Technology

Fidelity National Information Services launched FIS Desktop -- an enterprise workflow, document and expense management offering -- at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo.FIS Desktop provides mortgage lenders, servicers and investors with technology to manage the post-origination loan cycle from loan acquisition and boarding through loss mitigation and real estate-owned property disposition. "Like many industries, mortgage servicing operations struggle to integrate multiple, function-specific technology solutions across the enterprise," said Greg Whitworth, president of the FIS recently formed Loan Portfolio Solutions division. "A lack of integration among workflow, imaging and expense management applications typically created silos in an organization, making it virtually impossible to respond to market trends," he said. Mortgage Corp., one of the first mortgage servicers to use the integrated components of FIS Desktop, indicated it is experiencing increased efficiency and significantly reduced operating costs as a result of the platform's document and electronic invoice management capabilities.

RealtyTrac, the Irvine, Calif.-based online marketplace for foreclosure properties, is partnering with Williams & Williams, an auctioneer of U.S. real estate including foreclosed properties, to host a national database of bank-owned property auctions.The move gives buyers and real estate investors hundreds of opportunities to purchase bargain real estate using the process of auction vs. traditional property sales. The properties, all being auctioned by Williams & Williams, will be located under the Auction tab of RealtyTrac and updated daily. Along with an opening bid, sale date, time and location, the details for each property include a phone number and e-mail address for Williams & Williams so that members can contact the auction company with any further questions about the property. Members can also link to the Williams & Williams website for the full terms and conditions of each auction.

A U.S. subsidiary of the Amsterdam-based Wolters Kluwer has purchased Desert Document Services Inc., an origination technology provider based in Tempe, Ariz.Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, has hired DDS chief executive officer Ruth Thompson and DDS chief operating officer Joe LaBonty as senior principal and director of operations, respectively, for its line of business serving wholesale and correspondent mortgage originator clients. Wolters Kluwer said it also plans to use DDS's Tempe office for that business line's home base and make it a complement to its Troy, Mich.-based VMP product line serving the retail mortgage industry. In addition, DDS's back-end document technology applications will complement Wolters Kluwer's VMP X4 front-end document preparation platform from its previous acquisition of Entyre, according to Wolters Kluwer. Wolters Kluwer can be found on the Web at http://www.wolterskluwer.com.

DepotPoint, Bellevue, Wash., has launched a tool to reduce foreclosure risk, offering lenders a way to closely monitor and get automatic notification of default events.The company's latest addition to its Web-based systems, the TrackPoint Lien Monitoring Alert Service, allows lenders to automatically monitor all lien foreclosures, tax defaults, and bankruptcy filings -- all events that can compromise the timely payment of a loan and increase the chance that a lender's portfolio may suffer considerable financial loss. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.depotpoint.com.

Up to 70% of mortgage early payment defaults can be linked to fraud, according to a new study by BasePoint Analytics, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based provider of fraud scoring software.The study, aimed at probing the link between fraud and payment trends in the early life of a loan, found that loans with "egregious misrepresentations" on the loan application were up to five times more likely to default in the first six months than other loans. "Many lenders are facing increases in repurchase requests and early payment defaults," said Tim Grace, president and chief executive of BasePoint. "We can demonstrate for lenders and investment banks how they can substantially reduce their EPD losses, and often within a short period of time." The company can be found online at http://www.basepointanalytics.com.

To help attorneys handle a mounting volume of foreclosed properties amid the tangle of state regulations, Bellevue, Wash.-based DepotPoint has introduced "the mortgage industry's first fully integrated intelligent foreclosure regulatory knowledgebase."Leveraging an automatic document-processing system embedded directly into the TrackPoint suite, this newest enhancement is designed to help attorneys remain in compliance with state foreclosure laws and manage processing foreclosure property files more efficiently, DepotPoint said. TrackPoint receives regular electronic communications from each jurisdiction detailing any changes to regulatory guidelines and updates the knowledgebase to reflect these modifications. Privately held DepotPoint was founded by technology veterans from InfoSpace and Microsoft, plus experienced trustees from national foreclosure firms. It can be found online at http://www.depotpoint.com.

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has acquired Go Apply, a provider of online mortgage leads based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for an undisclosed amount.FNRES is a majority-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc., a provider of title and other specialty insurance. "Go Apply will provide a tremendous platform to deliver consumer traffic to Cyberhomes.com, a newly created [FNRES] real estate portal that generates leads by offering home evaluation tools to consumers," said William P. Foley II, FNF's chairman and chief executive officer. The companies can be found online at http://www.fnf.com and http://www.goapply.com.

Root Markets Inc., the New York-based lead-exchange platform whose chairman is mortgage veteran Lew Ranieri, has acquired LeadROI, a provider of mortgage lead and customer relationship management systems headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. "Together, Root Exchange and Root LeadROI offer unparalleled technology and customer service in the new era of acquiring and managing leads," said Marcia Myerberg, chief executive of Root Markets. "The Root Exchange allows lenders and brokers to immediately diversify their lead sources and be assured they are paying fair market prices." Ms. Myerberg said Root LeadROI "picks up where the Root Exchange leaves off," enabling the companies to offer "unique end-to-end solutions designed to close the loop between lead generation and lead conversion and enhance the value of purchased leads." Lead aggregators who participate on LeadROI will be able to be sellers on Root Exchange. The companies can be found online at http://www.rootexchange.com and http://www.leadroi.com.

After an 18-month implementation of a loan origination system, Wachovia was on hand at the 10th Annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference in Tempe, Ariz., to share helpful hints on how to undertake the process successfully.Steve Daniels, senior vice president and director of business technology at Wachovia Mortgage Corp., noted that time is the biggest enemy in LOS implementations. Wachovia works with 15 vendors to formulate its origination strategy, with one core LOS at the center. Mr. Daniels stressed the importance of creating a steering committee that includes at least one representative from the technology vendor; assigning a dedicated program administrator to every task to keep things moving; knowing the nature of one's competitive advantage before selecting a vendor; holding the vendor accountable for everything in the request for proposal submitted during the due-diligence process; and understanding that an LOS implementation is a business process that senior management has to "own." Mr. Daniels also maintained that a cost/benefit analysis should be done on every change, and that each change should be evaluated on its own merit and how it affects any past or expected changes. Wachovia can be found online at http://www.wachovia.com.

When nonprime lender Aegis Lending selected Intellidyn for mortgage lead incubation, it knew that GM Mortgage was already putting up some remarkable conversion numbers with leads that generally go in the trash can.At the 10th Annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference, Intellidyn senior vice president Gene Devine presented statistics showing exponentially improved click-through and conversion rates on cold leads with the system created for GM Mortgage. Now Hingham, Mass.-based Intellidyn Corp. is creating a custom lead-incubation system for Aegis leveraging a multichannel database system and state-of-the-art analytics. Forrest Young, director of marketing and business development at Aegis Lending, characterized lead incubation as a "must-have" tool for direct lenders. "We do a fair amount of second-effort and recycle marketing programs successfully," he said, "but lead incubation marketing is a longer-term initiative that works differently to drive our prospects back to us when they are ready and in the market." Aegis Lending can be found online at https://www.debtunderoneroof.com, and Intellidyn can be found at http://www.intellidyn.com.