However, the process operates across siloed and separate participants, who change their operations as functions and technology change. Consequently, other teams are operating on constantly changing information, resulting in disjointed, inconsistent end-to-end operations which lead to delays and errors. Disjointed process operations require monitoring and reconciliation to correct errors, increasing operating costs. Using Luther’s Deep Process Automation technology to streamline mortgage loan eClosing, Fannie Mae was able to reduce the estimated cost of the process by 65%. The estimated average eClosing process time was reduced from 40 hours to just 8 hours.

Fannie Mae operates the mortgage loan eClosing process as part of the mortgage loan acquisition value chain. This process operates across 9 teams & 19 software systems. To operate the process end-to-end, each system performs the same cycle of steps; i) send data & info to the System, ii) receive response from System, iii) compute & validate response, iv) share & store execution of step, v) evaluate & initiate next step. For reliable operations, all teams & systems involved should operate the same end-to-end Process. They often don’t! Enterprises attempt to i) set up local connectors between directly linked systems in the process, ii) Develop local operations scripts to manage the process. Both bespoke connectors and operations scripts require regular updates as teams, process operations, and systems evolve. These updates are reactive and localized, without fully considering the entire process. This leads to operational & technical challenges, which make process operations unreliable. The opportunity is providing a platform to reliably operate the end-to-end process, across all teams & systems involved.

These teams are: Lender Document Preparation Team, Settlement Agent Closing Team, Borrower, Lender Administration Team, Warehouse Bank Delivery and Certification Team, and Fannie Mae Verification and Certification Team. These systems are: DocMagic, Docusign, QuestSoft, Notarize, LoanServ, MERS eRegistry, eVault, ULDD Web Portal and FedACH.

Traditional solutions to end-to-end process operations are unreliable & expensive. Enterprise Operations are generally function-first, they continue to improve functions & systems. Processes are considered secondary. The thinking is that if we have great functions & systems, the business can operate any process! Luther's platform is designed process-first, & primarily focuses on end-to-end processes. Reliable end-to-end process operations include consistent operation, and great functions & systems. Traditionally enterprises use bespoke connectors & local operations scripts for process operations, which are fragmented, siloed, and change separately, and so are ineffective for reliable process operations. To remedy this, enterprises use automation tools. However they are ineffective at end-to-end process operations, due to their limited scope and scale, and stitching them together also doesn’t solve the problem.

Luther’s unique value for reliable end-to-end Process Operations is providing i) standard connectivity & ii) a common operations script, across all teams & software systems. Luther’s platform vertically integrates; i) distributed system technology ii) optimal resource allocation & management, iii) real time event ordering & streaming, iv) deterministic event processing & execution, for reliable end-to-end process operations. Luther’s platform does this by i) connecting systems to standard platform nodes, rather than to each other, and ii) teams & systems can change the common operations script but all teams & systems have to know & agree to the change, so all teams & systems involved operate the same end-to-end Process all the time!

To implement the platform; i) Luther’s team mapped the Process, ii) identified teams & software systems in the process, iii) allocated nodes (servers) to teams, iv) connected nodes to systems, v) set up the Platform on the nodes, vi) Fannie Mae’s team along with Luther’s team developed the  Common Operations Script (code) for Process Operations, vii) the process went Live. The process can now be completed in 8 hours and operational costs have been reduced by 65%.

Beyond the commercial results, this led to operational benefits in production, i) reliable operations across the end-to-end process & over time, ii) 5X smaller Ops teams, iii) real-time monitoring, iv) enforced compliance checks, v) real-time and consistent updates across all teams, vi) reduction of reconciliation. Also, technical benefits during development, i) standard dev. process so developers can focus on operations, ii) 5X smaller Dev teams, iii) standard process connectors, iv) automated infrastructure and connectors setup, v) real-time and consistent updates with the rest of operations. Ultimately, this leads to reliable end-to-end process operations!

For operational reliability, financial efficiency, regulatory reporting, and to avoid delays which adversely impact lender operations, each step of the eClosing process must be operated, documented, validated and completed effectively and consistently. To complete the eClosing process, Fannie Mae works with lenders, agents and banks to originate loans, verify them and transfer control of them to Fannie Mae.

The mortgage loan eClosing process has these steps: i) lender creates the closing documents, ii) lender performs compliance checks on the closing docs, iii) lender sends the closing docs to the settlement agent, iv) settlement agent reviews and approves the closing docs, v) settlement agent sends the closing docs to the borrower to sign, vi) borrower signs the docs, vii) settlement agent notarizes these docs, viii) lender requests loan funding from the warehouse bank, who release the funding, ix) lender creates and registers the eNote with the MERS eRegistry, x) lender sends a copy of the closing docs to the settlement agent, xi) settlement agent registers the docs with the Registrar of Deeds, xii) lender sends the eNote to the warehouse bank’s eVault, xiii) warehouse bank performs eNote verification, xiv) warehouse bank send the eNote to Fannie Mae’s eVault, xv) Fannie Mae receive the eNote and perform initial certification, xvi) Fannie Mae receive the ULDD from the lender, xvii) Fannie Mae verify the eNote against the ULDD, xviii) Fannie Mae store the eNote in their eVault, xix) Fannie Mae initiate wire transfer to the lender.

Enterprises are complex organizations operating many processes. Enterprises operate Processes across fragmented and siloed teams and software systems resulting in disjointed, inconsistent  and inefficient end to end operations, leading to high costs, delays and errors.

Specifically, operating processes across fragmented and siloed teams and software systems affect process operations both technically during the development phase & operationally once they go live in production.

Fannie Mae’s eClosing process encompasses multiple participants, who are fragmented and siloed throughout the process. Due to the siloed nature of the participants, teams will often change their operations without the knowledge of other teams operating the process. This often requires monitoring and reconciliation by Fannie Mae to correct errors and ensure the process functions correctly, increasing operational costs of the process. Delays impact lenders' liquidity. This means less mortgage loans originated for homebuyers, impacting the success of Fannie Mae’s mission of supporting mortgage availability.

To operate an end to end process enterprises traditionally set up projects, with i) dedicated  large teams,  & ii) infrastructure set up, to iii) develop application (end to end process) code, & iv) set up maintenance systems. This bespoke approach results in high operations cost & multiple technical & operational problems.

To attempt to remedy the inefficiencies of this approach, enterprises use automation tools such as RPA and workflow automation tools to operate the process. These tools are effective at operating local task and workflow operations, usually for 1-2 teams - but do not scale to end-to-end process operations across multiple teams and software systems. This approach does not solve the problems of operational friction, inefficiencies, delays and errors. For more details please visit the Full Case Study.

• Discover Phase (14 weeks):
• Platform Set-up (1 day): Luther's team deployed the platform on all nodes.
• Common Operations Script for Process Operations (26 weeks): Fannie Mae development team, in collaboration with Luther, developed the application code to operate the end-to-end process.
• Go Live (Production)

How it all comes together reliably, with the Luther Platform

Luther’s platform reliably operates the end-to-end mortgage loan eClosing process by providing standard connectivity and common operations scripts.

Operational and Technical Results

The Luther Platform streamlines operations across enterprise processes, reducing process time and cost while maintaining transparency and flexibility.