that Indiana-based Centier Bank is now equipped to receive eNotes from their warehouse clients through DocMagic's eVault solution. The move positions Centier to secure more business as mortgage bankers increasingly adopt eClosing technology.

Founded in 1895, Centier Bank is Indiana's largest private family-owned community bank with more than 60 branches statewide. The bank is focused on providing excellence in service to customers and offering a one-of-a-kind personal touch. Centier's mortgage warehouse division serves as a trusted warehouse lender to mortgage bankers nationwide.

Centier implemented DocMagic's eVault specifically for its mortgage warehouse lending business. DocMagic's solution enables the bank to accept and fund eNotes from customers closing loans electronically. Company spokespeople at Centier state that the business driver to implement DocMagic's technology was to facilitate ease of doing businesses with eNotes coupled with establishing a future competitive advantage.

"We strongly believe that in the next 12-18 months, eNote acceptance will gain significant industry adoption among both mortgage bankers and end investors," said Jim Taschler, vice president of mortgage warehouse at Centier Bank. "As such, we want to have the technology in place to effectively handle that method of doing business. Centier is committed to investing in technology that makes it easier to do business with us, which DocMagic's eVault makes happen. Ease of system use and simplicity of doing business is going to determine who leads the pack as the mortgage digital ecosystem grows. DocMagic is playing a pivotal role in helping transform our bank's business model."

Centier's eWarehouse lending process is now quicker, easier and clears warehouse lines expeditiously. By using DocMagic's SmartREGISTRY(tm) system to register their eNote on the MERS® eRegistry, it is securely stored within DocMagic's eVault platform. The new eWarehouse lending process reduces cycle times functioning in minutes versus days. The overall process to close, fund and sell the note is effectively fast-tracked.

"Centier has a sterling reputation in the state of Indiana with their exemplary service levels and community involvement," stated Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. "Their decision to adopt an eWarehouse lending strategy is truly impressive and will ultimately reduce their origination costs and allow them to provide even better service for their clients. We are excited to work with such a forward-thinking, tech-savvy bank."

Taschler at Centier added: "Whereas it used to just be the GSEs accepting eNotes, we now see more and more aggregators also getting on board with eNotes. Everything is clearly going digital. When we see trending in the secondary market, it supports our assertion. We are excited to ramp up and digitize our mortgage business with DocMagic."

Adoption of eNotes has grown significantly over the last couple of years with an increasing number of organizations across the mortgage supply chain realizing benefits. As of April 1, 2022, the MERS® eRegistry reported over 1.6M unique registered eNotes to-date. The industry now boasts 23 different investors that can originate, fund and purchase eNotes. Further, the MERS® eRegistry currently has 30 warehouse lenders successfully funding eNotes. The list of companies now integrated with the MERS® eRegistry continues to grow and includes originators, warehouse lenders, servicing agents, subservicers, investors, Federal Home Loan Banks, ands custodians.

DocMagic's eVault is being utilized by GSEs, investors, servicers, warehouse lenders, banks and other relevant mortgage entities. The eVault is integrated into DocMagic's comprehensive eClosing process, offering lenders options from hybrid variations to fully digital eNote and RON eClosings.

About DocMagic:

DocMagic, Inc. is the leading provider of fully compliant document generation, automated compliance, eSignature and comprehensive eMortgage solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops award-winning software, mobile apps, and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. The company's solutions connect industry participants, promote collaboration, and ensure data integrity to execute precision-based digital lending transactions. The company's compliance experts and in-house legal staff consistently monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit https://www.docmagic.com/.

About Centier Bank:

Centier Bank is Indiana's largest private, family-owned bank, with 62 branches statewide and over 900 employees. The bank has retail banking locations in Allen, Boone, Elkhart, Hamilton, Lake, La Porte, Marion, Marshall, Porter, St. Joseph, and Tippecanoe Counties in Indiana. The bank was recently named as the #1 Bank in Indiana by Forbes Magazine. Centier has been named as a "Best Bank to Work For" in Indiana by American Banker and has achieved Hall of Fame status as a "Best Places to Work For" by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Visit the company's website to learn more: https://www.centier.com/.

DocMagic, Inc., the premier provider of compliant loan document generation, automated regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services, announced that Indiana-based Centier Bank is now equipped to receive eNotes from their warehouse clients through DocMagic's eVault solution. The move positions Centier to secure more business as mortgage bankers increasingly adopt eClosing technology.

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

Logix Federal Credit Union launches Mortgage Coach to enhance mortgage advisory service for members

IRVINE, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Mortgage Coach, a borrower conversion platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time, announced today that Logix Federal Credit Union (Logix) has rolled out Mortgage Coach to enhance the mortgage advisory service it provides to members. Nearly 200 registered mortgage loan officers will use the Mortgage Coach platform to help members understand how various home financing strategies can best fulfill their homeownership goals and build wealth.

Headquartered in Los Angeles County, Logix is reputed as one of the nation's largest and most reliable credit unions. Logix has more than $9 billion in assets and operates branches in service of more than 225,000 members. In keeping with its commitment to investing in financial health and education, Logix offers a comprehensive Financial Wellness program that supports members' with money management and financial planning services to encourage better, smarter financial decisions.

By partnering with Mortgage Coach, Logix has empowered its mortgage lending arm with interactive Total Cost Analysis (TCA) presentations, which educate consumers by modeling home loan performance over time. The partnership will enable Logix loan officers to solidify themselves as trusted mortgage advisors by providing members user-friendly comparisons of lending scenarios to help them make more informed decisions. TCA presentations are personalized, digital and can be shared with borrowers via text, email or Mortgage Coach's mobile app.

"Logix is the financial institution of choice for hundreds of thousands of members because it prioritizes service, education and financial success above all else," Mortgage Coach President Joe Puthur said. "Our TCA presentations will help achieve Logix's commitment to mortgage engagement, experience and education by streamlining each loan officer's ability to provide personalized financial education to every credit union member, increasing homeownership and equity access to everyone they serve."

This service was selected by the Logix management team with intentions to provide greater value to members.

