Mortgage technology

Secure Identity Services Accreditation Corp., a nonprofit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has announced the accreditation of VeriSign Inc. as a credential service provider for the mortgage industry.VeriSign becomes the first credential provider to receive a SISAC accreditation. "Security is more important than ever in this day of online transactions, e-mortgages, and consumer data protection," said Regina M. Lowrie, the MBA's vice chairwoman and the chair of SISAC. "VeriSign is a world leader in certificate management, and we are happy to have them on board." Mariano Buitrago, principal technologist at Fannie Mae eBusiness, lauded the development as "the culmination of four years of collaborative work that will make it easier for industry partners to conduct electronic transactions with the high security levels expected in today's marketplace." SISAC develops and promotes minimum ID management standards (such as insurance and liability limits) by accrediting credential service providers that meet mortgage industry requirements. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Rumors that LendingTree has acquired Domania have proven to be premature, MortgageWire has learned.Contrary to recent reports that LendingTree has acquired both RealEstate.com and Domania from Primedia, sources say the Domania deal has yet to close. If LendingTree -- which has operated solely in the business-to-consumer channel to date, funneling Internet leads to lenders -- does acquire Domania, it would represent an advance into the business-to-business space helping lenders retain borrowers as well as acquire new ones, a major shift in LendingTree's business model. Just as the recent acquisition of GetSmart.com solidified LendingTree's position as a lead generator for lenders, the RealEstate.com acquisition solidifies LendingTree's more recent entry into the real estate space. LendingTree can be found on the Web at http://www.lendingtree.com.

New York-based XBRL International has announced that version 2.1 of its XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) technical specification will enhance the ability of financial service firms to use the Internet for business reporting by fostering greater interoperability between XML software applications.XBRL International said the first exchange to implement the system was the listing department of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In August 2003, an XBRL software vendor survey showed that two-thirds of accounting software vendors surveyed have either already XBRL-enabled at least one of their accounting software packages or will do so by December 2004. The company can be found online at http://www.xbrl.org.

Oklahoma City-based a la mode has announced that it is the only appraisal software vendor to offer every AI Ready-compliant form appraisers can use to do business with the AI Residential Database and AppraisalPort.The company's WinTotal software, used by more than half of U.S. appraisers, shares the Appraisal Institute's 2.5 (highest) compliance-level rating, but a la mode said it is the only firm that offers the complete list of forms, above and beyond the level required for the 2.5 rating. The interface used by AI Ready provides appraisal document software companies a common application programming interface for translation of their data into the standard format. The company's Mercury Network servers delivered more than 15 million electronic appraisals in the past 12 months, a volume the company says gives it undisputed leadership in paperless real estate transactions. Vendor compliance and form availability information is available through the AI Ready website at http://www.aiready.com/vendormatrix.asp.

WWW.MortgageExpressLoan.com, Miami, has announced the launch of free online mortgage loan applications that it will send in "real time" to three lenders who specialize in what is deemed the most appropriate loan program for the loan applicant.The application takes about 30 seconds to fill out, and will receive "top priority attention, because there are over 600 lenders in our system," the company said. The "real time" guarantee means the application will be e-mailed or faxed to the appropriate lenders as soon as it is received, WWW.MortgageExpressLoan.com said. It can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgageexpressloan.com.

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. has given three of its executives new titles, two of which affect positions at the company's online title and closing services unit for mortgage lenders.Cheryl Cox -- previously vice president, national closing operations -- has been promoted to president of the aforementioned title and closing unit, LandAmerica OneStop; Melissa Hill, previously president of LandAmerica OneStop, has been promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president, production and process improvement; and Bruce Wood -- who was previously vice president, planning and analysis -- has been named senior vice president, financial planning. LandAmerica can be found on the Web at http://www.landam.com.

LendingTree, Inc. has purchased certain assets of RealEstate.com from Primedia Inc.The online lender paid an undisclosed price for the real estate website's brand, uniform resource locator and other assets it felt complemented its business model. LendingTree can be found on the Web at http://www.lendingtree.com.

DST Technologies Inc., Kansas City, Mo., has announced that it will integrate its business process management system with Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter automated underwriting engine to enable lenders to move toward straight-through processing of mortgage loans.The system will allow mortgage lenders using DU to automate the processing of mortgage loans based on DU findings and other lender-provided specifications. The company said the Automated Work Distributor BPM technology supports all aspects of the lending process, provides a secure and accurate audit trail, eliminates the need to transfer or access paper files, and allows individuals in different states and time zones to participate in a single integrated workflow. The DST system can be found online at http://www.dstawd.com.

