Intended Audience: Technical and business analysis teams for customers and prospective integration partners
Last Update: June 1, 2019
Overview
Resware is a real estate transaction processing system, purpose-built for providers of the title and settlement services, and their clients, customers, and vendors. In addition to the core functionality of the product, Resware implements a broad spectrum of system-to-system integration functionality to facilitate the placement of orders into and from Resware, as well as supporting multiple secondary use cases, so as to provide the most seamless, efficient, and error-free fulfillment experience for transaction participants.
In the following discussion, certain terms are capitalized to indicate that they have title and settlement industry or Resware-specific meanings. Some of them have been defined in the Definitions for Entities Used in Integration Workflows section, especially if there is a use particular to Resware.
If you are a Resware licensee already, our Resware to Resware Integration Guide is probably what you are looking for. Please contact your Account Manager for details and a copy, or log on to our User Group portal.
Please note that Inbound messages are those that are sent from an integration partner to Resware and Outbound messages are those sent from Resware to an integration partner.
Supported Integration Methods
Resware is built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and supports two industry-standard implementations for integrations:
- REST: Resware implements a REST-based Web API over HTTP for inbound use cases. This is our preferred inbound integration interface, regardless of your application’s own technology stack. Especially, if your solution is not built on the .NET Framework, or you need additional inbound functionality that is not supported by the WCF endpoints, you should implement this interface. However, please note that there is no REST equivalent of the outbound WCF functionality; all outbound integrations from Resware need to use WCF, unless a custom outbound integration is implemented.
- Windows Communications Foundation (WCF): This is the well-known and supported SOAP implementation for web services development on the Microsoft .NET Framework. For outbound integrations, Resware can only utilize WCF.
All integration calls are synchronous. We strongly encourage integration partners to implement asynchronous messaging patterns of their choice so as to provide the best user experience and scalability to the users of the integration on your platform.
Supported Authentication Methods
For WCF integrators, the default authentication method is WS-Security, and it is the out-of-the-box default for Resware installations. Resware also supports Basic Authentication for WCF for incoming requests (via explicit fields in the SOAP payload) for those partners who have implemented the WCF SOAP protocol in a non-NET framework, but cannot implement WS-Security as implemented by .NET. For outbound WCF integrations that need authentication, Resware supports integrator-specific keys in URLs. The inbound REST API only supports Basic Authentication via the Authorization HTTP Header.
Authorization
Resware has a built-in Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) model that is invoked for each inbound integration request. Based on the configuration of a given Resware installation, certain out-of-the-box functionality described below may not work as described if it has been disabled for the integration partner.
For outgoing integration functionality, Resware offers great flexibility to Resware administrators in specifying which of the messages the integration partners will receive, as well as which types of documents, notifications, etc. will be sent. For the most seamless implementation experience, we recommend that integration partners thoroughly review their desired workflow and specify which Resware outbound messages and entities they require for correct and complete functionality.
Definitions for Entities Used in Integration Workflows
Resware integration endpoints support the following entities that are commonly encountered in the title and settlement services industry:
- Files (also called orders, transactions, etc.): This entity represents the basic unit of processing in Resware. All other entities are logically linked to a File.
- Client: This is generally the entity that is the source of business for the title and settlement for the service provider. Resware heavily relies on the data stored about this entity to automate various processes, such as fee quotation, workflow path selection, and document formatting and generation.
- Lender: This is the entity that is providing a loan to the Buyers on a File. If there are one or more Loans on the File, the Lender should also be submitted to Resware when placing an order, even if they are the Client.
- Property: This is the data point that identifies the real estate that is the focus of the Real Estate transaction. Resware supports different models of identifying a specific piece of real estate: situs address, legal description, parcel numbers, section/township/range, plat/book/page, etc.
- Partners (industry participants, e.g. real estate agents, loan officers, service providers): These entities represent the industry parties who help with the processing of the File. Clients and Lenders are also Partners in Resware, but support additional configuration to support their roles on the File.
- Buyers and Sellers (“Parties”): These are the entities that stand to benefit from the processing of the File, and utilize the title and settlement services provider to fulfill the legal obligations between them or between a Partner on the File. On single party transactions (Refinance, Home Equity, Foreclosure), Resware users apply business conventions to use either the Buyer or Seller to represent the Party (e.g. Buyer to represent the Borrower on a refinance transaction).
- Consumers: These entities are master records for Buyers or Sellers. They are generally used when a Buyer or Seller appears on multiple transactions (e.g. Builders).
- Document: This is a text or binary payload that can be rendered or processed in Resware or in the integrator’s system so that an end-user can utilize its contents. Examples are Microsoft Word documents (DOC or DOCX), Microsoft Excel documents (XLS or XLSX), PDF documents, Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD), TIFF images, JPG images etc.
