Mortgage technology

Standard & Poor's has released an updated version of its credit risk analysis product for residential mortage-backed securities.S&P had added several new fields of information that "has been shown to play a critical role in a loan's foreclosure frequency or loss severity expectation" to the product. Among these is a compliance field that takes into account anti-predatory lending laws. S&P can be found online at http://www.standardandpoors.com.

Titan Investment Partners LLC, a private equity firm based in San Diego that is also the managing owner of Del Mar Database, will acquire Sollen Technologies LLC, Dallas.Sollen develops technology that provides real-time delivery of mortgage loan product and pricing information for U.S. mortgage lenders. Details of the deal were not disclosed, but Titan said it expects the deal to close within the next few weeks. Titan, a provider of mortgage technology services to over 230 lenders in the United States, is a member of the Relational Group, an asset management and financial advisory firm with more than $2.3 billion under management. Del Mar Database is the developer of the DataTrac and WebTrac business applications. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.sollen.com and http://www.delmardb.com.

NetBank Inc., Atlanta, has reported net income of $15.6 million ($0.32 per share) for the third quarter, compared with $8.5 million a year earlier.Among the highlights the bank reported for the third quarter were record mortgage production of $5.7 billion, including record originations through the nonconforming channel of $589 million, and strategic retention by the bank of $586 million in company-originated loans. NetBank originated $5.1 billion in conforming mortgages during the quarter, a slight decrease from last quarter's record numbers. On the nonconforming side, the company originated $589 million in loans. NetBank can be found on the Web at http://www.netbank.com.

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has reported net income of $277.3 million ($1.99 per share) for the third quarter, compared with $143.5 million ($1.16 per share) a year earlier.The company pointed out that its results included $52 million in pretax realized investment gain and $53 million in expense items that had been previously disclosed. Those items had a net effect of $1 million in pretax expenses on the results and less than one-half-cent on earnings per share, FNF said. Fidelity National can be found on the Web at http://www.fnf.com.

Qvault, Essex Junction, Vt., has released version 2.5 of its Status Sweep software, a tool that works in conjunction with Calyx Point to provide pipeline management and other tools for originators.Features in the new version include enhanced support for mortgage teams. "Originators are realigning their organizations around a team concept," said managing partner Rob Cecil. "We have had clients and prospects alike tell us they are planning to move away from the traditional 'loan officer-processor' model to more of a team environment." Version 2.5 also provides a significant increase in vendor or supply chain communication. Status Sweep was designed especially for a mortgage lending customer who needed to track and then provide access to the status of events using the Point database. Today, Qvault markets the software nationwide. Qvault can be found on the Internet at http://www.qvault.com.

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., has reported record net income of $80.4 million ($0.41 per share) for the third quarter, compared with $66.2 million ($0.34 per share) a year earlier.The company said it completed five acquisitions in the third quarter, including Insurance Management Solutions Group, St. Petersburg, Fla., which services the flood insurance market; and General American Corp., Pittsburgh, a provider of technology and settlement services to the real estate and mortgage banking industries. Fiserv provides integrated data processing and information management systems to banks, mortgage lenders, and others in the financial services industry. The company can be found online at http://www.fiserv.com.

Document Systems Inc., Carson, Calif., and ProLender Solutions Inc., San Diego, have completed an interface that will enable ProLender users to submit loan-specific data directly to DSI's DocMagic product.Through the interface, ProLender communicates directly with DSI's servers and transmits data in Extensible Markup Language so that DocMagic can provide customized loan documents electronically or for posting on the Web. The company made the announcements at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. ProLender's website address is http://www.prolender.com. DSI can be found at http://www.docmagic.com.

