Residential Briefs

MBA (8/5/2008 ) Palaparty, Vijay
HUD Reports Decline in Homeless Persons
HUD reported a 15 percent average yearly reduction in chronic homelessness since 2005 in its Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. HUD defines a chronically homeless person as a disabled individual who has been continuously homeless for more than one year or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.
Local communities reported there were 123,833 chronically homeless persons in 2007, compared to 155,623 in 2006 and 175,914 in 2005.

FICS Completes Business Intelligence Tools Development
Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc., Dallas, a mortgage technology provider of in-house residential origination and servicing technology and commercial servicing technology, launched Business Objects Enterprise Professional and Crystal Reports XI for its residential loan origination system, Loan Producer.


FICS’ Commercial Servicer customers and Mortgage Servicer customers also use Business Objects Enterprise Professional and Crystal Reports XI. Loan Producer users can manage and deploy tools for reporting, query and analysis and performance management. Crystal Reports XI, part of the Business Objects XI platform, offers report design, report maintenance and data access.

ERF Wireless Signs Multi-Million Dollar WiNet System Contracts
ERF Enterprise Network Services, a subsidiary of ERF Wireless, League City, Texas, provider of wireless and broadband products and services, entered into 10-year, multi-million dollar WiNet System contracts with Fidelity Homestead Bank, New Orleans, La., and Classic Bank, Cameron, Texas, to bring wireless broadband to rural communities in both states.

The contracts will use each bank's excess wireless bandwidth and wireless infrastructure to provide Wireless Internet Service Provider products and services to the banks' commercial and retail customers. The WiNet System Agreements are in addition to BranchNet and U.S.-BankNet contracts with each bank.

Mid America Mortgage Becomes First Houston Affiliate Branch
First Houston Mortgage, Houston, a mortgage-banking firm licensed in 20 states, announced the addition of Mid America Mortgage Consultants, St. Louis, a mortgage lender that serves Missouri, as an affiliate branch.

Mid America Mortgage Consultants will have access to First Houston’s loan pricing, paperless lending platform, in-house underwriting system and its offshore facility in India, which offers additional loan processing support. First Houston began its affiliate branch program in 2006 and has grown to more than 20 branches nationwide with more than 250 employees.

Interthinx Releases Name-Matching Technology
Interthinx Inc., Agoura Hills, Calif., a provider of risk mitigation, mortgage fraud prevention and regulatory compliance tools, added Advanced Name Matching technology to its Third Party Review background check on brokers. The platform provides alerts for Client Watch Lists, Office of Foreign Asset Control, Freddie Mac Exclusionary, HUD Limited Denial of Participation, National Fraud Protection Database and Bankruptcy databases.

SearchMyLoan.com, JMAC Form Alliance
SearchMyLoan.com, Port Washington, N.Y., a provider of loan search and pricing services, formed an alliance with JMAC, Huntington Beach, Calif. a lender offering product lines and pricing to the wholesale funding market. Through the partnership, JMAC’s loan products are integrated into SML’s search engine. SearchMyLoan.com’s platform is a loan search engine that provides search and pricing for most loan types.

ValuFinders Expands Appraiser Network
ValuFinders Inc., Culver City, Calif., a valuation services provider to national lenders and government agencies, increased the number of appraisers in its national network, expanding into the broker market and enhancing its Appraisal CONCIERGE system.

ValuFinders network of appraisers is available through Appraisal CONCIERGE, which allows lenders or originators to order and receive appraisals. The system focuses on the assignment and delivery of the appraisal, leaving appraisal management companies to concentrate on managing the process.

ProLender Integrates Optimal Blue Technology
ProLender Solutions, San Diego, a provider of automated mortgage lending software, developed an interface with Optimal Blue, Plano, Texas, developer of a web-based platform that couples decisioning technology with content management. The interface offers two-way data connectivity that transfers information between the two systems, allowing lenders to update product and pricing information in real-time throughout the life cycle of a loan.

Loan officers can price a loan, which can then be locked in ProLender where secondary personnel can run best execution analysis. This can all be done from within ProLender automatically. Lenders can view their lock activity prior to the submission of the physical file through the ProLender system, allowing them to see lock ratios and tie in the product and pricing information for a loan-by-loan status update.

Mavent Obtains Mortgage Compliance Technology Patent
Mavent Inc., Irvine, Calif., a provider of automated regulatory compliance, was awarded a U.S. patent for technology used for compliance with consumer credit regulation.

The patent covers systems, software programs and methods of use for businesses that originate and close loans secured by real estate in order to audit such loans for compliance with state and federal laws and regulations. Licenses to utilize the patent are available to Mavent clients as a component of its integrated services.

Wolters Kluwer Offers FHA Lending Services Suite
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, introduced a suite of government lending services to help create, expand and manage a profitable, compliant FHA lending program.

Wolters Kluwer’s FHA services can be customized to meet needs of lenders just starting an FHA lending program or wanting to grow an existing one. Services include HUD licensing support, government lending training, document package selection services, mortgage documents, integration consulting, strategic level compliance assessment and post-government integration assistance.

Informative Research Launches RatePro
Information Research, Garden Grove, Calif., launched RatePro, a loan program and pricing engine that scans wholesale loan rate sheets to provide originators pricing information. Integrating borrower credit data from the Informative Research credit report, RatePro returns rates and yield spread premiums loan programs offered by wholesale lenders.

RatePro also features custom search filters and a display for comparing quotes between lenders and programs. Users can view basic underwriting guidelines and pricing adjustments for each quote and links are provided to the source rate sheets for a more traditional view. RatePro’s pricing engine also displays risk based price adjustments.

ComplianceEase Awarded Automated Compliance System Patent
LogicEase Solutions Inc., San Francisco, a provider of a suite of risk management technology, ComplianceEase, earned a U.S. patent, System and Method for Automated Compliance with Loan Legislation, which covers ComplianceEase’s Automated Compliance System, ComplianceAnalyzer.

The system examines mortgage loans and produces loan level reports and analytics with respect to applicable laws and regulations at multiple jurisdictional levels.