Mortgage technology

DocuTech Corp., a provider of compliance services and documentation technology, has debuted its new PowerLend product at the National Association of Mortgage Brokers conference in Salt Lake City.PowerLend is a Web-based system that integrates a broker's closing software and identifies refinancing options that can be offered to borrowers for their consumer loans. The tool is designed to give brokers the ability to identify future lending opportunities. DocuTech can be found on the Web at http://www.docutechcorp.com.

Calabasas, Calif.-based Sysdome has announced the release of its new BrokerScore product designed to detect broker fraud.BrokerScore is a fraud prevention tool that reviews originators each month, performing audits and background checks on mortgage brokers and affiliated groups on behalf of lenders. BrokerScore rates individual brokers with a "score" that is shared with both the broker and the lender, Sysdome said. Brokers can contest the information provided and use their score as a marketing tool as well. Sysdome is in talks with the National Association of Mortgage Brokers to use the product as the basis of a national registry that would track the performance of brokers across the country in an effort to cut down on broker fraud. The product announcement was made at the NAMB annual convention in Salt Lake City. Sysdome can be found on the Web at http://www.sysdome.com.

Mark Lefanowicz, chief operating officer of E-Loan Inc., Pleasanton, Calif., has been promoted to president of E-Loan and will retain his position as COO.Mr. Lefanowicz has been E-Loan's COO since January, and has been a company director since October 2002. The company also announced the appointment of Susan Catherine Muriel as its new chief marketing officer. She joins E-Loan from Upromise Inc., a private college funding program. E-Loan, a consumer-direct lender that offers mortgage, auto, and home equity loans, can be found online at http://www.eloan.com.

Wachovia has signed up to participate on Wayne, Pa.-based GHR Systems' Web-based origination marketplace, BrokerOneSource.There are currently about 2,000 brokers conducting business on the site, and GHR says 100 to 200 new brokers sign up each day. At present, 13 lenders participate. GHR can be found on the Web at http://www.ghrsystems.com.

Genworth Financial Inc., Raleigh, N.C., has announced the introduction of Underwrite Express, an online service that the company says combines the benefits of two of its mortgage technology platforms.The service integrates AU Central, Genworth's proprietary automated underwriting engine, with Doc Central, its online platform for creating and sharing loan documents, the company said. "We designed this platform to serve the needs of mortgage originators who want quicker underwriting turnaround," said Kevin Schneider, Genworth's president for U.S. mortgage insurance. "Underwrite Express meets their needs by seamlessly integrating two proven platforms that already are being used successfully by originators nationwide." Genworth can be found online at http://www.genworth.com.

Myers Internet has released a new website product that enables mortgage originators to originate mortgages by marketing to the for-sale-by-owner market."Mortgage originators are increasingly looking for new channels to originate mortgages," Myers chief executive officer Warren Myer said at the 2004 National Association of Mortgage Brokers Convention in Salt Lake City. Originators pay a setup fee of $199 and a monthly fee of $39. The website can be up and running in a week. Myers can be found on the Web in http://www.myers.com.

Calyx Software, San Jose, Calif., has decided to drop its request for an injunction against Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif.Calyx has sued Ellie Mae, alleging that the company committed copyright infringement by copying the look and feel of its Point product with the release of Encompass. To ensure that Ellie Mae doesn't sell Encompass until the case is decided, Calyx petitioned the court for an injunction. Calyx now says it was unable to get a proper discovery period and has therefore dropped the request until discovery can be conducted, at which time it reserves the right to reinstate the request. On the other side, Ellie Mae chief executive Sig Anderman called the entire request "frivolous." Mr. Anderman maintained that Calyx withdrew its request because Ellie Mae was going to ask the court to impose sanctions on Calyx should the court decide in Ellie Mae's favor. The first hearing in the copyright infringement case is scheduled for late this month.

