Mortgage technology

Idaho Falls, Idaho-based DocuTech and San Mateo, Calif.-based Dorado have announced a new Web service that speeds the use of SMART Docs.Scheduled to become available in the second quarter, the system integrates DocuTech’s ConformX online closing system as a Web service on Dorado’s .MOR platform to deliver “the first end-to-end mortgage document system as an easily accessible Web service.” The announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's mortgage technology conference in Orlando, Fla., said the service provides upfront disclosure documents, traditional closing documents, and compliant SMART (securable, manageable, archivable, retrievable, and transferable) Docs. The alliance, created to leverage electronic commerce standards developed through the MBA’s Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, offers the ConformX-.MOR integration adaptor as “a ready-made solution for lenders preparing to implement an eMortgage strategy today.” DocuTech can be found online at http://www.docutechcorp.com.

Dorado Corp. and First American have released SourceMaster, a comprehensive tool that will help lenders source products across various vendors and electronic partner networks and bundle those mortgage services into guaranteed mortgage packages.The product can be licensed or served by First American as an application service provider and will help lenders manage vendors using their own internal rules. The product was announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's annual Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference in Orlando, Fla., but will be rolled out in the second quarter. The companies will be targeting top-10 lenders and integrating the tool with their loan origination systems, but plans to roll it out to mid-tier lenders will begin immediately through First American's sales and marketing representatives. The companies can be found online at http://www.dorado.com and http://www.firstam.com.

The National Home Equity Mortgage Association and AppIntell Inc., based in the St. Louis suburb of Weldon Spring, Mo., have announced "a partnership to fight mortgage fraud."Under the agreement, NHEMA members will receive a discount on two AppIntell fraud prevention products: Data Integrity Search and Score System, a Web-based fraud prevention tool for originators; and PredProtect, a fully automated online system allowing lenders/investors to analyze loan data for predatory lending compliance. The decision by NHEMA, which represents the home equity lending industry, to ally with AppIntell "supports our efforts to become the industry standard tools for detecting and resolving data integrity, early payment defaults, fraud, and predatory issues," said Stephen Gott, AppIntell's chief executive officer. NHEMA can be found online at http://www.nhema.org, and AppIntell can be found at http://www.appintell.com.

The RealEC e-commerce exchange has announced that it processed a million orders resulting in 5 million related vendor transactions during a recent three-month period.RealEC said it now averages 380,000 real estate orders per month, resulting in an average of more than 1.5 million related vendor transactions. For the period November 2002 through January 2003, RealEC boasted a 290% increase in volume over the previous three-month period. RealEC is used in some capacity by all five of the top settlement providers, and 12 of the top 15 mortgage originators, the company said. RealEC, a majority-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial based in Santa Ana, Calif., can be found online at http://www.realec.com.

Kenneth N. Lard has been elected executive vice president of Triad Guaranty Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., and of the company's mortgage insurance subsidiary, Triad Guaranty Insurance Corp.Mr. Lard joined the MI subsidiary in November 1995, and was most recently senior vice president of sales and marketing. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.triadguaranty.com.

LION Inc., Seattle, has reported a net loss of $109,000 for 2002, compared with net income of $42,000 in 2001.For the fourth quarter, net income totaled $141,000, compared with a net loss of $28,000 a year earlier. Revenue for the year totaled $6.4 million, up 7% from $6.0 million in 2001. The company, a provider of online services that connect brokers to consumers and lenders, attributed the net loss in 2002 to settlement charges and legal fees of approximately $647,000 related to litigation that was settled in July. "Excluding settlement charges and related legal expenses during both 2002 and 2001, net income would have remained unchanged at $141,000 for the fourth quarter and approximately $538,000 for all of 2002, up from net income of $28,000 and $125,000, respectively, for the same periods in 2001," the company said. LION can be found online at http://www.lioninc.com.

Pacific Northwest Bancorp, Seattle, has announced that it will introduce a new Web-based mortgage loan program in March in partnership with MortgageBot LLC.Under the new program, customers of Pacific Northwest Bank will apply online by clicking the Mortgage Express link on the bank's website. PNWB Financial Center employees in Washington and Oregon, together with MortgageBot loan advisers, will be available to assist customers in completing online applications while in the bank. Patrick M. Fahey, president and chief executive officer of PNWB, said the program will offer a wide range of mortgage loans with "competitive rates, fees, and terms" as well as "responsive customer service." The bank can be found on the Web at http://www.pnwbank.com.

