Developer says they've made process affordable and efficient for mortgage pros
Compliance software provider QuestSoft Corporation has added a new tool to its Compliance EAGLE platform, one that offers multi-quote prequalification compliance reviews at an affordable rate. The tool, called LeadER, is designed to allow lenders to quickly check applicable state and federal rate limits to verify a loan would not be “high-cost” before providing a rate quote to a prospective borrower.
QuestSoft president Leonard Ryan (pictured) told MPA that this front-end compliance innovation is new to the market because, up until now, it simply cost too much to conduct. However, through QuestSoft’s automated system a prequalification compliance review will be much more affordable, he believes.
“A number of customers came to us to address some of the compliance rules that would help them,” Ryan said. “We’ve been able to reduce the cost substantially. The LeadER system is going to be put out to the street at probably about one 20th to one 15th the price that it costs to do the compliance.”
Ryan believes the innovations in LeadER represent the natural evolution of his company, building on a multi-decade period of providing solutions concentrated on auditing loans as they’ve come in the door. Those solutions worked well, but Ryan and his team started asking themselves what would best help lenders and mortgage professionals out on the street. Those questions, and a growing customer demand, made them realize they could do a great deal in the area of pre-qualification.
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The stakes for lenders and brokers are two-fold, according to Ryan. Individual brokers, or originators, risk embarrassment and customer dissatisfaction if they offer them a loan only to find it violates a “high cost” law. Larger shops, offering these loans at huge scale, risk inefficiency, cost, and reputational damage by making similar mistakes. LeadER, Ryan believes, is a way to address those issues upfront.
Frank Tuttle, software architect at QuestSoft and one of the main designers of the LeadER program, said it fits well into a broader trend facing the industry: automation and human efficiency. Tuttle sees LeadER as an important tool in enhancing employee capability and accuracy, thereby increasing productivity.
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Ryan and Tuttle both stress that even in a fast-changing regulatory environment, they can keep LeadER ahead of the curve. They claim that because of the 25 years QuestSoft has spent keeping abreast of compliance, regulatory, and legislative changes and incorporating them into their programs.
“It’s what we do,” Tuttle said.
Ryan is hopeful that LeadER can make the front-end process cleaner and easier for mortgage professionals. He hopes it increases the number of loans lenders make and improves the process at its earliest stages.
“I think that the biggest thing is, we hope that it helps produce more mortgages for everybody in the industry,” Ryan said. “And more opportunities for buyers.”