"Mortgage Coach has presented our mortgage lending division at Logix with an incredible opportunity to offer enhanced advisory services to thousands of members," Logix President and CEO Ana Fonseca said. "Mortgage Coach's TCAs will make it easier for our staff to deliver more value to members by helping them consider how their mortgage fits holistically into a broader financial picture."

About Mortgage Coach:

Mortgage Coach is an award-winning borrower conversion platform that gives consumers the confidence to transact with educational presentations that model loan performance over time. The company's side-by-side loan comparisons allow borrowers to make faster, more informed mortgage decisions while enabling lenders to consistently deliver an on-brand, consultative home financing experience that increases borrower conversion, repeat business and referrals. To date, more than 140 enterprise independent mortgage banks, depository banks and credit unions rely on Mortgage Coach to deliver personalized, modern service that grows revenue and customer loyalty. To learn more about Mortgage Coach, visit https://www.mortgagecoach.com or follow @MortgageCoach.

About Logix:

Chartered in 1937, Logix Federal Credit Union offers a full menu of financial services, and surcharge-free access to 30,000 ATMs nationwide. Logix Federal Credit Union is rated "superior" for financial strength, and is the largest credit union headquartered in Los Angeles County, with more than 225,000 members and $9 billion in assets. Logix operates 18 branches in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Federally insured by NCUA. Logix is an Equal Housing Lending. NMLS ID 503781. For more information, visit http://www.lfcu.com/.

Mortgage Coach, a borrower conversion platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time, announced today that Logix Federal Credit Union (Logix) has rolled out Mortgage Coach to enhance the mortgage advisory service it provides to members.

Related link: https://mortgagecoach.com/

2022 HousingWire Tech100 Mortgage Award Announces MCT As Leader In Innovation

SAN DIEGO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Mortgage Capital Trading (MCT®), a leading mortgage hedge advisory and secondary marketing software firm, was announced as a 2022 HousingWire Tech100 Mortgage Winner. The Tech100 Mortgage Award spotlights innovators that are making the housing sector better and more sustainable by increasing efficiency, improving borrower experience and bringing elasticity to mortgage origination and servicing processes. MCT achieved several company milestones throughout the past year by launching and enhancing several technology solutions and services which helped the company earn a spot on the latest Tech100 list.

MCT was measured on the company's key technology, quantifiable metrics and client impact. It's increasingly clear that the winners in today's housing economy have latched onto the concept of sustaining innovation. MCT is listed as one of the companies and solutions demonstrating a new era of innovators that understand the dynamics of the housing industry.

MCT continues to facilitate whole loan liquidity between sellers and buyers of mortgage loans with a new program released in 2020 called BAM Marketplace, a platform within MCTlive!®. It is a truly open loan exchange where buyers can bid regardless of approval status, and sellers receive automated live pricing from every buyer on the platform. Leveraging MCT's patent-pending Security Spread Commitment, BAM Marketplace facilitates bids between unapproved counterparties, which ensures sellers receive more bids and better execution for their loans than anywhere else in the industry. This functionality is providing sellers unique access to a larger group of buyers and resulting in average pickups of almost 23 BPS over cover bids. This technology is resulting in a revolutionary new era of maximized liquidity, eliminated barriers and optimized execution.

"We are thrilled and delighted to be recognized once again by HousingWire for our contributions to the technological advancement of the mortgage industry," said Curtis Richins, President and CEO of MCT. "It wouldn't have been possible without the dedication and intelligence of our outstanding team members, who are committed to supporting clients in the best ways possible, always striving to push the ball of what a trusted capital markets partner can offer. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our employees."

This feature has 200+ sellers transacting in the marketplace and $7 billion transacted between marketplace buyers and sellers to date. Sellers on BAM Marketplace are experiencing an average pickup of 36 bps on government production, 26 bps on conventional production, 52 bps on government with FICO under 660, 41 bps with a low loan amount (under $200k) and 59 bps on MFG.

Those interested in learning more about the features and benefits of MCT's award-winning technology and services are encouraged to contact MCT for more information.

About MCT:

Founded in 2001, Mortgage Capital Trading, Inc. (MCT)® has grown from a boutique mortgage pipeline hedging firm into the industry's leading provider of fully integrated capital markets services and technology. MCT's offerings include mortgage pipeline hedging, best execution loan sales, business intelligence and analytics, outsourced lock desk solutions, MSR valuation, hedging, and bulk sales, and the world's first, truly open marketplace for loan sales. MCT supports independent mortgage bankers, depositories, credit unions, warehouse lenders, and correspondent investors of all sizes within its award-winning digital platform, MCTlive!®. Headquartered in sunny San Diego, MCT also has offices in Healdsburg, CA, Philadelphia, PA and Texas.

For more information, visit https://mct-trading.com/ or call (619) 543-5111.

Mortgage Capital Trading (MCT®), a leading mortgage hedge advisory and secondary marketing software firm, was announced as a 2022 HousingWire Tech100 Mortgage Winner. The Tech100 Mortgage Award spotlights innovators that are making the housing sector better and more sustainable by increasing efficiency, improving borrower experience and bringing elasticity to mortgage origination and servicing processes.

Related link: https://mct-trading.com/

Mortgage Hedge Advisory Firm Vice Capital Markets promotes Shawn Ansley to CIO

NOVI, Mich. /ScoopCloud/ -- Vice Capital Markets, a leading mortgage hedge advisory firm for independent lenders, banks and credit unions, announced today that it has promoted Shawn Ansley to chief information officer (CIO). As CIO, Ansley will be tasked with the continued development of information technologies and deepening integrations with the agencies and major loan origination systems and leading the development of new tools to enhance the client experience.

"Since joining our firm, Shawn has relentlessly driven Vice Capital to continually evolve and stay current with the ever-changing market and execution environments. This promotion is really more of a formal acknowledgement of the overreaching leadership and guidance that he had already been demonstrating for the last several years," said Vice Capital founder and principal Chris Bennett.

Having joined Vice Capital in 2005 after receiving his master's degree in Mathematics, Ansley worked his way up the Vice Capital ranks, most recently serving as managing director. He runs the quantitative analytics that underpin the firm's hedge advisory services and is credited with revolutionizing Vice Capital's pull though modeling for more accurate pipeline management.

