Technology

Fidelity National Information Services' LSI has announced the national launch of Closing Stream, a Web-based closing system for mortgage refinance and home equity lending transactions.LSI said a recently concluded pilot project confirmed that the patent-pending system reduces loan cycle time, enhances borrower experience, and ultimately increases lender revenue. With Closing Stream, LSI "controls the entire closing process," eliminating the need to coordinate third-party providers, the company said. Borrowers can schedule their closing early in the application process and, since the method is chiefly Web-based, they can participate in the transaction from any geographic location, according to LSI. Before the scheduled closing, LSI sends copies of the closing documents to the borrower via overnight delivery, and the borrower is responsible for returning one signed and notarized document. The returned document is combined with the original documents, and at the closing the borrower logs into the Closing Stream system and dials a toll-free number to connect with an LSI closing representative, LSI said.

Del Mar Database, San Diego, and Integrated Loan Services have teamed up to offer a co-branding strategy to allow small to medium-size lenders that use Del Mar's DataTrac to have access to ILS's QuickClose.QuickClose is an alternative to traditional title insurance that can reduce the time required to close a loan by up to 14 days, according to ILS. DataTrac is a back-end origination tool that, when combined with a POS, can offer a best-of-breed origination platform, Del Mar says. Both companies are owned by Fiserv. Del Mar can be found on the Web at http://www.delmardb.com.

Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif., has announced the release of ePASS Express, a utility designed to keep Calyx Point users connected to its participating lenders despite the threat of LoanBridge.San Jose, Calif-based Calyx Software released LoanBridge to control the interfaces its Point users have with lenders to ensure that they work with the company's new DataServer product and that outside companies aren't writing unauthorized interfaces. ePASS Express is an application the size of an instant messenger that runs alongside Point to make it possible for users to connect to participating ePASS lenders without having to exit Point, according to Ellie Mae. The application is free, can be downloaded and operational in seconds, and gives the user access to ePASS lenders. It also allows the user to create custom links to lenders or third-party services that don't participate with ePASS, and includes market data, news, and frequently asked questions, Ellie Mae said. Further product information can be found on the Web at http://www.epassexpress.com.

MortgageFlex Systems Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has upgraded its WebConsumer component to its current version of the LoanQuest Residential Lending System, to allow users to get real-time loan status.The upgraded Web component, based on .NET Web technology, enables consumers to shop lenders’ programs, rates and fees and move that information directly into what the company calls a “mini-application” fed to the RLS system. Consumers also can input personal information at their chosen speed. Key features of the WebConsumer component for lenders include: seamless integration with RLS, loan information from the consumer website to RLS, setup information from RLS to the consumer website, turnkey application run at lender or vendor location, ability to customize look and feel (color, logos, etc.), online documentation adjustable to meet individual requirements, extends existing website functionality, and quick implementation, the company said. MortgageFlex can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgageflex.com.

St. Cloud, Minn.-based Bankers Systems has formed an alliance with MeridianLink, Costa Mesa, Calif., to offer credit unions electronic documents.Under the terms of the agreement, MeridianLink will offer credit union clients that utilize its loan origination system, LoansPQ, Bankers Systems' electronic documents. MeridianLink has integrated Bankers Systems' documents into LoansPQ for common client deployment. Bankers Systems can be found on the Web at http://www.bankerssystems.com and MeridianLink can be found at http://www.meridianlink.com.

The Appraisal Institute and the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization have announced the formation of an alliance aimed at developing common data standards that bridge the valuation and mortgage lending industries.The standards will result in "the accelerated adoption of electronic commerce by all participants in the real estate and capital markets," the organizations predicted. In conjunction with the alliance, an open standard has been created for describing and commonly identifying a residential property at each step of the loan process. "MISMO recognizes that the systemic changes under way in the capital markets only increase the need for efficient data interchange," said Doug Duncan, president of the nonprofit MISMO and chief economist of its parent organization, the Mortgage Bankers Association. "This alliance with the Appraisal Institute spans both the commercial and residential industries and will provide both sectors with the framework for the electronic delivery of appraisal-related information." MISMO is the standards development body for the real estate finance industry. The organizations can be found online at http://www.appraisalinstitute.org and http://www.mismo.org.

Spending on mortgage technology increased 14% in the past year, according to the second annual Mortgage Bankers Association Technology Study.Study participants spent an average of $156 per loan application and $250 per closed loan on origination-related technology costs. In addition, those that serviced loans spent an average of $25 per loan on servicing-related technology costs, the MBA reported. About 75% of 2004 technology spending (operating expense before depreciation, plus capital expenditures) was dedicated to origination functions and 25% to servicing functions. Of 2004 technology spending, 73% was baseline maintenance (required in order to continue conducting business), while the remaining 27% was discretionary (needed to improve functionality and performance). Regulatory and compliance obligations accounted for 9% of technology budgets. Looking ahead, participants expect their technology budgets to increase by 5% over the next year. The participants represented approximately 20% of the U.S. mortgage origination market, according to the MBA. The association can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Automated valuation methods are immune to transactional pressures, according to a white paper issued by the Collateral Assessment and Technologies Committee of the Real Estate Information Professionals Association.REIPA said the study found that biases in full appraisal value opinions are sometimes pronounced, and consistent with allegations of transactional pressure placed on appraisers by originators. While AVMs have a lesser tendency to overstate values, they are not as accurate as full appraisals. But the overvaluations that come from a full appraisal are more highly correlated with mortgage default risk than are the overvaluations from AVMs, the study found. "High-quality AVM systems are proven solutions that are capable of bringing incremental objectivity, consistency, and controls to collateral valuation and risk assessment processes in our evolved and modern marketplace," said the white paper's author, Terry Loebs, senior vice president at Fiserv Inc. and a member of CATC's Executive Committee. "They can do so in an efficient and cost-effective fashion that even the best-intended appraisal industry reforms or new regulations may be hard-pressed to match." The paper, "Systemic Risks in Residential Property Valuations: Perceptions and Reality," was presented at REIPA's Annual Predictive Methods Conference in Newport Beach, Calif.

Housing bubbles in the United States are following the Don Ho model, showing up only as "tiny bubbles" in local U.S. markets, according to two keynoters at the Predictive Methods Conference in Newport Beach, Calif.However, Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and David Lereah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, disagreed on economic growth. Mr. Duncan differed with Mr. Lereah's characterization of the current 3.5% pace of U.S. economic growth as anemic, arguing that the Federal Reserve Board has said this pace is the highest the economy can sustain without inflation. Mr. Duncan, delivering the conference's June 28 keynote address, predicted that 30-year fixed mortgage rates would not reach 7% till mid-2007. Mr. Lereah was the previous day's keynote speaker at the annual conference, which is sponsored by the Real Estate Information Professionals Association. REIPA can be found online at http://www.reipa.org.

Triad Guaranty Insurance Corp., a subsidiary of Triad Guaranty Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., has joined the BlitzDocs Certified Underwriting Provider Program.The certification allows Triad to review and underwrite electronic files directly from lenders using BlitzDocs systems from Alpharetta, Ga.-based Advectis Inc. To become certified as a BlitzDocs Certified Underwriting Provider, Advectis said a company must have a minimum of six trained BlitzDocs underwriters on staff, be a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association, demonstrate a core competency in underwriting, offer contract underwriting services to customers, and comply with basic interface requirements. Advectis can be found on the Web at http://www.advectis.com.