Mortgage technology

LoanPerformance, San Francisco, has announced the introduction of PreTell, a prepayment scoring platform developed with the aid of originators, servicers, traders, investors, and guarantors to form an industry standard.PreTell provides a numeric score on an index of zero to 1,000 designed to predict the likelihood that an individual loan will prepay within a six-month forecast window. Scoring is currently available for 30-year fixed-rate, jumbo 30-year fixed-rate, 30-year alternative-A, subprime 2/28 hybrid adjustable-rate, and subprime 3/27 hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages. The announcement was made at the Mortgage Bankers Association convention in San Francisco. LoanPerformance can be found online at http://www.loanperformance.com.

Fiserv Lending Solutions, Brookfield, Wis., has launched Electronic Partner Connection, which it says will act as a central point for the user to order bundled services.In its announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association convention in San Francisco, Fiserv said it expects to deliver Electronic Partner Connection in the first quarter of 2005. EPC offers lenders the ability to order one service or multiple services, depending on need, and to review and monitor the services. Fiserv can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com.

Wayne, Pa.-based GHR Systems has announced that both Washtenaw Mortgage and DeepGreen Financial have joined the company's multilender transaction portal, BrokerOneSource.BOS currently has over 5,000 brokers using the site as a point-of-sale tool and over 25 lenders, as well as various third-party service providers, according to GHR Systems. The addition of the two lenders will further diversify the services offered, as Washtenaw is a wholesale mortgage bank and DeepGreen is a business-to-business home equity lender. The announcement came at the Mortgage Bankers Association Annual Convention in San Francisco. GHR's BOS can be found on the Web at http://www.brokeronesource.

Livonia, Mich.-based Dynatek has announced an update to its MORvision product to support the demand for home equity lines of credit at the Mortgage Bankers Association Annual Convention in San Francisco.According to the MBA Midyear Survey, HELOC originations increased 76.8% in the second quarter of this year. As a result, Dynatek added special data fields, screens, calculations, forms, and report modifications at no additional charge to users. Dynatek said all updates meet government regulations, as MORvision provides field-level security, filtering, and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting. Dynatek can be found on the Web at http://www.dynatek.com.

Master Financial Inc., Orange, Calif., has announced the addition of a tool to its Web-based loan origination system that allows access to loan information through wireless devices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants.The tool, 30Second Desk Mobile, is available through any cell phone or PDA with wireless Web browser capability that is HTML 3.2-compliant, the company said. "Whether sitting before their borrowers at a coffee shop or an open house, brokers can price and quote without the burden of bulky equipment or scrambling to find Internet access," Master Financial said.

Stewart Title Co., Houston, and Silanis Technology Inc., St. Laurent, Quebec, have announced the launch of eClosingRoom, which they say is the first electronic closing platform that is fully integrated into an existing online transaction management system.The companies said the platform enables lenders to expedite the document preparation and delivery process while allowing consumers to review and sign many of their loan and other documents electronically before the closing meeting. "Lenders can deliver loan portfolios to the secondary market faster, reduce their paper-based costs, and pass on those cost savings to consumers," said Darren Ross, director of e-commerce at Stewart. Users access eClosingRoom through Stewart's SureClose transaction management system via a secure, password-protected website, Stewart said. The platform was unveiled at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in San Francisco. Stewart, a subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp., can be found online at http://www.stewart.com, and Silanis can be found at http://www.silanis.com.

