eCommitting Software Aims to Aid Smaller Lenders

Doug clark does not have problems with committing—eCommitting, to be precise. In fact, hes bullish on the software program for mortgage lenders, one of Fannie Maes Core applications that the secondary mortgage company has just rewritten as part of a massive two-year project.

"From Day One, its exceeded expectations," said Clark, who is chairman and CEO of Homeowners Mortgage Enterprises Inc., in Columbia, S.C. As a nonbank mortgage lender, Homeowners obtains funds from banks through the commitment process. Streamlining this process helps Homeowners and other lenders save money and respond to customers faster—a major goal of the Core applications overhaul.

Clark said the new application is quite an advance over its predecessor, Fannie Maes Desktop Trader, which relied on dial-up connections and could perform only a few tasks.

"All the Fannie Mae products are on eCommitting. Before, when Fannie Mae added a new product, they had to create a new application for it. With Desktop Trader, you had to make phone calls to get information on different products. eCommitting brought everything to the Web," said Clark.

That Web-centric streamlining has made it possible for lenders such as Homeowners to deliver a mortgage loan in one day. Before, at least a week was required. And each time a lender taps into eCommitting, it adds up to a savings of about 5 minutes, compared with Desktop Trader. In the course of a day or week, that time savings can add up, Clark said.

The application is of particular benefit to small and medium-size mortgage lenders such as Homeowners, which last year did $430 million in business. The company was one of the first to use eCommitting.

Theres another thing Clark likes about the new application. As a partner of Washington-based Fannie Mae, Homeowners gets to use eCommitting at no charge. Now theres a deal.