Title: PBIS Insures Fraud Risk Author(s): Source: Mortgage Servicing News. 7.4 (May 2003): p16. From General OneFile. Document Type: Article Full Text: 

Water, wind and fire are not the only hazards a lender needs to worry about these days. Now, fraud has been added to the perils that some lenders are insuring against.

PBIS Insurance Services, an affiliate of the Prieston Group, has entered into an agreement with GreenPoint Mortgage Funding to cover Alt-A credit quality loans purchased through GreenPoint's correspondent lending channel against breaches of representations and warranties related to fraud.

GreenPoint, the 15th largest residential mortgage lender in the country, is providing the PointGuard service at no cost to its correspondents.

With this automatic coverage in place, GreenPoint's correspondents will benefit from a significantly reduced risk of loan repurchases. GreenPoint also benefits by providing a unique benefit to its correspondents, as well as through enhanced risk management.

"PBIS Insurance created this unique insurance product for correspondent lenders," said Arthur Prieston, president of the firm. "As one of the more innovative and forward- looking companies in the mortgage business, GreenPoint is the first investor to understand the potential of this type of universal protection for its correspondents and to proactively offer it on a widespread basis."

Insuring against fraud minimizes the changes that a lender will be forced to repurchase loans under recourse arrangements.

PBIS Insurance is the exclusive managing agent for the repurchase insurance, which is underwritten by SAFECO, an A- plus rated insurer with assets of over $30 billion. To date, more than $200 billion of loans have been insured through the lender's representation and warranty insurance.

"GreenPoint wants to be the Alt-A investor of choice for correspondent lenders," said S.A. Ibrahim, president and CEO of GreenPoint Mortgage. "By drastically reducing a lender's repurchase risk - without any cost to them or additional approvals - we have given correspondent lenders another strong incentive to sell loans to us."

Approximately 10% of all loan applications, 25% of foreclosures and 45% to 50% of early payment defaults include some form of fraud or misrepresentation, according to Mr. Prieston. On average, losses on fraudulent loans equal 37% of the loan amount, he said.

In addition to PBIS Insurance, the Prieston Group provides due diligence, surveillance, quality control, lender rating and training services to lenders through LoanCert, and legal

services related to loss mitigation and mortgage fraud through Lanahan & Reilley. Mr. Prieston is senior partner and chairman of the fraud practice at Lanahan & Reilley.

The Prieston Group provides fraud prevention, protection and related legal services to mortgage lenders and investors through its three business units. The Prieston Group and its affiliated companies have performed fraud-related due diligence and legal services for more than 300 lenders nationwide.

Based in San Rafael, Calif., the Prieston Group also maintains offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Richmond, Va.

Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com, http://www.mortgageservicingnews.com

Source Citation "PBIS Insures Fraud Risk." Mortgage Servicing News May 2003: 16. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA100240203&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A100240203

Title: Technology: MERS Initiative Will Reduce Data Entry Source: Mortgage Servicing News. (Dec. 2001): p12. From General OneFile. Document Type: Brief article Full Text: 

Three lenders have agreed to provide initial funding for a new MERS product designed to make it easier to convert correspondents and brokers into MERS-ready trading partners.

Greenpoint Mortgage Funding, Resource Bancshares Mortgage Group Inc. and Principal Residential Mortgage have provided funding for a new online system called MERS 1-2-3.

The product includes a Web-based facility for generating Mortgage Identification Numbers, relationships with doc prep companies that ensures the MIN will be accurately represented on the MOM (MERS as Original Mortgage) security instrument, and an interface that allows the current MERS online system to retrieve the warehoused data to pre-populate data fields, which the company says will eliminate approximately 90% of required data entry for registration.

Nonmembers will be able to realize the benefits of the new product through a member's private label branding of MERS 1-2-3. The product will be accessed through a secure,

Web-based interface that utilizes data encryption when transmitting personal or otherwise sensitive data.

The company hopes the new system will encourage all lenders to utilize MERS by providing a streamlined registration process.

Copyright c 2001 Thomson Financial. All Rights Reserved.

