Mortgage technology

Home values fell 1.6% in the first quarter, dropping to a level 7.7% below that of a year earlier and posting "the most significant year-over-year decline in the past 12 years," according to Zillow.com, an online real estate community based in Seattle. Zillow's quarterly national home value report found that median home values stood at a Zindex level of $213,000, the lowest since the second quarter of 2005. "Home values in most markets continued to slide in the first quarter, falling back to levels we saw three to four years ago, which has left more homeowners than ever 'underwater' on their mortgages," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's vice president of data and analytics. ".... The magnitude of annualized declines has been increasing during each of the last five quarters, which is a strong indication that home values still have further to fall, so we expect it's going to get worse before it gets better." Zillow can be found online at http://www.zillow.com.

Veteran securitization market expert Bruce Miller has come on board Digital Risk to lead its structured finance consultancy. Mr. Miller will be responsible for assessing the risk mitigation and mortgage performance optimization needs of the company's clients. Acknowledging market turmoil, Mr. Miller told the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference and Expo that, "It's not an exaggeration to say that every mortgage originator in the last four years should have a third-party forensic review." Digital Risk is a loss mitigation solutions provider that can be found on the Web at http://www.digitalrisk.com.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Ellie Mae has updated Banker and Custom Editions of the Encompass mortgage management system, adding many new enhancements. The enhancements, which were designed to improve security and increase compliance, also streamline a number of tasks in loan processing, secondary marketing, process management, business management, and security and administration. Ellie Mae reported at the MBA National Secondary Market Conference and Expo that the upgrades offer improved FHA support, including new input and output forms that reduce the time it takes to process Federal Housing Administration loans, easier tracking and monitoring features, and enhanced security features such as a user profile lockdown that ensures consistency for company reporting. Lastly, for the growing number of broker/bankers, Ellie Mae has added the ability to create channel-specific business rules that allow dual function operations to apply the appropriate security and business flow for loans that are banked versus brokered. Ellie Mae can be found online at http://www.elliemae.com.

NYLX, Mt. Arlington, N.J., has announced enhancements to LoanDecisions, its all-in-one product eligibility and pricing engine, aimed at making it more of a real-time tool. The enhancements -- which include real-time investor change notifications, re-pricing auto alerts for specific loans in the pipeline, and a new lock status report feature -- enable companies to achieve higher profitability, NYLX said at the MBA National Secondary Market Conference and Expo. The enhancements also offer the assurance of 99.99995% accuracy in accessing up-to-the-minute rate and guideline changes, along with higher visibility into lock status for managing the pricing of locked loans. NYLX said its Investor Intra-Day Re-Pricing Notification System alerts users via e-mail of loan re-pricing minutes after it is announced, and also displays a visual warning in the LoanDecisions system. A second e-mail alert is also sent to the customer confirming that the most recent rates are available in the system. The second notification enhancement, the Client Book Re-Price Alert System, allows loan officers to set auto alerts on files in the LoanDecisions client book based on movements in rate or yield, so loan officers can ensure that their loans are always priced optimally without having to manually re-price every loan in the pipeline. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.nylx.com.

Equifax Inc. has launched an analytical tool designed to give mortgage investors deeper insight into mortgage borrower credit behavior. At the Mortgage Bankers Association's Secondary Market Conference & Expo, the company declared that the Equifax Mortgage Market Risk Insight is the industry's first source of mortgage market risk information that enables forward-looking valuations for mortgage-related securities. Investors can use the tool to analyze mortgage loan performance and more accurately assess delinquency and default, Equifax said. The tool gives investors updated credit information on mortgage borrowers aggregated at the ZIP code level. Mortgage MRI also supports strategic market risk analysis, pool and market risk assessment, and institutional valuation of mortgage-related assets.

Leads360 Inc., a Los Angeles-based lead management software company, and NYLX Inc., a New York city-based provider of loan-eligibility and pricing systems, have announced an integration of their technology platforms. The companies said pricing information from NYLX (New York Loan Exchange) is permanently attached to leads in the Leads360 system once loans have been priced, allowing for "quick and easy retrieval" of pricing data as well as "instantaneous repricing" if circumstances change. "Based on extensive third-party research and our own proprietary data, we know that getting prospects on the phone and being able to provide loan packages without having to re-establish contact is a key driver for sales success," said Nick Hedges, Leads360's senior vice president of strategy. The companies said the partnership represents the first time that two large technology providers servicing mortgage brokers and lenders have fully integrated their platforms. They can be found online at http://www.leads360.com and http://www.nylx.com.

