Mortgage technology

Integrated Mortgage Solutions has expanded its loss mitigation package to include the IMS Notary Service, an e-service product that facilitates the signing and notarization of loan documents online. All IMS e-services are MISMO SMART Doc compatible. The news was released at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in San Francisco. According to recent surveys, it has been reported that 40% to 50% of loss mitigation packages are not returned from the borrower to the servicer. Notary Service is designed to eliminate barriers to the return of loss mitigation packages. With Notary Service, whether the servicer utilizes e-services technology or the traditional paper document package delivery, IMS will draw the documents and coordinate a meeting with both the notary and the borrower. IMS determines a specific date, time and location requested by either the servicer or the borrower to have the documents notarized via electronic signature pad or the actual paper documents.

Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA), a housing finance agency and administrator of affordable housing resources, is saving time and streamlining labor tasks with MORvision, ISGN's loan origination system that automates the loan cycle from point-of-sale and Web origination through processing, underwriting, closing, secondary tracking, and delivery. IHFA, which recently opened up a new segment for funding and closing loans, had previously been fulfilling all functions on a manual basis prior to implementing MORvision. "IHFA functions a lot like a secondary market investor does, but also recently began working with brokers and has expanded into closing and funding loans," said Susan Semba, director, homeownership lending for IHFA. "Prior to implementing MORvision, we had been doing everything manually, which meant that we were producing all of our closing documents by hand, based on a Microsoft Word template. On the processing side, it's faster and easier for us to keep track of the progress of each loan, which saves us a lot of time on phone calls with brokers."

Advantage Systems, a provider of accounting and contract management tools for the mortgage and real estate industries, announced at MBA's 95th Annual Convention and Expo that the Web-based reporting tool within Advantage Systems' Accounting for Mortgage Bankers (AMB) is now used by 971 branch locations across the United States. The Web-based reporting tool within AMB enables mortgage lenders to provide their branch managers with information such as loan-level accounting reports, branch profit and loss reports, branch check register and originator performance reports via the Internet in real time. The system has role-specific views that can be established and restricted by the organization's chief financial officer. Benefits of the Web-based reporting tool for branch managers include eliminating the burden of bookkeeping and accounting while providing updates on the status of pending loans and financial progress, in real time, without placing calls to company headquarters.

Metavante Corp. now offers support for new FHA compliance regulations enabling lenders to take advantage of this significant business opportunity. According to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), twice as many people with subprime loans are refinancing into government-insured FHA mortgage loans and these types of loans are also ideal for first time homebuyers and those who may have less than perfect credit. Metavante's LOS supports the FHA Loan Transmittal, the Maximum Mortgage Worksheet for 203k and 203k Streamline loans and the Mortgage Credit Analysis Worksheets (MCAW-PUR for purchases and MCAW-W/S for refinances). Metavante's LOS also supports key components of the FHA Modernization Act of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), as well as the minimum cash investment requirement and maximum combined loan-to-value changes.

MRG Document Technologies has entered the loan modification space. Lenders using MRG's MIRACLE ONLINE document preparation systems can now request modification agreements via the Internet. By requesting loan modifications online, lenders can now instantly create changes to their loan document packages if workouts are necessary. These modified agreements. This also enables lenders to remain in compliance with changing lending legislation and requirements. Modifications made by MRG users typically include changes to note and security agreement rates and terms.

Acris Solutions, a Web-based provider of electronic imaging, document management and loan delivery solutions for the mortgage industry, now provides process workflow for lenders of all sizes. Making the announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual conference at San Francisco's Moscone Center, Acris Solutions president Richard Johnston describes the new workflow capability as an important control and security measure for companies making the transition from paper-based processes to image-based lending. "It's not a question of 'if' lenders are going to make the transition to image-based lending, but a question of 'when,'" Mr. Johnston says. The technology includes making certain that steps are taken in the process to maintain control of the workflow to avoid duplication of effort and keep service levels high.

National Quick Sale, a division of software innovator Infusion Technologies, has rolled out its Web-based platform designed to automate the process of real estate short sales, and shorten the transaction time from the several weeks currently required to a matter of days. National Quick Sale has been in a pilot with one of the nation's government sponsored enterprises and several of their mortgage servicers since earlier this year. A number of mortgage servicers are working with National Quick Sale to provide their loss mitigation departments with technology-based assistance for short sales, and have been impressed with the solution's capabilities. National Quick Sale's platform enables all parties to react quickly, improving the chances of completion before the potential buyer loses interest and the property is sold in foreclosure.