Source Citation "Technology: MERS Initiative Will Reduce Data Entry." Mortgage Servicing News Dec. 2001: 12. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA80728098&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A80728098

Top of page Title: GreenPoint and Homestar sign with Mavent Source: Mortgage Banking. 64.7 (Apr. 2004): p102. From General OneFile. Document Type: Brief article Full Text: 

GREENPOINT MORTGAGE FUNDING INC., New York, has signed a five-year contract extension with Mavent Inc., Irvine, California. Mavent's 2comply Expert System is currently deployed in all of GreenPoint Mortgage's retail and wholesale loan branches and is performing preclosing compliance reviews for all of GreenPoint's residential loans.

Mavent's 2comply Expert System is a real-time residential mortgage compliance solution that reviews every loan in a residential mortgage lender's production pipeline for compliance with applicable federal, state and local lending laws, rules and regulations prior to funding.

In addition, Homestar Mortgage Services LLC, Paramus, New Jersey, has signed a five-year contract with Mavent to provide a fully automated mortgage compliance solution for the company's newly formed conduit division. Mavent's Intercept[TM] Expert System will review pools of residential mortgages for compliance with applicable predatory and high-cost provisions as well as the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) prior to purchase.

Source Citation "GreenPoint and Homestar sign with Mavent." Mortgage Banking Apr. 2004: 102. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.

Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA115630439&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A115630439

Top of page Title: How In Demand Is E-Point? Author(s): Source: Mortgage Technology. 11.7 (Oct. 2004): p22. From General OneFile. Document Type: Article Full Text: 

In today's competitive market, lenders are incorporating more and more Web services into their wholesale websites to make it a one-stop shop for their brokers. Novato, Calif.-based GreenPoint Mortgage Funding for one has its e-Point site powered by technology supplied by Dorado, San Mateo, Calif.

Specifically, e-Point is GreenPoint's Web-based automated underwriting and pricing system which is essentially a combination of Dorado's Wholesale ChannelMaster and PriceMaster products. With the latest version 3.0 it now offers brokers access to the MORNET network of credit providers as a Web service that moves the entire credit ordering function to the point of sale via the use of Dorado's .MOR Web services platform.

Dating back to 1999, GreenPoint realized the demand for a wholesale website and began looking at technology vendors to get it done. "GreenPoint had a need for a wholesale transaction website that would be able to accept loan information, provide integrations to automated underwriting systems, rules engine technology, pricing and other components," said David Anderson, senior vice president of e-commerce at GreenPoint. "In late '99 similar sites were being rolled out by Countrywide and IndyMac when we settled on Dorado to help us build our site."

Mr. Anderson touted a broker adoption rate of 80%, stating that the lender handles 1,000 loan submissions a day through the system. In terms of e-Point's success in increasing broker adoption that number is impressive, but when compared to the two lenders that beat GreenPoint to market, Countrywide and IndyMac Bancorp Inc., that adoption rate isn't as impressive because the adoption rate realized by those lenders is 97% and 98%, respectively.

Furthermore, Cleveland-based Ohio Savings Bank has a 100% adoption rate on its wholesale site, www.gemstoneohio.com. "All of our customers use our website all the time," noted Lori Gray, director of marketing and product development at OSB. "They are required to use our site. They can use other AU systems right now but that will change soon.

"What makes our site unique is that it provides suggestions about what processing tasks need to be done to close the loan with us," she continued. "It also includes recommendations."

When asked what makes e-Point unique, Mr. Anderson reported that "a unique step associated with version 3.0 is the addition of the list of Fannie Mae credit providers to the site. In the past that used to be a barrier to our brokers because we used to require them to pull credit in our name only."

In the evolution of e-Point this is a significant achievement, but it is nothing new, according to OSB. "We've done that for five years," commented Ms. Gray. "Brokers or processors reissue credit using their own credit relationships when they use our site."

Nonetheless, the seamless integration to the MORENET credit network is a result of technology that Dorado has perfected over the past two years. "We've been doing point-of-sale workflow integration for several years," said Rob Carpenter, CTO and co-founder of Dorado. "One of the problems that we had to solve was how to integrate to legacy systems. We had been doing these types of integrations but decided that we needed a general solution that we could apply across the board instead of tackling it on a case-by-case basis."

And in general users are giving the system high marks, but the upgrade to this latest version was problematic for some at first. "I got very accustomed to their website before the change," said Diana San Juan, senior processor at Guaranty Mortgage, San Francisco. "It was very self-explanatory and just flowed.

