About Equity Wave Lending:
Equity Wave Lending, Inc. is a direct private money lender headquartered in Irvine, California, serving residential and commercial borrowers as well as trust-deed investors nationwide. The company is rooted in more than three decades of industry experience, noting that since 1992 its qualified staff has provided first and second lien business purpose loans while focusing on responsive service and reliable execution. Equity Wave describes its mission as delivering unparalleled customer service that creates a customer for life, a standard that reflects its emphasis on clear communication and consistent borrower and investor experiences. In addition to originating and investing in trust deeds across a range of property types, the firm underscores a commitment to exceptional compliance procedures, secure operations and timely processing, aligning with the expectations of institutional and individual capital partners. To support these goals on a national scale, Equity Wave leverages The Mortgage Office (TMO) for servicing, reporting, and investor communications, pairing the company’s relationship-driven approach with a modern technology platform designed for accuracy, audit readiness, and long-term growth.
The Problem:
As Equity Wave Lending began scaling its geographic footprint, smart early technology decisions was a top strategic priority. Entry-level loan servicing software systems could not guarantee the accuracy and auditability required to maintain trust with borrowers, investors, and regulators. The team needed a servicing system that would preserve precision across complex products, support DRE and CFL reporting, and eliminate reconciliation work that puts accuracy at risk. Reliance on limited tools would also create a gap between lending and servicing, which weakens visibility into loan performance and makes it harder to deliver a high-touch experience.
“We were advised to try another software that was on the cheaper side. Immediately we knew it was not going to fulfill our long-term goals and needs. We were told that The Mortgage Office was a little bit more expensive, but we decided back then to bite the bullet, and that was the smartest decision we ever made.”
Jack Suddarth
President, Equity Wave Lending
In their view, that gap is not just functional, it is foundational. As Equity Wave pushed into new markets, they needed a platform that could calculate funds exactly down to the penny, controls that would keep every record clean and maintain compliance as regulations evolved. They also needed to bring servicing closer to the borrower and the investor to strengthen relationships and consistently deliver secure, professional communications that matched the company’s mission.
The Solution:
Equity Wave wanted to maintain servicing in-house and made moves to standardize operations with The Mortgage Office in order to create a secure, audit-ready foundation for growth. TMO’s cloud-based platform architecture centralized loan data and eliminated manual work that would’ve otherwise invited errors. Excel exports and templated reports made it simple to satisfy DRE and CFL requirements. Self-service portals gave borrowers and investors a transparent, real-time window into balances, payments, and distributions. The Equity Wave team connected TMO to its Salesforce based LOS to unify origination and servicing, and they enabled automated messaging to deliver timely payment reminders and investor updates from a single, trusted source of truth. Suddarth underscored the firm’s non-negotiables:
“Security is number one. I have to have 100% accuracy. One of the main reasons why I like The Mortgage Office is the security and reliability. Over the years it has always been accurate, down to the penny.”
With the industry entering what he calls a new era, Equity Wave also prioritized future proofing by embracing analytics, automation, and next generation capabilities while maintaining strict control over data quality. In practical terms, that meant choosing a partner that continually invests in new technology and compliance updates so the team can adopt modern tools without compromising security, governance, or accuracy.
“The lending industry is changing. We need to have AI and next generation technology. We are excited to partner with The Mortgage Office to provide that for both our borrowers and our investors.”
By unifying servicing, reporting, and communications on a single platform, the company protected its commitment to accuracy and security while enabling the kind of automation and configurability that a growing, still nimble team needs to move quickly without sacrificing control. This consolidation also shortened training time for new teammates and reduced context switching, so staff could spend more time underwriting quality loans and nurturing borrower and investor relationships.
The Results:
With The Mortgage Office as its servicing backbone, Equity Wave Lending grew its portfolio and expanded its footprint with confidence, all while maintaining the quality of experience that defines a small team’s advantage. Operationally, the in-house model and unified tech stack increased visibility across every loan, which improved exception handling, sped up investor distributions, and made audits more straightforward. Suddarth described the practical impact on relationships and scale:
“As far as operations, we have a higher touch with our borrowers and our investors. There is complete transparency and complete accuracy. And that builds long-term trust. That has really helped us scale across the country.”
The TMO platform also supported a measured growth path, enabling the team to add users and modules as needed while keeping communications professional and consistent for a lean staff. Standardized workflows reduced onboarding time for new teammates and ensured consistent processes as Equity Wave entered additional markets.
“We were three people, and over time we have grown with more seats, more modules, and better automated communication going out.”
With a stronger data foundation and even more disciplined processes, Equity Wave Lending expanded beyond its home Orange County market and set its sights on new regions from the West to East Coast. The net effect has been consistent, “penny perfect” servicing, faster and clearer reporting, and the deepest borrower and investor trust. By pairing security and accuracy with modern automation, Equity Wave advanced its growth strategy without overextending the team, demonstrating how the right platform choice can unlock national reach while preserving the precision, reliability, and personalized service culture that private lenders and investors expect.