Q/A with Larry Alston of Mortgage Builder
MBA NewsLink recently posed questions to Larry Alston, general manager of Mortgage Builder, Southfield, Mich.
Alston is responsible for all aspects of the Mortgage Builder business and strategic direction. He has a track record in enterprise B2B software, most recently as president of FuseSource Corp. an open source integration and messaging company (acquired by Red Hat in September 2012). Before FuseSource, he held senior management positions with EnterpriseDB, IONA Technologies and eXcelon Corp.
MBA NEWSLINK: Altisource acquired Mortgage Builder in 2014. What was the rationale behind the acquisition and how has it worked out?
LARRY ALSTON, MORTGAGE BUILDER: In 2014, Altisource was looking to add to its mortgage technology portfolio. Earlier in the year, Altisource acquired Equator to build out its servicing software offerings and added Mortgage Builder to the family of businesses to build out the originations offerings.
Mortgage Builder is a company with a reliable platform, a loyal customer base and significant mortgage expertise. Altisource, a marketplace and transaction solutions provider for the real estate, mortgage and technology industries saw Mortgage Builder as the perfect environment for developing and deploying disruptive technology.
So far, the relationship has been very fruitful. Altisource has been investing in origination technology across the board and Mortgage Builder, as well as its client base, is benefiting from that. Mortgage Builder has been able to bring in enterprise software talent to build the next generation LOS platform. Also, Mortgage Builder has been able to leverage some of Altisource’s assets, such as its team of compliance experts and mortgage services, to enhance the Mortgage Builder offerings.
NEWSLINK: How has Mortgage Builder’s focus changed since the acquisition?
ALSTON: Customer service has always been our number one focus. In addition to delivering world-class customer support, we are now focusing a great deal of attention and resources to developing the next generation of our enterprise LOS solutions.
NEWSLINK: Mortgage Builder recently introduced a Closing Conduit module to its LOS. How does that fit in with new TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure requirements?
ALSTON: TRID changes the way closing agents and creditors approach the settlement process in several ways. Responsibility for providing the Closing Disclosure, previously a settlement agent responsibility, has shifted to the creditor. While the closing agent may provide it if that’s what is agreed upon, the creditor remains responsible for its accuracy.
The Closing Disclosure must be received by the borrower(s) at least three days prior to consummation and the tolerance for fee increases is limited so it is imperative that creditors and closing agents work closely together to accurately quote fees early in the process, collaborate on final numbers and communicate effectively to meet the timing requirements. This is an area where technology like the Closing Conduit can really assist with both operations and compliance.
The Closing Conduit allows staff at the creditor’s and closing agent’s offices to effectively communicate with each other in real time. Creditors don’t even have to leave their system. They can send data to the Closing Conduit with the click of a button for the closing agent to review. The built-in document exchange feature allows the creditor and closing agent to quickly and securely exchange documents back and forth, including the closing docs, payoffs, seller’s closing disclosure, title work and anything else that used to clog up the closer’s email inbox.
The bottom line is that we make it easier for customers to comply in today’s constantly changing regulatory environment while reducing risk. This allows our customers to close more loans in less time and to give them the ability to close higher quality loans that are highly compliant.
NEWSLINK: What is your assessment of how TRID is affecting the closing process? How is Mortgage Builder addressing those changes?
ALSTON: Mortgage Builder is receiving varied reports of the impact of TRID on the closing process. Many lenders have now had the time to refine their operations and processes so they are getting back to pre-TRID timelines for the length of time it takes them to close a loan.
However, lenders are also struggling with having to juggle differing interpretations and investor overlays and that final analysis often falls to the closer to go through the file to make sure investor-specific requirements are met. In addition, many lenders are spending more money and more time reviewing the files for compliance and taking extra time prior to closing to ensure that they have a saleable loan.
Mortgage Builder Software continues to meet regularly with our client base via our Regulatory Work Group–an open forum where lenders can discuss issues related to TRID, not just from a system standpoint but a workflow perspective. This helps us develop Architect with new features on each release designed to help customers remain efficient and compliant as well as produce records and reports to verify and document their compliance.
NEWSLINK: What do you see as the next evolutionary step in loan origination systems?
ALSTON: First, we see more self-service tools being demanded from the borrower to the lender (easier for borrowers to initiate the process and move the loan along, greater mobile access throughout the lending process, an enhanced user experience and automation to seamlessly drive these processes).
Second, we see the LOS delivering on the promise where the system is the expert. The LOS solution should be able to know what it can automate (and how to do it) and what requires human intervention and then prompt the user with options, if possible. The idea is to shoot for the 80/20 rule: automate as much as possible and use the user’s time only when necessary.
Third, compliance, compliance and more compliance. Compliance has to be built in from stem to stern. It’s not optional. If loans are not fully compliant they cannot be sold for a premium and that affects the bottom line.
(Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect policy of the Mortgage Bankers Association, nor does it connote an endorsement of a specific company, product or service. MBA NewsLink welcomes your submissions; articles and/or Q/A inquiries should be sent to Mike Sorohan, editor, at msorohan@mba.org.)
