Technology

PHH Corporation announced Wednesday that its board of directors has elected Glen Messina president and CEO. Messina, who has served as COO since joining the company in July 2011, will take his position at the helm of the mortgage outsourcer immediately, PHH said. Messina succeeds Jerome Selitto, the company's president and CEO since October 2009. PHH said Selitto has resigned from his post, effective immediately.

In the servicing sector, compliance was the buzz word in the fourth quarter of 2011, according Equator, a leading software provider for the default servicing industry. And compliance will continue to be top-of-mind throughout 2012, according to the company. ""The needs of our clients have focused on the demands for stricter compliance and Infrastructure Security,"" said John Vella, COO of Equator. Having released its short sale module in 2009, Equator has initiated almost 1.2 million short sales as of the fourth quarter of 2011.

Wipro Gallagher Solutions (WGS), a provider of end-to-end lending solutions for financial institutions, has redefined its fulfillment offerings to better meet the demands of middle- and top-tier lenders and their servicers. WGS has revised its business process outsourcing (BPO) packages depending on the lender's volume of originations and service offerings, with solutions tailored to fulfill clients' specific needs.

First American Title Insurance Company announced Tuesday the availability of Quick Start HARP - a title, signing, and settlement program that features proprietary technology to facilitate the processing of refinance closings under the newly revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program, more commonly known as HARP 2.0. Program changes are expected to help lenders reach a previously untapped population of American homeowners, and First American says its new solution will improve pull-through and closing times.

With a New Year comes new challenges for our industry - and the promise of a better tomorrow. For homeowners. For our economy. For our nation. As it does for many Americans, a New Year offers the mortgage lending and servicing industry a chance to take a step back and reflect. The message we should take from 2011 is clear: The American Dream of homeownership is far from over. Americans want to own their slice of the dream, and one nightmare - namely, a financial crisis - will do anything but soften the strength and ingenuity of a time-tested people.

RES.NET, an infrastructure of diverse real estate professionals and supporting software applications, has recently launched a new tool embedded within all RES.NET portals called Connect. Connect enables all parties involved in the sale of a property to connect to each other and track the progress of their real estate transaction, regardless of sale type. This new tool enables the real estate industry to update their communications, and create a similar environment to that which is found in social media sites, the company explained.

Lender Processing Services (LPS) has added additional functionality to its MSP loan servicing platform that the company says will help servicers better track and manage loans belonging to military service members. LPS' Military Service Relief (MSR) workstation adds 30 fields to MSP to allow servicers to identify and process loans protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), while providing stop-gap measures to guard against foreclosing on military personnel.

Stewart Information Services Corp. announced Wednesday the members of its new executive team. Recently appointed CEO Matt Morris created the executive team to align the organization for growth in the real estate services industry. Seven members make up Stewart's new executive team: Glenn Clements, George Houghton, Jason Nadeau, Mike Skalka, Allen Berryman, Murshid Khan, and John Arcidiacono.

Disenchanted with the lack of progress made after a year of negotiations between state attorneys general and the nation's five largest mortgage servicers, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has split from the pack and filed her own individual lawsuit. Coakley is suing Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, and GMAC for what she says were ""illegal foreclosures."" The suit also names Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Inc. (MERS) and its parent company as defendants.

In conjunction with the changes to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (FRBP) which go into effect on December 1, Fiserv, Inc. announced Wednesday that its LoanServ solution offers the capabilities to help ensure mortgage servicers remain compliant amidst evolving regulations. The rules amend the procedures and policies for servicing loans in bankruptcy and aim to enhance transparency in the process. FRBP governs the filing of proofs of claim and notice issues related to payment changes, post-petition fees, and other accuracy checks related to servicer actions.