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Waterstone Mortgage Journey 
to Smarter Lending

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The Client

About Waterstone Mortgage

Founded in 2000 outside Milwaukee, Waterstone Mortgage (Waterstone) has grown from a three-person startup into a nationally recognized lender that has helped more than 150,000 individuals and families achieve homeownership. With deep roots in purchase lending and backed by WaterStone Bank, Waterstone combines financial strength with a longstanding commitment to responsible, community-focused lending, celebrating and supporting homeownership every day.

Richard Tucker
Chief Operating Officer, Waterstone Mortgage

The Challenge

Fragmented Credit Workflows Created Unnecessary Cost and Complexity

Waterstone’s previous credit and verification provider was communicative but lacked the technical agility needed to support Waterstone’s evolving workflows. Critical processes, including credit ordering, billing reconciliation across multiple branches, and rules-based automation, were fragmented and inefficient. Multiple users and systems often generated duplicate reports and scattered invoices, resulting in missed borrower-payable fees, redundant credit pulls, and slower decision-making.

Waterstone needed a partner that could modernize these processes, eliminate unnecessary credit spend, and strengthen both operational efficiency and the borrower experience.

“We’re committed to creating a path to ‘Yes’ for our borrowers,” said Chief Operating Officer Richard Tucker. “With our previous provider, we felt like a checklist, not a partner. We needed someone who would help us drive our business forward.”
The Solution

A Unified Credit Platform with Smarter Automation

Waterstone selected Informative Research as a partner to modernize its credit workflows and asset verification, strengthening its ability to deliver a streamlined borrower experience.

IR’s credit platform offers a configurable, automated waterfall for verifications, enabling lenders to tailor their approach to credit and minimize unnecessary credit checks through rules-based ordering. The platform supports soft-pull prequalification, full credit reports, flood certification, SSA verification with digital signatures, and pre-close monitoring, giving Waterstone the insight and control needed to optimize its credit spend.

In close collaboration with Waterstone’s leadership and operations teams, IR helped configure rules-based workflows within Encompass, provided early access to emerging score models, and delivered solution updates based on Waterstone’s feedback. This co-development approach fostered a highly responsive and innovation-focused partnership.
The Results

Better Visibility, Lower Credit Spend, and Faster Lending Decisions

IR’s loan billing functionality empowered Waterstone’s ability to track, reconcile, and recover borrower-payable fees. Previously, charges were dispersed across multiple invoices generated by different users and systems, which increased the risk of missed items at closing. IR consolidated credit-related charges tied to a loan number or borrower SSN into a single comprehensive report. This provided the operations team with visibility into all billable items and reduced the administrative burden.

IR’s rules-based ordering logic also helped Waterstone reduce redundant and unnecessary credit pulls across branches and user types. By embedding credit strategies into Encompass, Waterstone gained clearer guardrails around when credit should be ordered and which version of a report to use. This limited operational variability, minimized wasteful spending, and ensured that credit decisions were supported by consistent, strategic processes.

We finally have precision control over when and why credit is ordered,” said Tucker. 

Reduce Multiple Pulls

Reduced duplicate credit pulls

Rules-based credit ordering helped prevent unnecessary credit reports across branches and user types, reducing redundant costs and improving consistency.

Consolidated Billing

Consolidated loan billing

All credit-related charges were consolidated into a single loan-level view, making it easier to reconcile borrower-payable fees and improve billing accuracy.

Rules Based

Rules-based credit ordering

Configurable workflows within Encompass ensured credit was ordered at the right time and under the right conditions, giving teams greater control over credit strategy.

Faster Underwriting

Faster underwriting workflows

Automated triggers, soft-pull insights, and streamlined credit processes reduced manual tasks, helping processors and underwriters make faster, more informed decisions.
"It keeps our branches aligned and prevents unnecessary pulls that drive up costs and create confusion. It’s a simpler, more intentional process now."

Together, IR’s platform capabilities significantly increased decision-making speed and internal efficiency. Soft-pull insights and better credit logic enabled earlier, more confident assessments of borrower eligibility, while automated triggers decreased the number of manual steps required from processors and underwriters. Waterstone’s teams also benefited from IR’s rapid response whenever issues arose. These features enabled Waterstone to streamline its lending workflows and improve loan quality.

“IR makes us faster,” said Tucker. “Our processors and underwriters spend less time on repetitive manual tasks, and when something needs attention, IR’s team responds immediately. It keeps our files moving and helps us deliver a smoother borrower experience.”
The Partnership

Continuous Innovation Through Collaborative Development

Waterstone’s close collaboration with IR led to a partnership that continues to shape Waterstone’s innovative credit strategy. With regular leadership-level discussions and early access to score models such as VantageScore and FICO 10T, IR enabled Waterstone to pilot new tools, test emerging workflows, and actively influence the development of future solutions. This co-development environment has reinforced Waterstone’s ability to pursue excellence and maintain a borrower-centric approach.

“IR treats us like a true partner in innovation,” said Tucker. “We’re not just using their tools. We’re collaborating on what comes next. From early access to new scoring models to enhancements based on our feedback, the partnership helps us stay ahead of the curve.”
quote
We’re not just using their tools. We’re collaborating on what comes next. From early access to new scoring models to enhancements based on our feedback, the partnership helps us stay ahead of the curve.

Richard Tucker
Chief Operating Officer, Waterstone Mortgage
Next Steps

Strengthen Your Lending Operations with Smarter Credit and Verification

Whether you're looking to reduce unnecessary credit spend, streamline workflows, or improve the borrower experience, Informative Research can help you build a more efficient lending process.

Contact Us