Mortgage technology

The Mortech 2005 study forecasts that mortgage industry technology expenditures for 2005 will record a "very healthy" 8% increase over those of the previous year, to $3.6 billion.This 18th Mortech study finds mortgage lenders optimistic about expanding their businesses and heavily targeting subprime borrowers as they adopt management-by-modeling capabilities for fraud detection and collateral valuation. Mortech principal Jeff Lebowitz finds lenders broadly focused on reducing human interaction with loan files to reduce errors and shorten cycle times in mortgage originations. Guilford, Conn.-based Mortech LLC publishes its study annually based on scientific surveys of over 300 lenders. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.mortech-llc.com.

Flagstar Bank, Troy, Mich., has announced the general availability of its Digital Document Transfer platform and specification for electronic document exchanges through six mortgage technology companies.The six companies partnering with Flagstar are Advectis Inc., Investor Purchase and Delivery Services Inc., Pyramid Solutions Inc., Stewart Mortgage Information, Tradewinds Mortgage Document Preparation Co., and VirPack. The partners have enhanced their electronic document management products or services to allow for the creation or acceptance of SMART (securable, manageable, archivable, retrievable, and transferable) documents and electronic packages that conform to the DDT specification, Flagstar said. The specification is based on the SMART document format established by the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization. Flagstar can be found online at http://www.flagstar.com.

MBS ProClose Inc., a provider of mortgage closing document services and technology based in McLean, Va., has announced the completion of a MISMO-compliant print engine with a complete library of processing and closing documents.The ProClose Gold option provides access to the document library from within a lender's enterprise loan origination system, keeping documents and data within their control, the company said. "Lenders using ProClose Gold will have a single source of printing for all their document needs, providing maximum efficiency and cost effectiveness to improve the bottom line," MBS ProClose said. The announcement was made at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 92nd Annual Convention and Expo in Orlando, Fla. The company can be found online at http://www.proclose.com.

TransUnion Settlement Solutions, Chicago, has announced the availability of fraud and identity management products to the mortgage industry at the MBA's annual convention in Orlando.To mitigate occurrences of fraud, mortgage lenders can integrate TransUnion's fraud and identity management solutions directly into their loan origination system and automated underwriting systems, the company said. Some of the systems offered are borrower identification, loan data verification, and collateral valuation and property services. The systems leverage multisource databases to verify and authenticate personal information on a borrower's mortgage application. The company's Irregular Sales Indicator alerts lenders when a property has an irregular sale price and provides a history of sales transactions for the neighborhood. Additionally, TransUnion's Collateral Market Value verifies a customer-estimated value or an appraised value in a quality-control environment. TransUnion also offers mortgage lenders comprehensive fraud response services in the event of a database compromise.

GMAC Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa., has announced that it is the first investor in the mortgage industry able to purchase a correspondent loan with an electronic note, complete the sale of the loan on the secondary market, and service the eNote.Under a licensing agreement with Document Processing Systems Inc., GMAC Mortgage and GMAC Bank will use eMortgage Studio software to interface with the MERS eRegistry, the electronic system that maintains eNote information. "Servicing an eNote is an enormous first step to originating and servicing electronic mortgages," said Joanne Wight, vice president of correspondent lending operations at GMAC Bank. "Not only do [GMAC Mortgage] and GMAC Bank have an immediate ability to participate in the eMortgage marketplace, we can also offer a solution for lenders seeking secondary-market investors who are equipped to handle eNotes."

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., discussed its recently launched DecisionStream product during a press briefing at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Orlando.According to Al Verkuylen, senior vice president of development and strategy for FNF subsidiary Lender's Services Inc., DecisionStream takes the data from the various parts of FNF and brings them out to the point of sale. This allows originators of refinance and home equity transactions to decide early in the process whether it is worthwhile to invest in the full-scale mortgage settlement package. Another benefit is that with bundled services as part of the origination process, DecisionStream provides guaranteed quotes for settlement services, he said, allowing originators to give a definitive price to their customer. With Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act reform expected to include a guaranteed mortgage package, this is a benefit, Mr. Verkuylen said.

Mortgage Technology magazine, a MortgageWire affiliate, announced the 2005 winners of its annual tech awards Sunday evening at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 92nd Annual Convention and Expo in Orlando, Fla.WellFound Decade was the winner of this year's 10X Award to a company using technology to achieve an exponential impact on mortgage lending. Advectis Blitzdocs won the Fix-It Award, which goes to a company offering a technology tool that fixes a particular problem. Dynatek won the Help Desk Award for a company offering exemplary technical support and customer service. Scott Happ of Mortgagebot took home the new Lasting Impact Award, which goes to an individual, company, or group whose earlier efforts have had a lasting impact on mortgage industry technology. This year's Outstanding Mortgage Website Award went to No Red Tape Mortgage. The Steve Fraser Award, which goes to an outstanding mortgage technology innovator, visionary, or evangelizer, was presented to Ruth Thompson of Desert Document Services. And Prime Alliance Solutions Inc. won the Synergy Award for a technology initiative or alliance that advances the cause of seamless end-to-end e-commerce. More information about the awards can be found online at http://www.mortgage-technology.com.

