Mortgage technology

Online Documents Inc., Concord, Calif., and ComplianceEase, San Francisco, have announced a strategic alliance to integrate ComplianceEase's automated mortgage compliance system into Online's mortgage document systems.Clients using any of Online's document systems will be able to submit loans to ComplianceAnalyzer for a comprehensive mortgage compliance audit before delivering loan documents to the closing agent, the companies said. "Direct access across Online’s connection to ComplianceAnalyzer will be of immediate value to our lending partners, simplifying an industry which already deals with so many federal, state, and municipal anti-predatory and state licensing laws," said Joan Ingham, president of Online. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.onlinedocuments.com and http://www.complianceease.com.

Popular Inc., a Puerto Rican financial institution, has announced a merger agreement under which it will acquire 100% of the common stock and common stock equivalents of online mortgage lender E-Loan Inc., Pleasanton, Calif., for approximately $300 million in cash.The common stock and equivalents will be purchased for $4.25 per share. E-Loan will maintain its brand identity and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Popular Financial Holdings Inc., Popular's U.S. finance subsidiary, and Mark Lefanowicz, E-Loan's chief executive officer and president, will continue as president. The merger agreement has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies but is still subject to E-Loan shareholder approval. Popular said the transaction will expand its penetration into the U.S. market, complement its nonprime and warehouse lending businesses, and "significantly enhance" its technology platform. E-Loan originated over $5 billion in mortgage, home equity, and auto loans last year, Popular said. The companies can be found online at http://www.popularinc.com and http://www.eloan.com.

PlatinumData Solutions, a provider of cascading automated valuation models based in Mission Viejo, Calif., has added report creation capabilities to its AVM platform that allow system administrators to track the geographic performance of specific AVMs and individual users' AVM orders.The PlatinumData platform allows lenders and investors to create customized AVM cascades that deliver valuation and activity analyses identifying property or borrower characteristics indicative of elevated risk factors. Administrators can now better understand and more strategically manage their organizations' valuation resources through the creation of "Hits Reports" and "Products Ordered by User" reports via the update, the company said. The Hits Report details usage of all AVMs that return data within the selected time period, and the Products Ordered by User report displays all the AVMs that each user has ordered within the specified period, allowing accountants to know, by user, how much AVMs are costing the organization, according to PlatinumData.

Advectis Inc., Alpharetta, Ga., has released BlitzDocs Collaboration Suite, an application that provides a collaborative network for mortgage brokers, correspondents, lenders, investors, and other third parties.The product line includes BlitzDocs Enterprise, BlitzDocs Deliver, and BlitzDocs Connector. BlitzDocs Enterprise provides lenders with electronic document collaboration, enabling all participants in the mortgage industry to capture, submit, organize, underwrite, audit, share, and archive loan documents electronically, the company said. BlitzDocs Deliver enables investors or correspondent buyers to provide their correspondent sellers with the ability to transmit closed loan documents electronically. Advectis can be found on the web at http://www.advectis.com.

The venture capitalists are back, and they are looking hard at the mortgage and real estate sectors."This is a great time to be an entrepreneur in real estate and mortgage," Mark Sherman, a partner in Battery Ventures, said at Real Estate Connect in San Francisco, a conference that seeks to marry the real estate and technology businesses. "We're very excited about the mortgage business especially," said Mr. Sherman, whose firm recently provided funding for Loan Page, an online lead generation firm for brokers and lenders. "The capital markets are very active." The venture capitalists cautioned investors not to be worried about a real estate market slowdown -- or worse. "Look through the downturn," he advised. "The real estate market has decades of legs to it, so look at the long term." He also predicted that "numerous changes" in technology platforms are ahead, and said current incumbents are open to start-ups and new programs. The next wave of new technology is being driven by consumers who are turning more and more to the Internet, he added. "There has been a huge shift in consumer behavior," he told the meeting. "Everyone is now using the Web to start and sometimes conclude high-dollar purchases."

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has announced the approval of a new property dataset.Specifically, the Core Data Workgroup with MISMO has given the green light to the Property Reporting Specifications, version 2.32. The approval of the Property Standard is the first step toward establishing a standard for describing a real estate property from its inception at origination through the entire financial process, ending with county recorders, according to MISMO. The specifications are available on the Web at http://www.mismo.org/mismo/specs_232.cfm. MISMO can be found at http://www.mismo.org.

