Happy Halloween From IDS!

And The Winner Is....

On Sunday October 21^st IDS attended the Mortgage Technology Awards Ceremony with our fellow nominees.

When it was time for the Lenders’ Choice award category, we had no idea what the outcome would be and would be happy with any of the winners. When our name was announced as the winners we burst into tears and were full of excitement and proud of the achievement.

This was the first year for the Lenders’ Choice category and Lenders and Servicers from the MT Top 50 Tech-Savvy list voted on the winner. IDS was nominated with fellow partners QuestSoft and Xerox Mortgage. The Lenders’ Choice award focused on customer service, user experience and technology.

The IDS mentality has always been about our customers experience and the knowledge they receive from our team and the technology that allows them to do their job quickly, efficiently and in compliance. This award goes to show that the service we provide to the industry has been beneficial for all those who use it.

“It is an honor to know that Lenders and Servicers recognize the excellent customer service, cutting edge technology and user experience that IDS provides through our system idsDoc,” said IDS Executive Vice President Mark Mackey.

“IDS wants to congratulate all the other Mortgage Technology award winners for 2012 and with them the best of luck in the upcoming new year,” added Mackey.

IDS wants to thank all of our clients for being loyal and standing by IDS and the services we provide. We could not have received this award without you and your help.

I Want a Golden Ticket

Are you attending the 99^th MBA Annual Convention in Chicago? Would you like to win a Golden Ticket and some prizes? Make sure to stop by the IDS Booth #1124 for your chance to win.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Chicago

Meet an IDS Employee

IDS Employee- Kyle Long Customer Service Team

Kyle has been working at IDS for a little over two years and the thing he likes most about it is the awesome people he gets to work with on a day to day basis, both at work and with the lending institutions throughout the US.

Kyle recently got married and is the newest newlywed here at IDS. As for his family he has six total—his mom, dad, two brothers and one sister.

Throughout Kyle’s life he has lived in five states—Utah, California, Idaho, Colorado and Georgia. Something else interesting about Kyle he has completely broken both bones in his left arm during a high school football game. On top of all this cool stuff Kyle likes to sing and play the guitar.

Other things that Kyle enjoys is Italian food, especially Romano’s Macaroni Grill, but a good hamburger is close to being his favorite, but not quite. His favorite movie is a Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe. He also enjoys spending time watching movies with his wife and playing backyard football with his friends on the weekends. Let’s hope he doesn’t break anymore bones.

To leave us off is Kyle’s favorite quote, not a common one, but a good one. “...dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon...” Parley P. Pratt. Kyle knows that many people won’t know this quote, but it inspires him to always stand for good even when I am unarmed and defenseless.

IDS & The Borrower Experience

How IDS Helps Lenders to Create a Positive Borrower Experience

In the last post, referring to MortgageOrb article Improving the Borrower’s Experience, there were five steps to achieve this goal.

The five steps were:

1. Providing a consistent point of contact;
2. Providing fast and accurate document viewing;
3.  Providing up-to-date status information;
4. Providing integrated electronic signature capabilities and
5.  Providing access anywhere

IDS is helping lenders achieve these steps. Here at IDS our first priority is our clients and now that the borrower is a top priority with all the CFPB changes proposed we are here to help.

With idsDoc you will always be able to contact any of our customer service team to get exactly what you mean in a few minutes. Whether it is customizations, a new field or the look of your documents we are able to do that.

When it comes to giving your borrowers fast and accurate document viewing, IDS archives all the documents you need to show your borrowers and a secure way for them to log in and access the documents necessary. This is one step of the document process that is important to checking the documents for mistakes or changes that need to be made before closing.

Don’t worry about not being up-to-date on the status of a loan, IDS will always let you know what step of the process you are at and what you still need to do. This makes it easier for lenders to quickly know what to tell their borrowers and confirm the status of their loan.

E-Signatures seem to be the ‘it’ thing in the mortgage industry right now, especially when it comes to documents and the borrower’s signing. Who honestly use a pen and paper anymore? Well IDS can offer all your e-signing needs for free. Seamless signing process accessed directly from your LOS interface, step-by-step signing process, archived documents, and simple viewing for unsigned documents.

IDS wants to make lenders jobs easier, which will help them make a borrower’s experience more positive and less stressful. Lenders looking to update their document preparation vendor leave a comment. Also lenders let us know what your borrowers are looking for.

Improving The Borrower's Experience

Five Steps For Improving The Borrower's Experience

MortgageOrb By: Andy Crisenbery

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has made the plight of borrowers a more important consideration for lenders making technology investments. In the past, the primary focus for regulators has been on enforcing the law. Today, however, the CFPB has made customer satisfaction one metric it will use to determine whether our industry is fulfilling its obligations to consumers.

