As we all know, Wells Fargo is a huge investor. A lot of times the industry moves on a particular issue once an investor says so. In this case, PROGRESS in Lending has learned that Wells Fargo has made a significant change to its business practices. Here’s the scoop:
In a notice to all of its correspondent sellers, Wells Fargo said: “We know it’s important to continually make it easier for you to do business with Wells Fargo Funding. That’s why we’re excited to share the news that we now accept eSigned/eDelivered Closing documents!”
Wells added that: “Most Closing documents are now eligible for eSignature/eDelivery to Wells Fargo Funding, except where agency, state, or federal law prohibits.”
So, what does this announcement mean for the mortgage industry? “We’ve been talking about the advantages of eMortgages for some time now but other than Fannie and Freddie accepting them no other major investor has stepped up and said they would accept them as well. This has been a major impediment to adoption since many of our customers do not sell directly to Fannie or Freddie,” stated Tim Anderson, Director of eService for DocMagic.
“Having a major investor like Wells now saying they will accept a “hybrid” eClosing is big news. I also think another reason this is happening now is that a lot of loans are getting kicked backed from investors because the originator cannot show hard evidence that the Closing Disclosure (CD) was delivered three days prior to consumption. With eSign you can electronically apply a signature along with a date stamp on the CD as undisputed proof of delivery where you really can’t in a paper delivery,” Anderson concluded.
