Ponderosa Systems
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Industries · Mortgage lenders

AI for mortgage lenders.

Pre-qualify inbound borrowers. Chase missing documents. Surface refinance opportunities. Built inside Encompass, Total Expert, or whatever your team already uses — shipped in 30 days.

Book a 20-minute intro call → See pricing

Where the time goes in a typical mortgage shop.

Three patterns we see in almost every brokerage and small lender we talk to. Each one is a candidate for an agent.

~30%

of LO time on unqualified leads

Industry studies consistently show loan officers spend roughly a third of their week qualifying borrowers who won't fund. Most of that work is repetitive — same questions, same disqualifiers.

~25%

of processor time on document chase

Missing pay stubs, missing bank statements, missing tax returns — and the texts and emails to chase them. Stuck files compound; cycle times stretch; close ratios drop.

Reactive

refi book maintenance

When rates drop, the brokers who win are the ones who reach out before borrowers Google "current mortgage rates." Most shops do this in a flurry once a quarter, then forget about it.

Three agents we ship to mortgage lenders.

Each one is built inside the tools your team already uses — your LOS, your CRM, your phone system. We don't sell you a new app.

Agent 01 · Top of funnel

Loan Pre-Qualification Agent

Pre-screens inbound applications and inquiries against your eligibility matrix before they reach a loan officer. The borrower fills a form, calls in, or texts; the agent asks 8–12 diagnostic questions and routes the result.

  • Qualified leads land on an LO's calendar with a one-paragraph brief
  • Soft-no leads get a clear, kind explanation of what they'd need to qualify
  • Borderline leads drop into a nurture sequence
  • Every interaction logged to your CRM with full transcript
What it moves
Qualified-lead-to-LO ratio
LOs spend their hours on borrowers who can actually fund. The metric to watch: applications-per-LO-hour and the conversion rate from inquiry to scheduled call.
Agent 02 · In-process

Document Chase Agent

Owns the missing-document workflow from application to clear-to-close. Reads what's in the file, knows what's still needed, and chases borrowers on a schedule you set — politely, persistently, and across email and SMS.

  • Sends the missing-doc list and tracks every receipt
  • Texts and emails reminders on a cadence you control
  • Routes complete files to underwriting automatically
  • Flags files that have stalled past N days for a human
What it moves
Days from app to clear-to-close
Faster doc collection compresses the whole pipeline. The metric to watch: stuck-file count and average days-to-fund. Most shops we work with target a 20–30% reduction.
Agent 03 · Closed book

Refinance Opportunity Agent

Watches your closed-loan book against current rates and identifies clients who'd benefit from a refi. Drafts personalized outreach in your voice and queues it for an LO to review and send.

  • Daily scan of your servicing data against current pricing
  • Surfaces top 10 candidates each week
  • Drafts personalized email or letter outreach
  • LO reviews and sends — never an auto-send to clients
What it moves
Refi capture rate
Most shops let half their refi opportunities walk to competitors. The metric to watch: refi conversions per quarter from your existing book. Targets vary by rate environment.

The 30-day path, applied to lending.

Every engagement follows the same structure. Standardized so we ship on time. Tuned to lending-specific compliance and workflow at every step.

1

Day 0–5 · Intake and operations mapping

We sit beside your operation team and the LOs. Map how applications flow today, who touches them, where files get stuck. We confirm the agent we're shipping first, lock the scope, and agree on the metric we'll grade success against at 90 days.

2

Day 6–18 · Design and build inside your stack

We build the agent inside your LOS, CRM, and communication tools. You see progress weekly. Compliance-relevant outputs are surfaced for human review at design time, not after launch.

3

Day 19–25 · Test, train, document

Real applications and real files run through the agent. We tune until the metric hits. Your team gets a 60-minute training session, recorded for new hires, plus runbooks they can use without us.

4

Day 26–30 · Go live, watch the first week

The agent goes into production. We watch the first week of traffic alongside your team. If you're on a retainer, the monthly tuning cadence starts; if not, you get a 30-day warranty and a clean handoff.

Built inside the tools you already use.

We integrate with the systems mortgage shops actually run on. If yours isn't listed, ask — we've integrated with most things that have an API.

Encompass (ICE) Calyx Point BytePro OpenClose Total Expert Surefire Velocify BNTouch Blend SimpleNexus Maxwell Optimal Blue Polly DocMagic Twilio Calendly

Questions lenders ask.

The most common questions from owners and ops leaders before they book the call.

How does this work with my LOS — Encompass, Calyx, BytePro, OpenClose?

We build the agent inside your existing LOS using its API or integration layer. We don't replace it. Encompass and most modern LOSs have API access for the workflows we automate; for older systems we use Make.com or Zapier as a glue layer. The work happens where your team already lives.

Is this CFPB-compliant and how do you handle borrower data?

Borrower data stays in your tenant — your LOS, your CRM, your storage. We don't move PII to third-party servers we control. Where AI providers like OpenAI or Anthropic are involved, we use the enterprise tiers that exclude your data from training and provide standard data-processing agreements. We're not a replacement for your compliance team, but we build with TRID, ECOA, and fair-lending considerations from day one and surface every customer-facing output for human review before it ships.

What about NMLS and state licensing — does the agent need to be licensed?

The agents we build do information collection and workflow routing, not licensed mortgage origination activity. They never quote rates, never make commitments, and never give legal or compliance advice. The licensed loan officer remains in the loop for any communication that requires a license. The agent is an assistant to your team, not a replacement for the licensed activity.

How is this different from a CRM like Total Expert, Surefire, or Velocify?

CRMs are systems of record. Our agents are systems of action — they read the data in your CRM and LOS, decide what should happen next, and either do it or queue it for human approval. We typically build inside your existing CRM rather than replace it.

What size lender is this built for?

Sweet spot is mortgage shops with 5 to 50 loan officers. Smaller than that and one or two of these agents may not pay back yet; larger than that and you probably already have an internal automation team and we'd be partnering rather than fully delivering.

Can the agent handle Spanish-speaking borrowers?

Yes. The underlying language models handle Spanish (and most major languages) at native fluency. We tune the agent for the demographics of your market.

How long does it take to ship the first agent?

Thirty days from kickoff to a production system running in your operation. Week one is intake and mapping your application flow, weeks two and three are design and build, week four is test, train, and go-live.

What does it cost?

From $4,995 setup plus a monthly retainer starting at $695. Most lender engagements land in the $5,995 setup plus $1,495/month range — that's two production agents shipped, monthly tuning, and quarterly upgrades. Pricing scales with the number of agents and the LO seat count. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices.

Ready to ship your first agent in 30 days?

The 20-minute intro call is free. We'll come to it with thoughts on which agent — pre-qual, doc chase, or refi — is the right place for your shop to start. No deck, no obligation. You'll leave with at least one useful idea, whether or not we end up working together.

Book a 20-minute intro call → See pricing