The CFPB has taken steps on its website and through its social media efforts to make it simple for borrowers to lodge complaints against their lender. This is a significant change that impacts all lenders and mortgage technology vendors.

Traditionally, customer satisfaction has not been the most important metric for the mortgage lending industry. It's not that the nation's best lenders do not care about the experience itself, but other considerations have been deemed even more important. The legality of work, the ability to accurately measure risk, and the ability to provide the funds the borrower needed to close a real estate transaction in a fully compliant manner have been the primary measures of industry success. When judged by those metrics, the industry has performed very well throughout its history.

Fortunately, the industry has the ability to make things better. Let's consider the five distinct areas where the borrower's experience can be improved.

Providing a consistent point of contact. Federal regulators have already settled on this as a necessity- at least on the servicing side of the business, where single point of contact requirements are now in place. These requirements allow any loan borrower to reach out to a single person in the servicing show for help or support.

Many lenders have discovered consumers appreciate when a financial institution integrates information systems, allowing them access to a range of banking activities with a single log-on. Offering the same look and feel across departments makes it easier to cross-sell.

Even within the same department, offering consumers a consistent process for interacting with different types of documents increases customer satisfaction. Finally, the financial institution can provide a secure method for messaging between the consumer and the lender, which can be easily accomplished through a technology-based portal. 

Providing fast and accurate document viewing. Borrowers will not feel comfortable or enjoy the loan origination experience if they do not have the opportunity to build up a level of trust in their lender. The best way to do this is by providing documents to the borrower as quickly as possible while ensuring secure access. This provides a level of transparency that will give borrowers confidence in their choice of lender.

Many institutions are putting all of the documents the borrower needs to review directly into an online portal and then training their employees to ensure that only current documents are available, thus eliminating the risk that the borrower will review an outdated document such as a previous version of disclosure. Avoiding mistakes here will smooth the transition to the closing table and improve the borrower's overall experience.

Providing up-to-date status information. One complaint borrowers have with the industry relates to the lack of timely status updates during the lending process. By providing real-time status updates and notifications between loan processors and borrowers through a secure portal, borrowers know exactly what's happening on their loan.

Providing integrated electronic signature capabilities. Lenders intent on improving the borrower experience are leveraging portals to make it easier for borrowers to provide information the lenders need to move the loan forward. Often, signed documents are required, and portals with electronic signature capabilities make this easier for borrowers. Current technologies allow for package consent, multiple signers, signing and initialing, and other lender or investor requirements.

Providing access anywhere. Today's consumers are on the move, and they expect to do business from wherever they are. This requires technology that will grant borrowers access anywhere they can find an Internet connection. 

The technology to improve the customer service experience is available today. Many lenders are already utilizing these tools in some capacity- but more lenders need to get on board if the industry is going to rehabilitate its customer service image.

Are you a lender looking to improve your technology, giving your borrowers a better and overall successful experience? IDS offers cutting edge technology and provides customizations at no extra charge. 

99th MBA Annual Convention & Expo

Are you attending the 99th MBA Annual Convention & Expo in Chicago October 21-23, 2013

Make sure to stop by the IDS Booth #1124 to try and win a Golden Ticket & Prizes

If you would like to set up a meeting with Ali, Curt, Kortney, Mark, Matt or Molly email Ali at ali@idsdoc.com

A History:Christopher Columbus

Happy Columbus Day!

The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he accidentally stumbled upon the Americas. Though he did not really ‘discover’ the New World—millions of people already lived there—his journeys marked the beginning of centuries of trans-Atlantic conquest and colonization. Some say Christopher Columbus was the age of discovery and his unintentional discovery of the New World changed the course of world history

Columbus Day is a federal holiday that commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World on Oct. 12, 1492.

Columbus Day was unofficially celebrated across the country in the 18^th century, but did not become a federal holiday until 1937, according to the History Channel.

Although the holiday and Columbus have stirred up controversy, many celebrate to honor his achievements and Italian-American heritage. But many alternatives to the holiday have appeared in recent years.

IDS hopes that everyone has an enjoyable Columbus Day!

IDS Employee- Beth Price

IDS Employee Beth Price: Customer Service Support Team

Beth and her cute boy Dexter!

Beth is one of the ‘noobies’ or so she says to the IDS support team. She has been working with IDS for eight months and is really becoming part of the team. Even though Beth is not related to anyone here at IDS she heard about the job from her cousin who is good friends with Alecia Shaw. Beth has come to find out that she has lots of connections here at IDS.