DocuTech Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho, has launched a new interactive Lender Advocate website that it describes as a one-stop compliance and educational center for the mortgage industry.The site enables visitors to get current information about proposed state and federal laws while those laws are still in the making. For each pending law or regulation monitored, the site provides a general summary of the proposed law and a link to the legislation in its present form (with amendment history marked and noted). As a key interactive feature, the site provides a poll of visitor response to the pending legislation and an option for the visitor to add commentary. DocuTech will then transmit visitor responses about the proposed legislation to state officials and lawmakers. The new website can be found at http://www.lenderadvocate.com.

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va., has announced an agreement to integrate its credit reporting subsidiary, Info1 Holding Co., into Freddie Mac's automated underwriting system.Under the arrangement, Info1 is offering credit reporting services to mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers using Loan Prospector. Info1 president Ken Goins said the agreement will for the first time enable Freddie Mac "to access credit reports previously ordered by its clients outside of Loan Prospector by using an Info1 reference number." The companies can be found online at http://www.landam.com and http://www.freddiemac.com.

The senior debt rating of Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., New York, has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings in the wake of an announcement that the company will acquire Kroll Inc., a risk consulting company that serves the mortgage industry and others, for $1.9 billion.The rating agency attributed the action to "uncertain financing plans," saying that the debt rating would likely be lowered if the acquisition is funded chiefly with debt. The Kroll acquisition is a significant move for MMC, as Kroll has itself acquired The Credit Network and Factual Data in the past two years, making it a leader in the risk mitigation, credit, and fraud arena within the mortgage technology industry. For the past three years, Mortgage Technology magazine, a sister publication of Mortgage Wire, has featured Kroll in its list of the industry's top 100 mortgage technology vendors. Fitch can be found on the Web at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., New York, will acquire Kroll Inc., New York, as part of a strategic move to broaden its risk and insurance services and enhance its market share in risk management services.Kroll Inc. acquired Factual Data in August 2003, and the Credit Network in March 2004. Under the definitive agreement, MMC will acquire Kroll in an all-cash, $1.9 billion transaction in which Kroll shareholders will receive $37 for each outstanding share of Kroll common stock they own, Kroll said. The price to be paid by MMC represents a 31.7% premium over Kroll's closing stock price of $28.10 on the Nasdaq National Market on May 18. The deal was unanimously approved by both MMC's and Kroll's board of directors. Upon completion of the transaction, Kroll will become part of Marsh Inc., MMC's risk and insurance services subsidiary, Kroll said. Jules Kroll, founder and executive chairman of Kroll, will be named a vice chairman of Marsh Inc. as part of the agreement. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.mmc.com and http:// www.krollworldwide.com.

First Magnus Financial Corp., a privately held mortgage banking company in Tucson, Ariz., has selected SharperLending LLC, Spokane, Wash., to support its wholesale and correspondent divisions.SharperLending is a Web-based platform that allows lenders to order, store, and manage mortgage products from multiple vendors at a single point of entry. As part of the agreement, First Magnus will access SharperLending's platform on a private-label basis. First Magnus' users will interact with the SharperLending platform through a Web-based interface, offering flood, credit, and insurance rates in one bundle. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.firstmagnus.com and http://www.sharperlending.com.

Calyx Software, San Jose, Calif., has filed for a preliminary injunction against its rival Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif., that broadens an earlier dispute alleging that Ellie Mae committed copyright infringement.Specifically, Calyx contends that Ellie Mae's Encompass product infringes on the "structure, user interface, and look and feel" of Calyx's Point software. "We at Calyx have felt compelled to take this action against Ellie Mae in order to protect our intellectual property," said Dennis Boggs, senior vice president of business development at Calyx. "We put a great deal of work into developing the user interface in all of our software products. We feel we have to protect the value we have created." The case was filed in the Northern District of California, San Jose. The earlier copyright dispute alleged that Ellie Mae committed "copyright infringement, false designation of origin and violations of the California Unfair Competition laws." Mr. Boggs said he expects an answer to the injunction filing within six weeks and is unsure how this will affect the release of version 1.5 of Encompass planned for next month. Ellie Mae chief executive Sig Anderman calls the legal action "an act of desperation from somebody who is losing market share." Mr. Anderman said the differences between Point and Encompass are "very dramatic." The only similarities are "those that are generic and standard in the industry, like the 1003 and 1008 forms that are mandated by Fannie and the secondary market," he said.

