Mortgage technology

An offering that includes all the products and services to enable presentation of mortgage application documents for review, acceptance, and approval over the Web was among the flurry of announcements Silanis made at the MBA tech show in Phoenix.The eDisclosure offering, which was built on Silanis' ApproveIt Web server, was designed to present electronic disclosures to borrowers for immediate review, acceptance and approval, and can eliminate five to seven days from the mortgage origination process, according to Silanis. The company also released its eMortgage Impact Study at the conference. The study, an industry-specific service designed to help lenders determine the value associated with eMortgage initiatives, discusses compliance issues involved in the automation of the mortgage origination process, offers tips on an optimal implementation strategy, and details cost savings and performance improvements.

Prime Alliance Solutions, Inc., which serves over 600 credit unions nationwide and originated nearly $20 billion in loans last year, is implementing Dexma’s Emerging Market Toolkit, Dexma announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association's national technology conference.The toolkit translates mortgage documents into the borrower’s native language, enabling Prime Alliance credit unions to send their borrowers a translated initial loan approval letter listing the conditions required to close the loan. Spanish and its cultural variants will be available first, since Latinos are the largest minority group in the U.S., representing 13.5% of the population, the company reported. Prime Alliance members include several credit unions in states that have higher-than-average Latino populations, including California, Texas, Florida and Colorado.

MortgageWire has learned that Harland has shipped its Interlinq E3 loan production system, the long-awaited successor to MortgageWare.Some 30 lenders are scheduled to start implementation of E3 by the end of April, out of the 360 lenders that have purchased E3. Most of the first 30 implementations are customers upgrading from MortgageWare, which has been the system used more than any other by lenders since 1992, according to Mortech. E3 is a Web-based platform that has been touted as an open customizable system enabling business process management and XML-compliant integration across the mortgage supply chain and for interfacing easily with other systems. Thayne D. Atkinson, the management information system officer at Salt Lake City-based Security National Mortgage, commented, "I will be able to move electronic data into the system without fear of losing data integrity, since everything filters through the business logic before it's written in the database." He estimated that E3's ability to automatically route incoming broker loans to the correct branch and notify the correct person will save an average of 15 minutes per loan setup and communication time -- about 4,200 hours a year.

Cendant Settlement Services Group, a subsidiary of Cendant Corp. based in Moorestown, N.J., has signed up to use BCE Emergis' Emergis Vendor Services Exchange to conduct appraisal transactions electronically.BCE, Montréal, Québec, will develop a customized integration with Cendant's proprietary ordering system, enabling Cendant's mortgage originators and over 2,500 appraisers to connect online to place, receive, and manage the status of appraisal orders in a standardized format. BCE will also provide Cendant access to automated appraisal review engines that will improve error identification and enhance quality control. Cendant can be found on the Web at http://www.cendant.com/media, and BCE can be found at http://www.emergis.com.

AllRegs, an Eagan, Minn.-based online publisher of mortgage reference information, has begun the search for a new president/chief operating officer as a result of a consolidation of ownership by co-founder Glenn Ford."We're looking for a seasoned professional to take over the operational responsibilities of what is already a very successful company," said Mr. Ford, who was recently named chairman and chief executive officer. The company also announced the promotion of Douglas Smalley to vice president and chief technology officer and the reorganization of its advisory board. The following members have been added to the advisory board: David Matthews, former president of RBC Mortgage; Scott Cooley, founder of Contour Software; Joseph Doyle, president of TCF Mortgage; and Terry Schopfer, president of TenA Cos. AllRegs can be found online at http://www.allregs.com.

Calyx Software, a provider of desktop loan origination systems based in San Jose, Calif., and Advectis, Alpharetta, Ga., have released what they termed a tighter integration of their flagship products, Calyx Point and BlitzDocs.The integration comes as Advectis, a provider of paperless origination and loan archiving applications, joins the Calyx Preferred Point Partner program. With Advectis as a Preferred Point Partner, a broker will be able to access BlitzDocs from within Point to create electronic loan folders without re-keying any information already captured in Point, the companies said. Brokers will also be able to submit imaged documents to lenders for paperless underwriting. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.calyxsoftware.com and http://www.advectis.com.

