Mortgage technology

Fiserv, Brookfield, Wis., has reported net income of $95.0 million ($0.48 per share) for the second quarter, up from $78.4 million ($0.40 per share) a year earlier.Fiserv's processing and services revenues came in at $855.9 million for the quarter, a 33% increase over the $643.9 million for the second quarter of 2003. Fiserv can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com.

Ellie Mae Inc., Dublin, Calif., will offer its ePASS users a direct connection to Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector automated underwriting system.Ellie Mae said the connection will provide customers two-way functionality between LP and the originator's desktop through ePASS, which stands for Electronic Pricing and Submission System. Mortgage originators can request and receive an LP assessment and roll that information directly into their loan origination system as part of the integration as well. Ellie Mae can be found on the Web at http://www.elliemae.com.

Innovations in mortgage servicing technology over the past 10 years have been very helpful in keeping families in their homes after a mortgage default, according to a study by Freddie Mac.The study by Freddie Mac deputy chief economist Amy Crews Cutts and Professor Richard Green of George Washington University found that repayment plans and loan modifications are very effective at keeping borrowers in their homes. "We found that repayment plans lower the probability of home loss by 80% among all borrowers and by 68% among low- to moderate-income borrowers," Ms. Cutts said. "In addition, for servicers, foreclosure alternatives cost less than acquiring the actual property, which may carry legal and home repair costs." Freddie Mac said innovations that have proven beneficial for borrowers and servicers alike include automated reporting, remitting, and tracking; automated voice response systems; and servicing tools based on credit scores. The technology has enabled servicing costs to fall "dramatically" in the past 10 years, from an average of $120 per loan in the early 1990s to $79 per loan in 2001, the government-sponsored enterprise said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Updata Capital Inc., Red Bank, N.J., has released research explaining what is behind the recent increase in merger-and-acquisition activity in the financial technology sector.The investment banking firm, which specializes in M&As for the information technology industry, reported that four factors are contributing to the increase in technology M&As: the improved economy and resulting health of the capital markets, rising IT budgets, the impact of mandated regulatory changes, and lastly, the viability of new technology models to enhance profitability and accelerate sales. The complete Financial Monitor for summer 2004 can be viewed on http://www.updata.com.

Informative Research, a mortgage credit reporting company based in Garden Grove, Calif., has announced the formation of a technology-based partnership with IndyMac Bank.The partnership makes it easier to order credit reports from Informative Research via QuickPricer and e-MITS (electronic mortgage information and transaction system), IndyMac's proprietary online loan prequalification, pricing, and decisioning technology, Informative Research said. "This new functionality allows brokers to order or reissue Informative Research credit reports directly through QuickPricer and e-MITS for faster and more efficient loan processing," said Ondar Tarlow, vice president/director of Mortgage Bank Marketing at IndyMac. "e-MITS allows the user to submit loan application data and receive an online decision and pricing in less than a minute." The companies can be found online at http://www.informativeresearch.com and http://www.indymacb2b.com.

Irvine, Calif.-based Mavent Inc., a provider of automated compliance systems for the financial services industry, has selected AT&T to enhance its networking capabilities.According to Mavent, the three-year contract is valued at $1.4 million. The agreement makes it possible for Mavent to provide customers with around-the-clock service, security, monitoring, and automatic routing of data and other information, the company said. Mavent's automated compliance system is a rules-based application that provides the residential mortgage industry with consumer credit information, enabling lenders and investors to comply with federal, state, and local consumer lending laws, rules, and regulations. The AT&T solution also includes frame relay service and Business Internet Access Service for Mavent's headquarters. Mavent can be found on the Web at http://www.mavent.com.

Del Mar Database, San Diego, has released DocumentTrac, an electronic document management system that is integrated with DataTrac, the firm's automated back-office processing system.DocumentTrac makes it possible for lenders to electronically image, archive, retrieve, and distribute all paper documents associated with a loan file to an investor or other party, the company said. Through DocumentTrac, originators (including loan officers and brokers) can electronically submit documents associated with a loan file via fax, scanner, file upload, or print functions. Del Mar can be found on the Web at http://www.delmardb.com.