Banc of America Securities LLC has joined the to-be-announced mortgage-backed securities dealer group of TradeWeb LLC, bringing the number of dealers using the fixed-income trading platform to 12.New York-based TradeWeb said more than $1.6 trillion in MBS have traded on the platform since its introduction in early 2001. In addition to using TradeWeb for TBA MBS transactions, clients use it to trade agency debt securities, U.S. Treasuries, commercial paper, euro-sovereign debt securities, and German pfandbriefe, which are generally mortgage or public-sector entity bonds. TradeWeb can be found online at http://www.tradeweb.com.

Ellie Mae Inc., Pleasanton, Calif., has launched ePASS Appraisal Connection, which it says will allow mortgage brokers and loan officers to locate any licensed appraiser in the United States and then order and receive appraisals directly from their desktop.The tool allows third-party originators to order appraisals electronically, receive order confirmations and completed appraisals, upload appraisals into their loan origination software, and communicate directly with their appraiser via instant messaging capabilities, the company said. The instant communication and message archive capabilities are an alternative to faxing documents and communication via telephone, voicemail, or fax. The new features work directly with the originator’s LOS, eliminating the need to re-enter information into the LOS after the appraisal is received. Ellie Mae’s website address is http://www.elliemae.com.

Quicken Loans Inc., Livonia, Mich., has filed suit against the commissioner of the California Department of Corporations, contending that federal law takes priority over a state law that allows borrowers to use the mortgage lender's funds without interest until the mortgage is recorded.The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California - Sacramento Division. "The California law purports to prohibit lenders from charging interest until the mortgage is recorded by the title company and the county recorder's office, a process that is outside the control of the lender and can be delayed days or weeks, during which time the borrower has full use of the lender's money," said William Emerson, chief executive officer of Quicken Loans. "It is in effect an interest-free loan until the mortgage is recorded." Quicken and other mortgage lenders contend that interest charges should begin when the funds are disbursed to the borrower. (Wells Fargo Home Mortgage filed suit against the DOC recently after the agency threatened to revoke its residential mortgage lending license for refusing to refund fees allegedly charged in violation of state law.) The Quicken lawsuit seeks a declaration that federal law pre-empts state law governing mortgage interest payments. Quicken can be found on the Web at http://www.quickenloans.com.

Framework Inc., a Tarrytown, N.Y.-based technology firm and developer of the LendWare credit fulfillment platform, has been acquired by Bank of America, its biggest client.Framework has been working for much of the past two years on an implementation of LendWare for BofA that went live in the fourth quarter of 2002. BofA sources have expressed the bank’s satisfaction with the implementation, which is beginning in its retail channel. The platform is product-agnostic and can be used for the origination and fulfillment of any kind of credit-based product. Framework will operate as an independent subsidiary and says that it does not expect its product to become a proprietary tool of BofA, but that it does expect to secure additional working capital through the acquisition that will allow it to market to other large lenders more effectively. Framework will maintain its current mission and management team. Framework can be found online at http://www.lendware.com, and BofA can be found at http://www.bankofamerica.com.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has been authorized to incorporate the contents of the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association's Investor Reporting Package into its data dictionary.The CMSA will retain the ownership and the responsibility for revising and updating the IRP. Terming the CMSA "the independent standard for investor reporting in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market," Michael F. Petrie, vice chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and the chair of its Technology Steering Committee, said the CMSA's participation is "crucial" as MISMO develops a data standards platform for the commercial mortgage industry. MISMO, the MBA's data standards organization, will establish a data transfer specification that will provide information consistent with the IRP. MISMO's Commercial Steering Committee will be expanded by two seats, the new members to be appointed by the CMSA with the approval of MISMO's commercial leadership group. The CMSA can be found online at http://www.cmbs.org, and the MBA can be found at http://www.mbaa.org.

Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc., Dallas, has announced that Desert Schools Federal Credit Union, Phoenix, has chosen the FICS commercial mortgage loan servicing system.FICS said the credit union picked Commercial Servicer (along with an add-on product, Commercial Accountant) because it offered the best match with its FICS-driven mortgage servicing system, Mortgage Servicer. FICS, a mortgage technology specialist, can be found on the Internet at http://www.loanware.com.

