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POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Jan. 10, 2018 — ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the launch of ARMCO CARES, the company’s employee matching gift program.

Introduced during the holiday season of 2018, ARMCO CARES offers a dollar for dollar match of employee donations to a U.S. registered 501c3 charitable organization of the employee’s choice. It is available to both part time and full time ARMCO employees. ARMCO plans to expand ARMCO CARES in 2019 to include employee wellness and community involvement programs. 

For its inaugural effort, ARMCO CARES provided financial support to 27 different charitable organizations with causes that include health, human rights, animal welfare, human services, veterans, inclusion, youth services, and more.

“This program is great because it extends employees’ reach for the causes that they’re passionate about,” said Avi Naider, CEO of ARMCO. “ARMCO’s success is based on our commitment to bettering the lives of others, and ARMCO CARES is a natural extension of that. In just a couple of months, ARMCO CARES has grown our family-friendly company culture of giving, which ultimately benefits both our employees and our customers.”

About ARMCO

Over half of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the U.S. choose ARMCO as their provider of risk management software. ARMCO’s product line includes loan quality enterprise software, services, data and analytics. Its flagship product, ACES Audit Technology™, has set the bar for user definability in its category. It is used at virtually every point in the mortgage lifecycle, as well as for a wide range of risk-prone business operations outside traditional mortgage origination and servicing. ARMCO’s consultative approach to customer relationships leverages 25 years of mortgage risk intel, assuring that its clients are using the most effective risk mitigation strategies, and are using the fastest, most reliable, most efficient means for preventing risk-related loss. ARMCO distributes the ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, a free quarterly analysis of industry-wide mortgage loan quality. For more information, visit www.acesquality.com or call 1-800-858-1598.

PRESS CONTACT

Jeri Yoshida

Yosh Communications

jeri@yoshcomm.com

310 651 0057

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Dec. 20, 2018 — ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology™ during the second quarter (Q2) of 2018.

The report’s noteworthy findings for Q2 2018 include:

• Continuation of several defect trends:
  • A significant quarter-over-quarter increase (23.8% over Q1 2018) in defects related to Loan Package Documentation, which are often associated with downsizing and understaffing, a trend that began in the previous quarter, Q1 2018
  • The majority of defects were attributed to the Income/Employment category, a trend that began in the previous quarter, Q1 2018
  • Core underwriting and eligibility issues were the most frequent cause of critical defects, a trend that has continued since the Q1 2017
• The critical defect rate decreased slightly, from 1.72% in Q1 2018 to 1.71%.
• Defects attributed to Borrower and Mortgage Eligibility increased by roughly 70%, from 6.57% in Q1 2018 to 11.36%

“In Q2 2018, we saw continued increases in defects typically resulting from downsizing and understaffing,” said Phil McCall, president and COO of ARMCO. “This seems to indicate that many lenders are still responding to the reduction in business and compressed margins with personnel changes, even in a purchase-dominated market.” 

Although defects associated with loan package documentation do not usually result in non-saleable loans, they can still have a detrimental impact on profitability. They often result in investors and insurers suspending loan purchases, which can reduce warehouse line capacity and result in price adjustments.

“The market’s current fluctuation demonstrates the financial reasons lenders need QC technologies that are dynamic and adaptable enough to respond quickly when the market shifts,” said McCall. “Sacrificing quality is a costly but unnecessary consequence of revenue reductions. In reality, no lender needs to accept less than the highest quality, regardless of contracting volumes or margins.”

The Q2 2018 ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report is based on nationwide post-closing quality control loan data from over 90,000 unique loans selected for random full-file reviews, as was captured by the company’s ACES Analytics benchmarking software. Defects listed in the report are categorized using the Fannie Mae loan defect taxonomy. Each ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends report includes easy-to-read charts and graphs, a summary that outlines ARMCO’s overall findings, a breakdown of defect rates for each Fannie Mae loan defect category, and a short conclusion. ARMCO issues a one-year analysis for the calendar year with each fourth quarter Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report.

ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are available for download, free of charge, at https://www.acesquality.com/learn/reports.

About ARMCO

Over half of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the U.S. choose ARMCO as their provider of risk management software. ARMCO’s product line includes loan quality enterprise software, services, data and analytics. Its flagship product, ACES Audit Technology™, has set the bar for user definability in its category. It is used at virtually every point in the mortgage lifecycle, as well as for a wide range of risk-prone business operations outside traditional mortgage origination and servicing. ARMCO’s consultative approach to customer relationships leverages 25 years of mortgage risk intel, assuring that its clients are using the most effective risk mitigation strategies, and are using the fastest, most reliable, most efficient means for preventing risk-related loss. ARMCO distributes the ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, a free quarterly analysis of industry-wide mortgage loan quality. For more information, visit www.acesquality.com or call 1-800-858-1598.

