We've been selfish.  We've been keeping our little secret on the down-low, but it's time to let you in.  Mortgage Banking Systems is ready to awaken the Sleeping Giant, if you will, by introducing our Platinum Product to the Mortgage Community.  Never before have we had so much information to use to create the BEST OF BREED in Doc Prep.

You see, the thing is, we didn't want to develop a product with OLD technology re-wrapped in NEW, "pretty look and feel", with some new functionality...because it isn't NEW at all. 

We went for the whole enchilada.  We have re-engineered our plumbing ENTIRELY. 

WHAT IS THIS SOA, MISMO, XML, .NET , anyway?     You really wanna know?

The way YOU will understand the improvement is through the experience.  You will feel like you were just given the CADILLAC of Doc Prep when you use it.  That may be all you need to know....However, I'd like to go over a few things:

Business Rule Approach:  Rules are "abstractions" used to automate the business processes for repeat and consistent performance. What's great about them is that they are written in ENGLISH, not in Developer-speak.  Changes can be made with less risk, less cost, and much, much faster.  The business logic is embedded in the rules engine, and in a world as fast-changing as our Mortgage Industry, this allows for adaptability, flexibility, scalability and ease of use.

Business Rules Engine:  A "Software system that helps manage and automate the Business Rules"*.  It is software which cycles through the data to classify, manage, verify, infer, relate, reject and accept.  This is the BRAIN, and for any IT app, the rules change more frequently than the rest of the application code, so it makes GREAT SENSE to separate the rules out from the application code.  Faster? Cheaper?  You bet!  And it is highly adaptable!!! *  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_engine

Service Oriented Architecture:  This is kind of the best practices of previous Software architectures.  You build applications out of software SERVICES....the services are individual "modules", which move data in and out, and calls to other services in the same language.  The business process behind the scenes is the CONDUCTOR or ORCHESTRATOR of the functions.  The goal, to allow tons of functionality to be hooked together to get the best of the best.

Still with me? 

Web Services:  These should be seen as a SYSTEM.  According to Wickipedia, a Web Service is "a software system designed to support interoperable Machine to Machine interaction over a network."  They are frequently no more than Web APIs that are accessed over a network, such as the Internet, and executed on a remote system hosting the services.Web services communicate using XML. Essentially, for you geeks out there, Web Services are essentially XML messages following the SOAP standard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_service

MISMO:  The Mortgage Industry Standards and Maintenance Organization is a "dictionary" of mortgage data elements, if you will.  The goal of the organization is to develop standards to allow transfer of data from one system to another, from one software product to another (LOS to Doc Prep, for example) so that "seamless" transfer can become a REALITY.  This eliminates the cost of integration, along with the headaches when each of your software products speaks a unique language.  It's like the tower of BABEL without MISMO.

We expect this product to satisfy in every way.  Incredibly easy to use, very little data input required, great logic in the screens and navigation, no IT department required on Client side, ...and it churns the RIGHT documents, EVERY TIME!

Now, don't get me started on the document technology.  That's next month...

Did you really get this far?  Thanks for reading.  Any feedback is always welcome.  I just want you to know what we're doing, why we're doing it, and how you will benefit.  We always give our best to you.

Christine Kirby

President/CEO

Mortgage Technology is rapidly changing everyday.   There isn't a lender out there who doesn't want to streamline the production, minimize risk and reduce overhead.  The perfect way to do that is to understand which things technology can do and make full use of that, building up your volume capacity, making your business scalable.  A proper combination of industry knowledge and advanced technology is the recipe for rapidly propelling your business forward.

For 20 years now, MBS ProClose has endeavored to keep the Mortgage Closing process as our core competency, continually streamlining our delivery and broadening our services to include ALL of your growing closing needs. 

Our Resource Rich ProClose Team is an extension of your office -- for the same doc prep price.  No Service Agreement!  All you need to do is make the correct choice for your shop and start taking advantage of our full-scale service operation.     

The MBS Compliance team monitors FHA, Fannie/Freddie, Investors, Housing Authorities, Construction, TILA, RESPA, HOEPA, High Cost and Predatory Lending laws.  This group will examine your loan, translate the regs and keep your system complete up to date.  They have added countless auditing features and upgrades to the functionality of ProClose so as to prevent a lender from closing a package erroneously.  A ProClose® end-user can count on the assistance of the MBS Compliance Team any time there is a question about the results of any loan. 

Our Secondary Mortgage division is responsible for tracking hundreds upon hundreds of details related to your loan programs, working closely with your own secondary shop for perfect alignment.  We always have what you need, when you need it. 

ProClose Development Services division assists with the creation of special fields, custom reports, exports for your warehouse line requests.  This is the team that really streamlines your integration needs to make sure you are passing data correctly and entirely.

The MBS Administrative Team assures that you see monthly closed loan reports.  They also provide reports so you can use your own data to analyze how your business is parsed out.  With the opportunity to review monthly data, a lender can “compare purchase to Refi”, “compare usage of one investor with another”, “review product-type usage” and “create fee summaries for accounting”.  Use your own data to grow your business!

