There is no more pressing matter to DocMagic’s clients than compliance.

Doing business in an environment when the rules are changing and the penalties for non-compliance are so very high can be extremely challenging. It can lead to high levels of stress, even if you don’t make a mistake. The Compliance Edge™ can help!

Listen Now:

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Click here to get an inside look of the Compliance Wizard newsletter. For full access or more information about DocMagic’s Compliance Edge™ Website visit us at: www.docmagic.com/compliance or call us at 800-204-4255.

By Melanie Feliciano
ESRA Executive Board Member; and
Chief Legal Officer,
DocMagic, Inc.

I'm proud to be an executive board member of the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA). Today I am sharing with you that eSignRecords2014, formerly the E-Signatures Conference, is taking place November 12-13 in New York City.

ESRA's annual conference serves as a platform for a wide variety of consumers, government entities and technology providers as well as organizations across several industries to share common goals, objective ideas, strategies and effective practices.

We will introduce a newly enriched and expanded program making this year a "must attend" event for both new and former attendees. I encourage you to join me and our fellow colleagues in the heart of Manhattan's Financial District to gain insight into emerging technologies, consumer engagement, contemporary industry practices, legal and regulatory matters, and evolving government trends.

The conference kicks off on Wednesday afternoon and concludes following a full day on Thursday. Additionally, an optional, pre-conference workshop will be held on Wednesday morning, offering an in-depth overview of e-signed records. Take a look at our information-rich agenda, which will include sessions offering CLE credits.

I look forward to seeing you in New York City, as we collectively help shape the future of eSignRecords . Last year's event sold out quickly, so please consider registering soon to ensure your participation.

Click Here to Find Out More

Grow your business without the fear of non-compliance.

When we talk to our lender clients to ask them what’s keeping them up at night, the number one answer we get is compliance. In this podcast, Ron discusses how failure to comply is simply not an option and how we see lenders throughout the industry reaching out for support.

Listen Now:
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For more information on DocMagic's Compliance visit us at: www.docmagic.com/compliance or call us at 800-204-4255.

DocMagic is Proud To Be Participating In CFPB's eClosing Pilot Program.

In this edition of The DocMagic Moment, Ron discusses how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently took a big step toward making the mortgage process easier and more satisfying for home loan borrowers.

Listen Now:
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DocMagic and Servicelink present a FREE Flood Certification webinar!
Wednesday, September 10th, 10:00AM PT

You'll Learn:
■ What you need to know about flood compliance
■ Why mapping is everything when it comes to flood determination
■ The latest industry news

Our special guest speaker, Mike Hanson, Senior VP at ServiceLink National Flood has over 22 years in the flood determination and compliance industry. Mike will bring his unique perspective on the latest compliance regulations, explain recent developments in risk mapping, and demonstrate a wide-ranging knowledge of the Flood Insurance Industry.

Ron Carillo, DocMagic’s Training Manager will demonstrate DocMagic’s dedicated and proprietary flood app through ServiceLink! Learn how to access existing flood cert orders, order 2nd certifications for FREE, edit borrower information online in real time, service transfer capabilities, upload and view documents and much more.

Register Now, It's FREE >

Michael P. Hanson
Senior Vice President, Operations
Michael Hanson currently serves as the Senior Vice President for ServiceLink National Flood, A Black Knight Company. With over 22 years of service in the flood determination and mortgage compliance industry, Mr. Hanson is able to draw upon significant experience and knowledge to facilitate customer and industry needs. His current position involves oversight of business planning, integrations and order processing. Mr. Hanson received his Bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA and attended The University of Texas at Arlington for his MBA. He maintains memberships in the National Flood Determination Association, currently serving as the association’s Vice President, the Texas Floodplain Managers Association, the Association of State Floodplain Managers and has been a Certified Floodplain Manager since 2002.

Ron Carrillo
Training & Education Supervisor
Ron Carrillo joined DocMagic in 2002 and is responsible for training DocMagic's customers on our many products and services. Hosting a live weekly webinar as well as creating training videos and podcasts, Ron keeps customers informed of current updates, new features and the latest product enhancements. Ron earned his teaching credential from the University of San Diego.

Register Now, It's FREE >

Press Release:
They did it with an FHA hybrid eClosing earlier this year. This time, they tackle a VA loan.

TORRANCE, Calif.-September 2, 2014- DocMagic, Inc., the leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions for the mortgage industry, is proud to announce that the firm has partnered again with Mountain America Credit Union to provide a paperless loan closing, this time for a loan insured by the Veteran's Administration. To the company's knowledge, this is one of the first VA loans that have been closed electronically since the VA made the announcement that it would begin accepting eSigned loan documents late last year.

