Mortgage Quality Control

QPro - Mortgage Quality Control Software now even more affordable

2009-02-04T16:13:00.003-06:00

Well - I haven't posted in way too long and for that I apologize. It's just been crazy around here. I don't know if everyone heard but refi's are up :). That means we get crazy. It really seems like this time around everyone is makeing sure that they are doing loans correctly. You wouldn't believe the number of calls i've been getting for Pre-Funding QC. I have another article i'm working on - hope to get that out soon- but in the mean time I just posted this press release out to the world - thought I would share it with everyone here.

QPro - Mortgage Quality Control Software now even more affordable
With the new QPro Broker FHA QC pack any new client can get setup and training in QPro along with 5 loans for only $499.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 04, 2009 – With FHA Originations on the rise - many brokers who have never had to deal with Quality Control in the past are now faced with a real QC need. QPro, the revolutionary web based Quality Control solution, is still the easiest way for Brokers and Bankers to meet their Quality Control Goals. QPro is made up of a document based loan analysis module; a rules based QC analysis engine, a full featured reporting module and a powerful loan import module. The user friendly interface is easy to learn, in fact, training takes less than an hour. "We designed QPro to be an alternative to the high cost licensed, bloated client server QC products on the market today,” says Bill Kaage. "QPro is web based and uses a pay as you go model which means a client does not need to waste money on high cost start-up fees. With QPro, there is no on site installation, no licensing fee, no hidden charges. We train you, you QC loans and only pay for the loans you work on. It really is that easy." With the new QPro Broker FHA QC pack any new client can get setup and training in QPro along with 5 loans for only $499. Once you use your 5 loans you can simply purchase more as you need them. For more information on QPro check out the website at www.csiqc.com or contact Bill Kaage directly at 815-777-8700

Shameless Plug

2008-08-04T10:03:00.000-05:00

The folks that run MortgageQualityControl.com asked me to write up something for their site – check it out here.

I’ve been getting a lot of email from my last blog entry – turns out that pretty much everyone just wants QC to be easier and more time effective. More back end rule processing and less work for the QC Underwriter. Now before you all email me and tell me that I’m phasing you out – that is not the case. The need for experienced, intelligent QC analysts will always be there – but if the QC system can automatically recalculate Income then tell you if it is calculated correctly by the original underwriter – well that just saves you time in the end. There is a saying out there –that is overused I know – but I’m going to use it again. Work Smarter not Harder – I think we can all agree that is where the future of QC is going – now we just have to figure out what Smarter is.

Have a great week – and keep the feedback coming – I love to hear what you think.

Mortgage Quality Control - The Future

2008-07-24T11:39:00.002-05:00

It’s pretty safe to say that Mortgage Quality Control hasn’t changed much in the past 30 years. Yes there are new ways to do your QC reviews – we’ve managed to progress from checklist to Access Databases to full blown Quality Control Software but essentially the process is the same. QC analysts reviews files, QC manager prepares paper reports and gives them to Executive team – and Executive team reviews reports (if you are lucky) and puts them in a pile. Yes Quality Control is getting done – but are you achieving our QC goals? I’m sure that in some idyllic organizations there are the further steps of not only reviewing the reports but acting on the reports to fix process flow options – but realistically there is no easy way to accomplish that goal – until now that is. We’ve decided that there needs to be MORE to your QC process – an easy way for the Underwriting manager to review how his department and his employees are doing. We have all the info we need in the QC audit – but the data just needs to be sliced and diced differently to get to it. We need a measuring system. Well – we are creating one – it’s called the QBe (pronounced cube) score. Your QBe score will show you exactly how efficiently your employees are working. Beyond that you need to be able to track how well your managers are doing – QPro will now score their performance as well. I’ll have more details as we get closer to launch – including some early screen shots - keep an eye on my blog for more info soon.

What features would you all like to see in Mortgage QC software? How do you see QC progressing in the future? I know we have a lot of people reading here – but let’s get some dialogue going – you have the ear of my development team – let us know what you see on the horizon.