Finally, the MBS Document Division works around the clock to produce the actual forms to comply with the recording and MERS requirements in all Counties.  MBS ProClose Documents are gathered through the efforts of many of our mortgage professionals and legal experts and created with the highest technology advances.  On the technical side, we're created ProClose docs to be Dynamic.  This means they can adapt in the presence of the data.  An example is the adjustment in signature lines to match the proper number of borrowers for that loan.  Another example is the display "only applicable fees".  This makes for cleaner, more handsome documents.  Our documents are created to read all XML MISMO data and then some!  Any custom fields created in your LOS or in ProClose can and will be maintained and programmed to print on any document you request.  This fall, all documents can be produced in PDF and will accommodate an embedded electronic signature. 

At ProClose, we desire to streamline our own processes so we can give an even broader range of expertise and provide a wider range of services to our Clients.  All of our client care activities are carefully recorded so that we meet each and every one of your requests. (Now YOU can check those requests too, through our Client Care ON LINE!)  Through this system, we can more carefully measure how we fulfill our company mission:  To provide document services to the mortgage industry in the most efficient, accurate and economical way, while assuring compliance for the lender and the borrower throughout the process.  Faster, Easier, Cheaper and Safer! 

While doing a demo today, I found myself describing our company with incredible appreciation for the experience, longevity and commitment that we bring to the table.  Many companies boast "customer service" as one of the key differentiators when it comes to standing out from the competition.  My advice to anyone in the market is, "don't take my word for it, ask our clients."  They are the ones who will tell you where the rubber meets the road.  At the end of the day, great technology and compliant documents are but a baseline to even play in the game.  The real test is whether or not you can count on your doc prep to be there for you, work with your post closing team, create new solutions and grow with your changing business model.

We get most of our new business from referral or returning clients.  This is the greatest compliment and the best feedback we could ever hope to receive.  This lets us know that we hit it out of the park when it comes to making our clients happy.  

Did you know that the average MBS ProClose clients has been with us for 6 years?  We have some clients who go way back, celebrating our 20th year right along with us!!!  Hard to believe?  Not when you understand our commitment. MBS is just as committed and consistent.  With extremely low turnover, we are able to form life long partnerships with all of our clients, bringing true value to the table. 

We are an extension of your office.  Think about that!  When you are closing loans with a faceless, generic, web service, you "ping" the website.  "Once size fits all".  They system returns a vanilla doc set according to the loan detail and that's that.  When you close loans with ProClose, you call Jeanette to ask her about the new Countrywide program! 

At MBS ProClose, docs are just a part of what we provide.  You call us in any capacity and we are here.  Need to speak to our compliance team?  How about the IT folks?  Have a unique business challenge for our development people?  Why not ask for a special report?  We are about taking you where you need to go!

After 20 years, we still find that "no two lenders do business the same way."  Therefore, it is our job to make the technology line up with your business requirements, and provide you skill and expertise to help you get there.  Your business should not be limited by the techology, it should be enhanced by it.  This is accomplished by the greatest interface of all:  The MBS staff.

My greatest appreciation to the MBS staff and all of our loyal Clients.

-CK

I can't believe it is March already.  We all know that this is the month that comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  In the doc prep business, it is true so far.  There's a whole lot happening out there and we are on our toes.  Fannie Mae has been extremely busy!  First off, you probably already know that they have announced an alternative to the current security instruments widely used today.  These new Security Instruments can be viewed as a tandem offering designed to streamline the recordation process and lower costs.  There will be a "master" and a "short form" uniform security instruments for use in 27 states.  These documents allow for the recording of a master form mortgage or deed of trust for the lender and short forms that reference the master to document individual loans. This translates to a significant cost savings where recordation fees are based on the number of pages recorded.

In the end, it's all about creating efficiency and reducing cost for both the lender and the borrower.  For example, in Ohio, county recorders charge $28 for the first two pages and $8 for each additional page. Since the new master and short form is three pages long and the current form is 16 pages long, it could potentially trim recording fees in that state from an estimated $148 to $36.   By the way, they will not be altering their existing forms.  At least not yet....

Furthermore, On June 28th 2007 Fannie Mae will cease publishing their own London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) index and  will no longer accept delivery of any loan tied to that index.  This will affect ProClose loan plans 1318 and 1319.  In conjunction with this they are discontinuing documents 3518 (AA1GI1), 3519 (AA1HI1) 3137 (AA1SG1) and 3136 (AA1AH1). 

In other news, we have just completed our prototype for an amazing new product which will allow anyone to see a list of the required documents need for any loan program.  Coming soon, you will be able to key in 5 or 6 pieces of data about a certain loan program, and in seconds, receive a list of the required documents, available in printable PDF for your review.  These documents will not contain borrower data, but will serve as a library for your convenience and verification.  Who knows, maybe your borrowers will like a chance to preview their documents before they go to the table!  Please, watch for this new release.  We couldn't be more excited.  Mina, our CTO, has been working around the clock to bring it to you live on our website, in the first quarter!  Should be any minute now.  Stand by...

There's so much more to say, but I wouldn't want to give away all of our goodies in one blog.  You'll have to come back and see what's next.

We also added a link for client satifsfaction surveys. It's really important for us to hear from you regarding your satisfaction level with our company, solutions and team members. The survey is only 15 questions with mostly Yes/No questions. So it shouldn't take you more 2-3 minutes. We really appreciate your feedback!

You can reach the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=467232982775 until January 30th, 2007.

Thank you all for your continued business.