🤦‍♂️ Problem
When it comes to loan origination, there are many parties involved (20-30 people) who need 20+ milestone updates as the loan is going through the process; however, often times the loan origination software (LOS) or CRM doesn’t have the native capability to accommodate all these various people nor send out all the different loan milestone notifications via email and texting.
As a result, the loan officer and their lending team is jammed with multiple inquiries from various people asking for an update on the loan and they have to set aside valuable time to give them that update via calling, texting, or emailing when their time can be better spent on something else (like working on the loan or getting more loans).
Even worse, some lending teams aren’t able to make the time to give updates at all and the real estate agents, clients, and other parties involved feel ignored and will criticize the lender for poor customer service. One of the biggest complaints about lenders (and agents) is they don’t communicate enough about the status of their transaction. Unfortunately, it’s also not uncommon for the loan officer to be lacking this type of product knowledge to understand and be able to explain each stage/milestone in the loan process.
As a simple example, it would be nice if the lender can send an automated email and text message to the client (borrower and co-borrowers), buyer agent (and their partner and/or assistant), and listing agent (and their partner and/or assistant) that the appraisal has been ordered. But often times, the LOS (nor most CRMs) can’t accommodate a loan milestone such as appraisal ordered, a party such as the listing agent, nor automate a professional and aesthetically pleasing email or text message. (More examples of this later.)
But with the proper software and automations, this entire problem can be resolved.
Demo
Before we get into the nitty gritty, here is a quick 3-minute demo on how the loan milestone notifications work within LendingPad.
Communication Matrix
To highlight the scope of the problem, imagine having 20+ milestones in your loan process, 30+ different people to notify, and having to manually communicate those milestone updates via email and text message. It’s an administrative time consuming nightmare. Here is an overview of what that communication matrix could look like with those three components (parties [left column], milestone [top header row], and communication channel [all the other squares]):
| Disclosures Sent | Disclosures Received | Submitted to Processing | Appraisal Ordered | Appraisal Received | VOE(s) Ordered | VOE(s) Received | Insurance Ordered | Insurance Received | Tax Transcripts Ordered | Tax Transcripts Received | Submitted to Underwriting | Loan Approved | Clear to Doc | Doc Order Placed | Docs Out | Docs Returned | Funding Conditions List Out | Funding Today | Wire Ordered | Funded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borrower | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Co-Borrower #1 | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Co-Borrower #2 | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Co-Borrower #3 | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Additional Client Contact | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Buyer Agent | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Buyer Agent Spouse or Partner | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Buyer Agent Assistant | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Buyer Agent TC | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Listing Agent | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Listing Agent Spouse or Partner | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Listing Agent Assistant | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Listing Agent TC | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Escrow Officer | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||||||
| Escrow Officer Assistant | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||||||
| Loan Originator, Account Executive or Production Partner | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text/Call | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Loan Originator Assistant | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Licensed LO on File (who can be different than the Originator) | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text | Email & Text |
| Disclosures | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||
| Verifs | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||||
| Appraisals | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
| Insurance | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
| Processor | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||
| Underwriter | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||
| Doc Drawer | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
| Funder | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||||
| Operations Manager | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Branch Manager | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Branch Owner | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Referral Partner | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text | Email Bcc & Text |
Loan Milestones
As mentioned before, most LOSs have some sort of loan milestone notification system. But to properly tackle the specific Problem stated earlier, you need a surgical scalpel (specialized solution) and not a Swiss Army Knife (like an LOS that does everything) to get the job done. This starts with the identification of the milestones.
In most LOSs, these milestones (and notifications) are present, but some are not built-in and may require creating custom fields to trigger them as they aren’t very common. For example, Appraisal Ordered/Received, VOE(s) Ordered/Received, or Funding Today aren’t typically native to an LOS and requires some configuring specific to the lender.
Parties Involved
This is definitely an area where most LOSs and CRMs fall short – not having the capacity to accommodate multiple parties. It’s not their fault though because that’s not their core competency. In the Communication Matrix, some examples of parties who are often omitted by LOSs include:
- Additional Client Contact – Perhaps the borrower’s are older parents who don’t speak English very well or tech savvy and need their adult son/daughter to be looped into transaction.
- Buyer and Listing Agent Parties – On each of their sides, they may have spouse or business partner who needs to be looped in, an assistant, and/or a transaction coordinator.
- Escrow Officer – They may have an assistant or two.
- Loan Originator – On the originating lending team, you have nuances of the licensed LO on the file, but also potential assistants (both internally provided by the company or their personal), or a Production Manager or someone who is part of the transaction but not the licensed LO on the file.
- Lender Internal Parties – The more common roles include the processor and underwriter, but there can be many other internal people like a Pipeline/Operations Manager or someone who wears multiple hats.
- Branch Manager/Owner – In addition to the Loan Originator, each branch may have a manager and/or owner who doesn’t participate in the day-to-day operations who would love to know whenever a loan funds.
- Referral Partner – Wouldn’t it be nice to include an external referral partner like a CPA or attorney who is kept in the loop on the major loan milestones of the people they refer over, which would increase their confidence that their referrals are being taken care of and they’ll send more people over.
Notification Channels
Most LOS and CRMs can send an email for a loan milestone, but can’t send text messages, which is a much preferred communication channel for loan milestones. Furthermore, the default graphics tend to be outdated, not aesthetic pleasing, and impersonal. Here are examples of what they should look like modern day:
Text Message
The Solution
Fortunately, there is a solution. One that can work in conjunction with LendingPad and any CRM without needing to change the behavior much of your team. For example, your loan processor isn’t going to need to learn a new software or do something different. There will need to be some adjustments, such as the person submitting/entering the loan into the system will need to enter the email and mobile of all the parties involved who need notifications. But for the most part, your front end users will be doing the same thing within their LOS and all the loan milestone notification magic happens behind-the-scenes.
LendingPad (No) Integration
This loan notification system can be implemented immediately without any integrations or custom programming required in LendingPad. How so? We can accomplish this by using the existing custom fields and business rules features.
In the example above, a custom field toggle switch is used. By toggling yes, a task is created, which triggers an email notification to the system admin user, which is automatically forwarded to Zapier to trigger automations in there to send out emails (via the client’s Gmail or Outlook) and text messages (via Twilio for example).
So every time a milestone is achieved, someone on the lending team (like a processor) will push that button in LP to trigger the notification.
How do we determine who the email and text notification go to?
That information is looked up on a Google Sheet or Smartsheet spreadsheet with the contact information for all parties involved in that specific loan via the Zapier automation.
All this is built using no-code software on existing prominent and robust apps like Zapier, Google/Microsoft, Twilio, etc. Thus, reliability is maximized and maintenance is minimized and you won’t be held hostage by a programmer as the only person who knows how the things was built.
Just takes a savvy consultant to make the magic happen within LendingPad 🙂
So feel free to reach out and we’ll be happy to see how we can help!