"Mountain America Credit Union is committed to serving the men and women of the armed forces -- both those currently serving and our veterans -- by offering VA loans in a paperless environment," said Amy Moser, Vice President and Mortgage Services Manager for the Utah-based credit union. "Until now, few institutions could serve our military personnel effectively, especially those serving overseas. This loan closing proves that we can accommodate the needs of our armed forces personnel and veterans no matter where in the world they may be."

This is a significant milestone in the evolution of eClosings. Despite a VA announcement last fall that electronic signatures are acceptable for use in conjunction with the VA Home Loan program, uncertainty about whether electronic signatures were valid regarding initial disclosure only, or both initial and final disclosure(s) constrained adoption of the program. The VA's announcement confirms that its eSignature program applies to all disclosures. Mountain America Credit Union used DocMagic's patented eSign functionality for the disclosures and the closing documents.

"The government agencies involved in the home finance industry have now all confirmed that eSign is an important technology for the future," said Tim Anderson, Director of eServices for DocMagic. "Mountain America Credit Union has led the way again, becoming among the first, if not the first, to go the distance with paperless origination of a VA loan. We congratulate Mountain America for their leadership and for making it easier to do business with them than their paper based competitors."

Among the many benefits of electronic transactions, beyond gains in efficiency, recordkeeping, and security, members of the military and their families, including active duty personnel serving around the globe, gain the convenience of closing VA loans remotely. This is a significant improvement over paper-based disclosures and documentation. DocMagic and Mountain America executives are pleased to be among the first to make this service available to the industry.

About DocMagic

DocMagic, Inc. is a leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops software, mobile apps, processes and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. DocMagic guarantees and warrants that all agency forms are up to date and in compliance with GSE requirements. The company's compliance experts and in-house legal staff constantly monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit www.docmagic.com.

Press Release:
DocMagic participates in offering industry platform to support paperless lending

TORRANCE, Calif.-August 21, 2014-DocMagic, Inc., the leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions for the mortgage industry, announced today that its strategic alliance with Pavaso will be expanded to allow the two firms to serve Franklin First Financial, Melville, New York, in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's eClosing pilot program.

"Lenders are now ready for a completely paperless loan closing process," said Dominic Iannitti, President and CEO of DocMagic. "Digital Close from Pavaso is designed to be a neutral technology platform that seamlessly integrates with other systems. That, along with DocMagic's eSign, eVault and eDelivery offerings, provides a fully supported, shrink-wrapped solution for anyone to do an eClosing. This partnership will show the industry and the CFPB that any lender can make the closing process better for consumers through the use of a completely electronic process without incurring the time and cost of creating or maintaining their own systems."

Pavaso and its Digital Close platform have been approved by the CFPB for participation in the eClosing pilot program.

"One of the prior issues with getting adoption for eClosing was providing the title and closing agents with a simple solution they could use to support their part of the closing process," said Tim Anderson, Director of eServices for DocMagic. "Pavaso has developed a system that can easily be implemented as a web service, allowing all participants involved in the transaction to sign up, log on and use it."

On its website, the CFPB says it expects its new pilot program to make it easier for borrowers to understand the closing process, and give borrowers more time to review the closing documents while providing them time to find and fix errors in documents prior to closing. All of these goals relate to complaints the agency has received from consumers.

"Paperless lending is the future for our industry and our Digital Close opens up a world of opportunity for stakeholders who want to better serve consumers and comply with new federal regulations," said Chris Ayoub, Pavaso's chief operating officer. "We can drive costs out of the equation for lenders and give borrowers the experience they've been seeking in the home finance process."

About Pavaso
Pavaso is an innovative technology company in the Real Estate Closing industry. We've created a powerful digital closing platform that takes the best of the web's collaboration and social features, integrations, analytics and enterprise scalability to bring everyone in the closing process together on the same page. For more information on how our platform and solution offerings can help you meet TILA-RESPA compliance, digitally transform your organization, and dramatically enhance the consumer experience, call us at 214.377.1795 or visit www.pavaso.com to request a demonstration of this revolutionary solution.

About DocMagic
DocMagic, Inc. is a leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops software, mobile apps, processes and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. DocMagic guarantees and warrants that all agency forms are up to date and in compliance with GSE requirements. The company's compliance experts and in-house legal staff constantly monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit www.docmagic.com.

Press Release:
Leading Doc Prep and Compliance Firm Plays Key Role in Historic eClosing Pilot Program

TORRANCE, Calif.-August 21, 2014-DocMagic, Inc., the leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, patented eSign and eDelivery solutions for the mortgage industry, announced today that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has granted DocMagic approval on another eClosing pilot. In this second pilot, The CFPB approved DocMagic's joint proposal with Mountain America Credit Union to participate in its eClosing pilot program. DocMagic will play a key role in the pilot for compliance and loan documentation. DocMagic was also approved in a joint proposal with Franklin First Financial and Pavaso.

