Mortgage technology

Responding to the "swift shift in investor appetites for conforming and government loans," Loan-Score Decisioning Systems LLC, Irvine, Calif., has announced the integration of its automated underwriting platform with Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter.The company said the integration offers instant and accurate determination of "product eligibility, pricing, and complex underwriting for all types of loan products." Particularly noteworthy, the company said, is that the DU integration also allows lenders to access the Federal Housing Administration's AU system, TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard for the underwriting of FHA loans. Because Loan-Score's AUS retrieves and stores the actual DU findings data, along with the unique Fannie Mae Casefile ID, Loan-Score said its clients are enabled to sell to Fannie Mae-approved seller-servicers. The system is offered as a stand-alone platform or as components. Loan-Score can be found online at http://www.loan-score.com.

CBC Cos., a provider of credit and risk management solutions based in Columbus, Ohio, has merged with DataVerify, a provider of mortgage risk assessment and fraud prevention systems based in Chesterfield, Mo.CBC said it will leverage DataVerify's fraud and data integrity analytics, rules, and scoring to help solve mortgage risk problems faced by financial markets and institutions. DataVerify's solutions automate most of the data validation steps in the lending process. According to CBC, the resulting benefits to DataVerify and CBC customers include: increased loan production and revenues; mitigation of financial and reputational risks; conformity with regulations; and lower operational costs. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.cbcinnovis.com and http://www.dataverify.com.

Compass Analytics LLC, San Francisco, has announced the acquisition of LION Inc.'s Tuttle Risk Management Services unit and related assets.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the announcement, the combination creates "the largest outsourced risk management provider in the industry." A company spokesman said the two entities would continue to operate independently until a common platform is created. The products and services offered include outsourced hedge advisory and third-party valuation services as well as hosted and licensing options for pipeline risk management, servicing rights valuation, and whole-loan trading analytics serving mortgage banks, banks, thrifts, credit unions, servicers, investment banks, mortgage insurance companies, and agencies. Tuttle's LockPoint Xtra and LION's Web properties were not involved in the sale. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.compass-analytics.com and http://www.lioninc.com.

MortgageWire has learned that veteran e-mortgage expert Tim Anderson has been hired as president and chief executive of Houston-based SigniaDocs.Mr. Anderson will be charged with developing a platform based on mortgage investor guidelines that go beyond Fannie Mae electronic quality control guidelines to actually warrant compliance, leveraging Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization SMART Docs. He said he welcomes the opportunity to prove the value of electronic mortgages as a fundamental cure for flaws in the mortgage creation process revealed in the ongoing mortgage meltdown, which brought a cascade of buybacks related to compliance. Signia boasts of having built its system "from the ground up as three-tier, very secure, completely browser-based, backed by a wealth of experience" through a management team of mortgage industry veterans. Mr. Anderson was most recently employed by Stewart. SigniaDocs can be found online at http://www.signiadocs.com.

Origination vendor Mortgage Cadence Inc., Denver, has launched Mortgage Cadence Prelude, a point-of-sale tool designed for use by lenders moving into the growing reverse mortgage lending channel.With four of the top five reverse lenders in the country already using its Mortgage Cadence Orchestrator application, the company says there is a desperate need for reverse lending POS software that is easy to use and interfaces well with origination platforms at the nation's largest reverse mortgage lending firms. Mortgage Cadence Prelude will not be a preconfigured version of Mortgage Cadence Orchestrator and is not designed for lenders already using that application, the company said. Rather, it is point-of-sale software specifically written for the reverse mortgage market. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagecadence.com.

E*Trade Financial -- which on Friday admitted that it has $450 million in "exposure" on its asset-backed securities portfolio -- saw its stock price crumble 55% Monday morning after an analyst at Citigroup said there's a 15% chance the depository could go bankrupt.As of MortgageWire's deadline, E*Trade's shares were trading down $4.71, at $3.89. Its 52-week high is $26. In a recent public filing, the New York-based company said it has set aside $240 million to cover "deterioration" in its home equity portfolio. Its ABS portfolio totals $3 billion. Even though E*Trade could take more hits on the portfolio in the quarters ahead, the company said in a statement that it "expects to remain well capitalized based on regulatory standards." In September, E*Trade closed its residential wholesale division. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.etrade.com.

