Private · For Jason + Ashish

Underwriting automation at Button Finance

Shared privately ahead of the underwriting build. Enter the access code to continue.

If you need the code, text Nik.
Underwriting Automation 100x Button Finance Reggie

Your rules decide the loan. You decide the rules.

The underwriting build starts from the target state, not a copy of today's process. Feed the loan file and the guidelines to the model, let it derive the decision, and fix every flagged error once, permanently.

4
layers, data first
1
workflow: pre-UW, UW, and QC together
1,000+
fields in one master list
Jul 13
Phase 1 acceptance, then this build
02The architecture

The whole workflow, in four layers.

Each screen below is the layer at work. Get Layer 1 right and every layer below it gets easier.

1Populate
Data layer · the foundation
Capture everything, once.
One broad field list per loan; the loan type picks what's required.
Lives in your own AWS, in step with Encompass, never locked in.
A machine carries 200 fields per loan without fatigue.
Loan 2417 · field capture
First mortgage rate6.125%✓
Term remaining312 mo✓
Past modifications1 · 2023✓
Tri-merge FICO (median)742✓
Combined liens$1.24M✓
1,000+ fields available · the loan type picks what's required
2Decide
Rules engine
What if you could edit the rule yourself?
Your guidelines become a decision tree you change directly, deeper than anyone can hold in their head.
Edit a rule once and every file after it follows, the same way every time.
This layer gets its own working session before we build it.
Rules engine · edit mode
New rule$3M+ in liens → AVM within 5% of appraisal
Liens? under $3M · pass $3M+ in liens AVM within 5% ✓
Rule live. Every file after this follows it.
3Comms
Comms
Every message carries its reason.
Concise, context-rich notes to brokers and borrowers, signed as Reggie.
A request reads as a reason, not a wait.
Rules explained in plain words, so the borrower sees why the step exists.
Outbound · broker note
To: broker · Loan 2417
Texas requires a spousal signature on this lien.
⚑ Reason attached: TX signature rule, plain words
Sent · signed Reggie ✓
4Govern
Governance
A senior underwriter, only where it counts.
Confident files move. Anything the system is unsure of surfaces the evidence and waits for a person.
As the rules get deeper, the exceptions get rarer.
Over time this becomes oversight and reporting, not a decision queue.
Exception queue · today
2411✓
2412✓
2415✓
2417⚑
2418✓
→ Senior UW:loan 2417, evidence attached, waiting on a person
Exceptions, month over month
03Why this shape

The deep rules are bigger than any one head.

The real guidelines run deeper than the subset turned on today. Nobody can hold all of it at once, so most of it stays off.

Today
✗The deepest rules live in underwriters' heads.
✗The same file gets re-keyed at every stage.
✗Good rules stay on the shelf; the hardest calls pile onto one person.
The four layers
✓The rules live in a tree you edit.
✓The deep logic runs on every file, the same way every time.
✓Change a rule once and every file after it follows.
04Layer 1, solved

One field list, built from three directions.

The master field list is the Layer 1 solution. Three sources feed it at once.

Master field list · assembling
Bottom-upevery field ever filled on a Button loan, via the Encompass API
Top-downleadership's top 10 questions, per stage
The underwriterswalkthroughs of their most complex recent loans
Master field list
first mortgage · rate, term, modifications
income · W-2, worksheets, 4506-C
judgment calls, from the walkthroughs
1,000+ fields · ranked by real usage
05Where it runs

Encompass stays the record. The model gets a faster copy.

Your S3 buckets already capture every document and field flowing into Encompass.

System of record
Encompass
Source of truth. Every write-back verified byte for byte.
Mirrors into
Your AWS
Mirrored data warehouse
Fast, low-cost replica. Grows with every loan, never locks you in.
Feedsverified ✓
Layers 1 to 4
The rules engine reads it directly
Decisions grounded in the full file, not a partial export.
06What we need to start

Five asks get the foundation moving.

Small and concrete, and each one moves the data layer forward this week.

Your top ten recurring questions, per stage: in-loan, at close, monthly, at securitization. Jason, Ashish, Matt, Paul, Amit, Kimberly.
The milestones each loan passes through, so each loan gets captured at the right stages. Ashish.
The underwriting walkthroughs already recorded, so the build starts from the diligence already done. Matt.
Access to the documents, so the reading is grounded in real files. Ashish.
A first quick win: the income worksheet, filled straight from the income documents. 100x.
07Where this sits

Setup and disclosures land first. Underwriting is next.

Setup already runs a 26-step process on safe loan clones inside the command center. Daily diffs against the team's own output measure it loan by loan.

Now
Setup live on cloned loans; disclosures building
Jul 6
Daily diffs: agent output vs team output, per loan
Week of Jul 13
Setup, disclosures, and command center accepted
Then
The four-layer underwriting build starts
08Over to you

Better to be wrong on a page than in code.

Every week the deep rules stay in heads is another week of re-keyed files and shelved rules. Getting the shape right now is what makes the build fast.

Goes straight to Nik and Sid. No CRM, no auto-reply.