Technology

The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has announced the promotion of Roger Hull, the company's chief information officer, to executive vice president.The company said the promotion came in recognition of "the key role [Mr. Hull] has played in developing and integrating First American's technology and business strategies," specifically the First American Web Services offering that now provides the backbone for delivering First American's products, services, and processes. Before joining First American, Mr. Hull's 25 years of information technology experience included serving as senior technology officer for Coldwell Banker from 1992 to 1998, when he took on that same role for First American Title Insurance Co. Mr. Hull was the subject of a feature interview in the January/February 2005 issue of Mortgage Technology magazine, a MortgageWire affiliate.

To expand its wholesale lending initiative and help its originators price loans more efficiently, Chicago-based Guaranteed Rate has picked MortgageHub's LoanFactory decisioning, product, and pricing engine and Wholesale Internet Lending applications.Conshohocken, Pa.-based MortgageHub offers a Web services platform to deliver Internet-based systems for wholesale, retail, and servicing functions. Guaranteed Rate will use the wholesale system to start serving 100 brokers immediately, with the intention of expanding to 500 by year-end, the company said. The MortgageHub wholesale system offers to eliminate costly paper, fax and phone communications between wholesaler and broker. Guaranteed Rate can be found online at http://www.guaranteedrate.com.

Myers Internet, San Jose, Calif., has released the latest version of its online loan application."Customers that visit our client websites can now not only complete an application online, but also print the application and disclosure documents and fax or mail them into their company," said Myers chief executive officer Warren Myer. "The disclosure documents are pre-populated with information from the loan application." A new calculator for consumers to determine their monthly income has also been added. The update will be delivered free to all existing clients and will be a part of Myers' Executive, Standard, and Automated website packages. Myers, which hosts 5,000 mortgage websites, can be found on the Web at http://www.myers.com.

ERS Group, Knoxville, Tenn., has announced the release of software tools to help financial services firms determine their regulatory compliance guidelines under various pieces of mortgage-related federal legislation.The Web-based RiskExec is designed to help financial firms improve productivity by reducing their data management burdens and enhancing communication among their compliance team members, the company said. It consists of software tools "developed specifically for financial services firms and their management teams covering [Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Community Reinvestment Act], and high-cost loan analyses," said Cary Collins, a principal at ERS Group. "We help clients better manage regulatory and compliance risks by monitoring their ongoing lending processes and by providing appropriate compliance and executive-level reporting on these processes." The company, a subsidiary of Dallas-based SourceCorp, can be found online at http://www.ersgroup.com.

Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Experian-Scorex has announced the release of ScoreRight, a credit simulation tool.ScoreRight provides a side-by-side comparison of an applicant's credit information from all three credit reporting agencies, a tradeline level view of the applicant's accounts, and the ability to simulate credit-related actions to help educate applicants about what they need to do to help their credit rating, the company said. Experian-Scorex can be found on the Web at http://www.experian-scorex.com.

Wholesale Access Mortgage Research & Consulting, Shaker Heights, Ohio, has released preliminary results of its Mortgage Brokers 2004 Study.The study found that all brokers accounted for 68% ($1.8 trillion) of last year's total origination activity, and that the mean brokerage firm produced $32 million, with an average of 8.7 employees. The study also found that conforming loans accounted for 46% of brokers' volume; that the most-used wholesalers are Countrywide, for conforming loans, and National City, for subprime loans; and that brokers in general are heavy users of technology, which has allowed them to reduce their firm size and still keep their volume up. The completed study will be available in late July. Wholesale Access can be found on the Web at http:/www.wholesaleaccess.com.

The nation's first offshore, around-the-clock electronic mortgage processing service has been announced by Miami-based E-OPS.The company said originators fax, upload, or enter data into the E-OPS Web-based system and offshore processors handle all pre-closing processing tasks. E-OPS said it is the first contract processing company to provide online virtual access to customer files with real-time feedback between the loan officer, customers, and third parties. For its offshore processing, E-OPS has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Wipro BPO, a business unit of Wipro Technologies. "We are processing loans approximately 40% faster than any other available alternative thanks to around-the-clock processing, skilled processors, and cutting-edge technology," said Joe Machado, chief executive officer at E-OPS. "Wipro BPO is a key element of our strategy, and we're impressed with their understanding of our business and ability to optimize the process to drive down costs and turnaround time." The companies can be found online at http://www.eops.cc and http://www.wipro.com.

Fiserv Lending Solutions has announced that Albuquerque, N.M.-based Charter Mortgage has selected Fiserv's UniFi PRO Mortgage eX loan origination software system to extend its relationship with Fiserv and embrace the electronic mortgage.Lyle Greenberg, Charter's vice president of mortgage operations, said the company found itself needing to take better advantage of modern technology, especially in the areas of databases, the Internet, and integration with other systems and services. Charter Mortgage is New Mexico's largest mortgage company and is the only company originating and servicing residential and commercial mortgages in the state.

The Prime Alliance Services, Minneapolis, has reported the successful implementation of its Loan Fulfillment Center in six credit union customers.The Loan Fulfillment Center, a Web-based mortgage fulfillment system, has been successfully deployed at Boeing Employees' Credit Union, Bellco Credit Union, and Bethpage Federal Credit Union and will shortly be implemented at Wright-Patt Credit Union, Lockheed Federal Credit Union, and America First Credit Union, Prime Alliance said. In related news, Prime Alliance Services Co., a partnership between Dexma, Inc. and Prime Alliance Solutions, also reached an agreement with The First American Corp. to offer title insurance and services to Prime Alliance members. A key feature of the Loan Fulfillment Center is its integration with external partners involved in the mortgage process, enabling credit unions to take advantage of preferred pricing on mortgage services negotiated on their behalf, according to Prime Alliance. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.primeallianceservices.com.

Ingeo Systems Inc., Logan, Utah, and Cott Systems, Worthington, Ohio, have announced a strategic alliance that the companies say will streamline and automate transaction-based processes associated with the electronic recording of real estate documents.The partnership enables county recording offices to accept electronically prepared digital documents for official recording. The alliance combines Ingeo's eRecord service with Cott Systems' Resolution software, a suite of products designed for county clerks, recorders, and other elected officials responsible for the filing of land records. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.ingeo.com and http://www.cottsystems.com.