Mortgage technology

Fiserv, Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire i_Tech Corp., a provider of outsourced account and payment processing services, from First Interstate BancSystem Inc., a multi-state, $6 billion banking organization headquartered in Billings, Montana. The purchase price is $40 million, with an expected closing date of December 31, 2008. i_Tech provides outsourced account processing services as a licensee and reseller of the Fiserv ITI Premier core banking system to financial institutions located primarily in the northern Midwest and West. In addition to account processing services, i_Tech provides its clients with a variety of complementary services including EFT processing and check processing.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and MortgageDashboard have integrated Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Document Services Platform with MortgageDashboard's loan origination system. As a result, lenders using MortgageDashboard's LOS will have access to Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' VMP Mortgage Solutions compliance documents from within the system. The new integration will enable MortgageDashboard users to generate standard and customized closing and initial disclosure documents through Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Document Services Platform, and then electronically deliver them to borrowers for e-consent and e-signature. The platform also gives lenders the option of completely and securely outsourcing the printing and mailing of paper disclosures when needed or requested by the borrower through Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' SAS 70-certified mail fulfillment center.

Lenders using the LoanQuest loan origination system from MortgageFlex Systems now have easy interface to a broad selection of mortgage insurance providers with an enhancement of the LOS. The ability to exchange "standardized" data promotes a more competitive atmosphere so lending systems are not locked into a single MI vendor and lenders can use their MI company of choice. Lenders utilizing LoanQuest now can select the following mortgage insurers in the loan origination process: Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., United Guaranty Insurance Co., Republic Mortgage Insurance Co., and PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.

Loan Score Decisioning Systems, Irvine, Calif., has launched CommissionPro, a Web-based commission tracking and payout application designed for loan officers, mortgage brokers, sales force management and accounting personnel. CommissionPro automates the administration of commission management - from accounting payout to tracking, forecasting, performance guidance, reporting and the payment of compensation plans. The company says that CommissionPro streamlines processes that are done manually by using Microsoft Excel and internal resources.

Santa Ana, Calif-based First American Document Solutions, realizing the industry need for better post closing due diligence, has launched a new online portal designed to help lenders and servicers reduce their post-closing document management costs and improve investor compliance. The portal, dubbed ePostClosing.com, is a new platform that enables lenders and servicers to handle all of their document retrieval, trailing document, lien release and assignment tasks through a single online system. The platform offers customers instant access to the nation's largest property database, which includes more than 4 billion imaged records and access to a nationwide network of abstractors and field researchers. The services that are available online through ePostClosing.com include nationwide document retrieval, trailing documents and title policy retrieval, lien release services, assignment services, data solution and electronic vaulting.

VirPack has launched a new e-collaboration platform designed to help lenders transition from paper, to paperless, to electronic. The platform is a Web-based system built using C-Sharp programming language on Microsoft's .NET framework. The platform, dubbed Enterprise Center, was designed from the ground up with the particular needs of the correspondent and wholesale lender in mind. New features include multilayered security at user, loan and document levels, Web-based query, viewing, editing and central administration, and a suite of Web-based upload tools for documents and files from remote users, branches, business partners, brokers and even borrowers. Enterprise Center supports a hybrid document environment to ease the transition from paper-based processes to an e-document world. A new scan application allows remote capture with indexing and the new virtual print driver allows users to add content from any application.

OpenClose Solutions has partnered with Costa Mesa, Calif.-based MeridianLink to interface the company's MortgageCreditLink with OpenClose's loan origination software. MeridianLink and OpenClose will enable brokers and wholesale lenders to request and access credit information from any Internet connection and deliver merged credit reports from more than 50 credit reporting agencies. The move allows wholesale lenders and brokers to access to the same credit data. Lenders and brokers using OpenClose's LOS can then directly import the credit information directly into the software, eliminating duplicate data entry.

