We teed up today’s events with a huge change to our networking gear over the weekend. It involved new DNS routing as well as gobs of new equipment to increase speed, redundancies and security. Solid planning by Brian Gardner, our CTO made the whole thing happen in a lot less time than we anticipated. On Saturday night I got a call that all was good – and I enjoyed a stress free weekend.

Cogent Road’s main application, Funding Suite is a very complex application that connects to a multitude of third party mortgage systems. Unfortunately, our new Cisco firewalls had a firmware update that caused unanticipated issues when these systems tried to access Funding Suite. I’m not making excuses, maybe we could have tried simulating these connections in production – you know, hindsight and all the rest – but regardless our system was not operating fully.

What followed was a blur of texting, cell phone ringtones and cars pulling into the office all at the same time. Brian was already on the phone with Cisco hounding them for an explanation when I got in. I did what any good CEO would do – I set a Costco sized bottle of Excedrin on his desk and left.

The entire situation lasted about an hour…which seemed like two weeks. Seeing an engineer poke a smiling face and exaggerated thumbs up in your office door brings with it a special kind of relief only software folks can understand.

Then all hell broke loose.

No phones & no power. So how do we inform our clients?

I had just begun a joint interview (I could not make this up) about Avail with our industry’s most veteran technology editor and one of our large clients. Just as I finished an initial comment – everything went dark. And quiet. No computers, no lights, no phone. Just immediate dark silence – all at once. And it was still Monday morning.

Turns out a transformer blew in San Diego which took out a good chunk of the La Jolla area. This meant we had no power and no telephones. Every customer that called was greeted with what I would argue is the most awful greeting a customer could ever hear – a busy signal. Our software was up and running – our datacenter runs on huge back up generators. But our phones were flatlined.

It wasn’t until two hours later that the power came back up and our heart started beating again. Customers didn’t seem to mind the inconvenience – and some even shared their own similar stories. But, in the end, I’m glad to see this day end.

Funding Suite used to receive these documents via fax and e-mail. As our business grew, we recognized this highly manual process created bottlenecks in an otherwise automated process. Our processors constantly sorted through a steady stream of incoming faxes attempting to match each with the correct service order. This was a difficult and time consuming process and one prone (unfortunately) to human error. We eventually solved the problem and made document delivery easier (and less wasteful) for our customers, while creating more efficient internal process. Here’s how we did it.

Automated Fax Server: The first step was to eliminate our bank of fax machines by building our own fax server. Once this was integrated into our secure network the server digitized every Funding Suite fax and converted it to a PDF.

Indexing System: Next we used barcoding and indexing to tell Funding Suite what kind of fax it had received. Additionally it recognized the specific mortgage lender and borrower file to which it belonged.

An E-Folder for Every Borrower: Once a fax is received it is stored in an e-folder attached to the corresponding applicant file. Our clients now receive a digital copy of every document for their reference, along with the specific time it was received.

Client Side Document Delivery: We recognized that if the client already had the document in a digital format, our e-folder could actually eliminate the need for faxing altogether! Our next step was to provide our clients with three different document delivery options accessible directly from their Funding Suite application.

• Barcoded Fax Cover Sheets: If the lender needs to send Funding Suite a document that exists in paper form, a couple mouse clicks creates a barcoded coversheet. When faxed to us, the fully indexed document appears in seconds within their applicant’s e-folder.
• Direct Upload: If the client receives a document via e-mail – why print it just to fax it over to us? Instead, to eliminate faxing altogether, the lender can upload the document directly into the applicant’s e-folder. Funding Suite recognizes the type of document received and responds accordingly.
• Virtual Printer: For any other document, the lender can select Funding Suite’s virtual printer to print it directly into the applicant’s e-folder. No paper is ever used.

Intelligent Routing: The final and most involved step was to write a series of algorithms to match incoming documents with the correct service order, department and processor. Consider the lender requesting two years of W2s. In this example the W2 order is placed electronically and queued up until Funding Suite receives the signed 4506 IRS form. Immediately upon placing the order a completed 4506 and barcoded coversheet is presented to the lender which can now be e-mailed to the applicant. The applicant signs the 4506 and faxes it back. Funding Suite servers read the document, match it to the pending W2 order and tee it up for the next available processor. A digital copy of the signed 4506 is also made available to the lender for their internal files. By eliminating the manual processes we significantly improved our completion speed – which in turn improves our customer service levels.

