spoke to HousingWire in December fluid about the concept of instant title And why it’s a misnomer for mortgage lenders. As a follow-up, HousingWire sat down with Peter Richter, co-founder and president of Fluid, to discuss why mortgage Lenders should be asking for quick, data-driven Topic To understand and verify what is happening with a property and the consumer from the outset, check on the loan application rather than an immediate title commitment.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!HousingWire: HousingWire recently talked to Fluid about the concept of instant title and why it’s a bit of a misnomer for mortgage lenders. How is the idea of a “title check” different and what value does it provide to lenders?
Peter Richter: The concept of “instant title” means providing a title commitment “immediately” upon ordering title insurance. We have observed that this has reduced the transaction turnaround time by just one day.
Unfortunately, that “urgent” title commitment As my colleague Matt Regan has outlined in his recent article, naturalization in itself does not equate to a fast finish. More important than title commitment turn times is ensuring that relevant and timely title data points are available at the inception of the transaction to promote a more seamless process.
it requires what we have coined as a title check To highlight our different perspectives.
A title check is a key workflow step that provides immediate awareness on title status – based on title underwriter guidelines – and key details about the property and consumer through easy-to-understand data results at the start of the loan origination process. validates from, Unlike title commitment turn times – which some in the market are referring to as “instant title” – insight into a title check can take days or even weeks from the transaction timeline.
The main thing here is to check the title Earlier Title is ordered – typically on loan application, within moments of prequalifying a borrower. Think of it somewhat like the concept of a verification service for employment or income – now, for the first time, specifically for titles.
Title Check provides important data that a loan processor needs so they can fully understand what is happening with the borrower and the property when reviewing a loan application. This eliminates surprises and prevents the lender from having to go back to the borrower, repeat steps, change the timeline, or even modify the loan terms. This is far more meaningful to all parties involved, and especially to the consumer, than the title commitment turn time.
Just as important, it saves our title partners time and money when critical issues are discovered that could result in loans never closing. This lowers the cancellation ratio and focuses resources on opportunities that would otherwise be closed for additional volume capacity.
And all of this helps create a more integrated (and more importantly, streamlined) lender-title workflow that collectively results in closer to 5-day close for home equity or closer to 10-day close for refinance. Makes you strong. This is one reason why we believe that the term “instant title” is counterproductive, somewhat misleading and should be removed from our industry’s vocabulary.
HW: Almost every sector of housing is focused on improving the consumer experience. What role do headline data and workflow insights play in doing this as we continue into 2023?
PR: Well, the vision for “Title Check” by our Fluid Decisions platform is much more than just getting a faster title commitment: it’s about empowering lenders with the right data at the right time so they can make a more streamlined Engineer the workflow. Get 5-day closing for home equity and 10-day closing for refinancing.
By bringing title data and insights early in the loan lifecycle, lenders know if there are problems, where they are, and how much effort and time it will take to resolve them. For example, now the lender knows and can verify:
- Who are the vested and non-vested owners of the property – even if they have been removed from the application
- If there is a lien against the property and/or a judgment against any debtor
- If there is any bankruptcy connected with any of the borrowers
- If the borrower has a second mortgage or home equity loan
- Any additional assets owned by the borrowers
And that’s just to name a few of our insights.
Now, it is not unusual to discover these and other potential issues during the title search and remedial process. But traditionally, this depth of information is not provided. Afterwards The title has been ordered and the commitment has been returned. It’s too late in the process.
So now with a title check, lenders have the ability to ask, collect and validate consumer questions in one step, streamlining the consumer experience.
And quickly, Matt also notes that recent research has shown that in addition to faster closings, borrowers indicated that “collecting, submitting, and resubmitting information” is one of life’s biggest milestones. Stone: Decreases the experience of the homeowner’s surroundings. A title check facilitates the better communication and transparency that today’s consumers have come to expect using technology, while also removing some of these pain points from transactions.
And, although Flueid is a B2B company, the entire transaction process comes back to support the consumer at every critical step in the transaction – from loan application to title to closing and servicing. That’s why we’re extremely focused on using our data and insights to reduce transaction timelines and create a better experience for everyone involved.
HW: Flueid has said that you want to make title intelligence more accessible to partners within their core operating systems. How are you doing this?
PR: This is a good question. To achieve our goal of fueling complete real estate transactions with our title data, we are integrating it into the core systems our customers know and use every day. This ensures that our insights are available at the very beginning of the workflow. This is also why having an independent voice and technology partner that can integrate and support all was important to us when we started Flueid.
We started by integrating directly with our title partners’ core production systems. We are now integrating into leading point-of-sale and loan origination systems (LOS).
We have recently launched integration into FirstClose Equity – now available on Encompass
ICE Mortgage Technology — and later this quarter we’ll be announcing integration into the most widely used LOS in the market. These integrations will ensure that lenders have access to Flueid’s capabilities to do three key things:
- Understand which transactions are approved for accelerated closure, which are not and why
- Identify files that will be dropped, saving approximately $1,500 per loan
- Reduce cost on files that are not yet clean-to-close until those items are verified
It is also important to note that at each stage of the transaction, our technology supports industry best practices and standards – we are not trying to reinvent who works within the process.
Bottom line: Fluid is committed to driving efficiency for lenders (as well as their partners) to make the loan life cycle simpler, faster and more secure and help them deliver on their promise to the borrower.
