Help with Point: GFE Dates

February 15, 2012

BJ Bounds

Today’s GFE topic deals with the month field.  If your “First Change Can Occur In” field is not populating, there are a couple of things you might be missing in your forms.

  1. Make sure the “Can the interest rate rise?” checkbox checked on the GFE
  2. Make sure the “First Change” field is filled out under the Adjustable Rate Mortgage section of the TIL
  3. You must click the “Calculate” button at the bottom of the GFE window.

That’s the simple fix for today’s topic.  If you’d like help with this or other GFE topics, visit our Knowledge Base.


Help with Point: Locked out

January 19, 2012

BJ Bounds

Have you ever been working in the Secondary Marketing screen and realized that both the Lock Confirmed and the Lock Requested checkboxes are grayed out, thus preventing you from selecting either of them?

You’re not alone.  This will happen if the Point file has been copied from an older file created in an earlier version of Point.

You can fix it by creating and importing a template into the affected loan file.  Knowledge Base article #751 has complete step-by-step instructions that will get you where you need to be with your file without starting over.

You can always visit our Knowledge Base 24 hours a day for instructions and helpful hints for many of your questions and concerns about your Calyx software.

If you’d like to speak to one of our support team members during our normal business hours, please call 800-342-2599.  As a reminder, your account must be on the latest version of Point take advantage of free personal phone/email/chat support. 


Help with Point: Compliance Updates

July 25, 2011

BJ Bounds

With all of the new and changing compliance rules coming at us hard and fast, you may have discovered that there are some differences in forms you may not have thought were changing on you…but did!

So with help from our in-house compliance expert, I’m going to tell you about three of the more unexpected and question-prompting compliance changes.

TIL:  Concern over the content of the ‘MAXIMUM during FIRST FIVE YEARS’ column in the TIL disclosure for 5/1 ARMs.  Specifically, the heading for the column doesn’t match what is shown in the column.

In the Truth-In-Lending interim rule, published in December 2010, the FED states that for the Maximum interest rate during first five years, “the Board intended that creditors disclose the first rate adjustment for a “5/1 ARM.” Therefore, although the new interest rate and new payment do not take effect for the borrower until month 61, the FED required the TIL disclosure show the first rate adjustment in the MAXIMUM during FIRST FIVE YEARS’ column.

Statement of Credit Denial form:   The old form pre-filled all 3 credit agencies and the credit scores.

The Dodd-Frank Act amended requirements in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) related to adverse actions. Recently the FED released a final rule that updated the model notices in Reg B to reflect the new content requirements defined in the Dodd-Frank Act. The new model form only requires you to enter one agency and score.

For step by step instructions on printing the credit bureau address on the form, visit our Knowledge Base #0273.

VA Certificate of Eligibility:  There has been concern that this form is pre-populating fields in the print form.

The form (like most in Point) is designed to be populated through the Point screen. So what users are seeing is that the default behavior for some of the check boxes (make the ‘No’) in the form. This is not uncommon behavior in other forms in Point. If you look at the form in Print preview, you will see the default checks. This is the only ‘pre-filling’ in this form.

If you have additional questions about these or other compliance concerns, please call our helpful support group at 800-342-2599.


Point 7.4 SP5 is Here!

July 7, 2011

BJ Bounds

Point 7.4 SP5 is now available for immediate download via MyCalyx.

We’ve packed a ton of updated compliance forms and other enhancements into this timely service pack.  You don’t want to pass on this one!  Here are just a few of the highlights you’ll see in SP5:

  • Statement of Denial effective July 21
  • Texas Mortgage Loan Originator Loan Disclosure
  • VA Request for Cert of Eligibility (26-1880)
  • VA Request for Determination of Reasonable Value (26-1805)
  • VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan Worksheet (26-8923)
  • Anti-steering Disclosure

This service pack also includes updates to the NMLS call report functionality as well as 3 new Call Reports.  For a complete list of features in SP5, visit the release notes.

