Mortgage technology

DepotPoint, Bellevue, Wash., has launched a tool to reduce foreclosure risk, offering lenders a way to closely monitor and get automatic notification of default events.The company's latest addition to its Web-based systems, the TrackPoint Lien Monitoring Alert Service, allows lenders to automatically monitor all lien foreclosures, tax defaults, and bankruptcy filings -- all events that can compromise the timely payment of a loan and increase the chance that a lender's portfolio may suffer considerable financial loss. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.depotpoint.com.

Up to 70% of mortgage early payment defaults can be linked to fraud, according to a new study by BasePoint Analytics, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based provider of fraud scoring software.The study, aimed at probing the link between fraud and payment trends in the early life of a loan, found that loans with "egregious misrepresentations" on the loan application were up to five times more likely to default in the first six months than other loans. "Many lenders are facing increases in repurchase requests and early payment defaults," said Tim Grace, president and chief executive of BasePoint. "We can demonstrate for lenders and investment banks how they can substantially reduce their EPD losses, and often within a short period of time." The company can be found online at http://www.basepointanalytics.com.

To help attorneys handle a mounting volume of foreclosed properties amid the tangle of state regulations, Bellevue, Wash.-based DepotPoint has introduced "the mortgage industry's first fully integrated intelligent foreclosure regulatory knowledgebase."Leveraging an automatic document-processing system embedded directly into the TrackPoint suite, this newest enhancement is designed to help attorneys remain in compliance with state foreclosure laws and manage processing foreclosure property files more efficiently, DepotPoint said. TrackPoint receives regular electronic communications from each jurisdiction detailing any changes to regulatory guidelines and updates the knowledgebase to reflect these modifications. Privately held DepotPoint was founded by technology veterans from InfoSpace and Microsoft, plus experienced trustees from national foreclosure firms. It can be found online at http://www.depotpoint.com.

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has acquired Go Apply, a provider of online mortgage leads based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for an undisclosed amount.FNRES is a majority-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc., a provider of title and other specialty insurance. "Go Apply will provide a tremendous platform to deliver consumer traffic to Cyberhomes.com, a newly created [FNRES] real estate portal that generates leads by offering home evaluation tools to consumers," said William P. Foley II, FNF's chairman and chief executive officer. The companies can be found online at http://www.fnf.com and http://www.goapply.com.

Root Markets Inc., the New York-based lead-exchange platform whose chairman is mortgage veteran Lew Ranieri, has acquired LeadROI, a provider of mortgage lead and customer relationship management systems headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. "Together, Root Exchange and Root LeadROI offer unparalleled technology and customer service in the new era of acquiring and managing leads," said Marcia Myerberg, chief executive of Root Markets. "The Root Exchange allows lenders and brokers to immediately diversify their lead sources and be assured they are paying fair market prices." Ms. Myerberg said Root LeadROI "picks up where the Root Exchange leaves off," enabling the companies to offer "unique end-to-end solutions designed to close the loop between lead generation and lead conversion and enhance the value of purchased leads." Lead aggregators who participate on LeadROI will be able to be sellers on Root Exchange. The companies can be found online at http://www.rootexchange.com and http://www.leadroi.com.

After an 18-month implementation of a loan origination system, Wachovia was on hand at the 10th Annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference in Tempe, Ariz., to share helpful hints on how to undertake the process successfully.Steve Daniels, senior vice president and director of business technology at Wachovia Mortgage Corp., noted that time is the biggest enemy in LOS implementations. Wachovia works with 15 vendors to formulate its origination strategy, with one core LOS at the center. Mr. Daniels stressed the importance of creating a steering committee that includes at least one representative from the technology vendor; assigning a dedicated program administrator to every task to keep things moving; knowing the nature of one's competitive advantage before selecting a vendor; holding the vendor accountable for everything in the request for proposal submitted during the due-diligence process; and understanding that an LOS implementation is a business process that senior management has to "own." Mr. Daniels also maintained that a cost/benefit analysis should be done on every change, and that each change should be evaluated on its own merit and how it affects any past or expected changes. Wachovia can be found online at http://www.wachovia.com.

When nonprime lender Aegis Lending selected Intellidyn for mortgage lead incubation, it knew that GM Mortgage was already putting up some remarkable conversion numbers with leads that generally go in the trash can.At the 10th Annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference, Intellidyn senior vice president Gene Devine presented statistics showing exponentially improved click-through and conversion rates on cold leads with the system created for GM Mortgage. Now Hingham, Mass.-based Intellidyn Corp. is creating a custom lead-incubation system for Aegis leveraging a multichannel database system and state-of-the-art analytics. Forrest Young, director of marketing and business development at Aegis Lending, characterized lead incubation as a "must-have" tool for direct lenders. "We do a fair amount of second-effort and recycle marketing programs successfully," he said, "but lead incubation marketing is a longer-term initiative that works differently to drive our prospects back to us when they are ready and in the market." Aegis Lending can be found online at https://www.debtunderoneroof.com, and Intellidyn can be found at http://www.intellidyn.com.

