First Guaranty Mortgage Selects the Ellie Mae^® Encompass360^® Mortgage Management Solution to Support its Growth

Lender anticipates significant increase in capacity with no need for additional personnel

PLEASANTON, CA – MARCH 1, 2011 – Ellie Mae^®, the enterprise mortgage origination technology provider for mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, community banks, credit unions and other mortgage lenders, has announced that McLean, Virginia-based First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation, a customer service and education-focused national wholesale and retail lender whose solutions include mortgages for borrowers with varying income and credit levels, has selected Encompass360^® as its mortgage management solution.

Prior to implementing Encompass360, First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation’s processes were having difficulty supporting the company’s current volume and plans for growth. “We have great products, great service and a strong brand, but our current processes wouldn’t allow us to expand,” said Andrew Peters, First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation’s national sales director. “With Encompass360, we’ll be able to handle significantly more volume than we’re currently doing without increasing our staff.”

Peters stated that First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation had looked for an origination and mortgage management technology that would allow its loan originators and broker clients to access real time pricing and rate locks, upload documents, submit conditions, track their loans in progress, and shepherd loans to funding and closing – without having to rely on their previous method of sending emails and making phone calls. “We had been sending and receiving information manually and now we can do everything online,” added Peters. “It was imperative for our new system to leverage the speed, power and reach of the Internet. Encompass360 has the best website building capabilities of any system we evaluated. That was the number one factor in our decision to use the system.”

Peters refers to Encompass WebCenter™ and Encompass TPO WebCenter, online customer portals that function as a direct extension of Encompass360. While Encompass WebCenter is used for retail operations, Encompass TPO WebCenter is designed for wholesale operations to use with their third party originators. With easy-to-customize templates, the Encompass WebCenter products enable clients to create custom websites, which can be used to provide brokers, loan officers, borrowers and other involved parties with secure and confidential information like loan status and outstanding conditions, in addition to current rates and programs.

These websites can also be set up to securely receive information and documents, so originators, brokers and borrowers can submit loan applications and conditions directly through the site. Encompass TPO WebCenter accepts loans from brokers regardless of the loan origination software the broker uses, and also provides brokers with access to credit verification services, automated underwriting solutions and product and pricing engines. With Encompass TPO WebCenter, First Guaranty can manage loans in tandem with its broker clients, while also maintaining control over factors such as the documents required prior to lock requests or loan submission, timeframes that lock requests are accepted, and ordering or reissuing credit reports.

“This is invaluable,” Peters said. “We can create a different website with special pricing for every broker. We’re saving our broker clients the time it takes to access and submit information manually.”

“Our wholesale channel needs to be able to support the new age broker,” added Ben Sizemore, Jr., vice president of information systems for First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation. “We need to provide integrated solutions but we can’t risk additional pain points. Our broker clients need seamless, reliable access to automated underwriting and pricing systems as well as compliance and closing services. We can provide all of that with Encompass360.”

“Wholesale lenders need to make third party originations as fast, efficient and easy-to-transact as possible for their broker clients if they want to stay competitive in that market,” said Jonathan Corr, Ellie Mae’s chief strategy officer. “They also have the challenges brought about by new quality demands and government regulations. That is why smart lenders like First Guaranty are taking a second look at their technology solutions. By using Encompass360, First Guaranty gains the speed, efficiency and accuracy they need to stay competitive, along with the ability to control the quality of loans originated by third party providers. They get increased transparency and can produce custom reports that show production, profitability and quality information at a broad-based view or down to the loan level.”

“Encompass360 empowers us to be a force among our competitors,” said Jim Marks, retail production manager with First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation. “It used to take about 15 steps and 10 people to move a loan from submission to closing. With Encompass360, that will be reduced significantly. Everyone wins with this efficiency. Our broker clients benefit, as do our borrowers, loan officers, wholesale reps and internal staff. It is amazing that a system that does so much is actually more cost effective to operate than systems that do far less.” 

About Ellie Mae
Ellie Mae provides enterprise mortgage origination technology solutions for mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, community banks, credit unions and other mortgage lenders. The company's offerings include the Encompass^® and Encompass360^® Mortgage Management Solutions, Encompass CenterWise™ websites and electronic document management services, Encompass Closer™ document preparation services, Encompass Compliance Service™, Encompass Product and Pricing Service™ and Encompass Assured GFE™.  Ellie Mae also hosts the Ellie Mae Network™ that allows mortgage professionals to conduct electronic business transactions with the lenders and settlement service providers they work with to process and fund loans. Ellie Mae was founded in 1997 and is based in Pleasanton, California. To learn more about Ellie Mae, visit www.EllieMae.com or call 877.355.4362

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© 2011 Ellie Mae, Inc. Ellie Mae^®, Encompass^®, Encompass360^®, Encompass Assured GFE™, Encompass CenterWise™, Encompass Closer™, Encompass Compliance Service™, Encompass Product and Pricing Service™, Ellie Mae Network™ and the Ellie Mae logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ellie Mae, Inc. or its subsidiaries. Encompass Assured GFE™ is a trademark of Ellie Mae, Inc. in the United States, and a private-labeled service provided by ClosingCorp. All rights reserved. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Products, services and programs are subject to change without notice.