Technology

LoanToolbox, Westlake Village, Calif., has signed an alliance agreement with Carson, Calif.-based Document Systems Inc., a developer of mortgage technology for compliant loan document preparation and customer contact management solutions.Under the agreement, LoanToolbox will make DSI's LoanMagic broker point-of-sale software available free for one year to new LoanToolbox subscribers. LoanMagic, developed in 2000, is the first fully integrated mortgage customer contact management system designed to meet the needs of loan officers, LoanToolbox said. The built-in loan program analysis tools allow loan officers to instantly create and e-mail side-by-side comparisons of any of the 10,000 loan programs already built into the system. Connections embedded in LoanMagic allow easy access to Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter, Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector, and over 190 of the nation's credit report suppliers, LoanToolbox said. LoanToolbox can be found online at http://www.loantoolbox.com, and Document Systems can be found at http://www.docmagic.com.

Clayton Holdings Inc., a provider of information-based analytics and consulting based in Shelton, Conn., has announced the introduction of Clarity, a new system that it terms "the next generation in due diligence."The system gives loan buyers/securitizers "greater insight into the risk profile of portfolios" at the time of purchase, a projection of losses, and new options to reduce potential losses, the company said. Clarity uses a predictive approach that incorporates Clayton's proprietary risk-filter technology built on data collected in its surveillance of more than $1.5 trillion of subprime and alternative-A mortgage-backed securities. Unlike traditional due diligence, which reports on whether loans meet an acquirer’s guidelines, Clarity scores individual loans and the overall portfolio for credit, compliance, collateral, and estimated loss risk, Clayton said. Third-party data and technology can also be integrated into the process to assess collateral and fraud risk. "Clarity can help issuers identify the riskiest loans, better target due diligence efforts, and project and reduce prospective losses," said Keith Johnson, president and chief operating officer of Clayton. The company can be found online at http://www.clayton.com.

ValuFinders Inc., a provider of valuation services based in Culver City, Calif., has introduced a service that helps originators comply with a Department of Housing and Urban Development Mortgagee Letter regarding accountability and fraudulent appraisal reports.The service, called Appraisal Concierge, was unveiled at the Mortgage Bankers Association convention in Boston. Under HUD Mortgagee Letter 2007-11, dated Sept. 6, 2007, lenders will share responsibility with the appraiser if a poor or fraudulent appraisal leads the FHA to insure a loan at an inflated amount. "Lenders and brokers will soon be just as responsible for fraudulent and deficient appraisals as the appraiser," said Joe Williams, chief executive of ValuFinders. "Our system is an independent portal that acts as a 'middle man' in accepting orders and facilitating the deliverables back to the lender." Appraisal Concierge is described as an outsourcing database that lets lenders and brokers order appraisals through the Web. The system randomly selects an appraiser from a pool. "This service bypasses communications between lenders or brokers and appraisers," assuring appraiser independence, Mr. Williams said.

A new credit management tool from CreditXpert, Towson, Md., introduced at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention allows lenders to quickly and cleanly assess the impact of authorized user accounts on a borrower's credit score, the company says.Billed as an answer to the controversial practice known as "piggybacking," the firm's authorized user filter includes a two-step analysis of a borrower's credit file, first considering authorized user accounts and then excluding them, so lenders will know their effect on a credit score. An authorized user can be a spouse or a child added to a credit card user list, but firms have recently popped up to "rent" such status to the accounts of strangers to boost the scores of those with poor credit or no credit. One borrowed credit card account can boost a score by up to 45 points, according to a leading "rental company." CreditXpert estimates that 30% of credit files have at least one authorized user -- two or three are common, says managing director David Chung -- and six of every 10 of those will have a credit score change when accounts are removed in the scoring process. With CreditXpert AU Filter, Mr. Chung says lenders "can identify the borrower's true risk at a glance." The company can be found online at http://www.creditxpert.com.