Mortgage Cadence, a Denver-based origination vendor, has released a new imaging module within its loan origination system.The product, available as an add-on module, enables Mortgage Cadence clients to capture, store, and manage data. Mortgage Cadence said it views the development of this imaging module as a necessary step toward electronic mortgages, while also responding to increased demand throughout the industry. The implementation of the module also allows Mortgage Cadences to extend its ACE business rules management engine. ACE Actions can be created to automatically insert records into document tracking, insert tasks to review documents, update loan status, and notify users of new documents when they arrive. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagecadence.com.

Live Data Group Inc., the Boca Raton, Fla.-based operating company for Foreclosure.com, has acquired the www.preforeclosure.com URL and the development of a new Preforeclosure.com website.Scheduled to launch in the fall, the new Preforeclosure.com website will offer subscribers a database of residential preforeclosure listings, as well as access to a database of foreclosure, bankruptcy, for-sale-by-owner, and distressed properties, according to the company. "With the launch of the new site, we will empower Preforeclosure.com users with the same simple access to property listings that our subscribers have come to expect from us," said Brad Geisen, president and chief executive officer of Live Data. "Adding the URL to our family of websites will allow us to cater to a new set of real estate consumers who are specifically searching for an online resource that provides detailed information on properties in the preforeclosure stage."

Fidelity National Data Services, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., has updated its Lead Locator to make it more searchable for users.Lead Locator is an online lead generation application designed to provide mortgage refinancing leads based on client specifications. The updated system now offers more searchable data elements, supporting a highly targeted approach to lead generation, according to Fidelity. Standard search criteria include: mortgage characteristics, market value, property and ownership characteristics, geographic area, available equity, and the loan-to-value ratio, which is a new feature. In addition to new LTV search capabilities, Lead Locator now enables originators to search by an implied interest rate as well. Fidelity can be found on the Web at http://www.fnf.com, and the updated Lead Locator can be found at http://www.sitexdata.com.

First American Default Technologies has launched an updated version of its VendorScapeCMS default management technology.Version 3.0 of the case management software includes an enhanced screen layout that allows users to access more data at one time, a redesigned navigation system that helps users locate relevant data faster, and more work queues to locate and address the most urgent tasks, the company said. The original version of VendorScapeCMS was launched in 2003. First American Default Technologies, Anaheim, Calif., is a unit of the First American Corp., which can be found on the Web at http://www.firstam.com.

Scott Kinnaird has been named chief executive officer of a la mode inc., an Oklahoma City-based developer of software and online services for the real estate and mortgage industries.Celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, a la mode said the company's growth spurred the move, along with the naming of Sean Shiplet to the newly created post of chief operating officer and the opening or expansion of several offices. Mr. Kinnaird was most recently a la mode's chief strategy officer. Company founder and former CEO David Biggers will retain the role of chairman and will focus on new product, market, and strategic project development, a la mode said. Mr. Shiplet was previously the company's executive vice president of sales and customer support. In addition, a la mode announced that a regional sales and training center was recently opened in Orlando, Fla., and that its Salt Lake City development office and its legal affairs office in Washington, D.C., have been expanded. The company can be found online at http://www.alamode.com.

LION Inc., Seattle, has announced key management changes in two of its mortgage-related businesses.Kristi Angell has been hired to run Mortgage 101, LION's lead generation business, and Sern Clementson has been promoted to president of Tuttle Risk Management Services, a LION subsidiary that provides mortgage pipeline risk management services. Mr. Clementson will also head up LION's capital markets business segment. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.lioninc.com.

ComplianceEase, San Francisco, has launched 4506Xpress, an electronic income verification system designed to help lenders detect income exaggeration by borrowers and comply with requirements for investors in the secondary mortgage market.The product streamlines quality-control procedures associated with reducing application fraud, the company said. "The prevalence of income exaggeration in the marketplace requires mortgage originators to quickly and accurately verify the borrower's income through government records," said David Girling, executive vice president of ComplianceEase, a division of LogicEase Solutions Inc. "By delivering electronic transactions and Web-based file management to the income verification process, 4506Xpress helps lenders accelerate loan closing and reduce overall costs and risk." The company can be found online at http://www.complianceease.com.

Fidelity National Information Services' LSI has announced the national launch of Closing Stream, a Web-based closing system for mortgage refinance and home equity lending transactions.LSI said a recently concluded pilot project confirmed that the patent-pending system reduces loan cycle time, enhances borrower experience, and ultimately increases lender revenue. With Closing Stream, LSI "controls the entire closing process," eliminating the need to coordinate third-party providers, the company said. Borrowers can schedule their closing early in the application process and, since the method is chiefly Web-based, they can participate in the transaction from any geographic location, according to LSI. Before the scheduled closing, LSI sends copies of the closing documents to the borrower via overnight delivery, and the borrower is responsible for returning one signed and notarized document. The returned document is combined with the original documents, and at the closing the borrower logs into the Closing Stream system and dials a toll-free number to connect with an LSI closing representative, LSI said.

