Feature Enhancements in Version 21.1 April Service Pack

2009 loan application workflows will be migrated automatically to URLA 2020 with the release of Encompass Consumer Connect 21.2, which is currently scheduled for June 5, 2021.

This automatic migration applies to all 2009 loan application workflows that do not have an URLA 2020 Effective Date set or have the URLA 2020 Effective Date set to migrate after the release of Encompass Consumer Connect 21.2.

The URLA 2020 Effective Date setting is available for URLA 2009 (Interview style) and URLA 2009 (Form style) loan application workflows in the loan app workflows editor.

How Automatic Migration Will Affect Incomplete Loan Applications

Any incomplete loan applications using a 2009 loan application workflow will be migrated automatically to URLA 2020 on migration day. The next time the borrower logs into the borrower portal to resume their draft application, they will be presented with a message indicating that changes have been made to their loan application and prompted to review the changes.

How Automatic Migration Will Affect New Loan Applications

New applications will use the default URLA 2020 loan application template starting on migration day. Note that the default URLA 2020 loan application template will not include any customizations such as labels, required field settings, and so on. To migrate loan application settings and customizations into the default URLA 2020 loan application, a lender administrator must log into the administration portal and acknowledge the URLA 2020 automatic migration.

Be aware that with migration some data loss can occur depending on your configuration. To avoid any unexpected data loss, we strongly advise migrating all 2009 loan application workflows to URLA 2020 and testing them end-to-end before the 21.2 release.

For information about migrating and testing loan application workflows, see the URLA 2020 Guides and Resources.

Microsoft announced on August 17, 2020 that they will sunset support for Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11).

In light of this announcement, and given the issues described in the Known Issues section under Feature Enhancements in Version 21.1 April Service Pack on page 1, we are recommending that lender administrators and loan officers who use the Encompass Consumer Connect Admin portal begin using one of the supported web browsers below. In addition, to prepare for these changes and minimize borrower impact prior to Microsoft’s official date of August 17th 2021, Encompass Consumer Connect will stop supporting IE 11 for borrowers after the 21.2 release.

Supported browsers:

• Microsoft Edge
• Chrome
• Firefox
• Safari

For more information on the Microsoft Internet Explorer announcement please click here.

A new option is available on the Borrower Lookup page that allows lenders to check a borrower's email address and remove it from the bounce list. The bounce list is an internal list maintained by the Consumer Connect mail server containing email addresses for email that bounced, or never made it to the recipients inbox after multiple attempts. An email can bounce for various reasons, for example, if the recipient's email address is invalid or incorrect, or if the mail server was temporarily unavailable when Consumer Connect sent the message.

When an email address is added to the bounce list, Consumer Connect suppresses any future messages to that address. If a borrower cannot locate email sent from Consumer Connect, even after checking the Spam folder, we recommend first verifying the email address they provided is correct, then checking the bounce list. If the email address is on the bounce list, it can easily be removed allowing Consumer Connect to send future messages to the recipient.

1. In Encompass Consumer Connect Admin, go to Borrower Lookup.

2. Click the Check and remove link above the Borrower Lookup search bar.

   

3. Enter the email address in the space provided, then click Check and Remove.

   

   If the email address is found on the bounce list, it is removed and a confirmation message is displayed. Once it is removed from the list, Consumer Connect will be able to send messages to the address.

   

   If the email address is not on the bounce list, a message is displayed stating the email address was not found.

   

Several enhancements have been made to the Conditionally Required Fields section in loan application settings to provide lenders with more flexibility in customizing a loan application workflow. These enhancements include support for multiple condition rules per workflow, expanded criterion for triggering rules, and the ability to make selected fields hidden when a rule is triggered. In addition, the Conditionally Required Fields section has been re-named to Conditional Fields.

Support for Multiple Condition Rules

With this release, multiple condition rules can be applied to a loan application workflow. Previously, only one conditional rule could be applied per workflow. Edit and Delete icons have also been added so that lender administrators can easily manage existing condition rules.

