MRG News

Spotlight Interview with Kathy Mantych in March Tomorrow's Mortgage Executive

djohnson — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:55:00 GMT

Attaining Ironclad Compliance

With the onslaught of new rules and regulations, the mortgage industry is changing. This change places a huge burden on the document preparation vendors trying to keep their lenders compliant. So, we thought that we’d talk to MRG Document Technologies about what makes for a good doc prep.

To read the entire article click here.

A New Twist On Servicing Compliance featured in Feb. 22 Progress in Lending

djohnson — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:19:00 GMT

Everyone has to comply. So, how do you that? Well, you lean on your doc prep. In the case of MRG Document Technologies, they hope to have a leg up on their competitors by launching a legal compliance and dynamic technology support to address the ever more complex servicing policies and procedures environment facing servicers today. Top-flight attorneys and technology leaders with extensive experience are blended into a single collaborative offering that is focused on delivering legal compliance services and compliant document content with their CompliancePlus solutions.

Doing “business as usual” is no longer the answer for servicers who are scrambling and looking to effectively deal with extremely complex and ever changing regulatory requirements. The time for action is now. The time to embrace change and eliminate the risk associated with all the overwhelming new rules and regulations levied by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is upon us. Before we can solve these challenges, we must be educated as to how servicing will be impacted, what it means to servicers’ business and what the cost and ramifications will be for non-compliance.

To this end, MRG Document Technologies is proactively responding to the current market conditions and challenges by literally taking the burden of compliance out of the servicers’ hands. Servicers can focus on their core competency, rest easy and be assured that MRG is working on the front lines on their behalf. MRG recognizes that it is difficult for servicers to keep up with all the rules, laws and statutes with a limited staff, yet still run their daily operations. With MRG’s CompliancePlus solutions, the MRG consulting and legal compliance team can handle a servicer’s needs with solutions from operations requirements (servicer licensing requirements) to loan documentation (demand letters, assumptions, modifications, Deed in Lieu, release of lien of foreclosure, REO warranty deeds) to inventory (monitoring vacant property laws across the country). Compliant loan documentation is programmatically incorporated into a dynamic technology system for overall accuracy and speed to market.

“The benefit of a collaborative unit involving both legal compliance and dynamic technology is to assure that servicers’ concerns, with respect to the burden of compliance, is being heard and addressed – compliance action is being taken and is available to them now,” said Kathleen Mantych, senior marketing director with MRG. Kathleen goes on to say, “Servicers will no longer need to manage the daunting task of monitoring the compliance mandates or maintain the documentation associated with them. Servicers will receive an experienced team of attorneys and technology experts to help them combat the risk of non-compliance, state audits, buy backs and/or potentially dramatic fines. MRG takes on this onus so they can sleep at night – worry free.”

MRG Introduces Mortgage Servicing Risk Compliance Tool featured in Feb. 15 National Mortgage News

djohnson — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:27:00 GMT

MRG Document Technologies has developed legal compliance technology support software that addresses today’s “ever more complex” mortgage servicing policies and procedures.

The collaboration focused on delivering legal compliance services and compliant document content through the CompliancePlus platform, which is based on “best practices” to mitigate mortgage servicing risk.

The 35-year-old Dallas-based MRG Document Technologies that provides a blend of mortgage compliance and technology products has created a collaborative unit that brings together legal and technology experts who can address compliance concerns for mortgage servicers, explained MRG’s senior marketing director Kathleen Mantych.

An experienced team of attorneys and software engineers assists servicers with noncompliance, state audits, buybacks and potentially dramatic fines, she said. “Servicers will no longer need to manage the daunting task of monitoring the compliance mandates or maintain the documentation associated with them.”

Doing "business as usual" is no longer the answer for servicers dealing with risk associated with extremely complex and ever-changing regulatory requirements by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other entities, she added. It means servicers must be alert to how servicing practices will be impacted, and at what cost, both for compliance and noncompliance case scenarios.

MRG’s CompliancePlus solutions enable users to process servicer licensing requirements, loan documents such as demand letters, assumptions, modifications, deed in lieu, release of lien of foreclosure, and REO warranty deeds, alongside monitoring inventory and vacant property laws across the country. Users can easily access compliant loan documentation.

MRG introduced the new tool at the MBA’s National Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas.

MRG Introduces Mortgage Servicing Risk Compliance Tool featured in Feb. 15 Mortgage Technology

djohnson — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:21:00 GMT

MRG Document Technologies has developed legal compliance technology support software that addresses today’s “ever more complex” mortgage servicing policies and procedures.

MRG introduced the new tool at the MBA’s National Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas.

Process Improvement - The Truth About QM by Tony Garritano

djohnson — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:54:00 GMT

Finally, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has defined
what a Qualified Mortgage is. But now that the definition is out there what does it mean for mortgage technology?

At long last, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has deﬁned what a “Qualiﬁed Mortgage” really means. A lot of pundits were predicting a much more harsh deﬁnition, which would mean Armageddon for the mortgage industry. Much to the delight of many, that’s just not what we got. To date there has been a ﬂurry of coverage of what this new rule will mean for the space. Is it a positive? Is it a negative? In my column this week I decided to take a different approach. I decided to go out to mortgage technologists to get their two cents on QM.