In response to federal regulators encouraging lenders and servicers to participate in the Federal Housing Administration's HOPE for Homeowners program (H4H), Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has begun to develop a suite of solutions to help financial institutions comply with the program's requirements. The H4H program was created by Congress to help borrowers at risk of default and foreclosure refinance into more affordable and sustainable loans. For borrowers who refinance under H4H, lenders are required to write down the mortgage to the Department of Housing and Urban Development-provided maximum loan-to-value ratio based upon the home's new appraised value. In many instances, lenders will determine that such a reduction in principal allows them to avoid a costly foreclosure, while helping borrowers stay in their homes with an FHA-backed mortgage. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services says it is developing the documents necessary for lenders and servicers to comply with the H4H program's new consumer disclosures and closing package requirements. The documents will be available in electronic or print formats and through the company's document preparation platform. The documents are expected to be available by the end of 2008.

Data-Vision Inc. has signed a non-binding letter of intent to purchase all or substantially all of the operating assets of Netupdate Inc., a Web-based point-of-sale technology provider. No sale price was disclosed. Netupdate is a wholly owned subsidiary of Most Home Corp., a national provider of online customer service solutions for the mortgage and real estate industries. The acquisition of Netupdate http://www.netupdate.com will strategically advance the accessibility and quality of Data-Vision's integrated Internet lending technologies. Data-Vision's goal is to come to market with a suite of Web portal and e-lending solutions, complete with capabilities such as online origination, point-of-sale, lead capture, instant decisioning, product selection, initial disclosures and secure electronic document delivery. Data-Vision can be found on the Web at http://www.d-vision.com.

Ellie Mae, a provider of loan processing software, is creating and updating loan modification closing packages for several top ten lenders, the company said. Ellie Mae said clients are currently using the service to process more than 5,000 loan modifications per week. The service creates loan modification packages with Web-based data entry that requires no re-keying of data. All documents are compliant with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and MERS requirements, Ellie Mae said. The service assesses the needs of the lender's workflow, accommodates lender-specific workout plans, and handles all recording, notary, and compliance monitoring needs, the company said.

The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., said it has introduced what it believes is the first "reverse mortgage score," a data-based numerical value designed to help servicers quantify the likelihood that struggling senior borrowers can avoid foreclosure on their current loans by qualifying for government-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages. The score, introduced at the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association conference in Los Angeles, examines factors specific to the government reverse mortgage program such as the new $417,000 HECM national loan limit, the number of borrowers on the loan and their ages, living trusts and powers of attorney. It also examines homeowner and property information from First American's data repository. The combined examination of these factors results in a weighted average score ranging from one to five in which "one" indicates the borrower is "least likely" to qualify for a HECM and "five" indicates the loan is "most viable," an external spokesman said. The spokesman also said score may be helpful to originators as well as servicers.

Title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial has agreed to purchase one of its top competitors, LandAmerica Financial Group, for $126 million in stock. The sale announcement comes a day after LandAmerica said it would delay its third quarter earnings release. The purchase is subject not only to shareholder approvals but needs to be sanctioned by the antitrust division of the Justice Department. The two companies say they will save at least $400 million in expenses by reducing their combined debt loads by $250 million and cutting another $150 million in costs. Fidelity, a large player in servicing technology, is based in Jacksonville, Fla. LandAmerica is headquartered in Richmond, Va. Shareholders of LandAmerica, the nation's third largest title insurer, will receive 0.993 shares of Fidelity common stock for each share held.

Zillow.com and Weichert Realtors have formed a partnership, which enables Weichert to automatically feed all of its listings to Zillow.com on a regular basis. Weichert joins the hundreds of partners participating in the Zillow Listings Feed program, which launched in November 2007 and has grown to more than 3.2 million listings today. Each listing Weichert feeds to Zillow includes a description of the property with multiple photos and contact information for the listing agent, including links back to the Weichert website where Zillow users can find more information and connect with a Weichert sales associate to guide them through the home buying and selling process.

