Technology

Ameriquest Mortgage Co., Orange, Calif., has announced a pilot program under which it will replace traditional appraisals on certain mortgage programs with Collateral Valuation Insurance, a new product developed by Fidelity National Information Solutions.Ameriquest said it has signed a letter of intent with FNIS under which Ameriquest will use CVI to speed up its collateral valuation process for its first-mortgage operations. Ameriquest, which has been using CVI for the past 90 days to replace certain appraisals, said it decided to expand the use of the product after experiencing "substantial improvement in turnaround times and quality of its collateral valuations." CVI can reduce the turnaround time for appraisals from several weeks to several days, the company said. Ameriquest said CVI is the first appraisal alternative product that combines automated estimates of value with an inspection of the property and valuation insurance.

RealEC Technologies, Santa Ana, Calif., has reported the implementation of its eCommerce Exchange by ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., and it says the lender will use RealEC's iSelect to manage the settlement services process for its One-Fee Services offering.The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based ABN Amro says RealEC will allow the lender to significantly reduce its expenses while improving capacity management. The iSelect tool will be used to provide electronic appraisal, automated valuation models, flood, title, and closing requests. One-Fee Services bundles and delivers product requests to an extensive network of providers based on AAMG's business rules. AAMG said it will integrate OFS into all its divisions, including InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending, LaSalle Home Mortgage, and Standard Federal Bank. RealEC can be found on the Web at http://www.realec.com, and ABN Amro can be found at http://www.mortgage.com.

Kroll Inc., a risk consulting company based in New York, has agreed to acquire Factual Data Corp., a Loveland, Colo.-based provider of information to the mortgage and consumer lending industries, for approximately $115 million, the companies have announced.Under the agreement, the purchase price is expected to be $17.50 for each outstanding share of Factual Data common stock, 80% of which would be payable in cash. The remainder would be payable in Kroll common stock based on a floating exchange ratio subject to a 10% collar above and below $26.51, which is the volume-weighted average trading price of the Kroll stock for the five trading days ended June 20. Michael G. Cherkasky, Kroll's president and chief executive officer, said Factual Data's decision intelligence systems are "a clear fit with our mission of mitigating clients' risks, and its proprietary technology provides a ready-made platform for expanding our background screening capabilities into the financial services, real estate, consumer lending, and other sectors where we intend to launch new services." The companies can be found online at http://www.krollworldwide.com and http://www.factualdata.com.

Accelerating its embrace of Internet-based technology, Fiserv Lending Solutions has announced a strategic partnership with Dorado Corp. to integrate Dorado's ChannelMaster products and .MOR Web Services platform with Fiserv’s UniFi PRO Mortgage and easyLender LOS systems.The initial integration with UniFi is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter. San Mateo, Calif.-based Dorado's ChannelMaster products offer to facilitate communication and improve productivity by tightly integrating borrowers, brokers, loan officers, marketing staff, and production personnel via secure, personalized websites. The .MOR Web services platform enables lenders to integrate new products and services with legacy systems. Fiserv Lending Solutions, Lake Mary, Fla., is a subsidiary of Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv, which reported 2002 revenues of $2.3 billion. Fiserv can be found online at http://www.fiserv.com.

Computer services giant Electronic Data Systems Corp., the corporate parent of mortgage servicing and outsourcing businesses in the United States and Europe, has announced that it will take a charge in excess of $400 million and cut some 2,700 employees worldwide.In a June 18 conference with analysts, EDS chairman and chief executive Mike Jordan outlined plans "to refocus the company and renew the value it places on its people." An EDS spokesman said it was unclear what if any implications the restructuring would have for the company's mortgage-related business lines, which include the Greensboro, N.C.-based servicer Wendover Financial Services Corp. and EDS Credit Services, which offers third-party loan administration services in the United Kingdom. Specifics of which portions of the company will be affected by the layoffs will "unfold … over time," the spokesman said. The company has indicated that it plans to focus on its core information technology outsourcing business in the restructuring, making it appear unlikely that it will cut very heavily, if at all, in that area.

Flagstar Bank has picked eAppraiseIT LLC's EagleCert Insured Valuation product to handle portfolio loans generated through its nationwide network of correspondent lenders and independent mortgage brokers, eAppraiseIT has announced.Michigan-based Flagstar said the program -- for which eAppraiseIT cooperated in creating a proprietary workflow system -- will lower costs and produce efficiencies for the bank. The workflow component uses embedded lender rules to automate the process of product selection by first using EagleCert automated valuation models and augmenting them with other products as needed. Licensed appraisers are used for desktop appraisals and 2055 drive-bys. Turnaround time for all EagleCert transactions is less than 24 hours, according to eAppraiseIT, which is a joint venture between The First American Corp. and LandAmerica Financial Group. The Flagstar implementation is expected to be completed by the end of June. The companies can be found online at http://www.flagstar.com and http://www.eappraiseit.com.

Priceline.com Inc., Norwalk, Conn., has announced a 1-for-6 reverse stock split that will reduce its shares of common stock outstanding from approximately 227 million to about 37.5 million.The online company offers a travel service and a personal finance service featuring home mortgages, refinancing, and home equity loans through an independent licensee. It can be found on the Web at http://www.priceline.com.

In order to more fully leverage its end-to-end technology platform, GHR Systems, Wayne, Pa., has launched a mutlilender wholesale origination website for brokers called BrokerOneSource.The new site will compete with a number of other industry sites dedicated to helping brokers and lenders connect, such as Ellie Mae's ePass Business Center, eMagic, and LION, as well as traditional desktop loan origination systems such as Calyx, Contour, Genesis, BYTE, and others. GHR says its offering will be different because it will allow the broker to access real-time pricing and product eligibility before it submits the loan to the lender. "For the first time, brokers have a centralized transaction platform on the Internet that offers the full capabilities of a desktop LOS as well as seamless connectivity to lenders and services," said Steve Jordan, product manager for BrokerOneSource. The product will also offer lender tools and pipeline management tools for brokers. Currently, two wholesale lenders are on the site. GHR plans to start adding brokers sometime in mid-July. More information can be found on the Web at http://www.brokeronesource.com.

LION Inc., Seattle, has announced the introduction of a new version of its LION Pro Internet software that boasts enhancements to its pricing and productivity features.LION has added programs and pricing for 29 wholesale and correspondent lenders to its lender pricing database, which now includes 12 of the top 15 correspondent lenders in the United States (based on 2002 origination volumes), the company said. The new version incorporates additional search parameters, such as FICO scores and prepayment penalties, and the company has merged its productivity and management tools into a common interface to enable customers to more easily manage leads, rates, users, and websites, LION said. "By adding tools for midsize and large mortgage companies, along with the ability to quote correspondent and risk-based pricing, we've expanded this product's potential market to over 100,000 originators," said David Stedman, LION's president and chief executive officer. The company can be found online at http://www.lioninc.com.

Under a new deal between DataSynapse Inc., New York, a provider of self-managed grid computing software, and HanoverTrade Inc., Edison, N.J., the latter company's Hanover/Busch Analytics will be grid-enabled through DataSynapse’s GridServer application operating environment.Similar to server farms, where a distributed network of computers works together to handle complicated processes, the GridServer will permit calculations within Hanover/Busch Analytics to be distributed to hundreds of CPUs it manages, reducing the time it takes to value loans. HanoverTrade, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., said it already has one customer on the jointly offered platform. It declined to name the company, saying only that it is "one of the largest financial institutions in the world." The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.datasynapse.com and http://www.hanovertrade.com.