Technology

Flagstar Bank has picked eAppraiseIT LLC's EagleCert Insured Valuation product to handle portfolio loans generated through its nationwide network of correspondent lenders and independent mortgage brokers, eAppraiseIT has announced.Michigan-based Flagstar said the program -- for which eAppraiseIT cooperated in creating a proprietary workflow system -- will lower costs and produce efficiencies for the bank. The workflow component uses embedded lender rules to automate the process of product selection by first using EagleCert automated valuation models and augmenting them with other products as needed. Licensed appraisers are used for desktop appraisals and 2055 drive-bys. Turnaround time for all EagleCert transactions is less than 24 hours, according to eAppraiseIT, which is a joint venture between The First American Corp. and LandAmerica Financial Group. The Flagstar implementation is expected to be completed by the end of June. The companies can be found online at http://www.flagstar.com and http://www.eappraiseit.com.

Priceline.com Inc., Norwalk, Conn., has announced a 1-for-6 reverse stock split that will reduce its shares of common stock outstanding from approximately 227 million to about 37.5 million.The online company offers a travel service and a personal finance service featuring home mortgages, refinancing, and home equity loans through an independent licensee. It can be found on the Web at http://www.priceline.com.

In order to more fully leverage its end-to-end technology platform, GHR Systems, Wayne, Pa., has launched a mutlilender wholesale origination website for brokers called BrokerOneSource.The new site will compete with a number of other industry sites dedicated to helping brokers and lenders connect, such as Ellie Mae's ePass Business Center, eMagic, and LION, as well as traditional desktop loan origination systems such as Calyx, Contour, Genesis, BYTE, and others. GHR says its offering will be different because it will allow the broker to access real-time pricing and product eligibility before it submits the loan to the lender. "For the first time, brokers have a centralized transaction platform on the Internet that offers the full capabilities of a desktop LOS as well as seamless connectivity to lenders and services," said Steve Jordan, product manager for BrokerOneSource. The product will also offer lender tools and pipeline management tools for brokers. Currently, two wholesale lenders are on the site. GHR plans to start adding brokers sometime in mid-July. More information can be found on the Web at http://www.brokeronesource.com.

LION Inc., Seattle, has announced the introduction of a new version of its LION Pro Internet software that boasts enhancements to its pricing and productivity features.LION has added programs and pricing for 29 wholesale and correspondent lenders to its lender pricing database, which now includes 12 of the top 15 correspondent lenders in the United States (based on 2002 origination volumes), the company said. The new version incorporates additional search parameters, such as FICO scores and prepayment penalties, and the company has merged its productivity and management tools into a common interface to enable customers to more easily manage leads, rates, users, and websites, LION said. "By adding tools for midsize and large mortgage companies, along with the ability to quote correspondent and risk-based pricing, we've expanded this product's potential market to over 100,000 originators," said David Stedman, LION's president and chief executive officer. The company can be found online at http://www.lioninc.com.

Under a new deal between DataSynapse Inc., New York, a provider of self-managed grid computing software, and HanoverTrade Inc., Edison, N.J., the latter company's Hanover/Busch Analytics will be grid-enabled through DataSynapse’s GridServer application operating environment.Similar to server farms, where a distributed network of computers works together to handle complicated processes, the GridServer will permit calculations within Hanover/Busch Analytics to be distributed to hundreds of CPUs it manages, reducing the time it takes to value loans. HanoverTrade, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., said it already has one customer on the jointly offered platform. It declined to name the company, saying only that it is "one of the largest financial institutions in the world." The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.datasynapse.com and http://www.hanovertrade.com.

A new program introduced by E*Trade Group Inc.'s E*Trade Mortgage, Menlo Park, Calif., will enable consumers to lock in an interest rate now and transfer it to the next home they purchase, instead of paying off the old loan and applying for a new loan at potentially higher rates.The company says its Mortgage on the Move program will only be available for a limited time, but will be offered nationwide. E*Trade said it expects this program to drive overall purchase-money product volume for E*Trade Mortgage. While popular in Canada, the concept of a portable mortgage has yet to catch on in the United States, though homebuilders hope that it will. After refinancing into a lower-interest-rate loan, borrowers are often hesitant to trade up to a larger home if it means paying a significantly higher interest rate on their next loan. This often translates into slower new home sales. E*Trade can be found on the Web at http://www.etrade.com.

Rock Holdings, the parent company of Quicken Loans and Rock Financial, has filed applications with federal banking regulators to operate "Rock Bank" as an FDIC-insured, community and Internet-based bank.The bank, to be headquartered in Michigan, will capitalize on Quicken's success in online lending, said Dan Gilbert, chairman of Rock Holdings. "We are thrilled that we will soon be able to offer an array of traditional banking products to our loyal customer base, backed by great customer service and the convenience of online banking," he said. Quicken Loans will become a subsidiary of Rock Bank.

Despite its cyclical nature, the mortgage lending business is really a growth industry, the chief executive officer of Fidelity National Information Solutions told an FNIS conference May 28."It may be cyclical, but it’s more growth than cycle," Patrick F. Stone said at the Valuation Innovation & Leadership Summit in Laguna Beach, Calif. The audience of about 150 was made up of mortgage lenders, settlement services providers, technology vendors, consultants, and the news media. The company hosted the summit to discuss issues surrounding collateral valuation, but Mr. Stone assured attendees that it would not be a "commercial" for his firm, which offers a number of products and services, including automated valuation models. FNIS, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., is a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, which can be found online at http://www.fnf.com.

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Irvine, Calif., which owns approximately 66% of Fidelity National Information Solutions, Santa Barbara, Calif., has announced a proposal to acquire all the remaining outstanding shares of FNIS.The proposal represents a fixed exchange ratio of 0.805 shares of FNF common stock for each share of FNIS, the companies said. Based on FNF's closing price of $38.36 on May 23, the proposed offer price would total $24.70 per share of FNIS, a 25.4% premium to the latter's closing price of $19.70 on that date. "With FNF's recent acquisition and the formation of Fidelity Information Services, we believe it makes strategic sense to fully integrate FNIS back into FNF," said FNF president Raymond R. Quirk. "FNIS can better capitalize on the significant technology resources of FIS, and we can provide more cohesive technology solutions to our customers by combining all our resources at FNF." The companies can be found online at http://www.fidelitynational.com and http://www.fnis.com.

James W. Horne, a former chief information technology officer with the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, has been named manager of the technology consulting division of Mortgage Dynamics Inc., McLean, Va.Mr. Horne was most recently vice president for electronic financial services at Wave Systems Corp. He was previously vice president and chief IT officer at the MBA and president and chief operating officer of the MBA's electronic commerce and business technology subsidiary, Lender Technologies. "Technology is quickly becoming the most prominent differentiator in the mortgage industry, allowing technology-savvy companies to gain significant ground on their competitors," said Mary Bruce Batte, a managing director at Mortgage Dynamics. "Our clients want to identify and implement the most beneficial technologies, and that has been Jim's focus for the past few years." The company can be found online at http://www.mortgagedynamics.com.