Don’t miss this service pack!  If you’re behind on compliance, call your account representative today to update your software.  800-362-2599.


Email Marketing — Point 104

April 25, 2011

BJ Bounds

As you probably already know, Point allows you to email documents from within the software.  This is helpful when needing to get loan documents out.  However, the email functionality also works great with marketing materials.

Using a customized marketing template, you can set up your materials to be emailed to the contacts you select.  From there you create a marketing report and voila!  You’re ready to hit send!

Of course there are quite a few steps in between but they’re not hard.  I have walked through this process myself so I know it works.  But while simple, the instructions are quite long.  So I’m not going to list them here.

If you want detailed, illustrated instructions, please see article 0559 on our Knowledge Base or call 800-342-2599 for technical support.


Adding Logos and Pictures – Point 102

April 14, 2011

BJ Bounds

A big part of customizing your own marketing materials is making sure your company logo and contact information marks them as yours.  After all, a flyer is nice but even the best rates in the world won’t get you customers if they don’t know who you are!

So today we’re going to go through the simple steps of getting your logo onto all of your custom forms in Point.  This means your letters, emails, and any marketing documents you create will have your logo!

  • The first step to inserting your company logo on Marketing forms is to tell Point the folder where your Company logo is located on your computer. To import the logo, open Point, click Utilities, select Company Defaults > Marketing Letterhead.
  • Click Browse to find the company logo you want to appear at the top of your marketing documents (Point accepts .bmp, .jpg, and .gif files). To automatically adjust the graphic, click the “Auto Fit” check box. You can also adjust the location and size of the image by entering different numbers in the move right/down fields and increasing or decreasing the percentage in the zoom field.
  • The company logo you select is unique to each data folder in Point, giving you the ability to have a different logo for each data folder. Your company logo will appear on all marketing printouts from screens located in the Marketing menu in every Point file.

I told you it was easy!  If you want illustrated instructions, visit our Tip Sheet on Company Logos on our website.  You can find other marketing tips there, too.


Marketing Campaigns – Point 101

April 11, 2011

BJ Bounds

Today starts a new series about using Point to help you create attention-grabbing marketing materials that you can send to any and all of your Cardex contacts.  We talked about this functionality last year but since it’s such a fascinating topic for those of us in the marketing department, we thought it was relevant enough to revive.

Point allows you to create custom forms.  You can create a document—a letter, flyer, brochure, postcard, email, etc—from scratch using the MS Word interface with Point, or you can modify a template from MS Word and import it into Point for customization and distribution.

If you start from within Point, here’s what you do:

  • The first step in creating a new custom form is to set up a Custom Form Template. In the Navigation Panel on the left of the Point screen, click the Templates tab. Select the Custom Forms/Letters/Email checkbox and then click the New button. The New Custom Form window appears. Enter a name for the form you want to create, and click OK.
  • Microsoft Word® opens, showing a blank document, along with the Point Custom Form window.
  • In Microsoft Word, you can create your form, and select Point fields from the Select Point Field dropdown list to insert Point merged fields into your document. Once you select a field, click the Insert button to put it into your document.
  • If the field you need is not in the dropdown list, select Other Point Fields Not Listed Above and click Insert.  The Insert Point Field window will appear.  Enter the Field ID and click Insert.
  • When you are finished creating your document, click Save, then click Close.

If you already have templates or documents in MS Word that you’d like to use, we’ve got you covered, too!  You can easily import those documents into Point to use with your contacts.

  • In Point’s left navigation panel, click the Templates tab. Select the Custom Forms/Letters/Email checkbox, and then click the Import button at the top of the workspace. If the Word document contains Mail Merge fields, the following message appears stating that those fields are no longer available after import. Click Yes.
  • The Select Word File(s) to Import box will appear. Highlight the Word file or files you want to import and click Open.
  • The document you selected is added to Point.

And you’re done!  If you want to see screen shots, you can follow the link here to see instructions for Custom Forms and other tips you can use!


