Technology

Following its February release of e-Point 3.2, GreenPoint Mortgage, Novato, Calif., is poised to launch a commercial lending version that will enable brokers to originate small commercial loans in the $500,000 to $5 million range.Originally built using Dorado's Wholesale ChannelMaster and PriceMaster products, e-Point will be slimmed down to offer a smaller set of commercial loan options. Beginning in July, GreenPoint's approved brokers will be able to go to GreenPoint's wholesale site and be guided through the commercial loan application from point of sale to close, the company said. GreenPoint can be found on the Internet at http://www.greenpointmortgage.com.

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has sent a proposal to two majority-owned firms -- Fidelity National Information Services Inc. and Fidelity National Title Inc. -- that would result in the creation of two independent public companies.Under the proposal, FNF would totally divest itself of FNIS through a series of transactions. These include the sale of Sedgwich CMS Inc. to FNT in exchange for stock in FNT; the spinoff of FNF's ownership position in FNT to FNF shareholders, leaving FNF's ownership stake in FNIS as its only asset; merging FNF and FNIS, with FNIS as the surviving entity; and finally, renaming FNT as FNF and trading under that ticker symbol. "While we were hopeful that the holding company structure, with FNF having ownership stakes in public and private operating subsidiaries, would allow for a simpler valuation of the pieces of FNF, that simply has not proven to be the case, as the market has meaningfully discounted the value of FNF in relation to the sum of its parts," said William P. Foley, chairman and chief executive of FNF and chairman of FNIS and FNT. Mr. Foley said FNF's majority stake in the other two companies "limits the public float for each company, which may be significantly shrinking the universe of eligible shareholders" for FNT and FNIS and "limiting the trading liquidity, and thus the valuation" of the companies' stock.

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena, Calif., has reported earnings of $80 million ($1.18 per share) for the first quarter, up 26% from $63 million ($0.98 per share) a year earlier, and record mortgage volume of $20 billion.IndyMac touted the record loan production, which was up 72% from the level of a year earlier, and said it had doubled its market share to 3.89%. "In the first quarter, we deployed a total of $509 million of our capital in our mortgage production divisions, an 83% increase over last year," said Michael W. Perry, IndyMac's chairman and chief executive officer. "However, given mortgage industry margin pressures and our lower-margin conduit operations comprising a higher percentage of our production volume, the [return on equity] on this capital declined from 97% last year to 51% this quarter, still a strong return on our capital." The mortgage pipeline totaled a record $10.4 billion as of March 31, up 39% from that of a year earlier, the company said. IndyMac, the holding company for IndyMac Bank FSB, can be found online at http://www.indymacbank.com.

In its latest effort to regain market share from piggyback mortgages, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Walnut Creek, Calif., has introduced a mortgage calculator that will take a first mortgage, along with some mortgage insurance options, and compare it with a first mortgage combined with a second.The new tool, the eCompare Calculator, is Web-based for use by mortgage brokers and Realtors. Piggyback mortgages, also known as 80-10-10 mortgages, have made inroads as an alternative to mortgage insurance. "The eCompare Calculator shows us that market economics are changing," said David Katkov, executive vice president of sales, field operations, and product development at PMI. "In 2004 and 2005, we were in a unique economic environment, with record low interest rates and very high home price appreciation. In that environment, a piggyback, interest-only loan or option ARM may have offered a lower payment than a fixed-rate loan with mortgage insurance. Today, with interest rates going up and home price appreciation slowing, mortgage insurance is almost always competitive and is often the better deal for the consumer." PMI can be found on the Web at http://www.pmigroup.com.

Atlanta-based ebank Financial Services Inc., a thrift holding company and the parent of ebank, has announced an agreement with Madison Mortgage Corp. to establish ebank Mortgage LLC, an Internet-based mortgage lender.The new lending operation plans to originate first and second mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit via the Internet beginning on or around June 1, ebank Financial said. "By launching ebank Mortgage LLC, we'll have the opportunity to leverage ebank's Internet banking technology and federal charter by combining it with Madison Mortgage Corp.'s processing and servicing infrastructure to become a highly competitive mortgage lender across the entire country," said Lou Barrette, president of ebank Mortgage. The new company is 51% owned by ebank and 49% owned by Madison Mortgage. The parent company can be found online at http://www.ebank.com.

Fiserv Lending Solutions, Brookfield, Wis., has implemented its UniFi PRO loan operating system at Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp.Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage will be integrating the UniFi PRO operating system into its BearDirect.net online platform to produce subprime, alternative-A, and piggy-back loans, Fiserv reported. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Cos., Bear Stearns Residential is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., and originates loans in 29 states. During the implementation process, UniFi PRO's PowerTools and Automated Task Engine were used to customize screens and workflows, as well as write business rules to minimize human intervention throughout the loan process and minimize data entry. Fiserv can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com.

In May, WMC Mortgage, now a GE company, will launch a pre-qualification program that loan officers can access on their BlackBerrys and other hand-held devices.Already launched internally for use by WMC account executives, pre-quals will soon be offered to its approved brokers. The Woodland Hills, Calif.-based subprime wholesaler will start tracking conversions from pre-quals to actual submissions and funded loans once it is pushed out to the loan officers. For a test ride, go to http://www.wmcmortgage.com/prequalm. (If the screen looks strange, that's because it was designed for a personal digital assistant instead of a personal computer.) WMC Mortgage can be found online at http://www.wmcdirect.com.

United Communications Group, Rockville, Md., a provider of business information, tools and guidance, has formed a strategic partnership with Westlake Village, Calif.-based LoanToolbox, a provider of educational and marketing tools for mortgage originators.LoanToolbox said the transaction will enable it to leverage UCG's 28 years of experience in product design and development, direct marketing, content creation, software, and other areas in order to expand its core business. UCG delivers products to mortgage bankers and brokers, as well as to business professionals in other areas of finance, health care, technology, and other industries. LoanToolbox's online community offers an Internet-based application that combines interactive content aligned with the business needs and objectives of originators, loan officers, and real estate financing consultants. LoanToolbox can be found on the Web at http://www.loantoolbox.com.

Englewood, Colo.-based TeleTech Holdings Inc. and LenderLive, a Glendale, Colo.-based mortgage fulfillment provider, have entered into an exclusive partnership that brings a global delivery network to LenderLive's operations.LenderLive and TeleTech, a business process outsourcing provider of customer management and transaction-based processing systems, offer their combined services to retail and wholesale channels and mortgage conduits, allowing lenders to increase the speed and efficiency of their current processing services and converting lenders' fixed costs to variable costs. The multiyear partnership agreement includes mortgage origination, fulfillment, processing, and portfolio protection. LenderLive and TeleTech also generate integrated sales reports that span from original lead generation to close of sale. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.teletech.com and http://www.lenderlive.com.

ComplianceEase, a San Francisco-based provider of automated compliance and risk-management systems, has been selected by ICBA Mortgage, a subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America, as the Premier Value Provider for anti-predatory/high-cost lending compliance solutions.As a designated ICBA SmartLender Services Premier Value Provider, ComplianceEase offers member community banks the opportunity to automate their compliance needs by using the company’s ComplianceAnalyzer, an automated mortgage compliance application. Specifically, ComplianceAnalyzer automates regulatory compliance procedures, allowing community banks to comply with all federal, state, and municipal legislation.