Time Time Time

2008-02-22T14:28:00.001-06:00

I think the reason that I hear most for business not doing proper QC – “We just don’t have the time.” I’ll bet that most of you who have been reading my blog know what my standard response is – How do you have time not to do it? But for all the reasons that you should be doing Quality Control aside – time is a major factor. It’s a very busy time for everyone – between taking care of customers, spending time with family and taking care of the normal day to day business activities where do you manage to fit in QC. Well I can’t tell you that – you have to prioritize your business and make decisions as to what is important – but I can help you with one thing – decrease your QC time. Quality Control by its nature is a very time consuming process – checking over every document in a loan takes a while but I’m here to tell you it’s doesn’t have to be a 2+ hour process. If you are still doing QC manually with a checklist you can very easily save money by spending money. Invest in an automated process and you can take your per file times from 2-2.5 hours down to 1-1.5 hours. You can literally MAKE time. Now instead of your QC taking 3 days – it takes 1. Now you have no excuses - you can get your Quality Control done and use the results to make your business better – it’s a win-win situation. Check out the cost analysis on my website http://www.csiqc.com/ – it’s in the resources tab. There you’ll see just how much money you can save by automating your process.

More on Software as a Service

2008-02-07T14:51:00.000-06:00

Today I’m going to talk more about the Software as a service model. It’s amazing how many benefits that it really offers. I’m going to center on 1 today – Customization. With a traditional client/server based software deployment if you want something customized you are going to need 2 things – Lots or time and Lots of money. The reason you need lots of time is that
1. The company has to develop, test and then distribute a new version to you. What does that mean though? In the software world anything you change can have far reaching effects on other components. I’ve seen instances where simply changing the color of a button can change some random functionality in a whole other place in the software. So a client/server based software company is going to have a process in place where they plan out the change – what all needs to be modified in order to accomplish the customization. Then they need to implement the change – actually build the customization. Lastly they need to test – this seems like the easiest part but it really is the most time consuming. They need someone to click every button and make sure everything works. As you can see – it’s not a quick or easy process.
2. Once the changes are made and they send you the new version of the software you will need to have your IT staff schedule a time to install the new version. As simple as this sounds it’s also time consuming. Backups need to be made, server changes have to happen and then client workstations need to be updated. You are looking at a minimum of 4 hours of down time while the software is updated. Unless of course your IT staff work on weekends.
3. Realistically you are looking at a month from the time you asked for the customizations before you actually see your requests realized.
You are going to need a lot of money – why- because they are going to charge you a LOT to do it. For most customizations you are looking at $125 per hour for the development time – if it takes 1 person a week to develop, test, bug check and deploy you are looking at $5000. Don’t count on it taking less that a week either – customization is where the software companies make the easy money.

With a Software as a Service model it’s a whole different ball game. First of all – they take care of everything no need to get your IT staff involved. Second (at least with QPro) they are built for customization. I always tell clients that with QPro we realized early on in the process that we would never be able to build a product that met everyone’s needs straight out of the box – so instead we made everything customizable. With software as a service customization is quick and easy. Let’s say that you enter a new market and therefore need some new locally specific documents needed to your QC Doc List – software as a service – 2 hours - Client/Server model – 1 month (and $5000). Which do you want to do?

Hold on to your hats

2008-01-31T16:26:00.000-06:00

Well it’s finally starting. The dam is about to burst, the volcano is about to erupt and the fat lady is warming up. All the pent up wanna be home owners from the past 9 months are about to burst onto the scene and we are all about to get really busy. One of the great benefits of my job is that I get to watch the Mortgage industry from 2 sides. I get to see the Mortgage Quality Control side which I will classify at the back end and the Mortgage Staffing side which I will call the front end - 2 very distinctly different views. I’m here to tell you the industry is picking up. The big lenders are starting to staff up – they know it is coming. I am here to tell you this spring is going to be one busy time in the mortgage industry. How does that affect the Mortgage Quality Control side of the coin – well I’ll tell you one thing – this time it’s going to be different. How many of you recall the last big rush we had? You may remember that everyone was so busy making so much money that they couldn’t be bothered with QC. The back rooms were filled with all the files that should have been reviewed and weren’t. Everyone was understaffed and overworked and Quality took a back seat. And what happens when Quality takes a back seat – the whole thing fell apart. This time you are going to be better prepared. Quality Control is going to be and stay a high priority. You are going to use your Mortgage Quality Control process to improve your business. You are not going to be doing Quality Control just because you have to – you are doing it because you care about Quality. I’m excited about the next 6 months – it’s going to be a busy time but this time we all will be ready. When you start getting bogged down – remember we’re here to help. Check out my website at www.csiqc.com for more info or to contact me directly.