Nationstar Mortgage, a mortgage lender headquartered in Dallas, Texas, has re-entered the wholesale market in October 2008, and has selected Overture's Mozart Decision Engine and Mozart POS broker centric user interface as the technology it will use to support its wholesale operations. The decision to use Mozart was reinforced by Nationstar's successful roll out of Overture's Mozart Decision Engine and Mozart point-of-sale user interface to its 200+ retail and consumer direct originators companywide. Thanks to Mozart, Nationstar's retail division is now benefiting from real-time, rich automated decisioning, which gives the lender the ability to put risk-based pricing, product eligibility, underwriting, best fit, mortgage insurance premium calculations, fee generation and analysis and loan optimization into the hands of the consumer consultant, all on a real-time basis.

SourceMedia, the publisher of Mortgage Technology magazine, gave out awards in seven categories honoring achievement in mortgage lending technology at the MBA's annual convention in San Francisco. The Steve Fraser Visionary Award is given to an outstanding mortgage technology innovator, visionary or evangelizer. The winner of the award is Kim Weaver of Fiserv for her dedication to furthering the e-mortgage and getting lenders live in an e-mortgage environment. The Release of the Year Award is given to the announcement of a technology product, platform, alliance or initiative that seems likely to have the broadest impact on mortgage lending. The winner of the award is DocVelocity for making lender-proven paperless technology available to all mortgage participants. The Synergy Award is given to technology initiatives and alliances that show exemplary inter-operability in a production setting to advance the cause of automation and e-commerce. The winners of the award are Optimal Blue and Secondary Interactive for bridging the gap between pricing and secondary marketing. The Lasting Impact Award is given to an individual, group or company that launched a technology initiative or development that has had a lasting impact. The winner of the award is Roger Gudobba for evangelizing on behalf of a data-driven process and working to help the mortgage industry embrace this vision. The 10X Award is given to a company, product or technology application having an exponential impact on mortgage lending. The winner of the award is The Turning Point for MACH 3, which helps lenders get repeat business through technology in a down market. The Help Desk Award is given for outstanding customer service and technical support. The winner of the award is Mortgage Builder for combining experienced support staff with cutting-edge technology to help clients. The Fix-It Award is given to a technology tool providing an effective solution for a particular industry problem, need or channel. The winner of the award is Zaio, for solving the problem of appraiser fraud through automation.

MountanView Servicing Group, Denver, has completed the transition to CompassPoint mortgage servicing rights valuation technology. MountainView provides MSR valuations for over 100 servicers. Compass's MSR valuation analytics were developed with significant input from Mountain View, the two companies said. The Compass MSR valuation analytics include both static and option adjusted spread valuations.

eLynx now offers lenders full or hybrid electronic closing capabilities through the eLynx expedite platform. In an ongoing effort to address fragmentation in the closing process, eLynx is working with leading settlement entities to provide lenders with a variety of channels to electronically close loans, including through eLynx's own closing room. Toward that end, eLynx has formed a strategic partnership with Stewart Lender Services, a subsidiary of Stewart Title Company. The integration of Stewart's eClosingRoom electronic closing technology with the eLynx expedite platform, creates a seamless connection between lenders and eClosingRoom that does not require any additional integration on the lender's part. This integration supports electronic, hybrid, and paper closings. In related news, eLynx has an integration partnership with LandAmerica that was just signed to automate the title portion of mortgage closings. eLynx has been approved to deliver Fannie Mae Category One SMART Docs and is in the process of being certified with MERS.

MRG Document Technologies has integrated with San Francisco-based ComplianceEase to provide automated compliance auditing for closing documents prepared by MRG. MRG is a provider of compliance and documentation services for the financial industry. ComplianceEase's automated compliance system, ComplianceAnalyzer, is accessible through MRG's document preparation system, MIRACLE ONLINE. The integration enables lenders using MRG to access all ComplianceEase tests and reports online. Audit results for possible compliance issues are available in both summary and detail formats. There is no additional charge for users to access ComplianceEase via MIRACLE ONLINE. Lenders simply sign up directly with ComplianceEase and the integration is handled by MRG.

Carlsbad, Calif.-based BasePoint Analytics has released new Web-hosted automation that enables lenders to obtain verifications of borrower income. Developed in response to lender requests for quicker turnaround on IRS 4506-T transcripts, the Income Verification Service includes a real-time tracking system for monitoring each transcript request and report, and gives managers the capability to view the status of all user transcript activity. Specifically, the service automates each step in the process to obtain the 4506-T report, with online data entry of the transcript request and automatic creation of the cover sheet. A system-generated e-mail provides instantaneous notification to the user when the transcript request is received and when the report is available, with a link directly to the report on BasePoint's secure system. The online tracking system allows requests and results to be retrieved at any time, with real-time monitoring for managers to check the status of all user transcript activity.