Fraser, Mich.-based VMP Mortgage Solutions, a Bankers Systems Inc. company, has released VMP SMART Document Viewer, version 2.5.The new version features what VMP is dubbing an industry first -- a routine that checks documents for well-formed and valid Extensible Mark-up Language using the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization's data standards. The validation routine allows for lenders experimenting with e-mortgage technology to perform basic XML integrity tests on their data. (SMART stands for securable, manageable, archivable, retrievable, transferable.) VMP can be found on the Web at http://www.vmpmtg.com.

Integrated Loan Services, Rocky Hill, Conn., has released a product that allows clients to interface directly to ILS to place and display the status of their orders with the company.It provides a link that enables lenders who have Fiserv's UniFi PRO loan origination system to access the settlement services provided through ILS. There is no transaction fee for the service. ILS can be found on the Web at http://www.ils.com.

Palisades Technology Partners, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has launched Impact Mortgage Services Components, which are designed to plug into point-of-sale and loan origination systems to streamline the delivery of new products and services.Specifically, the product includes pricing, fees, compliance, and mortgage calculation services. Palisades, which provides strategic consulting, eLending applications, and systems integration, can be found on the Web at http://www.ptpusa.com.

Touting itself as only the second vendor to do so, Data-Vision Inc. has announced the creation of a new interface with Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector to create integrated automated underwriting for consumer-facing mortgage websites.The solution is being offered on an application-service-provider basis to Data-Vision's 200 lender customers. The Mishawaka, Ind.-based company said lenders using its LoanQuoter.com can let consumers know in seconds whether their mortgage loan is approved before entering borrower data into the lender's loan origination system. Data-Vision can be found on the Web at http://www.d-vision.com.

BLS Funding, Jericho, N.Y., has announced the launch of "BLS at Your Service," which it says offers instant chat and call-connection services as customer-friendly lead-generation tools.The instant chat service is for potential borrowers that need answers to questions about credit or downpayment requirements before beginning to fill out an application, especially if they have been turned down before. The BLS Instant Call-Connection service allows consumers to schedule a call with a BLS loan officer at their convenience -- instead of at dinner time or other times when they are unwilling or unable to talk. Founded in 1995, BLS Funding is a $1.5 billion full-service mortgage company licensed to operate in 30 states. It can be found online at http://www.blsfund.com.

Mortgage Asset Research Institute Inc., Reston, Va., has introduced an early-alert system to help the industry detect and combat fraud.The Mortgage Fraud Alert System is "a cooperative service that notifies participating companies about emerging patterns of alleged fraud in its early stages," MARI said. The companies contribute information to the system and can use the shared data to help mitigate potential risk and minimize their exposure. The company said it worked closely with the Mortgage Bankers Association to create the alert system. MARI is a subsidiary of ChoicePoint, a provider of identification and credential verification services. It can be found online at http://www.mari-inc.com.

David Barkley, director of e-commerce relations at Freddie Mac, has been re-elected to chair the Governance Committee of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization.Lisa Bolelli, vice president of program management of First American Corp., has been re-elected a vice-chair of the panel, and Adam Hall, manager of information technology and Web development at IndyMac Bank, has been elected the other vice chair, MISMO reported. The committee also elected or re-elected the following members: Craig Foote of Fidelity Information Services, Mike Bixby of Info1/LandAmerica, Todd Luhtanen of Dynatek, Ed Ransden of CitiMortgage, and Ty Jenkins of DocuTech Corp. MISMO, which was established by the Mortgage Bankers Association, develops electronic commerce standards for the mortgage industry. Its Governance Committee, which oversees the organization's administration and policy development, consists of representatives of 16 MISMO subscriber organizations from a cross-section of the residential real estate finance industry. The members serve two-year terms, with half the seats up for election each year.

St. Louis-based CitiMortgage has declared itself the first lender to launch Fannie Mae's Desktop Originator "Link to Lender" feature, which allows brokers to submit loan data directly from DO to the CitiMortgage wholesale website.The feature enables transferring loan data directly to the site, and thus eliminates the need to export, import, or re-key data into the system. Once on the CitiMortgage wholesale website, brokers can access additional services and functions, such as checking rates, locking rates, and registering loans. A pilot test of the system has been completed, and the "Link to Lender" feature is now available to all CitiMortgage brokers who use DO, the company said. CitiMortgage's wholesale website can be found at https://broker.citimortage.com.