First, enterprise lending solution provider Mortgage Cadence LLC was quick to praise the CFPB’s take on QM and announce the company’s readiness to meet the new Qualiﬁed Mortgage (QM) Rules released on January 10, 2013 by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. The Rules are slated to go into effect on January 1, 2014.

“The ability to repay and QM requirements have effectively forced credit underwriting guidelines into a regulatory compliance obligation,” said Mortgage Cadence’s Chief Legal and Compliance Ofﬁcer, John Levonick. “While compliance with them appears cumbersome, and could be, lenders that have tight origination and quality control processes supported by the proper QM conﬁguration within their loan origination system of record should not have any issues with these new requirements,” he continued.

“Compliance, speciﬁcally, ensuring that the systems our customers use throughout the mort- gage cycle are compliant, is one of our main guiding principles,” said CEO of Mortgage Cadence Michael Detwiler. “Today’s regulatory environment is more dynamic than at any time in the past. Our systems and our approach to compliance let our customers concentrate on lending, ensuring borrowers close on time. That’s what mortgage ﬁnance is all about,” he stated.

So, what does the new QM rule say exactly? In a brief supplied by the CFPB, the consumer watchdog explained it this way:

No excess upfront points and fees: A Qualiﬁed Mortgage limits points and fees including those used to compensate loan originators, such as loan ofﬁcers and brokers. When lenders tack on excessive points and fees to the origination costs, con- sumers end up paying a lot more than planned.

No toxic loan features: Qualiﬁed Mortgages can’t have the loan features that were associated with risky mortgages in the lead up to the crisis. Certain loans cannot be Qualiﬁed Mortgages:

>> No interest-only loans, which are when a consumer only pays the interest for a speciﬁed amount of time so the principal does not decrease with payments;
>> No loans where the principal amount increases, such as a negative-amortization loan; and
>> No loans where the term is longer than 30 years.

Cap on how much income can go toward debt: Qualiﬁed Mortgages generally will be provided to people who have debt-to-income ratios less than or equal to 43 percent. This cap on debt ensures consumers are only getting what they can likely afford. Before the crisis, many consumers took on mortgages that raised their debt levels so high that it was nearly impossible for them to repay the loan considering all their ﬁnancial obligations. For a temporary, transitional period, loans that do not have a 43 percent debt-to-income ratio but meet government affordability or other standards, such as that they are eligible for purchase by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) will be considered Qualiﬁed Mortgages.

No loans with a balloon payment except those made by smaller creditors in rural or underserved areas: The law generally prohibits loans with balloon payments from being Qualiﬁed Mortgages. Balloon-payment loans require a larger-than-usual payment at the end of the loan term. A small creditor operating in rural or underserved areas is permitted to originate such loans as Qualiﬁed Mortgages under certain deﬁned circumstances.

To put the rule into context, Marsha L. Williams, an attorney with Middleberg Riddle & Gianna, which is afﬁliated with doc prep vendor MRG Document Technologies, added, “Although the Qualiﬁed Mortgage (“QM”) rule’s ability to repay requirements may result in a return to a somewhat “old fashioned” method of underwriting which involves a personal, deeper probing into the loan ap- plicant’s living standards, technology will deﬁnitely be an integral part of lenders’ compliance with the QM rule.

The new QM rule introduces definitive features and minimum requirements that support mortgage products that ensure “ability-to-pay.”

“Compliance with the QM rule will include the use of technology to ensure that the mortgage term does not exceed 30 years and that negative amortization, interest-only or balloon payments are not features of the QM,” she continued. “The 3% limitation on points and fees on a $100,000 or more loan and greater limitations for smaller loans will be calculated using technology.

“The “conclusive presumption of compliance” or “legal safe harbor” includes the mortgage loan’s Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”) not exceeding the Average Prime Offer Rate by 1.5 percentage points for a ﬁrst lien loan or 3.5 percentage points for a subordinate lien transaction. Technology calculations will determine if this APR limitation is exceeded,” Williams calculated.

Prior to the ruling our industry was crying out for clarity and consistency, which is in fact what the new QM Rule supplies. “The new QM rule introduces deﬁnitive features and minimum requirements that support mortgage products that ensure “ability-to-pay.” From a technology perspective, many of these features will need to be accommodated by origination and underwriting technology,” pointed out Andy Crisenbery, Senior Vice President of Business Operations at electronic collaboration vendor eLynx. “Requirements for debt-to-income ratios, teaser interest rates and other mortgage product features are controlled within the domain of the LOS.

“Technology is further implicated to ensure that requirement ﬁnancial information from the borrowers are collected and validated. There has been a focus on this area for the past several years, but the new QM rule further underlines the importance that these evaluations take place and an audit history is provided with all of the changes throughout the lifecycle of the loan.

“Lastly,” concluded Crisenbery, “technology can help make these new QM rules – as well as further regulatory changes anticipated, consumable from a deployment perspective. The one beneﬁt that is often overlooked is that a technical solution for these rules should enforce standardization across the lenders business processes.”

