Technology

Mortgage technology vendor Fiserv Inc., has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Loan Fulfillment Solutions business to ISGN Solutions Inc., Bensalem, Pa., for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close within 30 days. Fiserv said it does not expect the transaction to have a material impact on its financial results. LFS provides financial institutions outsourced home equity loan fulfillment services, including broker price opinions, closing and settlement services, valuation services, flood and title certification, home retention and loan modification solutions, portfolio and vendor management solutions, and related services. Despite recent mortgage technology divestitures, Fiserv contends that it is still "committed to providing best-in-class lending solutions." On the other hand, ISGN continues to acquire added mortgage technology applications and services. ISGN specializes in mortgage lending technology and solutions, including fulfillment services, title and default management.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and LoanSifter have integrated to offer lenders the ability to customize disclosures. The new integration will enable users of LoanSifter's integrated 1003 mortgage application to generate standard and customized initial disclosure documents through Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Disclosure Manager, and then electronically deliver them to borrowers for e-signature. The platform also gives financial institutions the option of completely and securely outsourcing the printing and mailing of paper disclosures when needed or requested by the borrower through Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' mail fulfillment center. Because Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Disclosure Manager platform automatically generates compliance documentation for LoanSifter's lenders, they can eliminate the regulatory requirement burden associated with determining which documents are required for a specific transaction and jurisdiction.

Pricing and decisioning vendor Mortech Inc., Lincoln, Neb., has settled a lawsuit with online mortgage comparison site LendingTree. LendingTree filed a federal lawsuit against Mortech, seeking an injunction preventing the company from collaborating with Google on a competing service. In the lawsuit filed in Charlotte, N.C., LendingTree claimed Mortech had violated an exclusivity agreement by working with Google. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, and both companies would not comment on the dispute resolution. A call to Google about the suit also had not been returned at deadline. Mortech Inc. has no connection to industry research firm MORTECH LLC, Guilford, Conn.

LoanSifter, a Web-based loan product eligibility and pricing tool, has expanded its offering given the shift from broker to banker, to include LoanSifter Banker Edition to help automate backend processes. LoanSifter Banker Edition is a single product eligibility and pricing solution for bankers, credit unions and community banks. The product includes an automated rate sheet generator, a wholesale/third-party originator Web portal, an online 1003 mortgage application, and an upcoming bulk-pricing tool. These features expand on the original LoanSifter solution, consisting of a secondary pricing engine, scenario rate alerts and monitoring, custom e-mail rate campaigns, open house flyers, website quoting, and lead auto-quoting.

The use of knowledge qualifiers in representations and warranties by originators, sponsors and issuers of mortgage-backed securities may be one of the reasons residential MBS investors remain wary of the market, according to Digital Risk, Maitland, Fla. The analytics and advisory company has asked the American Securitization Forum, which is in the midst of a project aimed at restoring investor confidence in the market, to issue a guideline recommending against their use. The knowledge qualifiers, which limit what the parties involved represent to have information about, discourage thorough risk mitigation policies and procedures, Digital Risk said.

In response to the DocMagic lawsuit filed against Ellie Mae, the origination vendor says that it is "surprised and very disappointed that DocMagic has taken these drastic actions." Ellie Mae asserts that DocMagic opted to terminate service and displace its own customers, abandoning a preplanned 60-day orderly transition. Ellie Mae says the agreements between both parties were set to expire on September 1, 2009. Further, Ellie Mae says on April 28, 2009, DocMagic notified Ellie Mae that it was opting to end its Reseller Agreement with Ellie Mae. On May 21, 2009, DocMagic was also informed that Ellie Mae had decided not to renew the outdated terms of its ePASS Agreement with DocMagic. Ellie Mae proposed new terms for their agreement with DocMagic. However, DocMagic did not respond, according to Ellie Mae, and instead decided to stop servicing mutual clients and file the lawsuit. DocMagic did not respond by deadline.

Equi-Trax Asset-Solutions, Santa Barbara, Calif., is offering a service designed to provide clients with a way to quickly scan their portfolios and identify properties currently on the market that could be potential short sale, loan modification, portfolio retention or origination opportunities. The new Current Listing Search is designed primarily for use by servicers but Equi-Trax chief executive officer Guy Taylor said it also could serve as a source of sales leads for originators if the borrowers involved are moving. He said the search provides information as soon as it is available on multiple listing services. It draws on data from about 72% of multiple listing services in the country, which the company said represent most major Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Data available includes contact information for brokers that can be imported into servicers' contact databases on properties. Mr. Taylor said he believes the new service improves on alternatives such as other services that offer less extensive information, or borrower contact that may involve offering borrowers home valuation data in exchange for information about their future real estate plans.

The First American Corp. reaffirmed plans for a split into two companies it noted will come relatively soon as it celebrated its 120-year anniversary. The plan to separate the Santa Ana, Calif.-based company's information solutions and financial services businesses into two new, separate publicly traded companies could come as soon as the first half of 2010. Originally an Orange County, Calif. title abstract company, The First American Corp. said it has grown to the point where 90% of all real estate transactions in the United States involve at least one of its products or services. It is one of the nation's largest title insurance companies, has trust company, tax services, home warranty and flood certification businesses and is a national data and analytics provider to the mortgage industry and the investment community. The company first went public, trading on the over-the-counter market, in 1964 and began offering its stock on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993.

Mortgage document company DocMagic is suing mortgage software firm Ellie Mae for alleged antitrust violations and, in a second suit, for misuse of intellectual property. DocMagic also is seeking a permanent injunction against Ellie Mae for alleged misuse of DocMagic's intellectual property in the Ellie Mae Docs system. The antitrust suit alleges that DocMagic was provided access to Ellie Mae's ePASS network until Ellie Mae terminated its ePASS agreement and then took steps to prevent its users from accessing DocMagic products through unfair and anti-competitive behavior, including sabotaging clients from accessing DocMagic altogether through alternative web service calls. The filing said Ellie Mae notified ePASS Network users that DocMagic would no longer be available on ePASS or Encompass Closer and that DocMagic users would instead be moved to Ellie Mae's loan document service. It further alleges Ellie Mae began changing the terms of the Encompass user agreements to prohibit the transfer of data from Encompass to any third-party service provider outside of the ePASS network. "We've had a long relationship with Ellie Mae and have also been a long-standing client of ePASS. It has become clear that Ellie Mae wants to replace us as their document provider. They really didn't give us any alternative," said Don Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. "I think they want to save money. I think the client is the victim. It can't be about monopolization." The complaint for injunctive relief DocMagic filed is based on Ellie Mae's alleged unauthorized use of DocMagic's intellectual property, including DocMagic's user interface, workflow, terminology and overall look in Ellie Mae's document system. "When we were working with them, we helped them in creating the workflow in the Encompass project. We recreated our screens and workflow for them. In replacing us, the look remained the same," Mr. Iannitti added. Ellie Mae was unable to comment at deadline but said it plans to release a statement in the future.

The Cortland Savings and Banking Company, a Youngstown-Warren, Ohio area state bank engaged in commercial and retail banking services, has opted to change LOS systems in an effort to create a more customer-driven experience. The company said it chose Mortgage Builder because it needed to modernize its residential real estate lending system in order to control costs and stay well within the compliance requirements of today's financial world, but it did not want to lose its personal touch and feel in order to gain efficiency. The company's old LOS was DOS-based and Cortland found that it was not adequate technology to help the lender keep up with new RESPA and Regulation Z changes.