Mortgage technology

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association has announced the development of a new trade website, NRMLAOnline.org, that it terms "a comprehensive resource for lenders that are adding new sales staff or just entering the business and want to know how to be successful."The new site features a Reference/Publications section with links to articles on such topics as getting started in the reverse mortgage business; marketing and origination; processing and underwriting; and industry statistics. Other features include: a Vendor Directory with contact information for NRMLA members that provide ancillary services such as title insurance; a NRMLA section with links to membership information and the association's Code of Conduct and Best Practices; and an Events section with information on programs and conferences. The new site can be found at http://www.nrmlaonline.org.

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, Jacksonville, Fla., and VREO Inc., a real estate software company based in San Luis Obispo, Calif., have announced a joint initiative to increase the use of electronic signatures by real estate brokers and agents.The centerpiece of the effort is bundling VREO's Real Estate Dashboard, e-signature software for Tablet PCs, and FNRES's TransactionPoint, a Web-based platform for managing the real estate transaction process. "TransactionPoint is a perfect complement to Real Estate Dashboard," said Brian Boero, VREO's chief executive officer. "Together these products represent a paperless solution that starts with the signature and extends through the entire transaction process." Real Estate Dashboard enables real estate professionals and their clients to electronically sign documents "as easily as one signs for an overnight package or credit card purchase," VREO said. The companies can be found online at http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com and http://www.vreo.com.

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, a division of Fidelity National Information Services, has announced the launch of the Cyberhomes home and community evaluation website.Cyberhomes provides consumers with access to property information and evaluation content directly from the websites of participating real estate companies, as well as from cyberhomes.com, the company said. Cyberhomes is co-brandable and designed to integrate directly into the websites of participating real estate companies. It will include the real estate companies' branding and listing content and has been designed with agent servicing rules to route traffic and inquiries as each company wishes, on an associate-by-associate basis. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based vendor can be found on the Web at http://www.realestate.fnf.com, and the new site can be found at http://www.cyberhomes.com.

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, Jacksonville, Fla., has introduced VoiceSearch, a speech-recognition tool that enables users to perform real-time searches of multiple listing service databases using voice commands from a telephone.VoiceSearch is integrated with the division's Web-based Paragon MLS platform. The tool allows users to access property listing information remotely. The new product expands speech recognition functionality launched earlier this year with the VoiceAlert offering, which notifies users via telephone about real estate listings. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

LION Inc., a Seattle-based provider of technology aimed at streamlining the mortgage loan fulfillment process, has reported a net loss of $215,000 for the third quarter, compared with a net loss of $535,000 a year earlier.Revenue for the quarter totaled $3.3 million, down from $4.0 million in the third quarter of 2005. "Our third-quarter revenue fell short of our expectations due largely to a decline in overall mortgage origination and its impact on the variable revenue streams we generate," said Randall D. Miles, LION's chairman and chief executive officer. "Despite falling Treasury and mortgage yields in the quarter, mortgage loan production generated by our customers continued to decline. Housing and mortgage markets are under pressure and have increased short-term volatility in our business, particularly in our capital markets business unit, which is sensitive to loan origination volume." LION can be found online at http://www.lioninc.com.

Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has announced the acquisition of Watterson Prime LLC, a Bellevue, Wash.-based provider of due diligence services to financial institutions that invest in and securitize mortgage loans.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Fidelity said the due diligence services will be integrated with service offerings such as the FIS Hansen Quality HQ Score, a collateral risk score designed to protect clients against property valuation fraud and overvaluation risk. "This acquisition expands our product breadth and our ability to assess risk and certify the quality of mortgage portfolios," said Eric Swenson, president of the FIS Mortgage Information Services Division. "It also enables us to develop innovative products and provides us with a competitive advantage in the marketplace." The companies can be found online at http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com and http://www.wprime.com.

DepotPoint, an independent technology and services provider for the foreclosure market headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., has launched TrackPoint, a Web-based application that centralizes all actions required in managing the default process.The solution's centralized workflow engine and tracking technology is designed to improve efficiency, increase transparency, and streamline the foreclosure process. TrackPoint is an end-to-end technology platform that combines a compliance knowledge base with centralized processing and communication management, exception handling, document management, and external vendor monitoring, the company said. DepotPoint's TrackPoint application suite provides lenders, title companies, trustees, and loan servicing entities with a centralized workflow engine and tracking technology. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.depotpoint.com.

