Mortgage lending technology has come a long way in the past decade. Not only can today’s advanced solutions streamline your loan origination, but they also provide you with robust data and meaningful insights into your operations, borrowers, and market opportunities.
From credit activity to home equity, every data point tells a story. Lenders who listen to these stories and respond with speed, relevance, and personalization are the most likely to succeed. That’s where powerful tools like Certified Credit’s Cascade Alerts and credit score improvement tools come into play.
In this article, we’ll break down what these two innovative tools are and how they work. After that, we’ll highlight five powerful ways you can leverage their data to drive your success.
Table of Contents
What Is Cascade Alerts?
Cascade Alerts is a powerful borrower retention solution that monitors your past and present customers’ credit activity. It scans their reports for new mortgage-related inquiries that suggest they may be in the market for a new loan, refinance, or home equity line of credit (HELOC).
Rather than waiting for these clients to come back to you—or worse, learning that they’ve left you for a competitor—Cascade Alerts notifies you about their noteworthy activity within 24 hours, enabling you to reach out before they commit to a competitor.
Along with delivering daily lead lists, Cascade Alerts lets you filter these leads based on your current eligibility criteria. You can select your preferred medium for receiving these alerts, whether that’s text, email, or your loan origination system (LOS).
Thanks to Certified Credit’s timely, customizable notifications, it can help you:
- Retain valuable borrowers by identifying their “in-the-market” behavior early on.
- Prevent costly early payoffs by flagging refinance red flags during the EPO period.
- Re-engage clients based on key triggers, like home equity growth or credit activity.
Read More: What is Cascade?
What Are Certified Credit’s Score Improvement Tools?
Many borrowers want to refinance or secure a new loan but lack sufficient credit scores to qualify. Our credit score improvement tools can help you identify personalized strategies to boost these applicants’ scores and help them qualify for better rates, terms, and lending opportunities.
Two credit scoring solutions we offer at Certified Credit include:
- ScoreNavigator – ScoreNavigator is an innovative credit score management platform that gives you and your borrowers a deeper understanding of their credit behavior. It features the following tools to help you simulate, plan, and execute smart credit decisions:
- Mortgage Action Plan (M.A.P.), which provides clear, step-by-step strategies to strengthen applicants’ credit scores.
- Target Score Simulator, which outlines the most efficient path an applicant can take to earn a specific score, as well as the best day to re-pull their credit.
- Money Simulator, which helps determine how applicants should allocate their funds to achieve the most substantial credit score increase.
- Manual Simulator, which allows you to test out specific credit management actions and see their potential impact on applicants’ credit scores.
- Rapid Rescore – Many borrowers take steps to improve their credit scores leading up to a home purchase, from paying down their credit card balances to disputing inaccuracies on their credit reports. Unfortunately, it can take several weeks for these improvements to be reflected in their scores. With Rapid Rescore, you can expedite these updates and empower your applicants to lock into better terms before their closing deadlines.
Together, these tools can help you curate a more empowered experience for your applicants. Rather than denying them outright, you can provide a clear roadmap toward mortgage qualification and establish your reputation as a lender who is committed to helping aspiring homebuyers succeed.
Read More: Empowering the American Dream: How to Help Underserved Borrowers Achieve Homeownership
5 Ways to Fuel Your Business Growth With Mortgage Lending Data
Now that you understand the ins and outs of Cascade Alerts and our credit score improvement tools, let’s take a look at five ways you can leverage these solutions to boost your business outcomes in 2025.
#1 Monitor Borrowers’ Home Equity and Offer Timely HELOCs
Cascade Alerts helps you track your borrowers’ home equity and outstanding loan balances, enabling you to identify when they’ve built up significant equity in their property. Borrowers with substantial home equity are ideal candidates for home equity loans and HELOCs.
By proactively reaching out to offer these second mortgage products, you can help borrowers tap into their home’s equity and offer them a more affordable alternative to costlier forms of credit, such as high-interest credit cards or personal loans. In doing so, you can position yourself as a trusted partner in their financial journey.
