Technology

ARC Systems, a provider of decisioning technology based in Austin, Texas, has announced a partnership with the National Credit Reporting Association under which the NCRA and its Atlanta-based joint venture, CDS Mortgage Reports Inc., will offer a preferential connection to ARC Systems.ARC Systems said new interfaces built into its LendTech and Loan Finder Express products will provide access to more than 150 credit reporting agencies. NCRA members will have direct access to a portal that provides a connection to ARC Systems clients who want to obtain credit reporting services. "The new program is a great example of the classic win-win, as ARC Systems' customers, and the consumers they serve, can now obtain access to a network of credit reporting agencies known for the best customer service in the industry in the most cost-effective manner," said Terry Clemans, executive director of the Bloomingdale, Ill-based NCRA. ARC Systems can be found online at http://www.arcsystems.com.

San Francisco-based LoanPerformance has announced the release of the beta version of TrueStandings Servicing, a Web-based analysis and reporting system for mortgage servicers.The company said TrueStandings provides instant access to delinquency, prepayment, and loan characteristics on more than 40 million active mortgage loans and a historical database of more than 100 million loans. Among the new features of the system are ZIP code-level reporting, additional risk metrics for prepayments and delinquencies, and an interactive mapping feature. "A client-driven evolution of our previous data applications, TrueStandings Servicing provides unprecedented reporting and analysis flexibility," said Dan Feshbach, president and chief executive officer of LoanPerformance. Beta testing of the system is expected to end in December, with general availability in the first quarter of next year, the company said. LoanPerformance, a subsidiary of First American Real Estate Solutions, can be found online at http://www.loanperformance.com.

Ocwen Financial Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla., has announced the introduction of 24-hour mortgage loan processing and closing services for mortgage lenders and brokers.Ocwen said its loan processing services (including all back-office activities) are aimed at originators who want to shorten the closing cycle, reduce expenses, and improve accuracy. Ocwen executive vice president W. Michael Linn said Ocwen's document imaging technology ensures clean loan packages and enables lenders and brokers to reduce the time from application to close by a week or more. "Because we also perform due-diligence services, we understand how important it is to produce clean loan files," he said. "After the lender or broker supplies the mortgage application, we image all supporting loan documents. This allows Ocwen personnel across multiple time zones to multitask on a single file, eliminating bottlenecks and speeding the entire process." Ocwen can be found online at http://www.ocwen.com.

Texell Interactive Media, Jim Thorpe, Pa., has announced that it will conduct live podcasts at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 92nd Annual Convention & Expo and at SourceMedia's 2005 Tech Awards Ceremony, both in Orlando, Fla.Rick Grant, Texell's president and chief executive officer (and a former managing editor of Mortgage Technology magazine), will do a limited number of podcast interviews with participants at the convention, slated for Oct. 23-26, at the Texell and Martopia booth. (Martopia, a Texell affiliate, is the official marketer for the 2005 Tech Awards.) Texell will also record podcast interviews Oct. 23 with the winners of the tech awards that will be available the next day at http://www.mortgage-technology.com/awards. Texell can be found online at http://www.texellmedia.com.

Rick Grant, a mortgage industry journalist and former managing editor of Mortgage Technology magazine, has announced the launch of Texell Interactive Media Inc., a firm specializing in interactive communications such as Internet-based audio shows called podcasts.The firm also offers such products as insider Web logs, electronic white papers, video blogs, and interactive video. "Podcasts, blogs and other technology-based communication tools are ideal for interacting with employees, partners, customers, and prospects," said Mr. Grant, Texell's president and chief executive officer. Texell, which is based in Jim Thorpe, Pa., is an affiliate of Martopia, a nationwide marketing and public relations firm specializing in the financial services industry. The company can be found online at http://www.texellmedia.com.

BasePoint Analytics, Carlsbad, Calif., has announced the general release of FraudMark, a new fraud detection product for mortgage lenders, investment banks, and due-diligence firms.The company said FraudMark uses patent-pending technology that combines behavioral trends for applicants, brokers, and appraisers with historical patterns of fraudulent and nonfraudulent loan applications. This enables the product to provide a "much higher degree of predictiveness" in identifying which applications have the greatest risk of fraud and to cut the overhead cost of retrieving expensive data to match against loan applications, according to BasePoint. "The credit card industry has driven down fraud losses by 70% through the use of pattern recognition technologies," said Tim Grace, president of BasePoint. "The analytic advancements of FraudMark now enable the mortgage industry to go beyond this and provide mortgage lenders the ability to cost effectively score all of their loan applications in real time, drive down their fraud losses, and increase overall production." The company can be found online at http://www.basepointanalytics.com.

Wolters Kluwer Corporate & Financial Services, New York, has acquired Entyre, a provider of Web-based compliance solutions to the mortgage lending industry.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Entyre, located in Ann Arbor, Mich., earlier this year introduced eMortgage-X4, a data and document management and delivery software platform. The eMortgage-X4 application allows for intelligent rules setting, compliance testing, and a means for electronic collaboration and communication among the numerous stakeholders in the mortgage origination and closing process. Wolters Kluwer also owns VMP Mortgage Solutions, PCi, and Bankers Systems. The Entyre business will become a part of the Financial Services customer unit of Wolters Kluwer. Wolters Kluwer can be found on the Web at http://www.wolters-kluwer.com.

ERS Group, an economic and financial consulting subsidiary of Dallas-based SourceCorp, has announced the release of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act peer data and rankings in RiskExec regulatory compliance software.ERS said it believes its release of the HMDA Peer Databases and Rankings makes it the first firm in the nation to provide its financial clients with a "full review of lending and competitive performance" in the 2004 home mortgage market. The company said the RiskExec software includes geocoding, mapping, edit-check management, regulatory filing, interactive maps, peer rankings, and executive and regulatory reporting for all facets of HMDA, as well as the Community Reinvestment Act and the Home Ownership Equity Protection Act. ERS and SourceCorp can be found online at http://www.ersgroup.com and http://www.srcp.com.

Advancing the cause of enabling electronic recordation of lien releases and other documents, St. Paul, Minn.-based US Recordings announced that it has expanded its footprint to serve another six counties via its InteleDoc Plus Multi-Level eRecording Platform.InteleDoc Plus imports data directly from mortgage databases to automatically create documents specific to each state. Boasting a fourfold increase during 2005, the company said it will expand to numerous counties during 2006. The system was created in 2003 and now offers templates for lien releases in all U.S. jurisdictions. Partnering with several software companies, U.S. Recordings' InteleDoc Plus was the first to record electronically in several Midwest counties as well as Florida, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington. Slightly more than 200 county recording authorities account for 80% of recordations nationwide.

ABN Amro Mortgage Group, Ann Arbor, Mich., has announced that its Affinity Lending Group is offering discounted mortgage closing costs and a private-label version of Mortgage.com to AT&T employees.AT&T employees can now get access to information through the company's intranet on a variety of AAMG's mortgage products and services, such as its Guaranteed OneFee Mortgage, and receive a $300 discount on the mortgage closing costs, according to AAMG. In addition, AT&T employees have access to interest rate quotes and mortgage calculators, can submit mortgage applications online, and can use a dedicated 800 number to contact AAMG customer service representatives. The companies can be found online at http://www.abnamro.com and http://att.mortgage.com.