"Now that I can reissue credit instead of having to pull an internal credit report through GreenPoint that we don't have access to, it's a big plus," she noted. "However, the first time I used the updated website I was confused and asked myself what was going on. It was a change to what I was used to doing. It took me 30 minutes to familiarize myself."

At OSB however, the process of updating its site is very interactive, according to Ms. Gray. "Our marquee is service," she pointed out. "We promote all website updates through field sales people, our call center and internal sales people who outbound train users. A big part of our success is change management."

Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.mortgage-technology.com

Source Citation "How In Demand Is E-Point?" Mortgage Technology Oct. 2004: 22. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA123006729&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A123006729

Title: In Brief: GreenPoint Using Sysdome System Author(s): Jody Shenn Source: American Banker. 169.131 (July 9, 2004): p18. From General OneFile. Document Type: Brief article Full Text: 

GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Inc. of Novato, Calif., is expected to announce today that it has begun using Sysdome Inc.'s Electronic Loan Review to protect itself against fraud.

The system can check borrower and loan information against a database when an application is taken, or before or after a loan is funded. It flags suspicious loans and generates reports on why they seem questionable.

Diane Alfeld, GreenPoint Mortgage's vice president of prefunding analysis, said that before the company began using the system six months ago, it manually scrutinized about 3% to 5% of loans for fraud during underwriting, mostly on a random basis.

Electronic Loan Review enables GreenPoint to do themanual reviews "on a much larger sample" and with more precision, Ms. Alfeld said. "This way" none of it is "just random."

The lender is a unit of GreenPoint Financial Corp. of New York City, which North Fork Bancorp Inc. of Melville, N.Y., is buying in a deal expected to close this quarter. Sysdome, is based in Calabasas, Calif.

Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.americanbanker.com

By Jody Shenn

Source Citation Shenn, Jody. "In Brief: GreenPoint Using Sysdome System." American Banker 9 July 2004: 18. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA119089043&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A119089043

Top of page Title: Louder Buzz on Move by GreenPoint Author(s): Matthias Rieker Source: American Banker. 169.10 (Jan. 15, 2004): p1. From General OneFile. Document Type: Article

Full Text: 

Yearend earnings season traditionally inspires Wall Street speculation about mergers, acquisitions, and repositionings, and the chatter concerning GreenPoint Financial Corp. is growing louder.

The New York company's two main businesses -- a New York state-chartered savings bank, with 85 branches and $13 billion of deposits, and GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Inc., a home lending operation based in Novato, Calif. -- tend to counteract one another, especially in periods of interest rate volatility.

The speculation has GreenPoint selling or spinning off the mortgage operation. Though it generates the bulk of the company's revenues, the unit is blamed for holding the stock's price/earnings multiple below those of other thrifts in the New York market.

As the thinking goes, without the mortgage unit, GreenPoint either would get a stronger currency with which to make deals or would become a more attractive target.

Analysts say GreenPoint's executives have repeatedly expressed frustration about their stock valuation, as have the top managers of purer-play mortgage companies. GreenPoint's shares currently trade at 10 times its earnings for the last four quarters, while Astoria Financial Corp. of Lake Success, N.Y., trades at 14 times earnings, and North Fork Bancorp Inc. of Melville at almost 16 times. Astoria, a thrift, and North Fork, a bank, are fierce competitors with GreenPoint on the retail banking side.

Investors tend to give mortgage companies lower valuations on the perception that their business is more volatile.

"Mortgage banking is viewed as an albatross," though GreenPoint does a good job managing the business, said James M. Ackor, an analyst with Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets.

Observers say the drag on valuation makes it difficult for GreenPoint to make acquisitions -- or, for that matter, to sell itself. Thomas S. Johnson, its 63-year-old chairman and chief executive, has repeatedly said that both are viable options.

Mr. Ackor said the stock's 3.6% jump in the last two weeks -- outperforming shares of other mortgage lenders -- suggests to Wall Street pundits that "something is brewing."

Some observers expect a spinoff to be announced soon, possibly in conjunction with the fourth-quarter earnings report, scheduled for Jan. 21. Other observers say that even if an announcement is not imminent, a spinoff is -- and has been for some time -- an ongoing consideration.

