Mortgage technology

Barry Diller's USA Interactive, New York, has signed a deal to buy LendingTree, Charlotte, N.C., for a price of between $626 million and $735 million in stock, Mr. Diller said in a May 5 conference call.Mr. Diller called LendingTree the "perfect solution" to his firm's search for an offering that combined financial services and real estate, because both are highly fragmented industries with large growth potential for online services. He noted that LendingTree has 67% brand awareness among consumers. The USAI conglomerate already owns Expedia, Hotels.com, Ticketmaster, and the Home Shopping Network. The companies expect the deal to close in late summer or early fall. The companies can be found online at http://www.usainteractive.com and http://www.lendingtree.com.

More than 12 million visitors, nearly 10% of the active online population, accessed real estate and rental websites in March as part of the homebuying and apartment rental process, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, New York.The top spot in the online ratings went to Realtor.com, with nearly 4.6 million unique visitors, with Homestore.com ranking second at 3.6 million and HomeGain third at 1.2 million, the Internet audience measurement firm said. "Real estate sites enable surfers to comparison-shop online for homes prior to committing to a single real estate agent or a single property," said Patrick Thomas, a senior Internet analyst with the company. "Real-time listings, virtual home tours, and finance calculators make these sites content-rich sources and help homebuyers become better informed throughout the search and purchase process." The company can be found online at http://www.nielsen-netratings.com.

LION Inc., Seattle, has reported net income of $156,000 for the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $41,000 a year earlier.Revenue for the quarter totaled $1.8 million, up 18% from $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2002. The company, a provider of online services that connect brokers to consumers and lenders, touted the success of its new loan origination system, which it said added approximately 250 new LOS users in the first quarter through an alliance with ABC Virtual. "This early adoption supports the company's new performance-based business model by producing a new revenue stream generated by transaction fees," said David Stedman, LION's president and chief executive officer. LION can be found online at http://www.lioninc.com.

Mortgage reform may be uncertain, but the trend toward offering one-fee mortgages and bundled services will continue, according to Tom DellaTorre, president of Transamerica Vendor Management and Consulting, a recently formed joint venture.Touted as a “first-of-its-kind” venture between Transamerica Real Estate Information Services, Dallas, and ValuAmerica Consulting, Pittsburgh, TA VMAC was formed to help lenders manage mortgage settlement services more efficiently and economically, and to enable them to enter Guaranteed Mortgage Package Agreements with borrowers. While ABN Amro was first to market with one-fee mortgages, Mr. DellaTorre told MortgageWire that Transamerica REIS has found that many lenders are looking for ways to do the same thing successfully. He said ValuAmerica's proprietary electronic order system, ValuNet, enables TA VMAC to offer lenders the widest choice in selecting, monitoring, delivering, and pricing settlement services. Transamerica REIS can be found online at http://www.transamericafinance.com/tfc/realestate.asp, and ValuAmerica can be found at http://www.valuamericaconsulting.com.

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena, Calif., the holding company for IndyMac Bank, has reported net earnings of $36.9 million for the first quarter and record earnings per share of $0.66.The savings and loan produced a record $6.5 billion of mortgage loans in the first quarter, up 59% from the level of a year earlier, IndyMac said. The company's mortgage pipeline stood at a record $6 billion as of March 31, up 101% from that of a year earlier. IndyMac's portfolio of mortgage loans serviced for others totaled $28 billion, up 22% from the level recorded on March 31, 2002. IndyMac can be found online at http://www.indymacbank.com.

WellFound Technology Inc., Marietta, Ga., has announced the release of its Mortgage Integration Framework, which enables disparate software systems, within and between enterprises, to communicate with one another and share data in real time.The system is compliant with standards established by the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization and relies on open, standards-based software components and concepts, including XML and Web services, the company said. Though the system is comprehensive, it is also modular, which means users can implement parts of the system as needed. WellFound can be found on the Web at http://www.wellfound.com.

Data-Vision Inc., Mishawaka, Ind., has expanded its relationship with Lavonia, Mich.-based Dynatek Inc. and will now fully integrate its RemoteDocs electronic data exchange services into Dynatek's MORvision loan origination system.The company made the announcement April 30 at the 11th annual Dynatek Users Conference in Lavonia. In addition to the RemoteDocs expansion, Dynatek is also fully integrating Data-Vision's LoanQuoter online mortgage application facility. That tool provides online rates, loan status, programs, and reports. An online decisioning module is also being added to offer prospective borrowers a preliminary response to their application. The companies can be found online at http://www.d-vision.com and http://www.dynatek.com.