Although we won’t see a return on investment in terms of additional revenue since Funding Suite doesn’t charge for these enhancements – solving this problem provided an overall service improvement for our customers.

With the quickened pace of our California software company just hours away, and the quiet stillness of Tennessee only hours past, I’m stuck in a place that’s got me thinking just how important having a clear vision of who you are and what you want to be is to the success of your business.

You can learn a lot by watching chickens. Or fire ants. Or the way horses respond to a looming thunderstorm. Nature, for all practical purposes, is reactionary. The response may be simple, the way fire ants pour out of a hole made in their ant hill in such volumes it looks like blood streaming from some mortal wound. Or nature may respond complexly and more slowly, as in the way a tree will grow too tall for its own roots as it strains for light in a dense forest. Yet, no matter how beautiful, nature is a well orchestrated symphony of cause and effect.

Man, however is not a part of this symphony. We sit outside of nature’s rules in much the same way as the composer transcends the boundaries of the symphony being played. Man is gifted with the greatest of all gifts, an ability to envision, a capacity to create.

If you are a business owner, or an aspiring one, my weekend excursion into nature has compelled me to share one bit of advice: You will be successful if you continue to think and create. As you strive after your vision, you will grow. Become reactionary, (which this weekend has taught is the natural way of things) and you will stagnate. Keep creating. Keep growing.

My partner and I began Cogent Road with a simple vision – provide loan officers with innovative software that can help boost their business, and ultimately their incomes. This caused us to think about different ways in which our software could deliver this vision. Rather than trying to be a specific type of company, we focused solely on helping our clients. We began in 2001 with a credit platform we leased from a third party. As we thought about our vision, we created different ideas in which credit could be used to increase our client’s business. This led to ideas on how we could help our loan officer clients help their own client’s, the borrowers. It led to ideas in which credit could be used to increase our client’s word of mouth business from referring sources and previous borrowers. The led us to create Funding Suite, and in turn the concept of credit proofreading, which we believe to be the most powerful business building strategy a loan officer can use. And credit proofreading is leading us into new software offerings for loan officers that Cogent Road could never have anticipated just a few years ago.

Reflecting back on a weekend lived right out of the pages of Field and Stream, I realized how much we, as business people need vision. Perhaps for the first time I realized how contrary to nature a creative vision actually is. And likewise how difficult. Vision takes thought, and thinking may well be the hardest work a man can do. So it goes that I encourage you, wherever you find yourself right now, to begin creating. Begin the work of thinking about what you want to do and why you want to do it. Then by all means get to doing it. Break free of the reactionary nature of your industry, your competitors or even your own habitual way of looking at your business.

You possess what nature does not – the ability to create. Now get composing.

What is credit proofreading?
Credit proofreading is the automated examination of credit file data, supplied by the three major credit bureaus, to detect whether or not a credit score has been incorrectly evaluated due to errors within the credit file.

What errors does credit proofreading detect?
Two types of errors are spotted: credit data errors and credit usage errors.

Error Type #1:  Credit Data Errors
Creditors report payment history to the credit bureaus using data such as credit limit, credit balance, payment amount, current status and payment history. Computers read this data to calculate a credit score. If anything is entered incorrectly due to human or computer error, inaccurate scores may result.

Error Type #2: Credit Usage Errors
Credit usage reflects the way borrowers use existing credit lines. Since credit use is a factor in calculating credit scores, improper spending habits can lower credit scores. Credit usage is misunderstood because many borrowers have little awareness of how their credit use affects their scores. Credit usage activities that get factored into credit scores include the number of available credit lines, the amount of debt incurred or the balance on each credit line and whether a credit card is used too much or too little.

