Residential Briefs

MBA (3/19/2008 ) MBA Staff
(Editor’s Note: Most of these announcements took place at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference & Expo this week in Dallas.)
Alaska USA FCU Taps Metavante LOS
Metavante, Milwaukee, a provider of banking and payments technology, announced that Alaska USA Federal Credit Union is in production with Metavante’s Loan Origination System (LOS) point-of-sale product for its mortgage operations. Alaska USA FCU, headquartered in Anchorage, is one of the top 10 credit unions in the U.S. and the largest financial institution in Alaska with $2.8 billion in assets.

Alaska USA FCU is using the Web-based LOS to automate its mortgage loan origination process. The LOS provides real-time product eligibility, pricing and underwriting decisions at the point-of-sale. The integrated third-party platform also provides self-service capabilities—ordering credit, automated underwriting, flood insurance and appraisals.

eLynx Delivers Loan Modification Service
eLynx, Cincinnati, a portfolio company of American Capital Strategies Ltd., announced availability of a new on-demand loan modification service, which allows the loan modification process to be completed securely over the Internet in minutes.

The product combines electronic distribution and signatures with an on-demand archiving option. An integrated paper fulfillment option is available for borrowers who prefer paper at any time in the process.

Byte Software Releases ByteSync
Byte Software, Kirkland, Wash., a provider of mortgage software for banks, brokers and credit unions, released ByteSync, a value-added module that synchronizes data between its BytePro loan origination software and LoanToolbox.

Using ByteSync, mortgage professionals can export loan information from BytePro to LoanToolbox, either creating new LoanToolbox contacts or merging data into existing LoanToolbox contacts. The export function sends hundreds of fields to LoanToolbox, including borrower information, first and second loan data and parties' information. ByteSync identifies existing LoanToolbox contacts that are possible matches with the borrower in BytePro. If a match is identified ByteSync can update the existing contact instead of creating a duplicate contact.

Bills.com Launches 'Know Your Limits' Program
Bills.com, San Mateo, Calif., launched "Know Your Limits," a program to help homeowners determine if they are eligible for new, higher-limit loans passed in the economic stimulus package.

Mortgage lenders and brokers can reach homeowners eligible for the new loans through the FHASecure program, which matches lenders and brokers with applicants whose desired loan amount is below the FHA loan limit for their county of residence. A corresponding Stimulus Select program matches applicants who are eligible for jumbo-conforming loans. Both FHASecure and Stimulus Select are activated on a filter-by-filter basis and are optional.

Visionet Launches ESF.NET Rapid Development Toolset
Visionet Systems, Cranbury, N.J., introduced its Enterprise Systems Framework Platform, designed to save time, improve systems and enable rapid re-engineering using built-in database and servicing system connections, single logon capability, SOA based architecture and ready-to-use components.

The platform provides utilities to manage the presentation, business and database layers separately. ESF.NET extends its capabilities through tight integration with Microsoft BizTalk and SharePoint.

IMS Adds Six New Servicers
Integrated Mortgage Solutions, Houston, a collateral protection resource for the mortgage servicing industry, announced addition of six clients, which include traditional mortgage servicers, auction companies, realtors and asset management companies.

Cogent Road Enhances Funding Suite v3.0
Cogent Road, San Diego, a provider of Internet-based applications for the mortgage industry, announced several enhancements to Funding Suite v.3.0, a redesigned database architecture underlying the credit report for brokers.

The enhancements to Funding Suite’s credit proofreading tools is a new Underwriting Conditions Scan, which allows every credit file is scanned to detect conditions and underwriting flags that may be indicated by Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter. Included as a separate tab within the Intelligent Credit Report, all results are listed and enable mortgage originators to resolve conditions before the file is processed through Fannie Mae.

Ellie Mae Launches CenterWise
Ellie Mae, Pleasanton, Calif., a provider of software and services for the mortgage industry, launched CenterWise, an all-in-one electronic document management (EDM) and retail website package, available as a service through the Encompass Mortgage Management product.

CenterWise provides unlimited electronic document management, including all state-specific disclosures, delivery and archiving, along with a scalable and search engine-friendly WebCenter web site and secure online business center that enables communication among staff, borrowers and business partners.

Lydian Integrates to NYLX
Lydian Data Services, Mt. Arlington, N.J., and NYLX, Jacksonville, Fla., announced a partnership that connects Lydian Data Services and Lydian Technology Group clients with NYLX’s point of sale technology.

The partnership equips clients with a front-end service that offers real-time pricing and product selection, as well as customer-facing web portal capabilities. NYLX clients can connect to Lydian’s Mortgage Connectivity Hub to access various lending platforms, package loans for processing or delivery to a wholesale lender and leverage Lydian’s business process outsourcing (BPO) services.

Rapid Reporting Offers Immediate, Real-Time Identity Verification
Rapid Reporting, Fort Worth, Texas, a provider of income and identity verification products to the mortgage industry, announced that DirectChek, the company’s identity verification service, will soon provide instant verification of Social Security numbers from the Social Security Administration. Immediate access to Social Security number verification data by the SSA had never before been available to the private sector.

To get instant identity verification, DirectChek users input the borrower’s name, Social Security number and date of birth into the DirectChek system; the system provides an immediate answer. The instant turn-around times is made possible by new technologies that SSA is implementing to the new permanent consent-based program.

Crescent Mortgage Deploys Avista LOS
Avista Solutions, Orlando, Fla., a provider of web-based mortgage loan origination software, announced that Atlanta-based Crescent Mortgage Co., a national residential wholesale lender, deployed the Avista Agile LOS Wholesale origination platform, Avista’s private labeled, secure and comprehensive web service for wholesale lenders, to fulfill its workflow process from origination through closing.

Avista Agile LOS Wholesale origination platform enables lenders to give broker clients the ability to register and lock loans online and receive immediate confirmation from the lender. Brokers receive decisions from DU or LP in minutes, which include DU or LP findings, as well as lender-specific conditions. The lender’s secondary staff receives immediate notification of locks and registrations; brokers also have the ability to schedule a closing and submit their closing fee sheet online.

PriceMyLoan Joins Xerox's BlitzDocs Provider Network
PriceMyLoan, Atlanta, is now a Certified BPO Provider of Xerox Mortgage Services' BlitzDocs Collaboration Suite, a service for electronic document collaboration.

With BlitzDocs deployed, loans generated from PML are dropped into a collaborative e-folder and transformed into electronic documents for underwriting, auditing, transfer and archiving.

Xerox Enhances Collaboration Suite
Xerox Corp., Rochester, N.Y., introduced new features to its BlitzDocs Collaboration Suite. New to the BlitzDocs suite is Xerox Dataglyphs technology, a security feature that embeds computer-readable data to the paper.

Information regarding the mortgage loan is contained in the DataGlyphs, which act as a portable database, offering increased security and automatic classification capabilities throughout the loan process. DataGlyphs are flexible in shape and size, unlike most bar codes.