So, with QM deﬁned and behind us, what will the next big debate be? “With QM, the big debate will be around how to protect consumers but still not shut out reasonable borrowers,” answered Lisa Weaver, senior vice president of Mortgage Solutions for ISGN. “The new QM rule brings stability to loan performance by discouraging risky loan products and ensuring borrowers qualify for mortgages. Poorly documented loans, loose underwriting criteria and irresponsible loan products contributed to historic levels of foreclosures and home value loss. While the new QM rule brings safety and soundness, the industry faces the challenge of addressing the needs of all credit-worthy consumers. Lenders will be faced with deciding how to provide mortgages to borrowers that do not meet the new parameters. In order to get to market equilibrium, as an industry we will need to address the rising cost of making loans. Playing it safe comes at a price as compliance and loan requirements have doubled the cost to originate a loan.”

And I think we can all agree, that’s where technology comes in.

Regulatory Compliance – a blessing or curse? by Jonathan Herman

djohnson — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:11:13 GMT

I. INTRODUCTION.

On July 21, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd Frank”). The preamble recites that it is “[a]n Act to promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end ‘too big to fail’, to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes.” Among other things, Dodd Frank establishes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), charged with “conduct[ing] rule-making, supervision, and enforcement for Federal consumer protection laws.”

The 924 page CFPB Supervision and Examination Manual has prompted much hand-wringing within the leadership ranks of those “supervised entities” subject to CFPB enforcement, namely depository institutions and non-depository consumer financial services companies. Others may have adopted a carefree attitude, generally declaring, “I’m not the one who they are after.”

Regardless of where your organization lies on the spectrum of acceptance or denial, this article explores how the CFPB and/or the parallel Limited Scope Electronic Examination Procedures adopted by the Multistate Mortgage Committee can be used as a business tool, probing the strengths and weakness of your organization and honing your marketing message. In other words, while a formal examination by the CFPB or self-directed “mock examination” may be an “all hands on deck” task for your organization, the results of either examination may lead to a level of self inspection that can be an extremely valuable tool for business improvement.

II. A “FLY OVER” OF THE EXAMINATION PROCESS.

A CFPB examination process generally involves an on-site visit lasting approximately 4 to 6 weeks. An attorney from the CFPB may be present in addition to the examiners.

The examination centers around seven modules: 1) Company Business Model; 2) Advertising and Marketing; 3) Loan Disclosures and Terms; 4) Underwriting, Appraisals, and Originator Compensation; 5) Closing; 6) Fair Lending; and 7) Privacy. The stated objectives of the examination are to “assess the quality of a supervised entity’s compliance management systems …”, “identify acts or practices that materially increase the risk of violations of federal consumer financial law, and associated harm to consumers …”, “gather facts that help determine whether a supervised entity engages in acts or practices that are likely to violate federal consumer financial law …”, and “determine whether a violation of federal consumer financial law has occurred and whether further supervisory or enforcement actions are appropriate.”

In order to obtain 100% penetration of the supervised entity’s loan portfolio, loan level data is channeled into a Lending Examination Format (“LEF”) file for submission to the regulating authority. Certain mortgage services providers, including MRG Document Technologies, a practice group within the law firm of Middleberg Riddle & Gianna, have the capability to generate an electronic LEF file which can be transmitted through RegulatorConnect (or through ComplianceAnalyzer’s RegulatorDirect function) to the Examiner-In-Charge (“EIC”) at or near the time the loan package is transmitted to the lender or closing agent.

The LEF data is processed in ComplianceAnalyzer, specialized software developed by ComplianceEase, to produce loan level reports that test for violations of HOEPA, TILA-Sections 32 and 35, state and municipal high-cost/anti-predatory laws and regulations, state consumer lending laws, and a host of related statutes and regulations. The software’s output includes an Executive Dashboard report which permits drill down of individual item detail.

Middleberg Riddle & Gianna is one firm that has a services agreement with ComplianceEase to perform Mock Exams using ComplianceAnalyzer, RESPA Auditor, HMDA Analyzer, and the Examination Dashboard.

III. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DATA AND THE OPPORTUNITY WHICH LIES WITHIN.

As a litigator, I am no stranger to cross examining an individual on the witness stand. While a witness’ testimony may be intentionally slanted to his/her own best interests, it has been my experience that raw data doesn’t fib. For example, one may argue whether a lender violated Fair Lending laws when 10% of a loan portfolio reflects higher appraisal fees paid by a protected class of persons, but one can’t argue over the fact that 10% of a loan portfolio shows appraisal fees of $425.00, whereas similar loans made to a different class of persons reflect appraisal fees of $325.00. Indeed, the surest way to elicit testimony favorable to your case is to question the witness on discrete bits of black and white, raw data. At that point, the foundation of your legal theory, whether prosecution or defense, rests upon those discrete chunks of unimpeachable data.

The data reflected in the Executive Dashboard readily shows those tests for which a fee, a percentage rate, or other regulated metric, is out of tolerance or otherwise fails the test. For the examiner, the issue then becomes one of enforcement. For the supervised entity’s management, however, the issue becomes an opportunity.

Where the data reflects a violation of a statute or regulation, corrective or curative measures must be adopted. But it is the “softer” side of the data pool which yields the greatest treasure: the ability to thread pockets of data through your business operations to expand customer offerings, understand your customer base, learn which loan products are in greatest demand, and probe areas where you may have exposure before coming under the regulator’s eyepiece.