Rumors about GreenPoint's future have been circulating among bank stock traders ever since consolidation in metropolitan New York gained momentum in late spring. "We

heard so many rumors about GreenPoint, we don't know what to believe," said Frank J. Barkocy, the director of research at Keefe Mangers Inc., a fund management firm specializing in financial services.

A GreenPoint spokesman would not comment Tuesday on the possibility of a breakup, but Mr. Barkocy said he gives the speculation some credence. In fact, he expects GreenPoint to be acquired "in the not so distant future."

Others consider it to be a buyer. Mr. Johnson has privately expressed disappointment that it has lacked the currency to participate in the recent New York merger wave.

In October, New York Community Bancorp Inc. of Westbury bought Roslyn Bancorp Inc. of Jericho, and a month later Independence Community Bank Corp. in Brooklyn agreed to buy Staten Island Bancorp Inc.

That deal may illustrate the advantages of a mortgage spinoff. Staten Island's sizable but troubled mortgage operation was not only a drag on the company's share price, but an obstacle for a number of potential buyers, analysts and investment bankers say.

John Adam Kanas, the chairman, president, and CEO of North Fork, said Wednesday, said he was "involved" in negotiations with Staten Island but "in the end opted not to stay in the process."

Independence got its financial adviser, Lehman Brothers, to take the mortgage operation off its hands. Still, Independence's stock suffered badly after the takeover was announced and has not recovered, because of shareholder unease with the transaction.

Joseph R. Ficalora, the CEO of New York Community, said he "had clear interest in the Staten Island franchise" but in the end was discouraged from biding, because of "the uncertainty of the disposition of the mortgage company."

GreenPoint would find itself in a different position, because its mortgage operation is viewed as well managed. In the third quarter the unit generated pretax income of $119.5 million, versus the $89.4 million generated from banking operations. The company, which in the past has used Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. as its investment banker, could try to either find a solution similar to Independence's or sell itself, analysts said. Keefe Bruyette would not say whether GreenPoint is still a client.

Still, there are other developments that have some observers drawing lines to connect the dots.

GreenPoint announced Tuesday that it appointed Roman Martinez 4th, a retired Lehman investment banker, to its board. His "experience and expertise in financial services will be a terrific asset for our company," Mr. Johnson said in a press release.

And Capital One Financial Corp. of McLean, Va., which was named as a possible suitor after it said it wanted to expand into banking through branch openings or acquisitions, recently hired Robert Lacoursiere, a former Lehman bank analyst, to help it develop a game plan.

Without the mortgage part, the list of possible buyers would be virtually endless, including Citigroup Inc. or Washington Mutual Inc. or foreign banks, analysts say. In November speculation swept Wall Street that Barclays PLC of London had its eye on GreenPoint and others. (Interestingly, GreenPoint bought BarclaysAmerican/Mortgage Corp.'s the wholesale residential mortgage operation in 1995.)

Royal Bank of Scotland PLC has long been expected to buy another company in the Northeast or Middle Atlantic. It already owns Citizens Financial Group Inc. of Providence, R.I., and is constantly rumored to be going after Sovereign Bancorp Inc., a Philadelphia thrift.

Though most agree that spinning off the mortgage operation is an obvious choice, others say that may not persuade GreenPoint to do it. "If this is such a no brainer,' why haven't they done so?" one investment banker asked.

One banker, who, like the investment banker, asked not to be named, said Mr. Johnson has privately dismissed the option of selling the mortgage part. But the investment banker said numerous financial advisers have approached GreenPoint to propose such a plan.

Scott Valentin, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. of Arlington, Va., said GreenPoint's mortgage operation makes its business less volatile and future earnings growth is unlikely to come from the thrift side, a mature business line. GreenPoint, which originates mortgages mostly though brokers, has a focus on certain specialty markets.

Besides, a potential buyer would not necessarily be rebuffed by the mortgage operation, since any buyer could arrange a spinoff as part of the deal, anyway, Mr. Valentin said.

Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.americanbanker.com

By Matthias Rieker

Source Citation Rieker, Matthias. "Louder Buzz on Move by GreenPoint." American Banker 15 Jan. 2004: 1. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA112206314&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A112206314

Top of page Title: Capital One: Focus Back on Volume, Controlling Costs Author(s): Harry Terris Source: American Banker. 172.94 (May 16, 2007): p8. From General OneFile. Document Type: Article Full Text: 

Stabilizing margins in the secondary mortgage market have Capital One Financial Corp. confident it will not need to make another significant addition to reserves for early-payment defaults or take another big warehouse valuation hit.

"Now our focus is really on getting back to driving some of the origination volumes, as well as" controlling costs, Gary Perlin, the company's chief financial officer, said Monday.

"We are doing what we need to in order to make this business profitable," he said. "To a large extent that means consolidating some of our offices."

Capital One completed its acquisition of North Fork Bancorp. Inc., and its large alternative-A lending business, GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Inc., in December.

In the first quarter Capital One's mortgage business lost $12.6 million, in part because of a $19 million reserve addition and a $21 million warehouse valuation adjustment.

Mr. Perlin said Capital One would "continue to be using cost as a very important lever" in its credit card business, as it has for the past couple of years as margins fell while the company moved "up market" to account holders with higher credit quality.

He made his remarks at an investor conference in New York sponsored by UBS AG.

The CFO said he expects the McLean, Va., company to be more nimble on the revenue side after having completed important infrastructural changes at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, including the outsourcing of its card servicing to Total System Services Inc.

"Capital One has always been known as an innovator, and sometimes our ideas actually percolated more quickly than we were able to actually get those products out into the market," he said. "Having moved to a more standard, simpler platform, we believe we're in a much stronger position."

The conversion to TSYS, which is majority owned by Synovus Financial Corp. of Columbus, Ga., made it harder for Capital One to manage its card business "account to account," but Mr. Perlin said he believes his company will now "be able to catch up."

"Over the course of this year in cards, credit will be working against us, cost and revenue should be working for us," he said.

When asked about other businesses that may interest Capital One, Mr. Perlin said, "We don't spend a lot of time thinking about that right now because the challenges we have with the businesses we acquired really require our full-time attention. ... We've got the pieces to the puzzle."

(c) 2007 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/

By Harry Terris

Source Citation Terris, Harry. "Capital One: Focus Back on Volume, Controlling Costs." American Banker 16 May 2007: 8. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA163413576&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A163413576

Top of page Title: Capital One Shuts GreenPoint, Citing Mortgage Turmoil Author(s): Paul Davis Source: American Banker. 172.161 (Aug. 21, 2007): p20. From General OneFile. Document Type: Article Full Text: 

Capital One Financial Corp. said Monday that it will shut down its GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Inc. unit by yearend.

The $145 billion-asset McLean, Va., banking company said in a press release that it had already stopped originating mortgages through GreenPoint after realizing that "recent and continuing developments in the mortgage markets reduce the long-term outlook for profitability in the business." The company will close GreenPoint's headquarters in Novato, Calif., along with 31 offices nationwide. It will also trim about 1,900 jobs at the mortgage unit, which primarily originated and sold alternative-A mortgages. Capital One had telegraphed to investors last week that it was weighing options for the unit in light of market conditions.

Capital One said it expects to record $860 million in charges, or $2.15 a share, with most to be incurred this quarter and next. Of that, about $100 million would cover severance, benefits, and facilities closures, and another $110 million would cover after-tax valuation adjustments tied to GreenPoint-originated loans that Capital One will retain. The rest of the charges address the noncash writedown of goodwill tied to Capital One's acquisition of GreenPoint as part of its December purchase of North Fork Bancorp of Melville, N.Y.

The company also reduced its full-year earnings guidance to $5 a share, from $7.15, to reflect the charges.

Richard Fairbank, Capital One's chairman, president, and chief executive, wrote in an internal memo obtained by American Banker that the continuing liquidity crisis for mortgage originators spurred the decision to close the unit. "We acquired the GreenPoint business ... anticipating that it would be a growth platform for the company based on the historic performance of that business," he wrote. "Unfortunately, GreenPoint has run into unforeseen challenges that are beyond its control."

Though Mr. Fairbank had long harbored reservations about entering the mortgage business, in March 2006 when he announced the $13.2 billion North Fork deal he said he had become more open to the business line. Having a national mortgage origination platform, he said at the time, would be "a very important part of the future success of any company that wants to be an endgame player" in financial services.

