--- title: The Electronic Evidence Versus Paper Trail description: The Electronic Evidence Versus Paper Trail image: https://blog.docmagic.com/hs-fs/file-2806966049-png/blog-files/tim_a.png --- - [INFO@DOCMAGIC.COM](mailto:info@docmagic.com) - | - [PHONE (800) 649-1362](tel:+8006491362) [![Home](https://blog.docmagic.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DocMagic_May2018/Images/logo.png?width=1172&height=232&name=logo.png "Home")](https://www.docmagic.com/) [![Home](https://blog.docmagic.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DocMagic_May2018/Images/logo.png?width=1172&height=232&name=logo.png "Home")](https://www.docmagic.com/) - [Solutions](https://www.docmagic.com/solutions) - [Solutions Innovative, automated, and compliant technology solutions designed to advance every stage of your mortgage loan process](https://www.docmagic.com/solutions) - [Document Generation We ensure data and document accuracy from initial disclosures to closing](https://www.docmagic.com/document-generation) - [DocMagic](https://www.docmagic.com/document-generation) - [Packages](https://www.docmagic.com/document-generation#Packages) - [Downloads](https://www.docmagic.com/download) - [eSign Platform eSign and eNotarize electronic documents and automate appraisal delivery](https://www.docmagic.com/esign-platform) - [ClickSign®](https://www.docmagic.com/clicksign) - [eNotary](https://www.docmagic.com/enotary) - [Appraisal eDelivery](https://www.docmagic.com/appraisal-edelivery) - [eMortgage Technology Seamless and compliant digital platforms for completely paperless eClosings](https://www.docmagic.com/emortgage-technology) - [Total eClose™](https://www.docmagic.com/total-eclose) - [AutoPrep™](https://www.docmagic.com/solutions/autoprep) - [SmartSAFE® With SmartREGISTRY™](https://www.docmagic.com/smartsafe) - [Automated Compliance Ensuring compliance at every stage of the loan process](https://www.docmagic.com/automated-compliance) - [Compliance Edge Newsletter](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/wizard) - [Compliance Edge](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance) - [Collaborative Closing Technology Tools for borrowers, lenders and title agents to collaborate on the loan process](https://www.docmagic.com/collaborative-closing-technology) - [LoanMagic®](https://www.docmagic.com/loanmagic) - [SmartClose®](https://www.docmagic.com/smartclose) - [eChattel Technology eVaulting solutions for your non-mortgage lending needs](https://www.docmagic.com/smarttransfer) - [SmartSAFE® With SmartTRANSFER](https://www.docmagic.com/smarttransfer) - [Services](https://www.docmagic.com/services) - [Services Providing our customers with superior services and technical capabilities designed to help them achieve strategic goals](https://www.docmagic.com/services) - [Data Services A flexible, scalable and customizable Digital Transaction Platform](https://www.docmagic.com/data-services) - [Investor eQC](https://www.docmagic.com/Investor-eQC) - [Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD)](https://www.docmagic.com/ucd) - [Data Translation Services](https://www.docmagic.com/data-services) - [Data & Document Validation](https://www.docmagic.com/automated-compliance) - [Transactional Data Access](https://www.docmagic.com/data-services) - [3rd Party Services Access to a wide variety trusted of 3rd party integrations](https://www.docmagic.com/third-party-services) - [Appraisal eDelivery](https://www.docmagic.com/appraisal-edelivery) - [Flood Determination](https://www.docmagic.com/flood-determination) - [Income Verification](https://www.docmagic.com/income-verification) - [MERS® eRegistry](https://www.docmagic.com/third-party-services) - [Settlement Services](https://www.docmagic.com/settlement-services) - [Print Fulfillment Secure and compliant print and mail automation system](https://www.docmagic.com/print-fulfillment) - [Professional Services Experienced innovation advisers and the right technology solutions](https://www.docmagic.com/professional-services) - [Integration Services Connecting systems, data and applications to deliver a seamless user experience](https://www.docmagic.com/integration-services) - [Compliance](https://www.docmagic.com/automated-compliance) - [Automated Compliance The core component inside all of our mortgage technology solutions](https://www.docmagic.com/automated-compliance) - [Compliance Edge](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance) - [Updates Compliance to ensure accuracy at every stage of the lending process](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance#Updates) - [Compliance Updates](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/compliance-articles/automated-compliance) - [Form Updates](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/new-revised-documents) - [Investor Updates](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/investor-updates/index) - [Investor eQC](https://www.docmagic.com/Investor-eQC) - [Resources All your compliance resources in one place available with DocMagic](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance#Resources) - [Compliance Matrices](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/compliance-topics/matrices) - [Disclosures](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/state-disclosure/index) - [High Cost Memos](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/high-cost-memos/index) - [TRID](https://www.docmagic.com/trid-resource-center) - [URLA Resources](https://www.docmagic.com/urla-resources) - [Compliance Edge Newsletter The most up-to-date compliance information available in the