Technology

Lender Support Systems Inc., Poway, Calif., has announced the availability of Docs3D, which it termed the company's next-generation loan document creation software.The Web-based application helps streamline the mortgage closing process through a simplified tool that performs accurate annual percentage rate, payment, impound analysis, and high-cost calculations, LSSI said. "We developed Docs3D to provide lenders with a fully compliant, fast, and accurate document preparation solution that seamlessly interfaces with virtually all existing [loan origination systems]," said Cary Burch, president and chief executive officer of LSSI. The software uses standards for all required formats and offers required disclosures for all 50 states, the company said. The announcement was made at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Chicago. LSSI can be found online at http://www.lendersupport.com.

HomeTeam, Seattle, says it plans to start beta testing of a first-time homebuyer online portal in November.In an interview conducted at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Chicago, Lisa Oelsner, HomeTeam's vice president of platform strategy, told MortgageWire that the important thing is that the portal will provide "trusted, unbiased content" to the consumer. It will have a link to HomeTeam University, its service to educate consumers about how to select the partners they do business with. But besides the portal, she said, HomeTeam will also do live seminars. HomeTeam is most famous for its syndicated television show, which provides a home to deserving people. The show is starting its second 26-week season. Eric Gorrell, president and chief executive of HomeTeam, explained that consumers need information about the beginning of the homebuying process.

Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp., New York, has announced the launch of a new website at an address that the company says "more accurately depicts the breadth of its offerings."The name of the new site is MIACAnalytics.com. MIAC was founded in 1989 by Wall Street veterans Bob Husted and Paul Van Valkenburg to provide whole-loan and mortgage servicing rights hedge advisory and valuation services. Since then, the company's services have evolved to include valuation, accounting and risk management services, secondary systems, and strategic asset sales. "The scope of our products and services has broadened such that it no longer makes sense for us to position ourselves solely on the servicing side of the business," said Mr. Van Valkenburg. MIAC said it serves as an outsourced project manager for 150 financial institutions across the country. MIAC's original website can still be found online at http://www.servicing.com. The new website can be found at http://www.miacanalytics.com.

Santa Ana, Calif.-based Veros has announced the release of VeroSelect 2.0, a collateral management system that the company says delivers unprecedented capabilities to the lending industry.VeroSelect 2.0 "has redefined collateral management by providing unlimited features, options, and control within a customizable and well-designed user interface," Veros said. The intelligent, automated risk management platform gives lenders control of collateral risk strategies with the secure selection, acceptance, and management of services, vendors, users, and their own proprietary business processes, Veros said. "Lenders understand collateral risk and have the right policies in force inside their institutions, but the vast majority lacks a management system capable of dynamically administering those policies consistently across the enterprise," said Darius Bozorgi, chief executive officer of Veros. "VeroSelect 2.0 gives lenders the power to manage their [automated valuation models, broker price opinions], and appraisals all from one scalable platform." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.verovalue.com.

Dublin, Calif.-based Ellie Mae has launched Encompass Banker Edition, a version of its Encompass Mortgage Automation System designed specifically for mortgage bankers.Encompass Banker Edition incorporates both front-end customer relationship management and loan processing capabilities along with the back-end loan fulfillment functionalities required by small to midsize correspondent mortgage lenders, mortgage bankers, community bankers, and credit unions. The new product leverages the customer relationship management, loan origination, loan processing, electronic document management, business intelligence, and integrated settlement services network capabilities of Encompass Professional edition, Ellie Mae said. To meet the back-end needs of mortgage bankers and lenders, Encompass Banker Edition incorporates an integrated loan fulfillment solution that includes underwriting, closing, funding, secondary marketing, and shipping. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.elliemae.com.

To further solidify its position in mortgage technology, IBM has announced an agreement to acquire New Jersey-based Palisades Technology Partners, a privately held provider of services and technology to the mortgage lending industry.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to be completed before the end of the year. PTP provides strategic consulting, systems integration, and a comprehensive Web-based multichannel lending platform. The firm's clients include five of the world's top 10 lenders. IBM said the acquisition leverages PTP's place as an established provider of mortgage lending solutions, its industry expertise, and its process know-how to enhance IBM's ability to provide "transformational solutions" for the finance and banking industries. Based on a service-oriented architecture, PTP's Impact Lending Suite operates on an open architecture that offers lenders the flexibility to embed their own business policies and existing technology within a standard processing platform, IBM said. The companies can be found online at http://www.ibm.com and http://www.ptpusa.com.

Del Mar Database, a unit of Fiserv Inc., has announced the introduction of SourceTrac, a customizable consumer-direct lending portal that allows lenders to provide better customer service to borrowers and improve lead generation capabilities.SourceTrac is integrated with DataTrac, Del Mar's flagship product, the company announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Chicago. The company said SourceTrac enables small to medium-size lenders to compete for business against larger, more technologically sophisticated lenders. The portal can be used for online mortgage loan applications and for communicating with borrowers during the loan process. The company can be found online at http://www.delmardb.com.

Fidelity National Information Services, Jacksonville, Fla., introduced its new PropertyTaxDirect online service Oct. 23 at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Chicago.Eric Swenson, president of Fidelity National's mortgage outsourcing and information services division, said the new product is available to the escrow officer at the point of sale. The closer can get an instantaneous quote guaranteeing the customer receives correct tax district data at closing. This makes for a happy borrower, and that leads to repeat business, Mr. Swenson said. In a statement, FNIS tax services president Bill McCreary said tax service data previously had to be obtained manually. With the new system, information such as "the number of 'escrow months to collect' based on servicing requirements" can be obtained, he said. The information then flows seamlessly into the servicing system. PropertyTaxDirect is in an XML format and can integrate with any stand-alone loan origination system, Fidelity said. FNIS can be found online at http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

Experian Group Ltd., Costa Mesa, Calif., has brought its Hunter fraud detection product to the United States, the company announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Chicago.The product has been available in the United Kingdom for the past 10 years. It was originally developed to combat mortgage fraud, but has expanded to other credit applications as well, KC Akerman, senior product manager of Experian Fraud Solutions, told MortgageWire. It has not been introduced in the United States until now because Experian redesigned it from a client-based application, and it is now available as a hosted application. Its primary use is to catch application fraud in the prefunding stage by looking for red flags using a customized rules engine. It can use both shared and third-party data that the user has access to, Ms. Akerman said. In the U.K., she noted, users of Hunter share data findings with each other as part of their fraud prevention efforts.

AllRegs, an online publisher of reference information for the residential mortgage lending industry, has launched AllRegs Academy, an education division that will offer classroom and Web-based courses, audio conferences, and MortgageMentor practical guides.Companies can purchase an annual site subscription to the program except for classroom courses, for which students register individually, the Eaton, Minn.-based company said. AllRegs Academy's offerings include: classroom courses featuring expert instruction, peer interaction, and the use of AllRegs regulatory analyses; distance learning, offering self-study and instructor-led online courses beginning in winter 2007; audio conferences consisting of a 90-minute conference call led by industry experts; and MortgageMentor, searchable online how-to guides on a given topic with direct links to the regulations. The company can be found online at http://www.allregs.com.