Secure Identity Services Accreditation Corp., a nonprofit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has announced the accreditation of KPMG LLP as auditor for identity management compliance of mortgage industry standards.KPMG becomes the first auditor to receive a SISAC accreditation. SISAC said it develops and promotes minimum ID management standards, such as insurance and liability limits, by accrediting credential service providers that meet mortgage industry requirements. "With these accreditations we are now one step closer to the establishment of single sign-on for users, electronically automated processes, and embedded security that provides real assurance of privacy, integrity, and nonrepudiation of electronic records and transactions," said Jim Anderson, Freddie Mac's director of information systems and co-chair of the MBA's Security Workgroup. SISAC board member Bill R. Frazer, chief financial officer of L.J. Melody & Co., said the accreditation of KPMG "tells the mortgage industry -- both residential and commercial -- that digital transactions are moving into the mainstream."

Charlotte, NC-based Financial ServiceSolutions LLC, a joint venture founded this year by Bank of America and Fidelity National Financial, has announced an agreement under which Accenture will be the primary sales and marketing channel and the preferred integrator for FSS.The agreement calls for Accenture to acquire an unstipulated "small" equity interest in FSS, which offers mortgage origination and fulfillment outsourcing services and technology to large and mid-tier lenders. Financial ServiceSolutions will become Accenture's exclusive offering for business process outsourcing in the United States. Accenture will also provide FSS with consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. The FSS ProcessPro systems help lenders manage the mortgage application process from application and underwriting to closing and funding, including processing and third-party vendor management.

In a deal touted as giving lender customers greater access to consumers, Charlotte, N.C.-based LendingTree has announced the completion of its acquisition of former competitor GetSmart.com and the GetSmart brand from Providian Financial Corp.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. LendingTree said it will continue to maintain relationships with more than 100 lenders participating in the GetSmart exchange and will offer the GetSmart platform to the more than 200 lenders currently on the LendingTree exchange. LendingTree was acquired in August 2003 by IAC/InterActiveCorp, formerly USA Interactive. LendingTree facilitates loans to consumers, including home mortgage, home equity, automobile, personal, debt consolidation, and credit cards. IAC/InterActiveCorp consists of LendingTree and businesses such as Expedia Inc., Hotels.com, Ticketmaster, and Citysearch, among others. The companies can be found online at http://www.lendingtree.com, http://www.getsmart.com, and http://www.providian.com.

Epic Financial Corp., Newport Beach, Calif., and Paramco Financial Group, Denver, have announced an alliance with Datalogic International to develop a proprietary Voice Over Internet Protocol video conferencing system for the mortgage industry.Epic's technology division led the effort, bringing in Paramco as a partner and Datalogic for research-and-development initiatives and to use its VoIP platform to deploy the system, the companies said. Once the video conferencing system is fully developed, Epic and Paramco will deploy it to their mortgage subsidiaries, such as Epic's Key Mortgage Corp. and Paramco's Royal Federal Inc., they said. "VoIP Video Conferencing is something we have envisioned for a number of years, but now with advancements in technology and the help of Datalogic, we can bring this solution to fruition," said Epic president William Parker. Epic can be found online at http://www.4epic.com and Paramco can be found at http://www.paramco.net.

Qvault has announced nationwide support of the Status Sweep collaboration tool for Calyx Point loan origination software that lets Calyx Point users enable their existing Point software for the Web without hardware or software changes.Status Sweep includes online pipeline management, automatic e-mail notifications of loan activity to borrowers and partners, and customized interfaces for staff and borrowers to view loan information and collaborate online from any Web browser. Operating on an application service provider basis, Status Sweep "sweeps" active borrower files on an hourly basis and then securely posts the information on customized websites for management, loan officers, and processors to view critical information. Borrowers also can log into the system and view detailed loan status information.

No Red Tape Mortgage, Sherman Oaks, Calif., has announced the launch of its U-Close automated loan management system, which it says enables brokers to manage and close jumbo loans on the Internet through any loan origination system with two clicks.The system allows the comparison of thousands of jumbo programs and pricing variations, all with interest-only options, and it enables brokers to get pre-approvals and pre-locks in seconds, the company said. Loan packages can be delivered to No Red Tape by mail or by scanning and faxing the entire package into Blitzdocs, with next-day decision guaranteed on loans up to $2 million. Blitzdocs digitizes and archives documents for use and review in a virtual, online folder. No Red Tape said its U-Close processors then organize, deliver, underwrite, audit, archive, and share loan documents using that e-folder. Brokers are able to securely access and view the loan folder and also fax or scan conditions directly into the file in real time. The company can be found online at http://www.noredtape.com.

