February 02 2014
SAN FRANCISCO, CA –– January 31, 2014 – DocuSign joins the rest of the United States real estate industry in applauding the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Office of Single Family Housing's expansion of lender authority to accept electronic signatures on documents associated with mortgage loans. The publication of Mortgagee Letter 2014-03 is the latest in a series of promised changes to advance eSignature acceptance on FHA-backed mortgages – making it easier, faster, more convenient, and secure than ever to close home loans with DocuSign.
FHA's new policy complements and improves upon its earlier policy Mortgagee Letter 2010-14 – which was developed in close partnership with DocuSign – that only allowed for eSignatures on third party documents such as purchase and sale contracts and others not controlled by lenders. Today's Mortgagee Letter 2014-03 encourages eSignatures on origination, servicing, and loss mitigation documents, as well as FHA insurance claims, REO sales contracts, and related addenda. The terms of Mortgagee Letter 2010-14 will continue to stand as well, so real estate professionals can work with confidence that eSignature acceptance is expanded to include a broader range of mortgage documents.
"FHA's broader acceptance of eSignature for mortgage lenders is a great step forward for brokers, agents, lenders, and their clients," said Ken Moyle, chief legal officer, DocuSign. "DocuSign is pleased to have helped shape this progressive legislation on behalf of our customers and partners. As the real estate industry standard for eSignature, DocuSign helps mortgage companies comply with all FHA eSignature requirements."
In a newsletter issued yesterday (FHA INFO #14-05), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development stated, "The eSignatures policy announced today will help streamline the origination process and help reduce document submission timeframes for borrowers seeking options to avoid foreclosure," removing barriers to close one of the most important documents individuals and couples will ever DocuSign – a mortgage.
The new FHA policy opens technology and innovation to facilitate and accelerate transactions with, for, and by mortgage lenders. It does not change the current process in which real estate professionals DocuSign purchase and sale agreements and other real estate documents.
As the real estate industry leader for eSignature and transaction management, DocuSign helps mortgage companies comply with all of the new criteria set forth in Mortgagee Letter 2014-03, including:
Companies interested in learning more about DocuSign's eSignature platform for real estate may visit www.docusign.com.
DocuSign®, The Global Standard for eSignature®, is the leader in eSignature transaction management. Global enterprises, business departments, individual professionals, and consumers are standardizing on DocuSign, with more than 60,000 new users joining the DocuSign Global Network every day. Today, that network includes users in 188 countries. DocuSign is used to accelerate transaction times to increase speed to results, reduce costs, and delight customers across nearly every industry – from financial services, insurance, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, communications, property management and consumer goods, to higher education and others. For more information, visit www.docusign.com or call 877.720.2040.