Technology

GHR Systems Inc., Wayne, Pa., has announced the acquisition of Berkeley, Calif.-based Loansoft, which provides retail loan origination software to four of the top 10 U.S. residential mortgage lenders, including Chase and Washington Mutual.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. GHR is best known for its widely used decisioning system and its products serving the wholesale transaction. Both companies operate on Microsoft-based platforms. The merged entity has 300 employees that serve a customer base of over 70 lenders, 17,000 loan officers, and 25,000 brokers. Loansoft said it will continue to operate from its current California location and that both entities will offer current product lines as licensed or hosted applications.

Walter C. Morgan has been named executive vice president for strategic business development at Integrated Loan Service, Rocky Hill, Conn.ILS said Mr. Morgan will be responsible for developing strategic partnerships and new business for ILS and Fiserv's Lending Services and Solutions Group, of which ILS is a part. He was formerly with Fidelity National Information Solutions and Market Intelligence. ILS provides lending systems to banks, credit unions, and mortgage lenders. It can be found online at http://www.ils.com.

Data-Vision Inc., Mishawaka, Ind., has announced the release of DisclosureDocs, an online system that allows mortgage originators to deliver loan applications and initial disclosure documents electronically.The secure documents can then be digitally signed by the consumer and returned within minutes. When a consumer signs the documents, the lender is notified by e-mail. Data-Vision said it will make the documents available to the homeowner on demand for a period of 90 days. Records can also be stored on the system and made available to the consumer for 27 months at the option of the lending institution. Part of Data-Vision's RemoteDocs service, DisclosureDocs will be rolled out to the company's clients later this year and to all others in early 2004. Data-Vision can be found on the Internet at http://www.disclosuredocs.com.

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., has announced the completion of its acquisition of General American Corp., a provider of real estate settlement services to the lending industry.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. GAC operates in two divisions: GAC Direct and GATORSystems. GAC Direct, which provides the majority of the company's revenues, is a settlement services provider to financial institutions and realty firms nationwide. Its services are delivered over an Internet gateway connected to three national processing centers. Fiserv said. The GATORSystems division licenses technology systems and software to settlement service providers. Fiserv can be found on the Internet at www.fiserv.com.

Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif., says it will go "head-to-head" with San Jose, Calif.-based Calyx Software, makers of the popular Point loan origination system, in order to get market share by launching a new application called Encompass.The new application is designed to go beyond the LOS, according to Ellie Mae chairman and CEO Sig Anderman, by offering three separate views of the organization. Loan officers, processors and brokers will all see different screens depending upon their unique needs, but all data will be seamlessly shared throughout the organization and messages can be sent between them. Encompass is integrated with Ellie Mae's ePass Business Center, giving users access to settlement services providers and wholesale lenders, with returned data populated directly into the file. Brokers ordering Encompass before Jan. 31, 2004, will receive the software at no cost, including a free first year of support and maintenance. Ellie Mae's website address is http://www.elliemae.com.

Del Mar Database, a San Diego-based mortgage technology firm, has appointed John Walsh president and chief operating officer and Doug Clawson chief technology officer.Mr. Walsh most recently served as president of RF/Spectrum Decision Science Corp. and chairman and chief executive officer of PureCarbon Inc. "In addition to a focus on our products and services, I know from my background in mortgage banking software that it is critical to expand our overall services to a level that consistently exceeds our customers' expectations," Mr. Walsh said. As Del Mar Database's new CTO, Mr. Clawson is planning a new generation of technology for Del Mar's flagship software, DataTrac. He has more than 18 years of experience in developing software technology products. Del Mar's website address is http://www.delmardb.com.

Third Federal Savings and Loan, Cleveland, has inked a deal to sell its online home equity business to Lightyear Capital, New York, for an undisclosed sum.Third Federal launched the business, called DeepGreen Bank, three years ago. A spokeswoman for the thrift declined to discuss DGB's profitability. Lightyear, a private equity firm that manages $2 billion in assets, will take control of all of DGB's servicing rights, its production platform, technology, infrastructure, management team, and employees. DGB, which gets leads from LendingTree, funded $1.2 billion last year and is on track to fund $1.4 billion this year, said a company spokesman. Third Federal has been buying loans from DGB and will continue to do so, the spokesman said. (See the Oct. 6 issue of National Mortgage News for more details.)

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., has agreed to acquire General American Corp., a Pittsburgh-based provider of real estate settlement services to the lending industry, for an undisclosed amount.GAC is majority-owned by Mason Wells, a private equity investment firm based in Milwaukee. Fiserv said GAC operates in two divisions: GAC Direct, which offers online settlement services nationwide, and GATORSystems, which licenses technology and software to settlement service providers. Leslie M. Muma, Fiserv's president and chief executive officer, said GAC has achieved success by "making lives easier for lenders in every part of the country with its highly automated real estate settlement services." Fiserv said GAC services more than 4,000 customers and manages a network of more than 10,000 independent vendors. Fiserv can be found online at http://www.fiserv.com.

Fidelity National Information Solutions, Santa Barbara, Calif., has released TransactionPoint version 6.0 for SoftPro, which provides online transaction coordination and management services to closing agents and their customers.The integration of the software with the SoftPro title and escrow production system offers enhanced document management, automated routing, transaction coordination and management, and improved systemwide ease of use and reporting capabilities, FNIS said. The company said the integration will enable SoftPro to offer "true front-to-back data transfer capabilities," which it said will fill "one of the biggest voids of currently available title production systems." The companies can be found online at http://www.fnis.com and http://www.softprocorp.com.

Thomas H. Vetter has been named to the newly created position of senior vice president for the HomeBuilder.com business unit of Homestore Inc., Westlake Village, Calif.Mr. Vetter served most recently as senior vice president of sales and marketing for iBidCo, an online marketer of new homes. Before that he was president of the Accelerated Marketing and Special Event Division of The Ryness Co., where he was responsible for sales of single-family and multifamily communities. HomeBuilder.com is the official new-homes site of the National Association of Home Builders. Homestore can be found online at http://ir.homestore.com.