Harborstone CU Launches Web-Posting for Mortgage Docs

TACOMA, Wash. – Harborstone Credit Union is now putting its mortgage loan documents on the Web, becoming one of the first credit unions to use the eLynx Web Posting Service (WPS) to electronically deliver and track closing documents. “Formerly, most of our first mortgage loan documents were printed in-house and either mailed or sent by messenger to an escrow company for signing by the members. With eLynx, we can send the documents electronically to the escrow, no matter how far it is from the credit union,” said Donna Meyerhoff, vice president of mortgage services at $550 million Harborstone. Customers of Cincinnati-based eLynx Ltd. currently account for more than 30% of all loan originations, according to company President Phil Huff, who says eLynx began focusing on the credit union market about a year ago and now has “a handful” using his firm’s solutions. WPS interfaces with the Printstream printer control language, an industry standard developed years ago by Hewlett-Packard, to allow users to post documents on a secured Web site by simply choosing that option as they would a standard printer. Communications between the site and the users – including members, the credit union and others involved in the mortgage process – take place through a virtual private network (VPN) or standard Internet connections and the company’s document/data hubs in Chicago and Atlanta, Huff says. Document privacy is ensured by using a “very secure and specific communications protocol” from RemoteWare and a virtual firewall, Huff says. He also claims his company’s solution to be the first “electronic document delivery system that can be utilized company-wide and is universally compatible with any document-origination application, operating on any platform, from character-based legacy systems to Windows-based desktops.” Meyerhoff says Harborstone CU does about $100 million in mortgage volume a year and has had no major problems in integrating the Web-posting service with its existing Fiserv Unifi Pro processing solution. Meyerhoff also says staffers found eLynx WPS “relatively simple to learn, since it interfaces with our loan origination system and functions essentially as an alternate print location. Our loan processors can direct the document sets to be sent to any escrow that we do business with.” The CU now is benefiting from faster delivery of loan documents and the ability to revise and re-transmit documents instantly, the mortgage services vice president says. Huff says the cost of implementing WPS is “very reasonable, and many times there is no upfront cost if you’re using a platform we’re familiar with. Ongoing transaction volumes are based on volume and range generally from $2.25 to $5 per delivery.” He says that compares favorably to the costs of paper and printers, Federal Express or other shipping and personnel time involved in doing the processing. “You also have extra hours to prepare all those documents before a closing occurs, giving you much more flexibility and a competitive advantage,” the eLynx president says. Other company services include document delivery status alerts and electronic signatures, which provide the ability to do such things online as open up new accounts and apply for loans, Huff says. Meyerhoff says Harborstone CU has no current plans to deploy electronic signatures but adds, “As the technology and recording status is perfected, I’m sure we will.” -