Help with Point 7.4: Fees Worksheet “Details”

March 22, 2011

BJ Bounds

Here is another quirk that you may have run across.  Sometimes all of the Paid By column fees display as “DETAILS” which means your calculations for the cash to close and prepaid finance charges are incorrect.

Now this isn’t to say that it’s a random occurrence.  There are two ways this could happen and I’ll walk you through the corrections.

The first way deals with whether you are using a closing cost template that was created prior to Point 7.4.

    To correct the template:

    1. Install Point 7.3 on one computer.
    2. From Point 7.3, go to Templates from the left navigation panel.
    3. Select Closing Cost Scenario.
    4. Double-click the first closing cost template in the list.
    5. When it opens, click File > Save on the menu bar and then close it.
    6. Follow the same steps for every closing cost template.  Simply open and save it.

    When all closing cost templates are re-saved with Point 7.3 – then you can upgrade to Point 7.4 and use the templates.

    The second way involves copying a loan file.  If you copy a file and check the box to “copy only 1003 data”, the calculation of each fee and prepaid finance charges will not be correct.

    1. You must either re-copy the file again without checking the box to “copy only 1003 data” 
      OR
    2. Re-create the file and re-enter the fees on the Fees Worksheet.

    More details can be found in the KB article # 0380 or you can call support for assistance at 800-342-2599.


    We’re Growing!

    January 12, 2011

    BJ Bounds

    Over the past few weeks you may have seen several news releases about the changes going on at Calyx.  We’re thrilled to taking action and making a positive difference in this challenging economy.

    Besides the announcement last month that we have acquired Loan-Score and are expanding our industry reach, we have also recently announced the addition of three new regional sales representatives.  Each of them brings tremendous industry experience and expertise.  We have the utmost confidence in the value that they bring to our customers.

    Additionally, just last week we added a new product manager in our San Jose office.  This week we added 12 employees to our technical support and customer service departments in Dallas.  We will also be adding marketing staff in the near future.

    As we strive to develop the products that will help you become more efficient and effective for your customers, we recognize the need to provide the same efficiency in our service to you.  Calyx will continue to grow as necessary to meet your needs and those of our future customers.

    If you have any questions regarding your product needs, you can call 800-362-2599 and speak with your account representative or 800-342-2599 for technical support.


    On hold? We hear you loud and clear!

    January 10, 2011

    BJ Bounds

    To all of our loyal customers, we are so sorry you have been experiencing long wait times for technical support.  We understand your frustration and we are in the process of making the necessary changes to turn your frowns upside down.

    As of today, we have added 7 additional full-time staffers and 5 additional part-timers to our tech support team!

    Many of these new employees are already experienced in supporting Calyx customers and will be on the phones to help you immediately.  We are pleased to have them back and we know you will be too!

    If you would like to talk real-time to one of our tech support people, call 1-800-342-2599 and select the option that best suits your needs.  The hours vary by product to please make note of the staffing times in the chart below.

    Alternatively, you might find an answer to your question in one or more of the following avenues:

    • Chat real-time with our support staff Monday through Friday during the hours listed below.  To start, click here.
    • Find step-by-step instructions and work-arounds on our Knowledge Base.
    • Send an email to support@calyxsoftware.com and someone will follow up with you as soon as possible during our normal business hours.
    • This year we are offering free on-line training to all current customers.  Click here to see the complete list of subjects.
    • You may also see some of your questions answered here on this blog if you do a quick search.

     

    Queue Hours
    Point Support 7:00am – 7:00pm
    Point Install 7:00am – 7:00pm
    Loans 8:00am – 6:00pm
    WebCaster 8:00am – 6:00pm
    CustomerSvc 8:00am – 5:00pm
    PDS 8:00am – 6:00pm
    Mycalyx 8:00am – 5:00pm

    We really do want to make sure all of you are happy with your software and the service you receive from Calyx and we take action whenever possible to make that happen.  We hope you are enjoying the beginning of this new year and wish you success.


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