Software as a Service

2008-01-22T11:43:00.000-06:00

I was just reading a tech brief sent out by the Mortgage Bankers Association (link) and in it Greg Smith says “Mortgage participants are turning to on-demand or software-as-a-service applications as a way to quickly upgrade, replace or enhance current technology. These applications are flexible and scaleable. By building upon existing solutions, on-demand software enables great return on investment and quick deployment times.” This is exactly what I have been talking about – A quick way to upgrade, replace and enhance your Mortgage Quality Control Process. What is it about Software as a Service that makes it such a wonderful option for the mortgage industry? There are a lot of things I can think of –

1. Pay as you go model – this is the perfect solution for your Mortgage Quality Control solution. You don’t need to make a huge upfront investment in software with a web based product. You simply pay for the loans you do. This helps all Mortgage Companies on the bottom line. Volume goes up – you do more files but you have the budget to do more files. Volume goes down – you’re still covered and your expense is less. What is better in a widely fluctuating market than no fixed software costs?
2. Easily Deployable and Upgradeable. It’s not only easy to deploy – the deployment plan is non-existent. You simply log onto the website and start using the software. You will want to make sure that any Software as a service that you choose includes good training for your staff but other than that you simply move from the old way to the new way. As far as upgrades – we all know that Mortgage Regulations change – do you want to have to wait 6 months for a new software version then wait for your IT staff to install it – No you don’t. You want changes done quickly and with no downtime.
3. Increase your staffing options. With Software as a Service you are no longer bound by the geographical restrictions of your office. Now with a web based application you can have employees working anywhere – including from home. Web based applications these days are as secure or even more secure than your office environment so the ability to pull from a greater pool of Mortgage QC analysts nation (even world) wide is now a reality.

These are just the top 3 there are a bunch more that I can think of. Contact me through my website http://www.csiqc.com/ and we can discuss how to make your Mortgage Quality Control process the most efficient and cost effective process in your organization.

Mortgage Quality Control- It doesn’t have to be a lonely business

2008-01-16T10:42:00.000-06:00

We talk a lot about the QC Analyst and their role in an organization. If you’ve read anything on my blog you know that I champion the QC analyst – they are an important cog in the mortgage wheel. But I know that the QC analyst may also be a lonely position. The inherent nature of the QC analyst’s job is to find problems and that often doesn’t make you a popular person. There needs to be a support system for QC analysts out there- someplace where you can get together and discuss QC issues or non QC issues with people who are in the same boat as you. That is why I have created the Mortgage Quality Control Forum. It’s a virtual discussion room that you can visit as often as you want and talk about whatever it is you want to talk about. If you want to ask other QC professionals how they would deal with a particular set of circumstances you have found in a loan – this is the perfect place. If you want to talk about the Mortgage Quality Control industry in general now you can. It’s completely free and nobody will be throwing advertising at you. We only ask that you treat others with respect and remember that it is a public forum –so don’t give out any loan specific data – other than that it’s a full fledged Quality Control Free for all. Check out the site here – http://www.csiqc.com/qcforum/index.php . Have a great day and remember keep on QC'ing.

Mortage Qualty Control - What will 2008 bring for you?

2008-01-10T09:44:00.000-06:00

What are your Mortgage Quality Control goals for 2008? I’d imagine that some of you are just starting to look into the whole Quality Control arena now. Are your goals to get FHA approval or maybe you are looking to make 2008 the year you go from Broker to Banker. I’m sure that you know by now that both of those goals mean you need a QC plan – and not only do you need a QC plan but you need to follow through with your QC Plan. Fear not – there is an easy way to take care of both of those at one time. Yep – I’m talking about Outsourcing. I know – the Mortgage QC software guy is suggesting that people outsource but realistically doing your own QC isn’t for everyone. You may not have the staff to do your own QC or you simply may not have the desire to keep it in house. All those reasons and the multitudes I haven’t talked about are exactly why Contemporary Services, Inc. (our parent company) has an Outsourcing division. That Outsourcing division is staffed with some wonderful and talented Mortgage Quality Control Experts who are there to help you with all your questions. From getting FHA approval to Making the move from Broker to Banker – they have done it all before and are there to walk you through the process. Check out their website for more info – they will by happy to help you out.

Now maybe your goals for 2008 are to organize your current QC situation. Do you want to finally get rid of those manual checklists and automate your Quality Control? Maybe you want to make sure that you keep up with your QC so that you don’t have the backlog at the end of they year again. Or maybe you just want to make sure you are using the info you get from your QC audits to its fullest potential. Whatever your goals for your Mortgage Quality Control department are for 2008 the time to start is now. Don’t wait until you start doing your first audits for 2008 to start making changes. Any improvements you want to make with your Mortgage Quality Control processes are going to take time – probably more time than you think so get moving. What you don’t want is to be sitting in your office in August thinking about the same changes. Get moving – do your research now and make your Quality Control department the best it can be. If you need help with any 2008 goals let me know or check out our website at http://www.csiqc.com/ we can help you easily make your goals into realities.

