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however, that can serve as an underlying platform to facilitate digital collaboration throughout the real estate
transaction. These tools, called middleware, are designed to aggregate disparate pieces of information collected
from one system and funnel them
through a single portal that translates
the information so that a receiving
system can accept it.
For the real estate transaction, middleware can serve as an engine for the
entire process, creating connection
points between unrelated systems and
driving the electronic exchange of information — without requiring Realtors, mortgage companies, lenders
and title companies to abandon their
chosen solutions in favor of a common
cross-industry platform.
The benefit of this approach cannot
be overstated. Each party in the chain
has business reasons for selecting
their current software, most of which
involves the process each must follow
to complete their portion of the transaction, and, by following their own
paths, each party has been successful,
more or less.
Asking them to abandon their formula for success, so to speak, and adopt
entirely new processes and new software systems, would create an inordinate amount of chaos. This option
would most likely doom the endeavor
to failure. With middleware, on the
other hand, each party can comfortably
operate within the environment it has
created while digitally collaborating
with all other parties involved in the
transaction.
n n n
As the push to go digital grows stronger, all parties — not just lenders and
mortgage companies — must seek to
adopt strategies that pull everyone into
the transaction to create the seamless,
continuous experience that today’s
homebuyers expect. By using middleware to create a holistic approach to
data, Realtors, originators, lenders and
title companies can create the connection points needed to achieve effective
electronic collaboration and facilitate
a true, end-to-end paperless real estate
transaction. n
In addition, because e-closings still
represent anomalies rather than standard operating procedure, closing documents are often wet-signed at the
closing table and sent to recording in a
paper format. Even if the documents are
e-signed, the recording jurisdiction still
has a say in whether the digitally-signed
document will be recorded or rejected,
regardless of the lender or settlement
agent’s expectations about the legality
and recordability of the e-mortgage.
This decision point represents another
place where the digital process can
break down because the industry just
hasn’t connected the dots yet.
A way forward
Currently, the industry has two options
for making these connections: Devel-
oping a cross-industry data standard or
adopting “middleware” that can con-
nect the dots and translate data across
disparate systems. Given the lack of
collaboration thus far between Real-
tors, loan originators, lenders and title
companies, the cross-industry standard
may be a “pie in the sky” solution.
There are systems available today,
<< E-Mortgages continued from Page 62 “Middleware can serve as an engine for the
entire process, creating connection points
between unrelated systems.”
