Mortgage Company Banks on SNI

Emergent Mortgage Corporation (Greenville, South Carolina) now views mortgage files as assets instead of administrative headaches, thanks to a new document management system from Siemens Nixdorf (Burlington, MA). The system, which uses imaging, workflow and COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk), scans and automatically files documents into the correct online mortgage folders. They are then routed, along with instructions, to the right departments for processing. New action items are triggered when a folder reaches a specified level of complexity. Selected folders are written to a CD-ROM and sent to investors. With the system, Emergent is seeing faster access to important documents, and higher worker productivity. "In the past, it could take all morning to pull a file and access a document," said Blake LeBrun, Emergent's Business Systems Officer. "Now it is immediate." The system has also helped Emergent reduce the paperwork bottleneck created by filing, mailing and processing mortgage claims after closing. "In the past, we typically needed 2-3 weeks for post closing and audit," said James Lind, Emergent's Executive VP of Servicing. With the new system, Emergent can get the job done "in one week, and the loans will be cleaner for sale." The system has also allowed Emergent staff to service more people, which LeBrun says has limited the company's need for new hires "even though the loan volume continues to increase."