Think of it this way: learning that certain branches within a given locale are consistently producing 15 year self amortizing mortgages between $250,000 and $400,000 paints an image of your customers for your marketing team. Or, a North Carolina loan portfolio that has a low risk rating based on the State and Local Predatory tests run on a zip code range may yield a higher price with an investor than a loan portfolio lacking such a certification. By the same token, “Alerts” appearing on Broker Compensation Policy tests or Loan Officer Compensation tests may need to be probed for errors in data entry or real “hot spot” violations.

The data is both a sword and a shield. It is a sword in that you can use data to affirmatively seek out business and marketing growth areas based upon loan product and borrower attributes reflected in the data results. It is a shield in that you can build defensible legal theories upon cold, hard facts. While liability in a Fair Lending case (by way of example) may come down to an extrapolation of that data, the party equipped with the broader expanse of data possesses greater flexibility in constructing a legal defense.

IV. COMPLIANT DOCUMENTS CAN NARROW THE SCOPE OF EXAMINATION REVIEW ISSUES.

In the broadest sense, mortgage compliance takes two forms: organizational compliance and document compliance. The former generally references those policies and procedures implemented by your organization and governing loan officer compensation, scheduled time delays by which your organization issues disclosures and related material upon receipt of a loan application, and loan products marketed to differing locales, to name a few. Document compliance generally refers to inclusion of particular fonts and/or point types as may be required in the loan documents by the particular jurisdiction, inclusion of certain required language defining the borrower’s rights in the loan documents, or other legal mandates governing APR, points and fees, and the like.

While a CFPB examination, or self-directed “mock examination,” is intended to address both areas of compliance, loan level data review comes from the compilation and analysis of those hundreds of data points assembled while building the document and/or disclosure package.

Make sure the calculations, content, real time updates based upon changes to the law, and internal loan tests (to name a few) are appropriately represented and warranted by the document provider or the law firm preparing the documents. Additionally being able to export the loan file in a LEF format may be a large front end expense, but will reap huge rewards when transmitting large volumes of loan data into ComplianceAnalyzer.

In short, organizational and loan compliance begins with the loan application. Time wisely spent on your organization’s policies and loan document systems pays large dividends in preparation for the regulator’s arrival.

V. CONCLUSION.

The first word of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is Consumer, which is that organization’s first priority. Yet the consumer should also be the supervised entity’s first priority insofar as the consumer drives the organization’s business model.

I recently learned of an industry veteran’s argument that a mock examination concludes with the supervised entity being in the same position as prior to the exam, except for the cost of the mock examination. I respectfully disagree, both as to the value of the mock examination and the CFPB audit itself. There can be no greater value to your organization than learning the defining metrics of your customer (i.e. the consumer) and your products. Applying those metrics to your organization, through your compliance department, your marketing department, and your business department can only yield greater organizational opportunity.

Is the examination process imposed by the Dodd Frank a blessing or a curse? While a CFPB audit, or a mock examination, is by no means a picnic, those with vision to see through the forest of mind numbing data that is produced will embrace the exam’s conclusion as an opportunity for organizational enhancement and future growth.

 Jonathan M. Herman is a litigation attorney and partner with Middleberg Riddle & Gianna, a law firm whose principal office is located in Dallas, Texas. For more information about Middleberg Riddle & Gianna, visit www.midrid.com.

Pub.L. 111-203; 12 U.S.C. § 5301 et seq.

Id.

www.consumerfinance.gov

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/the-bureau/ (last viewed November 13, 2012).

The original version of the CFPB Supervision and Examination Manual was released in October 2011. Version 2 was released on October 1, 2012 and can be found at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201210_cfpb_supervision-and-examination-manual-v2.pdf

CFPB Examination Procedures Manual v.2 (October 2012) p. 1.

MRG Document Technologies is a practice group within the law firm of Middleberg Riddle & Gianna. For over 30 years, MRG Document Technologies has provided to mortgage lenders an exceptional blend of compliance and cutting-edge mortgage technology products and services in the document compliance space. For more information about MRG Document Technologies, visit www.mrgdocs.com.

ComplianceEase, ComplianceAnalyzer, RESPA Auditor, RegulatorDirect, RegulatorConnect, Examination Dashboard, and Lending Examination Format are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of LogicEase Solutions Inc.

It must be cautioned that there is an issue as to whether the Mock Exam data is protected by the attorney-client privilege, but that question is beyond the scope of this article.

Ensure Ironclad Compliance by Tony Garritano

djohnson — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 10:50:00 GMT

Today in the mortgage space it’s all about compliance. It’s sad, but true. You literally have to comply to survive. So, when I heard about this news, I just have to share it. MRG Document Technologies has effectively combined compliance backed by a team of attorneys, dynamic technology capabilities and strategic alliances to mitigate lender risk by delivering CompliancePlus to the mortgage industry. Here’s how they do it:

The regulatory environment for today’s mortgage lender is becoming exceedingly complex. Compliance becomes more difficult each day, and the risk of non-compliance is perilous. Lenders are faced with an immediate and compelling need to re-evaluate, and upgrade, their internal systems’ capacity to analyze and incorporate mandated regulatory changes.

Mortgage lenders should be focused on generating and maintaining a profitable business in a volatile market, rather than worrying about whether their compliance departments are adequately staffed. MRG can help alleviate that worry.

