Software Improves Access To Fannie Mae Loan Data
The Federal National Mortgage Association announced software that it said will give lending institutions better access to mortgage information for faster turnaround on securities issuances.
The software is available to the 2,800 institutions - including 681 savings and loans and 470 commercial banks - that subscribe to Mornet, a Fannie Mae-operated communications network for issuers of mortgage-backed securities.
Mornet processes about 600,000 transactions a month and nearly all the mortgage-pool submissions that Fannie Mae receives.
First of New Generation
Using PC-based software sold by Fannie Mae, customers address Mornet to collect and analyze data and then to transfer mortgage information to Fannie Mae for securitization.
The new products are first of a new generation of software offerings, said Paul Jackson, director of Mornet. Two of the new packages allow lenders for the first time to access information in Fannie Mae's mainframe.
The new software is also easier to use than older offerings, letting users display several windows of information at a time, Fannie Mae said.
"This allows the lenders to deal with Fannie Mae in an error-free fashion, so they can turn around information faster and we can issue the mortgage-backed security faster," Mr. Jackson said.
Access to Pool Numbers
Another new offering is a service that will give lenders and investors in mortgage-backed securities computer access to the pool numbers assigned to groups of securities. This will enable customers to get faster access to these numbers, now obtainable only by telephone.
This computer access also gives information on the loan pools, such as where they originated and the year of origination. "The more information we can make available to Wall Street, the better investors can determine the risk," Mr. Jackson said.
One of the software packages, Mornet Manager, allows lenders to view all Fannie Mae products divided into categories by business function such as loan origination, shipping, and servicing. This product is supplied to an institution when it joins the network.
One-Stop Shopping for Lenders
"In the past, there was no single place where the lender could look for all the products and services," Mr. Jackson said.
Using Mornet Manager, lenders can also access information stored on the agency's mainframe - on pricing and approved real estate types - along with economic indexes and news.
A servicing module allows lenders, for the first time, to access information on individual loans for further analysis.
The Automated Pool Number System will be available 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday, starting July 22.
Fannie Mae charges a one-time fee of $100 to subscribe to Mornet. The Mornet Servicing Support System package costs $300.