How can credit proofreading help?
Credit proofreading evaluates the accuracy of credit reports, identifies errors, estimates how many points each error is costing the borrower and lists specific actions that can be taken to correct errors. Results can typically be returned immediately, and most errors can be resolved within 72 hours. For borrowers with credit usage errors, mortgage brokers and loan officers who conduct credit proofreading can offer suggestions on how to alter credit usage habits to legitimately increase the credit score.

How is credit proofreading different from credit repair?
Credit repair companies falsely claim to clean up credit reports, for a substantial fee, so borrowers can get approved for auto loans, mortgages or insurance. These schemes do nothing more than dispute information, which borrowers can do for themselves easily and at no cost. Credit proofreading, on the other hand, evaluates the accuracy of credit reports and assists borrowers in correcting errors or changing spending behavior – at no cost to the borrower. Further credit proofreading analyzes the actual data within the credit file, something a borrower can not do without the help of a mortgage professional.

Where can borrowers receive this service?
More than 4,000 mortgage professionals around the country have automated credit proofreading tools to identify and resolve data and usage errors within credit files.

Using a credit repair service may well cost you more than $500 in up front fees. Instead, I’ll show you how to do exactly what they would do for you for free. And faster too. Consider the $240 you’ve given to charity a chance to put 50% of the money you would have given to the credit repair firm to much better use. 

Let’s take the mystery out of credit repair right now. All a credit repair company does for you is dispute information on your credit report. This means they will tell the credit bureaus when information is wrong. Within 45 to 90 days, if the information really is wrong, then it will be corrected. That’s it. Ironically, in the time it takes you find and pay for a credit repair company, you could have completed the task with the bureaus yourself. And for free.

Credit repair companies prey on ignorance, on consumers that don’t know how to do what I am going to plainly show you how to do. Because the process seems difficult, and involves highly personal credit reporting information, consumers blindly trust these firms and unfortunately pay whatever they ask. The fact that some credit repair firms hide behind a lawyer title makes the process all the more deceiving. The most insidious aspect of this somewhat shady business practice is that the company implies it will somehow give you a better credit score than you rightfully deserve. This is a lie – and, regrettably is the biggest reason people throw lots of money at these firms.

Again, all a credit repair company can actually do for you is dispute wrong information in your credit file. And who knows whether something is wrong in your credit file better than you? Even if you hired a credit repair firm, you would still have to tell them where the errors are. Let me say here that some firms will suggest you dispute every derogatory item on your credit report – and make the lender prove whether its true or not. Don’t fall for this. Even if the lender doesn’t respond within the time allowed, the information will only be changed in the short term. (which renders the costly improvement effort useless). You see, the next time the lender reports to the bureau, your accurate derogatory information will reappear.

The really good news about disputing wrong information is that all three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian) now use a free online dispute process – which means you can review your credit file line by line, search your file for errors and dispute any you find without picking up the phone or even mailing a single letter. The whole process takes a few minutes and costs a big fat zero. And you can do it once every single year – which, by the way, isn’t a bad habit.

To check your credit report for errors simply go to www.annualcreditreport.com where you can order a credit report for free once a year. Make sure you review all three bureaus since each is an independent company and any one of the three may be reporting your payment history in error. While reviewing the report, each bureau gives you the option to dispute information. Each uses a slightly different dispute method, but all are easy nonetheless.

When reviewing tradelines look for any accounts that are not yours. Keep in mind, some may report using creditor names with which you aren’t familiar, but you may well be the account holder. Look also at the inquiries – has a company pulled your credit without your permission. If so, you can get the inquiry removed. Look for balance on credit cards reporting incorrectly as well as high credit limits. Creditors are notorious for misreporting credit limits – and if they are reporting a limit that’s too low it may hurt your credit score. Ditto for balances reported erroneously high.

In the end look for anything inaccurate and use the online process to let the bureaus know about it. The bureaus will contact the creditor for you and verify if what you are saying is correct. At no cost to you, the bureau will update your file to reflect the accurate information. And, in addition to saving a lot of money, you’ll learn a lot about your credit file – which is a rather nice side benefit.

There is more, however. Technically competent mortgage brokers can make very dramatic and legitimate increases in your credit score in just a few days. I’ll blog about this later.