Portellus Offers Direct Access to First American Suite of Services
Agreement Brings Enhanced Tools and Services to Mortgage Lenders
Irvine, Calif., July 16, 2004 - Portellus Inc., a leading innovator of high-end decision management software to the financial services industry, and The First American Corporation, the nation's largest data provider, today announced that they have enhanced the tools available to mortgage lenders through their partnership. Expanding upon its existing relationship with First American, Portellus will provide LendingSuite customers with direct desktop access to First American's electronic ordering and delivery system of mortgage services. Accessible from LendingSuite, lenders have one-click access to First American's mortgage tools and services including ValuePoint®4, its automated valuation model (AVM); CREDCO Executive Reporting Services (ERS); flood data services and appraisal and title services. LendingSuite clients can access and submit loan data to First American's services, in a secure environment, 24 hours a day, without leaving their desktop or duplicating data entry. For title transactions, the First American and LendingSuite combination provides order flow to the local title office level. Lenders can even choose to place the order with a local closing agent in the borrower's area. For credit reports, issuance and re-issuance reports are portable and re-usable from originator to investor. Such solutions help further streamline the loan process and significantly reduce cost. "Scale, technology, the Internet and e-commerce are all critical factors in the mortgage origination business today," said Bill Sherakas, chief client relations officer for First American Real Estate Information Services. "This integration positions First American as a preferred provider with Portellus, providing seamless access to our entire array of mortgage origination products to LendingSuite user institutions." "This integration is very big news for mortgage institutions," said John Le, chief executive officer of Portellus. "When you combine the capabilities of a recognized and established leader such as First American with the next generation capabilities of LendingSuite, Portellus now becomes, by every measure, a very attractive platform in the marketplace." "First American recognizes that lenders seek the most efficient solutions when working with service providers" said Skip Hulme, director of lending solutions for Portellus. "What we're announcing today is a whole new level of integration between First American and the loan origination systems. This is a major step in streamlining the industry and lowering the costs to consumers."About Portellus
Portellus, Inc. is a privately held company based in Irvine, Calif., providing Web-based loan origination solutions to the mortgage industry. Portellus has successfully deployed the industry's only true Web-based mortgage origination and management system. The system offers the industry's leading J2EE Business Rules Management System (BRMS) to enable automated product eligibility, risk-based pricing, underwriting, compliance and processing for all mortgage origination channels (retail, wholesale, and correspondent). For more information about Portellus, visit www.portellus.com.About The First American Corporation
The First American Corporation is a Fortune 500 company that traces its history to 1889. As the nation's largest data provider, the company supplies businesses and consumers with information resources in connection with the major economic events of people's lives, such as getting a job; renting an apartment; buying a car, house, boat or airplane; securing a mortgage; opening or buying a business; and planning for retirement. The First American Family of Companies, many of which command leading market share positions in their respective industries, operate within six primary business segments, including: Title Insurance and Services, Specialty Insurance, Mortgage Information, Property Information, Credit Information and Screening Information. With revenues of $6.21 billion in 2003, First American has 29,000 employees in approximately 1,800 offices throughout the United States and abroad. More information about the company and an archive of its press releases can be found at www.firstam.com. View More Press Releases