Del Mar Database, San Diego, and Integrated Loan Services have teamed up to offer a co-branding strategy to allow small to medium-size lenders that use Del Mar's DataTrac to have access to ILS's QuickClose.QuickClose is an alternative to traditional title insurance that can reduce the time required to close a loan by up to 14 days, according to ILS. DataTrac is a back-end origination tool that, when combined with a POS, can offer a best-of-breed origination platform, Del Mar says. Both companies are owned by Fiserv. Del Mar can be found on the Web at http://www.delmardb.com.

Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif., has announced the release of ePASS Express, a utility designed to keep Calyx Point users connected to its participating lenders despite the threat of LoanBridge.San Jose, Calif-based Calyx Software released LoanBridge to control the interfaces its Point users have with lenders to ensure that they work with the company's new DataServer product and that outside companies aren't writing unauthorized interfaces. ePASS Express is an application the size of an instant messenger that runs alongside Point to make it possible for users to connect to participating ePASS lenders without having to exit Point, according to Ellie Mae. The application is free, can be downloaded and operational in seconds, and gives the user access to ePASS lenders. It also allows the user to create custom links to lenders or third-party services that don't participate with ePASS, and includes market data, news, and frequently asked questions, Ellie Mae said. Further product information can be found on the Web at http://www.epassexpress.com.

MortgageFlex Systems Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has upgraded its WebConsumer component to its current version of the LoanQuest Residential Lending System, to allow users to get real-time loan status.The upgraded Web component, based on .NET Web technology, enables consumers to shop lenders’ programs, rates and fees and move that information directly into what the company calls a “mini-application” fed to the RLS system. Consumers also can input personal information at their chosen speed. Key features of the WebConsumer component for lenders include: seamless integration with RLS, loan information from the consumer website to RLS, setup information from RLS to the consumer website, turnkey application run at lender or vendor location, ability to customize look and feel (color, logos, etc.), online documentation adjustable to meet individual requirements, extends existing website functionality, and quick implementation, the company said. MortgageFlex can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgageflex.com.

St. Cloud, Minn.-based Bankers Systems has formed an alliance with MeridianLink, Costa Mesa, Calif., to offer credit unions electronic documents.Under the terms of the agreement, MeridianLink will offer credit union clients that utilize its loan origination system, LoansPQ, Bankers Systems' electronic documents. MeridianLink has integrated Bankers Systems' documents into LoansPQ for common client deployment. Bankers Systems can be found on the Web at http://www.bankerssystems.com and MeridianLink can be found at http://www.meridianlink.com.

The Appraisal Institute and the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization have announced the formation of an alliance aimed at developing common data standards that bridge the valuation and mortgage lending industries.The standards will result in "the accelerated adoption of electronic commerce by all participants in the real estate and capital markets," the organizations predicted. In conjunction with the alliance, an open standard has been created for describing and commonly identifying a residential property at each step of the loan process. "MISMO recognizes that the systemic changes under way in the capital markets only increase the need for efficient data interchange," said Doug Duncan, president of the nonprofit MISMO and chief economist of its parent organization, the Mortgage Bankers Association. "This alliance with the Appraisal Institute spans both the commercial and residential industries and will provide both sectors with the framework for the electronic delivery of appraisal-related information." MISMO is the standards development body for the real estate finance industry. The organizations can be found online at http://www.appraisalinstitute.org and http://www.mismo.org.

Spending on mortgage technology increased 14% in the past year, according to the second annual Mortgage Bankers Association Technology Study.Study participants spent an average of $156 per loan application and $250 per closed loan on origination-related technology costs. In addition, those that serviced loans spent an average of $25 per loan on servicing-related technology costs, the MBA reported. About 75% of 2004 technology spending (operating expense before depreciation, plus capital expenditures) was dedicated to origination functions and 25% to servicing functions. Of 2004 technology spending, 73% was baseline maintenance (required in order to continue conducting business), while the remaining 27% was discretionary (needed to improve functionality and performance). Regulatory and compliance obligations accounted for 9% of technology budgets. Looking ahead, participants expect their technology budgets to increase by 5% over the next year. The participants represented approximately 20% of the U.S. mortgage origination market, according to the MBA. The association can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.