industry](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/wizard) - [Articles](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/wizard) - [Legal & Regulatory Updates](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/wizard) - [Form Updates](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/wizard) - [Events](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/wizard) - [System Updates](https://www.docmagic.com/compliance/wizard) - [Support](https://www.docmagic.com/support-center) - [Support Let us help you get the most from DocMagic](https://www.docmagic.com/support-center) - [Customer Support Log in and let us help you](https://www.docmagic.com/support/contact-us) - [Product Training Get to know our products](https://www.docmagic.com/product-training) - [Company](https://www.docmagic.com/company) - [Company Mortgage Industry expertise since 1987](https://www.docmagic.com/company) - [About Us What we do](https://www.docmagic.com/about-us) - [Leadership Who we are](https://www.docmagic.com/leadership) - [Partners Our select group of trusted partners](https://www.docmagic.com/partners) - [News Stay up-to-date with the latest compliance and industry news.](https://www.docmagic.com/about/news) - [Blog Compliance and industry insights](https://blog.docmagic.com/) - [Contact Us We’d love to hear from you](https://www.docmagic.com/contact-us) - [Careers Innovators welcome!](https://www.docmagic.com/careers) [Request a Demo](https://www.docmagic.com/demo-request) [Log In](https://www.docmagic.com/webservices/cas/login) - [INFO@DOCMAGIC.COM](mailto:info@docmagic.com) - [PHONE (800) 649-1362](tel:+8006491362) - - - - - [mailto:info@docmagic.com](mailto:info@docmagic.com) - Share this article - - - - [mailto:?subject=%20site&body=Check%20out%20this%20site%20https://blog.docmagic.com/2013/09/23/the-electronic-evidence-versus-paper-trail](mailto:?subject=%20site&body=Check%20out%20this%20site%20https://blog.docmagic.com/2013/09/23/the-electronic-evidence-versus-paper-trail) [DocMagic Blog](https://blog.docmagic.com) [Compliance](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/compliance) [eSign](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/esign) # The Electronic Evidence Versus Paper Trail [DocMagic](https://blog.docmagic.com/author/docmagic) 09/23/2013 *[![tim_a](https://blog.docmagic.com/hs-fs/file-2806966049-png/blog-files/tim_a.png?width=250&height=184&name=tim_a.png)](https://blog.docmagic.com/hs-fs/file-2806966049-png/blog-files/tim_a.png)By Tim Anderson* I don’t spend a lot of time watching prime time television, especially on the traditional (non-cable) television networks, but I know a lot of folks who do. While “reality television” has been the rage for the past decade or so, the historical triumvirate of 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Central) TV has long been made up of situation comedies, medical dramas and police shows. In the later category, the forensic scientist (CSI) has come to dominate the genre. People love to follow the evidence trail back to the scene of the crime. It makes us feel smart to know that crime scenes leave clues and the bad guys will always get caught. Of course, those of us working in the real world know that only about 30% of all crimes get solved. The clues are never as easy to find as they appear on television. In our industry, at least, the government wants to change that. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has made it very clear, in their rules for both the origination and servicing side of the business, that companies in the mortgage industry will be required to provide the regulator with electronic audit trails for everything that impacts the consumer in our processes. The industry is already moving to comply. As they do, executives are realizing that creating electronic audit trails from stacks of paper documents is incredibly difficult. When paper gets lost, as we know it does, when it propagates errors or omissions, as we know it does, it creates gaps or discrepancies between these audit trails and what the firm can prove if they are called to go back through the paperwork. Add this to the fact that many of the new CFPB requirements are tied to new disclosure time frames—where doing the deed isn’t enough to be compliant but the timing, tracking and recording of the disclosure are just as important—paper documents do not hold up here either. There is no guarantee that a date stamp on an envelope will be enough to convince our regulator or a judge for that matter that the disclosure was made to the consumer in time for them to factor it into their decision making process. Mistakes here will be too costly to allow. The industry needs a better way. Fortunately, we have a better way that has been tested and proven to meet the needs of both the industry and its borrowers. It will also meet the needs of our regulators. The e-mortgage, as envisioned by the industry leaders who see it as an end-to-end electronic process, answers all of these problems and provides us with an electronic record from application to pay off that will protect our industry in the future from noncompliance risks. But in order to be most effective, we must embrace the entire process. I remember back in the early days of the e-mortgage, when vendors were working to get lenders and servicers to dip a toe in the pool, we were telling people to just start somewhere, anywhere, because we knew that the incremental advantages would be enough to get our clients to dive in. We no longer have the luxury of taking our time on this path. Current compliance regulation is driving us in this direction. Because the federal government requires us to provide a trail of evidence for our actions, it behooves us to keep our operations in the