We have partnered with QRL Financial Services for many years. The resources that they provide are not available anywhere else. They have become an integral part of our mortgage lending operation. We leverage their technology, underwriting, and closing services for loans that we sell (about 80%) and loans that we keep in portfolio (about 20%). Our staff is only seven people during peak periods and we were able to close 800 loans last year. In the fourth quarter we even reduced our staff to six.
We had about a year left on our LOS (Loan Origination System) contract and decided to see what other alternatives were available. The monthly technology costs for maintenance and licensing grew each year and we could no longer justify the IT expenses with our relatively small (about 30 loans a month) loan volume. But we knew that we had to offer mortgages or risk losing business. When we demoed the QRL Financial Services Wholesale channel, we saw that we had the same flexibility that we had with our current system, without the expense. We could even make loans and put them in our portfolio and we didn’t have any monthly fees or minimums.
We had always been a correspondent lender and we dealt with a number of different investors, the usual ones. Our products were almost 100% Fannie/Freddie. So why was it taking so many people such a long time to originate and close a loan? It seemed that we would submit a file for underwriting with any of our investors and it fell into a black hole. You would try to get a file status and went to a call center. Then, out-of-the-blue, we would get conditions and we would diligently work to get the information requested. Then we waited, once again, for some faceless person to clear the conditions (hopefully) and get a cleared-to-close. At QRL Financial Services I have my own Coordinator, one name, one email and one phone number to remember. He can lock loans, order appraisals, sign off on conditions and schedule a closing. We can even run scenarios by him in advance. It may just seem like it, but I think we cut our app/close time in half! But what I do know for sure is that we are more in control of the process.
Having been in the mortgage business for a number of years, I guess that we just get accustomed to taking on risk. But, over the last several years, this risk has come from new places and has become the one thing that keeps me up at night. Of course, now compliance risk leads all others due to the severity of the punishments, i.e., monetary penalties, reparations, reputational, etc. We had thought that the worst thing that could ever happen was buying back a loan. We don’t have the resources to insure that we are on top of compliance, appraisal, interest rate, underwriting, closing, servicing, buy backs, and default risks. We’re happy to give those all to QRL Financial Services. We don't mind that QRL Financial Services puts its compliance, appraisal, underwriting, and closing stamp of approval on our portfolio loans either. It’s good to know that our regulator will view these loans as compliant and liquid investments.
After comparing several vendors and some careful consideration, we signed on with QRL Financial Services in 2008. Their ability to provide an easy to use web application, offer multiple lending platforms, board and service our portfolio loans, and most importantly for us as a small department working on the wholesale channel…the assignment of a dedicated and knowledgeable loan coordinator. With their exceptional service and efficient processes, we saw a substantial increase in loan volume in a very short period of time. With QRL Financial Services we found they provided everything we needed all bundled in a nice neat package, and were a perfect fit for us.
There are only 2 of us in our lending department and we have to wear a lot of hats. It would be impossible for us to provide mortgages with our limited resources. QRL Financial Services provided us with the technology, the training, and the support of our own Loan Coordinator. We don’t turn away business anymore and we’re generating compliant revenue. We’re even thinking about offering FHA loans!