President's Letter
The past couple of months have been exciting for DMD:
Client Conference
In June we held our annual client conference in Las Vegas – over 125 people were there representing 48 lenders and 15 partners.
In preparing for the conference, we did a bit of research into DMD’s place in the industry and discovered that collectively our clients fund about $124,800,000,000 out of DataTrac each year. That represents 12% of all loans – think about how much bigger that percentage is if you back out loans from Wells, BofA and the other mega-lenders.
The highlight of the event was the networking opportunity DataTrac users from around the country had to meet with other users. In fact, the interactions were so dynamic, we are looking into launching an on-line user community where all of you can go to exchange ideas on how to make your business thrive.
DataTrac Web
At the conference, we gave a sneak preview of our next generation version of WebTrac (now called DataTrac Web). The feedback we received was outstanding, and the overall response was very positive. We are on track to have this version out by the end of the year.
9.3 DataTrac Suite
Another important milestone over the past couple of months was the release of the 9.3 DataTrac Suite. This was a big release from both a technical and functional perspective as we closed 140 issues tied to 581 separate customer requests. We also tackled an additional 445 items (some small and some big) that we felt needed to be addressed. Today, we are plugging away at the 9.3 R2 release of DataTrac that will introduce a VSP interface to Fannie Mae’s DU platform, as well as a new way of calculating YSP for brokered loans.
Business Intelligence
The current market conditions you all face continue to be harsh, and those companies that are thriving take the time to really understand their business operations. They identify where they are doing things well and where they need to improve, and then take action to improve throughput and optimize their processes. BusinessTrac is the tool we have been offering to help you understand your operations, and we have some exciting news coming down the pipeline that will directly impact your business intelligence options. Keep an eye out for an email from your Account Manager…
Lykken on Lending
Most of you have probably heard of David Lykken before – he’s one of the industry’s leading consultants. He has a weekly webcast program that can be heard live every Monday at 11:00am (Pacific) or can be downloaded after the show. I’m privileged to be a part of show – sharing a couple of news articles or blog postings I catch during the week that I think lenders should be sure not to miss. You can access the program at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lykken-on-lending -- it is worth the listen!
Progress in Lending
Have you heard of Progress in Lending yet? This is a new association formed by Tony Garritano that provides thought leadership to lending professionals about strategies that promote process efficiencies by emphasizing the importance of business and technology collaboration. Their objective is to promote best practices that enable the lending community to deliver a better, more trusted experience for all parties involved. I think this is a great idea for our industry... you should check it out at ProgressInLending.com.
Thought of the Day
I tripped across this quote from former NFL commissions Paul Tagliabue and I couldn’t agree more:
"The future doesn’t just happen – it’s shaped by decisions."
Here’s hoping your decisions help shape a productive future for us all!
Cheers.
Rob
Award Finalist
Congratulations to Rob for being named a finalist for the 2010 Mortgage Technology Lasting Impact Award!
- The DMD Staff
Partner Promotion
Compliance EAGLE, QuestSoft’s automated compliance tool, is fully integrated in DataTrac’s vendor service platform.
Sign up with Questsoft before August 20, 2010, and then deploy and use Compliance EAGLE for 90 days, and receive a full reimbursement for the implementation fee – a savings of up to $2,500!
To take advantage of this great offer, click here.
QuestSoft is a 15 year veteran of compliance software and services to mortgage lenders, banks, and credit unions.
Compliance EAGLE offers live compliance oversight with more than 12 on-demand compliance reviews
- Catch errors before loans are funded
- Reduce lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, fines, penalties, and other legal entanglements of errant disclosures and procedures
- Provide confidence to investors and reduce post-closing compliance costs and reasons for loan buy backs
Training Materials
Training Materials for 9.3 are located on SupportTrac by navigating to Product Downloads > DataTrac Application > DMD Suite Training Materials (9.3):
- 9.3 Release Training Presentation.wmv
- 9.3 DataTrac Training Form Guide Final.pdf
- 9.3 Release Training Presentation PPT.pdf
- 9.3 Comparison Screens Final.pdf
- DMD suite Release 9.3 Overview. pdf
Training Form Guide corrections:
- VA Analysis 26-6393 – Utilities Included field currently is not mapped from DataTrac. This check box needs to be done manually.
- Analysis of Appraisal 54114 – DE Underwriter is pulling from UND 1 – Appraisal Review; Appraisal Review By and CHUMS Number is the location of these fields.
Training Webinars are an inexpensive way to keep your staff current on new releases. You'll find a complete list on SupportTrac under the Training/Education tab.
DMD Professional Services offers customized webinar and on-site training for those companies who want more assistance in maximizing the use of the software. Your Account Manager can assist you with setting up these events.
Product tips
DataTrac EDM Print Client 9.3
When you upgrade to 9.3 please ensure that you upgrade the Print Client as well to avoid performance problems in DataTrac EDM.
DataTrac Originator (InTrac)
Field notes are a popular feature. Field notes are like a Post-it note… only better. They can be attached to almost any field that you need to flag for attention (e.g., the appraised value, credit score, etc.). But did you know you could you can create an alert and give the field a follow-up flag? The field background can be color-coded so it can be easily spotted).
- Here’s where it gets good! Use Templates and Field Notes together to help Loan officers fill out required fields!
- Create a unique template for each loan program (Conv, FHA/VA, streamline, etc.)
- Create field notes and designate a flag/highlight color (i.e. “Red”) for each field the loan officer has to fill out
- When the loan officer selects the template on a new file, the fields you have selected as required will be highlighted
- You can include any special instructions concerning the field
- Makes policy deployment simple and effective!
DataTrac Originator (InTrac)
Field names can be looked up quickly & conveniently by right-clicking on the field and selecting "Show Field Info". You’ll find this helpful the next time you’re designing custom reports and documents in DataTrac Originator.
9.3 Bundle Template SQL Script
Determine which investors you are delivering to before running the SQL script in order to add bundle templates to DataTrac EDM.
Each investor has a separate script and you will only run the scripts which are applicable. Most investors will allow you to electronically send an Indexed or Non-Indexed bundle. Contact your investor to determine which type of file they want you to transmit. Once you have determined which investor and what type of file, you can run the SQL script and choose the templates that meet your needs.
To create the Bundle Template for a specific Investor, you will need to run a database script (against the DocumentTrac Database). The list of database scripts is located on your DocumentTrac server in the \DocumentTrac\doc\modules\MortgageInvestorBundles folder.
PLEASE NOTE that running this script only creates the Bundle Template. You will still have to create the Bundle Profile and Document Stack within the Admin section of DocumentTrac.
If you need assistance in installing the script, please call our support team, but do so only after you have determined the Investor and file type.
Trade Show schedule
Please join us at MBA's 97th Annual Convention & Expo in Atlanta on October 24-26. Be sure to stop by our booth, #307 and say hi!
And, don't miss Rob Katz moderating a panel of industry movers-and-shakers talking about Growing Market Share in a Down Market.
Monday, October 25, 2010
11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Building A , Room 412, Level 4
Atlanta Convention Center
Reaching Support
Contacting our Support team without using your phone is simple.
1. Just log into your account at https://support.dmdinc.com
2. Click on “Create New Incident” in the left-hand navigation window
3. Fill out the form with your question
4. Click SUBMIT (at the bottom of the screen)
This will open a support ticket that you can then track as we make progress on getting your challenge resolved.
Or if you are in a hurry or want to include screen shots you can email us at support@dmdinc.com.
If you have an urgent matter, give us a call. Otherwise, using our support site or email can save time.