"We're excited about being selected to participate in this pilot program as it will demonstrate proven solutions to problems faced by both borrowers and industry participants," said Dominic Iannitti, President and CEO of DocMagic. "Lenders must find more efficient ways to ensure compliance without increasing their loan origination costs or cutting corners. Implementing a secure electronic process with built in compliance audits is the best way to accomplish efficiencies, ensure compliance and keep costs down. Lenders who take advantage of these new technologies will have a competitive advantage over their peers and will see higher borrower pull thru and customer satisfaction levels as well."

Mountain America is among a small group of financial institutions chosen to participate in the study. The institution has been supporting hybrid eClosings for some time now. In fact, the credit union partnered with DocMagic for its eSign compliant loan documents to eClose one of the industry's first electronic FHA loans in March.

The CFPB pilot is designed to further evaluate eClosing solutions and to determine how these solutions can help achieve the proposed vision for an improved closing process.The CFPB lists three primary goals for the eClosing pilot program: to make it easier for borrowers to understand the closing process, to provide borrowers adequate time to review closing documents, and to enable borrowers and lenders to identify and correct errors in documents prior to closing.

"Going electronic is more efficient for all parties involved in the origination process," said Tim Anderson, DocMagic's Director of eServices. "Origination costs are reduced, compliance is improved, consumers are better protected, and loans will simply close faster than in a paper environment. The ability for all parties to collaborate, view and execute online will significantly reduce issues at closing and ensure a much more enjoyable, compliant and transparent closing experience. DocMagic is happy to be one of those chosen to lead the charge."

For its part in the pilot program, DocMagic will provide fully compliant eDocuments in coordination with Mountain America's platform for electronic document management, Quick Close. All documents will then reside within Quick Close, where they can be shared and eSigned by all participants (lender, seller settlement and real estate professionals) online in real time. DocMagic will also provide MERS eRegistry and eVaulting services. This platform is certified by MERS® eRegistry, having successfully passed all certification tests. DocMagic's MISMO category one SMARTDoc® eNotes have been vetted by FannieMae.

About DocMagic
DocMagic, Inc. is a leading provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions for the mortgage industry. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., DocMagic, Inc. develops software, mobile apps, processes and web-based systems for the production and delivery of compliant loan document packages. DocMagic guarantees and warrants that all agency forms are up to date and in compliance with GSE requirements. The company's compliance experts and in-house legal staff constantly monitor legal and regulatory changes at both the federal and state levels to ensure accuracy. For more information on DocMagic, visit www.docmagic.com.

By Tim Anderson,
Director of eServices, DocMagic, Inc.

As we all know (and can’t get away from by now), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a rule that they state will simplify and improve disclosure forms for mortgage transactions. For applications received on or after August 1, 2015, the Loan Estimate must be provided to the consumer three business days after the application, and the Closing Disclosure must be provided to the consumer three days before closing.

The new Combined Disclosure Regulation is going to force lenders to connect to title agents at the time of application and prior to closing to ensure compliance. As some of the recent posts on Closing Call have discussed, there are tolerances and limits on the increases to closing costs. Here’s the official word on closing-cost increases, extracted straight from the CFPB’s Final rule on simplified and improved mortgage disclosures:

Limits on closing-cost increases

Similar to existing law, the final rule restricts the circumstances in which consumers can be required to pay more for settlement services – the various services required to complete a loan, such as appraisals, inspections, etc. – than the amount stated on their Loan Estimate form. Unless an exception applies, charges for the following services cannot increase: (1) the creditor’s or mortgage broker’s charges for its own services; (2) charges for services provided by an affiliate of the creditor or mortgage broker; and (3) charges for services for which the creditor or mortgage broker does not permit the consumer to shop. Charges for other services can increase, but generally not by more than 10%, unless an exception applies.

The exceptions include, for example, situations when: (1) the consumer asks for a change; (2) the consumer chooses a service provider that was not identified by the creditor; (3) information provided at application was inaccurate or becomes inaccurate; or (4) the Loan Estimate expires. When an exception applies, the creditor generally must provide an updated Loan Estimate form within three business days.

If the creditor makes certain significant changes between the time the Closing Disclosure form is given and the closing – specifically, if the creditor makes changes to the APR above 1/8 of a percent for most loans (and 1/4 of a percent for loans with irregular payments or periods), changes the loan product, or adds a prepayment penalty to the loan – the consumer must be provided a new form and an additional three-business-day waiting period after receipt of the new form.

