Technology

The recent boom in refinances as homeowners try to cash in on record-low mortgage rates has been a pleasant surprise for Cranbury, New Jersey-based Visionet Systems. The company says that its process outsourcing business doubled during the first quarter of this year as a result of the surge in home loan refinances.

Mark DeGolyer and Ruthe Joyner DeGolyer had never purchased a home through a real estate auction before, let alone through an online auction, and like many people who consider the online avenue for a home purchase, the DeGolyers were nervous at first.

Loveland, Colorado-based Kroll Factual Data, a provider of business information solutions to mortgage lenders, property management firms, and financial organizations, announced on Wednesday the addition of Third Party Verification (TPV) as an expanded service offering.

ISGN Corporation, a global mortgage solutions company, has released its next-generation Customer Service Portal system, which provides borrowers, lenders, investors, and attorneys with self-service, 24/7 access to active and inactive loan data.

Santa Ana, California-based RealEC Technologies Inc., a provider of collaborative network solutions to the mortgage industry, recently announced surpassing a corporate milestone of more than 42 million real estate orders processed through its network, since the company was founded in 1998.

Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative, a national alliance of mortgage bankers headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, has entered into an agreement with Fort Worth, Texas-based Rapid Reporting, a provider of pre-funding income and identity verification products that help the mortgage industry combat fraud.

Irvine, California-based LoanMarket.NET announced on Monday the launch of its online marketplace for buying and selling real estate-secured note investments. According to the company, the new Web site creates a neutral, open marketplace for the purchase and sale of whole mortgage loans that brings efficiency and full pricing transparency to the traditionally opaque secondary market for real estate-secured debt investments.

Many lenders who sell their loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are hesitant to outsource the appraisal process to Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), especially with the GSEs’ strict new Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) requirements set to take effect May 1st.

On May 1st, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) is scheduled to take effect, mandating that all new loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comply with strict rules established to mitigate the risk assumed by the two GSEs.

Seattle-based Zillow announced on Wednesday plans to launch co-branded real estate Web sites with 180 newspapers nationwide. The Tampa Tribune and 100 newspapers published by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.