Technology

Mortgage Technology editors are getting ready for next year's Mortgage Technology Award contenders in the wake of this year's award ceremony, held in conjunction with the Mortgage Bankers Association convention in Chicago.New entries are eligible to be received starting Jan. 1. At the magazine's 7th annual awards ceremony, held Oct. 22 at the University of Chicago Gleacher Center, the 10X Award for technology making an "exponential impact" on mortgage processes went to Interthinx for its contribution to fraud detection. The Lasting Impact Award, for developing technology that has proved its worth over time, went to Bill Kelvie of Overture for his pioneering role in the development of automated underwriting. The new Release of the Year Award, to a company launching a product or initiative likely to have a major impact on the mortgage industry's use of technology over time, went to joint winners GMAC Mortgage, Saxon Mortgage Services, Midland Mortgage Co., and Fiserv Lending Solutions for cooperatively creating a wizard for investor reporting and remitting using MortgageServ. The Steve Fraser Award, which goes to an outstanding mortgage technology innovator, visionary, or evangelizer, was presented to MortgageHub's Bill Adamowski. Winners of other awards, and those who received commendations in all categories, will be posted soon on the Mortgage Technology website.

TurboHomeBuy, Phoenix, has announced what it calls the first-ever Web-based application that legally automates the home purchase process from offer through closing.TurboHomeBuy said it generates all the paperwork needed to buy a home in all 50 states. According to the company, the website streamlines the process for the following: escrow/title/closing company services; mortgage prequalification and final loan approval; property insurance quotes; home inspection scheduling; handyman service quotes; moving service estimates; and starting and stopping utility services at the purchased property. Kent Lewiss, founder and chief executive officer of TurboHomeBuy, said the technology is the first to enable the user to make an offer to buy any property "no matter where it is listed for sale" and in which high commissions associated with real estate transactions "are practically eliminated." The company can be found online at http://www.turbohomebuy.com.

Street Resource Group Inc., an Atlanta-based provider of technology and software for mortgage warehouse lending, has announced that its clients will now have access to DataVerify Corp.'s data integrity verification and fraud prevention platform product.The product -- DRIVE, for data risk integrity verification engine -- provides automated tools designed to replace manual verifications of such information as employment and income while "dramatically" reducing loan default costs, DataVerify said. "In an environment in which most lenders are tightening their budgets while suffering significant increases in fraud-related losses, we strongly believe that the combination of our online credit and collateral fraud-prevention solutions and SRG's online automated mortgage warehouse solution adds value to both our clients' bottom lines by both streamlining their internal processes and increasing the quality of their loans," said Steve Halper, founder and chief executive officer of DataVerify. The companies can be found online at http://www.streetresource.com and http://www.dataverify.com.

Sollen Technologies, Dallas, an Internet-based application services provider of product, pricing, and best-execution capabilities, has unveiled technology that will be added to its Lender OnLine loan finder and pricing tool to bring investor guidelines downstream to lenders.This new tool will allow loan officers and secondary marketing users to view the actual guidelines from an investor rather than an interpreted version of the guidelines to better decide whether an applicant is qualified for a particular loan program. Lender OnLine is a Web-based application that enables loan searching, validation, loan-level-adjusted pricing, and locking for a wholesale, retail, correspondent, or call center application. The program allows the originator to capture multiple lending options in one execution, searching loan types, loan products, and documentation at the same time to find the optimal match for the borrower. The announcement was made at the 93rd Annual Mortgage Banking Association Convention & Expo in Chicago. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.sollen.com.

Platinumdata Solutions, a provider of collateral risk solutions based in Mission Viejo, Calif., has announced the launching of OptiVal, a patent-pending performance testing system for automated valuation models.OptiVal is an automated tool employing user-defined parameters to conduct rigorous AVM data analysis that will allow mortgage originators and investors to determine performance by each AVM, the company said. OptiVal serves as an objective AVM performance testing system and provides a framework for conducting those performance tests based on a lender's custom metrics. The announcement was made at the 93rd Annual Mortgage Banking Association Convention & Expo in Chicago. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.platdata.com.

Agoura Hills, Calif.-based Interthinx, a provider of fraud prevention, compliance, and decision support tools, has launched an online testing mechanism in conjunction with its fraud detection training film, FSI: Fraud Scheme Investigation.The FSI video is a mortgage fraud detection training tool produced by Interthinx. The film parodies CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the popular prime-time television series, to demonstrate the characteristics and "red flags" of a complicated property-flipping scheme, the company said. FSI was inspired by actual events and is free to the mortgage industry. The free online FSI Exam Program will provide a means to measure learning achieved by watching the FSI film. The announcement of the online testing mechanism was made at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 93rd Annual Convention. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.interthinx.com.

Desert Document Services Inc., a Phoenix-based software company serving lenders with loan product management solutions, has formed a strategic partnership with NYLX Inc., a provider of point-of-sale product eligibility and loan pricing technology systems.NYLX will integrate DesertDocs' compliant state-specific initial disclosure packages into its online loan pricing engine, making such disclosures -- required by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act -- available to originators with one click. "Given shrinking profit margins, loan originators need an efficient one-step process for ordering RESPA-required initial disclosure packages," said Ruth Thompson, president of DesertDocs. "Originators can use disclosures to lock in borrower commitment to a very tangible offer, increasing the likelihood of closing the sale and reducing the possibility of further rate shopping." The partnership was announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 93rd Annual Convention & Expo in Chicago. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.desertdocs.com and http://www.nylx.com.

Cincinnati-based eLynx Ltd., a provider of secure Web services for lenders and insurance companies, and Goodmail Systems Inc., have partnered to include Goodmail's CertifiedEmail system for assured e-mail delivery in the eLynx electronic services platform.A portfolio company of American Capital Strategies Ltd., eLynx said the e-mail features include electronic document delivery, electronic signature, and integrated paper fulfillment. The company said its e-services platform uses e-mail to deliver links to websites where consumers can obtain mortgage and insurance documents in a secure, paperless manner. Goodmail provides accredited volume e-mail senders with the CertifiedEmail technology, imprinting outgoing e-mail with cryptographically secure tokens that are recognized by participating mailbox providers such as AOL and Yahoo! The partnership was announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 93rd Annual Convention & Expo in Chicago. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.elynx.com and http://www.goodmailsystems.com.

The Turning Point, Sedona, Ariz., has launched MACH 3, an end-to-end marketing system for bankers, brokers, and loan originators at the MBA's 93rd Annual Convention & Expo.The tool offers a secure online platform that allows the user to turn business data into action, the company said. The loan officers and marketing executives are able to implement targeted campaigns in real time, from concept development to fulfillment with the application, the company said. Branch managers and corporate-level executives track results and oversee operations using a digital dashboard. The company can be found online at http://www.turningpoint.com.

CoreLogic, a Sacramento, Calif.-based provider of mortgage risk assessment and fraud prevention systems, has released findings from its broker management database indicating that 7% of brokers account for 63% of early payment defaults, with the riskiest 0.5% of brokers accounting for 70% of all losses.CoreLogic said its broker database tracks more than 38 million loans and 190,000 brokers and is the engine powering ThirdParty Scorecard, a Web-based software tool that helps residential mortgage lenders evaluate and manage the risk associated with their broker network. The most recent statistics illustrate the key role brokers play in the risk management chain and why broker monitoring and management tools are critical to the financial prospects of wholesale originators, the company said. Core Logic made the announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 93rd Annual Conference & Expo in Chicago. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.corelogic.com.