Product Release Notice
March 2010

Introducing The Mortgage Office™ Version 1.9.19
In our continuing effort to provide you with the most technologically advanced and easy-to-use loan servicing and origination software found anywhere, Applied Business Software, Inc. is pleased to announce the newest release of The Mortgage Office™. This update contains exciting new features and enhancements that will benefit you and your business.

You may download the update from this site, or if you prefer to receive a CD-ROM by mail, please fill out, sign, and submit a Software Update Request form via U.S. mail or fax. The updates will be processed in the order received. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions regarding the quality and usefulness of our products. Your comments help us improve our products to better meet your needs.

Thank you for your continued support of The Mortgage Office™.

Best Regards,
ABS Software Development Team

Are You Ready to Comply with Truth in Lending Final Rule Effective April 1, 2010?

The Final Rule establishes a new category of "higher-priced mortgages" that includes virtually all closed-end subprime loans secured by a consumer's principal dwelling.  Which loans qualify as "higher-priced" will be determined by a new index that will be published by the Federal Reserve Board.

The rule requires that lenders establish escrow accounts for the payment of property taxes and homeowners' insurance. The lender may offer the borrower the opportunity to cancel the escrow account after one year.

The rule's definition of "higher-priced mortgage loans" will capture virtually all loans in the subprime market, but generally exclude loans in the prime market.  To provide an index, the Federal Reserve Board will publish the "average prime offer rate," based on a survey currently published by Freddie Mac.  A loan is higher-priced if it is a first-lien mortgage and has an annual percentage rate that is 1.5 percentage points or more above this index, or 3.5 percentage points if it is a subordinate-lien mortgage.

Compliance with the new escrow requirement has an effective date of April 1, 2010.

The Good News. The Mortgage Office™ is ready! Our Escrow Administration module working in concert with the Trust Accounting and Loan Servicing modules meets or exceeds the accounting and reporting requirements set forth by TILA Final Rule.

So, call your ABS sales representative today at 800-833-3343 and ask how the Escrow Administration module can help you eliminate all of the complicated tasks involved with complying with the new federal mandated regulations, and automate the whole process of producing the Annual Escrow Analysis Disclosure Statements.

To learn more about the final rule download the PDF from the Federal Reserve System.

Reserve and Impound Accounts. The loan terms now allows borrower payments to and from trust (escrow) to be allocated between a reserve and an impound account. The amounts classified as impounds are used by the Escrow Administration module to produce the Annual Escrow Account Disclosure Statements

Sample Screen

T5 Recipient Type. The lender’s Tax Payer Information has been enhanced to support T5’s Recipient Type. The drop-down menu provides a selection between individual ("1"), a joint account ("2"), a corporation ("3"), an association, trust, club, or other ("4"), or a government ("5"). This information is automatically transferred to the Tax Management & Printing module to produce the T5s at year end.

We are happy to announce the long awaited release of the latest version of the Trust Accounting module of The Mortgage Office™. Trust Accounting has been completely rewritten from the ground up to include hundreds of important changes, large and small. What changes have been made? There are too many to list here, but we’ve outlined a few below.

New User Interface. The trust accounting module now supports the same explorer-like, easy-to-use graphical interface you've become accustomed to with our other modules. All information is easily accessible and centralized.

Sample Trust Accounting Screens

This latest release complies with all Federal and State regulations including California's Department of Real Estate and Business and Professions Code, and it meets or exceeds currently established legal and accounting standards for trust accounts.

Account Reconciliation. The task of performing bank reconciliations is often difficult and always time-consuming. We’ve enhanced the reconciliation form with additional tools to streamline the entire process.

• Add, Edit, and Delete Transactions. You are now able to add, edit, and delete transactions or enter adjustments without exiting the reconciliation window.
  
  
• Attach the Bank Reconciliation Statement. Once the reconciliation process is completed, the bank reconciliation statement is automatically converted to a PDF and attached to the account, so that you can easily retrieve it at any time.
  
  
• EasySearch. Quickly find any transaction.
  
  
• Excel. Export to Microsoft Excel for outside reporting and data manipulation.
  
  
• Undo Reconciliations. The ability to undo one or more reconciliations helps you to easily correct mistakes in past bank reconciliations.

Trust Accounting Reconciliation Screens

Reports & Statements. All reports and statements have been completely redesigned and now support the same look-and-feel to preview, export, and attach as found in our other modules.

Sample Reports and Assistants

Website. ABS is excited to announce the launching of its new and improved website. In the making for the past twelve months, this next-generation website incorporates a high quality, state-of-the-art, professional design aimed at showcasing The Mortgage Office™ and other services offered by ABS. We believe the new site design provides online visitors with dramatic improvements in navigation, appearance, and accessibility.

In March of 2009, ABS undertook the redesign with the goal of modernizing the site as well as creating a better online experience for our visitors. The entire ABS team was involved in the effort. “This project was definitely a fun undertaking, and a challenge that we all greatly enjoyed”, says Jerry Delgado, president of ABS.

We invite you to visit the new website at www.themortgageoffice.com.

 
Website Home Page

Splash Screen. A new design for the splash screen has been implemented to maintain a homogeneous look-and-feel throughout The Mortgage Office™. In addition to the standard copyright notice and license information, the product's release date and build number are also displayed.

Splash Screen

This section includes minor enhancements, modifications, and corrections included in this release of The Mortgage Office™. Many of these are the result of suggestions made by customers and help us improve The Mortgage Office™ to better meet your needs.