Several articles /blogs I have read recently, that are seemingly unrelated have raised the question (at least in my mind), what would happen if the critical parties involved in a real estate transaction needed to get to the documents of that particular transaction and what would be the value of accessing this information? Who would have them, where would the documents actually be found and how would they be accessed?

These are all important questions that have significance in our current "high alert" environment to protect very sensitive data. The business community at large is moving toward the paperless arena at a break neck pace, including the mortgage industry. Digital signatures have been allowed for years (i.e. appraisals) and the transfer of digital documents via PDF, TIFF, DOC, etc. is commonplace in our increasingly digital marketplace. The technology to accomplish this objective varies from company to company. The company, in which I am employed, Cogent Closing Associates has an incredible document storage service as a function of our settlement services and document processing. The point is these services exist and they can add tremendous value to the parties that have critical involvement in a transaction before, during and long after the transaction is complete.

Here are a few of the benefits:

1. Security ~ only high level access is allowed to select individuals

2. Documents are in a safe place, easily accessed and are not at risk of being lost or stolen.

3. Time savings ~ Loan officers can access their past customer data when following up on a new consultation for credit repair, new purchase, refinance of an existing lien, etc.

4. Audits ~ State and Federal agencies, securitizers, servicers, etc. can complete audits of the files easily, where the files can be accessed with a secure log-in and password.

5. Customers can access their own data, for verification purposes and to answer questions pertinent to their transaction

6. Organization of the documents....each document is itemized and easily found.

7. Cost is affordable

These are some of the obvious benefits of using document storage. Perhaps even more important in the current environment of fraud, identity theft, etc., no one can be too safe. I think we have an obligation to the consumer in taking a pro-active step toward maintaining a safe home for a borrowers critical loan documents. It is necessary to giving our customers the peace of mind they deserve and re-establishing the trust our industry is so desparately trying to win back. We owe it to them.

To your success!

Until next time my friends,

LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com