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LO Portal
We manage document collection, compliance, and underwriter coordination to speed up loan origination. Our services include a dedicated team support model, artificial intelligence tools, and a Bring Your Own Processor (BYOP) program.
We help loan officers and mortgage brokers lower in-house costs, ensure strict regulatory compliance, and process loans efficiently across 32 states.
Learn how our operational structure, technology integrations, and weekly training events make us the preferred partner for high-performing national mortgage brokerages.
A contract mortgage processor is an independent, third-party entity or professional hired by a mortgage brokerage to handle the administrative tasks of a mortgage loan application. In the United States mortgage industry, loan officers originate the loans by finding borrowers and taking the initial application.
The processor is responsible for verifying all borrower information, ordering third-party documents like appraisals and title work, and organizing the file for the lender's underwriting department. Instead of hiring a full-time, W-2 employee to do this work, many brokerages choose to outsource these duties to a contract processing company.
Using a contract mortgage processor shifts the financial burden of loan processing from a fixed overhead cost to a variable cost. Mortgage brokerages only pay for the processing services when a loan actually closes and funds. This structure protects the brokerage during months when loan volume is low.
A licensed contract processing company operates under strict compliance with federal regulations, such as the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. These regulations dictate how and when fees can be charged to the borrower. By using a reputable third-party company, brokers ensure that all processing fees are legally disclosed on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure.
Willow Processing has established a massive footprint in the contract mortgage processing sector since its inception. The company has experienced a three hundred percent year-over-over growth rate, demonstrating the high demand for reliable outsourced processing.
To support this operational volume, Willow Processing employs 52 dedicated support staff members. The processing force itself is divided into 100 internal Willow team processors and 150 independent processors operating under the Bring Your Own Processor program.
This large workforce allows the company to handle high loan volumes without sacrificing turnaround times or communication quality.
The scale of Willow Processing is evident in our historical performance metrics. Our teams have successfully managed over 18,011 total loan submissions. These submissions have resulted in $4.9 billion in total funded loan volume.
This level of production has earned the trust of some of the highest-performing national brokerages in the country. Our active enterprise clients include Barrett Financial Group, C2 Financial Corporation, Edge Home Finance, Next Door Lending, United American Mortgage Corporation, and E Mortgage Capital.
Willow Processing is currently licensed in 32 states. This extensive state coverage means that as a loan officer expands their marketing and licensing into new territories, they do not need to find a new local processing company.
We scale alongside your business, ensuring that your processing operations remain centralized no matter where your borrowers are purchasing or refinancing real estate.
Outsourcing your mortgage loan processing to Willow Processing provides distinct operational advantages over managing an in-house team.
Managing internal processors requires human resources administration, payroll taxes, physical office space, and ongoing software licensing.
By contracting a third-party company, brokerages eliminate these logistical burdens. Furthermore, Willow Processing provides specialized departments and technological resources that most independent brokerages cannot afford to build on their own.
Willow Processing pioneered the team support model to deliver unbeatable processing speed. Traditional mortgage processing relies on a single processor to handle every aspect of a file, from initial disclosures to final funding.
This outdated model creates bottlenecks if the processor becomes overwhelmed with high volume or takes a day off. Willow Processing solves this problem by providing a dedicated processor, a setup team, and a disclosing team all for the price of one processing fee.
Under this model, the workload is distributed among specialized professionals. The setup team organizes the initial documents and registers the loan.
The disclosing team ensures that all initial and revised disclosures are sent to the borrower within the federally mandated timeframes. The dedicated processor acts as the primary point of contact and focuses entirely on communicating with the underwriter to clear conditions.
This division of labor ensures that files move through the pipeline rapidly and loan officers receive faster clear-to-close notifications.
Artificial intelligence is changing the way mortgage loans are originated, and Willow Processing is at the forefront of this technology. We have partnered with Addy AI to provide a comprehensive Loan Officer Assistant service powered entirely by artificial intelligence.
This advanced software integrates directly inside your Loan Origination System to perform complex analytical tasks that normally consume hours of a loan officer's day.
The AI Loan Officer Assistant is capable of prequalifying borrower files automatically. It scans uploaded borrower documents, such as W-2 forms, pay stubs, and tax returns, to accurately calculate the borrower's qualifying income.
By automating the income calculation and document review process, loan officers can determine a borrower's purchasing power in minutes instead of hours.
