Technology

Fannie Mae announced the expansion of the HomePath for Short Sales website. The website serves as a communication tool to help real estate professionals complete short sales and resolve challenges with Fannie Mae.

In Michigan, DLS Servicing Consultants and WorkSmart Database Masters have come together to release WaterfallCalc.com, a new Web-based Waterfall loss mitigation program for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages.

Collateral Analytics, a provider of automated valuation solutions and real estate analytics products for the financial services industry, announced recently it has launched the CA Credit Risk Model. The new patent pending product is designed to offer quantitative measures of the risk and cost of potential borrower default in a residential mortgage.

Valuation Vision announced the use of their valuation technology and management platform to develop a new appraisal product solution, GEAR AP (GeoScore Evaluation/Appraisal Report). Valuation Vision has leveraged its advanced technology to develop the new GEAR product as a consumer-friendly, cost-effective alternative to traditional appraisal.

In an effort to create a more consumer-friendly environment, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced a new pilot program, centered specifically on gathering data from partners using electronic closings (eClosings) to complete mortgages.

Collateral Risk Solutions (CRS) has launched its new Desktop Evaluation Service, providing a response to demand from lenders for a reliable and economic alternative to field appraisals. According to CEO Joel Meredith, the new technology offering was designed to provide a USPAP compliant appraisal option for home equity lines of credit, loss mitigation, and quality control that meets all inter-agency evaluation and appraisal guidelines.

Axios Valuation Solutions has been named as an approved appraisal management company (AMC) by Flagstar Bank. Axios is a wholly owned subsidiary of eMortgage Logic, and is considered an industry authority in compliant appraisal services.

In a fortuitous reversal for Ellie Mae, the company announced that a previously reported outage stemming from a presumed cyber-attack was in fact "triggered by a confluence of factors involving network, hardware, software and demand for service."

A release issued Thursday by the Federal Deposit Insurance (FDIC) urged financial institutions to "actively utilize available resources to identify and help mitigate potential cyber-related risks." The timing of the release is particularly germane, considering the recently discovered Heartbleed bug which affects almost two-thirds of the web, as well as recent cyber-attacks on industry giant Ellie Mae.

Clarifire, a provider of workflow automation products, announced a strategic alliance with First American Title Insurance Company’s Mortgage Services Division. Through the partnership, Standard Property Reports, ALTA Loan Policies/ALTA Endorsements, and Mortgage Priority Guarantees can now be delivered directly to Clarifire user dashboards.