FirstClose and Cotality Expand Alliance to Target a Seven-Day Home Equity Close

Home equity technology provider FirstClose announced on Monday, Oct. 12, a strategic alliance with Cotality, the property data and analytics company. The companies say the combined platform lets banks, credit unions and independent mortgage banks close home equity loans in as little as seven days.

Why this matters: Home equity lending is one of the few growth areas for lenders while first-mortgage refinancing stays weak. Speed and lower operating cost are where lenders compete, and this deal is aimed squarely at both.

Cover: Editorial illustration for the FirstClose and Cotality home equity alliance. Illustration created for mortgage.news; it does not depict a real person, property, product screen or document.

What is new

The two companies already worked together. The announcement expands that relationship with a deeper integration between FirstClose's point-of-sale and order management software and Cotality's data services. According to FirstClose, the combined workflow covers:

• Application and automated decisioning.
• Valuation, flood determination and property condition data.
• Tax, title and lien information.
• Closing and funding, with automated ordering for each service.

FirstClose says the platform also connects to many of the major loan origination systems and fills in borrower, property and closing data automatically, reducing duplicate entry. The release says it is available now for deployment to FirstClose and Cotality clients.

Portfolio targeting

The second piece is marketing. The companies say lenders can use property and valuation data to spot home equity opportunities among their existing customers. That matters because many homeowners hold low first-mortgage rates and are more likely to tap equity with a second lien than to refinance.

What is claimed, and what is not shown

The seven-day close is a target the companies say the platform is designed to support. The release does not give average close times, named lender results or pricing. Cotality says its data covers more than 99% of U.S. residential properties and that it supports 80% of North American real estate transactions. Those are company figures, not independent measurements.

HousingWire also reported the alliance on Oct. 12.

Who should pay attention

Credit unions and smaller independent lenders that want to add or scale home equity products without building their own vendor stack are the clearest audience. FirstClose CEO Tedd Smith said the goal includes helping IMBs and credit unions expand access through a more flexible delivery model.

Borrowers may see quicker decisions if their lender adopts it, but a fast close still depends on clean title, a usable valuation and complete income documents.

Practical takeaway

Lenders evaluating the platform should ask for measured close times from live clients, which valuation types qualify for the fastest path, and how exceptions such as title issues are handled. Borrowers comparing home equity offers should weigh rate, fees and draw terms first, then speed.