Technology

Continuing its full-court press for dominance in broker point-of-sale systems, Ellie Mae has reported hiring away top sales executive Robert Madsen from Calyx Software.According to Ellie Mae, Mr. Madsen added over 12,000 Calyx Point licensees during his tenure at Calyx. He will head new-customer acquisition efforts for Ellie Mae's Encompass platform, which specifically targets the recruiting of Point users. Mr. Madsen has more than 25 years of senior sales and training management experience, 12 of them at Calyx, according to the company. Encompass was introduced in October 2003 as an enterprise-level Web-based alternative to existing broker POS systems. Ellie Mae can be found online at http://www.elliemae.com.

Pacific Security Capital, a real estate investment bank headquartered in Portland, Ore., has signed a multiyear exclusive agreement with GlobeSt.com, a commercial real estate news and information portal on the Internet."The ability to align ourselves with the No. 1 provider of news and information on commercial real estate gives us an incredible advantage by extending our daily market reach," said Mike Myatt, president of Pacific Security Capital. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.pacificsecuritycapital.com and http://www.globest.com.

Laguna Hills, Calif.-based QuestSoft has released CRA Relief, a CRA data collection, compliance reporting, and submission partner to the company’s flagship HMDA product, HMDA Relief.CRA Relief is risk management software designed to ensure that lenders meet all federal Community Reinvestment Act regulations for performance ratings and process evaluations in a one-step submission. The product fully summarizes a financial institution's CRA data through quick and easy import options and drop-down menus, the company said. QuestSoft is a provider of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and CRA compliance systems and in-house geocoding services for brokers and lenders. It can found on the Web at http://www.questsoft.com.

TrueClose, a Pittsburgh-based technology provider for the mortgage industry, has launched what it says is the first paperless mortgage origination platform for the mortgage industry.The TrueClose paperless platform enables mortgage professionals to identify, introduce, accept, and process mortgage actions that leverage the convenience, speed, and cost efficiencies of the Web, the company said. Specifically designed to manage the entire mortgage process, TrueClose allows service providers such as title insurers, appraisal services, real estate professionals, and settlement agents to engage in an electronic document exchange. TrueClose can be found on the Web at www.trueclose.com.

Version 1.0 of a technical guide to the implementation of SMART documents has been released by the eMortgage Workgroup of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization.The SMART Document Implementation Guide provides more than 30 chapters of technical guidance on specifications for SMART (securable, manageable, archivable, retrievable, and transferable) documents, MISMO said. "This is the roadmap the industry has asked for," said Harry Gardner, senior director of industry technology at the Mortgage Bankers Association, which established MISMO in 2000. "This more detailed SMART Doc Implementation Guide will allow the industry to develop its own e-mortgage capabilities and pilot programs. The I-Guide will expand to keep up with the advancement of the standard." MISMO's eMortgage Workgroup was established in 2001 to develop electronic mortgage standards, specifications, and guidelines that correspond to federal law on electronic signatures and related matters. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

BridgeSpan Inc., a title company and online closing specialist that recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has announced that Larry Walker will resign as president and chief executive officer next month.The Frisco, Texas-based BridgeSpan said Mr. Walker had been recruited in late 2002 in the hope that his expertise would help the company attract "early adopters" for its straight-through processing of electronic mortgages. "However, mortgage lenders were awash in refinance volume and reluctant to take on the complex changes to their internal operations that e-mortgages required," the company said. BridgeSpan can be found online at http://www.bridgespan.com.

Document Systems Inc., Carson, Calif., has released a new home equity product line of its DocMagic software, which the company will make available to its users.The new software provides a system for producing and delivering customized closing loan documents and can be tailored by DSI lawyers to the specifications of customer and investor needs, the company said. In addition, the software package for variable-rate interest-only loans and home equity lines of credit includes basic templates for each jurisdiction in the United States, which can also be adjusted to fit the needs of all users. Document Systems can be found on the Web at http://www.docmagic.com.

Dexma Inc., Edina, Minn., has hired Tim Anderson away from DocuTech, where he held the title of executive vice president.As Dexma's EVP for business solutions, Mr. Anderson will focus on new business initiatives. "This is a huge win for Dexma, because Tim is very well-respected and connected in the mortgage industry," said Dexma's Steve Mase. Mr. Anderson recently received Mortgage Technology magazine's prestigious Steve Fraser award for his work in building the eMortgage Alliance, which brings together companies that support the standards put forth by MISMO (the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, established by the Mortgage Bankers Association). Dexma is a member of MISMO. Mr. Anderson has held executive management positions with a number of companies in the industry, including Ignition Mortgage Technology Solutions, Home Advisor Technologies, HomeSide Lending, Cybertek Systems, and Alltel Information Management Services. He has served on the advisory boards of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Microsoft and has also served as a member of the MBA's Residential and Technology Committee and MISMO.

BridgeSpan has not ceased all operations, as MortgageWire erroneously reported, and the BridgeSpan website has relaunched after being taken down in the wake of the closure of BridgeSpan Title.The BridgeSpan homepage had been replaced earlier by a notice directing visitors to an eMortgageAxis Web page. BridgeSpan said about 150 employees were laid off as a result of the shutdown of BridgeSpan Title, not 200-plus as previously reported in The Title Report and cited by MW. A news release on the relaunched BridgeSpan homepage quotes BridgeSpan CEO Larry Walker as saying, "While BridgeSpan's innovative technology may have once been ahead of its time, it looks like its time may be just arriving." MortgageWire regrets the error.

While technology is a vital concern to mortgage lenders, it may make more sense to partner with others to get it, even if they are competitors, according to Kevin Shannon, president of consumer real estate for Bank of America.Mr. Shannon made his comments at Thomson Media's 7th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference in Miami. "Technology is not a differentiator," Mr. Shannon said. Branding and distribution are the keys to long-term success, he said. BoA says a key objective is to share technology costs with other firms to leverage that expense over a larger base of business. He admitted that "finding common ground when you're competing head to head is challenging." Last year, BoA bought Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Framework, developer of the LendWare loan origination and processing system, one of the technologies BoA hopes to leverage in the future.