Technology

Houston-based Credit Union Acceptance Corp. has implemented APPRO Systems Inc.'s automated decisioning system, LoanCenter Consumer.The application and decisioning process was completely manual before using this application, CUAC said. Dealers were required to fax in applications, which were manually entered and decisioned. CUAC said it worked with seven credit unions in the Houston area before implementation of the new system and funded approximately 50 loans per month. Now it works with 60 credit unions in eight states and funds more than 3,500 loans per month, the company reported. Approximately 88% of applications submitted to CUAC in 2004 were input via the new application. CUAC can be found on the Web at http://www.cuac.net, and APPRO can be found at http://www.approsystems.com.

American Capital Strategies Ltd. has entered into an agreement to act as an equity partner and majority shareholder of eLynx Ltd., a Cincinnati-based provider of secure electronic document delivery services to the mortgage industry.According to the agreement, eLynx will retain its name, corporate identity, and current staff and continue to operate from its Cincinnati headquarters. "This partnership provides eLynx with the financial strength and business resources to broaden our service offerings and continue our growth," said Phil Huff, chief executive officer and co-founder of eLynx. According to ACS managing director Robert Klein, the company will "work with eLynx so that it has the resources to develop products and services in advance of customer needs." eLynx can be found on the Web at http://www.elynx.com.

Entyre, a provider of Web-based mortgage closing systems, and LandAmerica OneStop, a provider of Web-based real estate transaction services, have announced a partnership under which they will create a "dynamic HUD" form for mortgage closings.Under the partnership, Moon Township, Pa.-based LandAmerica will integrate its closing applications with the eMortgage-X4 system of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Entyre to create the HUD form. For the first time, all the information needed for a final HUD form (required for mortgage closings) will reside in one system, eliminating the need for duplicate data entry and labor-intensive post-closing reviews, the companies said. The dynamic HUD form "will allow us to streamline our mortgage closing process, and we anticipate that the cost savings that will be realized for large mortgage lenders and others will be significant," said Brandon Barnett of LandAmerica OneStop. The companies can be found online at http://www.entyre.com and http://www.landam.com.

Livonia, Mich.-based Dynatek Inc. has executed its one millionth transaction using the MORvision Plug-In Partner Network.A live countdown had been available on the company's customer website, where MORvision users were invited to participate in the milestone. The MORvision Plug-In Partner Network has grown substantially since its inception in February 2000. The company currently records an average of 84,000 Plug-In transactions per month. Many Plug-Ins have experienced even higher growth rates, such as First American's Flood Plug-In, which grew by 360% between January and October of this year, for example.

Option One Mortgage Corp., Irvine, Calif., and ValuAmerica, Pittsburgh, have announced an agreement to develop a new vendor management company in Tampa, Fla.The new company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Option One, is named AcuLink Mortgage Solutions LLC. It will initially provide settlement services, including title and closing services, to H&R Block Mortgage Corp., an Option One subsidiary that originates residential mortgage loans directly to consumers nationwide. During a pilot test of the new program, title commitments were delivered in an average of two days, title conditions were cleared in another two days, and final title policies were received within two days of funding, the companies said. ValuAmerica, a provider of settlement services and vendor management technology, will develop work processes and provide turnkey recruiting, training, licensing and other consulting services. Option One can be found online at http://www.optiononemortgage.com.

Wolters Kluwer Corporate & Financial Services, Amsterdam, has reported the acquisition of PCi Corp., a Boston-based provider of lending compliance systems, for an undisclosed amount.The Netherlands-based Wolters Kluwer Corporate & Financial, a division of Wolters Kluwer NV, said the acquisition expands the line of compliance systems offered by its subsidiary Bankers Systems Inc. and Bankers Systems' subsidiary, VMP Mortgage Solutions Inc. PCi Corp. will continue to operate in Boston, as a subsidiary of Bankers Systems. PCi's systems relate to fair-lending laws, the Community Reinvestment Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, and flood hazard determination, among other things. "The focus on Fair Lending, CRA, HMDA, and predatory-lending compliance is increasing, and failure to deal with the issues can result in stiff fines and penalties," said Bob White, president and chief executive officer of Bankers Systems and Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. "PCi Corp. understands these complex compliance issues better than any provider in the industry." The companies can be found online at http://www.wolterskluwer.com, http://www.bankerssystems.com, and http://www.pciwiz.com.

Meanwhile, panelists at the Mortgage EC Conference in Las Vegas discussed what they see as the next wave of mortgage technology.A spokesman from Nexstar Financial Corp. said paperless loan folders, Web services, and rules-based processing are the new buzzwords in mortgage technology for 2005. A representative of Fannie Mae's electronic business division offered another perspective. "There's increased emphasis on the back end of the process, workflow, and the need to eliminate re-keying," said Andreas Suma, senior manager for technology sales and consulting in Fannie's eBusiness division. "Also, new engines based on individual lender rules that go across the enterprise are what lenders are looking for." Another panelist said 25% of lenders are in the market for a new loan origination system, a situation that was deemed likely to advance new technologies like service-oriented architecture, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, and the realization of a complete electronic mortgage.

Internet lenders need to adopt new consumer-friendly policies to capitalize on the new online borrower, a keynote speaker told the 6th Annual Mortgage EC Conference Dec. 7 in Las Vegas.Catherine Muriel, chief marketing officer at E-Loan, noted that the average person spends 12.5 hours a week on the Internet and that 80% of Internet users have been on the Net for over three years. In order to attract this consumer, Ms. Muriel argued that online lenders have to provide a more detailed pre-approval letter that actually means the consumer is pre-approved, communicate more often with the consumer, and provide each consumer with a personal loan adviser for the entire lifecycle of the loan. In addition, they should give the consumer real closing fees that don't change, and keep the scheduled closing date without any adjustments, she said. "The Internet has settled and is no longer a gamble," Ms. Muriel concluded. "It's a great time to be an online lender."

"Leverage technology to improve the customer experience, not just the back-office." That was the message ABN Amro executive vice president William Newman gave attendees in his keynote address at the Sixth Annual Mortgage EC Conference in Las Vegas."We spend too much time managing the business that comes through the door and spend too little effort and money acquiring new clients and improving their experience," Mr. Newman said. Though ABN Amro and its Mortgage.com division have led the way in offering one-fee mortgages and monitoring the consumer experience, he said that message applies to his company as well.

Jackson & Associates Inc., an Orange County, Calif.-based law firm, has announced that it will replace its OnDemand case management platform with Symphony, which it calls "the first comprehensive solution" for real-estate-owned legal process management.Now in the final phase of beta-testing, Symphony provides full management capabilities for evictions, post-foreclosure bankruptcy matters, and litigation, as well as enterprise-level resources for broker management, cash-for-keys/cash-for-trash offer management, and attorney/broker grading, the law firm said. "The legal matters that arise in the REO industry are complex, and there has been a need for a more cohesive and comprehensive approach to managing the entire process," said Robert Jackson, president and senior managing attorney of the law firm, which provides legal services and legal process management to the REO industry. " .... As much as 40% of an REO asset portfolio can be tied up in possession-related matters, and simple workflow and tracking systems don't go far enough in delivering the complete solution that's needed."