Countrywide Home Loans Inc., Calabasas, Calif., and previewproperties.com have announced the formation of propertymortgage.com as an operating unit of Countrywide Mortgage Ventures LLC.The companies said the joint venture will enable buyers and sellers of homes to gain access to more than 130 loan programs while simplifying the buying or selling process. Customers of previewproperties.com who choose home financing through propertymortgage.com will derive various benefits, including: a consultant who works closely with a previewproperties.com Realtor to develop personalized financing options; streamlined loan applications for borrowers with excellent credit; extended rate locks; and Streamlined UpFront Approval if there has been no change in the borrower's financial condition, and subject to a satisfactory property review. The companies can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com, http://www.previewproperties.com, and http://www.propertymortgage.com.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Walnut Creek, Calif., has updated its Secondary Market Products Servicing System, rolled out pmiPaperless, and reworked its field sales, operations, and product development divisions.The company said the SMP enhancements include changes in the way the company will create and manage products, contracts, and relationships; bill and manage receivables; validate and board new loan instruments; and report on corporate results. Its new offering, pmiPaperless, is an electronic document managing system designed to enhance the efficiency of PMI's underwriting capability. Finally, the company said the restructuring of its field sales, operations, and product development divisions is expected to result in a $5 million to $6 million pretax expense savings next year. PMI Mortgage is a wholly owned subsidiary of The PMI Group Inc., which can be found on the Web at http://www.pmigroup.com.

Calyx Software, San Jose, Calif., will release a multibranch version of its Point product this fall, the company has announced at the Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association's first annual technology conference in Chicago.The new release was developed to make it possible for a large user to share files at a central headquarters, with access for an unlimited amount of branches. Dennis Boggs, Calyx's senior vice president of business development, said that "numerous multibranch owners and IT managers have shown strong interest in this connectivity."

In a move to become the No. 1 supplier of automated valuation models, the First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has announced that it will acquire Basis100 Inc. in a cash deal valued at $33 million.The First American announcement notes that the AVM market has doubled each year for the last three years and estimates that 25% of mortgage loans qualify for an AVM in lieu of a standard appraisal. First American said it expects to benefit from significant cost synergies over the next six months that will result in total pretax earnings of $10 million on an annualized basis. The acquisition of Basis100 is expected to close in the third quarter after shareholder approval. The companies can be found online at http://www.firstam.com and http://www.basis100.com.

Ellie Mae Inc., Dublin, Calif., has entered into a strategic partnership with San Francisco-based ComplianceEase that will allow the integration of ComplianceEase's automated compliance systems into Ellie Mae products such as the ePASS Web transaction platform and Ellie Mae Document Services.Combining the offerings of ComplianceEase's automated loan origination compliance tool PredatorAnalyzer with Ellie Mae's ePASS (Electronic Pricing and Submission System) platform, lenders can efficiently integrate PA with their existing loan origination systems, the companies said. Ellie Mae said its ePASS technology connects the majority of third-party mortgage originators with their wholesale lenders and settlement service providers, enabling all parties to be more efficient while securely delivering data -- on over 1.4 million loans in the first quarter alone. Ellie Mae can be found online at http://www.elliemae.com, and ComplianceEase, a division of LogicEase Solutions Inc., can be found at http://www.complianceease.com.

Wayne, Pa.-based GHR Systems' BrokerOneSource has just added to its list of participating lenders with the signing of Saxon Mortgage, Richmond, Va., bringing to six its total of new lenders within the past month.BrokerOneSource is a mortgage origination Web-based marketplace that links wholesale lenders with mortgage brokers. At present, 18 lenders participate, six of which signed up in May of this year. In addition, 2,000 mortgage brokers are registered and actively use BOS to process and close loans. BOS can be found on the Web at http://www.brokeronesource.com.

Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis, has announced the introduction of a new automated valuation model platform that it says will reduce costs and streamline the underwriting process for mortgage lenders and homeowners.GMAC-RFC said the new AVM platform enables it to obtain more accurate automated valuations from more geographic areas. The company said it will use the platform "to provide lenders and brokers more options to close loans without the need for a full appraisal on a higher percentage of transactions." The integration of the new AVM platform into the company's Assetwise automated loan evaluation tool enables GMAC-RFC "to choose the best AVM result available, based on such parameters as geography, estimated value, and loan amounts," the company said. Dan Bettenburg, GMAC-RFC's executive vice president for e-commerce, said the company's research indicates that "to provide cutting-edge appraisal alternatives that will have an impact similar to automated credit evaluations, it's necessary to use several different AVMs, where each provides the most value based on their respective strengths." GMAC-RFC said it has partnered with First American Real Estate Solutions to build the new platform, which will incorporate AVMs from Basis100, First American, and Veros. The companies can be found online at http://www.gmacrfc.com, http://www.firstamres.com, http://www.basis100.com, and http://www.verovalue.com.

GCC Servicing Systems, Southfield, Mich., is currently developing GServ, which will be a Web-based solution that will allow bank tellers and loan officers access to a customer's mortgage loan information.The new servicing product will make it possible for banks to use the core processing system of their choice and at the same time giving tellers and loan officers access to customer mortgage information via an Intranet setup to the bank's servicing information on the GCC platform. GServ has an anticipated release date of October of 2004. GCC is a mortgage service bureau, mortgage servicing technology and service provider that can found on the Web at http://www.gccservicing.com.

ComplianceEase, San Francisco, has updated its PredatorAnalyzer product to allow mortgage originators and issuers of residential mortgage-backed securities to obtain the anti-predatory-lending loan categorization required by Standard & Poor's.Effective July 1, loans subject to certain anti-predatory-lending legislation and sold into rated securities must be categorized and identified as "home loans," "covered loans," or "high-cost loans" in the loan-level information submitted to LEVELS -- the S&P risk analysis system. ComplianceEase said it responded to this development by enhancing its PredatorAnalyzer system to automatically categorize loans according to S&P requirements. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.complianceease.com.

With interest rates rising, now is the time for companies in the subprime market to consider investing in technology, according to Ty Jenkins, owner, founder, and chief executive officer of DocuTech Corp.Mr. Jenkins joined Elizabeth Green, chief information officer of Paragon Financial Corp, at the last panel of the Subprime Lending Symposium in San Francisco to discuss the use of technology to mitigate compliance risks. "Take advantage of the opportunity today," Mr. Jenkins said. "Four years from now, interest rates will be dropping again and there will be even greater volume. Make sure you're prepared." While everyone wants to increase volume, Ms. Green said it's important to maintain a strong business operation while taking advantage of new opportunities in technology. She advised those in the industry to look at where their business is today and where they see themselves going. "Technology is stronger than ever," she said. "But it is not a magic bullet. It is part of the overall design. You are going to have to spend money and invest time to make it work for you."

Nicholas Hahn, formerly an executive with Countrywide Home Loans, has been named chief financial officer of DeepGreen Financial, a Cleveland-based online business-to-business home equity lender.Mr. Hahn's expertise will help DeepGreen expand its securitization and asset sales programs, said Jerome Selitto, DeepGreen's chief executive officer. Mr. Hahn was executive vice president for production accounting at Countrywide, where he was responsible for all accounting and management reporting for the company's mortgage production divisions, DeepGreen said. The B2B lender can be found online at http://www.deepgreenfinancial.com.

Leader Mortgage Co., Lenexa, Kan., has deployed Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.-based PaperClip's software to enable paperless mortgages with Calyx Point.Leader installed PaperClip32, PaperClip's flagship integrated document system, and its Mortgage Assistant loan processing add-on module. The combined system makes it possible for Leader to manage all its loans from a central digital repository through which all permitted users can search, retrieve, route, process, validate, and approve loans. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.leader1.com and http://www.paperclip.com.

ElectronicAppraiser.com, Boca Raton, Fla., has release PhotoCheck, a valuation product designed to combine a professional site inspection with an exterior digital photograph and property condition report.The reports are available in Adobe PDF, XML, and HTML formats. ElectronicAppraiser.com also offers an expedited 48-hour service. PhotoCheck can be ordered as a stand-alone report or in combination with any valuation product. ElectronicAppraiser.com is a valuation technology provider, featuring two main products: PhotoCheck, an electronic property photo combined with an automated valuation model report, and AVMLink, which provides access to several national AVM providers. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.electronicappraiser.com.