Ansley is also responsible for automating many of Vice Capital's day-to-day processes to improve operational efficiency and eliminate opportunities for human error, including overseeing several LOS integrations to allow information to flow back-and-forth between Vice Capital and clients seamlessly. Ansley also developed proprietary APIs with both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to facilitate direct data pricing pulls and loan commitments with the GSEs, thereby dramatically speeding up this critical process.

"Having had the privilege of working with Chris, Troy and the Vice Capital team for more than 15 years, this promotion is truly an honor," Ansley said. "I look forward to spearheading the next phase of our software development initiatives, which will help drive an even better client experience while also dramatically enhancing the value, advice and service Vice Capital delivers to the market."

Founded in 2001, Vice Capital serves independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions of all sizes, with monthly mortgage production volumes ranging from $10 million to $5 billion a month. Last year, the company set a new internal trade volume record, trading more than $202 billion on behalf of its full service clients, and experienced a marked increase in its client base, including more than 50% growth in the credit union space. Today, one in every 15 mortgages originated in the United States are traded by Vice Capital or hedged using its proprietary software.

About Vice Capital Markets

Since 2001, Vice Capital Markets has successfully managed interest rate risk and maximized profitability on MBS trades and mortgage-related transactions for banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders of all sizes. With an average of more than 10 years' experience behind each of the traders on our team, Vice Capital has helped its clients realize, on average, a 25 to 55 bps improvement over their best effort execution, and Vice Capital's proprietary risk-management models and complex investor and agency best execution platform have consistently yielded safe and effective profit maximization for its clients. Learn more at https://www.vicecapitalmarkets.com/ or call (248) 869-8100.

Vice Capital Markets, a leading mortgage hedge advisory firm for independent lenders, banks and credit unions, announced today that it has promoted Shawn Ansley to chief information officer (CIO). As CIO, Ansley will be tasked with the continued development of information technologies and deepening integrations with the agencies and major loan origination systems.

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

Critical Defect Rate Drops 18% in Q3 2021, Per ACES Quality Management Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced the release of its quarterly ACES Mortgage QC Trends Report covering the third quarter (Q3) of 2021. The latest report provides an analysis of post-closing quality control data derived from ACES Quality Management & Control® software.

Notable findings from the Q3 2021 report include:

* Mortgage lenders managed mortgage origination quality extremely well in Q3 2021, leading to an 18% improvement in the overall credit defect rate.

* Manufacturing-related loan defects decreased as volumes declined.

* Q3 marked the official shift from refinances to a purchase-driven market, with purchase defects increasing as a result.

* Defect performance on conventional loans stabilized while FHA defects rose.

* The Early Payment Defaults trend line indicates that reviews peaked and are now below pre-pandemic levels, shifting the focus to the remaining loans in forbearance status and exit plans for those borrowers.

"The critical defect rate for Q3 2021 dropped 18% to 1.86%, a welcomed improvement from the previous quarter. Lenders also experienced a slight decrease in origination volume, down 8% from Q2 of 2021," said ACES Executive Vice President Nick Volpe. "Metrics are beginning to trend back to their historic normal levels as volume moderates. With the amount of volatility in macroeconomic factors and rising rates, the decline in the overall critical defect rate is a testament to lenders taking quality management and control seriously."

Findings for the Q3 2021 ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report are based on post-closing quality control data derived from the ACES Quality Management and Control® benchmarking system and incorporate data from prior quarters and/or calendar years, where applicable. All reviews and defect data evaluated for the report were based on loan audits selected by lenders for full file reviews.

"An improvement in the critical defect rate is always a positive sign. The worst of early payment default volume seems to be behind us, but we're not out of the woods yet. Lenders' focus should continue to be on helping remaining loans in forbearance status and building exit plans for those borrowers," said ACES CEO, Trevor Gauthier. "Lenders and banks need to be cognizant of the economic and geopolitical environments in the coming months and possibly years. As the Federal Reserve works to calm inflation, these actions oftentimes have a ripple effect, which can certainly impact loan quality."

Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are available for download, free of charge, at https://www.acesquality.com/resources/reports.

About ACES Quality Management:

ACES Quality Management is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control® software to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:

* 3 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;

* 7 of the top 10 loan servicers;

* 11 of the top 30 banks; and

* 1 of the top 3 credit unions in the USA.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit www.acesquality.com or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced the release of its quarterly ACES Mortgage QC Trends Report covering the third quarter (Q3) of 2021. The latest report provides an analysis of post-closing quality control data derived from ACES Quality Management & Control® software.

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

NotaryCam surpasses 1 million remote online notarization transactions

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- NotaryCam®, a Stewart-owned company and a pioneering provider of remote online notarization and identity verification/authentication technology for real estate and legal transactions, today announced it has performed more than 1 million successful remote online notarization (RON) transactions. Since 2012, NotaryCam has facilitated transactions for Fortune 500 companies, banks, mortgage lenders, attorneys, settlement agents and more across the globe.

With more than 1 million global users, NotaryCam has performed RON transactions for customers in all 50 states and 150 countries. As a pioneer in RON, NotaryCam offers a platform that scales in every jurisdiction to provide mortgage lenders and their settlement agents the competitive advantage of closing how the client wants to close and allows multiple parties to join the signing ceremony.

"At NotaryCam, we're proud of each and every milestone we've met over the years, but performing one million transactions is certainly one of the bigger ones we've been honored to celebrate," said NotaryCam division president Rick Triola. "Whether it was the first or the one-millionth transaction, NotaryCam has been committed to providing a RON platform that facilitates a smooth mortgage closing experience without any of the limits imposed on traditional closings, and we will continue to bring that commitment to our next million transactions."

Recently, New York became the 39th state to pass permanent RON legislation - a milestone which New York native Triola has awaited since founding the company to address the difficulties he faced in conducting his New York real estate closings after relocating to California. As a Mortgage Industry Standard Maintenance Organization (MISMO) certified platform, NotaryCam meets, and often exceeds, the standards set by state legislation for RON transactions.

"The growth RON has seen in the past few years has been almost exponential," Triola said. "As some aspects of RON become standardized in the mortgage industry, NotaryCam will always strive to go above and beyond for our customers and provide the best experience possible."

