Nelson Haws of ResMac, Inc. Shares Insight on Creating Automated Solutions

BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Nelson Haws, President and Chief Executive Officer of ResMac Inc. recently shared an historical journey of the business paired with insight on how he evolved from yesterday's small shop, into today's growing brand.  

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Haws started in the mortgage business as a Loan Officer in 1987.  Thinking of that time, he recalls quite well the initial steps associated with learning the business; mainly, how to complete a Good Faith Estimate to outline the basics of the terms of the loan. Haws says, "When creating a Good Faith Estimate back in those days, we used a pencil!  I wonder how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) would feel about that practice today? We certainly have come a long way and technology, now more than ever, has become arguably the most important part of any well-managed mortgage origination platform."

For the last several years, the management team of ResMac has been working to create and perfect automated solutions around the regulatory requirements post-credit crisis era. He recalls the roll out of the federal regulations under the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act (MDIA) in 2009.  "Part of this was checking the initial Good Faith Estimate and Truth-In-Lending form for your buyers and looking for discrepancies in charges. The new rules were put in place to protect consumers from being low balled one figure by a loan officer only to find out at the closing table that the fees charged were much higher," Haws explained.

The next challenge for the industry came with the compensation of mortgage loan originators under the Dodd-Frank Act.  This provision, known as the "Prohibition on Steering Incentives," is a central part of Dodd-Frank. The purpose of the provision, as its name indicates, is to eliminate any incentive for a mortgage originator to "steer" a consumer toward a specific type of loan. It accomplishes this goal by mandating that mortgage originators shall not be compensated differently for mortgage loans with different terms (higher interest rates, for example). The amount of the principal is the only loan term that may affect mortgage originator compensation.

The latest Dodd-Frank policy is known as Tila-Respa Integrated Disclosure (TRID). "This raises my experience as a mortgage loan officer because I empathize with originators in today's market and, based on my personal experience, we have been working for the last several years to develop solutions that make originating a loan less precarious," he noted.

For the last 30 years, lenders have been required by Federal Law to provide 4 different disclosure forms to consumers applying for a mortgage. The forms were developed separately by two Federal agencies under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) and contained overlapping and inconsistent language. The 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act directed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to integrate the mortgage loan disclosures under TILA and RESPA. The new disclosures are designed to improve disclosures to consumers and also contain tolerance limitations that may cause lenders to refund fees to consumers when certain costs vary between the initial and final disclosure.

"Frankly, in my opinion, if you are using origination systems that do not 'do the thinking for you' in terms of regulatory policies, you need to be a very well educated and experienced mortgage professional – not a bad thing by the way. However, if you lack a "Master's Degree in mortgage originations" and perhaps are just starting a career as an originator, it is critical that you are employed by, or work with, a Lender that provides automated tools to help you navigate the regulatory environment. And by the way, even the best and most experienced mortgage professionals struggle with today's regulatory compliance – especially when dealing with complex files or quickly approaching deadlines, Haws added.

Last year, ResMac took actions to ensure strong document compliance for 2015's integrated disclosure reform by selecting DocuTech Corp.'s ConformX to automate and provide superior mortgage document compliance. ConformX was chosen for its ability to originate compliant loan documents and disclosures while integrating efficiently with ResMac's proprietary web-based Loan Origination Software (LOS).

In addition to stronger compliance processes, ResMac has also increased efficiency since partnering with DocuTech through its exceptional customer service model. ResMac has found DocuTech's customer service response time superior in comparison to its top competitors, particularly in relation to the implementation process.

"Our vision at ResMac has been to create automation that affords the highest level of support to our originating teams and partners," says Haws.  "We have recently hit a milestone of issuing automated e-disclosures, initial, re-disclosures and closing documents, through our proprietary technology known as marti. We are very bullish on the idea that we have one of the most intuitive and regulatory compliant systems in the industry.  We are extremely excited to be able to offer these solutions to our originators. This new release encompasses all of the latest requirements established by Dodd-Frank / TRID and we feel it brings us one step closer to our goal of making originating a loan at ResMac easy!"

Summarizing ResMac's goals, Haws adds, "ResMac strives to be the standard of excellence in the mortgage banking industry by maintaining our focus on the broker/correspondent with a commitment to innovation, service and technology, allowing us to be a leader in the markets that we serve. We recognize that it is our responsibility as mortgage professionals to carefully evaluate the ability and needs of potential borrowers, and help our B2B partners find the most beneficial solution for their clients, while remaining in compliance with regulatory and investor guidelines. ResMac clearly understands the challenges our business partners face in today's market and has developed a system supported by our proprietary technology platform ("marti") to simplify the process. Through marti, our partners can access their entire pipeline 24/7, review conditions and loan statuses, manage images with our drag and drop technology, lock, extend, and relock, execute disclosures and much more."

About ResMac

ResMac is a privately held national mortgage lender founded in 2008. ResMac's mission is simply to be the best privately held mortgage company, through providing a positive customer experience by offering financing solutions that provide clients with the best possible advice and solutions to their mortgage financing needs. ResMac's goal is to be the standard of excellence in the mortgage banking industry by maintaining its focus on the customer with a commitment to innovation, allowing ResMac to be a leader in the markets that they serve. ResMac recognizes their responsibility to carefully evaluate ability and needs of potential borrowers, and help meet housing goals through the most beneficial solution for its clients, while remaining in compliance with regulatory and investor guidelines.

Contact Information

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SOURCE ResMac