Rapid Reporting, Ft. Worth, Texas, has released EmploymentChek, a third-party employment verification service offering verbal verification of employment. VVOE picks up where automated employment verification services leave off by providing confirmations that come from live, person-to-person contact with the employer. With EmploymentChek, lenders and brokers can get definitive answers on a borrower's employment in 24 hours or less. All mortgage loans contain four major risk factors for fraud: identity, income, employment and collateral. The mortgage industry is particularly challenged by employment fraud because of the labor-intensive and paper-laden, manual process of verification, which opens lenders up to a variety of errors, oversights and opportunities for fraud. In most mortgage shops, the verification process is not measurable or accountable, and the mortgage companies do not capture the data. Rapid Reporting's EmploymentChek solves those issues with a process that validates the existence of the employer thorough a search of public and private records, and also provides a person-to-person verbal verification of employment conducted by a trained employment fraud specialist.

Costa Mesa, Calif.-based PriceMyLoan has completed an integration to Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector automated underwriting system. The integration allows originators to obtain decisions from Loan Prospector from within the PML system. PML is an automated eligibility and pricing tool that is used by mortgage lenders to provide loan decisions at the point-of-sale. Originators query the Web-based engine to determine which products their borrowers qualify for, and to obtain current pricing for those products. The Loan Prospector integration provides a method for originators to submit credit report and loan data directly to Loan Prospector system from within PML. Loan Prospector responses are brought back into PML and are used to generate product and pricing decisions for specific investor loan products. PML can be found on the Web at http://www.pricemyloan.com.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, has reached an agreement with Document Processing Systems, Inc. to transition DPS' customers onto the Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Document Services Platform. DPS, founded more than 25 years ago in Novi, Mich., provides mortgage lenders and brokers with document preparation services through the company's DIRECT-DOCS online technology platform. The company recently announced that it was exiting the document preparation services business. Under the terms of the agreement, DPS will work with Wolters Kluwer Financial Services to help migrate customers over to Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Document Services Platform.

Ellie Mae Inc., a Pleasanton, Calif.-based origination vendor, has acquired the assets of Online Documents Inc., a provider of guaranteed compliant mortgage documents, from Stewart Lender Services Inc. No sale price was disclosed. Online Documents, based in Concord, Calif., provides services to more than 500 clients nationwide, ranging from local and regional lenders to large organizations. The acquisition agreement between Stewart Lender Services and Ellie Mae includes Online Documents' employees, client relationships, technology, business operations, and other assets. Ellie Mae said it will continue to serve current customers of Online Documents, and in the coming months will add Online Documents as an additional provider on Encompass Closer, its document preparation solution integrated within the Encompass Mortgage Management Solution. In addition, mortgage professionals will continue to see Online Documents among the many document service providers offered on the Ellie Mae ePASS Network. Ellie Mae can be found on the Web at http://www.elliemae.com.

AllRegs, an information provider for the mortgage industry based in Eagan, Minn., and Optimal Blue, a Plano, Texas-based developer of a Web-based platform that couples decisioning technology with content management, have joined forces to provide an integrated system for loan officers. The AllRegs LoanLibrary, which features 2,600 products, will now be available to all users of Optimal Blue's product eligibility and pricing engine. Optimal Blue maintains and delivers mortgage product content through an automated secondary-marketing platform. The data from the AllRegs application will be integrated into Optimal Blue's PPE through its Web service, the companies said. "By combining our resources, loan officers will have access to a product that enables them to better manage their loan products, search them in seconds, and view all the investor guidelines they need to choose the appropriate products for their customers," said Dan Thoms, AllRegs senior vice president. AllRegs, can be found online at http://www.allregs.com and http://www.optimalblue.com.

The National Association of Realtors has announced the launch of a Federal Housing Administration Toolkit aimed at enabling Realtors to help buyers obtain safe and affordable FHA-backed mortgages. The toolkit includes a video on frequently asked questions and a flash-media presentation of FHA programs, as well as brochures, other reference guides, and links to useful resources. "FHA offers a safe alternative to many of the subprime and exotic loans that caused much of today's market turmoil, and the program is easier to use than ever before," said Pat V. Combs, immediate past president of the NAR. The association can be found on the Web at http://www.realtor.org.

Interthinx, a provider of risk mitigation and regulatory compliance tools based in Agoura Hills, Calif., is touting the loan-level identity component of its FraudGuard tool to help mortgage lenders comply with so-called red-flag rules that take effect Nov. 1. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act requires banks to develop policies (consistent with Customer Information Program rules) to identify potential identity theft. FraudGuard uses public and proprietary data to generate more than 45 alerts that help lenders comply with the red-flag rules, the company said. "Creditors and financial institutions are obligated to implement a written program that would satisfy the requirements to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft," said Kevin Coop, president of Interthinx. "FraudGuard provides a multitude of critical alerts to support compliance in areas such as Social Security numbers issued prior to date of birth of borrower, invalid phone numbers, and inconsistent personal identification information." The company can be found online at http://www.interthinx.com.