A fix for slow underwriting times

One broker, frustrated by slow underwriting turnarounds, is pleading with lenders to fix the inefficiencies.

In a bid to remain competitive with the big banks during the year’s busiest season, one broker is suggesting lenders need to revamp underwriting paperwork policies to expedite the deal process.

“Lenders don’t often look at documents at the same time they get a mortgage request, they generally view them after and you’ve got different people looking at the documents and different people doing the underwriting, so there is a real disconnect, in my opinion,” Denny Segal of Dominion Lending Centres Origin told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “That could be smoothed out if you had some people in power to do both – make a credit decision and review the documentation, which could break up the disconnect.”

The spring and summer markets are traditionally busiest for the real estate industry, and now that that season is underway, brokers are encountering more frustration completing deals.

Toronto, for example, just had a record month for sales in April, with a reported 11,303 homes sold last month.

“Lenders provide service level agreements, generally speaking, that say they will turn something around in a specified time but you can’t control volumes in the marketplace,” Segal said. “And sometimes not having the ability to communicate directly with the underwriter is frustrating. We have to speak with a document clerk … who isn’t as familiar with the file.”

Still, some brokers are more efficient with underwriting turnaround times, according to Segal.

“It’s just process,” Segal said. “These lenders are big institutions that have way of doing things … there are some in the broker community that are much better than others and that’s where the business goes.”