NeighborWorks America and Direct Lending Family, a technology company committed to simplifying the mortgage origination process for nonprofit organizations, have teamed up to create NeighborWorks Mortgage Source, an online mortgage origination and pricing platform.
Direct Lending Family and NeighborWorks see this alliance as a national alternative to traditional local or regional lender options of most nonprofit mortgage originators. The national system reaches more than 100 lenders and state housing finance agency mortgage options giving consumers working with a nonprofit originator the greatest opportunity to obtain the best mortgage for their needs, no matter where they live.
“This is a fantastic development for nonprofit mortgage lending,” said Marietta Rodriguez, national director of homeownership and lending at NeighborWorks America. “By enabling NeighborWorks organizations to access the most diverse mortgage choices available around the country, we are able to help more homebuyers get the right mortgage for the long-term, at the best cost possible.”
While on the surface the Direct Lending platform appears similar to other multiple-lender internet services, Tammy Butler, CEO of Direct Lending Family says that conclusion is incorrect.
“The only similarity between NeighborWorks Mortgage Source and other online multiple-lender platforms is the fact that they are both online. Mortgage Source does not sell personal information to multiple lenders, does not let predatory mortgage products get into the system and provides the client with a complete and unbiased underwriting of their personal financial situation at a lower cost to the consumer than the national average.” said Butler.
Butler noted that NeighborWorks Mortgage Source is designed specifically to take into account during the underwriting process the possibility of multiple sources of cash to close, a typical situation when dealing with nonprofit mortgage originations which may see a homebuyer come to the table with funds from their own accounts and grants from as many as half a dozen other sources.
Importantly, homebuyers coming to NeighborWorks for mortgages go through its homeownership advisory services first, which in the past have shown to be very effective at lowering relative delinquency and foreclosure rates because of the NeighborWorks emphasis on obtaining the right loan at the right time and within the present budget.
“The homebuyers with whom NeighborWorks does business often are not traditional borrowers, but want traditional pricing,” said Rodriguez. “The flexibility of Direct Lending’s platform recognizes this and delivers for the many homebuyers that traditional underwriting overlook and who NeighborWorks helps achieve sustainable homeownership every day.”