Beanstalk Networks, West Palm Beach, Fla., has announced the formation of a strategic alliance with Fiserv Lending Solutions, Lake Mary, Fla., to integrate OpenClose MTG (from Beanstalk's mortgage technology division) with Fiserv loan origination and processing software to automate lenders' wholesale operations.The integration will enable the exchange of new application data and the communication of loan status between OpenClose Wholesale MTG and UniFi PRO Mortgage eX. It will also provide for future integration with Fiserv easyLender, Beanstalk said. The agreement supplants a previous Fiserv alliance with the now-defunct OpenClose platform, for which the technology is now licensed by Beanstalk.

In the wake of persistent rumors of an alliance, LION Inc., Seattle, has announced the acquisition of "certain assets" of Freddie Mac subsidiary Ignition Mortgage Technology Solutions.LION said it has acquired Ignition's Loan Finder, Lock Point Xtra, Loan Officer Plus, and Pipeline Tools software products, plus Ignition's rights under certain contracts and accounts receivable. The company said the acquisition will enable it "to expand its product offering and its ability to target both small and large mortgage originators" with a turnkey origination and management solution. The bulk of the assets named were developed by Tuttle and Co. and were folded by Freddie Mac into Ignition after the demise of its HomeAdvisors Technologies initiative with Microsoft. Lockpoint Xtra is the electronic rate-lock technology behind Freddie Mac's Goldcash Xtra.

ARC Systems, Austin, Texas, and Guardian Mortgage Documents, Lakewood, Colo., have joined forces to offer a home equity line-of-credit system that combines lenders' credit criteria with an automated underwriting and document-preparation process.The HELOC Solution Suite is a Web-based application that allows users to enter all the information needed to make a decision on a home equity loan, the companies said. The application, customized to the lender's specifications, offers a Desktop Underwriter file format upload feature. The application service provider system requires no purchase of software or hardware. Only a desktop personal computer with a high-speed Internet connection and a Web browser is needed, ARC and Guardian said. The companies can be found online at http://www.arcsystems.com and http://www.gmdinfo.com.

The mortgage industry has embraced the concept of having websites but has fallen short of actually embracing the Internet, according to Joseph Kennedy, president and chief operating officer of E-Loan Inc., Dublin, Calif.Mr. Kennedy made his comments at Thomson Media's 5th Annual Mortgage EC conference in Las Vegas. During his presentation, he drew parallels to the automotive and travel industries and concluded that the mortgage industry is using the Web more like the former than the latter. Car dealers use the Web as a source of leads, he said, but ignore the real need of their customers: accurate pricing information. The tourist business, in contrast, has changed its methods and given Web visitors the information they need to close the deal. "Our product is information-based," Mr. Kennedy said. "It is absolutely perfect for the Web. Borrowers are embracing the Internet, and eventually so must we as an industry." E-Loan can be found online at http://www.eloan.com.

The technology to create all-electronic mortgages already exists and is currently in use by Countrywide Financial Corp., according to CFC's chief information officer and managing director, Richard Jones.Mr. Jones made his comments to attendees at Thomson Media's 5th Annual Mortgage EC conference in Las Vegas. "The technology to do this has been around for a long time," he said. But he added that two things stand in the way of AE transactions' entrance into the mainstream: customers have been slow to embrace them, and the documents have yet to be tested in a court of law. Countrywide, based in Calabasas, Calif., is building an electronic loan storage facility to store the all-electronic loans it originates and buys from correspondents. Mr. Jones did not speculate on how soon the AE mortgage would become widely accepted. Countrywide can be found on the Web at http://www.countrywide.com.

Electronic mortgages may one day be commonplace, but the industry "will never get totally away from paper," says Gabe Minton, vice president of technology at the Mortgage Bankers Association.Speaking at the MBA's annual Legal Issues in Mortgage Technology Conference in Miami Beach, Fla., Mr. Minton said "paper will always have to be an option," if only because some local jurisdictions will never step completely into the 21st century. He also cited the conservative nature of lenders, many of whom are slow to change, and the desire of some consumers to continue to do things the old-fashioned way. Only about 75 attorneys and information technology professionals are attending the meeting. Nevertheless, the MBA still plans to devote "more and more attention" to the legalities of the emerging e-mortgage sector, according to director Rod Alba. "People working in this arena are either experts in technology or experts in the law," Mr. Alba said. "But very few are experts in both."