WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.–Truliant FCU here will become the first credit union in the state that will be able to offer complete e-closing services on mortgages, according to North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall.
Truliant will also be the second North Carolina-based financial institution to offer a fully electronic mortgage closing process.
“North Carolina is far and away the leader in this space,” Marshall said. “We are more prepared than any other state in terms of the legal infrastructure. Truliant’s announcement today opens the door to more and more e-closings, which are more efficient for consumers, save time and money for financial institutions, and allow land records to be recorded instantly at the register of deeds.”
Shortened Process
According to Truliant and the state, e-closings — for mortgage applications to closings — significantly shorten the length of the mortgage process. Lenders have been able to reduce the lengthy mortgage process from 50 days to 30 days or fewer. Consumers see the final closing meeting take 20-45 minutes instead of several hours, the organizations said.
In addition, e-closings reduce the use of paper, legal fees, mailing and courier costs. The process is done on a secure network with all documents being encrypted and stored on an electronic vault.
“I think this is going to be revolutionary for the mortgage industry and for our members who go through the mortgage process,” Truliant Federal Credit Union President Todd Hall said in a statement. “It’s abundantly clear that this process is better, faster and more secure than the traditional paper methods. We instantly saw value and the potential benefits for our members and the opportunity to grow our mortgage footprint.”
Additional Plans
Truliant said it plans to offer fully digital e-closings in its online origination system and at its North Carolina branches in the first quarter of 2020 — and expects to complete its first e-closing in the same quarter.
Secretary Marshall has also appointed Beth Eller, vice president of mortgage lending at Truliant, to the North Carolina Electronic Mortgage Closing Advisory Committee.
A video on the initiative can be found here.