The mobile online platform will assist those originating mortgages by allowing them to meet borrower needs instantaneously, the company says.

“I have found that many enterprise applications tend to overlook sales personnel who are the tip of the sword when it comes to generating new business,” says Michael Detwiler, Mortgage Cadence CEO. ”Our advancements in mobile technology not only take lending to a new level but allow originators to increase sales and customer satisfaction at a time when providing world-class customer service to borrowers is critical.”

Mortgage Cadence plans to unveil the technology at the upcoming Mortgage Bankers Association technology conference this week. An application specifically designed for reverse mortgage originators is currently being tested with a planned release in the third quarter of 2012.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker

Finale Document Services now includes reverse mortgage document packages in Spanish in addition to English, to align with the needs of a growing Spanish-speaking borrower demographic.

“There have been requests from both customers and prospective customers, and we anticipate there will be additional growth in this underserved demographic segment,” Jacob Petersen, Finale executive vice president told RMD in an email.

“It is no secret that the Hispanic growth over the last decade has accounted for nearly half of the United States’ growth, and as such, this population is poised to become the next powerhouse,” Petersen said. “Also this was a client-driven initiative that tied directly into the Hispanic growth.”

Finale worked with a law firm in Puerto Rico to develop the disclosures and documents, with an eye toward market expansion. The company has the ability to add additional Spanish documents to meet state specific Spanish disclosure requirements as well.

Lenders, too, have increased efforts recently in marketing to the Spanish-speaking demographic, and Puerto Rican lender Money House has announced it is seeking to expand into the United States in 2012 either through an acquisition of a lender in the U.S. or the opening of a new location.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker

The new system, “Cloud Control,” was launched by Rockville, Maryland-based Coester Appraisal Group and will be available free of charge to Coester customers and non-customers. It allows users to customize management of the appraisal cycle while aligning with government specified data formats.

“As an AMC, we had tried most of the appraisal management software on the market and we couldn’t find one with anywhere near the customizability we need, so we built Cloud Control,” said Brian Coester, CEO of Coester Appraisal Group. “Cloud Control can be configured to do virtually anything you want—all the way down to the actual user level.”

For reverse mortgage lenders, it could mean eliminating several phone calls between the loan officer and the borrower, during the scheduling process, Coester told RMD.

“Sometimes, the loan officer has to go back and forth to schedule with the borrower,” he says. “This system allows you to preschedule the appointment.”

Depending on the type of reverse mortgage lender, whether a call center or broker-based operation, the platform allows users to change the system as they see fit.

It also allows the AMC to verify appraiser licensing and certification, and store and upload appraisal data in the format accepted by the Federal Housing Administration. The goal, Coester says, is for the cloud-based software to help lenders grow their business in addition to helping improve appraisal management.

“To me, comparing Cloud Control to other appraisal management technologies is like comparing iTunes to a cassette tape,” says Coester. “Sure you can choose the music to put on a cassette, but that tape is no match for what iTunes can do.”

Written by Elizabeth Ecker

“Making the transition from our own technology to working with Mortgage Cadence will allow us to focus on our business processes and strategies,” said Mark Sohl, Chief Operating Officer from Generation Mortgage, in a statement. “The ability to leverage Mortgage Cadence will enable us to focus our time and energy on continuing to provide the superior customer service in which we pride ourselves.”

By upgrading to this product suite, top-ten reverse mortgage lender Generation now has “complete and comprehensive system integration” that promises “greater efficiency and scalability in multiple business channels under the umbrella of a single solution,” according to Mortgage Cadence.

Mortgage Cadence touts its technology as enabling lenders to streamline processes and refocus attention on growing their business and increasing overall profitability.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The advanced rules engine is equipped to “easily manage NRMLA guidelines, lender guidelines and any future HUD guidelines by offering lenders a dashboard to continually modify programs as changes are made.”

The Mortgage Cadence Symphony loan origination solution will also allow lenders who sell to multiple investors to support multiple guidelines.

The FHA’s HECM Program Update, issued Oct. 5, 2011, included an update indicating that the Department of Housing and Urban Development does not prohibit additional financial capacity and credit assessment tests on HECM applicants. Then, on Oct. 27, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association released guidance on limited underwriting for property charges, meant to assess a loan applicant’s capacity and willingness to pay property charges.

Since then, many lenders have adopted these guidelines or in the process of doing so, while some have created their own financial assessments to conduct on prospective reverse mortgage borrowers.