Loan-Score Decisioning Systems LLC, a provider of automated underwriting systems based in Irvine, Calif., has completed what it terms "a comprehensive integration" with PCLender, a Web-based software provider for mortgage bankers.The integration provides PCLender's clients with "seamless access" to Loan-Score's AUS directly from its loan enterprise lending platform, according to Loan-Score. "While there are many product and pricing engines available on the market today that purport to offer AU, the vast majority of them do not come close to returning the complex, layered-risk analysis required of a true automated underwriting solution," said Scott Burgess, president of Loan-Score. "The use of Loan-Score's AUS through PCLender ensures that loans unequivocally meet the many nuances of investor guidelines to find best-fit homes for loans, and that those loans are not later kicked back by highly discriminating investors on a trivial technicality." The companies can be found online at http://www.loan-score.com and http://www.pclender.com.

Clearwater, Fla.-based eMason Inc. has announced Bank of America's implementation of the eMason Clarifire enterprise-level application to automate workflow processes and communications with vendors and enable managing by exception.The company said that within 30 days of implementing Clarifire, 3,600 Bank of America internal and external users had reduced paper, phone calls, and e-mail by more than 90%; increased end-to-end process efficiency; and realized a 25% reduction in the cost of business. First implemented on the mortgage side to handle foreclosures, bankruptcies, and loss mitigation, Clarifire is now being implemented in the bank's consumer-lending division to automate handling of car loans and other consumer products. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.emason.biz and http://www.bankofamerica.com.

Cogent Road, a provider of Internet-based applications headquartered in San Diego, has launched Funding Suite, a redesigned database architecture underlying the credit report that allows new opportunities and products for brokers.Included in Funding Suite are the following features: Intelligent Credit Report with X-Ray technology; dynamic reimbursement; PaySaver loan officer billing option; automatic discounting; and universal credit file reissuing. The company said Intelligent Credit Report is a dynamic display of client credit data allowing faster, more accurate prequalifying assessment. In Funding Suite 3.0, all tradelines provide an interpretation of the payment history in easy-to-understand language, making even the most complex tradelines more easily understood, Cogent Road said. X-Ray technology conducts a deep analysis of the underlying credit data used to calculate the credit score to identify potential errors that may be harming the score along with the points gained by fixing such errors. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.cogentroad.com.

IAC, New York, has separated itself into five publicly traded companies, one of which is named after and includes LendingTree, an online mortgage lender and realty services exchange based in Charlotte, N.C."LendingTree, obviously under pressure from the macro real estate and mortgage environment, is nevertheless a valuable asset with a great brand and will be freed to participate fully with its own currency," IAC said. C.D. Davies will continue to serve as chief executive officer of the new LendingTree, a company that RealEstate.com, Domania, GetSmart, Home Loan Center, and iNest also will be part of. Bret Violette will continue to serve as president of RealEstate.com. IAC can be found on the Web at http://www.iac.com, and LendingTree can be found at http://www.lendingtree.com.

Xinnix, an Atlanta-based provider of sales training and leadership development programs for mortgage professionals, has announced the addition of a resource center to its website that provides industry news, research, training tips, and interactive tools.The Xinnix Resource Center offers news on the economy, equity and Treasury markets, and mortgage interest rates. Visitors can register for access to the resource center via the Xinnix website. Casey Cunningham, founder and president of Xinnix, said it will be "an important vehicle for reinforcing the principles and techniques" taught in the company's sales, leadership, and coaching programs. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.xinnix.com.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Silver Spring, Md., has announced the launch of a Spanish-language version of its recently unveiled Homeowner Crisis Resource Center website to assist borrowers who are not fluent in English.The Homeowner Crisis Resource Center provides direct access to certified housing counselors and homeowner information and financial tools. The center can be found at http://www.housinghelpnow.org, and the Spanish-language version can be found at http://www.nopierdastuhogar.org.

Foreclosure.com, Boca Raton, Fla., has announced the formation of a partnership with IndyMac Bank to market and facilitate the sale of thousands of real-estate-owned properties via the Internet.Foreclosure.com said it maintains a nationwide database of more than 1.2 million listings that includes foreclosures, preforeclosures, bankruptcies, for-sale-by-owner homes, and tax liens. Potential homeowners can view the REO listings and foreclosed properties owned by IndyMac Bank online and set appointments with listing agents/brokers to view the properties. "Our research indicates that only 17% of a traditional real estate marketing budget is spent online," said Brad Geisen, Foreclosure.com's founder, president, and chief executive officer. "That means sellers are spending 83% of their marketing dollars chasing only 20% of the buyers. Put simply, times are changing, and the practices of lenders and others involved in the sale of real estate need to change along with it." The companies can be found online at http://www.foreclosure.com and http://www.indymacbank.com.

