TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1475526
M R EP O RT | 5 MTECH Assessing Risk Through Enhanced Verification XACTUS INTRODUCES HELOC VERIFICATION SERVICES BUNDLE X actus has launched a new HELOC Verifications Bundle to assist lend- ers and brokers with targeting prospects, assessing risk, and in- creasing efficiencies to help meet the increased HELOC demands. The HELOC Verification bundle enables mortgage professionals to see who qualifies by mining their existing portfolios and setting crite- ria and screening consumers to ob- tain pre-screened leads. Mortgage companies can also assess con- sumer risk more effectively with a variety of verification tools, includ- ing credit reports, AVMs, VOEs, flood reports, and FraudPlus. The HELOC Verifications Bundle is fully customizable, enabling mort- gage professionals to select only those tools that meet the specific needs of their businesses. "At Xactus, we're all about advancing the modern mortgage through verifications that can help mortgage professionals close more loans more quickly," said Michael Crockett, Chief Data Officer of Xactus. "This set of verification services provides data that helps in two key areas—identifying who qualifies and better assessing risk—so mortgage professionals can process HELOCs faster and enhance their profitability." Xactus is comprised of the merged family of companies that includes Credit Plus, Universal Credit Services, CIS Credit Solutions, Avantus, and DataFacts Lending Solutions. Powering Up the Home Search Process NEW ZILLOW FEATURE INCREASES HOME SHOPPING OPTIONS FOR PROSPECTIVE BUYERS Z illow has upgraded its app to allow home shoppers and renters to search more quickly for properties across different neighborhoods, ZIP codes, cities, counties, states, and more—pulling them all together into a single list. It's one of several new search features built to assist Zillow users in moving faster and to shop with confidence for exactly the types of homes they want in the exact locations they'd like to live. "In today's fast-paced market, home shoppers need to see as many options as possible with the fewest clicks," said Jenny Arden, Zillow's Chief Design Officer. "This new Zillow feature allows users to refine their search and gives them confidence that all their options are in front of them. Whether they're looking for apartments in only the hip- pest neighborhoods of Austin, Nashville, or Raleigh, or focused on three-bedroom homes in a short list of Los Angeles suburbs, multilocation search will save home seekers time." Zillow's multilocation search feature makes the home shop- ping experience faster, simpler, and easier by allowing shoppers to find available homes in up to five different areas at once. It also gives users the option to sift through the listings on a map, or all in the same results feed. In addition, users can save their searches and opt to receive email and push notifications with re- sults and recommendations. Zillow will soon introduce two new filters to help users find homes based on commute times and their own monthly budgets. The company is currently explor- ing further upgrades to its filtering capabilities to include more ways customers can search for homes on the site, such as by internet speeds, walkability, accessibility, and more. Often requested by home shop- pers, Zillow's hide homes feature will offer the ability to hide homes they are not interested in, decluttering their search results as they continue browsing. Users can hide a home from the Home Details Page, yet would still have access to their hidden homes in the "more" menu, in case they change their mind later. Also, Zillow's recently launched Homes to Compare tool gives home shoppers the ability to save up to five separate listings and see details on each property in a comprehensive side-by-side chart. "Zillow designers and engineers are working every day to create new tools that help save our cus- tomers time and effort, and make shopping for a home on Zillow faster and easier," Arden said. Enhancing Pricing Capabilities for Lenders LENDER PRICE LAUNCHES MARKETPLACE 2.0 L ender Price, a provider of product, pricing, and eligibility technology, has released Marketplace 2.0, an enhancement to the company's Broker Marketplace platform, one of the largest communi- ties of wholesale brokers in the mortgage industry. Created to match Lenders with Mortgage Brokers looking to find the best rates and loan products for borrowers in a volatile market, Marketplace 2.0 provides Brokers with the ability to pull in pricing from their existing lender relation- ships automatically, and run pric- ing comparisons of participating Broker Marketplace lenders—elim- inating a lengthy signup process and a monthly fee. Marketplace 2.0 now helps Mortgage Brokers instantly see all of their lenders inside a single location without logging into several different TPO portals. "Marketplace 2.0 is a game- changer for Brokers and Lenders. It helps wholesale lenders expand their audience and gain access to thousands of Mortgage Brokers quickly," said Dawar Alimi, CEO of Lender Price. "For Brokers, we designed the platform to help them find the most competitive loan programs in this market and help them move away from using legacy technology that typically comes with a monthly fee. Our Tech Advances in the Mortgage Space The following companies have taken the steps necessary to foster the digital mortgage process and serve as architects in shaping the future of the mortgage marketplace.