Putting SMART Docs forms, data, and rules into a single package, Phoenix-based Desert Document Services Inc. has announced the completion of a MISMO-compliant SMART Pak and accompanying software.(MISMO stands for Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, and SMART refers to securable, manageable, archivable, retrievable, and transferable documents.) The package combines loan data, business rules, forms, and form data to enable transmission of all elements together in an Extensible Markup Language document, along with the tools to support different electronic processes. Desert Docs touted the system as being the first electronic tool tying together origination, post-close, and secondary systems. The company said SMART Pak document packages are produced on enterprise-grade Web servers capable of generating thousands of SMART Paks per day, for all types of loan programs, without waiting or downtime. Desert Docs can be found online at http://www.desertdocs.com.

Miami-based Zequel Technologies has announced that NovaStar Financial, Kansas City, Mo., has licensed and implemented its DynamicPolicy tool for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.NovaStar is the first announced mortgage lender to adopt the system, which was released in January to manage companywide policies and procedures mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley law. The DynamicPolicy SOA Solution offers to enable company executives to develop, manage, and enforce internal controls, including policy and procedure documentation, exception management, and the monitoring and reporting of compliance irregularities. NovaStar officials said they picked Zequel's DynamicPolicy because it goes beyond Sarbanes-Oxley compliance to help a company handle broader strategies for policy development. The Securities and Exchange Commission has given large publicly held companies until mid-2004 to meet the financial reporting and certification requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

TransUnion, Chicago, and Acxiom, Little Rock, Ark., have announced the release of a comprehensive fraud management platform to combat the multibillion-dollar problem of fraud, citing Federal Trade Commission estimates that identity theft alone will grow to an $8.6 billion problem by 2006.The platform uses TransUnion's and Acxiom's multiple reference databases to verify a consumer's identity at any point of sale (call centers, websites, credit applications, etc.). The system also leverages TransUnion's analytics expertise "to deliver practical, actionable results that allow customers to easily implement the most effective fraud strategies," the companies said.

Data Vision Inc., Mishawaka, Ind., has announced that it is providing an Extensible Markup Language schema for integrating its RemoteDocs delivery system with the loan origination system developed by Prymak LLC, Greensboro, N.C.Prymak was formed in 2000 to purchase the source code, customer base, and all copyrights and intellectual property from BraVura Technologies, formerly FiTech Systems. Prymak will integrate RemoteDocs into its software products to enable lender customers to streamline processes and lower costs with Internet document delivery. Prymak operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstPoint, also headquartered in Greensboro. Data Vision can be found online at http://www.d-vision.com.

Stewart Mortgage Information, Houston, has unveiled Stewart Assured Value Estimate, which allows lenders to buy warranty coverage for automated valuation model or appraisal products ordered via SMI.SMI said its ValuLogix platform enables lenders to use various AVMs based on certain underwriting criteria, and if the chosen AVM isn't satisfactory they can move up to a broker price opinion, a drive-by appraisal, or a Uniform Residential Appraisal Report. The SAVE product protects lenders against loss by warranting the accuracy of the property valuation as of the date of the AVM or other appraisal product, the company said. "Lenders can now obtain a much more cost-effective appraisal product without taking on the risk of loss in a foreclosure due to inaccurate valuations," said Kevin Gugenheim, SMI's president and chief operating officer. The company can be found online at http://smi.stewart.com.

BridgeSpan Inc., Frisco, Texas, has announced an extension to Feb. 27 of the deadline for submitting written proposals for the purchase of its assets.The company said it extended the deadline in response to requests from several prospective bidders. BridgeSpan and its subsidiary, BridgeSpan Title Co., filed petitions on Jan. 26 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. BridgeSpan and BST are soliciting proposals for the purchase of their respective assets either in whole or in part. BST has assets to sell, but the stock of BST is itself an asset of the BridgeSpan bankruptcy estate. BST is licensed to issue title insurance in California, so approval by the California Department of Insurance will be required regarding bids for the stock of BST, as well as approval by the bankruptcy court, BridgeSpan said. BridgeSpan can be found online at http://www.bridgespan.com/lf.html.