Fidelity National Information Services Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla.-based provider of technology services to financial institutions, has announced a plan to spin off its Lender Processing Services division as a publicly traded company.The plan, recently approved by the company's board of directors, contemplates that FNIS will contribute the assets of the division to a newly formed subsidiary in exchange for 100% of the new company's common stock and approximately $1.6 billion of its debt securities. If approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and favored with a tax-free ruling by the Internal Revenue Service, FNIS would distribute 100% of the new company's common stock to FNIS shareholders in a tax-free spinoff, the company said. William P. Foley II, executive chairman of FNIS, said the reason for the spinoff is that the company's Transaction Processing Services and Lender Processing Services divisions are "distinct and unique businesses that serve different customers, operate in different markets, and attract different investors." The company can be found online at http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

Stewart Lender Services Inc., Houston, has announced the introduction of the Pre-Foreclosure Report, which is designed to help attorneys and lenders determine the condition of a property title when the borrowers are in financial distress.The new report provides a quick "snapshot" of the subject residential property, including a two-owner search, vesting information, open liens, judgments, pending lawsuits, tax information, and other data, the company said. Stewart Lender Services, a subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp., can be found on the Web at http://www.stewart.com.

The Bank on Real Estate, Lexington, Mass., has announced that E-Loan has become the first lender customer using a co-branded website that attracts purchase borrowers by offering easy MapQuest access to homes for sale in selected major markets across the country.The BoRE announcement calls this "the first MLS-compliant IDX listing architecture that can be co-branded by lenders." The bank said that after visitors use the site, BoRE accepts their volunteered information, incubates their home search, calls out to test their readiness to buy and borrow, and then delivers the prospects to participating lenders and real estate brokers who have pledged not to poach the lender's referrals. Widely considered a refinance specialist since it first launched, online pioneer E-Loan is using its BoRE site to expand purchase loan business. The co-branded website can be found online at http://eloan.bankonrealestate.net.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Silver Spring, Md., has announced the launch of the Mortgage Reality Check to help homeowners determine whether they are at risk of losing their homes.Developed by housing experts, the "easy-to-take quiz" is designed to help homeowners understand their situation, identify problems, and provide guidance about options and where to turn for help, the foundation said. "Even if foreclosure seems inevitable, there may be options that can help in certain circumstances," the NFCC said. The Mortgage Reality Check is located within the NFCC's Homeowner Crisis Resource Center, which also provides direct access to certified housing counselors and homeowner information and financial tools. The center can be found at http://www.housinghelpnow.org.

Fairway Independent Mortgage Co., a mortgage broker/banker with over 100 branches nationwide, has announced a transition from operating as an FHA nonsupervised loan correspondent to a Department of Housing and Urban Development direct endorsement lender.Fairway said the transition enables it to originate and underwrite its own loans, and to increase its Federal Housing Administration originations and get more control of the underwriting process. Fairway had been operating as an FHA nonsupervised loan correspondent, and has been originating FHA loans since its inception in 1996, but until now did not have the power to underwrite these loans. Fairway said it has had a strong quality-control plan in place for the last several years. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.fairwayindependentmc.com.

Redwood Trust, a real estate investment trust specializing in residential and commercial trusts, has deployed Overture's Mozart Tape Cracking 2.0, a software program that enables secondary-market investors to automatically convert complex bulk loan data submitted by primary market lenders into their own formats."We're now able to receive and audit bulk loans from lenders more efficiently and accurately than ever before," said Gary Moore, vice president of information technology for Redwood Trust. "Tape Cracking 2.0 automates a lot of the processes that surround the conversion of nonstandardized data into an investor's own format, making it faster, easier, and more efficient for us to move forward with the evaluation processes." Among the enhancements that distinguish Tape Cracking 2.0 from the original product are an improved ability to manage multiple templates and outputs; a better auditing trail; improved ability to incorporate non-input data; enhanced data mapping capabilities; enhanced cleaning of data errors; and improved error logging.

Lenders First Choice, Simi Valley, Calif., has formed an alliance with Guardian Mortgage Documents, Lakewood, Colo., to offer integrated, one-stop access to LFC's title, closing, appraisal, flood, and credit services and Guardian's mortgage document products and services.The integration will provide access to Guardian's document solutions from within the LFC settlement services platform and enable users to add Guardian documents to any LFC order with one click, the companies said. "Because LFC provides a paperless environment accompanied by workflow management, the integration will not add any processing time, will result in more timely deliveries of all items related to a transaction, and will eliminate training issues when introducing a customer to the [Guardian] solution," the companies said. They can be found online at http://www.lendersfirstchoice.com and http://www.gmd.com.