same electronic form as the audit trails that we are asked to submit. We have the technology to do it. Our documents are already electronic. We have processes for presenting these documents to borrowers, making certain that they have seen them and then allowing them to e-sign them for free. Afterward, we have systems record the transaction with a date and time stamp of what was presented to whom and when. We also have the ability to e-notarize and e-record them into the public record and the ability to store all (instances of data and documents) in a single e-vault repository to meet the electronic retention requirements. The industry needs to realize that the only way lenders and servicers can possibly protect themselves from future lawsuits, claims, buybacks or loan disputes is to take everything they do into the electronic realm. The sooner we do so, the sooner we’ll quit being the focus of so much prime time television coverage and return to an industry that our customers are willing to trust. [As featured by National Mortgage News, September 2013](http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/blogs/bytes/The-Electronic-Evidence-Versus-Paper-Trail-1038857-1.html) One partner. One platform. A complete solution. Let us digitally transform your mortgage process for increased efficiency and ROI. See how by scheduling a demo today. [SCHEDULE A DEMO](https://www.docmagic.com/demo-request) - Share this article - - - - [mailto:?subject=%20site&body=Check%20out%20this%20site%20https://blog.docmagic.com/2013/09/23/the-electronic-evidence-versus-paper-trail](mailto:?subject=%20site&body=Check%20out%20this%20site%20https://blog.docmagic.com/2013/09/23/the-electronic-evidence-versus-paper-trail) Topics from this blog: [Compliance](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/compliance) [eSign](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/esign) [Back](https://blog.docmagic.com) ### Search the Blog - Recent - Popular - Topics ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/The%20Lenders%20Roadmap%20to%20RON%20-%20blog%20feature%20image.png) RON Isn't for Every Loan. That's the Point. ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/2026%20MortgagePoint%20Tech%20Excellence%20Award%20-%20blog%20feature-2.png) DocMagic Earns 2026 MortgagePoint Tech Excellence Award ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/eVault%20blog%20insert.png) Inside the eVault: The Foundation of Digital Asset... ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/Configurable%20Compliance%20-%20feature.png) The Case for Configurable Compliance ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/NMP%20Women%20of%20Inspiration%20-%20feature.png) Celebrating Lori Johnson — A 2026 Women of Inspiration... ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/4506-C%20form.jpg) IRS releases new form 4506-C ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/urla%20form.jpg) The redesigned URLA will be required in a few months; are... ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/Ron%20Map_7-27-21_1236x801@2x.png) 38 states allow remote notarization as RON, RIN and IPEN... ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/eNote%20Blog%20feature%20image.png) The lender’s guide to delivering investor-ready eNotes ![](https://blog.docmagic.com/hubfs/urla_blog.png) URLA: Updates, Improvements, and Deadlines ### List By Topic - [Compliance (100)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/compliance) - [eClosing (85)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/eclosing) - [Awards (74)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/awards) - [eSign (71)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/esign) - [Integrations (56)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/integrations) - [Industry Publications (52)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/industry-publications) - [Total eClose (44)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/total-eclose) - [eNotes (34)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/enotes) - [Remote Online Notarization (31)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/remote-online-notarization) - [Document Generation (30)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/document-generation) - [eDisclosures (25)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/edisclosures) - [eVault (19)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/evault) - [GSEs (18)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/gses) - [eNotary (17)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/enotary) - [SmartCLOSE (13)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/smartclose) - [LoanMagic (12)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/loanmagic) - [eDelivery (11)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/edelivery) - [Industry Insight (8)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/industry-insight) - [Partnerships (8)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/partnerships) - [Philanthropy (8)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/philanthropy) - [AutoPrep (3)](https://blog.docmagic.com/topic/autoprep) ### Subscribe Here ## Download the Truliant Federal Credit Union Case Study Truliant took several key steps to refine its 100% digital eClosing process — including finding the right technology partner. [Download now](https://info.docmagic.com/en-us/case-study-truliant-federal-credit-union) Use of this website and its contents is governed by our [Terms of Use](https://www.docmagic.com/terms-of-use) and our [Privacy Policy](https://www.docmagic.com/privacy-policy). © 2026 DocMagic, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. - -