The 8th annual Mortgage Technology Awards were presented Oct. 14 by Mortgage Technology magazine in conjunction with the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in Boston.The 10X Award for technology making an "exponential impact" on mortgage lending went to Wolters Kluwer Financial Services for combining its business units to be "a comprehensive source" for a lender's outsourced regulatory compliance needs. The Lasting Impact Award, for developing technology that has proved its worth over time, went to Gabe Minton for "evangelizing on behalf of industry standardization." The Release of the Year Award, to a company launching a product or initiative likely to have the broadest impact on mortgage lending, went to Deal Maker Score for offering a scientific analysis tool that enables originators to offer a customized plan on how borrowers can achieve a target credit score. The Steve Fraser Award, which goes to an outstanding mortgage technology innovator, visionary, or evangelizer, was presented to Scott Cooley of Cooley Consulting for creating the first loan origination system. Winners of other awards, and those who received commendations in all categories, will be posted soon on the Mortgage Technology website.

Nine Wall Street dealers plan to invest $180 million in Thomson Financial's TradeWeb platform, which handles mortgage-backed securities trades as well as other fixed-income and derivative deals.The dealers that have agreed to buy a minority stake and participate in TradeWeb are: Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS. Thomson and the dealers also separately agreed to fund an expansion of the platform.

Intellidyn Corp. has picked the Mortgage Bankers Association convention in Boston to announce the release of three new marketing models to let mortgage lenders target FHA-qualified homeowners.The models offer to boost response rates by 347% for Federal Housing Administration purchase and refinance lending. The models help originators "accurately identify and market to homeowners who are both credit-qualified and most likely to respond to their FHA-specific offers," the company said. According to the announcement, early adopters report that Intellidyn's FHA-Prospect Targeting Models are delivering direct mail response rates over 1.25%, compared with the industry's overall rates of 0.35%-0.50%. Intellidyn said the models were developed "to help mortgage lenders market FHA Secure and Streamline refinance products, as well as target specialty niches, such as adjustable loan holders and Hispanic subprime borrowers that are now FHA-eligible." The company can be found online at http://www.intellidyn.com.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has announced the addition of the Foreclosure Prevention Resource Center to its consumer education site, HomeLoanLearningCenter.com.The center is part of the MBA's effort to advise those who face trouble making their loan payment to contact their loan servicer as soon as possible to determine whether an alternative to foreclosure may be possible based on the borrower's financial and employment status. The bilingual site includes a listing of major loan servicers and their contact information as well as a guide to "Things to Know When You Contact Your Lender" so distressed borrowers can have an informed discussion with their servicer. "The sooner a borrower who is having trouble contacts his or her servicer, the more options they may have to make alternate arrangements," said MBA president and CEO Jonathan L. Kempner. The MBA's consumer education site can be found online at http://www.homeloanlearningcenter.com.

MoneyNowUSA.com, an online loan service based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has announced the introduction of a subprime personal loan to help borrowers catch up on mortgage payments.The new product will allow borrowers to take out unsecured four-year loans for up to $15,000 at annual percentage rates ranging from 5% to 20%. "Flexible underwriting allows consumers with bad credit to get cash even if they are currently behind on their housing payments," MoneyNowUSA.com said. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.moneynowusa.com.

First American LoanPerformance, a San Francisco-based provider of residential mortgage data and analytics, has announced major enhancements to TrueStandings Securities, a Web-based business intelligence platform that provides loan-level access to the company's mortgage securities database.The company said the enhancements include a new in-progress period reporting function offering the earliest view of performance and prepayment information on 80% of active pools up to 12 business days earlier than previously possible. Improvements also include a bulk export capability enabling faster and more detailed analysis of up to two gigabytes of loan-level data, and a lookup tool for finding securities that match a specific CUSIP number. First American LoanPerformance said its database contains over $2 trillion worth of mortgage transactions representing 85% of active nonagency securitized mortgages. The company can be found online at http://www.loanperformance.com.