First American CREDCO has replaced eCREDCO.com, the company's dedicated e-commerce site, with an all new integrated online ordering and marketing website. The new site features expanded functionality that allows customers to order and track products more efficiently and the company to develop and deliver new products faster. The newly upgraded platform-www.CREDCO.com-features a totally improved customer purchasing experience, supported by Direct-Connect customer support, simplified account administration and real-time product tracking. The new CREDCO.com features include streamlined ordering, direct-connect with customer support, access to multiple accounts with one sign-in, electronic document uploading, access to detailed pricing and transactions, search functions, free credit report reprints, real-time product tracking, simplified account administration and a credit card payment option.

Zaio Corp. of Canada abruptly pulled the plug on its U.S. property database unit, dismissing its top officers. The end came on Thursday when Zaio issued a press release confirming the shut down. The company said that the division's top officers, James Kirchmeyer and Douglas Vincent have resigned. Zaio, which bills itself as a technology and database company, says its secure database has 140 million property records and 24 million photographs.

Financial Industry Computer Systems, a Dallas-based provider of mortgage origination and servicing software, is celebrating its 25th year in business. During its quarter-century of business, FICS has worked with 1,200 mortgage companies. The company's first product, Mortgage Servicer, was written in Basic programming language with a four megahertz processor, 512k of memory, and could only handle up to 2,000 loans. The system was rewritten for Windows by 1996 using PowerBuilder programming in a 32-bit processing environment. Today, the company offers six Windows-based products as well as several Web-based services. FICS can be found on the Web at www.ficsloanware.com.

Mortgage insurer Radian Guaranty, Philadelphia, has entered into a partnership with the New York Loan Exchange, which directly incorporates Radian MI into the mortgage pricing and eligibility process across the NYLX platform, which operates a real-time data base of mortgage programs, rates, and guidelines. "For the first time ever, two icons in the industry are joining together to provide a fast and accurate method for determining a loan's complete eligibility, significantly increasing a lender's efficiency," said Radian Guaranty chief operating officer, Jeff Cashmer. "This will be done through the seamless integration of Radian's MI pricing and guidelines into the NYLX platform." The partnership allows Radian and NYLX's customers "to streamline processes and enhance profitability and growth," he said. As part of this partnership, NYLX will include Radian's rates and guidelines in its pricing and eligibility platform so lenders can calculate MI on loans based on real-time market conditions and consequently make better-informed decisions during loan execution. In addition, Radian customers will learn about the NYLX solution and how to maximize profitability through automation, Radian said.

Tavant and Wolters Kluwer Financial Services said they are working together to make the compliance documentation process for mortgage lenders easier, faster and more accurate while giving them multiple document delivery options. The two companies have integrated Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Document Services Platform with Tavant's point-of-sale solution suite. The new integration will enable users to generate standard and customized compliance documents and disclosures through Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Document Services Platform, and then electronically deliver them to borrowers for e-consent and signature. The platform also gives lenders the option of completely and securely outsourcing the printing and mailing of paper disclosures when needed or requested by the borrower through Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' SAS 70-certified mail fulfillment center.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors LLC, a Dallas-based mortgage servicer specializing in highly delinquent loans, has partnered with the AFN, the American Legal & Financial Network, to improve mortgage performance, protect creditors and preserve homeownership. Through this joint program, participating investors, lenders and law firms replace the last resort of foreclosure with a new concept that the AFN and Wingspan call a "Total Default Solution." Through the Total Default Solution, a servicer, lender or investor refers cases to Wingspan Portfolio Advisors. Next, Wingspan Portfolio Advisors collaborates with the AFN attorneys to maximize the chances of home retention while the legal proceedings move forward. The AFN is a professional organization comprised of members of the residential mortgage banking and legal communities.

LeaderOne Financial has opted to use Mortgage Builder as its new mortgage origination software solution to help it grow to a national footprint. A.W. Pickel III, LeaderOne's founder and CEO, said his company is in negotiations to acquire a bank as the first step towards a multistate expansion program. "We needed an enterprise-scale loan origination system," said Mr. Pickel. "We looked at many systems and found that Mortgage Builder had the solution we needed to help us grow and do so rapidly." LeaderOne's planned expansion includes opening up new loan centers in several parts of the country, so Mr. Pickel wanted a system that could scale rapidly along with his expansion.