The mortgage division of Alltel Information Systems is teaming with Microsoft Corp. and Data Track Systems Inc. to provide a secure network for electronic data interchange.
The network is to be operational in the first quarter of 1997.
"The time necessary to arrange a mortgage and sign closing papers for a home purchase will eventually shrink from a month to a few days" as a result of the strategic alliance, an announcement said.
The network will use Microsoft technology to connect brokers, banks, appraisers, and insurers in what the announcement said will be the first secure electronic data interchange (EDI) transaction network over both the Internet and on-line connections.
The system will integrate more parts of the real estate transaction process than any other, according to Gilbert Barnes, president of Data Track Systems Inc.
"For the first time, the innumerable steps of a real estate transaction can occur concurrently, not sequentially," said Brian Jeans, real estate industry manager at Microsoft Corp.
The new network is to join the Alltel Interchange network with Data Track's network of title insurers. Alltel Interchange is a value-added EDI network that offers common access to brokers, lenders, credit agencies, appraisers, and mortgage insurers.
Lenders and real estate brokers will be able to easily order and track loan origination requests, appraisals, credit records, flood data, title insurance and escrow services from their desktops without re-keying data, the companies said.