This technology guarantees that files submitted to our processing team are highly accurate, which significantly reduces the number of conditions requested by the underwriter later in the process.
For brokerages that operate under a non-delegated correspondent lending model, Willow Processing provides extensive backend support.
Non-delegated lending requires the brokerage to use their own warehouse lines of credit to fund the loan before selling it to an end investor. This process involves complex administrative steps that go beyond standard wholesale broker processing.
Our specialized teams handle the critical closing and funding tasks associated with non-delegated loans. We leverage various lender portals to complete the final closing balances and prepare the necessary draw documents for the title company.
We take your specific funding instructions and register the loans directly with your warehouse line provider. We also coordinate the final funding execution with your fulfillment provider. By managing these complex financial logistics, we allow non-delegated brokerages to scale their operations without needing to hire an expensive in-house closing and funding department.
The Bring Your Own Processor program is the flagship service offered by Willow Processing. Many mortgage brokerages have excellent in-house processors but struggle with the financial and compliance burdens of keeping them on the company payroll.
The BYOP program allows brokers to shift their in-house processing staff to our third-party corporate structure. This transition unlocks significant operational and financial benefits while keeping the loan officer and the processor working together exactly as they did before.
The primary advantage of the BYOP program for broker-owners is the immediate improvement to their Profit and Loss statement. By moving a W-2 processor to Willow Processing, the broker eliminates base salaries, payroll taxes, and benefits from their monthly overhead expenses.
The processing cost becomes entirely transactional. Furthermore, this transition unlocks the legal ability to disclose the processing fee on the borrower's Loan Estimate.
Federal regulations generally prohibit brokers from charging borrowers a separate processing fee if the processor is a W-2 employee of the brokerage. By making the processor an independent third party through our company, the processing fee becomes a valid, chargeable third-party expense.
The BYOP program also provides complete financial control to the broker. Broker-owners are allowed to set their own total processing pricing and determine the exact compensation their processor will receive per file.
Willow Processing charges a strict, flat administration fee of $395 per funded loan. The processor receives the entire remaining balance of the processing fee charged to the borrower.
Willow Processing handles all administration, compliance checks, and payment collections, removing the entire back-office burden from the brokerage.
Mortgage processors also receive an incredible list of unmatched benefits when they transition to Willow Processing through the BYOP program. Processors often hesitate to move to a third-party structure because they fear losing their employment benefits or losing control over their daily workflow.
Willow Processing mitigates these concerns by offering standard corporate benefits, including comprehensive health insurance options and access to a 401k retirement savings plan. Processors also operate under favorable contract terms that guarantee they maintain control over their pipeline and their relationship with their broker.
In addition to health and financial benefits, processors receive massive operational support. Independent processors working through our program are granted access to our corporate setup desks, disclosure desks, and post-closing teams.
This means the processor no longer has to handle the tedious administrative tasks of setting up a file or tracking down final compliance documents. With these tasks removed from their plate, processors can focus entirely on clearing underwriting conditions.
As a result, our processors close more loans per month and generate more income than they would working at an independent brokerage. We also provide easy onboarding, on-demand coaching, and the option to opt-in or opt-out of our corporate team meetings and cultural events.
Maintaining compliance and ensuring seamless communication requires excellent technology. Willow Processing invests heavily in software integrations to make the loan submission and tracking process as effortless as possible.
Our technology stack ensures that loan officers are never left in the dark about the status of their files and that every completed loan meets strict federal and state compliance standards.
We understand that loan officers live inside their Loan Origination Systems. Forcing a loan officer to log into a separate third-party portal to check on a file wastes time and creates frustration. To solve this, Willow Processing integrates directly with top industry software, including Arive and Lending Pad. You can send us your new loan files directly through these platforms with a single click.
Once a file is received, our processing team works inside your system to update all critical dates and milestones in real time.
If a borrower calls you to ask about the status of their loan, or if you want to set a reminder for a refinance opportunity six months down the line, all the current and accurate information is already waiting for you in your Loan Origination System. You never have to leave your primary software environment to get updates on your active pipeline.
Step 1: Submit your loan file to Willow Processing via the Willow Portal, Arive, or Lending Pad with a single click.
Step 2: Monitor your Loan Origination System as our setup team updates critical loan dates and milestones in real time.
Step 3: Allow the dedicated processor to communicate with underwriters to clear conditions and finalize closing balances with the title company.