About NotaryCam, a Stewart Company

NotaryCam, a Stewart-owned company, is the leader in online notarization and mortgage eClosing solutions, having notarized documents worldwide for hundreds of thousands of customers in all 50 states and more than 146 countries. The company's eClose360® platform delivers the "perfect" online mortgage closing in every jurisdiction and supports all eClosing scenarios - RON, IPEN or Hybrids - with a flexible workflow for document recording and unparalleled identity verification, security and customer convenience. In addition to real estate transactions, NotaryCam provides RON services to many Fortune 500 companies as well as small and midsize business and includes the execution of electronic wills (eWills), legal docs (i.e., power of attorneys) and Apostilles. The company also proudly maintains an industry-leading 99.8 percent customer satisfaction rating and the highest Net promotor score (NPS) amongst the best global tech brands.

Visit https://www.notarycam.com for additional information or to get a document notarized today.

RELATED LINKS:
https://www.stewart.com/en.html

NotaryCam®, a Stewart-owned company and a pioneering provider of remote online notarization and identity verification/authentication technology for real estate and legal transactions, today announced it has performed more than 1 million successful remote online notarization (RON) transactions. Since 2012, NotaryCam has facilitated transactions for Fortune 500 companies, banks, mortgage lenders, attorneys, settlement agents and more across the globe.

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

Loan Quality Expert Duane Gilkison to Speak at ACES ENGAGE

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, has added Duane Gilkison, senior director of loan quality at Fannie Mae, to its speaker line-up for the upcoming ACES ENGAGE conference, taking place at the historic Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, May 23 - 25, 2022. Gilkison will speak on manufacturing quality and quality control best practices.

Gilkison has more than twenty years of banking and compliance experience. Before joining Fannie Mae, Gilkison worked at PNC Financial Services Group for more than a decade, starting as vice president of operations manager and eventually becoming senior vice president of credit risk. During his tenure at PNC, Gilkison was responsible for all operational areas of credit risk management, leading credit policy, origination quality control, servicing quality control, home equity quality control and audit management teams.

"Given the potential effects of inflation and the purchase-driven mortgage market on loan quality, Duane Gilkison's robust credit risk and loan quality compliance expertise make him an important and welcomed addition to the ACES ENGAGE agenda," ACES CEO Trevor Gauthier said. "Lenders of all stripes must be prepared to shore up their defenses to protect against fraud and defects, and with ACES ENGAGE, we want every attendee to leave with a deeper understanding of proactive quality assurance and compliance and feeling well-equipped to adjust their strategies in the pursuit of maintaining compliance, protecting loan quality and mitigating risk."

ACES ENGAGE will offer a mix of general session presentations, panel discussions and social activities. Attendees have the opportunity to learn from industry experts and thought leaders, network and leave with the knowledge necessary to increase efficiencies, improve productivity and further quality at their organizations.

Register to attend ACES ENGAGE and learn more at https://www.acesquality.com/aces-engage-2022

About ACES Quality Management:

ACES Quality Management is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control Software® to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:

* 3 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;

* 7 of the top 10 loan servicers;

* 11 of the top 30 banks; and

* 1 of the top 3 credit unions in the USA.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit https://www.acesquality.com/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, has added Duane Gilkison, senior director of loan quality at Fannie Mae, to its speaker line-up for the upcoming ACES ENGAGE conference, taking place at the historic Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, May 23 - 25, 2022.

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

Sales Boomerang ranks No. 19 on Financial Times’ list of The Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies

BALTIMORE, Md. /ScoopCloud/ -- Sales Boomerang, the mortgage industry's top-rated automated borrower intelligence and retention system, today announced that it has clinched a top spot on Financial Times' ranking of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies, ranking 19th overall, first among fintech firms and third in technology. Now in its third year, The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies 2022 ranking identifies the businesses across North, Central and South America with the strongest revenue growth between 2017 and 2020.

Sales Boomerang's borrower intelligence system monitors lenders' databases and alerts mortgage advisors when a past or prospective borrower is ready for a loan. Sales Boomerang's automated loan opportunity alerts help to identify the ideal times to present loan opportunities to consumers, offering lenders a 20-40% average lift to loan volume and customer retention rates as high as 85%.

The Financial Times is one of the world's leading news publications. Each year, The Financial Times partners with Statista to research and identify the 500 companies that have shown the most explosive revenue growth over a three-year timespan. In order to qualify, companies must be headquartered in the Americas and have generated at least $100,000 of revenue in 2017 and $1.5 million in 2020.

"As the mortgage industry's first automated borrower intelligence and retention platform, Sales Boomerang has earned a lofty reputation across the entire housing finance ecosystem," said Sales Boomerang Founder and CEO Alex Kutsishin. "Sales Boomerang owes its incredible growth to our nimble team of data experts and loyal lender customers, for whom we have identified hundreds of billions of dollars in potential loan opportunities."

From 2017 and 2020, Sales Boomerang saw a meteoric 3882% revenue growth. In 2021 alone, Sales Boomerang's automated borrower intelligence alerts delivered $468 billion in loan opportunities to more than 150 independent mortgage banks (IMBs), banks and credit unions.

The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies of 2022 will be featured in the weekday edition of the Financial Times newspaper. A special report featuring the complete interactive ranking alongside articles by Financial Times correspondents on the trends highlighted by the research, can be found here: https://www.ft.com/reports/americas-fastest-growing-companies.

About Sales Boomerang:

Sales Boomerang transformed the relationship between mortgage lenders and borrowers with the introduction of the first automated borrower intelligence system in 2017. The company's intelligent alerts notify lenders as soon as a past customer or prospect is ready and credit-qualified for a loan. As the mortgage industry's #1 borrower retention tool, Sales Boomerang is trusted by more than 150 lenders - including brokers, independent mortgage companies, credit unions and banks - to help build lasting borrower relationships that maximize lifetime customer value. To date, Sales Boomerang alerts have enabled lenders to close more than $150 billion in additional loan volume that would have otherwise been overlooked and achieve customer retention rates that outperform industry norms by an average of 3-5X. To learn more about Sales Boomerang and its No Borrower Left Behind(tm) ethos, visit https://www.salesboomerang.com.

About the Financial Times:

The Financial Times is one of the world's leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of 1.2 million, more than one million of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.

