Remax-owned Wemlo develops broker-facing loan origination system

Wemlo, a technology provider owned by Remax Holdings, has created the Loan Brokering System to fill what it feels is a missing niche in the marketplace.

"My understanding of the space is that most of the systems out there are really not built just for brokers and Wemlo is built just for brokers," said Dustin Morton, vice president of product and strategy for Wemlo and corporate sibling Motto Franchising. "So those other systems that brokers often use will have steps around closing disclosures for example or requirements and tasks that they have to navigate through that just don't apply to their business."

The system is being rolled out to Motto Mortgage franchisees first and then to the broader mortgage broker market in January.

Tom Maynor

LBS is built upon many of the processing technologies that Remax acquired in the Wemlo deal last September, but it replaced and enhanced so many things that what it's launching is an all new technology, Morton said.

"I think the idea started as just solving issues, challenges for Motto Mortgage franchisees," he said. "But once we saw those issues and we understand that our customer has the same challenges as brokers across the country, you sort of ask yourself why not make that solution available to everyone who needs it."

The differentiator between Wemlo's LBS and other broker facing systems on the market is around packaging the information efficiently for lender submission. "We are creating references on the Wemlo side just so that process goes as quickly as humanly possible," Morton said. "And I'm not sure of any other system that prepares the information for the purpose of submitting to a wholesale lender."

After the loan application is finalized, the system sends the loan disclosures and prepares data for submission to the wholesale lender in one click.

"We've been consulting with and working with brokers for several years and really coming to understand their pain points and trying to find solutions that exist, and coming up short," said Morton. "And after years of that experience, finally just taking the bull by the horns and building it for ourselves and providing the solutions that actually meet their day to day challenges is something that we're really excited to be doing."

Rolling it out first to Motto franchises gives the company an advantage by acting as a test run. "I think enhancements that we'll get from the field from live transactions across the country will tell us what additional features we can add before we bring it to market," Morton said.

Among the other broker-facing systems on the market include products from Calyx and Black Knight.