Technology

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va., has announced the acquisition of MSTD Inc., a Baltimore-based provider of Web-based technology to the mortgage servicing industry.MSTD is an application service provider whose flagship product, BackInTheBlack, combines rules-based decision engines with embedded workflows and integration of all third-party providers and services used by lenders managing delinquent loans. "Our default management clients are increasingly challenged with delinquencies and foreclosures, as well as with an increased focus on regulatory compliance and loss litigation," said Albert V. Will, executive vice president of lender services for LandAmerica. "Blending the capabilities of LandAmerica Default Services with the technology expertise and products of MSTD enables LandAmerica to offer the mortgage industry the best and most integrated servicing solution in the marketplace." LandAmerica can be found online at http://www.landam.com.

MILA, Mountlake Terrace, Wash., is introducing daily online Web training for its proprietary decisioning and loan management technology, AccessPoint.Along with the training, MILA has recently introduced co-browsing, which allows a broker to invite a MILA associate into his system to help drive the process in real time. When combined with communication tools such as live chat and e-mail, co-browsing will empower MILA's brokers to move loans even more efficiently through AccessPoint, the company said. AccessPoint has been designed as a platform that brokers and small mortgage bankers can use to manage their entire business, from marketing, product selection, and rate locks to fraud prevention, settlement service fulfillment, and document preparation. MILA can be found on the Web at http://www.mila.com.

A new player has entered the ring to vie with Calyx, Ellie Mae, Lenders Insight, LION, and others to serve brokers by automating loan qualification and lender referral.With technology coming from a successful real estate company, Highland, Calif.-based PreQualPal Inc. offers mortgage brokers and loan officers a suite of online tools that dramatically reduces the time they spend searching through rate sheets and keying in data. A key feature is simultaneous real-time rate and pricing that includes quotes from multiple lenders. Taking 17 variables in getting a quote from a lender, the system automatically arrives at an adjusted rate and compares and maximizes lender rebates. The company particularly touts its tools for building relationships with real estate agents in a shrinking mortgage market. http://www.prequalpal.com

Indecomm Global Services has signed an agreement to acquire McLean, Va.-based Mortgage Dynamics Inc., a mortgage banking management consulting and outsource services firm.The 18-year-old company was sold for a combination of cash and stock, but the financial details were not disclosed. Indecomm said it will adopt the Mortgage Dynamics brand name for its U.S. mortgage outsourcing operations. Mortgage Dynamics will continue under the leadership of Mary Bruce Batte and Dan Measell, Indecomm said. The parties said they expect to complete the transaction by June 30. Indecomm is an international business process services firm with headquarters in Bangalore, India, and operating centers in the United States.

Minneapolis-based Dexma has earned MXCompliance certification for credit request and automated underwriting services for its Web-based platforms.The MISMO eXtensible Markup Language Compliance certification validates that these services provided by Dexma to lenders and other mortgage industry players complies with MISMO standards for such transactions. Without data exchange standards, lenders must manually enter loan data into multiple systems, increasing costs, processing time, and the possibility of errors. MXCompliance certification assures lenders that services can be easily accessed and mortgage data can be exchanged quickly, eliminating the need for manual data entry or costly data conversion systems. MISMO, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association, develops mortgage data exchange and file specification standards for lenders and mortgage technology providers. Dexma can be found on the Web at http://www.dexma.com.

If you measure agent performance in a call center by the average time it takes to handle an inbound call, you are making a big mistake, Wells Fargo's Gary Class told attendees June 5 at the SourceMedia Business Intelligence Forum in San Francisco.Instead, the measure should be the elapsed time it takes to solve the customer's problem, he said during a session on call-center metrics. Handling inbound calls successfully can be a huge factor in determining whether you will be successful in cross-selling products such as home equity lines of credit, according to Mr. Class. Business intelligence technology such as pattern-recognition software earns its keep because the more you can predict behavior, the better you serve customers -- and thereby "earn the right to cross-sell," Mr. Class said.

Dublin, Calif.-based Ellie Mae has launched a new edition of its mortgage automation system, Encompass Professional Edition, geared toward giving mortgage brokers more marketing functionality.Encompass Professional Edition is a multi-user program that adds marketing and productivity tools beyond those included in Encompass Standard Edition. Unlike other Encompass loan origination products, the new product features a marketing campaign manager, contact synchronization with Outlook and ACT!, and a software development toolkit enabling users to develop custom applications around Encompass, Ellie Mae said. All the added features of Encompass Professional will also be rolled into Encompass Anywhere, Ellie Mae's Web-based application. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.elliemae.com.

SwiftView Inc., Portland, Ore., and Netupdate Inc., Bellevue, Wash., have partnered to enable borrowers to use SwiftView's SwiftSend InBound service to send documents to lenders electronically.A borrower who uses Netupdate's Originator Pro online point-of-sale system to apply for a loan and check loan status will now be able to securely fax or upload loan documentation directly into an eLoanFolder. "We're making electronic submission of documents to lenders very simple," explained Diane Holmstrom, Netupdate's chief executive. Within each borrower's website, borrowers can upload documents or print fax cover sheets that are bar-coded to route documents automatically into the correct eLoanFolder, she said. "Scanning documents post-closing will soon be a thing of the past for documents that can be created or received electronically," added Steve Bachelder, president of SwiftView. "Using our technology, lenders can then share documents electronically throughout the entire loan process, including underwriting, post-closing, investor delivery, and final long-term archiving." The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.swiftview.com and http://www.netupdate.com.

E*Trade Financial Corp., New York, and NeighborWorks America, Washington, D.C., have announced the launch of the "Keys to My Home" website, which offers bilingual, user-friendly information about preparing for and maintaining homeownership.Resources on the new website include "The Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Lender," a primer on home insurance, mortgage loan affordability and debt calculators, and a mortgage comparison worksheet. "Keystomyhome.org provides customized budget tables that fit the unique needs of each consumer," said Ken Wade, chief executive officer of NeighborWorks America. "This tailored approach is ... the perfect blend of technology and a human touch." The English version of the website launched June 1, and the Spanish version will be available this summer. The website is one of several education initiatives supported by E*Trade Financial and NeighborWorks America, including neighborhood computer-lab homebuyer kiosks in target minority and low- to moderate-income markets. The new site can be found online at http://www.keystomyhome.org.

TotalMove Inc., a national consumer real estate and moving services company based in Shelton, Conn., has launched a new proprietary customer relationship management system.The company said the new system will "better nurture" consumers who have been prequalified for mortgage loans with lenders that are part of the company's Mortgage Partner Program. The program is designed to help mortgage lenders improve their purchase-money mortgage lead conversion, TotalMove said. "Our new CRM system will significantly streamline our processes, giving our coordinators more time to focus on consumer needs," said Tom Soltis, who was recently appointed vice president of operations at the company. TotalMove provides move-planning assistance, real estate agent selection, and access to insurance and other services related to real estate transactions. The company can be found online at http://www.totalmove.com.