Aurora Financial Group Maintains Reliance on FICS^®' Mortgage Servicer^® Software and Additional Technology for More Than Two Decades

A Rich History with FICS

Aurora Financial Group has built a strong reputation as an outstanding mortgage firm, serving the lending needs of real estate professionals, builders and individual homebuyers throughout New Jersey. As a full-service mortgage lender, Aurora Financial has experienced staff offering expertise in every area of mortgage lending – from purchase to refinance to construction lending.

More than two decades ago, Aurora Financial was in need of a cost-effective technology system that could handle the various styles of portfolios the company managed. With the overall goal of implementing a system flexible enough to fulfill all of the company’s needs, Aurora Financial turned to FICS^®’ Mortgage Servicer^®  software to get the job done.

FICS’ Mortgage Servicer automates various loan servicing operations including escrow administration, collections, investor accounting, payment processing, loss mitigation and year-end reporting. The comprehensive software is user-friendly and provides companies like Aurora Financial with immediate access to accurate customer data while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Aurora Financial executives point to FICS’ adaptability and expert customer support as key factors in their decision to not only initially partner with FICS, but also to continue the relationship that has lasted for more than 20 years.

“Having worked with FICS for more than two decades, we have seen the industry change and evolve drastically, which has impacted the technology capabilities we leverage on a day-to-day basis within our institution,” said Donald Pfost, vice president of Aurora Financial Group. “While technology and the industry as a whole have undergone major changes, the support and flexibility FICS provides us remained constant and an important part of our ongoing success.

Aurora Financial Expands Relationship with FICS to Address Key Industry Changes

After initially signing on with Mortgage Servicer in 1988, Aurora Financial went on to implement several other FICS products, including Mortgage Accountant^®, Radstar^® and eStatus Connect^®. With the addition of these products, Aurora Financial not only gained the greater capabilities to satisfy customers and investors, but also the ongoing support of FICS’ team of experts.

In 2014, FICS introduced a new technologically modern version of Mortgage Servicer. Aurora Financial participated as one of FICS’ select beta testers. The new version of Mortgage Servicer was built using .NET Framework and Microsoft’s^® Windows^® Presentation Foundation (WPF) for the redesigned user interface, which FICS has continued to build upon. With the introduction of shareable services leveraging the .NET Framework, Mortgage Servicer became highly configurable and capable of scaling multiple tiers. Additionally, FICS improved the update process through the use of ClickOnce deployment.

Throughout the beta testing process, Aurora Financial employees relied on FICS staff for assistance with the new system.

“As we began working through the beta testing process, we were in constant contact with the FICS team to discuss our feedback and work through any problems we encountered along the way,” said Pfost. “FICS’ friendly support staff was able to help resolve any and all issues in 24 hours or less and was on-site at our offices on multiple occasions to help with training and assist with various questions from our employees.”

Two Decades of Success for Aurora Financial and FICS

Since fully implementing the new version of Mortgage Servicer, Aurora Financial has experienced greater efficiency from an operational and compliance standpoint, which the company attributes to the system’s ease of use in helping satisfy the needs of customers, investors and regulators quickly and easily.

“Overall, we have been extremely pleased with the changes made in the new version of Mortgage Servicer, specifically the new platform’s added flexibility,” said Pfost. “As a result, the new Mortgage Servicer has provided our employees with greater functionality and efficiency and greatly enhanced managing compliance as new regulations continue to be introduced.”

While Aurora is quick to praise FICS’ dynamic suite of mortgage solutions, company executives point to the technology provider’s hands-on approach as a key factor in their longstanding relationship.

“The ability to pick up the phone and connect directly with a familiar member of the customer service staff continues to play a pivotal role in helping us maintain success as a company,” said Pfost. “As new regulations are introduced and changes are made within the industry, we know that we can always count on FICS and their robust technology to ensure that we are compliant well before the set deadline.”

Furthermore, Aurora highlights the importance of FICS’ annual customer conference, which allows companies to provide FICS direct feedback on system changes they would like to see in the near future. Unlike some larger organizations, Aurora pointed out that FICS consistently followed up with them on the changes they suggested and in many cases saw these suggestions come to fruition, which only further attributed to Aurora’s success within the mortgage industry.

About FICS

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Financial Industry Computer Systems, Inc. (FICS), specializes in providing flexible, comprehensive residential and commercial technology solutions to the mortgage industry.  FICS' systems are designed to operate on Microsoft^® Windows^® platforms with the most recent solutions written using .NET Framework that include a rich Windows^® Presentation Foundation user interface and multi-tiered shareable services.  The company also provides innovative document management and web-based capabilities into its full suite of products.  Additional information about FICS is available via the company's website at www.FICS.com.