Sales Boomerang, the mortgage industry's top-rated automated borrower intelligence and retention system, today announced that it has clinched a top spot on Financial Times' ranking of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies, ranking 19th overall, first among fintech firms and third in technology.

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

Mortgage Coach and ReverseVision team up to help consumers compare ‘forward’ and reverse mortgage financing options

IRVINE, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Mortgage Coach, a borrower conversion platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time, today announced an integration with ReverseVision, a subsidiary of Constellation Mortgage Solutions, Inc., the leading national provider of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) and private reverse mortgage sales and origination technology. The integration enables lenders to produce a Reverse Total Cost Analysis (TCA), an interactive presentation that allows loan originators to give consumers side-by-side comparisons of how reverse mortgages perform against forward mortgages over the lifetime of the loan.

According to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), consumers age 62 and above comprise a significant share of the mortgage market, holding $10.1 trillion in home equity. Yet, HECM and private reverse mortgages, specifically designed to meet the unique financial circumstances of seniors, are rarely presented as options, often due to lender unfamiliarity with the programs.

Mortgage Coach's Reverse TCA enables loan originators to better serve clients with confidence by helping them evaluate whether a forward or reverse mortgage is best suited to meet their homeownership and financial goals. Designed to educate consumers about the conditions of reverse mortgages and illustrate unique features such as flexible disbursement options, the Reverse TCA serves to strengthen borrower trust in loan originators while empowering them with a more comprehensive understanding of their financial options.

Consumers can easily share Reverse TCA presentations with financial advisors and family members via text and email, which allows those involved in the long-term care of borrowers to feel informed and confident.

"For the first time ever, the Reverse TCA is making it possible for tens of thousands of expert forward mortgage advisors to easily, accurately and compliantly compare forward and reverse mortgage options side-by-side," said Mortgage Coach President Joe Puthur. "The solution strengthens lender relationships with qualified clients by modeling home financing options designed for their stage in life while helping loan officers advise clients on the mortgage solution that is right for them."

"This new partnership with Mortgage Coach opens doors for forward mortgage lenders to drive new undiscovered loan revenue and profitability by leveraging the surging home equity market via HECM mortgages," said Stephen Ryczek, president of Constellation Mortgage Solutions. "Lenders can provide an equity loan that provides seniors with a more comfortable retirement without the financial stress of monthly loan repayment."

"For many years, Finance of America Mortgage loan originators have embraced Mortgage Coach TCAs to visually educate our borrowers about all forward mortgage options, helping them select the loan that serves them best from our diverse mortgage product lineup," said Graham Fleming, president of Finance of America. "Similarly, Finance of America has long relied on ReverseVision. With this new integration, we can now uniquely illustrate any reverse mortgage option to help our senior clients flexibly leverage record home equity as they age in place. We look forward to showcasing our full product set, which includes reverse mortgages, to all eligible borrowers, ensuring they receive the best loan program for their overarching homeownership and financial goals."

About Mortgage Coach:

Mortgage Coach is an award-winning borrower conversion platform that gives consumers the confidence to transact with educational presentations that model loan performance over time. The company's side-by-side loan comparisons allow borrowers to make faster, more informed mortgage decisions while enabling lenders to consistently deliver an on-brand, consultative home financing experience that increases borrower conversion, repeat business and referrals. To date, more than 140 enterprise independent mortgage banks, depository banks and credit unions rely on Mortgage Coach to deliver personalized, modern service that grows revenue and customer loyalty. To learn more about Mortgage Coach, visit https://www.mortgagecoach.com or follow @MortgageCoach.

About ReverseVision:

Since 2007, ReverseVision, a subsidiary of Constellation Mortgage Solutions, Inc., has served the industry's top reverse mortgage lenders and 100 percent of all reverse investors, including banks and credit unions, mortgage brokers, and independent mortgage banks. ReverseVision's enterprise HECM mortgage platform and integrations allow its users to seamlessly originate reverse mortgages. ReverseVision's core platform, ReverseVision Exchange (RVX), is comprehensive and proven to automate the entire reverse lending process from Origination through Secondary Marketing to Closing. The company's technology is being successfully leveraged as a springboard that helps lenders get into the reverse space easily and efficiently. For more information, visit https://www.reversevision.com/.

Mortgage Coach, a borrower conversion platform empowering mortgage lenders to educate borrowers with interactive presentations that model home loan performance over time, today announced an integration with ReverseVision, a subsidiary of Constellation Mortgage Solutions, Inc., the leading national provider of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) and private reverse mortgage sales and origination technology.

Related link: https://mortgagecoach.com/

FormFree and Take3Tech integration brings AccountChek asset, income and employment verification to the LoanMAPS mortgage technology platform

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree® today announced it has partnered with Take Three Technologies (Take3Tech) to make its AccountChek® automated asset, income, and employment verification solutions available within LoanMAPS™, an all-in-one loan origination platform that encompasses a loan origination system (LOS), point-of-sale system (POS), customer relationship management system (CRM), compliance monitoring and report generation.

The integration enables loan originators to text or email borrowers a request to electronically verify asset, income and employment data without leaving the LoanMAPS user experience. Once borrower permission is granted, AccountChek uses securely encrypted, direct-source data to automatically populate underwriter-friendly verification of asset (VOA) and verification of income/employment (VOIE) reports, which are made available within LoanMAPS.

"We are proud to introduce AccountChek as a LoanMAPS integration partner. Our partnership enables lenders to provide a streamlined verification experience while reducing loan processing and underwriting times as well as fraud risk," said Take3Tech CEO Anita Padilla-Fitzgerald. "We look forward to helping lenders empower consumers with the speed and convenience of electronic data verification."

"FormFree is on a mission to make it easy for mortgage lenders to assess borrowers' ability to pay mortgage loans using high-fidelity, direct-source consumer data," said FormFree CEO and Founder Brent Chandler. "It is a pleasure to partner with Take3Tech to make the benefits of AccountChek available to more mortgage lenders and consumers."