Read More: The Horrifying Truths About The Impacts of Consumer Debt on Credit
#2 Offer Timely Refinances When Interest Rates Drop
Interest rates have fluctuated wildly over the past five years. With mortgage rates finally on the decline, some of your borrowers may start shopping around for more cost-effective mortgages. If you haven’t stayed in touch, there’s an 80% chance you’ll lose these borrowers to a competitor.
To increase your chances of retaining their business, reach out proactively to inform them when their current rate is higher than what’s available. Cascade Alerts makes this process a breeze by automatically notifying you when your borrowers are in a strong position to refinance.
For example, if a borrower is locked into a rate of 7.25% and current rates have dropped to 6.50%, it can alert you to schedule a timely check-in call and offer a better rate. Along with safeguarding your servicing rights and reducing your risk of early payoff, this can reinforce your reputation as a reliable lender.
Read More: Overcoming the Challenges of Low Borrower Retention in the Mortgage Industry
#3 Avoid Early Payoff Penalties With Proactive Engagement
Premature loan payoffs can be costly, especially when they occur during the early payoff (EPO) period. This critical period typically takes place within the first six to 12 months of a loan. Loans paid off during this time can incur hefty penalties from investors, cutting into your profit margins and potentially wiping out the gains from your origination efforts.
With Cascade Alerts, you can monitor your portfolio for potential signs that a borrower is preparing to pay off or refinance their loan early. By contacting these borrowers right away, you can try to retain their loan or transition them into a new lending product.
Not only can this strategy reduce your risk of early payoffs, but it can also protect your relationships with investors, allowing you to enjoy continued success in the secondary market.
Read More: How to Protect Your Mortgage Lending Business From Early Payoff Penalties
#4 Prevent Premature Servicing Drop-Offs by Pinpointing Potential Shopping Behavior
After working hard to close a loan, you don’t want the relationship with your borrower to end at the closing table. Keeping loans in your servicing portfolio can enhance your revenues and strengthen your borrower loyalty.
Unfortunately, many borrowers start shopping around for alternatives without warning, whether they want to buy a new home, refinance their current loan, or tap into their home equity. Cascade Alerts can notify you about this behavior so you can:
- Reach out during this critical window.
- Remind them of your services.
- Pitch them on timely lending products tailored to their current situation.
Read More: Where Should Mortgage Lenders Invest to Improve Their Borrower Experience?
#5 Re-Engage Prospects When Their Credit Scores Improve
Not every applicant is ready to qualify with you the first time around, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a worthwhile lead. With the right guidance, today’s “not yet” can become tomorrow’s “ready to close.”
Our credit score improvement tools help you stay connected with on-the-cusp prospects as you proactively guide their credit score improvement journey. For example, using ScoreNavigator’s personalized M.A.P., you can show borrowers exactly how to improve their credit.
As your borrowers implement your data-driven suggestions, you can fast-track their final updates using Rapid Rescore. This way, you’ll ensure that all of their hard work is reflected in their credit score before closing.
Read More: Rapid Rescores vs. Credit Supplements: What’s the Difference?
Certified Credit: Your Data Is Speaking—Are You Listening?
As you can see, mortgage lending data has a lot to say! With the help of tools like Cascade Alerts and our credit score improvement tools, you can use this data to proactively meet your borrowers’ needs, protect your profitability, and close opportunities before your competitors beat you to the punch.
Cascade Alerts, ScoreNavigator, and Rapid Rescore are just a few of the solutions we offer at Certified Credit. As a leading mortgage solutions provider, we provide a full suite of essential products and services, including:
- Customizable credit reports
- Automated credit supplements
- Automated prequalification
- Automated verification of income and employment
- Automated undisclosed debt monitoring
- Flood zone determinations
- Fraud and risk support
- Property and valuation tools
- Settlement services
Want to learn how our advanced solutions can help drive your success? Schedule a credit consultation with the Certified Credit team today!
Sources:
The Mortgage Reports. Mortgage Rate History | Chart & Trends Over Time 2025.
https://themortgagereports.com/61853/30-year-mortgage-rates-chart
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