As U.S. demographics change, so does the pool of Americans “pursuing homeownership.”
According to Freddie Mac, the Hispanic American homebuyer segment “has increased by 25% in the last decade.” By 2030, this growing sector “will represent an estimated 56% of all new homeowners.”
Still, Spanish-speaking borrowers often “encounter obstacles during the home-buying process.”
Mortgage loan applications, their terminology, and substantial documentation and information requirements “pose challenges to native Spanish speakers in the early stages of home-buying.”
In fact, limited English proficiency (LEP) is “one of the most significant barriers to homeownership among Hispanic Americans, second only to credit score challenges.”
To help these home buyers through the process, Maxwell is excited “to unveil the latest update to our point of sale: Maxwell Español, a Spanish-language loan app offering a fully-translated loan application, from landing page to submission.”
Unlike many existing point-of-sale systems, which rely on translation through a Spanish-speaking representative or only offer a Spanish landing page or subtitles in the loan application, Maxwell Español “provides an immersive Spanish language experience.”
Built with input from their in-house group of Hispanic American processors and underwriters, their Spanish mortgage application “strengthens cultural context and retains industry-specific nuance, helping lenders attract, convert, and engage native Spanish speakers.”
Specifically, Maxwell Español “meets the needs of lenders looking to serve Spanish-speaking borrowers” by:
- Allowing loan officers using Maxwell Point of Sale to enable a Spanish-language loan application and personalize their landing page with a welcome message in Spanish
- Automatically detecting the borrower’s language settings on their desktop or mobile device, rendering the entire loan application experience in either Spanish or English with the ability to switch back and forth
- Retaining powerful features like QuickApply™ or FileFetch™, which are favored by loan officers and deliver application submission rates upwards of 90%
- Throughout the process, loan officers can continue to view borrower responses and work on loan files in English, without interruption to their workflow. Plus, Maxwell Español accounts for all URLA and MISMO 3.4 requirements by utilizing a seamless integration to populate loan files in English, directly in the LOS.
The end result is “a welcoming borrower experience that lends cultural empathy to Hispanic Americans who are constantly navigating LEP.”
Lenders and loan officers who have previously had to implement workaround measures now have a suitable solution “to fulfill their promise of affordability and accessibility for a rapidly growing market.”
Maxwell Español “marks the start of a longer journey, as Maxwell delivers on its mission of giving every lender in its network a permanent and disruptive financial advantage.”
It sets the stage “for expanded solutions and features that empower America’s local lenders to better serve changing borrower demographics and improve homeownership accessibility in their communities.”