- Note: This is a text (plain-text or HTML, based on Resware configuration) payload that is used to store or transmit unstructured information.
- Action: This entity represents a workflow step in Resware. An active Action in Resware can be in one of these three states: Not Yet Started, Started but not Yet Completed, and Completed. Integration partners can interact with the workflow by Starting or Completing Actions or changing the Due Dates of the Actions assigned to them. They can also initiate new workflow steps by adding an Action.
- Action Event: Action Events are small messages that are sent to or by Resware to indicate that a condition that was previously defined has been satisfied or an event has occurred.
- Fees: These represent the charges paid by the Buyers or Sellers for services provided by the title and settlement services provider. Resware supports the estimation of Fees in HUD, HUD 2010, and Closing Disclosure representation, as well as the receipt and delivery of the Closing Disclosure in a machine-readable format, specifically as a Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) XML payload.
- Curative: These are issues discovered during the title examination or during the closing of the real estate transaction that need to be satisfactorily addressed so that an acceptable title insurance policy can be issued. Resware supports two types of Curatives: Pre-Closing (most common) and Post-Closing.
- Settlement Lines: These are the machine created representation of the charges displayed on the Settlement Statement and the Closing Disclosure. Most Resware users use this functionality to perform the settlement function for their Clients.
- Ledger Entries: These represent the receipts and disbursements that are created during the settlement process. In Resware, they are tightly linked to the Settlement Lines.
- Reconciliation: This is a process used by the settlement agents using Resware to reconcile the amounts shown as receipts or disbursements in Resware to their bank records.
- Underwriter Services: These are the services provided by underwriters to their agents to help facilitate their production of the title commitment, and perform the closing of the Real Estate Transaction. The most commonly provided services are Title Production, Closing Protection Letters, Jackets, Over-the-Limit Approval, and Remittance.
Out-of-the-Box Functionality
At a high level, Resware supports the following functionality for its integrators when it is installed and configured appropriately. Integrators utilize a combination of these functions to implement the desired end-to-end workflow in conjunction with Resware administrators who can configure automated responses for inbound integration messages or trigger outgoing messages.
In the table below, Inbound messages are those that are sent from an integration partner to Resware and Outbound messages are those sent from Resware to an integration partner.
Please recall that out-of-the-box outbound messages can only be transmitted over WCF, using either WS-Security or client-specific URLs; no REST support is available. Custom outbound messaging over any protocol, message format, and content or authentication method is supported via a custom implementation.
| ResWare Integration Functionality | Technology | Direction | Supported HTTP Verbs for REST | Sample Business Use Case |
| Obtain a Fee Estimate without a File, get a Receipt for the Fee Estimate | WCF, REST | Inbound | GET | Lender obtains Lender-specific fees for the Loan Estimate for a given sales price, loan amount, product and property location and retrieves a Document disclosing the Fees. |
| Submit a new File (Order) for Processing. This is a comprehensive integration message that is intended to transmit all known data points about the transaction all at once: Client, Property, Buyers/Sellers, Lender, Transaction, and Product type. | WCF, REST | Inbound, Outbound | POST | Inbound: Loan Origination System (LOS) transmits a loan for processing and receives a File number from ResWare to update the LOS. Outbound: ResWare places an order into a Notary Automation Provider’s system. |
| Update File Information: Sales Price, Loan Amount, Settlement Date, Disbursement Date | WCF | Inbound, Outbound | Inbound: Transaction Management System provides a new agreed-upon Sales Price for a purchase transaction and changes the Settlement Date per the contract. Outbound: ResWare sends out an updated Loan Amount to a provider. | |
| Add a Document or a Note to a File | WCF, REST | Inbound, Outbound | POST | Inbound: LOS adds a buyer’s authorization to proceed to the File, and optionally specifies that the buyer will be traveling during the transaction. Title abstractor adds a product to the File. Outbound: A signing package is sent to a Notary Services Provider and signed documents are returned by a Notary Services Provider. |
| Send an Action Event (a notification) | WCF | Inbound, Outbound | Inbound: A Lien Search provider indicates that the Property that was searched was not found, which then triggers a manual search workflow in ResWare. Outbound: ResWare notifies a Wire Fraud Prevention provider that a new buyer has been added to the File, which the integration partner then retrieves. | |
| Add Legal Description, Vesting, Liens, Requirements, Easements, Restrictions, Chain of Title, and Taxes to the File | WCF | Inbound, Outbound | Inbound: Title search provider returns their Product as data so that the ResWare using title agent can produce a title commitment. Outbound: ResWare using Title Agent sends the Legal Description and Vesting to the Lender. | |
| Add a Signing to the File | WCF | Inbound, Outbound | Inbound: Lender requests a Signing for the Buyer. Outbound: ResWare requests that a signing be scheduled for a given date, time, party, and location from a Notary Services Provider. | |