PRESS CONTACT

Jeri Yoshida

Yosh Communications

jeri@yoshcomm.com

310 651 0057

HousingWire--Sarah Wheeler

ARMCO's DataSure provides robust data validation technology for greater lender efficiency

Executive Conversations is a HousingWire web series that profiles powerful people in the financial industry, highlighting the operations and the people that make this sector tick. In the latest installment, we sit down with Phil McCall, president of ARMCO, to talk about the importance of data integrity, and how lenders can use quality control technology to increase their efficiency while reducing risk.

Q. What sort of risk do lenders face when it comes to data integrity?

A. Lenders usually feel the pain of data errors when they go to sell their loans. The GSEs require uniform data sets, so when documents have inconsistencies or missing data, the purchase process is delayed until those issues are addressed. Data integrity issues often lead to price adjustments.

Bottom line, lenders are often losing money because of incorrect data.

Another big risk is from the regulatory agencies, who are pushing back on lenders and making them fix errors on loan application records as far back as three years. For example, the CFPB could identify data integrity errors during a HMDA audit and require a full re-submission of a lender’s LAR data for up to three years.

This could put a major strain on resources because this type of re-submission usually needs to be completed with a three to four month period. A mid-size lender taking in 25,000+ applications per year could be required to research, re-validate and re-enter data for 75,000 applications or more.

No lender has those resources available and outsourced resources who handle these types of situations are costly. They can make the fines levied for these types errors look small in comparison. It’s hard to put an exact dollar amount on that work, but it’s significant and real.

Q. Why is this risk rising?

As the industry evolves to digital mortgages, lenders are processing new data sources virtually every week, but those data sources don’t all speak the same language. So, lenders are manually keying information into their LOS, multiplying the risk of errors and expending a lot more time.

Lenders need a translator that standardizes and compares all of these data sources, then systemically identifies errors. That’s why ARMCO launched DataSure. DataSure improves the accuracy of a lender’s data while shortening pre-funding and post-closing timelines.

Q. How does DataSure improve data quality?

In short, DataSure assures that the data in the loan file accurately reflects the data on loan documents. It does this by automatically parsing and evaluating data on virtually any type of loan document, cross comparing that data to the lender’s source system – which is usually their LOS – and automatically communicating all corrected data fields back into that system.

Lenders usually handle this process manually using the “stare-and-compare” method, which of course, isn’t just error-prone, it’s also a tedious, time-consuming strain on some of lenders’ most costly and skilled staff positions.

Q. How does DataSure increase lenders’ efficiency?

First, it virtually eliminates manual and repeat activity in the data validation process. As we worked with our pilot clients, we’ve seen DataSure improve the core efficiency of personnel by more than 50%.

Almost all lending shops have a post-close department where people complete the data validation process, often using a manual checklist where they compare data from documents and fields in their LOS and make sure it all matches. You might have 15 people whose job is just cleaning up the data at the end of the loan process, and they still couldn’t get through all the loans at that point.

But often, the loan gets moved to another area — say, capital markets — and that team doesn’t trust the work being done on validation and so they review the initial review! DataSure has multiple triggers throughout the whole manufacturing process so 75% of all the data is already validated by the time it gets to the end of the process.

Secondly, DataSure streamlines the process because it uses business rules to make decisions on which data is correct when there is a discrepancy. Our engine is driving the answers, instead of a human making decisions. Lenders don’t need to hire experienced mortgage industry professionals to analyze loan data. DataSure does the same type of review every time in a repeatable process that happens the same way for every loan that gets reviewed.

Lenders using DataSure are able to increase the efficiency of their employees and reduce FTE expenses while solving their long-term risk.

To find out more about DataSure and how it can help you reduce the risk of inaccurate data, visit the website here. 

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Sept. 17, 2018 —ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of technology for loan quality and compliance testing, data validation and analytics, announced the launch of DataSure™, a quality control technology that increases data validation accuracy and efficiency, and reduces lenders’ data validation task times by 50 percent or more.

“Most loans contain at least one data discrepancy that can negatively impact lenders’ revenue through buybacks, delays, loss of investor confidence, and longer warehouse dwell times,” said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. “If lenders don’t use a robust data validation technology, they can expect discrepancies that cost them tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary expenses.”

In a matter of moments, DataSure validates loan data for thousands of key data points within a lender’s source system (i.e. loan origination system) by cross referencing those data points against data contained in loan documents. It then automatically communicates all corrected data fields back to the lender’s source system. This assures data consistency and accuracy at each step of the loan process. DataSure also provides robust reporting capabilities, so lenders can identify the root causes of their data discrepancies and adjust their practices going forward.

Most lenders assign the task of data validation to their underwriting teams, who fulfill the process using the manual “stare-and-compare” method—a tedious, time consuming and error-prone process and one of the primary drivers behind the large number of discrepancies. In addition to increasing the risk of errors and inaccuracies, this method allocates underwriters—one of lenders’ highest paid and most skilled human resources—to an activity that can be accomplished much faster, more accurately and more economically with technology.

