Technology

First American CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif., is offering current and potential clients a "2X mortgage fraud guarantee." The guarantee claims users will identify twice the level of potential fraud using First American CoreLogic's fraud detection technology than when using technology from any other fraud solutions vendor, or the trial period will be free. The guarantee states lenders will save twice as much in fraud losses and that the savings will be at least twice as much as the cost of the solution. First American CoreLogic will work with clients to develop either a production trial or retrospective testing program for measuring its patented pattern-recognition anti-fraud technology. If the fraud-detection technology doesn't identify a minimum of twice the loss savings over products from its competitors and deliver a 200% return on investment during the measurement time period, the cost of scoring the loans will not be charged.

Vital Financial has named long-time mortgage technologist Cy Brinn as a principal. Previously, he was the president of Metavante Lending Solutions. Going forward, using Mr. Brinn's market knowledge, Vital will find, analyze and structure private equity and venture capital investments in areas including mortgage technology. Mr. Brinn is also a finalist for the 2009 Mortgage Technology magazine Steve Fraser Visionary Award, which goes to a technology visionary and evangelizer. The award ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 11, at the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association being held San Diego.

Nations REO Inc., a division of Foreclosure Management Co., located in Overland Park, Kan., has chosen to use DepotPoint Inc.'s TrackPoint platform to power its REO workflow and property management operations. The TrackPoint platform allows Nations REO to scale on demand, improve its operational efficiency and lower its total cost of managing properties for its clients, the company said. The REO application is one of a set of default management applications offered by DepotPoint. The applications are used for short sales, foreclosure and loan modification. Large mortgage lenders, servicers and private equity firms work with Nations REO to scale their businesses to dispose of the growing number of bank-owned foreclosure properties.

Mortgage technology vendor Fiserv Inc., has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Loan Fulfillment Solutions business to ISGN Solutions Inc., Bensalem, Pa., for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close within 30 days. Fiserv said it does not expect the transaction to have a material impact on its financial results. LFS provides financial institutions outsourced home equity loan fulfillment services, including broker price opinions, closing and settlement services, valuation services, flood and title certification, home retention and loan modification solutions, portfolio and vendor management solutions, and related services. Despite recent mortgage technology divestitures, Fiserv contends that it is still "committed to providing best-in-class lending solutions." On the other hand, ISGN continues to acquire added mortgage technology applications and services. ISGN specializes in mortgage lending technology and solutions, including fulfillment services, title and default management.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and LoanSifter have integrated to offer lenders the ability to customize disclosures. The new integration will enable users of LoanSifter's integrated 1003 mortgage application to generate standard and customized initial disclosure documents through Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Disclosure Manager, and then electronically deliver them to borrowers for e-signature. The platform also gives financial institutions the option of completely and securely outsourcing the printing and mailing of paper disclosures when needed or requested by the borrower through Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' mail fulfillment center. Because Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Disclosure Manager platform automatically generates compliance documentation for LoanSifter's lenders, they can eliminate the regulatory requirement burden associated with determining which documents are required for a specific transaction and jurisdiction.

Pricing and decisioning vendor Mortech Inc., Lincoln, Neb., has settled a lawsuit with online mortgage comparison site LendingTree. LendingTree filed a federal lawsuit against Mortech, seeking an injunction preventing the company from collaborating with Google on a competing service. In the lawsuit filed in Charlotte, N.C., LendingTree claimed Mortech had violated an exclusivity agreement by working with Google. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, and both companies would not comment on the dispute resolution. A call to Google about the suit also had not been returned at deadline. Mortech Inc. has no connection to industry research firm MORTECH LLC, Guilford, Conn.

LoanSifter, a Web-based loan product eligibility and pricing tool, has expanded its offering given the shift from broker to banker, to include LoanSifter Banker Edition to help automate backend processes. LoanSifter Banker Edition is a single product eligibility and pricing solution for bankers, credit unions and community banks. The product includes an automated rate sheet generator, a wholesale/third-party originator Web portal, an online 1003 mortgage application, and an upcoming bulk-pricing tool. These features expand on the original LoanSifter solution, consisting of a secondary pricing engine, scenario rate alerts and monitoring, custom e-mail rate campaigns, open house flyers, website quoting, and lead auto-quoting.

The use of knowledge qualifiers in representations and warranties by originators, sponsors and issuers of mortgage-backed securities may be one of the reasons residential MBS investors remain wary of the market, according to Digital Risk, Maitland, Fla. The analytics and advisory company has asked the American Securitization Forum, which is in the midst of a project aimed at restoring investor confidence in the market, to issue a guideline recommending against their use. The knowledge qualifiers, which limit what the parties involved represent to have information about, discourage thorough risk mitigation policies and procedures, Digital Risk said.

In response to the DocMagic lawsuit filed against Ellie Mae, the origination vendor says that it is "surprised and very disappointed that DocMagic has taken these drastic actions." Ellie Mae asserts that DocMagic opted to terminate service and displace its own customers, abandoning a preplanned 60-day orderly transition. Ellie Mae says the agreements between both parties were set to expire on September 1, 2009. Further, Ellie Mae says on April 28, 2009, DocMagic notified Ellie Mae that it was opting to end its Reseller Agreement with Ellie Mae. On May 21, 2009, DocMagic was also informed that Ellie Mae had decided not to renew the outdated terms of its ePASS Agreement with DocMagic. Ellie Mae proposed new terms for their agreement with DocMagic. However, DocMagic did not respond, according to Ellie Mae, and instead decided to stop servicing mutual clients and file the lawsuit. DocMagic did not respond by deadline.

Equi-Trax Asset-Solutions, Santa Barbara, Calif., is offering a service designed to provide clients with a way to quickly scan their portfolios and identify properties currently on the market that could be potential short sale, loan modification, portfolio retention or origination opportunities. The new Current Listing Search is designed primarily for use by servicers but Equi-Trax chief executive officer Guy Taylor said it also could serve as a source of sales leads for originators if the borrowers involved are moving. He said the search provides information as soon as it is available on multiple listing services. It draws on data from about 72% of multiple listing services in the country, which the company said represent most major Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Data available includes contact information for brokers that can be imported into servicers' contact databases on properties. Mr. Taylor said he believes the new service improves on alternatives such as other services that offer less extensive information, or borrower contact that may involve offering borrowers home valuation data in exchange for information about their future real estate plans.