Newsroom

3/11/2004
MILA, INC. REPORTS 2003 YEAR END RESULTS

Wholesale Lender Nearly Triples Origination Volume; Attributes Success to Investment in Technology

MOUNTLAKE TERRRACE, WA– MILA, Inc., the wholesale non-prime lender also doing business as Mortgage Investment Lending Associates, nearly tripled its origination volume to $1.5 billion in 2003, from $550 million in 2002. The increase translates into a compounded quarterly growth rate of over 28 percent and moves the company onto its category’s Top 20 list. The increase was fueled by the company’s launch of DecisionPoint, an automated underwriting tool that offers loan commitments, conditions and faster decisioning than other applications on the market.

“The launch of DecisionPoint made an immediate impact on our brokers,” explains Layne Sapp, MILA CEO. “After its launch in April 2003, MILA’s monthly sales volume doubled. DecisionPoint helped make this kind of impact because it offers features not found in other automated underwriting systems. It is easy to use, and gives the broker an immediate loan commitment with their conditions upfront. Just those features alone takes days off underwriting turn times and makes our brokers more efficient.”

The Engine That Could

Within 30 days of it launch in April, the DecisionPoint engine was underwriting approximately 35 percent of all MILA’s loan submissions. Before the end of the fourth quarter, virtually all MILA’s loan submissions went through DecisionPoint. Currently the engine decisions an average of $1.5 billion worth of loans per month.

Plans for the Future

In addition to maintaining cutting-edge technology, CEO Sapp has taken several steps to prepare the company for future growth. In 2004, Sapp is prepared to grow the company by 100 percent over its 2003 origination volume, using a combination of technology, process improvements and human resources.

“MILA intends to continue to be one step ahead of other lenders in terms of mortgage technology,” said Sapp. “But eventually mortgage technology will become a commodity; much like the fax machine is today. We are positioning the company for this eventuality, as well as our industry’s predictable cycle downturn. To ensure our success -- and that of our brokers -- we have spent the majority of 2003 creating technology enhancements (to roll out in 2004), perfecting our loan process to give more control of the lending process back to the broker, and hiring and training high quality mortgage professionals to ensure customer service levels.”

According to Sapp, the company’s 2004 commitment to technology, process improvements and human resources will enable the company to be a comprehensive partner to their broker base, not merely another lender. Should the company meet their 2004 objectives, it will bring the company one giant step closer to meeting their vision of the 4-hour loan.

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MILA, Inc. is a wholesale residential mortgage lender serving the non-prime market in 26 states nationwide. Their vision is to revolutionize the mortgage experience by creating a streamlined loan process that delivers a closed loan within four hours.