Lenders interested in learning more about the Take3Tech and AccountChek integration should visit FormFree at booth #612 or set up a meeting with Take3Tech at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Technology Solutions Conference & Expo 2022 taking place April 11-14 at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

About FormFree®:

As the industry's go-to provider for direct-source VOA and VOI/E data, FormFree helps lenders understand credit risk like never before. Our patented AccountChek® and Passport® products open doors to more inclusive credit decisioning by revealing each customer's true ability to pay (ATP®). We have completed over $3 trillion in loan verifications that help lenders lower operating costs while improving the borrower experience. For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

About Take Three Technologies:

Take Three Technologies developed LoanMAPS, a cloud-based and fully-integrated loan origination platform. With LoanMAPS, you can replace your current LOS, CRM, POS, and Report Generator with one easy-to-use solution that covers of all of your mortgage banking technology needs. From client management and origination to processing and closing, LoanMAPS is here for you with easy implementation and training at your fingertips. Reduce your cost to close and increase your productivity with LoanMAPS today. For more information, visit the company's website https://welcome.loanmaps.com/.

FormFree® today announced it has partnered with Take Three Technologies (Take3Tech) to make its AccountChek® automated asset, income, and employment verification solutions available within LoanMAPS™, an all-in-one loan origination platform that encompasses a loan origination system (LOS), point-of-sale system (POS), customer relationship management system (CRM), compliance monitoring and report generation.

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

Planet Home Lending selects Mortgage Coach to enhance customer experience with educational home loan comparisons

MERIDEN, Conn. /ScoopCloud/ -- Planet Home Lending, LLC, a national mortgage lender and servicer, has selected Mortgage Coach to give loan officers a tool to provide a better customer experience. With Mortgage Coach, mortgage loan originators (MLOs) can offer borrowers modern, consultative service with digital, interactive presentations that illustrate the costs and benefits of mortgage loan products and strategies over time.

This partnership also enables Planet Home Lending to grow its marketing technology (martech) offering to its MLOs.

"Our new partnership with Mortgage Coach allows us to further invest in our talented MLOs with tools to continue providing the highest level of service to potential and existing borrowers," said Caleb Mittelstet, EVP, National Production Distributed Retail Sales. "As the origination market shifts and consumers are reconsidering what type of financing they need, MLOs require the best tools available to answer questions and provide relevant information."

Along with the side-by-side loan comparisons, the Mortgage Coach platform provides a level of transparency that Planet Home Lending can use to improve new business efforts as well as retain current borrowers. The tool is available on desktop and mobile and enables MLOs to educate borrowers and deepen relationships on the road to homeownership.

Having a robust martech offering has allowed Planet Home Lending to continue to grow its distributed retail channel. In the first quarter, the company added seven new branches and 40 MLOs. The company's other customer-focused marketing technology includes applications from TotalExpert, BombBomb, HomeBot, MBS Highway and Blend.

"Putting Mortgage Coach into the hands of the first-rate mortgage professionals at Planet Home Lending elevates their ability to serve borrowers across the country by helping them attain their homeownership and financial dreams," said Mortgage Coach President Joe Puthur. "We are excited to embark on this journey with Planet Home Lending, and we know it will be a lasting and fruitful relationship."

About Planet Home Lending, LLC

Planet Home Lending, LLC, Meriden, Connecticut, (NMLS #17022) is a national mortgage lender and servicer delivering exceptional customer experiences to American homeowners and homebuyers. It is an approved originator and servicer for FHA, VA and USDA, as well as a Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae Seller/Servicer, a full Ginnie Mae Issuer and approved sub-servicer and a Standard & Poor's Global Ratings- and Fitch Ratings-rated special and prime residential servicer. Planet Home Lending, LLC, has been assigned a corporate family rating by Moody's Investors Service viewable at www.moodys.com. Its correspondent division offers a full suite of government, agency and niche home loans. Planet Home Lending, LLC is also a special servicer managing diverse investor portfolios. Its customized servicing solutions maximize asset recovery and optimize performance through active management at the portfolio and loan levels. Planet Home Lending, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender. For more information about Planet Home Lending, LLC, please visit https://planethomelending.com. For more information about Planet Home Lending's Correspondent offerings, please visit https://phlcorrespondent.com.

About Mortgage Coach:

Mortgage Coach is an award-winning borrower conversion platform that gives consumers the confidence to transact with educational presentations that model loan performance over time. The company's side-by-side loan comparisons allow borrowers to make faster, more informed mortgage decisions while enabling lenders to consistently deliver an on-brand, consultative home financing experience that increases borrower conversion, repeat business and referrals. To date, more than 130 enterprise independent mortgage banks, depository banks and credit unions rely on Mortgage Coach to deliver personalized, modern service that grows revenue and customer loyalty. To learn more about Mortgage Coach, visit https://mortgagecoach.com/ or follow @MortgageCoach.

About Planet Financial Group, LLC:

Planet Financial Group, (PFG) LLC, Meriden, Conn., is a fully integrated family of companies delivering innovative origination, servicing, and asset management solutions. Through this synergistic ecosystem of products, services, and technologies, PFG provides best-in-class experiences for investors pursuing value maximization and borrowers seeking streamlined end-to-end loan lifecycle support. PFG is the parent of Planet Home Lending, LLC and Planet Management Group, LLC, which also does business under the name Planet Renovation Capital.

Planet Home Lending, LLC, a national mortgage lender and servicer, has selected Mortgage Coach to give loan officers a tool to provide a better customer experience. With Mortgage Coach, mortgage loan originators (MLOs) can offer borrowers modern, consultative service with digital, interactive presentations that illustrate the costs and benefits of mortgage loan products and strategies over time.

Related link: https://mortgagecoach.com/

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency partners with ACES Quality Management & Control

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, today announced the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has selected ACES' flagship platform ACES Quality Management & Control® software to support its mortgage origination compliance and quality control (QC).

The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency finances and advances affordable housing opportunities for residents with low and moderate incomes throughout the state. The agency offers products and services to help Minnesotans buy and fix up their homes and supports the development and preservation of affordable rental housing through both financing and long-term asset management, all of which help build stronger communities and stabilize the lives of Minnesotans who are financially challenged.

"Minnesota Housing has helped build communities by providing affordable housing and finance options for over 50 years," said ACES CEO Trevor Gauthier. "We are proud to partner with them to ensure quality is built into the loan manufacturing process and their customers receive the highest quality lending experience."

