Cloudvirga, a provider of a point-of-sale mortgage software, has received $50 million in funding, for a total of $77 million. The investors were lenders and private-equity firms.

Cloudvirga’s clients originated almost $200 billion in loans in 2018, an increase of 54 percent compared with the mortgage loan volume processed in 2017 through its technology.

[caption id="attachment_9384" align="alignleft" width="203"] Michael Schreck[/caption]

According to Cloudvirga, it does business eight of the top-20 mortgage originators in the U.S. The organization has implemented its point-of-sale system with American Financial Network, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp, Finance of America, Thrive Mortgage and others. “Our continued rapid growth amidst a challenging mortgage climate,” said CEO Michael Schreck. “We’re proud to have welcomed more of the nation’s top lenders … and a mobile-first platform,” one of the first in the mortgage industry.

Last year, Cloudvirga  enhanced its Enterprise POS, launched a mobile POS, and the capability to submit loan data to Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s automated underwriting system—with a single click.

The technology is designed to automate lender processes, cut loan costs, increase transparency, improve compliance and reduce the time to close a loan.

By Chris Roberts, Bryan Caffrey and Paul Gigliotti

The digital mortgage might be good for the mortgage industry, but some predict it will cause the demise of originators, realtors, appraisers and others.

That is far, however, from a foregone conclusion.

To be sure, the digital mortgage is on the front of everyone’s mind. Digitizing the origination process, replaces employees with technology--and efficiency gains will be dramatic. Bottle necks will be removed, processes will be faster, and costs will be reduced.

Those are worthwhile objectives, but it’s not clear that borrowers are willing to use, much less embrace automation, at the expense of having professionals to work with.

While they might be willing to fill out an online application, borrowers overwhelmingly express a desire to have access to a human, someone who can guide them through the often-confusing origination process. In fact, 70 percent of borrowers said they wanted access to a professional who could answer questions, or resolve problems, according to a report from Accenture.

[caption id="attachment_9319" align="alignright" width="300"] Bryan Caffrey[/caption]

So, the demise of originators, realtors, and appraisers it seems, is exaggerated; though what the optimal balance between automation and humanity will be hasn’t been determined. There is little disagreement that borrowers want access to a human, someone to provide some hand holding, to educate them on the process.

Rather than being a threat, automation is a tool designed to support originators, one that frees them to have more meaningful relationships with borrowers; it enables them to sell more loans. Agents will be able to sell more homes and appraisers will be able to complete more appraisals.

Technology ensures loan officers can focus on building relationships, and leaves collecting and copying a pay stub to operations staff. The deployment of technology, moreover, is an efficiency play, that frees originators and other professionals to devote more time to serve as advisors and develop sustainable relationships with business partners.

It isn’t necessarily a ploy to replace professionals with automation.

They need to drive the use of technology, not the other way around. Few will argue that automation and process changes have to occur because the mortgage business is archaic and lags other financial-service sectors. But it will support them, not disintermediate them.

That’s because technology frees professionals to perform high-value tasks: Loan originators can go with realtors to open houses and discuss finance options for the homes they see. They can focus on relationships and closing sales. Or if they meet with a borrower, documents don’t have to be picked up and brought back to the office. Instead, the documents can be uploaded to a loan origination software, and the loan originator can take the client or the realtor out to dinner.

The aim is to replace time-consuming, manual tasks like picking up documents with more meaningful interactions that build a relationship based on personal relationships. The expertise of professionals, and the quality of their service, is why the consumer selected them--not because they had the lowest rate.

Staying relevant requires showing personal relationships are more powerful than an automated experience. Quality human interaction will enable a higher level of customer service than automation can ever hope to provide. But the assumption is technology has to be embraced at the exclusion of human relationships, but that’s not the case.

The aim is for professionals to expand their skill set and broaden capabilities of teams as well as maintain excellent relationships. If they do that, they won’t have to fear the adoption of automation, because they would have improved the lending experience for consumers, and in the process, preserved their careers.

About the Authors: Bryan Caffrey, the CEO of Arivs, a national appraisal management company with local branches strategically located in over 20 mortgage markets across the U.S. Email Bryan atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Chris Roberts, national sales and support director of Arivs, implemented the company’s national-local strategy, recruited and trained staff for local offices and expanded the services the company offers. Email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Paul Gigliotti is the executive vice president of operations for the West Coast Mortgage Group. He ensures that the operations team operates at optimal efficiency, trains and mentors new sales people, and negotiates with investors. Email Paul at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

[caption id="attachment_9283" align="alignright" width="251"] Naveed Bhurgri[/caption]

Naveed Bhurgri has joined Atlantic Home Mortgage as a partner from Bluestone Capital Group, a boutique mortgage brokerage he founded in 2006.

“Naveed brings with him almost 20 years of experience and will be a tremendous asset as we work toward our goal of reducing the amount of time needed to obtain a mortgage by 80%," said Tony Davis, founder of Atlantic. "During his years in the industry, he has been ranked as one of the top-producing mortgage advisors, consistently closing in excess of $30 million annually." With the addition of Bhurgri, production at Atlantic could rise as high as $100 million.

During the mortgage meltdown, when many brokerages were exiting the business, Bhurgri opened Bluestone and increased production every year since inception, according to the firm. He leveraged cutting-edge technology to enhance the origination process as well as strong client support to borrowers and business partners.

Bhurgri began his career as a mortgage advisor in 2003. Within the first year, he became a top producer, often ranking No. 1 in his branch and among the top five in Georgia. He soon moved to a management role and helped guide his division to closings of over $100 million each year.

"I'm delighted to partner with Tony to achieve our shared vision of growing a lending institution by leveraging innovative technologies and providing our clients the absolute best service available, making sure we always exceed expectations," said Bhurgri. "There's a lot of hard work ahead for both us and our teams, but we're excited about the challenge.”

PennyMac Loan Services has launched a home equity line of credit product, with the objective of supporting the financing needs of consumers. The aim is to offer the banks 1.4 million customers another way to use their home equity for home improvements, debt consolidation and other expenses while allowing them to maintain their first-mortgage interest rates.

“We are excited to announce PennyMac’s entry into the HELOC segment of mortgage finance,” said Doug Jones, chief mortgage banking officer at Penny Mac. “We believe this is the right time to introduce this product to our customers who have seen the equity in their homes increase and want to keep their current first-mortgage interest rates. We expect our leading market position and operational capabilities to help fuel our HELOC production activities.”

PennyMac has begun accepting HELOC applications from current customers in five states: California, Florida, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, and will roll out the home equity product in additional states throughout the year. As the HELOC program expands, the company plans to offer it to homeowners who aren’t PennyMac clients.