E-mortgage growth surging despite new regs

A stunning 83% of mortgage professionals believe the mortgage industry will close more than half of all loans as an electronic mortgage within the next seven years, according to Xerox’s tenth annual Path to Paperless survey. That figure is up from 68% in 2013 and all the more impressive considering that survey participants also believe that new federal regulations and other compliance requirements affect more than 90% of all types of mortgage programs.

“What we’re seeing is continued industry support for paperless processes despite compliance pressures,” says Jamie Williamson, vice president, sales, Xerox Mortgage Services. “Our survey shows that companies are evaluating and implementing several paperless methods to extend electronic collaboration to all participants in the loan process.”

Almost 74% of respondents noted that their company is implementing new technologies, and e-signature and collaboration features were key criteria when evaluating offerings.

The survey also indicated other trends towards the paperless movement, including:

•           70% of respondents have paperless origination and underwriting in place, and 21% expect to have these capabilities by the year’s end;

•           20% of mortgage professionals experienced an increase in electronic closings;

•           Respondents named automated classification, workflow capabilities, and optical character recognition data capture as other important qualities in mortgage technology.

“While we continue to work with the industry to make the paperless world a reality, we have to be mindful and prepare for the next evolution, like mobility,” says Williamson. “Our survey found that 77% of respondents would like to use their mobile devices to complete transactions, but only 13% currently participate in the mobile initiative, and security risks came into question again.”

Survey respondents included a diverse group of mortgage professionals with backgrounds in loan origination, correspondent buying, and servicing.