Residential Briefs

MBA (7/22/2008 ) Palaparty, Vijay
HOPE NOW, NeighborWorks America to Hold Homeownership Preservation Event
The HOPE NOW Alliance, of which the Mortgage Bankers Association is a founding member, will hold a Homeownership Preservation Event at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., outside of Boston, on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
The event will take place from 1:00-8:00 p.m. ET. Homeowners will have the opportunity to meet with their lender face-to-face to discuss workout options to avoid foreclosure and receive information and assistance on homeownership preservation. Parking is free and public transportation will be provided.

The event is co-sponsored with Neighborworks America; the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

FHA Announces Lender Training Conference
The Federal Housing Administration will hold its FHA National Lending Training Conference Aug. 27-28 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.

The focus of the “Back to Basics” conference will be to explain recent changes made to ensure that the FHA mortgage product remains competitive. Changes include consolidating forms and procedures, reducing paperwork for lenders and buyers and aligning FHA mortgage criteria and documentation requirements with those used elsewhere in the industry.

FHA will also hold a Lender Training session Aug. 5-7 in Portland, Ore. The session covers FHA processing, documentation requirements, FHA underwriting with hands-on case studies, mortgage calculations, underwriter responsibilities, automated underwriting, underwriting the FHA appraisal and energy-efficiency product and services

More information can be found at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/events/sor080508.pdf.

Simplifile Partners with eFileCabinet, Computer Systems Inc.
Simplifile LC and eFileCabinet, companies based in Provo, Utah, integrated Simplifile eRecording Services into eFileCabinet’s electronic document management software.

Integration of the systems allows documents electronically captured and managed by eFileCabinet to be transmitted to Simplifile eRecording Services for submission to recording jurisdictions on the Simplifile network. The documents are then received by the target county, reviewed, recorded and returned via Simplifile for archiving and retrieval.

Simplifile also formed an alliance with Computer Systems Inc., Fishers, Ind., to integrate and cooperatively marketing its eRecording with CSI’s Title 1 land record system. The companies will integrate their eRecording and indexing and archiving systems, allowing documents electronically filed by Simplifile submitter customers to be received, reviewed, recorded and returned to those same submitters by counties using CSI’s Title 1 system. The accord also provides for Simplifile and CSI to cooperatively market the alliance and resulting services to their mutual customers.

Cogent Road Launches Padded Credit Score Detection
Cogent Road, San Diego, a provider of internet-based applications for the mortgage industry, launched an automated tool for detecting if a credit score has been artificially inflated due to questionable or untrustworthy authorized user accounts within the borrower’s profile. The tool is available at no cost to Cogent Road’s existing Funding Suite clients.

The tool examines credit reports to detect the probability that a borrower’s credit score is being artificially manipulated based on a different individual’s payment history. Using comparative algorithms, the detection tool analyzes borrower’s credit profile to detect whether or not authorized user tradelines are consistent with his or her historical payment pattern. It can also differentiate the bona fide authorized user relations that occur in joint credit applications,

Calyx Software Network Adds Mortgage Service Providers
Calyx Software, San Jose, a provider of loan marketing, originating and processing software, expanded its Calyx Network with a network interface update. The July Calyx Network Interface update contains new connections to five mortgage service providers. The Calyx Network allows users of Calyx Software’s Point loan origination software to connect with lenders and mortgage service providers, automating data exchange and streamlining the loan origination process.

Wolters Kluwer Launches Red Flags Tool Kit
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services will offer banks, savings associations and credit unions a tool kit to help them build and implement an identity theft prevention program that meets the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act’s new Red Flag Rules.

To help financial institutions meet the rules’ mandatory compliance deadline of Nov. 1, the kits offers policy development through the company’s PRINGLE Policies & Audit Procedures software; Red Flags forms and checklists for assessing the impact and risk related to the new requirements as well as tracking Red Flag responses; and employee training via instructional videos and a self-directed learning module on Red Flag Rules from the Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ Compliance University course library.

Lydian Forms FHA/VA Loan Processing Subsidiary
Lydian Data Services, Boca Raton, Fla., a provider of outsourcing services for mortgage lending operations, established Lydian Data Government Services, Philadelphia, a new integrated subsidiary to provide mortgage processing, closing, post-closing and quality control services for FHA and VA loans.

The subsidiary will also offer consulting services to help originators become approved by FHA and training services to help lenders familiarize their Realtors, loan officers and brokers with government lending programs. Lydian combines back office loan fulfillment services, allowing lenders to outsource their processes.

ServiceLink Upgrades iClose
ServiceLink, Pittsburgh, Pa., a provider of origination and default services and the national mortgage services platform of Fidelity National Financial, Jacksonville, upgraded its iClose web-based closing product. iClose offers a method for borrowers to close their loans in an online virtual meeting room. They schedule a date and time and a ServiceLink closing agent guide them through their paperwork using an online interface.

iClose requires a borrower to sign only one document, a Limited Power of Attorney that is notarized and returned to ServiceLink. The remainder of the process is online and the transaction and phone conversation is recorded and archived to ensure security and. A secure server and security protocol are used to safeguard information provided by borrowers during registration, authentication and the closing process.

Peoples Bank Selects Metavante Technology
Metavante Corp., Milwaukee, a provider of banking and payments technology, announced that Peoples Bank, Muster, Ind., selected its consumer and mortgage Loan Origination Studio products, in addition to licensing its Internet Direct offering. Peoples Bank operates nine banking centers in Northwest Indiana and has $650 million in assets.

Peoples Bank will use Metavante’s products in conjunction with its Internet Direct solution to streamline its loan origination platform. Metavante’s LOS systems interface with Metavante’s IBS banking technology, enabling Peoples Bank to access existing customer relationship data when creating new loan applications as well as submitting closed loan data to its core system for booking.

Kirtland Federal Credit Union Adopts FICS Technology
Kirtland Federal Credit Union, Albuquerque, adopted residential loan origination and servicing mortgage technology from Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc., Dallas. With FICS’ systems, Kirtland will have one server, enabling monitoring of the entire loan portfolio for servicing and maintenance. Loan officers in multiple branches will also be able to simultaneously work on loans as well.