Fiserv, Brookfield, Wis., has reported net income of $95.4 million ($0.47 per share) for the third quarter, up from $80.4 million ($0.42 per share) a year earlier.Fiserv's processing and services revenues came in at $866.3 million for the quarter, a 23% increase from $702 million in the third quarter of 2003. Fiserv president and CEO Leslie M. Muma called the results "a milestone." He attributed the strong results in part to three acquisitions made by the company in the third quarter, including Results International Systems Inc., a provider of outsourced systems for the property and casualty insurance industry; Pharmacy Fulfillment Inc.; and CheckAgain LC, a company that converts checks to electronic format within its mortgage servicing offering. Fiserv can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Hansen Quality, a division of Fidelity National Financial, has launched PRO Value, a service that analyzes overvaluation risk on residential appraisal reports and provides an independent, AVM-derived collateral value that is reviewed and certified by an expert appraiser.The service is designed to be used in the origination phase as a substitute for desk reviews or in the due diligence process for whole loan purchases, according to the company. PRO Value assigns an overvaluation risk score after evaluating factors associated with an appraisal report, such as unique property attributes, below average condition, negative external influences, and inappropriate comparables. From there, a review appraiser chooses an accurate automated valuation model value from a selection of three or four AVM models, including an appraiser-assisted model. The company said the final PRO Value report includes the overvaluation risk score, the reviewed AVM value, and commentary summarizing the review appraiser's analysis. The FNF family of companies can be found online at http://www.fnf.com and http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

RealEC Technologies, Santa Ana, Calif., has released a new product called SolutionSelect, which is designed to advance lender appraisal settlement service and vendor management.SolutionSelect integrates existing and new RealEC functionality such as predefined provider workflows, collaborative file management, electronic fee negotiation, rules-based product data reviews, and customized data warehousing and analysis, the company said. The first available module of SolutionSelect is a rules-based appraisal management system that enables lenders to create an appraisal upgrade designed to cascade automatically through available automated valuation models and appraisal offerings. RealEC is a majority-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial with significant equity ownership by Stewart Title Co. and LandAmerica Financial Group. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.realec.com.

WellFound Technology, a provider of business integration systems with a focus on the financial services industry, and Decade Systems, a provider of integration and business connectivity software to the mortgage industry, have announced a merger.The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The merged company will be known as WellFound Decade Corp. WellFound Decade's flagship product, the Mortgage Integration Foundation, allows customers to integrate systems (including loan origination systems), users, and external partners to produce an end-to-end mortgage lending system, the company said. WellFound Decade's new management team is composed of members from both WellFound Technology and Decade Systems. Gerry C. Nelson, Decade's founder and chairman of the board, and Brian K. Fitzpatrick, Decade's chief executive officer, will serve as chairman and president, respectively. WellFound's founder and president, Roddy Henderson, will serve as vice chairman, and WellFound CEO Paul R. Gain will serve as CEO of the merged company. The new company can be found on the Web at http://www.wellfounddecade.com.

The LSI division of Chicago Title Insurance Co. has launched the home equity component of eLenderSolutions, its Web-based point-of-sale title insurance platform, according to Chicago Title.Chicago Title, a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc., said the system is designed to expedite home equity closings by leveraging LSI's recently developed Home Equity Loan Policy to provide lenders with loan closing, ancillary product, and insurance offerings needed for same-day home equity closings. The POS tool "instantaneously delivers recordable property vesting information, tax and assessment information, and legal descriptions nationally," Chicago Title said. "Additionally, the system provides point-of-sale quotes on an individual-product or bundled-fee basis for the HELP policy, property reports, credit reports, flood certification, valuation products, mortgage tax, and recording services."

LSI Credit Services, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. based in Jacksonville, Fla., has announced the launch of Fidelity National Identity Sentinel, identity-theft protection services that lenders can provide directly to consumers.The Web-based tools allow consumers to monitor their credit history in real time and protect themselves from identity theft by notifying two of the three national credit bureaus online of any erroneous credit activity, the company said. Identity Sentinel provides lenders with credit services that can be marketed under their own brand, enabling them to build customer loyalty while creating a new revenue channel. "By offering these services on their website, lenders can help their customers identify unauthorized increases in debt or credit limits, applications for new credit, and other suspicious activity," LSI said. Customers can sign up for a Fraud-Watch Credit Monitoring feature that will alert them via weekly e-mail updates of any credit-related activity. More information on Identity Sentinel can be found online at http://www.myidentitysentinel.com.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Empower, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. and a provider of mortgage origination software, has released a new module designed to add point-of-sale functionality to the application.Empower Point of Sale Desktop is a front-end module that provides users with "seamless integration into the Empower enterprise suite," the company said. The product has integrations to FNF products and services such as flood determinations, real estate tax service, automated valuation models, credit reports, and the MSP, a loan servicing platform. In addition, the product is approved for use with industry standard services offered by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and others, Empower said. More information about the FNF family of companies can be found at http://www.fnf.com and http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

