Mortgage technology

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.

Shawn McGowan has been named president and chief executive officer of Valocity, a Memphis-based provider of valuation systems.Mr. McGowan was most recently head of research, analysis, and implementation of strategic initiatives for eAppraiseIT, Valocity said. He is also a former senior vice president of residential appraisal operations for Strategic Mortgage Services and First American Appraisal Services. Mr. McGowan is a past chairman of the Industry Advisory Council for The Appraisal Foundation. Valocity, formerly Appraisal Forum, can be found on the Web at http://www.valocity.com.

SwiftView Inc., Portland, Ore., has entered into an agreement with Delphi Information Sciences Corp. to offer its SwiftSend LoanDocs Web-based electronic document delivery service to customers of Delphi's Discovery mortgage banking software.Discovery customers will now have the ability to electronically deliver confidential documents in an encrypted environment, SwiftView said. Delphi provides computer systems and services to the mortgage lending industry. SwiftView can be found on the Web at http:// visit http://www.swiftsend.com.

MERS, Vienna, Va., has announced the launch of the MERS eRegistry, an electronic system for recording the owner and custodian of registered e-notes that the company termed a "significant step" toward an all-electronic mortgage.The system was created in response to certain safe-harbor requirements imposed by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. "A major component of the e-mortgage puzzle is now available and ready for use, ahead of the market," said R. K. Arnold, president and chief executive officer of MERS. "Although it will take many years for the industry to fully adopt this system, it will become widely used because the marketplace is demanding a move towards less paper in the homebuying process." MERS said the Mortgage Bankers Association sanctioned the creation of a national e-note registry system last summer and endorsed MERS as the builder and provider of the system. MERS can be found on the Internet at http://www.mersinc.org.

Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Entyre Inc has launched it’s Web-based X4 Wholesale Lending System, an ASP-based closing system that gives lenders control of who “touches” their loans, and what those participants are allowed to do.The technology was designed to give Wholesale Lenders more control over the closing process. A company spokesman said that Entyre is in the middle of three major implementations of the X4 Wholesale Lending System, including a top 20 lender, which is expected to be formally announced in early May. Entyre prepares loan closing documents for brokers, bankers and correspondent lenders and investors. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.entyre.com.

Vienna, Va.-based VirPack has announced an agreement with Countrywide to enable correspondents to make imaged delivery of loans to Countrywide possible.The partnership is expected to reduce costs and cycle times, as well as improve the loan purchasing process. Using VirPack Direct, which conforms to Countrywide's image loan delivery specification, Countrywide correspondents will be able to retrieve loans identified for delivery to Countrywide and electronically deliver entire imaged loan files in a secure fashion to expedite purchase review. Virpack Direct, an electronic delivery tool, is offered free to VirPack customers. The tool is integrated with VirPack's scan capture and electronic document management systems and allows users to capture only those loans they wish to deliver to Countrywide, or fully take advantage of VirPack's imaging and document management capabilities to enhance their back-shop processes.

Digital Docs, Dallas, launched an interactive HUD-1 solution with an embedded e-sign feature at the MBA's Secondary Market Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C.The product has the ability to interface with an originator's loan origination system to reflect last-minute changes in a loan. It also interfaces directly with Digital Docs Direct, a Web-based loan document delivery system to transmit HUD-1 changes into the closing doc. In addition, a high-cost loan and predatory calculation is embedded in the product.

Fannie Mae will continue to convert its existing technology to a completely Web-based platform in an effort to upgrade its old DOS-based technology, Mortgage Wire learned at the MBA's Secondary Market Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C.Fannie Mae began the process in 2002 with the release of an electronic committing application. Going forward, Fannie Mae will test delivery technology products and servicing technology products on a Web-based platform. At present, Fannie Mae has repositioned its cash remittance product on the Web. This application is expected be available in the month of June to those clients that want to transition. Rollout dates for the larger milestones within this technology initiative were not disclosed. However, Fannie did say that no major technology announcements are expected this year.

Framework Inc., Tarrytown, N.Y., has upgraded LendWare Workflow, its Web-based software service component that supports the configuration, management, and automation of business tasks, XML-based integrations, and fulfillment processes.Specifically, LendWare Workflow 3.0 is an effort to align Framework's existing workflow technology with the standards defined by the Workflow Management Coalition, a nonprofit international organization of workflow vendors, users, analysts, and university research groups that defines standards for workflow terminology, process definition, and workflow engine interoperability. WMC engine interoperability standards enable the sharing of both configuration and run-time information between different workflow engines. Framework can be found on the Web at http://www.lendware.com.

Concord, Calif.-based Online Documents Inc., a subsidiary of Stewart Mortgage Information, and Lenders One, a mortgage banking cooperative headquartered in St. Louis, have formed a marketing alliance to provide mortgage document services for Lenders One co-op members.Through the marketing alliance with Lenders One, Online Documents has agreed to provide mortgage document services to every Lenders One member at a single price. Lenders One is an alliance of mortgage originators organized as a cooperative. Online Documents, which provides compliant mortgage documents and related services to lenders, can be found on the Web at http://www.onlinedocuments.com.

DeepGreen Financial, a Cleveland-based home equity lender, has announced the hiring of mortgage industry veteran James L. Gear Jr. as national sales director.Mr. Gear has more than 25 years of industry experience in sales, secondary marketing, technology, and mortgage insurance, the company said, including positions at Amerin Guaranty, Loantrader.com, IMX, Bear Stearns Mortgage Capital, and MGIC. The company also announced the following promotions: Jeff Bell to the new position of chief information officer; Michael Moore to director of business & product development; and Felipe Obando to director of marketing. In addition, David Hadley, DeepGreen's chief technology officer, will take on added responsibilities in the areas of strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, and special projects. DeepGreen can be found online at http://www.deepgreenfinancial.com.

Decade Systems Corp., Jacksonville, Fla., has formed a strategic partnership with Ellie Mae Inc., Dublin, Calif., whereby Decade will act as Ellie Mae's preferred integration provider and a reseller of Ellie Mae's ClickLoan technology.As the preferred integration provider, Decade will provide integration solutions to Ellie Mae's clients that have a need to integrate Ellie Mae's Encompass and ePASS products to other mortgage technology systems, such as loan origination, core banking, secondary marketing, and servicing products. In addition, Decade's Total Enterprise Data Integration product has been integrated directly into Ellie Mae's universal loan origination system connector, ClickLoan. Ellie Mae, a provider of desktop and Web-enabled mortgage industry productivity technology, can be found on the Web at http://www.elliemae.com. Decade Systems, a provider of systems integration technology for the industry, can be found at http://www.decadesystems.com.

ComplianceEase, a division of San Francisco-based LogicEase Solutions Inc., has released PredatorAnalyzer AssureCert, which the company is calling "the industry's first fully-warranted automated compliance solution."Specifically, the product is designed to enable originators to comply with high-cost and anti-predatory lending legislation and protect against violations. The company will combine the new offering with its existing PredatorAnalyzer product. The combined product is backed by an A.M. Best-rated A++ insurer and covers losses due to fines, penalties, judgments, and secondary-market transaction losses due to compliance defects. The product is available for loan-level protection of up to $300,000 with a coverage period of five years. ComplianceEase can be found on the Web at http://www.complianceease.com.