Framework Inc., Tarrytown, N.Y., and DocuTech Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho, have announced the formation of a strategic partnership that will provide an automated, universal mortgage fulfillment and documentation system for lenders.Framework's LendWare Document Manager is a credit fulfillment platform that automates the decisioning and delivery of tailored financial systems for all distribution channels, the companies said. It has been integrated via Extensible Markup Language, or XML, to DocuTech's documentation technology, which is backed by an extensive document library that includes compliant SMART (securable, manageable, achievable, retrievable, transferable) documents that bind data, presentation, and signatures into a single electronic file, they said. "With DocuTech's SMART Doc capability and electronic data and document delivery benefits, LendWare users will be able to enact online review, validation, data exchange, approvals, and closings," said Ty Jenkins, president and chief executive officer of DocuTech. DocuTech can be found online at http://www.docutechcorp.com, and more information on Framework's LendWare technology can be found at http://www.lendware.com.

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Santa Barbara, Calif., and Bank of America Corp. have announced that they will combine their resources to create two new companies with the goal of providing end-to-end mortgage fulfillment outsourcing.The first firm, called Financial ServiceSolutions LLC, will be a 50/50 joint venture to integrate their technologies and deliver the mortgage fulfillment platform. The second, the technology development arm, will be called Financial ServiceSolutions Information Systems LLC and will be owned jointly by BoA and FNF subsidiary Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc. The technologies that FNF and BoA will bring to bear for new outsourcing customers include the RealEC transaction management platform, which is 60% owned by FNIS, and Lendware, operated by Framework Inc., which was acquired by BoA in February. Greg Sullins will head the new outsourcing firm as president and chief executive officer. He was formerly BoA's senior vice president for quality and productivity. Dwayne Walker, president and chief operating officer of FNIS, will serve as president of FSIS. The companies can be found online at http://www.fnf.com, http://www.fnis.com, and http://www.bankofamerica.com.

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., has reported record earnings of $624.8 million ($0.38 per share) for the first quarter, up 11% from $560.7 million ($0.33 per share) a year earlier.Leslie M. Muma, Fiserv's president and chief executive officer, said most business units performed at or above expectations during the quarter, touting in particular the company's "full suite of automation services and products" and its "broad offering of business process outsourcing capabilities." The company provides data processing and information management systems to banks, mortgage lenders, and other financial institutions.

In recent testing, a single copy of Fiserv's MortgageServ system on a single-image IBM hardware platform successfully processed 10 million loans during a single nightly window, according to Fiserv.Benchmark results of the testing -- conducted by IBM Capacity Planning Services, Cary, N.C., under the direction of BearingPoint Inc. -- indicated that the system would scale beyond that if used in an IBM Sysplex environment, Fiserv said. Sadu Thinakal, president of Fiserv Mortgage Servicing Systems, said the Fiserv system's proven scalability would eliminate the need for mega-servicers to break their portfolios into artificial segments that require multiple company numbers. "MortgageServ has no such technology or architectural limitations, eliminating the unnecessary processing complexities and bottlenecks that stand in the way of growth and profitability," Mr. Thinakal said. Fiserv can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com.

In a move that will further focus Basis100, Toronto, on the U.S. marketplace, the company has agreed to sell its Canadian Lending Solutions division to FiLogix Inc., another Canadian firm.Under the terms of the agreement, FiLogix will acquire all the assets of CLS, including the rights to Basis100’s mortgage technology -- such as MortgageBase, MortgageBase Plus, HomeBase, ConsumerBase, and LenderBase -- for $16.1 million, subject to certain adjustments. The agreement also gives FiLogix exclusive usage rights to BasisXpress in the Canadian market, and Basis100 retains the software rights to all areas outside Canada. "This sale is part of a strategic redefinition of the company, and allows us to focus our attention and our resources on the U.S. marketplace," said Joseph J. Murin, president and chief executive officer at Basis100. "Our goal for this year is to generate 80% of our overall revenue from the U.S. mortgage lending market." The companies can be found on the Internet at http://www.basis100.com and http://www.filogix.com.