Mortgage Builder Software Inc., Southfield, Mich., has rolled out direct interfaces with four credit information companies: CBC Companies, LandAmerica, Info1, and Factual Data.The integrated interface keeps customers on the Mortgage Builder system without transporting them to another website to receive credit reports. MBSI offers access to more than 230 additional credit reporting agencies, but the interface to these four preferred vendors was created due to user demand, the company said. The majority of Mortgage Builder's customers use one of these four credit bureaus to process loan applications, according to the company. The company made the announcements at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. MBSI's website address is http://www.mortgagebuilder.com.

Case Shiller Weiss, Boston, a unit of Fiserv Inc., has added three new service options via the Casa valuation platform.Casa Order Explorer is a Web-based application that allows lenders to monitor Casa accountholder order activity, create utilization reports, and search archived reports. Casa Future Value provides a predicted value for the property one year out, and Casa Plus is a product warranty. The company made the announcements at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's annual convention in San Diego. CSW can be found on the Internet at http://www.cswcasa.com.

AmeriDream Inc., Gaithersburg, Md., has announced the release of Gift Xpress, which it says is the industry's first electronic downpayment gift program.The Web-enabled tool allows lenders to submit applications online and allows settlement companies to finalize gift applications electronically at the settlement table, AmeriDream said. "GiftXpress streamlines and automates the process and reduces the time spent on paperwork," said Ann Ashburn, president and chief executive officer of AmeriDream. The company said the new program was developed in partnership with Silanis Technology. The announcement was made at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. AmeriDream can be found online at http://www.ameridream.org.

Minneapolis-based GMAC Residential Funding Corp. has announced the redesign of its Internet portal based on feedback from its customers.Dan Bettenburg, RFC's executive vice president of e-commerce, said in an interview with MortgageWire that 80% of RFC's customers use at least one of the tools in the portal. With the updated site, lenders that sell to RFC will be able to access loan performance data. This provides a good basis for RFC and the lender to discuss opportunities to increase business and where the challenges are as well, Mr. Bettenburg said. With lenders looking to broaden their product menu as interest rates rise, using this technology helps to mitigate the risk of getting into new products, he said. The announcement was made at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. The RFC website can be found at http://www.gmacresidentialfunding.com.

Austin, Texas-based ARC Systems has signed a contract with Franklin Financial Group through its Franklin Direct division in Scottsdale, Ariz., to develop an automated underwriting application customized to the lender's diverse nonconforming product line.ARC said it will create the software for the division, which will operate west of the Mississippi in 2004, with expansion east of the river in 2005. Eventually, this contract will see all of the lender's products underwritten by the software ARC develops. The announcement was made at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. ARC Systems can be found online at http://www.arcsystems.com.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Wausau Mortgage Corp. has implemented the Web Posting Service provided by eLynx Ltd., Cincinnati, to allow for electronic delivery of residential mortgage documents.The lender had previously used eLynx's Desktop Connect product but has upgraded to the firm's Enterprise Connect offering, which will allow for document packages to be sent automatically without human intervention. Wausau Mortgage originates about $150 million in residential mortgages each month. The announcement was made at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. The companies can be found online at http://www.wausaumortgage.com and http://www.elynx.com.

Resource Bancshares Mortgage Group, Columbia, S.C., is implementing automated underwriting software developed by Commerce Velocity, Irvine, Calif.Commerce Velocity's Underwriter evaluates risks based on loan application data and underwrites loans using lender-determined rules. The tool also serves as a product engine, matching borrowers to suitable loan products within seconds. The initial implementation of the software will serve to automate the underwriting of RBMG's alternative-A loans and is expected to be completed by the end of November. The announcement was made at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. Commerce Velocity can be found on the Internet at http://www.cvelocity.com. RBMG is a subsidiary of NetBank Inc., which can be found at http://www.netbank.com.

Del Mar Database, San Diego, has released the newest version of its WebTrac offering, which offers remote access to its flagship software DataTrac.The new version of WebTrac increases the amount and type of loan information that can be shared electronically and expands the types of devices that can be used to access that information to include Web-enabled cell phones and personal digital assistants. The company says this expansion into mobile technology is the first step in a process to re-engineer the application program interfaces the company provides for external systems to tap in to the DataTrac software. The announcement was made at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. The company's website address is http://www.delmardb.com.