| Update Signing Status on an existing Signing on a File | WCF | Inbound, Outbound | Inbound: A Notary Services Provider indicates that a signing that was scheduled did not take place or that it completed. | |
| Cancel File | WCF, REST | Inbound, Outbound | POST | Inbound: A lender indicates that the loan will no longer be originated.Note: Many ResWare using providers prefer that an integration partner request a file be canceled via a note or an Action Event instead of canceling the file directly. Outbound: ResWare requests that a previously sent Lien Search request be canceled. |
| Add/Remove a Partner to/from the File, get a list of Partners on a File | REST | Inbound | GET, POST, DELETE | A realtor using a Transaction Management System adds their Transaction Coordinator to the file so that they also get notified on file milestones and receive documents.A lender removes a Processor from the file who has been reassigned to another loan, after confirming that the Processor was on the file. |
| Add Partner Employee/Update Partner Employee | REST | Inbound | POST | A Mortgage Broker adds a Funder to a file as an employee of the Mortgage Broker. |
| Get Notes, Documents, Actions from a File | REST | Inbound | GET | Transaction Management System downloads information from ResWare on open tasks on a File and updates its own datastore to provide a dashboard to an end customer. |
| Add Action, Update Action | REST | Inbound | POST, PATCH | An RPA (Robotic Process Automation) provider notifies ResWare that the automated process has started, and then indicates that the process will end at a given time. |
| Add or Get Custom Fields to/from File | REST | Inbound | GET, POST | An integrated Tax Provider provides a data point that is not natively supported in ResWare, which is then used in a system-generated tax certificate. |
| Search Files | REST | Inbound | POST | A vendor management partner creates an inventory of all Files that are in process for a given Client or in a given status or a given location. |
| Get Supported Transaction and Product Types | REST | Inbound | GET | A LOS creates a mapping of its loan products to the desired title and settlement products offered by the ResWare-using provider. |
Custom Functionality
As the developers of Resware, Adeptive has the flexibility and capability to facilitate custom inbound or outbound integrations, combining the appropriate communication protocols, messaging formats, payloads, and workflows that can be triggered by inbound messages or can trigger outgoing requests to meet your needs. Currently, recording fee quotations, most underwriter services (Closing Protection Letters, Jackets, Over-the-Limit Requests, Remittance), e-Recording, shipping, and bank wire (incoming and outgoing), positive pay, stop pay and reconciliation integrations in Resware are custom integrations. Some underwriter provided Title Production services are also integrated via custom integrations if the provider cannot support the out-of-the-box Resware functionality.
We strongly recommend that integration partners try to leverage the out-of-the-box functionality before considering a custom integration. If out-of-the-box functionality is used, integration partners can develop their solution in consultation with, but independently of Adeptive, leading to faster time-to-market at a lower level of effort and cost. If your use case is not completely met by the out-of-the-box functionality, please contact us to schedule a consultation so that we can provide you with an enhancement specification that meets your needs.
Unsupported Functionality
Resware currently does not support integrations for the following use cases:
- Receive or send Curatives
- Receive or send Settlement Lines (except through the use of the UCD delivery as a Document)
- Receive or send Ledger Entries
If your use case involves one of these functions, please let us know, and we would be happy to provide a specification to support your specific use case.
Automation Considerations: Built-In Workflow Automation and RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
As developers of the premier automation-focused title and settlement services platform, we are delighted when significant efficiency and cost gains are realized through the integration of our platform with our business partners. Resware has the capability, through Action configuration, to respond to incoming integration events without human intervention. For example, Resware can, upon the placement of an order by a given Client, automatically generate a fee sheet with the correct Fees for the Client and the Transaction at hand, and deliver it back to the Client via an outbound integration. Another example is the triggering of the creation of a title policy upon receipt of an e-recorded document. Please contact us to discuss any specific automation needs that you have so that we can provide you with the best automated workflow possible.
We are also thrilled to see the growing interest in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the financial services sector. If you are interested in providing an RPA based solution in Resware, we strongly recommend that you explore the out-of-the-box integration functionality first, followed by a custom integration solution, before considering approaches involving click simulation. Adeptive provides first-class support for integrations that are provided out-of-the-box and any custom integrations under active use. Any integration partners utilizing these methods will be given advance notice and support to upgrade their integrations in tandem with Adeptive’s releases so that our mutual customers will not be affected. In contrast, Adeptive retains the right to change any of its user interface components, layouts, and interaction flows without notice, possibly causing any click simulation type RPA solutions to stop working. Please contact us to discuss your specific RPA use case before proceeding with implementation in production, especially at scale.