LSI, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Coraopolis, has announced the launch of DecisionStream, a Web-based system that LSI said instantly delivers loan prequalification information at the point of sale.The system is designed to help lenders decide whether to proceed with a refinance or home equity loan application before investing in full-scale mortgage settlement services, LSI said. The company said DecisionStream delivers previously unavailable POS information that provides insight into the loan qualification process, including: title approval and guaranteed fee data; real-time delivery of FICO score and factor codes; a flood insurance requirement indicator; an automated valuation model that provides a benchmark for estimating loan-to-value ratios; and instant property tax status information. LSI, which stands for Lender's Service Inc., can be found online at http://www.lsi.fnf.com.

Two business units of Fiserv Inc. -- Integrated Loan Services, Rocky Hill, Conn., and General American Corp., Pittsburgh -- have combined operations to form the Fulfillment Services Division of Fiserv Lending Solutions.The division will adopt FLS as the parent brand for all products and services, the Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv said. The combination "brings together two leaders in fulfillment services with strengths in different markets," said FLS group president James Puzniak. "ILS has succeeded in the prime equity market by offering innovative solutions, while GAC's strength has been in the subprime and traditional markets." Jerry Smith, chief executive officer of ILS, and Rich Sneddon, CEO of GAC, will hold co-CEO positions with the division, and Lee Howlett will serve as division president and chief operating officer, Fiserv said. Among the division's offerings are the CASA automated valuation model, QuickClose Lien Protection Insurance, the GATORS settlement management system, and various appraisal products, broker price opinions, flood certificates, title insurance, closing services, and outsourced loan processing systems. FLS can be found online at http://www.fiservlendingsolutions.com.

Commerce Velocity, Irvine, Calif., has announced the introduction of an end-to-end group of mortgage services that extends into secondary-market functionality.The company said the group of services "weaves automated processing and superior intelligence throughout the entire mortgage processing channel" to handle lead management, point of sale, eligibility and pricing, underwriting, document preparation, fulfillment, loan risk modeling, and more. Founded in 1999, Commerce Velocity has had its greatest impact so far in offering automated underwriting for subprime and nonconforming loans, particularly for wholesale transactions. Funding America recently adopted Commerce Velocity's CQ BrokerConnect Automated Underwriting platform to provide brokers and borrowers with instant pricing, pre-qualification, and AU approvals. The company can be found online at http://www.cvelocity.com.

WellFound Decade Corp., Jacksonville, Fla., has announced that Alaska USA Federal Credit Union is deploying WellFound Decade's Mortgage Integration Foundation to integrate its systems.The implementation marks a shift in strategy for Alaska USA, which had originally sought to deploy an end-to-end loan origination system, WellFound said. "Alaska wanted to deploy technology for its member-direct channel, a [point-of-sale] system for its originators, and wanted to automate the MERS registry," said Brian Fitzpatrick, president of WellFound Decade. "With the Mortgage Integration Foundation providing the integration architecture for all systems, they no longer had to invest into integrating all these components to an LOS system which might be replaced or upgraded in the future." The main components for the implementation are scheduled to be in place within 120 days of initiating the project. "We can integrate systems much faster than anyone else in the mortgage industry because we have already built adaptors to most of today's leading IT systems," Mr. Fitzpatrick asserted. WellFound Decade can be found online at http://www.wellfounddecade.com.

Application service provider ARC Systems, Austin, Texas, has announced that Austin-based Amherst Funding Group has chosen ARC's LendTech for commitment management and eligibility determination of closed loans.According to the announcement, AFG expects to launch the implementation in the first quarter of 2006. To streamline the commitment process, each closed loan will be submitted by the seller to the Web-based LendTech platform using AFG guidelines governing the seller's particular commitment with AFG. ARC Systems said the implementation will help AFG track loans more efficiently, ensure data integrity, and eventually perform complex automated underwriting on its flow and bulk purchases. Amherst Funding Group LP was formed in 2004 to acquire closed loans for trading and securitization, including closed agency and alternative-A mortgage loans, under mandatory flow and bulk commitments. ARC Systems can be found online at http://www.arcsystems.com.

First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., and Dorado Corp., San Mateo, Calif., have announced jointly developing a common, unified point-of-sale platform.The new platform will combine Dorado ChannelMaster enterprise lending software and Dorado SourceMaster intelligent ordering software with First American's Web services-based vendor management platform, the companies said. The new platform, scheduled to be available by the end of first-quarter 2006, is designed to offer lenders on-demand loan processing and fulfillment at the point of sale. The companies currently provide integrated POS solutions to EverBank, Oak Street Mortgage, and Union Bank of California. Dorado ChannelMaster provides on-demand, POS access to third-party services. Its SourceMaster is a rules-based settlement services platform. First American's Web services-based vendor management platform offers state-of-the-art bundling and third-party services procurement, the companies said. First American can be found online at http://www.firstam.com, and Dorado can be found at http://www.dorado.com.