The Board of Directors Technology of the Mortgage Bankers Association has released a paper on data integrity and information security that the MBA says is the first step in developing a long-term strategy to educate the industry on the issue.The paper, A Five-Step Information Assurance Model for Mortgage Banking Institutions, analyzes legislation, regulations, audit standards, and consensus standards on voluntary information security to improve the mortgage industry's awareness of the issue and methods of dealing with it, the association said. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Mortgage Technology editors are getting ready for next year's Mortgage Technology Award contenders in the wake of this year's award ceremony, held in conjunction with the Mortgage Bankers Association convention in Chicago.New entries are eligible to be received starting Jan. 1. At the magazine's 7th annual awards ceremony, held Oct. 22 at the University of Chicago Gleacher Center, the 10X Award for technology making an "exponential impact" on mortgage processes went to Interthinx for its contribution to fraud detection. The Lasting Impact Award, for developing technology that has proved its worth over time, went to Bill Kelvie of Overture for his pioneering role in the development of automated underwriting. The new Release of the Year Award, to a company launching a product or initiative likely to have a major impact on the mortgage industry's use of technology over time, went to joint winners GMAC Mortgage, Saxon Mortgage Services, Midland Mortgage Co., and Fiserv Lending Solutions for cooperatively creating a wizard for investor reporting and remitting using MortgageServ. The Steve Fraser Award, which goes to an outstanding mortgage technology innovator, visionary, or evangelizer, was presented to MortgageHub's Bill Adamowski. Winners of other awards, and those who received commendations in all categories, will be posted soon on the Mortgage Technology website.

TurboHomeBuy, Phoenix, has announced what it calls the first-ever Web-based application that legally automates the home purchase process from offer through closing.TurboHomeBuy said it generates all the paperwork needed to buy a home in all 50 states. According to the company, the website streamlines the process for the following: escrow/title/closing company services; mortgage prequalification and final loan approval; property insurance quotes; home inspection scheduling; handyman service quotes; moving service estimates; and starting and stopping utility services at the purchased property. Kent Lewiss, founder and chief executive officer of TurboHomeBuy, said the technology is the first to enable the user to make an offer to buy any property "no matter where it is listed for sale" and in which high commissions associated with real estate transactions "are practically eliminated." The company can be found online at http://www.turbohomebuy.com.

Street Resource Group Inc., an Atlanta-based provider of technology and software for mortgage warehouse lending, has announced that its clients will now have access to DataVerify Corp.'s data integrity verification and fraud prevention platform product.The product -- DRIVE, for data risk integrity verification engine -- provides automated tools designed to replace manual verifications of such information as employment and income while "dramatically" reducing loan default costs, DataVerify said. "In an environment in which most lenders are tightening their budgets while suffering significant increases in fraud-related losses, we strongly believe that the combination of our online credit and collateral fraud-prevention solutions and SRG's online automated mortgage warehouse solution adds value to both our clients' bottom lines by both streamlining their internal processes and increasing the quality of their loans," said Steve Halper, founder and chief executive officer of DataVerify. The companies can be found online at http://www.streetresource.com and http://www.dataverify.com.

Sollen Technologies, Dallas, an Internet-based application services provider of product, pricing, and best-execution capabilities, has unveiled technology that will be added to its Lender OnLine loan finder and pricing tool to bring investor guidelines downstream to lenders.This new tool will allow loan officers and secondary marketing users to view the actual guidelines from an investor rather than an interpreted version of the guidelines to better decide whether an applicant is qualified for a particular loan program. Lender OnLine is a Web-based application that enables loan searching, validation, loan-level-adjusted pricing, and locking for a wholesale, retail, correspondent, or call center application. The program allows the originator to capture multiple lending options in one execution, searching loan types, loan products, and documentation at the same time to find the optimal match for the borrower. The announcement was made at the 93rd Annual Mortgage Banking Association Convention & Expo in Chicago. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.sollen.com.

Platinumdata Solutions, a provider of collateral risk solutions based in Mission Viejo, Calif., has announced the launching of OptiVal, a patent-pending performance testing system for automated valuation models.OptiVal is an automated tool employing user-defined parameters to conduct rigorous AVM data analysis that will allow mortgage originators and investors to determine performance by each AVM, the company said. OptiVal serves as an objective AVM performance testing system and provides a framework for conducting those performance tests based on a lender's custom metrics. The announcement was made at the 93rd Annual Mortgage Banking Association Convention & Expo in Chicago. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.platdata.com.