Why do you do Mortgage Quality Control?

2008-01-09T17:04:00.000-06:00

Why do you do Quality Control? Is it because you have to or is it because you really want to know where you can improve your business Too many companies do QC for the first reason – successful companies do QC for the second reason. Everyone needs to remember that Quality Control is not about placing blame it’s about figuring out how to make the loan process better. When you look at a Loan Rating by Underwriter report do you see a report where you have to discipline people for making mistakes or do you see an opportunity to help train an individual to make them a better underwriter? So many people in our industry think of the QC analysts as the bad guys – they are afraid that they are making the mistakes and are going to be found out. We all need to realize that the QC analysts are the good guys – they are there not only to protect the company and to help the company be as productive as possible. Finding out that an underwriter is making the same mistake month after month is one thing – helping them understand their mistake and how to work better in the future should be the real goal of the QC Department at a whole. Ask yourself why you are doing QC – you may surprise yourself with your answer.

When we designed the reports in QPro we tried to emphasize the positive. The reports still show you problems but help you find the direction to the solution as well. Take a look at our website for more info on how QPro can help you change the way you QC.

Mortgage Quality Control sampling methods - random isn't just random anymore

2008-01-08T10:14:00.000-06:00

How are you doing your QC sampling? I’ll bet most of you are doing random sampling. How you do your random sampling is almost as important as the QC audit itself. For a lot of companies a true random sample is the easiest and best way to go. There are many different ways to choose your random sample. Some people will enter their entire months closed loans into Excel – then randomly choose a number – start at that line and choose every 5th loan after that. That works out nice for choosing smaller samples – but if you have to choose 15 or 20 loans it can start to get confusing. If i'm choosing files for one of our clients I prefer to use a “true” random number generator like this one. You number the loans and let the random number generator do the work for you. Take a look around the Random.org website – if you are a numbers geek (like me) you will find some really interesting facts about generating truly random numbers. Of course QPro has a simple random file chooser built in – so if you use QPro you don’t need to use any of the above steps – simply upload your loans into QPro and it will take care of the rest.

If you are currently QC’ing more than 10 files a month – you should really look into a Stratified Random Sample. A stratified random sample breaks your loans into groups – then chooses randomly from those groups. This may seem like an extra unnecessary step but what it gives you is control. You can now be sure that your quality control sample contains loans from all your loan programs. The stratification can go to whatever level you want – if you want to break your selection process down by LTV, Broker, Branch or Program it’s all there. Now you are achieving your necessary random sample and you are ensuring a really quality audit. An added bonus of stratified random sampling is that you can now sample more of your high risk products. The Stratified sample may sound complicated – but it doesn’t have to be. QPro has a stratified sample process built into it and we customize the stratification to your needs – for free. If you want to discuss stratified sampling shoot me and email at bkaage at csiqc.com (replace the at with @). Check out the QPro website for more info – even if you don’t use QPro we’d be happy to help you unravel the mysteries of Stratified Sampling. Have a great day and remember QC Analysts are there to save you money.

The Importance of Pre-Funding Quality Control

2008-01-07T13:39:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the QPro Quality Control Software blog. I'll be blogging mostly about QPro - but you never know what other directions this may go. If you have any questions about QPro - ask away. Today I'll be talking about our newest release - QPro Pre-Funding Version.

Why Pre-Fund? Well would you rather catch any potential problems before or after the money has gone out? With our new QPro Pre-Fund option we'll take you through a check of the most vital areas in a loan - Property and Borrower. When you run a loan through Pre-Fund QPro automatically runs an AVM on the property - so you can make sure the appraisal is correct. QPro also runs a Social Security Number verification so you are sure that the borrower is who they say they are. Additionally QPro looks at the property sales history - so you can ensure that the Seller is the owner of the property. QPro then will continue on asking the analyst some question about key document like the Loan application and the Title. In under 15 minutes you can run a last check on every file before you close. Even if you only find 1 bad loan out of 100 - that 1 catch could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. We're really excited about Pre-Funding and are sure it is going to be the wave of the Mortgage Quality Control Future. You may have to do Post Close (and we can help you with QPro) but you are going to want to do Pre-Fund. Check out QPro Pre-Fund here - http://www.csiqc.com and let me know what you think