First American Real Estate Solutions, Anaheim, Calif., has announced the successful implementation of a high-speed, secured direct connection to Freddie Mac's valuation platform, including Home Value Explorer and Home Value Calibrator.FirstAm RES's technology offers a single point of access to its products and Freddie Mac's. The company's line of information solutions includes its automated valuation model (ValuePoint 4), property reports, document images, flood data maps, legal and vesting reports, parcel maps, foreclosure information, demographics, crime and school statistics, and lien release information. The company made its announcement at Thomson's 6th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference in Miami. FirstAm RES can be found online at http://www.firstamres.com.

Fuego Inc., Dallas, has released Fuego for Banking, a business process management system banks can use to adapt to changing operating conditions to improve performance and customer-facing processes.The software allows banks to create, manage, and change processes easily, Fuego said. A number of process templates come bundled with the software, including loan origination, Patriot Act compliance, credit issuance, credit processing, and Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance. The company announced the product at Thomson’s 6th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference in Miami. Fuego’s website address is http://www.fuego.com.

DocuTech Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Wave Systems Corp., Lee, Mass., have announced the formation of the eMortgage Alliance, a group of companies offering a paperless mortgage system that meets guidelines established by the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization.Each alliance member specializes in separate steps of the mortgage process, including electronic signing, packaging, messaging, and recording, and the creation of SMART Docs. “The key to this alliance is that a lender can pick and choose any part of the process that they want to automate today,” said Ty Jenkins, chief executive officer of DocuTech. Other alliance members include SwiftView, which handles electronic delivery of mortgage documents; VirPack, offering electronic packaging, bar code, imaging, electronic delivery, and management systems; and Rekon Technologies, providing a platform for electronic county recordings of releases and satisfactions. DocuTech and Wave Systems can be found online at http://www.docutechcorp.com and http://www.wavesys.com.

Fidelity National Financial, Irvine, Calif., which has been on an acquisition tear, has struck again -- this time, agreeing to buy the financial services technology division of Alltel, Little Rock.FNF, a third-party vendor that provides title insurance and other real-estate-related services to residential lenders, will pay $1.05 billion in cash and stock for the Jacksonville, Fla.-based unit. Alltel operates the largest residential loan "service bureau," but that business faces challenges as some large servicers, notably Washington Mutual, move to install in-house systems. FNF's interest in Alltel was first reported in early January by National Mortgage News. Alltel says its servicing bureau processes 46% of all outstanding residential loans in the United States. The company noted that it has "processing relationships" with 17 of the top 25 mortgage funders. (See the Feb. 3 issue of NMN for full details.)

ARC Systems, a mortgage technology application service provider based in Austin, Texas, rendered decisions for a record $80 billion in loan applications in 2002, a 328% increase, the company has announced.ARC Systems said LendTech, its flagship product, rendered decisions for over half a million loan applications last year, with a peak day in September totaling $2.7 billion. Ed Jones, chief executive officer and president of ARC Systems, attributed the growth to an expansion of LendTech beyond the subprime market to the securities and warehouse markets, and to the product's capabilities. LendTech enables clients "to increase loan application volumes by as much as 300% utilizing their current staff," he said. The company can be found online at http://www.arcsystems.com.

PW Funding Inc., a subsidiary of Charter Municipal Mortgage Acceptance Co. based in Mineola, N.Y., has launched a new website that reflects the integration of PWF into CharterMac and Related Capital Co.The site now boasts an updated look, a new navigational layout, and a feature that enables users seeking a multifamily loan to request a quote directly through the website, the company said. The new website follows the launch of new sites for both CharterMac and Related Capital. PW Funding, a full-service direct mortgage lender for multifamily property owners and developers, can be found on the Web at http://www.pwfunding.com.

HanoverTrade Inc., Edison, N.J., has redesigned its Busch Analytics Valuation System and launched Hanover/Busch Analytics 6.0 servicing valuation software.Wells Fargo Mortgage Corp. will be the first to use the improved application, the company said. Under a multiyear licensing agreement, Wells Fargo will use the system to model its servicing portfolio. Enhanced features of the new version include the integration of two key components, Asset OnSite and Asset Manager; expanded loan-level prepayment factors; loan-level servicing valuation; increased data mapping capabilities; and an enhanced ability to stratify portfolios using enlarged data field and increment criteria. HanoverTrade, a subsidiary of Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., acquired Busch Analytics in January 2002. Hanover Capital is a mortgage real estate investment trust. HanoverTrade can be found online at http://www.hanovertrade.com.