As record-low mortgage rates spurred high origination volumes in 2020, lenders across the housing industry looked for ways to fulfill borrowers’ needs in the most efficient, streamlined manner possible. 

For many lenders, the past year put a magnifying glass on processes that could not withstand the unparalleled volume. And while it was tempting to say they were too busy to implement new solutions, many companies found that to stay ahead of the competition, new workflow improvements were vital. 

Stearns Lending was among those companies looking to improve a process. More specifically, the lender was looking to reduce underwriting time spent on borrower income analysis. Stearns was able to implement an accelerated and more reliable origination workflow by adopting CoreLogic’s FactCheck income analysis solution. The tool automates, streamlines and standardizes the borrower income calculation process. 

Prior to implementing FactCheck, Stearns had a different income analysis solution, but it wasn’t integrated into the company’s loan origination system (LOS). This made it difficult to achieve consistent usage of the tool, and as a result, many underwriters were going outside of the system, using their own spreadsheets for calculations. This was particularly time-consuming for underwriters calculating self-employed income.

“One of the things that we’ve learned is that when our underwriters have to go outside our LOS to do work, it reduces efficiency, quality and consistency,” said Allyson Knudsen, Chief Risk Officer at Stearns Lending.

As one of the largest lenders in the U.S., Stearns operates across several channels, representing 14 different brands with a wide variety of business models.

“We continue to grow, so it’s really critical when choosing a technology platform that it helps us support all those companies and is adaptable for every one of those different business models,” said Andrew Pohlmann, Chief Marketing Officer at Stearns Lending.

By partnering with an industry leader and trusted vendor, Stearns was able to customize a comprehensive tool to improve its origination process. FactCheck’s automation of the income analysis process allows the company’s underwriters to focus on more complex tasks. By leveraging FactCheck, Stearns has been able to save its underwriters up to four hours per loan while delivering more reliable borrower income calculations.  

Find out more about how Stearns Lending worked with CoreLogic’s FactCheck and the results they have seen by reading the full case study here.