Metavante Corp., Milwaukee, has announced the launch of the Consumer Loan Origination System, which enables lenders to support all their consumer and personal loans on one integrated platform.The application is a licensed system that supports various loan types, including home equity, home equity lines of credit, auto, recreational vehicle, secured, and unsecured. The tool is a Web-based, stand-alone system that streamlines consumer loan processing by accessing customer relationship data from a lender's core banking system and additional data from external sources such as credit bureaus. The system then incorporates credit policy and business rules. The CLOS also works in tandem with Metavante's Mortgage LOS. Metavante can be found on the Web at http://www.metavante.com.

Global M&A activity totaled $3.79 trillion last year, with technology mergers and acquisitions accounting for $612 billion, according to Scott Cooley, principal at Cooley Consulting.Speaking at the 10th Annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference, Tempe, Ariz., Mr. Cooley said most technology buyers looking for an acquisition target are in the market for return on investment, strategic, or cross-sell opportunities. They are seeking to fill a hole in their current offering, to roll up like firms, or to buy a technology provider instead of building that technology on their own, he said. In the M&A process, Mr. Cooley stressed the importance of talking to every potential buyer; creating a company book with all the company's trade secrets for use by potential buyers; giving certain buyers special treatment; and qualifying the buyer on a variety of levels. The successful acquisition, according to Mr. Cooley, includes developing a stronger management team, properly evaluating joint business plans, taking advantage of synergies, and proving out growth.

Mortgage Coach, Irvine, Calif., has launched the Mortgage Coach Marketing Machine, online tools and sales proposals that enable loan officers to reduce rate shopping and differentiate themselves from competitors by educating borrowers on the benefits of mortgage planning.The Marketing Machine offers services such as the Personalized Mortgage Plan, the Annual Equity Review, and the Periodic Mortgage Review, each supported by advice-delivery tools and printable marketing pieces. "The Marketing Machine serves two main purposes," said Dave Savage, founder and chief executive of Mortgage Coach. "First, it puts valuable, pertinent information directly into the hands of the borrower -- not just the originator. Second, it makes the originator a referral magnet." According to Mr. Savage, Mortgage Coach users say clients are five times more likely to conduct their next mortgage transaction with them as a result of using Periodic Mortgage Review. The company can be found online at http://www.mortgagecoach.com.

Ron Duff of Fiserv Lending Solutions has been elected to chair the Governance Committee of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, taking over from David Barkley of Freddie Mac, who has chaired the panel since its inception in 2000.Nancee Gorenstein of MGIC and Lisa Bolelli of First American Real Estate Information Services were elected vice-chairs. The committee also re-elected the following members: Chris Anderson of Gallagher Financial Systems; Jim Cooke of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll; David Erkes of GMAC Residential Holding Corp.; Roger Gudobba of VMP/Wolters Kluwer; Michael Levine of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Shannon Lloyd of Fannie Mae; Kelly Romeo of the American Land Title Association; and Wendy Sadeh of Bridger Commercial Funding. The Governance Committee consists of 20 MISMO subscriber organizations that serve two-year terms, with half the seats up for election each year. MISMO, which was established by the Mortgage Bankers Association, develops electronic commerce standards for the mortgage industry. The organization can be found online at http://www.mismo.org.

The biggest buzz at SourceMedia's Mortgage Technology Conference in Tempe, Ariz., has been over a statement that LendingTree's participating lenders are not upset to hear that it is "thinking" of opening brick-and-mortar retail stores.That remark by LendingTree general manager Lori Collins continued to spark comment well after Ms. Collins made the statement in response to a question after her presentation on the Internet's value as a source of qualified mortgage leads. A number of lender attendees commented on the conflict between acting as a retail lender and LendingTree's role as a multilender marketplace where "when banks compete, you win." A competitive trigger for LendingTree to consider such a move may have been revealed in Monday's keynote address, when E-Loan senior vice president Pete Bonnikson told conference attendees that his company, another pioneer in online lending, has already opened "8 or 9" brick-and-mortar offices to leverage its back-office efficiencies to serve borrowers who prefer to deal face to face with a loan officer. LendingTree can be found online at http://www.lendingtree.com.

The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has announced the launch of MarketLinx, a company aimed at addressing the information technology needs of residential real estate professionals.The new company combines the strengths of First American subsidiaries First American MLS Solutions Inc., Offutt Systems, Sonic Eagle Inc., and Lucero Research Corp. to provide customizable technology for multiple listing services, brokers, and agents, the parent company said. "Our long-term strategy is centered on the development of a complete, online real estate platform that provides an integrated set of components to perform all of the functions that are important in a residential property transaction," said Stephen C. Roney, president and chief executive officer of MarketLinx. "Merging the technology and software assets of these companies into one organization offers ease of use for the real estate professional, who can now order several core products and services from one entity rather than multiple providers." The new company can be found online at http://www.marketlinx.com.