As the industry begins to implement these assessment, it’s important that lenders make the necessary adjustments to their underwriting processes to account for the changes, says Mortgage Cadence.

“In order to stand the test of time, reverse lenders must be flexible to meet changing market conditions,” John Levonick, chief legal and compliance officer for Mortgage Cadence said in a statement, adding that Mortgage Cadence “continuously stays ahead of industry regulations to offer our clients the guidance they need to sustain their business.”

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The limited underwriting is based in part on a borrower’s principal limit utilization, or PLU—the amount of principal limit that a borrower uses to pay off liens. The higher the lien payoff is, the less money the borrower will have available to cover expenses and taxes and insurance.

Reverse mortgage software provider ReverseVision now allows users to access a report  showing their companies’ historic PLU over the past year, which should help in the decision-making process when it comes to underwriting for tax and insurance.

NRMLA members are encouraged, but are not required, to conduct the limited underwriting of property charges, NRMLA’s legal counsel told members on Monday.

A sample PLU report for ReverseVision users (see below) shows the percentage of loans historically which have surpassed a certain level of principal limit use.

In the sample diagram, about 13% of the loans have total liens to be paid off at closing that are higher than 85% of the principal limit. When limiting it just on the First Lien PLU (First Lien / Principal Limit), then about 10% of the loans have a first lien that is higher than 85% of the principal limit.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker

The company recently rolled out several new features which have been in the pipeline for some time.

The most recent is “push” technology that allows leads to go directly into a reverse mortgage Customer Relation Management system (RmCRM), which from there can be “pushed” again into many major loan origination systems, such as MetLife’s Tango.

This bypasses the need for manual data entry and streamlines the whole process of creating quotes for prospective reverse mortgage borrowers, says Eric Hiatt, President and CEO of Reverse Fortunes.

And, by the end of next year’s first quarter, Hiatt continues, Reverse Fortunes expects to be able to push leads from his company’s RmCRM to every loan origination system in the country.

Integrating the RmCRM email and calendar system with Outlook’s email and calendar was another step toward convenience. Syncing the two programs will save a lot of time, money, and energy for companies who use them both, says Hiatt.

Reverse Fortunes now also features MailMerge through its RmCRM, which enables users to generate a variety of customer preset letters using their information. Instead of going through the process of MailMerge through Microsoft Word, Hiatt says, the integration allows users to create letters for contacts within RmCRM, adding that it’s “much simpler and more convenient.”

These features are geared toward those who are already firmly established in the industry, but Hiatt says his company also saw a need for originators seeking “to get up to that next level, where can they go to someone to help them build a market plan, and be coached in how to be successful in the reverse mortgage business.”

With that in mind, Reverse Fortunes introduced the Reverse Mortgage Coach, a title which right now belongs exclusively to Sue Haviland, a reverse mortgage consultant and founder of Reverse Mortgage Success; Hiatt says they’ll probably bring on more coaches in the future.

Although coaching is very common in the forward industry, it hasn’t really caught on yet in the reverse world, says Hiatt. However, he sees it as a need, and thinks people haven’t necessarily realized it yet.

“We’ve set up a three-month program, and basically in that three months, it’s going to be different for every single person that wants to do the coaching,” he explained. “It depends on what their level is. There are a lot of good originators who need help with different aspects…It’s customized to the individual who wants to bring his business to the next level.”

Earlier in the year, Reverse Fortunes launched Lead Central as a way to streamline the reverse mortgage lead purchasing process for originators, which Hiatt says has reached their goals and increased site traffic.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

It’s the first time more than 50% of all adults said they’re sites like Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace, and a dramatic increase from the first survey in 2005, which showed that just 8% of internet users or 5% of all adults said they used them.  While 61% of users over the age of 30 reported they use social networking site on a typical day, it remained relatively flat over the last year.

Usage by those 65 and older grew more than any other group, with 33% of the cohort saying they use the sites, up from 26% last year.

“The graying of social networking sites continues, but the oldest users are still far less likely to be making regular use of these tools,” said Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist and co-author of the report. “While seniors are testing the waters, many Baby Boomers are beginning to make a trip to the social media pool part of their daily routine.”

In the past two years, social networking site use among internet users age 65 and older has grown 150%, from 13% in April 2009 to 33% in May 2011. Similarly, during this same time period use by 50-64 year-old internet users doubled—from 25% to 51%.

View the report.