TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/120611
on the web "Guaranteed Rate has grown to become one of the largest mortgage lenders in the U.S. because we lead the way in providing low-rate, low-fee loans, industryleading customer service, and an easy-to-understand home loan process," said Victor Ciardelli, president and CEO of Guaranteed Rate. "Now, we're taking our commitment to our customers a step further by putting the borrower in control of the process and providing them with the tools necessary to get a home loan faster and easier than before." Ciardelli added that by submitting an application through Guaranteed Rate's site, the company gives customers $150 back at closing, further reducing fees. Guaranteed Rate is headquartered in Chicago. rules on reports while still at the appraiser's desktop, eliminating the revision request cycle. "As our client list grows, we're hiring more of the best staff appraisers, and we have to effectively scale our review and quality control operations to keep extremely short turn times," said Benjamin Schomer, VP of business development at Metro-West. "By removing our old ACI formfilling software restriction, we can work with far more appraisers. The one-two combination of more appraisers and faster turn times positions Metro-West to continue its phenomenal growth." WEB AT WORK HUD and HP Target Fair Housing The government agency and the technology company teamed up to create an app that makes it easer for consumers and professionals to file discrimination complaints. T he Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently unveiled an app for iPhone and iPad devices, designed to Triple Threat: MetroWest, Mercury, and a la mode Team Up Now providing a la mode with staff appraisers, Metro-West's new partnership initiative led to the conjunctive launch of a plugin with MercuryDirect. I n Florida, a la mode announced that Metro-West Appraisal, the largest independent staff appraisal firm in the nation, will now provide staff appraisers with a la mode's full suite of software, eliminating the previous requirement to use ACI software. a la mode's software suite includes the TOTAL family of products, the dominant appraisal platform in the industry that it used by more than half of all appraisers nationwide. In conjunction, Metro-West has launched a MercuryDirect plugin with Mercury Network to ensure the highest-quality appraisals for its lenders. The plugin will leverage Mercury Network's direct connection to the appraiser's desktop to streamline compliant appraisal delivery and accelerate turn times. It will also run Metro-West's customized review "Having this first fair housing mobile application equips people everywhere with the information they need to combat housing discrimination." —John Trasviña, HUD "With the MercuryDirect plugin and their adoption of TOTAL to expand their reach to the majority of the nation's appraisers, Metro-West has the right technological foundation to continue to expand very quickly, and very successfully," said Jennifer Miller, president of a la mode's Mortgage Solutions Division. provide the public and the housing industry with a quick and easy way to learn about the Fair Housing Act and to file discrimination complaints. The app, developed by HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity and Hewlett Packard (HP), is already being promoted by fair housing groups and other civil rights advocacy organizations as a tool to help consumers pursue their housing rights. In addition, industry groups—including the Asian Real Estate Association of America, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers—are promoting the app to their members to educate them about their fair housing responsibilities. In addition to providing information and facilitating realtime delivery of discrimination complaints, the app can be used by individuals researching their housing rights after a natural disaster, when power outages make mobile technology the only way to access the Internet. "Having this first fair housing mobile application equips people everywhere with the information they need to combat housing discrimination," said John Trasviña, HUD assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity. "We are maximizing the latest technology to make the process for filing fair housing complaints faster and easier and arming our fair housing partners with the information they need to understand their fair housing rights and responsibilities." The app was unveiled during the 3rd Annual MobileGov Summit in Washington, D.C., a conference bringing government and industry information technology leaders together to discuss the latest trends and best practices for creating the nextgeneration mobile government workforce. "HUD needed an efficient and reliable solution to quickly extend existing capabilities to mobile computing devices," said Marilyn Crouther, SVP and general manager, U.S. Public Sector, HP Enterprise Services. "The new HP application achieves operational goals of HUD—from concept to deployment—while more effectively addressing discrimination complaints. The mobile app simplifies and increases access to government services for people." The M Report | 11