Securities Firms Gain Access to Anti-Fraud Tools: Tech Roundup

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced Wednesday it had expanded its anti-fraud solutions to securities firms. Previously offered only to banking institutions, the tools will help securities firms with various anti-fraud and regulatory compliance challenges, including identity verification operations, high-risk customer detection, employee and account fraud detection. “With the current turmoil in the financial services industry, one of the best ways securities firms can help ensure stability is by employing comprehensive compliance and operational risk programs,” said  Mark Coronna, Wolters Kluwer executive vice president of securities and insurance. “This not only helps reduce risk within their organizations, but it also helps build trust with clients and regulators.” For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com. Integrated point-of-sale targets online interaction Mequon, Wis.-based Mortgagebot LLC announced Monday the launch of a point-of-sale (POS) platform that integrates mortgage applications, pricing, and can be accessed across every mortgage POS channel, from consumer-direct Web interaction, to the lending branch or call center and professional loan officers. The technology, called the integrated point-of-sale (IPOS), is unique to Mortgagebot and is available only to banks and credit unions that license the Mortgagebot PowerSite solution. “We have watched as the mortgage industry has increasingly embraced online lending,” said president and CEO Scott Happ. “We’ve now reached an historic turning point: The Internet has become the preferred starting point for mortgage shoppers…. But today’s borrowers are expecting that same application convenience over the phone, in the branch, and when they sit down with a loan officer.” For more information, visit www.Mortgagebot.com. Loan auditors pave the way for cram-downs Walnut Creek, Calif.-based National Loan Auditors announced Friday it had formed a partnership with electronic document preparation and quality control management service provider SigniaDocs. The alliance links National Loan Auditors’ US Court Audit, a third-party analysis of loan files for the bankruptcy process and intended to identify lender violations as well as buyer “improprieties”, with SigniaDoc’s Web-based eMortgage paperless processing platform. The result is a seamless, Web-based service that allows attorneys, their clients and bankruptcy trustees to negotiate loan revision documents and paperwork and send everything electronically to the bankruptcy judge. Regardless of whether the so-called “cram-down” legislation — which would allow bankruptcy judges to write off a portion of the principle loan amount — is eventually enacted, “lenders/servicers and buyers will be dueling over loan modifications, and the independent, 100 percent factual analysis provided by US Court Audit will be an essential negotiating tool for both sides,” said August Blass, founder and CEO of National Loan Auditors. For more information, visit www.nlaudit.com. Flagstar picks another preffered appraiser StreetLinks National Appraisal Services on Tuesday touted its selection as preferred national appraisal vendor by Flagstar Bancorp (FSB). The Indianapolis-based real estate valuation services provider said it will join a select few appraisal vendors that offer Home Valuation Code of Conduct-compliant property valuations to Flagstar. For more information, visit www.streetlinks.com. Tenants to track foreclosure activity Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties with data covering default, auction and bank-owned properties across the U.S., announced Wednesday the launch of the new RealtyTrac Renter Alerts. The service, launched at $24.95 per year, tracks the 1.8 million foreclosure and bank-owned properties in RealtyTrac’s database and sends e-mail alerts to subscribers with foreclosure activity updates on any specified property. The company announced the product as a way to alert tenants in advance of foreclosure proceedings on the property they rent. “Some landlords aren’t paying their mortgages — even while their tenants are paying their rent faithfully — causing the tenants to be evicted without warning,” said senior vice president Rick Sharga. “Our new Renter Alerts give tenants a good early warning system and avoid this unpleasant and unfair scenario.” For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com. Partnership allows for easy access to compliance documents Idaho Falls-based DocuTech, a mortgage compliance services and documentation technology provider, announced Monday the integration of its Web-based document solution, ConformX, with Spectrum, a Web-based loan origination software from Irivine, Calif.-based Commerce Velocity. The integration enables lenders using Commerce Velocity to access and generate compliant loan documents via the Internet through Spectrum, a technology platform designed to mitigate risk throughout the loan life cycle. For more information, visit www.docutechcorp.com. Whole loan notes available to small investors Irvine, Calif.-based LoanMarket.NET announced Monday the launch of its online marketplace for buying and selling real estate-secured note investments. The web site empowers both buyers and sellers of real estate-secured notes by creating a neutral, open marketplace that brings efficiency and full pricing transparency to the traditionally opaque secondary market for real estate-secured investments. “The market for buying individual mortgage notes from originating lenders has traditionally been available only to investors such as Wall Street investment banks, large hedge funds, and regional banks,” said LoanMarket.NET founder and president Jeff Freud. “Now small institutions and sophisticated individual investors, such as those who have traditionally invested in other debt instruments, can gain access to these income-generating notes, collecting principal and interest payments just as the former lender did for the remaining term of the loan or until a refinance or sale occurs.” For more information, visit www.LoanMarket.NET. Internet tool puts consumers in the know about modifications LoanModExposed.com announced Thursday the launch of its newest Internet-based consumer tool, LoanModACHIEVER. The Chandler, Ariz.-based service provider said the new service will help homeowners determine if they qualify for a modification and also help them construct a modification proposal to the lender based on updated federal and lender guidelines. “There is much talk about loan modifications in today’s markets, and most consumers do not realize that only less than 2 percent qualify,” said LoanModExposed owner and founder Eduardo Delgado. “Our software simply gives families the break they deserve by helping them prepare a loan modification proposal to the bank that is real, accurate and smart.” For more information, visit www.loanmodexposed.com. Write to Diana Golobay at [email protected]. Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.