new to market
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LPS launches automated property valuation model
eLynx launches e-closing network
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$
49
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Think Reverse! Table of Contents Part I: The new pillar of retirement security Part II: Marketing reverse mortgages: It’s all about education Part III: Originating reverse mortgages Part IV: Enhancing freedom: The essence of reverse mortgages Part V: A new frontier in mortgage lending
“Atare Agbamu is one of only a handful of people in the reverse mortgage arena who possesses a commanding understanding of the reverse mortgage industry. As an originator, he has hands-on experience educating seniors and their advisors. As author of the “Forward on Reverse” column in The Mortgage Press since 2002, Atare Agbamu communicates nationally with the housing finance community, bringing the unique insights and experience of an ardent reverse mortgage expert into a wider business context. “This book combines Atare’s keen insights and know-how with extensive research to create a first of its kind resource for the reverse mortgage industry. It offers a comprehensive overview of the industry plus detailed information on marketing and originating reverse mortgages. “Present and future reverse mortgage professionals and senior advisors will profit from decades of experience skillfully woven into this book. If you plan to succeed in this industry, this book is the place to start.” —Sarah F. Hulbert, President, Senior Financial Corporation and former four-term Co-Chair of NRMLA’s Board of Directors “When I first began reviewing the contents of this book, I became quite jealous ... Atare Agbamu has set down an impressive amount of information ... And he delivers it in an easy-to-read, simple-to-understand style that will make this book essential reading for all reverse mortgage professionals.” —from the Foreword by Jim Mahoney, Co-Founder and Former Chairman, Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation, and former four-term Co-Chair of NRMLA’s Board of Directors “The stories [Chapter 15: Profiles in Satisfaction] are the best vehicle to increase understanding and acceptance of reverse mortgages among us laypeople. They are very compelling ...” —Therese Cain, Executive Director, Minneapolis/St. Paul Chapter of Little Brothers—Friends of the Elderly “This book should be required reading for all new loan consultants originating reverse mortgages and is recommended for experienced ones as well. This book provides excellent insight and information on preparing ahead to provide the service our seniors deserve, to ensure a smooth loan process and shorten the time to closing. Most of the problems caused in the processing and closing of reverse mortgages come from inadequate preparation.” —Deanne Opstad, AVP, Senior Underwriter, Generation Mortgage Company
DECEMBER 2009
eLynx, a portfolio company of American Capital, has announced an innovative electronic closing network (eCN) service that lenders are integrating into their existing closing process to increase loan quality and provide more control in order to meet the government’s demands for more accurate closings. The move will help lenders ensure borrowers and settlement agents have a better experience at the closing table. Lenders and their customers will benefit from eCN’s settlement agent management component, which provides vital information about the agents who handle the closings, their processes and disbursement. These details will help lenders accelerate the delivery of the closing package and funds, avoid fraud, service issues and other problems that can be costly to all parties to a closing and negatively affect the customer experience. eLynx reports that over 65,000 of the 300,000 plus settlement agents the company works with have already registered on the eCN system. Built on eLynx’s expedite platform, eCN connects disparate industry parties and their supporting systems in ways that never existed before. The result is a single view into regulatory compliance, a streamlined process, reduced risk of errors and fraud, and improved customer service. “More than 98 percent of the industry’s closing agents already use eLynx’s expedite services, and now, through
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PENNSYLVANIA MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE
Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), a provider of integrated technology and services to the mortgage and real estate industries, has announced the availability of its new automated property valuation model, LPS AVM, to assist the mortgage industry in establishing and verifying property values for underwriting, quality control and due diligence. LPS has combined its public records data, analytics and modeling resources with its valuation experience to deliver a thorough automated valuation report via LPS AVM. The report, which delivers increased hit rates and improved accuracy, will include a value estimate; up to 10 comparable sales listings with a location map; a statistical confidence interval band; a history of subject property transactions and finance activity; and regional price trends. “LPS AVM is powered by our robust
public records database and multiple valuation modeling methodologies, and is complemented by ongoing quality control and reliable customer service. However, we offer mortgage bankers far more than an AVM,” said Nima Nattagh, Ph.D., senior vice president of LPS Applied Analytics. “In addition to our suite of AVMs and a cascade interface, LPS is also a leading provider of desktop and field valuations. The extensive collateral valuation expertise offered by our modelers and developers enables LPS to partner with lenders, servicers and capital market professionals to determine the right products at the right points in the collateral valuation process.” LPS Applied Analytics collects and compiles real estate public records data directly from the county assessor and recorder offices in jurisdictions that cover 89 percent of U.S. residential market activity. The database describes property characteristics, ownership change, sales and financing data. For more information, visit www.lpsvcs.com.
www.NationalMortgageProfessional.com
applications from the point of origination. MERS FraudALERT, powered by Interthinx, will help identify and prevent fraud through the sharing and reporting of key data among the more than 62 million loans currently registered on the MERS System. Lenders using MERS FraudALERT will submit loan application data and incident reports with suspected or confirmed fraudulent activity to a centralized database. The system will then notify other lenders who have loans that may have connections to the data, alerting them to possible fraudulent transactions in their pipelines. “While the industry currently has access to excellent loan-level fraud detection technology, lenders still face unacceptable risk,” said R.K. Arnold, MERS president and chief executive officer. “Fraudsters circumvent those tools by perpetrating multiple instances of fraud concurrently because no one is speaking to each other. Only by creating a collaborative industry wide fraud prevention database can this activity be stopped. MERS FraudALERT will become the national mortgage fraud detection and prevention utility. By participating, lenders can show that they take fraud prevention seriously.” MERS FraudALERT combines MERS’s infrastructure and industry-wide integration with the proven fraud detection capabilities of Interthinx. Lenders who register their loans on the MERS System will have immediate access to the first industry wide database of fraud-related information through the new product, making any fraud screening technology more effective. For more information, visit www.mersinc.org or www.interthinx.com.
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