Company spokeswoman Tatiana Stead said that Capital One made an effort to learn about the mortgage business and make it work.

The company explored all its options, she said, and "this was what made the most sense." The GreenPoint job cuts are to be in addition to the 2,000 companywide layoffs that Capital One announced in June, she said.

(c) 2007 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/

By Paul Davis

Source Citation Davis, Paul. "Capital One Shuts GreenPoint, Citing Mortgage Turmoil." American Banker 21 Aug. 2007: 20. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA167836762&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A167836762

Top of page Title: Fifth Circuit Prohibits Software Licensee's Attorney From Using Licensed Software Source: Mondaq Business Briefing. (Oct. 28, 2010): From General OneFile. Document Type: Article Full Text: 

Can a software licensee allow its attorney to use the software for business purposes for the benefit of the licensee? A recent decision by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit says no. Compliance Source Inc. v. GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Inc., No. 09-10726 (5th Cir. October 18, 2010) holds that a court cannot look past the actual language of a licensing agreement and absolve a licensee who grants third-party access to use the licensed software merely because that use is on behalf of, or inures to the benefit of, the licensee. The case serves as a cautionary reminder that software licenses may be read strictly to protect against any unauthorized use.

As is common in many software licensing agreements, the agreement at issue here provided that the licensee did not have the right to "copy, make, use, have made, sell, support, or sub-license" the licensed technology except as specifically provided therein. The licensee granted its attorney access to the licensed software, used to streamline licensee's mortgage loan-packaging process, so that the attorney could prepare loan documents on the licensee's behalf. The licensee argued that nothing in the agreement explicitly prohibited such use of the licensed software when it was done exclusively for the benefit of the licensee. The licensor contended that the licensing agreement expressly prohibited any use that was not explicitly authorized by the agreement itself. The court, following Texas law, looked to the plain language of the license agreement to support its finding that the licensee's attorney's use of the software was a non-permissible use because it was not specifically provided for in the agreement.

The Fifth Circuit's decision serves as a reminder to licensees to look to the plain language in a licensing agreement before providing any third party, including attorneys, access to use licensed software.

Furthermore, based on the court's reasoning in this case, the decision leaves open the possibility that a breach of contract claim could extend beyond those situations in which a third party uses the licensed software to where a third party merely accesses the software. Here, the dispute allegedly arose out of the licensor's discovery that the technology was being accessed by a third party. When the licensor objected, the licensee assured the licensor that the third party had view-only access, which the licensor found acceptable under the agreement (the license agreement granted limited access to certain closing documents and disclosures through a customized link on GreenPoint's Web site). The complaint was filed when it was later determined that the third party (the licensee's attorney) was doing more than merely accessing the program. Given that "access" was not at issue here, the holding is restricted to third-party "use" of licensed software. However, based on the reasoning in the decision, the court has left open the possibility that, unless permission is specifically provided in the agreement, simply granting third party access to licensed software could be viewed as a breach of a license agreement.

A company whose software license agreements include similar restrictive language should first seek permission from the licensor before granting access to its ordinary service providers. When negotiating license agreements, licensees may wish to include language permitting access and/or use by attorneys or other service providers for the purpose of assisting the licensee in the ordinary course of the licensee's business.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Mr Andrew Baum

Foley & Lardner

321 N. Clark, Ste. 2800

Chicago

Illinois, 60610

UNITED STATES

Click Here for related articles

(c) Mondaq Ltd, 2010 - Tel. +44 (0)20 8544 8300 - http://www.mondaq.com

Mr Andrew Baum and Kelly M. Weiner

Source Citation "Fifth Circuit Prohibits Software Licensee's Attorney From Using Licensed Software." Mondaq Business Briefing 28 Oct. 2010. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA240729426&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A240729426

Title: GreenPoint Mortgage Renews Contract for Fidelity's Mortgage Servicing Platform Author(s): Source: PR Newswire. (May 16, 2005): From General OneFile. Document Type: Article Full Text: 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fidelity Information Services (Fidelity), a division of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. , announced that GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Inc. renewed its contract for Fidelity's industry-leading mortgage servicing package (MSP). GreenPoint services more than 303,000 mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) on MSP and intends to convert an additional 25,000 mortgages to MSP this year.