For more than 30 years, their team of legal compliance professionals has been providing residential mortgage lenders with document systems and technology designed to manage compliance with all federal, state, local and investor requirements. Their legal team is available to consult on a variety of currently pressing compliance issues, such as:
- Compliance-related risk management for origination and servicing: policies, procedures and controls review, and related staff development and training
- Home-state, multi-state and CFPB examination preparation, and interfacing with regulators
- Quality control plan preparation or review
- Third-party origination risk mitigation
- Repurchase investigation

CompliancePlus, from MRG, provides a fully integrated data and document compliance process, from initial disclosure through closing documentation. With CompliancePlus, their team of lawyers and mortgage industry specialists design and maintain fully customized compliance for your lending environment by:
- Creating and managing the data flow, design and content for your disclosures, individual loan documents and loan closing packages, warranting to you that the content and calculations involved in the resulting loans are accurate and fully compliant.
- Constantly reviewing and integrating into your disclosures and documents the ever-changing regulatory requirements that impact the origination of your loan products.
- Providing fully-automated, seamless, real-time testing for compliance with applicable anti-predatory lending and high-cost regulations. Printable reports are provided.
- Offering fully-integrated, real-time testing through ComplianceEase, an independent compliance testing service that evaluates overall regulatory compliance of loans, adding an additional layer of assurance.
- Providing a “single point of truth” for compliance control. Automated reviews allow each loan to be certified as meeting standards that you and your investor have specified.

Through their ongoing strategic alliance with ComplianceEase, a leading automated compliance solution provider, they can also provide:
- An automated due diligence review of regulatory compliance on loan-level basis
- Executive Dashboards with portfolio-level analytics
- ComplianceEase’s ComplianceAnalyzer detailed loan-level reports that test for HOEPA – Section 32 and 35, state and municipal high-cost/anti-predatory laws and regulations, TILA, state consumer lending laws, state licensing regulations, secondary market investor guidelines, GSEs compliance guidelines and lenders’ internal compliance policies
- RESPA Auditor, which ensures that your disclosures, from initial GFE to final HUD-1, are accurate and compliant with tolerances and valid change circumstances validated
- HMDA Analyzer, a comprehensive HMDA risk management solution
- Lending Examination Format (LEF) file preparation and audit service for the Limited Scope Electronic (LSE) examinations of the Multistate Mortgage Committee (MMC) and single-state electronic examinations

The MRG document compliance solution continues to evolve.

You Have To Be Prepared To Comply by Tony Garritano

djohnson — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 10:40:00 GMT

Preparation is everything. Obviously this was lost on our President last night as he just seemed out of place in his first debate in four years. Oh well, we’ve got two more debates to go for him to bone up on his facts and retorts. Similarly, lenders have to bone up on compliance. To this end, companies like Interthinx are trying to support lenders by joining forces with MRG Document Technologies group at Middleberg Riddle & Gianna, one of America’s preeminent mortgage banking law firms, to offer an attorney-backed compliance service aimed at helping financial institutions meet new legal and regulatory compliance requirements. Here’s what they’re up to:

“In this new environment, lenders are faced with increased compliance demands with less margin for error. Most originators do not have sufficient in-house staff or expertise to address these issues,” noted Roger Fendelman, vice president of compliance for Interthinx.

Attorney-backed compliance provides independent file reviews and expert loan file analysis to help protect mortgage lenders from common compliance mistakes. This service combines technology with expert reviews performed by Interthinx mortgage compliance specialists and the experts at MRG Document Technologies. Interthinx offers a nationally recognized staff that includes compliance attorneys, certified fraud examiners, certified mortgage bankers, and certified review appraisers. Middleberg Riddle & Gianna and its practice group, MRG Document Technologies, combine a single collaborative unit of top-flight attorneys with extensive experience focused on delivering document solutions that represent best practices for mortgage document preparation. Together, the two firms can provide detailed compliance reviews without the need for system integration.

“We understand the increased pressure on lenders to be fully compliant with the ever-changing legal and regulatory requirements,” said Michael L. Riddle, managing partner of Middleberg Riddle & Gianna. “That’s why we established this service with Interthinx to provide content analysis for lenders.”

MRG Document Technologies Partners with The StoneHill Group to offer cost effective closing and post-closing solutions for mortgage lenders nationwide

djohnson — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:33:59 GMT

Atlanta, GA and Dallas, TX (May 17, 2012) - The StoneHill Group, a nationwide provider of quality control audits, fulfillment, due diligence and FHA insuring solutions for mortgage originators, announced a strategic alliance with MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a leading provider of mortgage document preparation software and mortgage compliance technology and expertise that maximize profits and reduce costs for mortgage bankers. This alliance has, and will continue to, add value to clients of The StoneHill Group through the use of MRG’s CompliancePlus solution.

“Mortgage companies, Credit Unions and Banks will benefit from this partnership because the management teams share a passion for quality in the services provided.” said David Green, president of The StoneHill Group. “Our management and staff have direct experience in the origination, underwriting, closing, post-closing, sales, and administration of file assets. It’s a win-win across the board for mortgage loan originators. MRG will deliver accurate, compliant document packages and complete the legal reviews required by state law in TX. StoneHill will do the heavy lifting of reviewing the files and delivery to investors and the GSE’s.”