Kirk Reese has been named chief technology officer at DocuTech Corp., a mortgage software technology company based in Idaho Falls, Idaho.Before joining DocuTech, Mr. Reese was a software and Java architect for Avaya Inc., a communications network provider, and STS HotelNet, a provider of Internet portals for the hospitality industry, DocuTech said. He was also principal software engineer for the Denver-based Boeing Co. DocuTech can be found on the Web at http://www.docutechcorp.com.

The eMortgage Alliance, a consortium of companies collaborating on the development of an end-to-end electronic mortgage system, has elected a new governance board.Dave Williamson, senior vice president of technology and strategic initiatives for The Performance Group, Concord, N.H., was elected chairman. Tom Litke, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Wellfound Technology, Atlanta, was elected vice-chairman; and Sue Cordova, senior business analyst at Framework Inc., Tarrytown, N.Y., was elected secretary and treasurer. Mr. Williamson said he hopes to increase the strength of the alliance by adding members and creating an industrywide forum to discuss the e-mortgage. Other members of the alliance are DocuTech Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho, the founding company of the alliance; Wave eSign Systems, Lee, Mass.; SwiftView, Tualatin, Oregon; Rekon Technologies, Pasadena, Calif.; and Encomia, Houston. The alliance can be found online at http://emortgagealliance.us.

Simple Remote LLC, New York, has announced the introduction of customizable software to enable mortgage brokers and lenders to manage their deal pipeline and track contacts.Simple Remote is designed to "think in the same sequences" as a lender, but faster, more efficiently, and more productively, the company said. It is not a Web-based program, and therefore hackers have no chance to gain access. The software "creates lender and investor profiles, it matches them with appropriate properties, and it notifies the user of matches between the two," said Steven Weiss, who led the team of programmers that created the new software. "For mortgage brokers, the program can notify them of which banks offer the best deals for either the purchase or the sale of a property." The company can be found online at http://www.simpleremote.com.

David Williamson has been promoted to senior vice president of technology and strategic initiatives at The Performance Group, a consulting firm for the mortgage banking industry based in Concord, N.H.Since joining TPG in 1999, Mr. Williamson has been instrumental in core services development, system selection, and process design, the firm said. He has also managed the firm's third-party vending relationships with technology service providers and directed business development efforts. Mr. Williamson is the TPG representative to the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization.

LendingTree Inc., Charlotte, N.C., has announced an agreement with AAA to provide mortgage and home equity loans and realty services to AAA members in participating clubs.Under the partnership, LendingTree will provide qualified AAA members with multiple competitive loan offers from its network of mortgage and home equity lenders, the online loan exchange said. Eligible members who buy or sell a home using a Realtor from the LendingTree Realty Services network will receive a AAA vacation. The online exchange can be found on the Web at http://www.lendingtree.com.

Fair Isaac Corp., San Rafael, Calif., and London Bridge Software Holdings PLC, London, have announced an agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer by Fair Isaac to acquire the ordinary shares of London Bridge.The offer will be 0.95 British pounds in cash for each issued and to-be-issued ordinary share of London Bridge, which amounts to an estimated 166.2 million British pounds (approximately $299 million), the companies reported. Fair Isaac, which produces FICO credit-risk scores used by the mortgage industry, said it believes it can "leverage London Bridge's installed base of customers for collections and recovery to deliver collections-focused scoring solutions." London Bridge's software includes The Mortgage Originator and various products related to collections, recovery, and default management. Fair Isaac can be found online at http://www.fairisaac.com.

ResMAE Financial Corp., Brea, Calif., has announced the introduction of TotalAccess, a Web-based pipeline management service for mortgage brokers.TotalAccess delivers a range of services, such as allowing brokers to: follow the progress of their loans in real time; contact key ResMAE production personnel; and request to draw documents when all conditions are met. ResMAE, which stands for Residential Mortgage Assistance Enterprise, can be found online at http://www.resmae.com.