“The best way to protect current profits and future longevity is to be proactive about loan quality,” said McCall. “DataSure is one more ARMCO tool that the mortgage community can use to drive the health and growth of their businesses.”

Press Release

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Aug. 30, 2018 —ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of technology for loan quality and compliance testing, data validation and analytics, announced the launch of Fraud Case Manager, the industry’s first technology for managing and analyzing fraud investigations.

ARMCO has been selected to present a demo at the Digital Mortgage Conference in Las Vegas, NV at noon, September 17th, 2018. Come learn about our exciting new ARMCO product offering and visit us at kiosk K202 to speak with ARMCO executives about the future of RegTech solutions.  

To set up a meeting, please contact us at sales@armco.us

2018 MBA Risk Management, QA & Fraud Prevention Forum Appearances

Sharon Reichhardt, VP of Client Success, has been selected for the following panel at the MBA Risk Management, QA & Fraud Prevention Forum.

Loan Quality Assurance Track: Process Re-engineering
Monday, September 24th, 2018 at 10:45AM - 12:00PM

Nick Volpe, Chief Strategy Officer, has been selected for the following panel at the MBA Risk Management, QA & Fraud Prevention Forum.

Loan Quality Assurance Track: Measuring Defect Rates
Tuesday, September 25th, 2018 at 9:45AM - 10:45AM

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., July 12, 2018 — ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology™ during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017 as well as the 2017 calendar year (CY).

The report’s noteworthy findings include:

• The Q4 2017 critical defect rate increased slightly, from 1.65% to 1.68%
• The percentage of purchase transactions declined for the second consecutive quarter
• The CY 2017 critical defect rate increased seven percent
• The distribution of critical defects shifted significantly from 2016 to 2017

“In 2016, the categories containing the majority of critical defects reflected the industry’s reaction to TRID, which had been implemented at the end of 2015,” said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. “In 2017, we see a shift away from those categories, toward the types of defects that align with the industry’s move to a purchase-driven market.”

In 2017, the majority of critical defects centered around issues associated with core underwriting and eligibility issues, which is reflective of the deeper complexity of purchase transactions, as compared to refinances.  

The Q4/CY 2017 ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report is based on nationwide post-closing quality control loan data from over 90,000 unique loans selected for random full-file reviews, as was captured by the company’s ACES Analytics benchmarking software. Defects listed in the report are categorized using the Fannie Mae loan defect taxonomy.

Each ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report includes easy-to-read charts and graphs, a summary that outlines ARMCO’s overall findings, a breakdown of defect rates for each Fannie Mae loan defect category, and a short conclusion. ARMCO issues a one-year analysis for the calendar year with each fourth quarter Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report.

“When you see how much the issues that impact quality can change quarter to quarter and year over year, it becomes apparent why lenders should use the most current data for strategies going forward,” said McCall. “ARMCO provides the Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report for free because we want to arm all lenders with as many tools as possible to achieve quality in the most efficient way possible.”

To obtain a copy of the report, please visit https://www.acesquality.com/knowledge/mortgage-qc-industry-report-2017-q4.

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., June 20, 2018 — ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise transaction and loan risk mitigation software solutions, has announced that former director of client services Sharon Reichhardt has been promoted to vice president of client success.

In this capacity, Ms. Reichhardt will manage ongoing adoption by customers of the full feature-set of the ACES Audit Technology™ platform, ARMCO’s flagship product. She will oversee ARMCO’s professional services division, which focuses on expanding usage and understanding of ARMCO’s technology and data products by working closely with clients to configure the ACES platform for maximum efficiency and ROI.

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., June 7, 2018 — ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk mitigation software solutions, has announced that it has hired Nick Volpe as chief strategy officer.

As chief strategy officer, Volpe is charged with expanding the adoption of ACES Audit Technology™ across financial enterprises and shepherding new solutions to market via ARMCO’s consultative approach to customer challenges. In addition to the use of ACES as a quality control (QC) technology platform in the pre-funding, post-closing and servicing phases of the mortgage process, ACES can be used in virtually any other business operation that requires internal auditing and monitoring.

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., May 31, 2018 — ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk mitigation software solutions, has announced several product enhancements that improve the mortgage quality control (QC) process for lenders and servicers using its auditing platform ACES Audit Technology™.  

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., May 16, 2018 — ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk mitigation software solutions, announced an integration with BankVOD, the company that pioneered the electronic risk interface for asset verifications. This integration, which provides a direct, seamless connection between ARMCO’s ACES Audit Technology™ and BankVOD’s Verification Hub™, enables ARMCO clients the ability to order Asset Verifications, 4506-T, Employment and Occupancy and Liens & Judgments on a batch or flow basis, and receive the data via a secure electronic transfer directly into their ACES instance.