Mortgage technology

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has announced the acquisition of the 45% of Hansen Quality Loan Services Inc. -- a provider of collateral score products and automated valuation models to the mortgage and investment banking industries -- that it did not already own.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. FNF said Hansen's collateral score products include quality control of closed-loan appraisals, loan portfolio assessment for securitization or sale, collateral evaluation at the outset of the underwriting process, and risk analysis in the extension of credit. "Hansen has been a strong contributor to our real estate information services group since the acquisition of a majority interest by Fidelity National Information Solutions in May 2002," said William P. Foley II, FNF's chairman and chief executive officer. The company can be found online at http://www.fnf.com.

The city of St. Louis has begun recording loan satisfactions via a "level 3" electronic recording initiative using technology from U.S. Recordings, a Saint Paul, Minn.-based company that provides mortgage recording systems.U.S. Recordings' InteleDocPlus was the system used to submit documentation electronically, and Fidlar Software's iDocument XF was used as the receiving system. U.S. Recordings can be found online at http://www.usrecordings.com.

Image Recognition Integrated Systems Group, a technology provider based in Brussels, Belgium, has released three new products designed to move paper documents and forms into a digital format.The products, though not geared only to the mortgage industry, are being used heavily by mortgage companies, according to IRIS. The first product, Readiris Pro 9 Corporate Edition, is a tool that converts documents, files in Portable Document Format, and business cards into electronic documents. IRISPdf 2.5 Server is the new version of I.R.I.S. Production OCR Server. It's a networkable application that can be used to store scanned documents in a specific folder and convert them to .pdf or .rtf format. Finally, Formiris Pro 5.1 is a software suite that captures, sorts, and identifies all types of documents and forms entering a company or organization, irrespective of their size, layout, and contents. IRIS can be found on the Web at http://www.irislink.com.

Del Mar Database, the San Diego-based provider of DataTrac, a mortgage system that connects mortgage applications of the lender's choice through data input and management, has named three new vice presidents.Lisa Oelsner has been appointed vice president of product marketing and will work closely with newly appointed vice presidents and business managers Dan Stern and Rob Pommier. Del Mar said Ms. Oelsner has more than 15 years of management and marketing experience. She spent 10 years at Fannie Mae in various roles, including project manager, senior information technology consultant, and manager of business planning. Mr. Stern and Mr. Pommier have a combined 30 years of experience in operations and management, the company said. Del Mar can be found on the Web at http://www.delmardb.com.

GHR Systems Inc., Wayne, Pa., has appointed former Fiserv executive Ted Morse senior vice president of sales and business development for its Mortgage Automation Solutions division.Mr. Morse joins GHR from Fiserv, where he spent the past five years as senior vice president of sales, marketing and business development. GHR provides browser-based and client server platforms and applications for originating, processing, and closing loans for the residential mortgage, consumer, and small business lending industries. GHR can be found on the Web at http://www.ghrsystems.com.

ILOG, a provider of software components and services based in Mountain View, Calif., has introduced ILOG JRules 4.6, an offering in ILOG's Business Rule Management System product line.The new product includes enhancements that enable policy managers and business analysts to manage complex rule sets and modify them using a spreadsheet-like interface. ILOG can be found on the Web at http://www.ilog.com.

TowerGroup, Needham, Mass., has released a new report designed to track what it expects to be the leading-edge technologies in the mortgage industry throughout this decade.According to the research, TowerGroup believes that the four technology categories that will have the largest impact on the automation of the mortgage lending process in this decade are: enhanced automated underwriting and credit scoring technology; enterprise document management; business process management; and electronic mortgage closings. In new research titled, "Mortgage Technology: The Next Big Thing(s)," Craig Focardi, a senior analyst in the Consumer Lending & Bank Cards practice at TowerGroup, identifies the drivers that will influence mortgage information technology developments and spending for the balance of the decade. TowerGroup can be found on the Web at http://www.towergroup.com.

IntraPrise Solutions Inc., Newton, Pa., has acquired the business of Merit Dynamics Inc., a provider of loan product information to the mortgage industry based in Cape May Court House, N.J.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Merit maintains a searchable database of product specifications from more than 120 investors and over 2,200 separate products turning investor product manuals into a standardized database accessible to any authorized user with a Web browser. In the future as part of the acquisition, ISI's software products will integrate with Merit Matrix. ISI provides software systems and managed services for the financial services industry. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.intraprisesolutions.com and http://www.meritdynamics.com.

FirstPoint Inc. has acquired Prymak Inc., both based in Greensboro, N.C., and announced that it will operate Prymak as a wholly owned subsidiary, keeping all local employees and operations intact.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Prymak is a technology development and consulting company founded in December 2000. It provides the mortgage banking industry with software design, project management, and implementation services. Prymak's software includes a Web-based mortgage and consumer loan origination application, along with a toolkit for custom development by clients. FirstPoint provides credit information, collection, and management services. The companies can be found online at http://www.firstpointresources.com and http://www.prymak.com.

Framework Inc., Tarrytown, N.Y., and Document Systems Inc., Carson, Calif., have announced the integration of Framework's LendWare credit fulfillment platform and DSI's FillMagic document processing engine.The Extensible Markup Language integration of the LendWare Document Manager and FillMagic, an enterprise application for the creation of mortgage forms and document packages, provides lenders with automation, fulfillment, documentation, compliance, and delivery capabilities, the companies said. The interface is in place at two of the top 10 banks. Framework, a provider of enterprise software for financial institutions, can be found on the Web at http://www.lendware.com. DSI, a developer of software, tools and Web-based systems for the production of compliant loan document packages, can be found on the Web at http://www.docmagic.com.

