Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation in Colleyville, Texas, believes that Google’s popularity provides a great opportunity as another channel for borrowers to reach the company, without substantial investment costs. “This saves us money, allowing us to pass a greater savings to the consumer,” Ulrich said. “We chose LoanSifter for our Google auto-quoting because it enables us to customize our pricing more accurately and effectively. Other vendors require manual supervision, which would have been problematic in keeping up with market shifts.” Consumers who search for popular mortgage-related terms or phrases on Google are drawn to Google’s proprietary mortgage Google Advisor, where they can anonymously provide details such as their desired loan amounts and credit scores. Google will then retrieve multiple reliable offers from dependable lenders, placed side-by-side so the borrower can compare them. After investigating different scenarios and choosing a lender, the borrower is then able to contact the lender by phone or e-mail. Borrowers do not have to fill out lengthy forms or click through walls of advertisements in order to access up-to-the-minute loan products and rates, and the leads generated to lenders are anonymous, so that borrowers can protect their private information until they are ready to move forward in the mortgage process. “Our relationship with Google will be of tremendous benefit to both lenders and consumers,” LoanSifter President Bruce Backer said. “A growing number of borrowers are using the Internet to find the best possible mortgage deals, and Google’s immense popularity makes it a first stop for many. Borrowers benefit from the side-byside comparison in an open marketplace, while lenders benefit from LoanSifter’s ability to accurately price mortgage scenarios on their behalf.”
Ocwen
Zillow to Provide Home Shopping Experience for AOL Users Zillow has announced a partnership with AOL to bring the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace shopping experience to AOL Real Estate and DailyFinance users, providing tools to research, shop for and compare mortgages. The sites’ visitors will have easy access to important home financial information, such as mortgage calculators, real-time mortgage rates, and Zillow’s
innovative mortgage shopping experience, which allows users to compare personalized loan quotes and lender reviews, and connect directly with lenders. “AOL Real Estate has many thousands of users who are either home owners or interested in buying a home, so we’re excited to be able to offer them important financial tools and personalized loan quotes from Zillow Mortgage Marketplace,” said Jay Kirsch, vice president and general manager of AOL Marketplace. “We’ll be offering the kind of useful financial information our readers want and need, including the ability to find out how much they can afford when purchasing a home as well as the ability to track historical mortgage rates and more.” continued on page 16
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ARIZONA MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2011
Financial Corporation has announced that its subsidiary, Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, has entered into an agreement with MortgageKeeper Referral Services to easily connect English and Spanish-speaking homeowners to high quality, well-vetted community services via MortgageKeeper’s database. Ocwen customer care representatives already use MortgageKeeper data to help customers who call Ocwen directly. Ocwen’s English-speaking customers can access MortgageKeeper data through Ocwen’s “Mortgage Instant Help Center” on Ocwen.com. Customers type in their zip code, and choose from up to 20 different service categories to receive a list of local, well-qualified nonprofits and government agencies ready to help them with their personal and financial needs. Examples of MortgageKeeper resources include employment services; utility, food and prescription drug assistance services; and senior services. Now, Spanish-speaking customers will have access to the same best-in-class resources. “Underperforming loans are bad for
Gorey, president of MortgageKeeper Referral Services. “We look forward to reaching Ocwen’s Spanish-speaking customers with the same high quality data.”
NationalMortgageProfessional.com
Ocwen Servicing Partnership to Benefit Spanish-Speaking Population
everyone—for our customers, the economy, and the community,” said Ron Faris, president and chief executive officer of Ocwen. “When we saw that the use of the MortgageKeeper product significantly improved loan performance, it was important to make the product more accessible to all of our customers.” Since Ocwen became a MortgageKeeper client two years ago, Ocwen customers have received more than 90,000 referrals—referrals that Ocwen data show improved homeowner’s loan performance in 38 percent of cases. “Based on Ocwen’s research, it seems that quality servicing, progressive loan modifications, and MortgageKeeper resources make a strong, positive impact on Ocwen customers,” said Rochelle Nawrocki