GreenPoint, one of the nation's top 20 mortgage servicers, renewed its contract due to the significant value and reliability that MSP adds to its operations. MSP also gives

GreenPoint a single platform for servicing traditional mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). As GreenPoint continues to grow its HELOC portfolio, it will benefit from the fully enhanced HELOC capabilities embedded in MSP.

"Fidelity's MSP servicing system is one of the keys to our success," said Michael De Francesco, senior vice president of servicing for GreenPoint. "We have used MSP for more than 15 years and are excited to be working closely with Fidelity on its HELOC enhancements. As we continue to grow our mortgage business, we are happy to have Fidelity on our team."

MSP, the industry's leading mortgage servicing software, enables GreenPoint to automate all areas of its loan servicing, including loan setup and maintenance, customer service, cashiering, escrow administration, investor accounting, default management and federal regulatory reporting. Additionally, with MSP, GreenPoint can fully integrate its servicing processes for HELOCs into MSP and benefit from established functionality within MSP to perform investor accounting processes. Plus, since MSP treats HELOCs as collateralized assets, GreenPoint is able to mitigate its overall risk with non-performing loans. Leveraging one system to service traditional mortgages and HELOCs gives GreenPoint a competitive advantage.

More than 50 percent of mortgage lenders use MSP to service their mortgages, as this solution reduces overall servicing costs and promotes increased productivity. GreenPoint also uses Fidelity's graphical, client server, voice response unit, Internet customer service, check creation and data analytics tools.

Fidelity continues to invest in its MSP system to enhance its HELOC capabilities. These enhancements will include providing MSP users with credit card interfacing for HELOC loans and enabling borrowers to use credit cards to access the funds from their HELOC loan. Additionally, lenders will be able to place a hold on the mortgagor's account for a specific amount in anticipation of an advance, providing them with balance protection and fraud prevention.

"Fidelity has had a strong partnership with GreenPoint for many years," said Hugh Harris, president of the Financial Services Technology Solutions division of Fidelity Information Services. "We look forward to working with GreenPoint to meet their business objectives with seamless conversions and enhanced HELOC functionality."

GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Inc., a national mortgage banking company headquartered in Novato, California, is a leading national lender in residential mortgages, specializing in no-documentation and "Alternative A" mortgage loans. GreenPoint Mortgage is a subsidiary of North Fork Bancorporation, Inc. North Fork Bancorporation, Inc. , headquartered in Melville, New York, is a commercial bank holding company with assets of approximately $55 billion and provides a variety of financial services through its subsidiaries. More information about GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Inc. and North Fork Bancorporation, Inc. can be found at http://www.northforkbank.com/ .

Fidelity National Financial, Inc., number 261 on the Fortune 500, is a provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry. FNF is the nation's largest title insurance company, with nearly 32 percent national market share, and is also a provider of other specialty insurance products, including flood insurance, homeowners insurance and home warranty insurance. Through its majority-owned subsidiary Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. ("FIS"), the Company is a leading provider of technology solutions, processing services and information services to the financial services and real estate industries. FIS' software processes nearly 50 percent of all U.S. residential mortgages; it has processing and technology relationships with 45 of the top 50 U.S. banks and more than 2,800 small and mid-sized U.S. financial institutions, and it has clients in more than 50 countries who rely on its processing and outsourcing products and services. FIS also provides customized business process outsourcing related to aspects of the origination and management of mortgage loans to national lenders and servicers. FIS offers information services, including property data and real estate-related services that are used by lenders, mortgage investors and real estate professionals to complete residential real estate transactions throughout the U.S. More information about the FNF family of companies can be found at http://www.fnf.com/ and http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com/ .