Eagan, Minn.-based AllRegs, which has been providing product and underwriting guidelines to the mortgage industry for nearly 20 years, has acquired Merit Matrix, a division of IntraPrise Solutions Inc. headquartered in Warminster, Pa. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. A source told MortgageWire that all Merit Matrix employees will be retained, while all the technology will be rolled into AllRegs' Loan Library offering. The acquisition of Merit Matrix allows AllRegs to round out its content available to mortgage bankers with more than 64 investors and nearly 3,000 loan products. The acquisition also allows for mortgage professionals to continue using their loan platforms and product and pricing engines for loan transactions, which are now able to receive data directly from AllRegs via direct XML data feeds. AllRegs is the exclusive provider of product and underwriting guidelines for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.allregs.com.

MRG Document Technologies, Dallas, has announced an alliance with Lydian Data Services, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based provider of end-to-end outsourcing services for mortgage operations. The alliance enables MRG to extend its Miracle document preparation system to customers of Lydian's origination fulfillment center who use Lydian's outsource capabilities to supplement or replace their own internal processes, MRG said. Through a custom interface created by MRG, Miracle upfront and interim disclosures and closing documentation can be accessed via the Lydian Exchange Network, which unites lenders and industry service providers. "By using MRG's customizable document preparation packages and Lydian Data Services' turnkey fulfillment capabilities, lenders can streamline their origination processes while maintaining full compliance with state and federal regulations," said Terry King, group chairman of MRG. The companies can be found online at http://www.mrgdocs.com and http://www.lydiandata.com.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, and Fidelity National Information Services, Jacksonville, Fla., have announced plans to integrate certain Wolters Kluwer loan-modification systems and compliance content into the loss mitigation module of FNIS's servicing platform. The companies said the integration of Wolters Kluwer's Desert Document Services repository of standardized documents into the Desktop workflow, document, and expense management system of FNIS will enable servicers "to automatically generate federal- and state-compliant documents on a nationwide basis" and to customize loan modification documents and packages as needed. The Desktop loss mitigation module is available to all servicers and is integrated with FNIS's Mortgage Servicing Package platform and other servicing platforms, the companies said. The companies can be found online at http://www.wolterskluwerfs.com and http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

Primary Residential Mortgage Inc., Salt Lake City, has announced a partnership with Mortgage Success Source to provide PRMI branches nationwide with training and marketing resources to help increase originations. Mortgage Success Source is the umbrella company of a recent partnership between Mortgage Market Guide, LoanToolbox, and The Duncan Group. PRMI said its branch partners will have free access to MSS products and services such as the Mortgage Market Guide, a real-time source of market data, commentary, and advice; LoanToolbox PlatinumPro, an automated marketing system that helps originators communicate more effectively; the full LoanToolbox Suite (which will be available free for six months); and training conference calls every six weeks with mortgage consultants. PRMI can be found online at http://www.branchpartner.com.

Loans4Less.com Inc., an online mortgage brokerage based in Redondo Beach, Calif., has announced that its stock has begun trading over the counter on the Pink Sheets. The ticker symbol is LFLS. Loans4Less said it is exploring joint ventures, licensing, equity financing, and acquisition arrangements with third-party finance companies and major banks. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.loan4less.com.

ValuAmerica, Pittsburgh, a developer of settlement services technology, has announced a new release of its ValuNet xsp software aimed at preventing directed appraisals and ensuring compliance with federal valuation requirements. The system will also help lenders comply with a recent agreement on appraisals between the New York attorney general and Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the company said. "It's the industry's worst-kept secret: some lenders apparently would rather face a fine from their regulators than risk alienating their commission-based loan officers by preventing them from meddling in the appraisal selection and review process," said Robert Murphy, chairman and chief executive of ValuAmerica. ".... Now that Fannie and Freddie have developed their new code, lenders should be looking for new ways not only to end appraisal pressure but to document their compliance." ValuNet xsp is designed to prevent loan officers from selecting or contacting appraisers by automatically selecting appraisers based on their licensing, skill levels, location, price, workload, and past performance, ValuAmerica said. The company can be found online at http://www.valuamerica.com.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has announced the release of the MXCompliance Title v2.3.2 Request and Response certification, the fifth MXCompliance certification available for integration in industry-related technology business practices. The certification "allows organizations working in the title insurance industry to affirm their support of, and compliance to, MISMO standards for the transactions that help mitigate losses and protect property owners' and lenders' financial interest in real property," said Harry Gardner, head of MISMO and vice president of industry technology at the Mortgage Bankers Association. MISMO, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the MBA, can be found online at http://www.mismo.org, and MXCompliance can be found at http://mxcompliance.mismo.org.

First American CoreLogic, a provider of property and ownership information, analytics, and services, has announced the release of a Web-based gateway to real estate information for title insurance companies. REiSource offers property profiles, new-homeowner and refinance lists, resale trends, mortgage leads, and custom reports. The Web portal "enables title companies to increase market penetration, streamline operational efficiencies, control costs, and maximize their return on investment," the company said. The "personalized, presentation-ready" property reports are based on CoreLogic's residential real estate database, which covers 97% of all real estate transactions in more than 3,000 counties in the United States, the company said. First American CoreLogic, a subsidiary of The First American Corp., can be found online at http://www.facorelogic.com, and the portal can be found at http://www.reisource.com.

