Realty Times December 17, 1998

Electronic Loans Take the Lead at FINET

Finet Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: FNHC) today announced that over 55% of its home loans in November, totaling more than $42 million, used Fannie Mae's Desktop Originator/Desktop Underwriter* (DO/DU) electronic loan submission and underwriting system.

Monument Mortgage, a Finet subsidiary, is one of the top ten wholesale lenders nationally using DO/DU as its primary loan origination system. Since introducing the system into its wholesale network of mortgage brokers in 1997, Monument has been a leader in introducing and training mortgage brokers on the system. DO loan submissions have grown steadily, and now comprise the majority of Monument's funding. In November, 83% of DO loan submissions to Monument were approved, resulting in more than $42 million in DO loans.

"Fannie Mae's DO/DU system validates Finet's vision of technology revolutionizing the mortgage industry," comments Mark Korell, Finet's Chairman and CEO. "DO puts the broker in electronic contact with their lenders who have direct access to Fannie Mae, making it the easiest way to submit loan applications. Brokers and borrowers also appreciate the greatly simplified documentation that DU allows. Because this electronic system's underwriting recommendation consistently reduces the amount of time and documentation traditionally associated with the mortgage process, our DO submissions continue to accelerate each week."

"Using DO, you get conditions, you meet them, and you're done," comments Mike Callan of Just Loans in Santa Clara, CA, one of the independent brokers sponsored by Monument Mortgage. "With DO, we bypass the craziness that normally goes along with A paper underwriting and simplify the entire origination process."

Finet, a leading edge e-commerce firm, facilitates homeownership through a variety of technology-based products and automated services for consumers and real estate service providers, including Realtors*, mortgage brokers, Internet home listing aggregators, title companies and other settlement services providers. Its Internet products include iQualify, a national award-winning service providing consumers a mortgage approval decision in minutes; Property Transaction Network (PTN) Connector, customized transaction management software for Realtors*; and Interloan.com, an on-line homeownership services site. Finet's primary services include fulfilling consumer homeownership transaction needs through retail service centers, offering automated financing solutions through mortgage brokers, and the sale of customer leads to real estate service providers.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this press release, including statements regarding the anticipated development and expansion of the Company's business, and the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company, its directors or its officers, are "forward-looking" statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Desktop Originator / Underwriter are registered trademarks of Fannie Mae.


Source: Press Release



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