Agoura Hills, Calif.-based Interthinx, a provider of fraud prevention, compliance, and decision support tools, has launched an online testing mechanism in conjunction with its fraud detection training film, FSI: Fraud Scheme Investigation.The FSI video is a mortgage fraud detection training tool produced by Interthinx. The film parodies CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the popular prime-time television series, to demonstrate the characteristics and "red flags" of a complicated property-flipping scheme, the company said. FSI was inspired by actual events and is free to the mortgage industry. The free online FSI Exam Program will provide a means to measure learning achieved by watching the FSI film. The announcement of the online testing mechanism was made at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 93rd Annual Convention. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.interthinx.com.

Desert Document Services Inc., a Phoenix-based software company serving lenders with loan product management solutions, has formed a strategic partnership with NYLX Inc., a provider of point-of-sale product eligibility and loan pricing technology systems.NYLX will integrate DesertDocs' compliant state-specific initial disclosure packages into its online loan pricing engine, making such disclosures -- required by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act -- available to originators with one click. "Given shrinking profit margins, loan originators need an efficient one-step process for ordering RESPA-required initial disclosure packages," said Ruth Thompson, president of DesertDocs. "Originators can use disclosures to lock in borrower commitment to a very tangible offer, increasing the likelihood of closing the sale and reducing the possibility of further rate shopping." The partnership was announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 93rd Annual Convention & Expo in Chicago. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.desertdocs.com and http://www.nylx.com.

Cincinnati-based eLynx Ltd., a provider of secure Web services for lenders and insurance companies, and Goodmail Systems Inc., have partnered to include Goodmail's CertifiedEmail system for assured e-mail delivery in the eLynx electronic services platform.A portfolio company of American Capital Strategies Ltd., eLynx said the e-mail features include electronic document delivery, electronic signature, and integrated paper fulfillment. The company said its e-services platform uses e-mail to deliver links to websites where consumers can obtain mortgage and insurance documents in a secure, paperless manner. Goodmail provides accredited volume e-mail senders with the CertifiedEmail technology, imprinting outgoing e-mail with cryptographically secure tokens that are recognized by participating mailbox providers such as AOL and Yahoo! The partnership was announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 93rd Annual Convention & Expo in Chicago. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.elynx.com and http://www.goodmailsystems.com.

The Turning Point, Sedona, Ariz., has launched MACH 3, an end-to-end marketing system for bankers, brokers, and loan originators at the MBA's 93rd Annual Convention & Expo.The tool offers a secure online platform that allows the user to turn business data into action, the company said. The loan officers and marketing executives are able to implement targeted campaigns in real time, from concept development to fulfillment with the application, the company said. Branch managers and corporate-level executives track results and oversee operations using a digital dashboard. The company can be found online at http://www.turningpoint.com.

CoreLogic, a Sacramento, Calif.-based provider of mortgage risk assessment and fraud prevention systems, has released findings from its broker management database indicating that 7% of brokers account for 63% of early payment defaults, with the riskiest 0.5% of brokers accounting for 70% of all losses.CoreLogic said its broker database tracks more than 38 million loans and 190,000 brokers and is the engine powering ThirdParty Scorecard, a Web-based software tool that helps residential mortgage lenders evaluate and manage the risk associated with their broker network. The most recent statistics illustrate the key role brokers play in the risk management chain and why broker monitoring and management tools are critical to the financial prospects of wholesale originators, the company said. Core Logic made the announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 93rd Annual Conference & Expo in Chicago. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.corelogic.com.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has announced the formation of an alliance with Ginnie Mae that will establish one or more Government Housing Workgroups within MISMO.The organization said the aim of the alliance is to develop and publish government standards related to electronic mortgage transactions involving government entities within the MISMO framework. "By having future Ginnie Mae reporting and data formats in alignment with established industry standards, and providing Ginnie Mae with a robust forum in which to develop its formats and interface specifications, this is a 'win-win' for both the industry and Ginnie Mae," MISMO said. 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.

Homebridge Mortgage Bankers, New York, has announced that the company is changing its name to Refinance.com and launching a national home refinance website portal.The new website will offer easy-to-use refinancing tools and calculators, and the new name will better reflect Homebridge's corporate vision by focusing exclusively on home refinance, the company said. "With this new name comes improved service," said Nicholas Bratsafolis, chairman and chief executive officer of Refinance.com. The new website will enable interested borrowers "to 'try on' different loan products to determine which one best fits their needs," he said. The company can be found online at http://www.refinance.com.