Situation

The head of Branch Operations for a major regional bank needed to streamline processing of residential mortgage loan applications in order to speed decisions for customers and reduce workplace stress, while maintaining established underwriting policies and regulatory compliance.

Team Engagement Strategy

A cross-functional team sponsored by the heads of Branch Operations and Mortgage Underwriting (including loan officers from various locations and home office underwriters) was equipped with Rapid Action, a team engagement toolkit for accelerating results.

Rapid Action Project Charter

How can we standardize practices for granting and closing-out conditional mortgage loan approvals in order to improve the customer’s experience, reduce rework and increase underwriting capacity?

Sample of Solutions Implemented

1. Created a branch-wide list of acceptable reasons for granting conditional loan approvals to reduce the number of unqualified conditional mortgage approvals.
2. Established a new policy for communication between central underwriting and branch loan officers to provide options for closing open mortgage application conditions before rejecting or sending the application forward.
3. Developed reporting tools to track closeout cycle-times on conditional loan approvals and report causes of delay or rejection.
4. Developed a set of job aids and a branch briefing to spread best practices.