The StoneHill Group takes every measure to insure compliance, understanding that being SSAE 16 certified is extremely important to banks, credit unions and independent mortgage companies. It is definitely a positive variable cost alternative.

MRG’s CompliancePlus represents a robust solution to the escalating demands of the regulatory environment ensuring, compliance control integrated with the document preparation process. “By incorporating MRG’s CompliancePlus into services offered by The StoneHill Group, the lender benefits from MRG’s compliance coverage and an integrated DEFENSE of the content and compliance calculations,” said Mike Riddle, managing partner.

Regulatory reform is underway led by the efforts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the rules for real estate financing are changing. Lenders that use a service provider which is tightly integrated with a nationally recognized compliance provider for their QC, fulfillment and due diligence requirements are provided safeguards against mistakes and borrower or investor recourse. The partnership of The StoneHill Group and MRG Document Technologies brings confidence and competence to the mortgage banking community.

About MRG Document Technologies
For over 30 years, Dallas-based MRG Document Technologies (MRG) has provided to the mortgage industry at large an exceptional blend of compliance and cutting edge mortgage technology products and services that go beyond the norm for best of breed in the document compliance space throughout the United States. For more information about MRG, the leader and cut above in compliance and technology visit www.mrgdocs.com.

About The StoneHill Group
The StoneHill Group, Inc. was founded by David Green in 1996 and provides nationwide mortgage outsource services that include quality assurance, due diligence, FHA insuring and fulfillment. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit www.stonehillgroup.com.

MRG Document Technologies Teams with Xerox Mortgage Services to Promote Collaboration and Education through Industry Event

djohnson — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:18:30 GMT

DALLAS, TX.-April 24, 2012 – MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a leading provider of mortgage document preparation software and compliance technology, and Georgia-based Xerox Mortgage Services are combining their experience and expertise for an educational webinar that will provide lenders valuable insight into the ever changing regulatory challenges facing the market, and innovative approaches to overcoming them.

Doing "business as usual" is no longer the answer for lenders who are looking to effectively deal with extremely complex regulatory requirements. The time to move the industry forward is now. Many lenders are unsure of how these changes will affect their business and what steps they need to take. To that end, they are turning to technology to support compliance and eliminate risks.

The “Supporting Compliance Throughout the Loan Lifecycle” webinar, which will take place on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at 1:30 pm EDT, will highlight the current state of the regulatory environment and what integrated partners are doing to assist the lending community. Discussion will focus on the importance of change and collaboration and how current rules and regulations are impacting lending.

“The benefit of this collaborative, educational webinar is to assure the marketplace that their concerns are being heard and addressed by the vendor community – action is being taken,” said Kathleen Mantych, senior marketing director, MRG Document Technologies. “In this session, we’ll provide lenders with a “real world” view on the industry landscape and how collaboration between vendors combats the risk of non-compliance, state audits and potentially dramatic fines.”

“Lenders can better support compliance when they have easier access to their data. Solutions such as MRG Document Technologies’ dynamic forms help lenders quickly adapt to new regulations and work more accurately as a result,” said Nancy Alley, vice president and general manager, Xerox Mortgage Services. “This webinar is an example of the benefit lenders gain from the BlitzDocs network, which consists of industry leading companies who have extensive expertise in their respective specialties.”

MRG Document Technologies current collaboration with Xerox Mortgage Services enables their dynamic forms to be seamlessly passed into BlitzDocs® for intelligent collaboration.

About MRG Document Technologies

For over 30 years, Dallas-based MRG Document Technologies (MRG) has provided to the mortgage industry at large an exceptional blend of compliance and cutting edge mortgage technology products and services that go beyond the norm for best of breed in the document compliance space throughout the United States. For more information about MRG, the leader and cut above in compliance and technology visit www.mrgdocs.com.

Xerox®, BlitzDocs® and the sphere of connectivity design are trademarks of Xerox Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Recovery Tips - Collaborate. Educate. Innovate. by Kathy Mantych

djohnson — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:56:10 GMT

The regulatory landscape continues to change at a rapid pace especially with respect to CFPB, Dodd-Frank, and the HARP 2.0 program with FHFA – how can the industry keep up?

Let's face it, lending has significantly changed over the past couple of years. The pressure on today’s lenders is incredible. This lending environment creates dramatic loan document challenges and risks for lenders. Changing rules, regulations, and the ramifications of non-compliance, including fees, penalties and the possibility of buy-backs make the origination process an escalating challenge. Traditional "doc prep" is no longer the answer when lenders are trying to handle these complex and ever changing requirements.

Most lenders, quite frankly, don't have the time or resources to staff a compliance department that can constantly monitor and accurately interpret the vast number of regulatory changes that are being implemented on federal, state and local levels. Relying on an antiquated forms library to deliver static documents, with limited legal compliance analysts, is no longer a prudent choice, and is a risk that lenders simply cannot afford to take.

These changes are occurring so fast that lenders can’t keep up, let alone understand and interpret every change. This exposes lenders to significant risk and penalties for costly non-compliance.

So how is the industry going to handle these challenges? What does the industry need to do to effectively respond and move forward? The first step is to come together and collaborate to address these real and critically important issues.