Expanded Criterion for Triggering Rules

Conditional field rules are used to control certain logic in the loan application based on the Purpose of Loan selected by the borrower. For example, a rule can be created make the subject property address fields required if the loan purpose is Cash-Out Refinance. Previously, the loan purpose options available to select as a trigger action were No Cash-Out Refinance, Cash-Out Refinance, and Home Equity Line of Credit. With this release, the following options are available:

• No Cash-Out Refinance
• Cash-Out Refinance
• Home Equity Line of Credit
• Purchase
• Construction
• Construction-To-Permanent

New Option Added to Hide Fields

A new trigger action has been added to conditional field rules so that selected fields can be hidden when a rule is triggered. Lender administrators can choose one or more subject property address fields to hide when a specified loan purpose is triggered.

Be aware that the hide trigger action of a conditional field rule will override the Show and/or Required settings in the Loan Details section of loan application settings. For example, when a conditional field rule includes an action to hide the Subject Property State when the loan purpose is Construction, and that rule is triggered, the Subject Property State field will not be shown to the borrower even if the Subject Property State is set as Required in the Loan Details configuration.

A Delete icon has been added to the Email Notifications page to give lender administrators the ability to remove unverified sender email addresses.

Any unverified email addresses listed under Email Notifications > Verify Sender Email Address section of the Email Notifications page can now be removed, if needed, by clicking next to the email address.

For loan application workflows that use Finicity as the Asset Verification Service Provider, a new field has been added requiring lenders to specify a Finicity User Experience ID. An Experience ID is a unique identifier provided by Finicity that references a customized user experience for asset verification.

Starting with this release, a User Experience ID is required to run asset verification with Finicity. Please provide an Experience ID for each loan application workflow that uses Finicity as the Asset Verification Service Provider.

1. In Encompass Consumer Connect Admin, click Loan App Workflow.

2. If you have more than one site, select the site you want to edit from the drop-down list at the top of the page.

3. Click the Edit icon next to the workflow.

4. In the loan application workflow editor, scroll down to the end of the page and click Services Settings.

5. Go to the Asset Verification section.

   

6. In the User Experience ID field, enter the Finicity Experience ID that you want to apply to the workflow.

7. Click Save.

This release introduces support for eClosing package management using the borrower portal. Once the eClosing functionality is enabled in your Encompass instance, borrowers can view and eSign closing documents using the borrower portal.

Encompass eClose is generally available with the Encompass 21.1 April Service Pack release but is not enabled by default for all users. Encompass eClose is an opt-in service. For more information or to get started, please contact your relationship manager.

The account creation process for borrower portal and Loan Connect has been enhanced and simplified to improve user experience. With this release, the email verification step is replaced by reCAPTCHA verification.

Previously, users (borrowers and loan contributors) were required to verify a newly created account by clicking a verification link sent to the email address provided in the Create an Account form. reCAPTCHA verification simplifies the process by requiring the user to simply select the I am not a robot check box on the Create an Account form prior to submitting the form. Some users may be required to complete a challenge to move forward. Email notifications are no longer sent to the user for account verification.

If an account was created prior to this release and not verified, the borrower will need to verify their account using the link inside the email notification.

The I am not a robot check box, as shown above, is located at the end of the form. When the check box is selected, the Create Account button becomes active allowing users to submit their information to complete the account. After clicking the Create Account button, the user can log into the borrower portal or Loan Connect with their user name and password.

A change has been made to the custom disclosures acknowledgment process in the loan application. This change impacts loan application workflows with required custom disclosure agreements. Starting with this release, borrowers are required view the custom agreement in order to advance to the next screen. The acknowledgment check box will be dimmed until the borrower clicks on the agreement link. This change was made to ensure borrowers review the custom disclosure information before acknowledging receipt of disclosures. This behavior already exists for ARM/CHARM Disclosures.