When E-Loan started up in 1998, its slick-looking website masked a clunky paper-based process. But now it is launching the electronic signing of closing documents in first-quarter 2007, and its back office is all but paperless.This was the story E-Loan senior vice president Pete Bonnikson told attendees in his keynote address Monday morning for the 10th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference in Tempe, Ariz. The key to online lending today, he said, is to give the borrower an instant decision communicated by a live loan consultant who gets the borrower to lock in a rate and submit a credit card for credit and appraisal. Mr. Bonnikson said E-Loan consultants succeed in that goal 25% of the time. He boasted that E-Loan now gets high marks from 95% of Realtors involved in its purchase loans. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based company can be found online at http://www.eloan.com.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, a subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has formed an alliance with the Federal Housing Administration.MISMO said the purpose of the alliance is the development and publication of government standards for data and electronic mortgage transactions involving government entities within MISMO's framework and using its infrastructure. The FHA will join MISMO's Government Housing Workgroups, which are being developed with the help of Ginnie Mae, a MISMO ally since last fall. Members of the Government Housing Workgroups are expected to include representatives of interested government entities (starting with Ginnie Mae and the FHA) and private-sector companies. MISMO can be found on the Web at http://www.mismo.org.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, and Regulatory Counsel Group, an Atlanta-based provider of regulatory compliance services for mortgage lenders, have announced that RCG will resell the Wolters Kluwer StateLink Web-based compliance tool to its customers.The companies said StateLink provides quick online access to regulatory information on various topics relating to first and closed-end second mortgages for all 51 U.S. jurisdictions, updated continually by Wolters Kluwer attorneys and analysts. "After extensive research, RCG chose to offer StateLink based on its succinct and detailed information, easy-to-navigate format, and the responsiveness of the StateLink support team," said RCG president Scott Scher. The companies can be found online at http://www.wolterskluwer.com and http://www.regulatorycounsel.com.

Internet Brands Inc., a Los Angeles-based operator of media and electronic commerce websites, has launched Loan.com, a website that assists users in finding ethical lenders with the lowest rates.The company said Loan.com provides an outlet for both wary consumers and frustrated lenders by creating a "Trusted Marketplace," where lenders agree to a set of ethical business practices and borrowers are educated about what to expect during the loan process. All lenders listed on Loan.com confirm their support for the Borrower's Bill of Rights, a set of ethical business practices that describe how they interact with the consumer. In addition, lenders in the Ethical Lender Directory are ranked on a star system that will include feedback from consumers on the site, the company said. Internet Brands can be found on the Web at http://www.internetbrands.com.

KB Home, a Los Angeles-based homebuilder, has announced the launch of KBHomeowner.com, a website that offers tools such as seasonal checklists and neighborhood guides.The checklists are aimed at helping homeowners keep their homes in peak condition, and the neighborhood guides provide information on community resources and local hot spots, the company said. "Visitors can also read tips on fun and easy home ideas, from 10 simple tips for organizing closets to growing strategies for kids' rooms," KB Home said. The new site can be found online at http://www.kbhomeowner.com.

Informative Research, Garden Grove, Calif., has announced launch of a free fraud prevention tool, Credit Score Verifier, that offers to reduce mortgage lender risk and loan fallout.The company said the proprietary Web-based utility was developed to enable a lender to verify credit scores reported by any of the repositories before undertaking the time and expense of underwriting the file or ordering a backup credit report. The tool addresses the risk associated with the increasing popularity of nontraditional loan types that allow for no documentation and stated incomes, where fraud is always a major consideration, according to an Informative Research spokeswoman. The enhanced tool, formerly called Credit Score Validator, provides a way to assure a lender that a paper copy of a credit report has not been altered, Informative Research said. The company can be found online at http://www.informativeresearch.com.

Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif., has launched a banker division in response to the introduction of Encompass Banker Edition.The new division will focus exclusively on Ellie Mae's banker and lender clients and partners. Ellie Mae's client base includes over 3,000 mortgage bankers, according to the company. Encompass Banker Edition has already been adopted by two dozen companies since its launch in late October 2006, Ellie Mae reported. Jeff Benjamin, the company's director of sales, has become vice president of the newly created division and will report to Joe Langner, Ellie Mae's chief operating officer. Mr. Benjamin will focus on business development efforts among wholesale lenders and bankers -- including the promotion of Encompass Banker Edition and Encompass Custom Edition -- as well as the company's full range of connectivity solutions for the wholesale banking community. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.elliemae.com.