How to Put e-Eligibility for Digital Mortgage Closings into Practice

This article is part of our educational series on the five key factors that determine how digital your mortgage closings can be, known as e-Eligibility.

For more information, download the full eBook or get your free e-Eligibility assessment to determine how digitized each loan in your portfolio can be. 

If you’re a lender transitioning to digital mortgage closings or scaling your existing digital mortgage roadmap, you might feel like you’re blazing new trails. You know which direction you need to go, but your map is incomplete. In fact, your map changes daily, and you can’t tell if the terrain ahead will be rocky or paved. What kind of vehicle will you need? What’s the best route for your organization?

In this analogy, the closing solution is the vehicle, and e-Eligibility (the factors that impact the extent to which a mortgage closing can be closed digitally) is the map that tells lenders which route to take. That route might look different from lender to lender, and it might change as a lender progresses in their journey towards Full eClosings. 

At Snapdocs, we’ve seen lenders adopt closing solutions that don’t fully realize the potential of their digital programs. Some closing platforms are optimized for only one type of digital closing, which limits how much a lender can digitize other closings types. Other platforms are inflexible to the inevitable changes that come with a digital closings program. They require that the lender continually invest valuable time and resources to add new providers and technology components.  

An eClosing solution should be both flexible and smart: Flexible enough to support every closing type the lender needs, from Wet-Ink to Full eClosings and everything in between. And it should be smart enough to help the lender navigate these e-Eligibility factors and select the best closing type for each transaction. 

Applying e-Eligibility

We’ve identified five factors that make up e-Eligibility:

• Counterparty Requirements
• County Land Recording
• Title Underwriter Restrictions
• eNotarization Regulations
• Settlement Readiness

Lenders can manage these e-Eligibility factors in four ways: 

1. Optimize eClosing implementation. Lenders who have not yet implemented digital mortgage closings can apply these factors to their unique profiles to determine which digital mortgage closing types are accessible and achievable.
   
   
2. Maximize eClosing utilization. Lenders that already support digital mortgage closings can manage e-Eligibility factors at the transaction level. This way, they can maximize the digitization of each loan closing, limiting wet-signed paper documents whenever possible.
   
   
3. Manage compliance risk and liquidity. Lenders can mitigate compliance risk and protect the liquidity of their loans by managing both internal and external e-Eligibility factors well before closing. For example, a lender might apply more stringent e-Eligibility parameters to a loan closing so that its secondary marketing teams can maximize their execution strategies. Contrastingly, if the lender is certain of the loan’s end-investor, they can confidently maximize the digitization of a given closing in line with that investor’s policies.
   
   
4. Gain first-mover advantage. By staying apprised of counterparty, stakeholder, or legislative progress in one or more e-Eligibility factors, lenders can be ready to incrementally expand their digital mortgage closing programs alongside this progress. 

How Snapdocs Can Help

Your needs for digital mortgage closings fall on a spectrum. There simply isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. To scale your digitization efforts, your closing solution needs to meet you where you are and will help you chart your best course towards digital mortgage closings. 

If you’re now or will soon be managing the e-Eligibility of your loan portfolio, Snapdocs can help. We’ve designed our 5 Rs Framework as a means of aggregating, analyzing, and actioning the data required to advance the digitization of the mortgage closing process. It’s how we approach each engagement with industry-leading lenders who are working to maximize the digitization of their closings.

Not only can we help you assess your organization’s unique e-Eligibility profile, but we can also help you prepare for digitization by answering key questions, such as:

• Which implementation approach gives you the highest probability of success towards achieving your digital mortgage closing goals?
  
  
• How might the automation gained from digital mortgage closings result in capital efficiency?
  
  
• What processes might look different with digital mortgage closings?
  
  
• How can you enable your teams, including loan officers, processors, and post-closing staff to support your digital mortgage closing initiatives
  
  
• When and how should engage your counterparties to garner their support, participation, or obtain their approval (as applicable) such that they enable and not hinder your progress towards digital mortgage closings?
  
  
• What is the best way to engage with settlement agents to ensure they are informed and empowered to facilitate your digital mortgage closings? 

Get started today by sharing with us just a few details about your lending landscape. We’ll deliver a rapid assessment of “just how ‘e’ you can be,” including a roadmap and business case for digitizing loans.