Veros Software, Irvine, Calif., has announced the introduction of a new fraud detection scoring tool, the VeroValue Transaction Quality Score.The TQ Score is a numeric indicator used for detecting nonstandard residential property transfers in order to determine the likelihood of "flipping," fraud, or other suspicious activity, Veros said. "The TQ Score was built with our customers and automated decisioning in mind, on a 1-to-100 scale allowing immediate recognition of potential collateral fraud," said Darius Bozorgi, president and chief executive officer of Veros. The company said the score, in conjunction with Veros' proprietary analytics, "goes far beyond the common approach" of counting and flagging property ownership transfers by "dynamically" analyzing details such as area and regional price trends, value differentials, and irregular transfer conditions. Veros can be found online at http://www.verovalue.com.

The LoanQuest Residential Lending System provided by MortgageFlex Systems Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has been successfully interfaced to Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector online tools. LoanQuest is reportedly the first loan origination system to complete this interface."MortgageFlex is always one of the first companies to step forward when we need vendor adoption of new products and services, and the company is very familiar with Freddie Mac and our technology," said Patricia McClung, Freddie's vice president for Loan Prospector. The interface allows users to more seamlessly access Loan Prospector tools through the LOS. MortgageFlex also announced that Alliance Capital Partners, a privately held mortgage banking firm based in Jacksonville, Fla., has chosen LoanQuest RLS for originating, underwriting, closing, and delivering loans. LoanQuest RLS boasts user-defined menus, built-in security, and a field-edit capability, allowing the system to be tailored to specific user groups and security levels, the company said. The announcements were made at the MBA's annual convention in San Diego. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgageflex.com and http://www.freddiemac.com.

Entyre, Ann Arbor, Mich., a nationwide provider of Web-based mortgage closing documents, has formed a strategic partnership with Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Digital Dialogue, a provider of automated Internet lending and call center systems to credit unions.Through this partnership, loan data approved through Digital Dialogue's online credit-decisioning tool can be imported directly into Entyre's eMortgage-X4 closing documents system so that closing packages can be created. The companies can be found online at http://www.entyre.com and http://www.digital-dialogue.com.

San Mateo, Calif.-based Dorado has just announced a flurry of new partners, clients and product enhancements at the MBA convention in San Diego, all underlining its claim to pre-eminence in providing Web services to the mortgage industry.The new clients announced by Dorado were Commercial Federal Bank and Northern Lights Mortgage. Greenpoint Mortgage, already a Dorado customer, signed on to use Dorado's Web services platform. The most timely of the announcements was Dorado's new partnership with Docutech to enable Northern Lights to order good-faith estimates, Truth-in-Lending disclosures, and other initial documents through a Web service via Dorado's ChannelMaster and Docutech's ConformX to create either traditional or SMART docs compliant with standards set by the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization. Dorado's .MOR Web Services platform also offers ConformX as a stand-alone Web service that can be integrated directly into any configuration of existing legacy systems. Dorado's website address is http://www.dorado.com. Docutech can be found at http://www.dtdocs.com.

Data Warehouse Corp. has announced a partnership with ABN Amro to create a lead-generation website for approved brokers of InterFirst Wholesale Lending.Data Warehouse unveiled the website at the annual MBA convention in San Diego, billing it as the first of its kind offered to wholesale lenders. The site provides InterFirst brokers with a direct marketing resource center that enables them to analyze campaign profitability and improve pull-through rates as well as generate leads, Data Warehouse said. The website offers direct marketing lead generation services for all channels, including direct mail, teleservices, and database marketing, and complies with current telemarketing and Fair Credit Reporting Act regulations. InterFirst said the service will be especially useful to brokers in helping them weather current changes in the mortgage market. Data Warehouse can be found on the Web at http://www.dwcsolutions.com.