Lightning Docs Update

We have issued an update to the system that modified the following:

1. We have added an interview question for KY residential properties which will generate a required KY Homeowner disclosure. 
   
2. We have revised the initial portion of the Financial Covenants section in the Loan and Security Agreement.
   
3. We have added a reference to “Optional Rate Ceiling” to the Usury Savings clause in the Secured Note for Texas loan transactions.

Conditional Right to Extension Feature Update

We’ve just pushed an update to the system that will now allow Lightning Docs users to include a conditional right to extend their loan, without including a fee for doing so.

Previously, users only had the option to choose either a dollar amount, or a percentage of the loan balance, but we realized that wasn’t applicable for some some of the loan packages that our clients were offering, so we decided to expand our options.

Please Note:

As the button mentions, this is a conditional right to extend the loan. 

Including this term in your loan package does not mean that your borrower can proceed with extending the maturity date as they see fit.

They would still need to receive written approval from the beneficiaries prior to moving forward with the extension.

Significant Update – Construction Loans

We have revamped the treatment of construction loans in the interview, as well as the construction loan agreement and construction reserve language. Previously, for many of our advanced users, we had enabled more complex construction loan language to be used. We have decided to make all of our construction loan agreements available to all users and permit all users to determine the appropriate forms of agreements to be used based on their loan scenario.

The following list highlights some of the bigger changes you will notice:

• Interview now focuses on type of construction to help guide your choice:

• Most transactions will fall in the “Standard” category while ground up will be the “Extensive” one.  Once you select the type of construction, the rest of the interview should look familiar. We do not recommend using “Simple Reserve” unless there is a single distribution of construction funds and the holdback is less than $50,000.
• We have also made various edits to the construction loan agreement to create easier to follow definitions throughout the agreement which affect the Standard and Extensive Construction Loan documents.
• More fully incorporated references to Construction Completion Guarantor throughout the documents, when relevant.
• Cleaned up some language for non-construction provisions, including adding definition of Lender Retained Funds, and changing references to “Secured Obligations in the impounds section to “Impositions.”
• Changed references to “Construction Holdback” in documents and interview to “Construction Reserve” for consistency.

Please note that if you are re-entering and modifying a previous loan interview, you must answer this new question, otherwise your interview will not be able to fully finish.

Other Updates

• Modifications to D.C. Security Instrument to include “Purchase Money” before “Deed of Trust” in the title of the document. See the screenshot below for a modification to the User Interface. Users will be required to identify whether the property is a purchase money property.

• We have added resource text (lightbulbs) when answering which Index is to be used for Adjustable Rate Loans. The resource text identifies the language that will be used for each different index available.  We also added 12 Month SOFR to the Index dropdown.  Also, we moved the LIBOR indexes to the bottom of the list, as they are less frequently used.
• Added payment addresses for loan servicer Selene.
• Style changes related to Impounds Accounts and related definitions.
• Updates to Indiana Security Instruments.
• Update to Nevada documents modifying certain statute references.
• Cleaned up some language for non-construction provisions, including adding definition of Lender Retained Funds, and changing references to “Secured Obligations” in the impounds section to “Impositions.”

New Lightning Docs User Guide

As a user, you likely received our original user guide which was developed years ago with our initial launch of Lightning Docs. As you and your team may have experienced, the guide looked different than the interface as it exists today.

Our Lightning Docs Team has been hard at work updating our user guide to match the current loan interview.

Scroll up or click here to view the new user guide. It is important to note that the previous guide contained licensing information that has not been updated since it was created and should not be relied upon.

Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Florida Updates

We have issued an update to the system which modified the following:

1. In Arizona, we added an address prompt to the interview to add the Trustee’s address to the Deed of Trust.
2. In Pennsylvania, we updated the Confession of Judgment Provisions in Note, Mortgage and Guaranty to make attorney’s fee percentage 10% and minimum fee $10,000 in all three documents.
3. In response to recent comments from Florida title companies, we have added a provision to the Florida Mortgage confirming that the subject property is not the constitutional homestead of the property owner.