Mortgage Builder Software Inc., a Southfield, Mich.-based vendor of loan origination systems, has integrated with First American Flood Data Services. The integration was designed to enable First American's flood certification process to flow seamlessly into Mortgage Builder's LOS, Mortgage Builder said. Users of Mortgage Builder software now have the ability to order a flood determination from within the system. The flood certificate is returned automatically with useful fields populated into the loan application. When requesting a flood certification in Mortgage Builder, a MISMO-compliant data file is transmitted to First American via Web services, Mortgage Builder said. The data returned includes the census tract identifier, metropolitan statistical area identifier, county code, and additional flood mapping fields indicating whether there is a flood insurance requirement. The vendors can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagebuilder.com and http://www.firstam.com.

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace, and Reliance Network LLC, a developer of Web-based real estate applications, have announced a strategic partnership that will allow Reliance Network's clients to have real-time access to RealtyTrac's nationwide foreclosure database. Several clients of the Holland, Pa.-based Reliance Network will start receiving the data immediately, the companies said. "This new search application will pull real-time data directly from RealtyTrac's nationwide foreclosure database, providing users of Reliance Network-powered websites with a method to access distressed properties, including properties in pre-foreclosure, auction or bank-owned properties," said Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing at the Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. "That in turn will help drive more traffic and leads to the agent websites." The companies can be found online at http://www.realtytrac.com and http://www.reliancenetwork.com.

Wells Fargo Funding has added Fiserv to the list of vendors from which it will accept e-1003s and e-disclosures. The company recently announced that such e-docs would be accepted from DocuSign, Encomia, and eLynx. Electronic document delivery is increasing throughout the mortgage industry because it quickly engages the borrower in the lending process, assists lenders in meeting the three-day Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act requirements, and eliminates the fixed costs of courier delivery. A major purchaser of loans, Well Fargo Funding said it has established internal standards to ensure that electronically delivered and electronically signed initial disclosures are legally binding. In agreeing to purchase loans, the company said it has determined that the Fiserv eLending platform provides the right level of borrower security and document audit trails required to meet risk tolerances for secondary-market loan purchases. The vendor can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com.

Zoot, Bozeman, Ariz., has created a set of tools to help consumer credit grantors comply with so-called red-flag regulations. Section 315 and Section 114(B) of the FACT Act mandate that financial institutions manage and reduce the risk of identity theft fraud for customers. Any organizations, including nonlenders such as brokers and auto dealers, that use consumer credit data are required to comply with red-flag regulations by Nov. 1, 2008. To satisfy red-flag requirements, programs must have reasonable policies and procedures for detecting, preventing, and mitigating identity theft; demonstrate the ability to identify relevant patterns of activity considered red flags, including address discrepancies; and undergo periodic updates to reflect changes in risks from identity theft. Zoot's tool automates the process of complying with these regulations. The vendor can be found on the Web at http://www.zootweb.com.

Strategic Recovery Group LLC, a national mortgage asset recovery company based in Plano, Texas, has launched a special servicing unit, Acqura Loan Services, to meet the growing needs of lenders, hedge funds, and investors in distressed debt. Acqura, which began hiring personnel and developing proprietary scoring and servicing technology in mid-2007, offers a full spectrum of servicing, loss mitigation, and collection services and creates a customized risk-management solution for each of its clients, the parent company said. "At this stage in the credit cycle, lenders, Wall Street, and MBS/ABS investors realize they are facing a triple threat: the prospect of recession, the credit/liquidity problems, and falling home prices," said David Vida, chief executive officer of both Acqura and its parent. "What investors and issuers are looking for now are focused, innovative partners who can commit to higher service levels and deliver experienced asset managers and the latest technology to achieve better outcomes for both borrowers and investors."

On the heels of approving the acceptance of DocuSign electronic signature technology, Wells Fargo has announced that it will now accept e-disclosures and e-1003s from eLynx and Encomia as well. Specifically, Wells Fargo Funding will accept Encomia's e-disclosures and e-1003 product offerings in a move the lender calls the first step toward full e-mortgage adoption. Encomia's e-disclosures are designed to allow borrowers to review and e-sign their upfront disclosures and loan applications. Similarly, Wells Fargo Funding has approved eLynx's uSign and SwiftSign electronic signature services for use by all its correspondent lenders. Correspondents will now be able to choose uSign and SwiftSign to incorporate e-sign capabilities into their lending operations. The vendors can be found on the Web at http://www.encomia.com and http://www.elynx.com.