Technology

The U.S. Rural Housing Service is in the last stages of perfecting an automated underwriting system that should be available to all lenders in January 2007.The guaranteed underwriting system can provide approvals on RHS-guaranteed single-family loans in 30 seconds, according to RHS Administrator Russell Davis. After a lender submits the application data, GUS pulls a credit report and runs it through the scorecard. GUS also has unique features to make sure borrowers meet RHS income limits and the property is located in a rural area. GUS uses geographic information system mapping software to pinpoint the location of the property. Since Aug. 1, eight lenders have originated 133 RHS loans using GUS, and more lenders are being added to the pilot program. "GUS is a premier, high-quality system," Mr. Davis said. "It will be much easier for borrowers to shop, and we believe we have a very attractive product."

Greystone Residential Funding Inc., a mortgage banking company based in Middleton, Wis., has announced an alliance with PCLender.com, a Honolulu-based mortgage technology provider, aimed at assisting credit unions and community banks.Greystone said PCLender's loan origination system is "distinctive, well-defined, and easy to use" and its application service provider system offers financial institutions "a practical alternative" to buying and implementing technology systems themselves. "Through this alliance, we will be able to provide a streamlined front-to-back technology solution with seamless third-party vendor integration," said Dan Rotert, Greystone's president and chief executive officer. The companies can be found online at http://www.greystonerf.com and http://www.pclender.com.

Chase has selected Fidelity National Information Services Inc.'s Mortgage Servicing Package to replace and upgrade multiple legacy software platforms for servicing its $600 billion portfolio.Chase services its own loan portfolio and provides servicing for third-party loans. FNIS said Chase will replace and upgrade the systems over the next two years to streamline business processes and provide faster rollout and better support for new products. The updated system is expected to reduce costs, handle larger volumes, and improve disaster recovery capability. A leading mortgage lender, Chase originated $128 billion in mortgage loans and $54 billion in home equity lines and loans in 2005. It also purchases servicing rights to mortgage portfolios. Jacksonville, Fla.-based FNIS said its Mortgage Servicing Package automates all areas of mortgage servicing, including loan setup and maintenance, cashiering, escrow administration, investor accounting, and regulatory reporting. FNIS can be found online at http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

A new website designed to allow consumers to shop for mortgage loans anonymously and to chat live with more than 100 mortgage companies has been unveiled by LAL Enterprises Inc., Hermosa Beach, Calif.The website, LoanAgentsLive.com, is described as a chat-based "mortgage shopping mall" that enables a visitor to select a state, get a list of mortgage lenders, and view a link next to each company's display ad that shows whether a loan officer at the brokerage is available for a live chat. LAL Enterprises said preliminary results from a beta test indicate that consumers are four times more likely to initiate a chat with a mortgage consultant than to fill out an online application. To ensure the safety of visitors, all chats are conducted over a secure server, and LoanAgentsLive.com conducts background checks and personal interviews with all listed brokerage firms "to exclude those with a history of predatory lending," the company said. The website can be found online at http://www.loanagentslive.com.

Inland Real Estate Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Oak Brook, Ill., has been added to the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 Index.The company is also a constituent of the S&P REIT Composite Index. Inland can be found on the Web at http://www.inlandrealestate.com.

Stewart Information Services Corp., Houston, has announced the formation of Stewart Lender Services as a re-branded operating division.Kevin Gugenheim, who previously served as president and chief operating officer of Stewart Mortgage Information, has been named president of the new division. Stewart Lender Services will use electronic order entry and vendor management technology platforms such as RealEC, which will be integrated with Stewart's fully deployed technology applications, including the AIM title production system, SureClose online transaction management, and the PropertyInfo.com real estate information Web portal. "Our new name more aptly describes our comprehensive suite of products and services that we provide to our mortgage lender customers and our attitude of service that drives every member of our team," Mr. Gugenheim said. The new division can be found online at http://www.stewartlenderservices.com.

Cincinnati-based eLynx Ltd., a provider of secure Web services, has announced the acquisition of SwiftView Inc., a Portland, Ore.-based technology provider that helps companies capture, view, deliver, and print electronic documents.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. American Capital Strategies Ltd., whose portfolio includes eLynx and more than 180 other companies in a wide range of industries, will provide equity and debt financing for the transaction. The combined companies will offer a comprehensive range of services, including electronic and paper fulfillment, electronic disclosures, electronic signatures, electronic loan folders, and investor delivery, eLynx said. "The eLynx and SwiftView organizations are highly complementary to one another," said Phil Huff, president and chief executive officer of eLynx. "These synergies will enable us to rapidly advance e-business innovation and set the standard across financial services and a broad range of industries." The companies can be found online at http://www.elynx.com and http://www.swiftview.com.

MRG Document Technologies, Dallas, has announced a partnership with ProLender Solutions Inc., a San Diego-based software provider to the mortgage industry, aimed at streamlining the loan closing process.The alliance links ProLender, ProLender's loan origination system, with MRG's Miracle DocPrep platform and fully automates the ordering of loan closing documents, according to MRG. "The interface developed by ProLender is a comprehensive 'push-button' system that compiles loan data and directly links to the MRG server, which yields a faster closing process," MRG said. The companies can be found online at http://www.mrgdocs.com and http://www.prolender.com.

Homecomings Financial, a Minneapolis-based wholesale funding lender, says its mortgage brokers are now one step closer to a completely paperless mortgage process with the adoption of new Advectis BlitzDocs technology.Homecomings has selected BlitzDocs as its Web-based imaging system, which is now supporting more than 60% of the wholesaler's loan applications. BlitzDocs offers a secure collaborative electronic loan folder that is accessible simultaneously by the broker, underwriter, and account executive, Homecomings said. With each new application, the broker creates a loan folder, uploads, scans, or faxes in the documents, and submits the file to the branch for underwriting. The branch underwrites the loan and requests any additional conditions from the broker. When the broker submits new documents, the underwriting staff is automatically notified, eliminating delays and miscommunication in tracking down missing conditions, the company said. Homecomings Financial can be found on the Web at http://www.hfwholesale.com.

San Diego-based DataQuick has announced the release of an aerial search component for its GoTitle property profile tool.The company partnered with Digital Map Products Inc. to create SkyView, an integrated aerial tool that lets GoTitle customers quickly locate properties visually. DMP's parcel map overlays enable the user to locate subject properties, zoom in and out to check the accuracy of the target property's location, and then print the aerial map image in a property profile, DataQuick said. Matchups of aerial photos with assessor parcel maps are used by real estate agents as a marketing tool and are increasingly used by county officials to track code violations and unpermitted construction. DataQuick draws information from a real property repository containing data on more than 87 million properties across the nation. DataQuick can be found on the Web at http://www.dataquick.com.