Technology

VMP Mortgage Solutions, Fraser, Mich., has released the latest version of a forms design tool boasting features that the company says simplify and speed the process of designing documents.VMP said I-32 Forms Design 6.0, which can be installed as a stand-alone tool or as a transparent addition to client applications, allows users to create complex forms with hundreds of data fields using unique identifiers; to incorporate logos, text, signatures, and data fields without altering the original forms; and to insert check boxes, rules, columns, and graphics. One form, regardless of how many pages it contains, is loaded into one file. (For example, a user has to open only one file to work on a 10-page document instead of opening 10 files, the company said.) VMP released the updated tool at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's technology conference in Orlando, Fla. The company, a division of CBF Systems Inc., can be found online at http://www.vmpmtg.com.

REsolve Technology, a Boston-based custom programming and financial consulting firm for the commercial real estate industry, has unveiled a new tracking and reporting module for its REquest product.The Partnership Module enables users to track, analyze, and report property and fund information and the returns of various real estate properties owned individually or in a partnership, the company said. Users can now allocate properties to specific funds, link historical contributions and distributions, and create and edit customized reports. "Before implementing the Partnership Module, one of our clients had to track their partnership structures in complicated Excel spreadsheets," said Eric Forman, president of REsolve Technology. "This was prone to error and very time consuming. With this new module, users can now add, delete, or edit real estate properties associated with specific funds, or change ownership percentages of funds in certain properties at the touch of a button." The company can be found online at http://www.resolvetech.com.

ComplianceEase, San Francisco, and Dorado Corp., San Mateo, Calif., have announced the formation of a strategic partnership that they say will accelerate the delivery of automated compliance systems, especially in predatory lending compliance.Under the terms of the partnership, ComplianceEase's flagship product, PredatorAnalyzer, will be integrated with Dorado ChannelMaster as a .MOR Web service. The combination will enable lenders to integrate PredatorAnalyzer with legacy systems simply and cost effectively, the companies said. "The predatory lending audit is a great example of the power and flexibility of the Web services-based approach to origination workflow," said Joseph W. Jennings, president of Dorado. The companies can be found online at http://www.complianceease.com and http://www.dorado.com.

Fannie Mae has announced a new design for Desktop Underwriter as well as new features that include an online help center and consolidated access to DU for wholesale lenders.For the first time, wholesalers will be able to log on to a single application for all their loan processing and underwriting needs while still offering services to their mortgage brokers via Fannie Mae's Desktop Originator, the government-sponsored enterprise said. The online help center recognizes where a lender is in the loan submission process and, through Web and chat features, provides quick online access to a database of information about DU, Fannie Mae said. "Fannie Mae incorporated customer feedback and usability research to develop these important system enhancements to Desktop Underwriter," said Terri Davis, managing director for Fannie Mae/eBusiness. ".... Now both retail and wholesale lenders will not only have the benefits of increased functionality, easier navigation, and a new visual design, but a reliable, secure system with 24/7 availability and a 99.9% uptime performance." Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America has launched a new subsidiary corporation to provide documentation and guidelines to accredit and certify Public Key Infrastructure and secure identity providers.The new organization will be called Secure Identity Services Accreditation Corp. The MBA made the announcement at its annual Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference in Orlando, Fla. SISAC is already working with five leading providers of secure identity solutions. The MBA can be found on the Web at http://www.mbaa.org.

Netupdate Inc., Bellevue, Wash., and Ignition Mortgage Technology Solutions Inc., Sausalito, Calif., have announced that Netupdate will add Ignition's LockPoint Xtra pricing and distribution tool to its Originator Pro point-of-sale system.In addition, Ignition announced that its Loan Officer Plus loan origination system is being discontinued, but that users can now migrate to Originator Pro using the new LOP Migration Program from Netupdate that incorporates data migration, software installation, and product training with "minimum impact to a lender's back-office operations." LockPoint Xtra enables lenders to operate on a single technology platform that supports correspondent, wholesale, retail, and consumer-direct lending, the companies said. "LockPoint Xtra eliminates the need to have separate pricing and product systems for the lender's other origination channels," said Diane Holmstrom, Netupdate's chief executive officer. The companies can be found online at http://www.ignitionmts.com and http://www.netupdate.com.

Idaho Falls, Idaho-based DocuTech and San Mateo, Calif.-based Dorado have announced a new Web service that speeds the use of SMART Docs.Scheduled to become available in the second quarter, the system integrates DocuTech’s ConformX online closing system as a Web service on Dorado’s .MOR platform to deliver “the first end-to-end mortgage document system as an easily accessible Web service.” The announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's mortgage technology conference in Orlando, Fla., said the service provides upfront disclosure documents, traditional closing documents, and compliant SMART (securable, manageable, archivable, retrievable, and transferable) Docs. The alliance, created to leverage electronic commerce standards developed through the MBA’s Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, offers the ConformX-.MOR integration adaptor as “a ready-made solution for lenders preparing to implement an eMortgage strategy today.” DocuTech can be found online at http://www.docutechcorp.com.

Dorado Corp. and First American have released SourceMaster, a comprehensive tool that will help lenders source products across various vendors and electronic partner networks and bundle those mortgage services into guaranteed mortgage packages.The product can be licensed or served by First American as an application service provider and will help lenders manage vendors using their own internal rules. The product was announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's annual Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference in Orlando, Fla., but will be rolled out in the second quarter. The companies will be targeting top-10 lenders and integrating the tool with their loan origination systems, but plans to roll it out to mid-tier lenders will begin immediately through First American's sales and marketing representatives. The companies can be found online at http://www.dorado.com and http://www.firstam.com.

The National Home Equity Mortgage Association and AppIntell Inc., based in the St. Louis suburb of Weldon Spring, Mo., have announced "a partnership to fight mortgage fraud."Under the agreement, NHEMA members will receive a discount on two AppIntell fraud prevention products: Data Integrity Search and Score System, a Web-based fraud prevention tool for originators; and PredProtect, a fully automated online system allowing lenders/investors to analyze loan data for predatory lending compliance. The decision by NHEMA, which represents the home equity lending industry, to ally with AppIntell "supports our efforts to become the industry standard tools for detecting and resolving data integrity, early payment defaults, fraud, and predatory issues," said Stephen Gott, AppIntell's chief executive officer. NHEMA can be found online at http://www.nhema.org, and AppIntell can be found at http://www.appintell.com.

The RealEC e-commerce exchange has announced that it processed a million orders resulting in 5 million related vendor transactions during a recent three-month period.RealEC said it now averages 380,000 real estate orders per month, resulting in an average of more than 1.5 million related vendor transactions. For the period November 2002 through January 2003, RealEC boasted a 290% increase in volume over the previous three-month period. RealEC is used in some capacity by all five of the top settlement providers, and 12 of the top 15 mortgage originators, the company said. RealEC, a majority-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial based in Santa Ana, Calif., can be found online at http://www.realec.com.