Additionally, they go on to summarize details covering Proposals not adopted in the final rule:

The proposed rule would have redefined the way the Annual Percentage Rate or “APR” is calculated. Under the Proposal, the APR would have encompassed almost all of the up-front costs of the loan. The proposed rule would also have required creditors to keep records of the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms provided to consumers in an electronic machine readable format to make it easier for regulators to monitor compliance.

Based on public comments the Bureau received raising implementation and cost concerns regarding these two proposals, the Bureau has determined not to finalize these provisions in the final rule. The Bureau continues to believe these ideas may have benefits for consumers and the industry, however, and intends to continue following up on both issues. For example, the Bureau intends to work closely with the industry on private data standard initiatives to promote consistency in data transmission and storage. After additional study, the Bureau may propose rules on either or both topics.

There’s a business problem that arises from these changes; let’s look at it for a minute. With the faster and more accurate delivery requirement of the charges between the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms, constant and reliable communication will be key between lenders and title agents. During the new process, you’ll have to:

• Ensure accuracy of the Loan Estimate form at time of application

• Reconcile fees (with stricter RESPA tolerance guidelines) between the lender's system of record and title closing production systems on the final Disclosure document that must now be delivered three days prior to closing to ensure compliance prior to drawing docs

• Face challenges with the new requirement to support MISMO 3.3 intelligent data standards. For instance, if a lender is not using the same system and doc provider for the initial Loan Estimate form as well as the final Closing Disclosure, they are not going to easily reconcile data, documents and calcs to be compliant

• Be aware that most systems don’t even stand behind their GFE/TIL and APR calculations with a rep and warrant for compliance

• Provide an audit trail as proof of compliance. Recognize that it is now even more important that the data and documents are shared and synched between the lender's system of record and title production systems and easily and quickly accessible

The primary issue is not only delivering the closing documents to the consumer three days ahead of closing (consummation), but now, with the delivery deadlines and tolerance requirements, the lender is on the hook to ensure even greater accuracy of the GFE/TIL at time of application. So what does that have to do with you and technology? It means introducing new electronic processes to replace traditional paper processes and making sure you use the same provider so you have compliance consistency and integrity of the data.

It’s critical that your technology solution can facilitate the electronic sharing and collaboration of data & documents. On top of that, you will need to keep the process electronic to provide evidence and proof of compliance around receipt of delivery, acceptance and execution of documents that the CFPB is going to want to see and audit. Something, by the way, that both DocMagic and Pavaso already provide to their customers.

There has been much ado about the CFPB Combined Disclosure Regulation. There have been numerous seminars and webinars on the operational impact this is going to have on the traditional disclosure process. But are lenders really cognizant and looking at an overall “solution”?

For a variety of information on solutions to these issues, visit the TILA-RESPA Knowledge Center, where you can register for a free account to browse a knowledge base of articles and documents, or join conversations in the forums.

All information and views expressed or implied are provided without warranty and are only opinion. Each participant should seek legal representation for legal interpretation of the ruling and the CFPB directly for final instruction and interpretation. The final rule can be found here.

Tim Anderson
Tim Anderson brings more than 30 years of industry experience, having worked on both the lender and vendor side of the business. He has held executive management positions with LPS, Stewart, Fidelity, FreddieMac and HomeSide Lending, where he ran the eCommerce Division and worked at technology companies like Dexma, Microsoft and Tuttle Information Services. He was also the original founder of the eMortgage Alliance™ which promoted MISMO standards for delivering legal paperless processes. He currently is Director of eServices for DocMagic, Inc.

As featured by HousingWire, August 2014

Technology. Innovation. Service.
D+H Connections User Conference
August 25-28 | Orlando, FL

Stop by booth #6 or schedule a meeting to experience the magic of our new mobile technology, automated ATR/QM Compliance, and Income Verification Solutions. DocMagic is a proud D+H MortgageBot Platinum Sponsor and provides innovative end-to-end Document Preparation, Delivery and dynamic Compliance Solutions for the Mortgage Industry.

We're pioneering new technology!

BorrowerMobile
DocMagic’s visionary new app for tablet or smart phone provides instant communication between lenders and borrowers.
■ Keeps borrowers on top of loan status in real-time
■ Lenders can communicate loan conditions instantly
■ Integrates with any loan origination software system

ATR/QM Compliance
DocMagic’s automated Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage auditing solutions deliver instant loan-level results and actionable results.
■ Detailed breakdown of points and fees
■ Expandable test details inside our Loan Details Report
■ Comprehensive data validation audits

Automated 4506-T Service
DocMagic’s eSign technology delivers a complete and automated Income Verification solution.
■ Automatic processing of your borrower’s 4506-T
■ A faster process means faster loan decisions
■ Tamper-evident digital seal protects integrity of document

Meet us at the conference. Schedule a meeting now!