Cogent Road Launches AVAIL Prequalifying Service System

Private labeled software enhances applicant prequalification process

June 23, 2008

(SAN DIEGO) Cogent Road, a provider of Internet-based applications for the mortgage industry, announced the launch of AVAIL, an automated system enabling mortgage originators to provide continuing mortgage-qualifying services to prospective borrowers.

An extension of Cogent Road’s Funding Suite, a credit management solution that manages costs and enhances customer retention during the loan origination process, AVAIL enables loan originators to more effectively establish and maintain contact with potential borrowers to create top-of-mind awareness among consumers.

Many originators lose prospective borrowers during the qualifying process, especially when it is drawn out over time. Without the mortgage professional’s guidance, prospective borrowers mistakenly turn to questionable credit repair companies that falsely claim to clean up credit reports.

The AVAIL educational program is an alternative course of action for borrowers. Using AVAIL, originators can provide applicants with guidance on how to change their spending behavior, such as paying down high balances and using credit cards responsibly, in order to become more credit-conscious consumers. AVAIL also manages client information to automatically notify originators when educated potential borrowers eventually achieve predefined credit score targets.

The online platform borrowers use to access the AVAIL program is branded with the originator’s logo, photo, name and contact information to further strengthen interaction with the borrower.

“The AVAIL program enables us to educate borrowers on how to adopt good credit behavior practices,” said Alan Vogan, president and CEO of Riverside, Calif.-based First Lending Solutions. “Once potential borrowers have incorporated the information into their financial lifestyle over a period of time, their credit scores naturally reflect the improvement and they reduce the level of risk a lender faces when offering them a loan.”

“Mortgage originators have never had an effective way to provide ongoing credit education to help first-time homebuyers and declined applicants improve their credit health over time,” said William DiPaolo, managing partner of Cogent Road. ”AVAIL enables mortgage originators to more effectively maintain their relationships with a large number of potential applicants as they learn better credit behaviors. The program packages originators’ expertise and professional counsel into a prequalification product that positions originators as a source of guidance when applicants have reached the level where they are ready to apply for mortgages.”

In contrast to credit repair, which makes credit reports less accurate by attempting to remove legitimate tradelines, AVAIL incorporates Funding Suite’s automated credit proofreading tools to give a more accurate view of a borrower’s credit history by identifying and resolving credit usage or data input errors. For more information on the difference between credit repair and credit proofreading, contact Sarah Cannon at (678) 781-7216.

About Cogent Road
Cogent Road develops Internet-based applications for the mortgage industry, such as Funding Suite(R), the industry's first, true Credit Management Platform. Currently utilized by more than 30,000 mortgage professionals nationwide, Funding Suite helps clients qualify more applicants with its unique Intelligent Credit Report and protect applicant data via data suppression and computer access restrictions. For mid to large-sized clients, Funding Suite also offers robust user-level access controls and detailed cost accounting. For more information about Cogent Road, visit www.cogentroad.com. For more about Funding Suite visit www.fundingsuite.com.