Technology

Countrywide Home Loans Inc., Calabasas, Calif., unveiled the company's position on how it will leverage the Web next year to expand its market share at the SourceMedia-sponsored Mortgage EC Conference in Las Vegas.According to the USC Center for Digital Future, 75% of Americans have access to the Web. In addition, 80% of consumers report being online, says a recent Doubleclick Survey. As a result, Countrywide will dedicate 30% of its marketing budget to direct online marketing, according to Bruce Cornelius, executive vice president of the company's consumer markets division. The goal is to become, by 2010, a diversified financial services company serving the needs of households, investors, and institutions, with mortgage lending at its core, Mr. Cornelius said. Countrywide can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.

Houston-based Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. has used proprietary extensions to its technology tools to accommodate an ever-changing mortgage market, Allied chief information officer David Langston told the recent 7th Annual Mortgage EC Conference in Las Vegas.Allied, the largest broker/banker in the country, runs many technology applications, and Mr. Langston contended that the tools used by Allied aren't updated fast enough to allow such a large company to operate efficiently. As a result, Allied has created proprietary extensions to Del Mar Database's DataTrac product to allow for the bundling of services and to its LOS Calyx Point to allow it to operate in a centralized fashion. Since the updates were made, Calyx has released a comparable product and Del Mar will take advantage of its parent company, Fiserv, to offer bundled services with version 8.0. Mr. Langston reported that Allied will evaluate both upgrades to see which better fits the company's needs, the proprietary extensions or the product enhancements from Calyx and Del Mar. Allied can be found online at http://www.mortgageasap.com.

Archive Systems, Fairfield, N.J., has announced an agreement with Ryan Beck & Co., an investment banker and broker based in Florham Park, N.J., to provide Archive's comprehensive process automation service to manage all client documentation.Aspen 360 Broker/Dealer Edition offers a services-based system for Web-based image hosting and workflow management. "This service will transform Ryan Beck's previous paper-based, manual process into an automated solution that manages the flow of all client documents in a fully redundant, Web-based environment," Archive Systems said. Ryan Beck will be able to use remote document capture through scanning gateways to scan documents directly into the Aspen system. "Archive Systems offers the only comprehensive 'software-as-a-service' model with the flexibility to roll out a solution enterprise-wide," said Nick Leone, senior vice president and director of operations at Ryan Beck. The companies can be found online at http://www.archivesystems.com and http://www.ryanbeck.com.

Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc., Dallas, has announced new upgrades to eStatus, a residential mortgage loan servicing product that provides online customer service for borrowers.The upgrades to eStatus (which interfaces in real time with Mortgage Servicer, the FICS residential mortgage servicing system) enable lenders to present "a more unified branding message" on their websites and to create a more user-friendly environment for borrowers, FICS said. A lender can reduce incoming call volume by sending a standardized e-mail message to borrowers encouraging them to view statements and notices on the lender's eStatus website, according to FICS. "Because documents are available for display in eStatus as soon as they are generated in Mortgage Services, borrowers always have access to up-to-date information about their loans," the company said. FICS can be found online at http://www.loanware.com.

ComplianceKeeper.com, Hunt Valley, Md., has announced the release of what it describes as the first online system designed exclusively to help mortgage companies manage state regulatory requirements for licensing and educating mortgage professionals.Users of the new system can "instantly access detailed information on active and pending licenses in the company, including a profile of the individual holding the license and the number, type, and expiration date of the license," the data-tracking technology company said. An interactive desktop screen enables users to view data on the number of licenses that are 30, 60, and 90 days from expiration, and the system sends automatic e-mail alerts to notify customized lists about forthcoming license and education renewal deadlines, ComplianceKeeper.com said. The company can be found online at http://www.compliancekeeper.com.

The Miracle DocPrep platform of MRG Document Technologies, Dallas, is now available through a direct interface with BytePro, the latest version of Byte Software's loan origination system, according to MRG.The interface provides mortgage lenders and brokers with closing documents for prime and subprime loans, home equity lines of credit, option adjustable-rate mortgages, and other lending products, MRG said. When users request loan closing documents through the interface, the data are transferred to MRG and the document packages are prepared and sent back to the user, the company said. "This interface is a tool that enhances the lender's workflow process," said Terry King, group chairman of MRG. "Offering MRG's document preparation services through BytePro enables mortgage lenders to more efficiently request and deliver loan products to their customers." The interface was developed as part of a continuing alliance between MRG and Byte Software, based in Kirkland, Wash. The companies can be found online at http://www.mrgdocs.com and http://www.byte-cbc.com.

PNC Bank, a member of The PNC Financial Services Group Inc., has selected San Mateo, Calif.-based Dorado Corp.'s Dorado Unified Point of Sale as the bank's new wholesale home equity channel.PNC Bank, the nation's 15th-largest home equity lender, is developing a broker network across its consumer banking region. The Dorado Unified Point of Sale application, leveraging Dorado ChannelMaster and PriceMaster, will provide a network-based, on-demand avenue for PNC brokers to originate, price, and submit home equity loans and lines of credit at the point of sale. Dorado can be found on the Web at http://www.dorado.com.

New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., has announced the adoption of FraudMark, an application by BasePoint Analytics, to supplement the company's mortgage fraud prevention efforts.New Century, a real estate investment trust, said the agreement with BasePoint will allow the REIT to significantly improve its pre-funding fraud detection and prevention and reduce review costs for potentially fraudulent applications. New Century described FraudMark as an application scoring system that "combines the predictive power of loan applicant data with the proven pattern-recognition analytics of BasePoint's fraud modeling technology." BasePoint will also provide fraud consulting services. The companies can be found online at http://www.ncen.com and http://www.basepointanalytics.com.

Bankrate Inc., New York, has announced an agreement to acquire Wescoco LLC (d/b/a FastFind), a San Francisco-based aggregator of Internet leads for mortgages and other financial products, for $10 million in cash.Thomas R. Evans, president and chief executive officer of Bankrate, said the company plans to leverage its Internet traffic to enhance FastFind's lead-generation platform. "The online mortgage industry represents an enormous, emerging, and addressable market," Mr. Evans said. "We believe we are strategically positioned to take advantage of the shift of spending from traditional outlets to the Internet." Bankrate also announced the acquisition of MMIS/Interest.com, a publisher of mortgage guides based in suburban Chicago, for $30 million in cash. Bankrate can be found online at http://www.bankrate.com.

Digital Risk LLC, Dallas, and MortgageFlex Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., have announced an agreement to integrate Digital Risk's Integrity Verification Enterprise system with LoanQuest, the loan origination system from MortgageFlex.The companies said the new application gives MortgageFlex lenders and customers an automated system integrated into their desktop loan processing, providing fast and accurate verification of personal identity, income, occupancy, and collateral information. "As the residential real estate business has expanded in recent years, so have fraudulent attacks on lenders, surpassing the ability of existing tools to defend against them," said Lester Dominick, chairman and founder of MortgageFlex. "This integration will give lenders unique access to fraud prevention and loss mitigation solutions." Features include occupancy and instant income verification, as well as access to existing IRS and Social Security Administration data.