Technology

Artemis Enterprises, Chicago, has released a solution for storing and managing shared enterprise content and contact information called Artemis.Artemis, the company's flagship collaborative cross-enterprise information management software solution is a Web-based technology that functions as a collaborative enterprise information management solution and as a portal for companies to share and disseminate information, enabling businesses to store, access, distribute and share critical information, both within their organizations and with outside vendors, clients and partners. A hosted Software as a Service solution, Artemis provides companies with a centralized repository and management solution for internal company and third-party partner contact data, and updates shared contact information on behalf of user-members. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.ArtemisInfo.com.

Carteret Mortgage will deploy credit analysis technology to all its 300 branches to raise the bar on doing quality originations.Specifically, Carteret will use Market Kinetix's patent-pending credit analysis software solution Deal Maker Score. The application provides step-by-step directions to raise a borrower's credit score. A mortgage originator downloads the borrower's credit findings to the product, and the program produces a customized set of recommendations, which show a borrower how to raise their credit score by the target number of points designated by the loan officer. Carteret can be found on the Web at http://www.CarteretMortgage.com.

The Mortgage Insurance Companies of America has launched a redesigned, interactive Spanish-language website designed to promote the benefits of private mortgage insurance, including the fact that premiums are now tax-deductible for the first time for many borrowers.Private MI premiums are now fully tax deductible for borrowers who buy or refinance a home if their adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less, MICA said. Families with incomes above $100,000 (up to $109,000) will be eligible for a reduced deduction. "By highlighting the affordable, predictable, cancelable, and tax deductible benefits of a loan with private MI, our redesigned Spanish-language website will provide consumers, loan originators and real estate agents with a valuable tool to make informed decisions and recommendations," said Suzanne C. Hutchinson, executive vice president of MICA. The new website can be found at http://www.privatemi.com/enespanol.

Offering useful insights into the realm of consumer-direct, Web-based mortgage lending, Mortgagebot LLC, Mequon, Wis., has announced the release of its Benchmarks 2007 study of online lending practices.The study showed that a quarter of the lenders studied "now originate more than half of their loan volume via the online channel." Research participants include 25 of the top 100 banks and thrifts and 40 of the top 100 credit unions. Confirming trends and "debunking" some myths, the study offers detailed data analysis of loan product and decisioning statistics, online borrower behavior and website usage, lender website configuration and marketing, and more. The study showed that online loan seekers tend to be young, affluent, and creditworthy, with an average income above $85,000 and an average credit score above 700. The study is based on a comprehensive survey and analysis of the online lending practices and procedures at more than 3,600 mortgage lending websites maintained for Mortgagebot's more than 700 clients nationwide. The company can be found online at http://www.mortgagebot.com.

Midsize and large homes are showing steeper declines in value over the past year than smaller single-family residences, according to Zillow.com, an online real estate community based in Seattle.Zillow's quarterly national home value report found that home values fell only 0.1% in the second quarter and were 2.8% lower than in the second quarter of 2006. But midsize and large homes lost value on a year-over-year basis at the rate of 3.1% and 2.8%, respectively, while small homes fell only 1.0%. "The U.S. real estate market still appears quite anemic, at best, with many markets still doing poorly, especially those in South Florida and Southern California," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's vice president of data and analytics. "The one ray of home this period is that we've not seen another quarter-over-quarter decline as we've experienced in the past two quarters. The significantly poorer performance of condos and larger single-family homes suggests that prices for these housing sectors are still not in accord with current demand." Zillow can be found online at http://www.zillow.com.

Mike Perlman has been named executive vice president for operations and technology at Freddie Mac.Mr. Perlman will be responsible for managing the largest segment of Freddie Mac's business operations, including all its mortgage origination and servicing, investment and capital markets operations, and information systems divisions. He was most recently a managing director at Morgan Stanley and developed the operations and technology infrastructure supporting its Fixed Income and Global Operations divisions, Freddie Mac said. Before joining Morgan Stanley in 1997, Mr. Perlman had been a founding partner at AT&T Solutions' Financial Services Group and a partner in the Washington, D.C. and New York offices of Deloitte & Touche.

Todd Moncrief has joined Advectis Inc., an Atlanta-based electronic collaboration and workflow vendor, as vice president of business development.Mr. Moncrief has more than 14 years of experience in mortgage lending and technology systems. In his new position, Mr. Moncrief will be responsible for the development and management of Advectis' BlitzDocs networked provider and partner relationships, as well as creating product strategy for BlitzDocs Collaboration Suite and Advectis' electronic mortgage initiatives. Mr. Moncrief is coming to Advectis from Fiserv Lending Solutions, where he was the national sales executive for electronic lending. Prior to Fiserv, he was vice president of sales and business development at SwiftView, which was acquired by eLynx. Advectis can be found on the Web at http://www.advectis.com.

Unite Here, a New York-based labor union, has launched a website that it terms "an open resource on the subprime lending crisis and the nation's No. 1 subprime lender, Countrywide Financial Corp."Unite Here, which says it represents over 450,000 North American members, said it has also sent a survey to 1,500 borrowers who took out Countrywide adjustable-rate mortgages. The union said it will use the survey to research customers' experience, including knowledge of the terms of loans at the time they were made. The new website can be found at http://www.eyeoncountrywide.info, and the union can be found at http://www.unitehere.org.

First American Credco, a provider of specialty credit (and part of First Advantage Corp.), and First American CoreLogic have announced the introduction of ThirdParty Manager and Professional Screening Services as part of a line of mortgage lender origination and channel management tools.First American CoreLogic said its ThirdParty Manager streamlines the submission of broker data, as well as the due diligence, management, and monitoring of wholesale channel brokers via an online wizard. It also provides integrated due-diligence data and management tools for lenders to manage their overall broker relationships. First American Credco's Professional Screening Services, which includes broker and third-party screening and license monitoring, has been integrated with ThirdParty Manager. These services enable lenders to certify new originators, recertify third-party contractors, and perform a complete audit on their broker base as needed. "The integration of First Advantage's due diligence management capabilities and First American's solutions helps effectively manage risk and mortgage fraud, a growing issue affecting our lender customers, as well as the consumer," said Kathy Manzione, president of First American Credco. The companies can be found online at http://www.credco.com and http://www.facorelogic.com.

Keynoting the REConnect Conference in San Francisco, LendingTree founder Doug Lebda predicted that the survivors of the current mortgage liquidity crunch will grow bigger and stronger.While mortgage lenders may not want to become part of a conglomerate -- as his company did when he sold it to Barry Diller's IAC -- he said LendingTree itself has thrived under the IAC umbrella. Mr. Lebda reassured lenders that LendingTree will remain more of a marketplace facilitator than a competitor to mortgage lenders. He said its slice of the mortgage origination market will remain tiny as LendingTree concentrates on building business on the real estate side. LendingTree can be found online at http://www.lendingtree.com.