Real estate data and technology firm Black Knight Financial Services is integrating two of its lender products with the goal of helping lenders meet disclosure regulations and streamline the loan closing process.
The two products are Empower, an end-to-end loan origination system used by five of the top 20 lenders in the U.S., and Closing Insight, a tool that supports collaboration between lenders and settlement agents and helps them comply with a new rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau set to go into effect in August 2015.
The rule requires the use of new, simplified mortgage disclosure forms that are designed to make it easier for homebuyers to understand the terms of a mortgage, compare loan offers, and avoid surprises at closing.
Once it goes into effect, lenders must provide loan applicants with a Loan Estimate within three business days after they submit a loan application. The Loan Estimate summarizes key loan terms and estimated loan and closing costs, and allows consumers to compare the costs and features of different loans.
Consumers must also receive a Closing Disclosure three business days before their closing date so that they can review final loan terms and costs in an “unpressured environment,” the CFPB said when releasing the new disclosure forms.
The Empower-Closing Insight integration will streamline the reconciliation of fees for final loan closing disclosures between lenders, settlement agents and other service providers, and increase lenders’ ability to generate and review disclosure documents to meet loan-closing timelines, Black Knight said.
“Clients will be able to seamlessly connect to Closing Insight directly from the Empower system without leaving the loan origination platform,” said Jerry Halbrook, president of Origination Technologies, a division of Black Knight Financial Services, in a statement.
“Black Knight is focused on integrating its innovative technologies to create an end-to-end process for lenders. This integration of Closing Insight with Empower is another example of how Black Knight can help lenders realize significant process gains, while supporting timely loan closings to help lenders satisfy their regulatory obligations and provide a better borrower experience.”