One of Beth’s favorite things about working at IDS is that this isn’t a job that she has to take home with her! Before IDS Beth was a teacher and that requires a lot of extra time after work is finished. Of course she also loves that this is a job that exercises her brain. Beth had instituted bagel Friday. What's better than having a delicious bagel every Friday!? Not much!

Beth lives with all boys! Oh Boy! Her husband Adam, two-year-old son Dexter and puppy Diesel. Her favorite food is… food, but she especially likes Mexican, Italian and American.

Once you get to know Beth you instantly fall in love with her bubbly personality and the fun that she brings to work. Some interesting things you might not know about Beth are that she has a scar on her lip from where a DUCK bit her. The duck was trying to steal her sandwich! She is also a ‘Navy brat’ and grew up all over the U.S. Her left pinky finger is shorter than the right one because the top of it got cut off in a door and was sewn back on, pretty gross Beth!

Beth’s favorite movies are Moulin Rouge, Labyrinth, and Nacho Libre, all great picks that everyone should see.

Beth has been a great addition to the IDS customer service support team. She has been a quick learner and has been great with IDS clients and partners.

The Mortgage Process- For The Borrower

The Mortgage Process

The mortgage process involves many moving parts and responsible parties that must align and cooperate, respectively, to ensure a smooth closing process. Often, however, details are missed throughout, resulting in surprises and problems at the closing table. Understanding what to keep abreast of before closing will ensure a more pleasant closing experience.

Closing Documents:

A common problem resulting in closing delays is a result of a lender not sending the closing documents to the title agency or attorney in a timely manner. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the closing statement should be available for review at least 24 hours in advance. Too often this rule is overlooked and documents are sent out the same day, hours or even minutes before the closing occurs. By asking for a copy of the settlement statement a day in advance, a borrower will have an opportunity to review figures ahead of time, and also ensure that the closing documents have indeed been sent.

Wrong Payment Figures:

Borrowers are often surprised at the closing table because the total monthly payment doesn’t match what was quoted at the beginning of the loan process. Review the settlement statement before closing to check four numbers: the loan amount, the interest rate, and monthly principal and interest. If these differ from the initial estimate, ask the loan officer the reason for the difference. If monthly insurance and property tax escrows are also part of the monthly payment, be sure to verify these figures before closing, as the actual figures may differ substantially from lender estimates.

Wrong Cost and Fees:

According to Bankrate.com, “Borrowers who aren’t familiar with the intricacies and minutiae of the lending business could… find that all of a sudden they’re going to have to come up with a few thousand more dollars or lose their houses and loans.” Beware the sudden changes in closing costs and fees. Be sure to compare final settlement statements with initial estimates and question any outrageous or additional fees, especially to origination, discount, and processing fees. If the cost is too substantial to bear, tell the lender to absorb the surprise costs, or otherwise risk losing the transaction.

Outstanding Items:

Closing delays can occur when a lender has requested a document that has not been provided throughout the loan process, and is still outstanding at closing. Usually a loan officer has failed to request this document earlier on, and the lender will not allow the loan to close without it. Be prepared by confirming with your loan officer a day in advance that all necessary documents have been provided and that no outstanding documents remain.

Approval Conditions:

Mortgage approvals often come with a list of conditions that must be satisfied before closing. In addition to borrower qualifications surrounding credit, income and assets, the property itself must satisfy lending guidelines. With all the parts that make a mortgage, check with your loan officer throughout the process to ensure that the lender has signed off not only on borrower documents but also property requirements, to prevent last-minute blowups, requests for documents and other seemingly minute but in fact major elements that will alter an approval. 

The IDS Difference

Do know what the IDS Difference is Compared to Other Doc Prep Vendors?

Our Difference- Customizable Document Solution, Exceptional Customer Service and Cutting Edge Technology

Our closing document solution is called idsDoc, it is comprehensive and versatile. As IDS development has always been based on the requests of our users, idsDoc is jam-packed with customizable features and value added tools.

The overall abilities and functions of idsDoc far exceed other doc prep solutions, making it more desirable for the mortgage company who has its own specific needs. If you have used other doc prep systems and begin to use idsDoc you will notice a considerable improvement in data entry shortcuts, package modifications, user settings, interface functions and compliance measures.

IDS combines finance industry expertise with certified computer experts offering you finished and legally compliant documents through our customized and easy to use software interface. All you have to do is interface with your Loan Origination Software (LOS) with IDS, select the documents you would like and order your documents.

Within minutes you will have received your documents ready for delivery or e-signatures with all the security measures necessary.

IDS wants to make the beginning to closing experience one of ease and speed.

To get started with IDS or see a demo please contact Ali Linthorst ali@idsdoc.com and we will send you in the right direction. You can also check out our website for more information www.idsdoc.com.