ACES Quality Management & Control software enables financial institutions of all sizes to adequately manage the volume peaks and valleys to ensure quality and compliance throughout their operations while providing the flexibility to scale as volumes change. With ACES Flexible Audit Technology®, QC providers can configure the system to meet its specific needs to improve productivity and quality while controlling costs and risk.

About ACES Quality Management:

ACES Quality Management® is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control® software to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:

* 3 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;

* 7 of the top 10 loan servicers;

* 11 of the top 30 banks; and

* 1 of the top 3 credit unions in the USA.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology®, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment.

For more information, visit https://www.acesquality.com/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, today announced the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has selected ACES' flagship platform ACES Quality Management & Control® software to support its mortgage origination compliance and quality control (QC).

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

Ben Itkin Assumes Sales Leadership Position at MCT

SAN DIEGO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Mortgage Capital Trading, Inc. (MCT®), a recognized industry leader in mortgage risk management providing pipeline hedging, best execution loan sales and centralized lock desk services, announced today that Ben Itkin has been appointed the new National Sales Director. Mr. Itkin will leverage his hands-on experience from his previous senior role as Managing Director to now lead a larger overall investment in the MCT sales team.

Mr. Itkin assumes an important leadership position that ensures MCT will continue to grow its "in the field" presence and continue to provide industry-leading client experience to over 300 lenders. The appointment is part and parcel of bigger investment in the sales team, which has more than doubled from six Sales Directors, to a team of 13 with the addition of four Capital Markets Technology Advisors and three Regional Account Executives.

"With Tom Farmer's promotion to Chief Investment in Corporate Development Officer overseeing third party collaborations, Ben will assume the leadership of our sales team," said Curtis Richins, President and CEO of MCT. "Ben in this role is exciting because he is widely known and widely respected throughout the industry. He is charismatic, insightful, solutions focused, and people enjoy doing business with him."

The expanded sales team Mr. Itkin now leads is part of MCT's ongoing commitment to client engagement and delivering the best client experience. His objectives are to grow MCT's core business and accelerate adoption of non-hedge products and services. He is also tasked with growing newer offerings including MSRlive!, participation in BAM Marketplace, investor services, and MCTlive!, MCT's award-winning best execution and loan pipeline management software.

"Even though we are coming into a much softer market than we have seen the last three years, success is still the expectation and I look forward to continuing that upward trajectory," said Itkin. "We have a talented, young sales team and I am excited about helping mentor and assist each of them to develop and flourish, ultimately maximizing their potential."

Mr. Itkin brings nearly 30 years of experience in the mortgage industry and 13 years of experience at MCT as a resource in helping sales and organizational initiatives to his new role. He is highly regarded in the mortgage industry, and holds deep knowledge in secondary marketing, loan pricing, and pipeline hedging. He has been instrumental in expanding and working closely with MCT's team of trading analysts to provide hands-on service to clients as well as being instrumental as a sales resource including scratch and dent bidding efforts. Mr. Itkin holds an MBA from California State University, Northridge and is an active member of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

About MCT:

Founded in 2001, Mortgage Capital Trading, Inc. (MCT) has grown from a boutique mortgage pipeline hedging firm into the industry's leading provider of fully-integrated capital markets services and technology. MCT offers an array of best-in-class services and software covering mortgage pipeline hedging, best execution loan sales, outsourced lock desk solutions, MSR portfolio valuations, business intelligence analytics, mark to market services, and an award-winning comprehensive capital markets software platform called MCTlive! MCT supports independent mortgage bankers, depositories, credit unions, warehouse lenders, and correspondent investors of all sizes.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, MCT also has offices in Philadelphia, Santa Rosa, Los Angeles and Dallas. MCT is well known for its team of capital markets experts and senior traders who continue to provide the boutique-style hands-on engagement clients love.

For more information, visit https://mct-trading.com/ or call (619) 543-5111.

RELATED LINKS:
https://mct-trading.com/about/team/ben-itkin/
https://mct-trading.com/solutions/msr-valuation/
https://mct-trading.com/bam-marketplace-loan-exchange/
https://mct-trading.com/solutions/mortgage-hedging/mctlive/

Mortgage Capital Trading, Inc. (MCT®), a recognized industry leader in mortgage risk management providing pipeline hedging, best execution loan sales and centralized lock desk services, announced today that Ben Itkin has been appointed the new National Sales Director.

Related link: https://mct-trading.com/

FormFree grows executive team, appoints Eric Lapin chief strategy officer

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree® today announced that it has appointed Eric Lapin to the role of chief strategy officer (CSO). In this position, Lapin will leverage his more than 25 years' experience in leadership roles at marquee mortgage technology firms and financial institutions to steer the strategic vision and partnerships driving FormFree's growth.

Prior to joining FormFree, Lapin served as first vice president of corporate development, national agency services, at Old Republic Title, where he spearheaded the structuring of new solutions, corporate alliance building, and lender and agency business development. Before that, he held vice president and managing director positions at banner housing fintechs and financial institutions including Altisource, Black Knight, First American and Credit Suisse.

As CSO, Lapin will strategically identify and execute growth opportunities at FormFree. His responsibilities will include monitoring the execution of business initiatives, identifying key capital projects, driving strategic partnership opportunities and overseeing communications and marketing.

"My long-standing passion for helping lenders leverage technology to create a better mortgage experience has made this next step in my career an easy one," said Lapin. "In my new role as CSO, I look forward to supporting FormFree's vision of transforming the mortgage industry with innovative solutions designed to improve lender operations and expand consumer access to sustainable credit."

"Eric brings a wealth of experience and strategic know-how to the FormFree team, which he has acquired through decades of experience gaining mastery knowledge of mortgage lending and the technology ecosystem that powers it," said FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler. "As FormFree continues to grow, Eric will play a central role in how our suite of revolutionary digital products is able to impact the housing finance industry and beyond."

Lapin is the second addition to FormFree's executive team in the last month, following FormFree's appointment of Patrick Rutherford, former finance executive at Intercontinental Exchange, as chief financial officer (CFO).

