Technology

The nation's first offshore, around-the-clock electronic mortgage processing service has been announced by Miami-based E-OPS.The company said originators fax, upload, or enter data into the E-OPS Web-based system and offshore processors handle all pre-closing processing tasks. E-OPS said it is the first contract processing company to provide online virtual access to customer files with real-time feedback between the loan officer, customers, and third parties. For its offshore processing, E-OPS has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Wipro BPO, a business unit of Wipro Technologies. "We are processing loans approximately 40% faster than any other available alternative thanks to around-the-clock processing, skilled processors, and cutting-edge technology," said Joe Machado, chief executive officer at E-OPS. "Wipro BPO is a key element of our strategy, and we're impressed with their understanding of our business and ability to optimize the process to drive down costs and turnaround time." The companies can be found online at http://www.eops.cc and http://www.wipro.com.

Fiserv Lending Solutions has announced that Albuquerque, N.M.-based Charter Mortgage has selected Fiserv's UniFi PRO Mortgage eX loan origination software system to extend its relationship with Fiserv and embrace the electronic mortgage.Lyle Greenberg, Charter's vice president of mortgage operations, said the company found itself needing to take better advantage of modern technology, especially in the areas of databases, the Internet, and integration with other systems and services. Charter Mortgage is New Mexico's largest mortgage company and is the only company originating and servicing residential and commercial mortgages in the state.

The Prime Alliance Services, Minneapolis, has reported the successful implementation of its Loan Fulfillment Center in six credit union customers.The Loan Fulfillment Center, a Web-based mortgage fulfillment system, has been successfully deployed at Boeing Employees' Credit Union, Bellco Credit Union, and Bethpage Federal Credit Union and will shortly be implemented at Wright-Patt Credit Union, Lockheed Federal Credit Union, and America First Credit Union, Prime Alliance said. In related news, Prime Alliance Services Co., a partnership between Dexma, Inc. and Prime Alliance Solutions, also reached an agreement with The First American Corp. to offer title insurance and services to Prime Alliance members. A key feature of the Loan Fulfillment Center is its integration with external partners involved in the mortgage process, enabling credit unions to take advantage of preferred pricing on mortgage services negotiated on their behalf, according to Prime Alliance. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.primeallianceservices.com.

Ingeo Systems Inc., Logan, Utah, and Cott Systems, Worthington, Ohio, have announced a strategic alliance that the companies say will streamline and automate transaction-based processes associated with the electronic recording of real estate documents.The partnership enables county recording offices to accept electronically prepared digital documents for official recording. The alliance combines Ingeo's eRecord service with Cott Systems' Resolution software, a suite of products designed for county clerks, recorders, and other elected officials responsible for the filing of land records. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.ingeo.com and http://www.cottsystems.com.

Livonia, Mich.-based Quicken Loans Inc. has selected The Loan Page, San Francisco, Calif., to generate pre-qualified customer leads and instant access to its products via the TLP website.TLP is an Internet mortgage lead generation firms in the United States. Since inception, TLP has transmitted over $50 billion in mortgage loan quote requests and has served hundreds of clients nationwide. "We've seen a dramatic increase in consumer, lender and partner adoption of online customer acquisition tools," said Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of The Loan Page, in a prepared statement. "Leveraging our technology, lenders and partners are adding to their bottom lines as easily as consumers are cutting their mortgage costs." TLP can be found on the Web at http://www.TheLoanPage.com.

HedgeStreet Inc., San Mateo, Calif., has announced the introduction of Housing Price Hedgelets, which enable its online investors to hedge, or speculate on the direction of, home values in major U.S. real estate markets.The company said it is the first U.S. government-designated online financial market that lets traders directly buy and sell "innovative financial instruments" based on economic events. The Housing Price Hedgelets are tradable as both yes/no and variable contracts with three-month and six-month durations. They are benchmarked against the median sales price of existing single-family homes reported by the National Association of Realtors for Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco, HedgeStreet said. "For most Americans, their home is their single largest investment and, as such, the desire to reduce risks surrounding that asset is important," said John Nafeh, the company's chief executive officer. "Housing Price Hedgelets provide a unique way for them to hedge against depreciation in the value of a home, or conversely, speculate on the degree to which housing prices will appreciate." The company can be found online at http://www.hedgestreet.com.

Tim Anderson, executive vice president of business development of Minneapolis-based Dexma Inc., has been elected to the Governance Committee of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization.Mr. Anderson has over 25 years of mortgage banking technology and management experience and is credited with creating the eMortgage Alliance that supports MISMO standards for delivering legal paperless processes. MISMO was established by the Mortgage Bankers Association to coordinate the development and maintenance of Internet-based Extensible Markup Language real estate finance specifications. The Governance Committee is made up of 16 representatives from MISMO subscriber organizations, including two origination technology companies. Mr. Anderson will serve a two-year term.

Fidelity National Data Services, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., has launched Comp Locator, a sales-comparable search engine for appraisers and appraisal review companies.Comp Locator combines geographic definition capabilities with a simplified search process. The system includes an interactive map that enables searchers to select specific areas, enabling them to refine their selection to those areas. In addition, searchers are presented with up to 50 single-line sales comparables with prior sales transaction data. The system displays up to 15 sales comparables with complete property information. The FNF family of companies can be found on the Web at http://www.fnf.com and http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

First Advantage Corp., St. Petersburg, Fla., and First American Corp., Santa Anna, Calif., have signed an agreement whereby First Advantage, a risk mitigation and business solutions provider, will acquire the Credit Information Group, a First American company, in an all-stock transaction.First American and First Advantage originally announced a letter of intent for the transaction on March 22, and the agreement has now been approved by the boards of both companies and a committee of First Advantage's independent directors. Under the pact, First American and its First American Real Estate Solutions joint venture will contribute their mortgage, automotive, consumer and subprime credit businesses to First Advantage in exchange for approximately 27.8 million shares of First Advantage class B common stock, valued at $570 million (based on a price of $20.50 per share), the companies said. First Advantage will also issue 975,610 class B shares to First American in a $20 million debt-to-equity conversion. Additional shares of First Advantage class B common stock totaling approximately 1.27 million (valued at $26 million) may be issued to First American in connection with a prospective CIG acquisition. When completed, First Advantage's acquisition of CIG will increase First American's ownership interest in First Advantage from 67% to about 80%. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.fadv.com and http://www.firstam.com.

Framing the investment as an endorsement of open standards in technology, First American has announced a $50 million capital infusion in San Mateo, Calif.-based Dorado and its Enterprise Lending System.The company said this "will help mortgage industry leaders transform mortgage origination from a compartmentalized process with frequent starts and stops into a highly integrated, open, and dynamic process that gives lenders more control over their businesses, enables faster time-to-close, and creates more efficiency in the market overall." ELS allows services from third-party vendors to be integrated directly into a lender's workflow. ELS and other Dorado technology platforms will now be integrated with First American Web Services and First American Fulfillment Services. First American said it plans to fund future Dorado acquisitions "as a means of further expanding this new origination vision." The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.firstam.com and http://www.dorado.com.