Veros Software's VeroValue automated valuation model will become an integrated tool in Synergistic Software Systems' SharperLending online platform, allowing lenders to order an AVM through the Electronic Partner Network.VeroValue currently provides valuations in 40 states and over 600 counties nationwide. Veros, based in Irvine, Calif., said it also generates property fitness analytics, price trend information, and VeroForecast, an analytic tool that estimates future values and market stability. Synergistic, based in Spokane, Wash., said its technology already serves 18,000 lenders nationwide, a growing number of which have access to its new SharperLending system -- a Web-based platform through which lenders can order, store, and manage all the reports they need to close a loan. Veros can be found online at http://www.veros.com, and Synergistic can be found at http://www.sharperlending.com.

Master Financial Inc., Orange, Calif., has announced that a Predatory Lending Profile module has been added to the automated decision engine of its Internet-based loan origination system, 30Second Desk.Without duplicate data entry, loan-specific data are calculated and run against federal Section 32 regulations and applicable state, county, and city guidelines to ensure compliance, the company said. The new module augments compliance profiles that check federal and state requirements regarding lending restrictions, late charges, prepayment penalties, and licensing. Master Financial, a subprime and alternative-A wholesale mortgage banker, can be found online at http://www.mfiloans.com.

Laguna Hills, Calif.-based QuestSoft reports that Integra Software Systems, Franklin, Tenn., has integrated QuestSoft's geocoding and compliance solutions into its Destiny loan origination system.Under the agreement, QuestSoft's geocoding and compliance technology, Instant Geocoder and HMDA RELIEF, will be available through Integra's Destiny software. "Compliance issues are becoming more complicated and challenging," said Tim Bartek, senior vice president at Integra. "We chose to work with QuestSoft to meet the growing demand from our own customers for easy and cost-effective ways to simplify the compliance process." Integra Software's website address is http://www.integra-online.com. QuestSoft can be found on the Web at http://www.questsoft.com.

Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc., Dallas, reports that NASA Federal Credit Union has purchased and successfully implemented both FICS' loan origination solution, Loan Producer, and its servicing system, Mortgage Servicer.In addition, NASA FCU purchased a number of additional software tools from FICS for both the origination and servicing side of its business. NASA FCU serves 7,000 members worldwide and has nearly $600 million in assets. It can be found on the Web at http://www.nasafcu.org. FICS' website address is http://www.loanware.com.

LandSafe Inc., a subsidiary of Countrywide Financial Corp., will provide access to flood determinations through the users of Calyx' Point loan origination software.The Point version 4.1 interface allows originators using the system to request flood information from LandSafe without swapping applications. The request is transmitted through the Internet.

Fidelity National Information Solutions, Santa Barbara, Calif., has unveiled FNIS HQ score, a property valuation tool that evaluates current and future price risk and provides an instantaneous risk score.The FNIS HQ Score offers investors, dealers and lenders a tool to identify and manage collateral risk based upon FNIS' property data resources, and proprietary home price forecast indices and loan attributes, the company said. FNIS is a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, located at http://www.fnf.com on the Internet.

GHR Systems Inc., Wayne, Pa., has formed a strategic alliance with ValuAmerica, Pittsburgh, under which it will add ValuAmerica's mortgage settlement services to its Entelligent Lender mortgage origination and transaction processing platform.The new relationship adds comprehensive real estate settlement services, including appraisals, title insurance, flood insurance, and closing agency services to GHR’s Web-based platform. These services will also be available within GHR’s new Entelligent Processor system, scheduled for delivery in December. In addition to settlement services, ValuAmerica also offers technology and management consulting services. GHR's website address is http://www.ghrsystems.com.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has licensed PCi Corp. of Boston, a provider of compliance risk-management systems, to assist HUD in identifying market segments with higher risk of exposure to fair-lending violations and predatory lending practices.PCi said HUD will use its Fair Lending Wiz "to investigate discrimination complaints about lenders by performing in-depth comparative file review and regression analysis to assess lenders’ performance" in fair-lending compliance. HUD plans to roll out Fair Lending Wiz in the second quarter after training staff in Washington and its field investigators in regional offices nationwide.