Rob Kessel, Marc Felisky, Lindsay Hill, and Glen Brown have formed a new company called Compass Analytics LLC, San Francisco, that will provide outsourced hedge management services and license its pipeline risk management analytics to customers.Compass also announced the addition of its 12th pipeline risk management client. Compass said its analytics product includes pipeline valuation, sensitivity, and execution of all mortgage products with enhanced capabilities for hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages and jumbo and alternative-A products. Other features of Compass's analytics are flexible coverage and pull-through modeling; profit margin and hedge cost modeling and definition; hedge analytics; flexible reporting; accounting support, including FAS 133; and fallout and profitability analysis. Compass can be found on the Web at http://www.compass-analytics.com.

Wachovia Corp., the fourth largest bank holding company in the U.S., has selected Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Palisades Technology Partners' Impact Mortgage Services Suite for implementing their new loan origination system. The system, scheduled for implementation across Wachovia's lending network, was selected to shorten loan application processing time, increase capacity and improve efficiency at Wachovia. The system includes components for pricing, fees, compliance and mortgage calculations. Palisades can be found on the Web at http://www.ptpusa.com.

According to the first Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) technology study previewed at this year's MBA National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo, Phoenix, lenders are going to invest heavily in technology throughout 2004. Overall IT spending averaged $140 million, according to the study. This spending represented a significant increase over expenditures made in 2002. Between 2002 and 2003 there was a 24% increase in operating expenditures and a 153% increase in capital expenditures. Looking forward into 2004, the amount of investment in technology is nothing short of phenomenal. On average a 12% increase in the operating budget of last year is expected this year and a 47% increase in capital expenditures.

London Bridge Group has acquired the rights to market MortgageHub's lending wholesale/correspondent Web service platform as a component of BridgeLink network.The agreement allows London Bridge to offer connectivity to a network of lenders and third party vendors. London Bridge is a provider of business software and e-commerce technology solutions. MortgageHub is a provider of mortgage frontline systems and has clients like GMAC Mortgage Corp., Wachovia Bank, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and others.

As part of a panel discussion held at this year's MBA National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo, Phoenix, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Org. (MISMO) announced that the next step to promote industry adoption of the standards will include the development of MX Compliance Service.This product will act as an independent certification process to ensure that those companies claiming to be MISMO compliant are what they say they are. The first phase of the product is expected this summer. The next step is to test SMARTDoc eMortgage files. The second phase is expected to roll out later this year.

The Tampa, Fla.-based Liberty Home Loans plans to use GHR Systems, Inc. loan origination system to process and close its residential mortgages, GHR reported at the Mortgage Bankers Association's national technology conference in Phoenix.GHR will provide Liberty with its interactive, secure wholesale origination website, which automates the mortgage origination process and enables a broker to manage all aspects of a lead from prospecting through submission, GHR said. Liberty also will utilize GHR's call center, a Web-based mortgage origination system for retail lenders that delivers sales and loan functionality to loan officers and origination support personnel.

DataQuick, San Diego, has acted as a reseller of automated valuation models (AVMs), and has now stepped up to produce its own AVM solution called the Valuator.At this year's MBA National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo, DataQuick director of valuation products Randy Ilas sat down with National Mortgage News to explain why he feels the company is ready to take this next step. He explained that "AVMs are only as good as the data that produces them." Mr. Ilas said that "the company's heritage in fielding this data will help them in rolling out their own AVM product." DataQuick can be found on the Web at www.dataquick.com.

As part of a panel discussion held at this year's MBA National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo, Fannie Mae managing director, eMortgage solutions Charlotte Haberacker said that the company is a real believer in this approach to conducting business.Also as part of the panel numbers were crunched by other participating lenders to show the real benefits. For one, a spokesperson from Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va. said that the company saves $240 per loan. That savings is expected to be even greater for larger lenders that deal with more parties, i.e. mortgage brokers, processors, etc., during the course of the process.

In the next 30 to 60 days, the firm "a la mode," based in Oklahoma City, plans to release Mortgage XSites, a product designed to make it possible for small- to mid-size brokers, loan officers and other lender representatives to create a customized website that includes workflow options.At the MBA National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo, Phoenix, Matt Bar, the company's communications director, told MortgageWire that users can customize their own website in 15 minutes using the product. It includes a wizard that can input customized logos, animation and music on desired pages within the newly designed site. Currently the product has been in beta testing for the past six weeks and includes 20 pages of content including valuable forms like the 1003 and others. A price point for the product has not been released as yet. a la mode can be found on the Web at www.alamode.com.

The implementation of electronic signature technology that has led to 75% to 95% closed loan ratios for online mortgages at Guaranty Bank was a centerpiece at Saturday's eLynx user conference held in Phoenix, just prior to the 2004 MBA national technology show.The uSign automation, which was built in compliance with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, was designed to deliver disclosure packages and other loan documents online without incurring mail and courier fees or experiencing delays in receiving signed documents. Powered by Silanis, the technology allows borrowers to view documents at their convenience before signing electronically. eLynx first introduced its uSign electronic signature technology at the 2003 MBA Tech conference. In 2003, some 20% of the Guaranty Banks's total loan origination volume was sourced to the Internet. To increase its percentage of online business - and the closed loan rate for Internet borrowers - Guaranty began using uSign in December 2003 at its mortgage company, Guaranty Mortgage.