This press release contains statements related to future events and expectations and, as such, constitutes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be different from those expressed or implied above. The company expressly disclaims any duty to update or revise forward- looking statements. The risks and uncertainties which forward-looking statements are subject to include, but are not limited to, the effect of governmental regulations, the economy, competition and other risks detailed from time to time in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis" section of the company's Form 10-K and other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com http://www.NorthForkBank.com

CONTACT: Daniel Kennedy Murphy, Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations, Fidelity National Financial, Inc., +1-904-854-8120, or dkmurphy@fnf.com; or Michelle Kersch, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Fidelity Information Services, Inc., +1-904-854-5043, or michelle.kersch@fnf.com

Web site: http://www.fnf.com/

Source Citation "GreenPoint Mortgage Renews Contract for Fidelity's Mortgage Servicing Platform." PR Newswire 16 May 2005. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA132456327&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A132456327

Top of page Title: GreenPoint Financial Selects Sysdome for Fraud Prevention Technologies; Financial Giant with $22 Billion in Assets Implements Sysdome's Electronic Loan Review Source: Business Wire. (July 13, 2004): From General OneFile. Document Type: Article

Full Text: 

CALABASAS, Calif. -- GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Inc., a division of GreenPoint Financial Corp. (NYSE: GPT), a $22 billion asset bank holding company ranked among the 50 largest U.S. banking companies, has chosen Sysdome, Inc.'s Electronic Loan Review (ELR) product suite to ensure loan quality and protect its growing mortgage origination volume against fraud. GreenPoint Mortgage originates a wide variety of exclusively "A" quality loans, including agency qualifying loans and Jumbo A loans, and specializes in Alternative A mortgages.

Sysdome's ELR is an automated system capable of checking borrower and loan information at the point of application and at the pre- and post-funding stages. With ELR, GreenPoint can check every loan against an extensive list of criteria through Sysdome's National Fraud Protection Database (NFPD), which contains a comprehensive library of borrower and property information. The company receives concise reports on all files with questionable information. ELR works in conjunction with Sysdome's Electronic Portfolio Review (EPR) to prevent mortgage fraud both at the individual loan level and in large loan portfolios.

"Sysdome's loan quality solutions enable our loan processors to identify and flag applications that require detailed review and scrutiny prior to committing resources or funds," said Diane Alfeld, vice president of prefunding analysis, GreenPoint Mortgage. "ELR automates critical aspects of data verification very early in the application process, flagging only those applications requiring additional attention," said Leslie Gibin, senior vice president of credit operations, GreenPoint Mortgage. "Sysdome's solution integrates with GreenPoint's proven mortgage business process, allowing loan quality improvements without lengthening processing time."

"Sysdome is committed to improving loan quality by curbing fraud in the mortgage and financial services industries through advanced detection, protection and evaluation methods, focusing on identity theft, property valuation, broker fraud, and occupancy issues," said Kevin Coop, president of Sysdome. "Our service to a nationally recognized financial institution such as GreenPoint Financial highlights the effectiveness, credibility and industry recognition of our product offerings."

Mortgage lenders and investors are increasingly aware of the importance of quality control management in both the buying and selling sectors of the industry. In response to this growing security need, Sysdome's fraud prevention solutions continue to identify and reduce the overall risk of fraud in the mortgage industry as well as provide comprehensive solutions for both individual and large pool assessments.

About GreenPoint Financial

GreenPoint Financial Corp., www.greenpoint.com, is a $22 billion asset bank holding company and is among the most profitable of the 50 largest banking companies in the country. GreenPoint's businesses, a national mortgage business and a New York retail bank with 90 branches, complement each other and tend to reduce the cyclical nature of earnings growth inherent in the financial services industry.

About Sysdome

Calabasas, Calif.-based Sysdome Inc., is an Internet-based, high-speed technology service that prevents fraudulent loss, reduces risk, streamlines loan processes, and consolidates vendor relationships for mortgage lenders. Founded in 1998, Sysdome supports more than 500 mortgage lenders throughout the United States with its Decision-Support solutions including Electronic Loan Review (ELR), Third Party Originator (TPO) Management Program, Fraudguard.com, PredatorX/E , Fraud Seminars and Educational Services, Asset Searches, Directed Audit Services and Pre-funding Comprehensive Screening Audits. For more information about Sysdome, visit www.sysdome.com.

Source Citation "GreenPoint Financial Selects Sysdome for Fraud Prevention Technologies; Financial Giant with $22 Billion in Assets Implements Sysdome's Electronic Loan Review." Business Wire 13 July 2004. General OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA119228869&v=2.1&u=uphoenix&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A119228869

Top of page