About FormFree®

As the industry's go-to provider for direct-source VOA and VOI/E data, FormFree helps lenders understand credit risk like never before. Our patented AccountChek® and Passport® products open doors to more inclusive credit decisioning by revealing each customer's true ability to pay (ATP®). We have completed over $3 trillion in loan verifications that help lenders lower operating costs while improving the borrower experience.

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

Follow FormFree on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/formfree/

FormFree® today announced that it has appointed Eric Lapin to the role of chief strategy officer (CSO). In this position, Lapin will leverage his more than 25 years' experience in leadership roles at marquee mortgage technology firms and financial institutions to steer the strategic vision and partnerships driving FormFree's growth.

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

George Mason Mortgage selects FormFree AccountChek to streamline its verification of borrower assets, income and employment

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree® today announced that Washington, D.C.-based George Mason Mortgage (GMM) has selected AccountChek® as the regional lender's exclusive provider of automated asset, income and employment verification services. GMM will use AccountChek to simplify the loan application experience for borrowers, improve productivity for its team of 120 mortgage loan officers and reduce loan cycle times.

How It Works

A seamless integration between FormFree and GMM's mortgage point-of-sale software makes it easy for loan teams to order AccountChek verification of asset (VOA) and verification of income/employment (VOIE) reports with just a few clicks. Instead of manually gathering bank statements and pay stubs and submitting them to GMM, loan applicants can use AccountChek to digitally verify assets, income and employment in seconds using high-fidelity data and documentation sourced directly from financial institutions and payroll providers. The information collected by AccountChek is then automatically mapped to the Form 1003 Universal Residential Loan Application in GMM's loan origination software, eliminating the time and risk associated with manual data entry.

Because FormFree is an authorized asset verification report supplier for Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) validation service and Freddie Mac's Loan Product Advisor® (LPASM) asset and income modeler (AIM) solution, GMM receives freedom from representations and warranties for certain validated loan components, resulting in greater certainty when selling loans on the secondary market.

Early Results

Since rolling out AccountChek enterprise-wide at the beginning of the year, GMM has seen an eight-fold uptick in orders for automated VOA and VOIE. According to SVP of Information Systems Margie Ambrosio, AccountChek is helping the lender deliver a better borrower experience and compressing the time required for loans to progress from application to closing to investor purchase.

"Our borrowers wanted an easier way to document their ability to pay," said GMM SVP of Information Systems Margie Ambrosio. "AccountChek combines asset, income and employment verification into one easy step for borrowers and gives us an underwriter-ready report that can be refreshed at any point between initial application and closing. Eliminating repetitive requests for paper documentation is already improving efficiency in our loan origination process, reducing per-loan costs and streamlining vendor due diligence - not to mention delighting our customers."

A wholly owned subsidiary of United Bank, George Mason Mortgage is licensed to serve mortgage customers throughout the United States and maintains retail branches in 12 states plus the District of Columbia.

About FormFree®

As the industry's go-to provider for direct-source VOA and VOI/E data, FormFree helps lenders understand credit risk like never before. Our patented AccountChek® and Passport® products open doors to more inclusive credit decisioning by revealing each customer's true ability to pay (ATP®). We have completed over $3 trillion in loan verifications that help lenders lower operating costs while improving the borrower experience. For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

About George Mason Mortgage, LLC

Based in Fairfax, Virginia, George Mason Mortgage was founded in 1980 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Bank. We have been consistently ranked as a top lender in the mid-Atlantic region and have expanded into various markets with retail offices throughout Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. We understand the importance of homeownership and are fortunate to have a superior team of in-house underwriters, processors and closers to provide you with the kind of efficient, personalized service you can only get from a local lender. Our goal is to provide easy and comprehensive solutions that suit the individual needs of our borrowers. For more information, visit https://www.gmmllc.com/.

FormFree® today announced that Washington, D.C.-based George Mason Mortgage (GMM) has selected AccountChek® as the regional lender's exclusive provider of automated asset, income and employment verification services. GMM will use AccountChek to simplify the loan application experience for borrowers, improve productivity for its team of 120 mortgage loan officers and reduce loan cycle times.

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

Mary Costello joins FormFree team as director of vendor management, risk and compliance

ATHENS, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree® today announced that it has welcomed 17-year finance industry veteran Mary Costello to its team as director of vendor management, risk and compliance. In this role, Costello will support FormFree's audit, risk and compliance efforts across the management of internal and external vendor, lender and integration partnerships.

Prior to joining FormFree, Costello served 14 years at Veterans United Home Loans, where she developed, launched and led the enterprise-wide vendor management program for the largest U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) purchase lender. Costello also served as Veterans United Home Loans' go-to vendor compliance manager - diligently mitigating third-party risk through careful contract analyses, strong pricing negotiations and frequent due diligence collaborations.

"We are incredibly lucky to bring Mary and her wealth of vendor management expertise to the FormFree fold," said FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler. "Mary has a deep background in managing risk across a complex portfolio of critical vendor relationships. I'm confident that she will be an incredible asset as FormFree continues to grow its vendor network."

As Director of Vendor Management, Risk and Compliance at FormFree, Costello will manage FormFree's internal and external vendor relationships with support from compliance leadership, internal stakeholders and external auditors. She will collaborate across FormFree's network to mitigate vendor risk by ensuring compliance with regulatory and ethical requirements.

"I was drawn to FormFree because I identify with the company's mission of driving disruptive change in the mortgage industry," said Costello. "I look forward to nurturing FormFree's numerous vendor relationships, promoting its groundbreaking mortgage products and thinking outside the box to leverage these relationships and products to facilitate a world-class lending experience."

About FormFree®

As the industry's go-to provider for direct-source VOA and VOI/E data, FormFree helps lenders understand credit risk like never before. Our patented AccountChek® and Passport® products open doors to more inclusive credit decisioning by revealing each customer's true ability to pay (ATP®). We have completed over $3 trillion in loan verifications that help lenders lower operating costs while improving the borrower experience.

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

Follow FormFree on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/formfree/

FormFree today announced that it has welcomed 17-year finance industry veteran Mary Costello to its team as director of vendor management, risk and compliance. In this role, Costello will support FormFree's audit, risk and compliance efforts across the management of internal and external vendor, lender and integration partnerships.

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