Technology

Advectis Inc., Alpharetta, Ga., has released BlitzDocs Collaboration Suite, an application that provides a collaborative network for mortgage brokers, correspondents, lenders, investors, and other third parties.The product line includes BlitzDocs Enterprise, BlitzDocs Deliver, and BlitzDocs Connector. BlitzDocs Enterprise provides lenders with electronic document collaboration, enabling all participants in the mortgage industry to capture, submit, organize, underwrite, audit, share, and archive loan documents electronically, the company said. BlitzDocs Deliver enables investors or correspondent buyers to provide their correspondent sellers with the ability to transmit closed loan documents electronically. Advectis can be found on the web at http://www.advectis.com.

The venture capitalists are back, and they are looking hard at the mortgage and real estate sectors."This is a great time to be an entrepreneur in real estate and mortgage," Mark Sherman, a partner in Battery Ventures, said at Real Estate Connect in San Francisco, a conference that seeks to marry the real estate and technology businesses. "We're very excited about the mortgage business especially," said Mr. Sherman, whose firm recently provided funding for Loan Page, an online lead generation firm for brokers and lenders. "The capital markets are very active." The venture capitalists cautioned investors not to be worried about a real estate market slowdown -- or worse. "Look through the downturn," he advised. "The real estate market has decades of legs to it, so look at the long term." He also predicted that "numerous changes" in technology platforms are ahead, and said current incumbents are open to start-ups and new programs. The next wave of new technology is being driven by consumers who are turning more and more to the Internet, he added. "There has been a huge shift in consumer behavior," he told the meeting. "Everyone is now using the Web to start and sometimes conclude high-dollar purchases."

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has announced the approval of a new property dataset.Specifically, the Core Data Workgroup with MISMO has given the green light to the Property Reporting Specifications, version 2.32. The approval of the Property Standard is the first step toward establishing a standard for describing a real estate property from its inception at origination through the entire financial process, ending with county recorders, according to MISMO. The specifications are available on the Web at http://www.mismo.org/mismo/specs_232.cfm. MISMO can be found at http://www.mismo.org.

Mortgage Cadence, a Denver-based origination vendor, has released a new imaging module within its loan origination system.The product, available as an add-on module, enables Mortgage Cadence clients to capture, store, and manage data. Mortgage Cadence said it views the development of this imaging module as a necessary step toward electronic mortgages, while also responding to increased demand throughout the industry. The implementation of the module also allows Mortgage Cadences to extend its ACE business rules management engine. ACE Actions can be created to automatically insert records into document tracking, insert tasks to review documents, update loan status, and notify users of new documents when they arrive. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagecadence.com.

Live Data Group Inc., the Boca Raton, Fla.-based operating company for Foreclosure.com, has acquired the www.preforeclosure.com URL and the development of a new Preforeclosure.com website.Scheduled to launch in the fall, the new Preforeclosure.com website will offer subscribers a database of residential preforeclosure listings, as well as access to a database of foreclosure, bankruptcy, for-sale-by-owner, and distressed properties, according to the company. "With the launch of the new site, we will empower Preforeclosure.com users with the same simple access to property listings that our subscribers have come to expect from us," said Brad Geisen, president and chief executive officer of Live Data. "Adding the URL to our family of websites will allow us to cater to a new set of real estate consumers who are specifically searching for an online resource that provides detailed information on properties in the preforeclosure stage."

Fidelity National Data Services, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., has updated its Lead Locator to make it more searchable for users.Lead Locator is an online lead generation application designed to provide mortgage refinancing leads based on client specifications. The updated system now offers more searchable data elements, supporting a highly targeted approach to lead generation, according to Fidelity. Standard search criteria include: mortgage characteristics, market value, property and ownership characteristics, geographic area, available equity, and the loan-to-value ratio, which is a new feature. In addition to new LTV search capabilities, Lead Locator now enables originators to search by an implied interest rate as well. Fidelity can be found on the Web at http://www.fnf.com, and the updated Lead Locator can be found at http://www.sitexdata.com.

First American Default Technologies has launched an updated version of its VendorScapeCMS default management technology.Version 3.0 of the case management software includes an enhanced screen layout that allows users to access more data at one time, a redesigned navigation system that helps users locate relevant data faster, and more work queues to locate and address the most urgent tasks, the company said. The original version of VendorScapeCMS was launched in 2003. First American Default Technologies, Anaheim, Calif., is a unit of the First American Corp., which can be found on the Web at http://www.firstam.com.

Scott Kinnaird has been named chief executive officer of a la mode inc., an Oklahoma City-based developer of software and online services for the real estate and mortgage industries.Celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, a la mode said the company's growth spurred the move, along with the naming of Sean Shiplet to the newly created post of chief operating officer and the opening or expansion of several offices. Mr. Kinnaird was most recently a la mode's chief strategy officer. Company founder and former CEO David Biggers will retain the role of chairman and will focus on new product, market, and strategic project development, a la mode said. Mr. Shiplet was previously the company's executive vice president of sales and customer support. In addition, a la mode announced that a regional sales and training center was recently opened in Orlando, Fla., and that its Salt Lake City development office and its legal affairs office in Washington, D.C., have been expanded. The company can be found online at http://www.alamode.com.

LION Inc., Seattle, has announced key management changes in two of its mortgage-related businesses.Kristi Angell has been hired to run Mortgage 101, LION's lead generation business, and Sern Clementson has been promoted to president of Tuttle Risk Management Services, a LION subsidiary that provides mortgage pipeline risk management services. Mr. Clementson will also head up LION's capital markets business segment. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.lioninc.com.

ComplianceEase, San Francisco, has launched 4506Xpress, an electronic income verification system designed to help lenders detect income exaggeration by borrowers and comply with requirements for investors in the secondary mortgage market.The product streamlines quality-control procedures associated with reducing application fraud, the company said. "The prevalence of income exaggeration in the marketplace requires mortgage originators to quickly and accurately verify the borrower's income through government records," said David Girling, executive vice president of ComplianceEase, a division of LogicEase Solutions Inc. "By delivering electronic transactions and Web-based file management to the income verification process, 4506Xpress helps lenders accelerate loan closing and reduce overall costs and risk." The company can be found online at http://www.complianceease.com.