Technology

ComplianceEase, a San Francisco-based provider of regulatory compliance and risk management systems, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with GMAC Residential Funding, Minneapolis.The partnership will establish an automated compliance application available in the marketplace by combining ComplianceEase's ComplianceAnalyzer with GMAC Residential's Assetwise Compliance Engine. GMAC Residential's lender partners will now be able to run audits on both applications simultaneously, addressing all federal, state, and municipal laws and regulations, as well as GMAC Residential's specific guidelines, the companies said. As part of the new alliance, GMAC Residential will integrate its technology platform with ComplianceAnalyzer, ComplianceEase's proprietary intelligent decisioning system. Both companies will jointly market the solution to GMAC Residential's approved sellers, as well as prospective customers. The companies can be found online at http://www.complianceease.com and http://www.gmacrfc.com.

Canadian technology vendor Filogix Inc. and Fidelity Information Services, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. based in Jacksonville, Fla., have partnered to deliver an integrated end-to-end mortgage processing system in an application service provider environment.Under this alliance, Filogix provides mortgage underwriters with the technology to source mortgage products and services, as well as the underwriting and processing technology necessary to complete the process. FIS provides the end-to-end servicing system, facilitating management of the entire mortgage process. In related news, Paradigm Quest, a Canadian financial institution, has signed on to implement the product. Filogix can be found on the Web at http://www.filogix.com, and FIS can be found at http://www.fnf.com, http://www.fntg.com, and http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com.

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., has named Jeffery W. Yabuki president, chief executive officer, and a member of the board of directors effective on or before Dec. 1.Mr. Yabuki will succeed Leslie M. Muma, who is retiring as president and CEO but will continue in a consulting capacity to the company until June 30, 2006, and as a director until the 2006 Fiserv annual meeting. Mr. Yabuki joins Fiserv from H&R Block Inc., where he spent six years and served as executive vice president and chief operating officer since 2002. In that role he had oversight of the domestic and international tax businesses, e-commerce activities, and the financial services business units operating under the H&R Block brand, as well as marketing, information technology, compliance, and corporate development. He also served on H&R Block's Planning & Policy Committee. Fiserv can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com.

Lancaster Mortgage Bankers, a wholesale lender based in Warren, N.J., is deploying Mozart AUS, an automated underwriting application by Overture Technologies, Bethesda, Md."We're leveraging Overture's Mozart AUS to produce our own proprietary underwriting engine for use within our website," explained Elliot Salzman, Lancaster's president and chief executive officer. "We expect to be able to increase volume by 20%-30% while keeping the same number of staff." Mozart AUS offers Lancaster the ability to automatically price, select, and underwrite all conforming and nonconforming loans, including alternative-A, subprime, and interest-only products. The application is expected to be fully operational by early 2006. Overture can be found on the Web at http://www.overturetechnologies.com.

SouthBanc Mortgage has selected the Platinum Data cascading automated valuation platform as a cost-saving tool for delivering property valuation reports.Herndon, Va.-based SouthBanc Mortgage is a subsidiary of SouthBank, a federal savings bank headquartered in Huntsville, Ala. SouthBanc Mortgage comprises 80 loan officers and originates various residential loan products throughout the United States. Platinum Data Solutions offers a configurable AVM platform that enables SouthBanc users to quickly reference previously ordered AVMs for any properties within their account. Platinum Data can be found online at http://www.platdata.com.

San Jose, Calif.-based Calyx Software and Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif., have resolved their dispute in Calyx's lawsuit against Ellie Mae.In a joint statement, both companies described the settlement as "mutually beneficial in allowing both companies to focus on serving their respective customers." As part of the confidential settlement, Ellie Mae agreed to pay Calyx an undisclosed sum. The companies added that "Calyx and Ellie Mae are distinct companies, each with their own products and services to offer to the mortgage industry. Any confusion in the marketplace regarding this distinction is not desirable. Certain statements attributed to Ellie Mae in the past implying affiliation between Ellie Mae and Calyx have been inaccurate." The companies can be found online at http://www.calyxsoftware.com and http://www.elliemae.com.

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena, Calif., the holding company for IndyMac Bank FSB, has reported earnings of $79.3 million ($1.18 per share) for the third quarter under generally accepted accounting principles, compared with $49.7 million ($0.78 per share) a year earlier.IndyMac produced a record $17.0 billion of mortgage loans in the third quarter, up 64% from the level of a year earlier, the company said. "Taking out the $0.05 per share costs related to the Gulf Coast hurricanes, IndyMac's earnings would have been $1.23 per share, our best ever on an operating basis, exceeding the $1.21 per share operating run rate we reported last quarter," said Michael W. Perry, IndyMac's chairman and chief executive officer. The mortgage pipeline totaled a record $8.9 billion as of Sept. 30, up 39% from that of a year earlier, the company said. IndyMac can be found online at http://www.indymacbank.com.

Fiserv Lending Solutions, Brookfield, Wis., has announced that it is incorporating electronic document presentment and signature and the automatic scheduling of closings into its UniFi PRO Mortgage eX loan origination system.The company said the system will enable lenders to electronically present loan documents directly to borrowers and closing agents via a secure website and allow borrowers to sign their loan documents online. John Tenuta, division president of Fiserv Lending Solutions, said UniFi PRO's electronic processes are designed to protect privacy and ensure security, using encryption and multiple layers of authentication. "With this integration, Fiserv delivers single-vendor access to electronic processes directly through the loan origination system," Mr. Tenuta said. Lenders previously required "extensive integration of multiple providers and disparate technology" to provide the same functionality, Fiserv said. The company also announced that Mid America Bank is now leveraging the UniFi PRO system's integration of the Nautilus Enterprise Content Management system to compress loan processing time. Fiserv said the bank is now able to obtain an appraisal from an outside appraiser in minutes instead of the 24-48 hours formerly required. In other Fiserv news, the company said its MortgageServ loan servicing system has been instrumental in enabling GMAC Mortgage to expand its subservicing relationships by 50% over the past year. Fiserv Lending Solutions can be found online at http://www.fiservlendingsolutions.com.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has released a white paper encouraging mortgage industry institutions to protect personal information and recommending steps to ensure its protection.The white paper, "Protecting Personal Information: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly," discusses the benefits of identifying, assessing, and protecting personal information and the implications of failing to do so. "This white paper will help firms that collect consumer-based personal information to be proactive in safeguarding it and establishing good, trusting relationships with customers," said Kieran Quinn, the MBA's vice chair and chairman of Column Financial Inc. In addition, the MBA said the Information Security Workgroup of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, a nonprofit subsidiary of the association, will issue a follow-up white paper that is more technical in nature. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., and Lewtan Technologies Inc., Waltham, Mass., have announced the launching of a Thornburg website on mortgage-backed securities that uses Lewtan's ABS Discloser analytic tool.The website provides detailed collateral-level performance data for $13 billion in Thornburg MBS transactions, the companies said. The new site also incorporates ABS Discloser's static pool tracking capabilities that reveal how delinquencies, losses, and prepayments develop over time for a discrete group of loans. The new website can be accessed by selecting the MBS Performance tab at http://www.thornburgmortgage.com. Lewtan can be found online at http://www.lewtan.com.