Wells Fargo, Des Moines, Iowa, has selected Vienna, Va.-based VirPack to support Wells Fargo Delivery Express by providing electronic loan delivery and imaging for transactions with Wells Fargo's correspondent lending partners.Instead of mailing loan packages, correspondents can use VirPack Direct to transmit loan files to Wells Fargo Funding for purchase review. Loans identified for delivery to Wells are instantly retrieved from the VirPack system and delivered securely. Delivered free to VirPack customers, VirPack Direct is integrated with VirPack's imaging solutions and its barcoding, scan capture, and electronic document-management tools. VirPack boasts that its imaging systems can be installed and in production within three days. Wells Fargo Funding's client base includes more than 1,000 banks, thrifts, and mortgage lenders nationwide. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.wellsfargo.com and http://www.virpack.com.

Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Experian has announced the launch of Portfolio Benchmarking and Trend Analysis, touting it as "the first total portfolio management and acquisition solution on the market today."The tool is built on Experian's File One consumer credit database and tracks changes in credit activity to enable quick assessment of current conditions in support of strategic portfolio decisions, the company said. One example cited by Experian is the use of the tool to profile consumers in a specific metropolitan statistical area, state, or region based on delinquency, loan amount, utilization, and inquiry behaviors. Portfolio managers are enabled to look at changes in 30-, 60- and 90-day delinquency trends to adjust risk-management protocols. The tool offers a snapshot generated from a statistically valid 20% random sample of Experian's File One consumer credit database, which currently includes records dating back to 2003. Experian can be found on the Web at http://www.experian.com.

Stewart Geo Technologies, a subsidiary of real estate information provider Stewart Information Services Corp., has announced the unveiling of Stewart re-source, a Web-based site analysis tool for commercial real estate professionals.Stewart re-source provides map-based searches and access to demographic reports, flood certifications, aerial images, property outlines, and dynamic flood, earthquake, demographic, and hazardous material maps, the company said. "Stewart re-source enables real estate professionals such as developers, lenders, brokers, insurers, and investors to search for properties and generate dynamic reports as part of their due-diligence process," said Kas Ebrahim, president and chief executive officer of Stewart Geo Technologies. "All the necessary resources are in one place, and with the Web-based application, data can be accessed from any computer with Internet connectivity. It also can be branded and integrated with the user's own data." The new tool can be found online at http://www.stewartsource.com.

Citing FBI statistics showing mortgage fraud on the rise, Calabasas, Calif.-based Interthinx has announced the integration of its DISSCO fraud detection and prevention system with Fiserv's easyLender mortgage loan origination system.Loans originated in Fiserv's easyLender now can be instantly submitted to DISSCO for automatic screening, with no rekeying necessary. DISSCO (data integrity search and score system) is an electronic fraud-prevention tool that can instantly search hundreds of mortgage-related data fields in a loan record to identify and score misinformation, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies that could indicate fraud. A DISSCO report is issued with step-by-step recommendations on how to respond. Interthinx can be found online at http://www.interthinx.com.

The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, San Diego, have announced the launch of the NAHREP National Referral Network on MSN Latino Finanzas, a Spanish-language Web destination.The referral network offers a wide range of integrated real estate service providers who are ready to assist Spanish-speaking consumers interested in buying a home, First American and NAHREP said. "Home seekers who choose to take advantage of this referral network can rest assured that they will be guided, end-to-end, through the homebuying process by qualified advocates committed to their satisfaction," said NAHREP chairman Frances Martinez Myers. First American can be found online at http://www.firstam.com, and MSN Latino Finanzas can be found at http://www.latino.msn.com/promo/finanzas.

ARC Systems, a provider of decisioning technology based in Austin, Texas, has announced a partnership with the National Credit Reporting Association under which the NCRA and its Atlanta-based joint venture, CDS Mortgage Reports Inc., will offer a preferential connection to ARC Systems.ARC Systems said new interfaces built into its LendTech and Loan Finder Express products will provide access to more than 150 credit reporting agencies. NCRA members will have direct access to a portal that provides a connection to ARC Systems clients who want to obtain credit reporting services. "The new program is a great example of the classic win-win, as ARC Systems' customers, and the consumers they serve, can now obtain access to a network of credit reporting agencies known for the best customer service in the industry in the most cost-effective manner," said Terry Clemans, executive director of the Bloomingdale, Ill-based NCRA. ARC Systems can be found online at http://www.arcsystems.com.

San Francisco-based LoanPerformance has announced the release of the beta version of TrueStandings Servicing, a Web-based analysis and reporting system for mortgage servicers.The company said TrueStandings provides instant access to delinquency, prepayment, and loan characteristics on more than 40 million active mortgage loans and a historical database of more than 100 million loans. Among the new features of the system are ZIP code-level reporting, additional risk metrics for prepayments and delinquencies, and an interactive mapping feature. "A client-driven evolution of our previous data applications, TrueStandings Servicing provides unprecedented reporting and analysis flexibility," said Dan Feshbach, president and chief executive officer of LoanPerformance. Beta testing of the system is expected to end in December, with general availability in the first quarter of next year, the company said. LoanPerformance, a subsidiary of First American Real Estate Solutions, can be found online at http://www.loanperformance.com.