Step 4: Receive the final compliance package uploaded directly into your system for your audit records after the loan funds.
Clear and rapid communication is the foundation of a successful mortgage transaction. Willow Processing relies on Slack as our primary communication tool to keep in close contact with our loan officers. When you partner with us, we add you to a dedicated corporate Slack channel.
This allows you to see exactly when your processing team is online and available. You can easily chat with us throughout the day to ask quick questions or provide updates on specific files without getting lost in endless email threads.
We also focus on communicating effectively with your borrowers. We go above and beyond to make sure your clients understand the complex mortgage workflow. When a file is submitted to underwriting, we send the borrower a professional submission video.
This explainer video outlines exactly what the underwriting process is, what the underwriters will be looking for, and what the borrower should expect in the coming weeks. This proactive communication reduces borrower anxiety and stops them from calling you constantly for updates, allowing you to focus on selling.
Since 2020, Willow Processing has been a dedicated source of innovation and education in the contract processing industry.
We believe that continuous education is vital for the success of our loan officers and processing partners. To support this, our loan officers and processors have an indepth training session during their start, can request training sessions, and have a supportive community they can reach out to anytime.
Willow Processing provides a structured and compliant approach to third-party mortgage operations in the United States. Our dedicated processing teams and artificial intelligence integrations manage daily origination tasks to significantly increase closing speeds. The Bring Your Own Processor program allows brokerages to control their financial margins while providing independent processors with health insurance and retirement benefits. By handling strict regulatory standards and loan origination system updates, we keep broker pipelines highly organized and efficient. Ultimately, outsourcing your file management to Willow Processing allows loan officers to focus entirely on generating new business and scaling their mortgage operations.
Join one of our weekly sessions to understand how Willow Processing can help elevate your career. Visit the Weekly Live Events page to book your spot today.
A contract mortgage processor handles the administrative and clerical tasks required to take a mortgage loan from the initial application to the closing table. They operate as independent third-party contractors rather than in-house employees of the brokerage. Their daily duties include reviewing borrower income documentation, ordering property appraisals, verifying employment history, and communicating with the lender's underwriting department. Their primary goal is to gather all necessary documents to satisfy the underwriter's conditions so the loan can be approved and funded.
The fees charged by a contract mortgage processing company vary depending on the complexity of the loan and the specific services provided. Generally, processing fees in the United States range from six hundred dollars to one thousand dollars per closed loan. At Willow Processing, brokerages participating in the Bring Your Own Processor program are charged a flat administration fee of $395 per file. The broker then dictates the remaining fee amount that goes directly to their dedicated processor. These fees are typically only charged if the loan successfully closes.
Yes, a mortgage broker can disclose a third-party processing fee on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure, provided the processor is a legitimate third-party entity. Under federal mortgage regulations, brokers generally cannot charge borrowers a separate, itemized processing fee if the processor is a W-2 employee of the brokerage. By outsourcing the processing work to a licensed third-party company like Willow Processing, the fee becomes a valid third-party charge that can be legally passed on to the borrower, which improves the broker's profit margins.
The main difference is the employment structure and the financial liability for the brokerage. An in-house processor is a W-2 employee hired directly by the mortgage broker. The broker must pay their base salary, payroll taxes, and health benefits regardless of how many loans close that month. A contract mortgage processor works for a separate third-party company. The broker only pays the contract processor a fee when a loan successfully funds. This turns processing from a fixed monthly overhead expense into a variable cost.
Contract mortgage processing companies ensure compliance by utilizing specialized software and adhering to federal and state mortgage regulations. Companies like Willow Processing employ dedicated post-closing teams that review every funded file. After the loan closes, this team gathers all disclosures, underwriter communications, and closing documents to create a complete compliance package. This package is then uploaded directly into the broker's Loan Origination System. This ensures that the brokerage has a perfectly organized file ready for any future state or federal regulatory audits.
To use a third-party mortgage processor, a mortgage brokerage must ensure that the processing company is properly licensed to operate in the state where the property is located. The brokerage must also establish a formal contract or service agreement with the processing entity. Additionally, the loan officer must ensure that their chosen Loan Origination System allows for third-party access so the processor can securely view borrower data. Willow Processing makes this easy by maintaining active licenses across 32 states and integrating directly with modern systems like Arive and Lending Pad.
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