We need to come together as vendors, lenders and the industry as a whole to share ideas, express concerns, create awareness, and focus on developing real world solutions. It is this cooperative spirit that will begin to move the industry forward.

Next, with the willingness to collaborate, we need to bring the best minds and leading experts together who understand and are constantly monitoring these regulatory changes. Organizations that not only are aware of these changes but, more importantly, understand what impact they will have on your business. Before we can solve these challenges, we must be educated as to what changes have occurred, how lending will be impacted, what it means to your business and what the cost and ramifications will be for non-compliance.

By understanding this highly volatile regulatory lending environment we can work together to develop solutions that will mitigate risk and compliantly respond to these changes.

With collaboration and the awareness created through education, it is time to introduce innovative solutions to begin to apply methods and approaches that directly address the challenges that lenders are facing. These solutions need to assist lenders in weathering the storm, to not only educate the industry about the climate, but to take the onus of turbulence out of lenders' hands.

Lenders are having to bolt on too many systems and platforms to their lending practices and operations to just keep their head above water. This is especially true when trying to handle today's ever changing compliance requirements. These current market conditions demand an innovative solution that will ease this burden on lenders while delivering compliant content, paperless workflow collaboration all in one seamless solution.

To proactively respond to these market conditions MRG Document Technologies and Xerox Mortgage Services have partnered to deliver lenders with a best-of-breed solution to navigate today’s stringent compliance regulations. Users of Xerox Mortgage Services’ BlitzDocs®, an intelligent collaborative network for electronic collaboration, can now benefit from MRG Document Technologies dynamic document content and compliance.

For instance, lenders can order disclosure documents in the MISMO standard file type from MRG Document Technologies. MRG Document Technologies will leverage its dynamic content capabilities to create the documents and deliver them to the BlitzDocs electronic loan folder (eFolder™). Once in the BlitzDocs eFolder, users can collaborate on the documents with the industry’s disparate parties, such as borrowers, underwriters or closing agents. For an added layer of support for compliance, BlitzDocs also provides an extensive audit trail and tracking capabilities.

MRG Document Technologies and Xerox Mortgage Services will use its partnership to promote collaboration and education through industry events, such as a webinar. By combining MRG Document Technologies legal experience and in-depth knowledge of today’s regulatory environment and Xerox Mortgage Services’ electronic collaboration subject matter expertise, lenders will gain valuable insight into the challenges facing the market and innovative approaches to overcoming them.

Doing "business as usual" is no longer the answer for lenders who are looking to effectively deal with these extremely complex and ever changing requirements. The time to move the industry forward is now. The time to embrace change and eliminate the risk associated with all the rules and regulations is upon us.

Market Analysis - Let’s Take On The CFPB by Tony Garritano

djohnson — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:41:00 GMT

The “Know Before You Owe” initiative at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau began in May of this year when the new watchdog agency asked the public to compare two different draft designs of a new streamlined mortgage disclosure. In the months that followed, the CFPB used that input to help it improve initial draft designs. Altogether, the CFPB received more than 22,000 comments on how to improve mortgage disclosures. When revised disclosures are released it will represent yet one more hurdle for lenders already struggling to keep up with compliance requirements that continue to become more complex. In response to an ever-changing mortgage market, PROGRESS in Lending has learned that document compliance provider MRG has embraced a data-centric approach to document creation that will help lenders comply with this and any other document compliance issue that may arise in the future. Here’s the scoop:

Lending has significantly changed over the past couple of years. The pressure on today’s lenders is enormous. This lending environment creates dramatic loan document challenges and risks for lenders. Changing rules, regulations, and the ramifications of non-compliance, including fees, penalties and the possibility of buy-backs make the origination process an escalating challenge. Traditional “doc prep” is no longer the answer when lenders are trying to handle these complex and ever changing requirements.

Most lenders, quite frankly, don’t have the time or resources to staff a compliance department that can constantly monitor and accurately interpret the vast number of regulatory changes that are being implemented on a federal, state and local level. Unfortunately, the same is true for many traditional “doc prep” providers. Those providers that rely on an antiquated forms library to deliver static documents, with limited legal compliance analysts, are no longer a prudent choice. Relying on outdated, traditional “doc prep” is a risk that lenders simply cannot afford to take in an increasingly “compliance-centric” environment.

To this end, MRG Document Technologies (MRG) delivers complete, real time mortgage compliance directly into the document process – no static document templates for the lender to choose and manage internally. MRG attorneys constantly monitor the ever changing regulatory landscape and provide dynamic document compliance. MRG does not license any third party content or calculations, which allows MRG to fully rep, warrant, guaranty, and defend, its product. The product is backed by an E/O policy from full disclosure through closing packages, including calculations. No more need for an internal compliance staff to manually manage package content or selection, for fear of inaccuracy.

All document and calculation updates are compliantly and automatically delivered in real time. Together with the lender’s chosen LOS for a seamless, “lights out” approach, disclosure packages are drawn within 30 seconds and closing packages in just a couple minutes. Throughout the package request process, loans are checked with industry leading automated loan compliance tests, thus eliminating the need for additional 3^rd party vendor software. In addition, MRG attorneys are available for services regarding general compliance advice, which is built into the overall compliant document solution.

