Do Not Let Things Fall Through The Cracks: Utilizing Automated Workflow Technology

The mortgage lending process is full of significant steps and even more critical details. As lending officers go through a huge number of steps, details can be missed, and important actions can be put on pause due to distractions and forgetfulness. As loan volumes begin to decrease due to the changing market, now is the perfect time to reevaluate your technology needs while you have the time to prioritize improving your lending process.

While all loans are different, most loans follow a similar arc of origination, processing and underwriting. A lender has a considerable number of process steps and points that require interaction internally, externally, and any number of department level checklists. The number of processes in any mortgage is cumbersome and takes time, increasing the need for FTE and reducing the number of loans that can be processed. Having an automated workflow increases productivity while ensuring crucial steps do not fall through the cracks.

Avoiding Risk

The nuances of each loan mean that lenders must be on high alert to ensure they catch the anomalies. This skeptical processing is time intensive and expensive. If anomalies get through the process, loans may be unsaleable and have to be booked on the in-house system. This reduces liquidity and eats up either warehouse line or bank portfolio.

The mortgage process is intensive and requires resources to abate risk. This requires time and resources which equates to money. With an automated workflow system, lenders can move their loans swiftly and easily through the mortgage process with less human interaction and reduced risk saving the lender money.

Communication is Key

The mortgage lending process requires extensive communication both internally and externally. The multiple channels of communication mean that pertinent information may not be centrally located. This not only can cause communication issues between two people but can prevent the inclusion of a third and necessary party leading to the duplication of work which slows down the process and costs money.

Loan documents are collected and data is gathered and must be validated multiple times in the loan process. Often, time is lost between submission and review due to a lack of awareness or need to have a full collection of required documents and verified data. The benefit of utilizing an automated workflow is a notification tool, using both systems generated alerts and task notifications. This allows lenders to close the gap of submission to review and catch any possible  discrepancies by prompting next steps with proactive alerts to keep the process moving.

Lenders should prioritize automation as a strategic tool for lending processes. The automated processes should be thought of as an asset to the lender, allowing more time and energy to be focused on approvals and human-needed tasks. There are so many steps where things can be missed, and errors can go unnoticed causing a delay and ultimately costing the lender money. As loan volumes continue to decrease and lenders have more time on their hands, looking inward and evaluating the pain points in your processes will be crucial to saving time and money when loan volumes ultimately rise again.