GreenPoint Offers Online Tool

GreenPoint Mortgage, a leading national lender in non-conforming residential mortgages, has introduced a new online loan monitoring tool for the 18,000 mortgage brokers it works with in the continental United States.

Called Pipeline Manager, the new service was rolled out in July after being piloted with a limited number of brokers in northern California. Updated every 15 minutes, it provides 24-hour-a-day monitoring services exclusively for mortgage brokers through www.greenmort.com.

The service, which took six months to build, was created by GreenPoint's in-house technology team, according to David Anderson, vice president, Internet business development at GreenPoint Mortgage, a Novato, Calif.-based subsidiary of $13 billion GreenPoint Financial Corp. "Our technicians created all the codes, software, the queries and the replication process," he said. "It runs off of a Sun Microsystems server."

Twenty branches across the country transmit loan application information to an Oracle database. GreenPoint Mortgage replicates, or takes a snapshot, of the database and pushes that information out to the Web site. "This method prevents hacking and security problems," Anderson explained. At the Web site, brokers access four real-time reports provided by the mortgage company concerning their loans. In order to access the reports, each broker has an ID and password, which ensures confidentiality.

The Pipeline Summary report gives each broker the complete summary of all loans submitted with such information as: loan amounts, rates, rebates, lock expiration, and a list of the most recently funded, canceled, or denied loans.

The Loan Status report provides the status of each loan as well as its underwriting conditions. Anderson pointed out that it's important brokers understand these conditions so the loan can be approved.

The Loan Data Review allows brokers to check for details on the loan. A broker must be careful that the name is spelled correctly, and the address and phone number are correct. This report also shows pricing information and fees for each loan.

The Mail Tracking report provides added value for the brokers working with GreenPoint Mortgage, Anderson said. This report is also a to-do list. For example, on a particular loan, the broker may be asked to provide verification of employment. However, this report has another advantage because it allows brokers to know when the report was logged into the system as well as who has the report.

"We are in the information sharing business, and we want to make it as easy as possible for brokers to do business with us," said Anderson.

In the past, information was shared through the fax machine and phone. The Web is a more efficient way to move information in a secure manner. "Pipeline Manager allows a broker to know almost as soon as we do that a loan has certain conditions so the broker can notify the customer," said Anderson.