The digital age is upon us and it is rapidly changing the way the title industry operates. According to a recent American Land Title Association survey, eighty percent of title companies are interested in conducting digital closings, if they have not closed in an online or hybrid closing already. There are significant reasons as to why most title agencies are learning about the digital process. This past October, Ginnie Mae announced the pilot launch to accept e-notes, while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have already launched plans for digital closings and recognizing e-mortgages. These developments create a new wave of opportunity to simplify what can be a fairly complex process for the agent and consumer alike. Three types of closings exist in the industry today:
- Traditional Closing: All of the documents are signed in person at the site of closing.
- Hybrid Closing: The majority of documents are signed digitally except those that still require physical or “wet” signatures. Hybrid closings are increasingly more popular as it improves the experience of the consumer, without disrupting the day to day of investors or lenders that do not accept digital documentation.
- eClosing: All of the closing documents are executed electronically. All parties involved in an eClosing benefit from a more streamlined closing experience and shorter funding wait times.
In addition, the industry has begun to embrace remote notarizations, as support by various state laws, that further revolutionize the closing process by concurrently executing electronic documents under notarial oath and witness while in different locations . . . perhaps hundreds of miles apart. With mortgage lenders retooling to handle digital closing packages, it is only a matter of time before eClosings become the standard way of doing business. Not only is it a more convenient solution for the consumer, but an eClosing also reduces the likelihood of execution errors, or missing signatures, and missing/incorrect documents. Offering a more cost-effective way to manage documents electronically than its paper counterpart during origination and signing, it further offers quicker turn-around times into the secondary market created by frequent non-conformity in paper documents.
Recently Quicken Loans announced its ability to offer eClosings in all 50 states, making them the first mortgage lender to do so. With all of these changes taking place, working in a Title Management Platform that assists with the eClosing process is a must. There are significant functionalities that we believe should be standard to help the title agency and lender offer the best digital closing experience.
AccuTitle is working hard behind the scenes to create functional modules that facilitate eClosings and remote notarization, together with a fully overhauled closing module aimed at reducing time-consuming data entry and providing a single point of entry for all costs and fees regardless of the desired closing statement output.
AccuTitle seeks to become a leader in streamlined digital closings to help ensure the success of our clients into this exciting new future. We believe the closing process should be managed in a secure, effective, and timely way that is adaptable to fit the needs of the user across various business models. Having the capabilities to complete a fully digital closing allows for a more practical way of doing business. Together with AccuTitle take your first steps towards digital closings. As Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of UWM said in an interview with Housing Wire, “The days of being bombarded with reams of paper at the closing table are over.”
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