Technology

The first version of an electronic mortgage guide has been released by the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association.Version 1.0 of the MISMO eMortgage Guide "is intended to be an executive-level guide addressing all aspects of eMortgage implementations -- key concepts, benefits and ROI, legal background, and industry best practices for the various steps of an e-mortgage implementation," said Igor Derensteyn, vice chair of MISMO's eMortgage Workgroup and senior vice president of e-mortgage technologies at Countrywide. The guide provides an overview of e-mortgages, including key industry standards, the legal framework, guidance for best practices, and sources of additional information. The product was developed by the eMortgage Workgroup, which was established in January 2001 to develop standards, specifications, and guidelines for paperless mortgages that correspond to federal legislation enacted in 1999 and 2000. MISMO can be found online at http://www.mismo.org.

GMAC Residential Funding, Minneapolis, has entered into an agreement with ComplianceEase that will integrate GMAC Residential Funding's Assetwise Compliance Engine with ComplianceEase's ComplianceAnalyzer.The companies said the integration will create "one of the most comprehensive" compliance systems available. "In addition to auditing loans addressing certain federal, state, and local mortgage loan laws, mortgage lending partners will be able to evaluate their loans against GMAC Residential Funding's specific guidelines regarding 'high-cost' or similarly designated mortgage loans prior to closing the loan," GMAC Residential said. GMAC Residential is a unit of Residential Capital Corp. ResCap and Compliance Ease can be found online at http://www.rescapholdings.com and http://www.complianceease.com.

Kroll Factual Data Inc., Loveland, Colo., and Stewart Mortgage Information Co., Houston, have announced an agreement to integrate Kroll's operations with Stewart Mortgage's title insurance products and services.The technology interface agreement will give Kroll Factual Data, a subsidiary of the Kroll Inc. global risk consulting company, a full range of title products and related mortgage settlement services, the companies said. Under the agreement, Kroll clients will be able to initiate title orders through its Web-based technology platform. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.krollfactualdata.com and http://www.stewart.com.

The first MISMO Staff Appreciation Award has been presented to Ted Adams, director of industry standards at Freddie Mac and chair of the Core Data MISMO Workgroup.Gabe Minton, vice president of industry technology at the Mortgage Bankers Association, lavished praise on people like Mr. Adams during the presentation at the 92nd annual MBA convention. "We would not be where we are today without these heroes," he declared. The award is hand-picked and ratified by the board of MISMO -- the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization -- to recognize a member that has contributed to the standards effort above and beyond the call of duty. Next year, two staff appreciation awards will be given out, one for residential and the other for commercial. MISMO can be found online at http://www.mismo.org.

Dynatek, an origination vendor based in Livonia, Mich., has announced that it has received credit response and reporting certification from the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization.The compliance program was developed to demonstrate which technology vendors are truly compliant and which just say they are. As part of a panel at the Mortgage Bankers Association's 92nd annual convention, the MBA's vice president of industry technology, Gabe Minton, told the crowd that if a vendor says it is compliant, but its name is not on the MISMO website, then the certification is pending at best. At worst, the vendor is misleading the industry into believing it is compliant. As the compliance program expands, more certifications will be developed to test other parts of the process beyond credit and mortgage insurance. Dynatek can be found on the Web at http://www.dynatek.com.

Cincinnati-based eLynx Ltd., a provider of electronic information management systems for the financial industry, has announced the introduction of a service designed to expedite the workflow for creating and reviewing HUD-1 settlement sheets.HUD-1 Check "virtually eliminates discrepancies and errors associated with the HUD-1 documents by providing a simple and secure interface which allows lenders and closers to review, correct (if needed), and approve HUD-1 statements online in a matter of minutes without incurring the costs or delays associated with paper, printing, and faxes," eLynx said. The new service creates an audit trail of each transaction and provides settlement agents with verified HUD-1 acceptance before closing. The announcement was made at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in Orlando, Fla. The company can be found online at http://www.elynx.com.

The latest version of LoanQuoter, the online origination service of Mishawaka, Ind.-based Data-Vision, will automatically feed back the Desktop Underwriter stipulations complete with a brandable website and recommendations on how to proceed.The new online tool also uses Fannie Mae's revised 1003 application. In addition, it includes action log viewing, greater control via more drop-down menus, increased system variables, and enhanced broker or correspondent upload functionality, the company said. Data-Vision made the announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in Orlando, Fla. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.d-vision.com.

A partnership between Dublin, Calif.-based Ellie Mae and Miami-based E-Ops has formed the Encompass Processing Network to allow users to completely outsource loan processing.Ellie Mae said it believes the industry needs to focus more on volume and productivity and less on technology, and therefore more companies will be interested in outsourcing as much of the process as possible so they can concentrate on their core competencies of lending and generating business. Processors will submit a loan to E-Ops for processing seamlessly through Encompass in two mouse clicks. All relevant data and documentation will be added for processing, the brokerage will get e-mail status updates, and the completed loan will be automatically fed back to Encompass at the end of the mortgage cycle, Ellie Mae said. The companies can be found online at http://www.elliemae.com and http://www.eops.cc.

The Mortech 2005 study forecasts that mortgage industry technology expenditures for 2005 will record a "very healthy" 8% increase over those of the previous year, to $3.6 billion.This 18th Mortech study finds mortgage lenders optimistic about expanding their businesses and heavily targeting subprime borrowers as they adopt management-by-modeling capabilities for fraud detection and collateral valuation. Mortech principal Jeff Lebowitz finds lenders broadly focused on reducing human interaction with loan files to reduce errors and shorten cycle times in mortgage originations. Guilford, Conn.-based Mortech LLC publishes its study annually based on scientific surveys of over 300 lenders. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.mortech-llc.com.

Flagstar Bank, Troy, Mich., has announced the general availability of its Digital Document Transfer platform and specification for electronic document exchanges through six mortgage technology companies.The six companies partnering with Flagstar are Advectis Inc., Investor Purchase and Delivery Services Inc., Pyramid Solutions Inc., Stewart Mortgage Information, Tradewinds Mortgage Document Preparation Co., and VirPack. The partners have enhanced their electronic document management products or services to allow for the creation or acceptance of SMART (securable, manageable, archivable, retrievable, and transferable) documents and electronic packages that conform to the DDT specification, Flagstar said. The specification is based on the SMART document format established by the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization. Flagstar can be found online at http://www.flagstar.com.