These comprehensive document compliance solutions provide lenders with the ability to enhance their compliance initiatives. It also gives lenders the tools they need to increase loan production, speed up turnaround times, while significantly mitigating risk. By providing a staff of mortgage banking attorneys to lenders, MRG also delivers the support and regulatory monitoring required to ensure loans are meeting the latest regulatory demands.

Lending has changed forever. So too must the lenders document preparation solution. No longer can lenders rely on antiquated form libraries and technology from traditional “doc prep” providers that have limited legal expertise and experience. The risk and exposure is far too great.

In today’s regulatory environment, lenders must demand more from their “doc prep” provider – compliance and dynamic content technology.

MRG Document Technologies Named a Top 50 Service Provider by Mortgage Technology Magazine

bevin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:14:05 GMT

DALLAS, August 10, 2011 – MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of mortgage document preparation software and loan document packages to banks, credit unions and other lenders nationwide, has been named a 2011 Top 50 Service Provider by Mortgage Technology Magazine.

This is the third year MRG has been recognized for its accomplishments, receiving the award in 2008 and 2010. To be named among the Top 50 Service Providers, vendors must meet and excel in four major categories: continued advancement of technology and services, viable revenue model and value proposition to customers, exceptional customer service and a unique impact on the mortgage industry.

Throughout 2010 and 2011, MRG assisted lenders with numerous mortgage compliance initiatives, such as RESPA changes and preparation for the fluctuating Dodd-Frank Act, by automating significant portions of the document creation process. MRG’s clients leverage automated compliance tests that are built into the MIRACLE Online web-based document preparation system and real-time document updates from MRG’s staff of in-house attorneys to ensure accuracy and compliance. The company also made technology changes to assist in managing state-level rule changes in areas such as the Truth in Lending Act and reverse mortgage disclosures.

“We are honored to be named a Top 50 Service Provider and recognized among the other notable companies,” said Mike O’Leary, senior mortgage consultant at MRG. “Despite the current environment in the mortgage industry, MRG has continued to provide its clients with exceptional service, solutions and counsel to help them remain viable in the industry. Our goal is to provide our clients with the convenience and results expected of an in-house doc prep department without the cost.”

About MRG Document Technologies

Since 1980, Dallas-based MRG Document Technologies (MRG) has provided a variety of mortgage technology products and compliance solutions including closing documents, loan modifications, electronic disclosures, fraud prevention and imaging integration to approximately 350 mortgage lenders, banks and credit unions throughout the United States. For more information about MRG, visit www.mrgdocs.com.

Texas Tech Credit Union Selects MRG Document Technologies to Launch First Lien Program

bevin — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:20:16 GMT

DALLAS, July 26, 2011 – MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of mortgage document preparation software and loan document packages to lenders nationwide, announced Texas Tech Federal Credit Union has chosen MRG’s Miracle Online platform for its mortgage document preparation needs.

Lubbock, Texas-based Texas Tech FCU began its first lien program in May 2011 and chose MRG’s Miracle Online for its intuitive, easy-to-use interface and regulatory expertise to assist the credit union in ramping up its mortgage lending program and compliance efforts. The credit union mitigates risk with MRG’s automated compliance tests such as state and federal high cost tests, fee thresholds, initial vs. final APR and higher priced mortgage testing. Any discrepancies are reported to the loan officer in real time.

The credit union was able to launch its first lien program with only two staff members and according to Jay Herrin, mortgage banking officer of Texas Tech FCU, they hope to see loan production numbers triple over the next several months.

“First lien programs require more focus on regulations, and as we established our new lending division, we needed a partner who could assist us in compliance and increasing production without adding staff,” said Herrin. “MRG’s fully hosted system provides us with the level of work and attention delivered by an in-house doc prep department without the staffing and technology costs.”

“As new lenders enter the market, they have the burden of keeping up with continually changing regulations,” said Kathleen Mantych, senior marketing director with MRG. “By selecting MRG for its automated mortgage document creation, Texas Tech will be able to focus its time on increasing loan production and member service levels.”

About MRG Document Technologies

Shane Hill Joins MRG Document Technologies as Miracle Online Programmer

bevin — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 08:54:47 GMT

DALLAS, July 14, 2011 – MRG Document Technologies (MRG) , a provider of mortgage document preparation software and loan document packages to banks, credit unions and other lenders nationwide, announced that Shane Hill has joined its technology department.

Hill is responsible for assisting with web programming for the Miracle Online platform and acts as the primary IT contact for client integrations, as well as MRG’s partnership with ComplianceEase. Prior to joining MRG, Hill was the senior software developer for a residential real estate company where he designed and developed the loan tracking site. He was previously a software developer for Allen, Texas-based Advanced Data Spectrum where he helped develop and support one of the nation’s largest mortgage servicing websites.

“Shane brings great experience to the IT team with his specialized financial services software background,” said Michael Riddle, managing partner of MRG. “His time developing data integration solutions with large loan document systems will prove invaluable as MRG works to help clients understand the advantages of using technology to automate data transfer and document preparation.”

MRG offers a browser-based system for the preparation and delivery of compliant document packages, electronic disclosures, loan modifications and other services for mortgage lenders, banks and credit unions nationwide. MRG guarantees that its products are in compliance with the most recent legislative and regulatory changes.

About MRG Document Technologies