Technology

Mortgage insurer Radian Guaranty Inc. has made a $200,000 grant to HOPE LoanPort to be used by borrowers, non-profit counselors, servicers, and other organizations to improve the execution of loss mitigation activities, including those under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Radian's contribution will be used to support HOPE LoanPort in its mission to address some of the hurdles borrowers face when seeking foreclosure alternatives.

Wipro Gallagher Solutions (WGS) has combined its managed origination system, NetOxygen Cirrus, with Wipro's loan processing services to create a new loan fulfillment and servicing platform. The new platform allows lenders to generate revenue while using WGS to perform loan fulfillment, loan sub-servicing, and vendor management tasks. The company cites a cost reduction of 30 percent or more over existing infrastructure.

Woodward Asset Capital recently released a statement detailing the capabilities of OfferSubmission, a hosted application designed to ease confusion and stem losses and discrepancies due to missed offers and poor organization. The company says transactions negotiated through OfferSubmission net 100 percent or more of the list price 50 percent of the time.

The online real estate marketplace Countdown To Buy recently launched ""powered by Countdown To Buy,"" a private label solution featuring the company's online offer management and negotiation platform. According to the company, the new designation enables institutions and real estate companies to leverage their existing brand and take advantage of the benefits offered by Countdown To Buy's platform and hosted solutions.

California-based Move, Inc. launched a redesigned Realtor.com Web site that uses new technology to combine multiple searches to help customers find properties and agents that suit their needs faster and more efficiently. Move, Inc. says the primary objective for the redesign was to create a search experience that places more information in the hands of both Realtors and consumers, and positions real estate professionals as local experts.

Fannie Mae has enhanced its EarlyCheck technology service to help lenders identify eligibility or data issues with loans they plan on selling to the GSE in order to minimize the risk of repurchases. With EarlyCheck, lenders now have access to Fannie Mae delivery data checks at any point in the business process, allowing them to spot and correct potential underwriting errors earlier in the process - from prior to closing through to the pre-delivery stage.

Warren, Michigan-based Five Brothers, a nationwide provider of commercial and residential mortgage default management solutions, announced the release of its ClaimSys HUD claims processing system this week. ClaimSys acts as an enhancement to existing claims processing programs and expedites Federal Housing Administration (FHA) claims by allowing users to generate completed HUD claims A through E quickly and efficiently, according to the company.

The Work Number, an employment and income verification service of Equifax, recently launched a new product, Point In Time, which, according to the company, is a response to market demands for loan-level documentation to investigate repurchases and mortgage insurance rescissions. Designed to provide retro income verification services to validate and document a borrower's employment and income for loan funding, Point In Time was created to help lenders, insurers, and investors automate and streamline the quality assurance process.

ZipRealty, Inc., a full-service residential real estate brokerage based in California, recently promoted its EVP and CFO, Lanny Baker, to CEO and president, effective October 2. Baker, who will also be a member of the company's board of directors, will replace J. Patrick Lashinsky, who decided to step down from the position.

According to a statement released by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the companies are in the process of developing the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) to improve the quality and consistency of appraisal data on loans delivered to the GSEs. Business and technical details of the UAD, implementation dates for the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP), and use of the UAD and UCDP are expected to be released later this year. Implementations will occur in 2011.