A common mistake companies make in Loan Servicing is to set up multiple Control Numbers. They do so in order to have payments of principal and interest post to separate general ledgers. The desired result is to separate different loan types for reporting purposes.

However, Loan Servicing is designed to provide the same information using a single Control Number. Each loan has an Investor record. Within this record, Field I-7 CONTROL TYPE should be used to differentiate specific kinds of loans, with Field I-8 GROUP being a sub-grouping under I-7. The monthly Investor Cutoff will break by I-7 and sub-break by I-8. The Investor Trial Balance will also give you this break on a daily basis, if desired.

During a recent MC software implementation, using a single Control Number as described, the company was able to consolidate all the different loan types from twelve general ledgers into one, and still obtain the same break out for reporting. The mortgage department was thrilled. They will save hours each month, not having to compile the data from all the different general ledgers and eliminate 11 G/Ls in the process. And the front-line staff won't have to determine what Control Number to key in when posting payments.

On another customer visit, a company was not using the program to set up print packets and assign them to specific Product Types. When printing documents, they were selecting each document individually for each loan. They felt it was not worth the trouble to set up the packets, since they were all experienced enough to know what documents should print. This creates problems in a number of areas:

First, it wastes time choosing documents individually, when the program will simply default to the print packets set up.

Second, it creates a potential for errors. If you are rushed or having a bad day, you might pick the wrong form or miss a form altogether.

Third, this creates a situation where the simple process of printing documents requires substantial experience and knowledge. This makes it difficult to bring less experienced people into the department, and unnecessarily extends the training period. Operationally, the company was painting itself into a corner. If an employee were to leave, management would be forced to hire someone with like experience. In times of high volume, such people might not be available--at least not at a reasonable wage.

Use the MC program the way it was designed. Set up your print packets and assign them to the Product Types. This allows less experienced staff to perform routine processes like document printing, while freeing up your experienced people to concentrate on the more qualitative issues.