LION Inc., Seattle, has entered into an agreement to acquire Tuttle Risk Management Services, a provider of mortgage pipeline risk management services based in San Rafael, Calif.Under the terms of the agreement, TRMS shareholders will receive $2.7 million in consideration, made up of 3.1 million restricted shares of LION common stock and promissory notes (due in 2007) in the principal amount of about $1.3 million, LION said. LION paid no cash in the deal. TRMS recorded unaudited revenue of $6.2 million in 2003 and $4.7 million in revenue for the first nine months of this year. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of both companies. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.lioninc.com and http://www.trmshedge.com.

Loveland, Colo.-based Kroll Factual Data Inc. has announced the acquisition of National Flood Research Inc., Boulder, Colo., a national provider of disclosure products to the mortgage, real estate, and insurance industries.The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. NFR has a staff of 47 and has specialized in flood hazard disclosure since the early 1990s. It offers a portfolio of flood hazard services, including basic and life-of-loan flood certification, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act/census information, and portfolio review, KFD said. It also provides information on environmental and other natural hazards, such as earthquake fault zones, wildland fire hazards, dam inundation areas, and Superfund sites. NFR's founder, Lloyd Noel Meador, will continue as divisional vice president of Kroll's Background Screening Group. KFD, a subsidiary of Kroll Inc., can be found on the Web at http://www.krollfactualdata.com.

AppIntell Inc., St. Louis, has changed its name to AppIntelligence Inc.The company is a provider of data integrity, fraud prevention, risk assessment, and compliance tools for the residential lending industry. The renamed company said the AppIntelligence name better reflects the company's leadership role in mortgage fraud and compliance applications intelligence. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.appintelligence.com.

TransUnion Settlement Solutions, Wilmington, Del., has announced the release of StreamLoan Title, an alternative title insurance-backed product designed to streamline closing for home equity lenders.Specifically, the offering enhances TransUnion's end-to-end real estate settlement offering. TransUnion said the application provides lenders with a Master Title Insurance Loan Policy that protects each security interest created through their qualifying residential home equity loan program. StreamLoan Title is underwritten by a title insurance policy and offers collateral protection that is acceptable for the risk involved. An individual loan certificate is issued for each loan that is underwritten to the approved guidelines and procedures, and serves as evidence of the lender's title insurance coverage, the company said. TransUnion can be found on the Web at http://www.transunion.com.

Clayton, a provider of automated compliance software, and AllRegs, a regulatory content provider for residential mortgage lenders, have announced a partnership that will facilitate access to AllRegs' legislative database by users of Clayton's High-Cost Analyzer.The High-Cost Analyzer is a Web-based application that uses standard loan data to calculate whether a loan exceeds thresholds for so-called high-cost or predatory loans under various federal, state, and local laws. During the analysis, the user can "drill down to both the summary and full text of the legislation, greatly reducing the time and effort involved to research legislation," the companies said. Clayton, based in Shelton, Conn., can be found online at http://www.clayton.com, and AllRegs, based in Eagan, Minn., can be found at http://www.allregs.com.

LoanCity, an online wholesale lender based in San Jose, Calif., has announced enhancements to its line of alternative-A mortgage products.The enhancements include an 80/20 purchase option, streamlined documentation requirements, flexible qualifying options, and competitive pricing, the company said. "We're committed to offering the edge that brokers need to be profitable," said Rick Soukoulis, founder and chief executive officer of LoanCity. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.loancity.com.

LendingTree Inc., Charlotte, N.C., has acquired HomeLoanCenter.com, an Internet direct mortgage lender based in Irvine, Calif.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close within 90 to 120 days. "This acquisition will help us increase our profit per customer, have greater input over the consumer experience, more efficiently cross-sell our offering, and gain market share," said LendingTree founder and chief executive officer Doug Lebda. HLC founder and CEO Anthony Hsieh called the deal "a win for consumers" and, along with company president Tomo Yebisu, he will remain with the company. LendingTree can be found on the Web at http://www.lendingtree.com.