Technology

Three companies from the credit reporting sector -- Bixby Consulting, Fair Isaac Corp., and Gallagher Financial Systems Inc. -- have completed the compliance certification process under the recently launched MISMO XML Compliance for credit reporting, according to the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization.MISMO said MXCompliance allows implementers of its Internet-based XML standards to reference requirements and take steps toward becoming officially compliant, as well as validate their XML. There are three types of MXCompliance services: verification, import, and export. Verification is a service for businesses interested in purchasing certified products and services from organizations that are certified as MISMO-compliant. For a nominal fee, the verification service ensures that vendor products and services have maintained compliance with the products that were MXCompliance-certified. The import and export services are used by applicants seeking certification of their product or service interfaces under MISMO standards. MISMO is a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

In using mortgage keywords to get high search-engine ratings, Internet specialists like E-Loan and LendingTree continue to make a strong showing against big banks like Wells, Chase, and Citi, according to Novato, Calif.-based SEMphonic, a search engine analytics firm.For the top 50 mortgage-relevant keywords on both Yahoo and Google, SEMphonic's MarketScan tool showed E-Loan and LendingTree ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The top 10 companies were: eloan.com, lendingtree.com, bankrate.com, lowermybills.com, quickenloans.com, nextag.com, mortgage101.com, comparefreequotes.com, homestore.com, and interest.com. These top 10 companies made up 38% of all paid and unpaid mortgage keyword listings showing up on Yahoo and Google. Countrywide and Bank of America ranked No. 13 and No. 14, respectively.

RealEC Technologies, a Houston-based electronic exchange for mortgage fulfillment transactions, has announced that its business recovery preparations are expected to ensure minimal, if any, interruption in service if Hurricane Rita makes landfall near its main data center in Houston.RealEC said it has fully engaged its established business continuation plan, including the deployment of several teams to Dallas, Austin, Texas, and Santa Ana, Calif. "These teams have been organized to respond immediately should the data center operations need to be redirected to RealEC's redundant data center in Austin, Texas," the company said. RealEC added, however, that such a redirection is not expected because its Houston facility includes an on-site generator, flood controls, and redundant Internet connections. The company can be found online at http://www.realec.com.

To serve its 5,000 loan officers in 600 offices nationwide, Houston-based Allied Home Mortgage has picked Seattle-based Entellium's Pro-Activity customer relationship management product over Salesforce and other leading CRM products.An Allied spokesperson cited ease of use and low cost of ownership as reasons for picking Entellium. Pro-Activity automates user-selected reports and instantly sends pre-formatted and merged documents, such as contracts, proposals, invoices, and follow-up materials, to designated contacts. Entellium says the product is the most user-centric CRM system on the market, backed by 43,000 hours of usability research. Allied, the nation's largest privately held mortgage company, handles as many as 12,000 loans per month.

Fidelity National Information Services' Hansen Quality, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. based in Jacksonville, Fla., has launched HQ FraudID report, an automated fraud screening tool with a focus on identity fraud.HQ FraudID report searches over 70 potential risk indicators to determine the level of risk associated with each potential borrower. This includes multiple verifications of the borrower's name, address, Social Security number, and phone number, as well as other pertinent information. The results of the verifications are summarized and assigned an Identity Fraud Score, which indicates the severity of risk factors detected for identity theft, intentional misrepresentation, fraud, or elevated credit risks. The Fidelity family of companies can be found on the Web at http://www.fnf.com.

Buffalo, N.Y.-based Appraisal.com and ACI, Palm Coast, Fla., have worked together to develop what they say is a seamless bridge between ACI's appraisal desktop software and the Appraisal.com National Appraisal Network.Real estate appraisers who use ACI or Lighthouse-enabled appraisal software can now process, retrieve, and provide status updates on appraisal orders from Appraisal.com's Nationwide Appraisal Network without leaving their desktop, the companies said. Appraisers using this new technology can prepare and process reports and upload completed appraisals with both a traditional portable document format (PDF) and a full Extensible Markup Language (XML) data stream directly into the Nationwide Appraisal Network for delivery and storage. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.appraisal.com and http://www.aci.com.

Ocwen Financial Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla., has announced the introduction of 24-hour due diligence services to mortgage-backed securities investors on a loan-by-loan, mini-bulk, bulk, and portfolio basis.Ocwen's due diligence facility receives physical files from mortgage originators and uses high-speed scanners to image all documents. "The combination of Ocwen's 24-hour global workforce, document imaging capabilities, and advanced workflow management technology enables us to complete the due diligence processes in record time with less expense and greater accuracy," said Ocwen president Ron Faris. "This shaves days -- if not weeks -- off the traditional paper due diligence process and raises the bar on customer service." Mr. Faris said Ocwen's imaging capabilities, workflow management, and Six Sigma process design "allow us to multi-task on a single file, eliminating bottlenecks and speeding the entire process."

First American subsidiary Loan Performance has announced SecondLook, a new tool aimed at mortgage lenders and investors worried about undetected second loans and piggy-backs.Backed by the data-collection might of First American, SecondLook offers one-time, monthly, or quarterly monitoring of additional liens to uncover the existence of post-origination second mortgages, the company said. It also makes available a daily update of new liens with alerts to servicing and portfolio managers with the monthly or quarterly monitoring service. SecondLook combines the resources of LoanPerformance's home equity line of credit and second-lien loan database with First American RES's property database, which covers 97% of all real estate transactions in the United States, according to the company. First American's companion product LienWatch provides holders of junior liens with an automated method for monitoring a first lien's delinquency status. The company can be found online at http://www.loanperformance.com.

As Fiserv held its client conference in Las Vegas, the company announced that Fiserv Lending Solutions' CredStar has entered into an alliance with Boston-based PCi Corp. to integrate several of PCi's Wiz systems with WebStar, CredStar's credit services platform.The Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv said the combined offering is expected to streamline processes for wholesalers using CredStar with Fiserv's easyLender and UniFi LOS systems. The alliance also promises to reduce steps for brokers submitting loans to lenders using CredStar. The PCi functionality available to CredStar customers includes: geocoding, edit checks, and validation of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data using FFIEC error-checking logic, flood zone determinations, and identification of high-cost loans before they are funded. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com and http://www.pciwiz.com.

McCracken Financial Software, Billerica, Mass., has announced the acquisition of the DealCentral origination system from Atlanta-based MortgageRamp for an undisclosed amount.McCracken said DealCentral streamlines the origination process for commercial loan packages. The company said it plans to integrate the software with its Strategy commercial loan servicing system, enabling the transfer of underwriting and asset information into Strategy and eliminating the costs of duplicate data entry. "The commercial finance industry has been asking for a robust, single-vendor solution that can manage the entire loan life cycle," said McCracken president Noel Webster. "Now they have one." OfficeTiger, a New York-based professional support services firm, recently announced an agreement to acquire MortgageRamp, which is slated to become the Global Real Estate Division of OfficeTiger. The companies can be found online at http://www.mccrackenfs.com, http://www.mortgageramp.com, and http://www.officetiger.com.