DocMagic, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has partnered with FIS Flood Services (FIS) to offer flood zone determinations to DocMagic software users. Effective on or about May 1, 2007, FIS will become DocMagic's primary, but not exclusive, flood determination provider for DocMagic. We believe this change will allow us to provide the highest level of automation and customer service that you, our customers, demand and deserve. This change should be completely seamless and involves no changes in cost or to the flood ordering process. DocMagic will continue to utilize our current primary flood determination provider, LandAmerica Tax and Flood (formerly Nationwide TotalFlood Services Inc.), as the primary backup flood determination provider.

Recently we wrote about the changes we made to the DocMagic software's treatment of negative prepaid (also known as "odd-days" or "per diem") interest for Countrywide-specific loan plans to bring them in line with Countrywide's policies. That prior article provides some useful background and is available here.

The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR) has finally adopted Regulation 3, which implements the Rhode Island Home Loan Protection Act (HLPA). There are numerous, substantive differences between the text of the emergency regulations issued on December 29, 2006 and the final version of the Regulations. To view a redlined version of Regulation 3, click here. For a description of the material, substantive changes, click here for the Concise Explanatory Statement.

We have recently updated our New Jersey and New York high cost tests to automatically exclude mortgage insurance charges (MIP Cash and MIP Financed) entered in the "Charges/Fees" screen, as well as any PMI/MMI premium amounts (both first year premiums and premiums paid on a monthly basis) entered in the "Impounds" screen. Please feel free to contact DocMagic's Compliance Department if you have any questions regarding this enhancement.

DocMagic customers who do not regularly originate Texas second-lien loans are surprised to learn that they can only collect certain fees under certain circumstances. The purpose of this article is to explain under which circumstances the fee restriction would apply and to enumerate the fees that a lender may collect.

DocMagic's Compliance Department has prepared a matrix that shows whether each state, including the District of Columbia, allows balloon payments to be made for purchase money first-lien loans, non-purchase money first-lien loans, purchase money junior-lien loans, and non-purchase money junior-lien loans; whether any restrictions apply to balloon payments; and the citations to governing legal authority.

Here is the matrix: Balloon Payments Matrix.

Friday, May 4 -- Stop by our booth (Booth # 9) at the New Mexico Association of Mortgage Brokers Convention at the Market Place Exhibit Hall in the Sandia Casino & Resort in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Click here to view the 2007 Conference Schedule NOW!

Assistant General Counsel, Renee Cleary, was selected by USA Volleyball to be one of two female beach volleyball players to represent the USA in the North, Central American, and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation's (NORCECA's) events in Guatemala and Puerto Rico. NORCECA is the continental confederation that represents its thirty-five (35) member countries at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) level. The FIVB is responsible for, among other things, the staging of Olympic and World Championship zone qualification tournaments, as well as continental championships for both men and women in Indoor and Beach Volleyball. "We're very excited to have been selected and are looking forward to representing the United States," said Cleary. From April 16-22, Cleary will be playing in Guatemala City, Guatemala with Jenny Kropp, a former All America middle hitter from Nebraska and a member of the 2000 NCAA Women's Collegiate Volleyball Championship team. Then from May 18-20, Cleary will team up in San Jose, Puerto Rico with Jennifer Lombardi, a participant in last year's World University Games.

This month DSI posts loan programs of Hyperion Capital Group, LLC and Nomura Credit & Capital, Inc. and updates to the loan programs of Chase - Wholesale Division, Chevy Chase Bank, CitiMortgage - Correspondent Division, Countrywide, GMAC Bank, Homecomings Financial, LLC, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Correspondent), NovaStar Mortgage, Inc, Option One Mortgage Corporation, Residential Funding Corporation, Sovereign Bank - Wholesale, and Wells Fargo Bank to its Compliance page. Note that the ARM and fixed rate loan programs of GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Inc. have been updated and combined into one matrix. Find out the description of each investor's loan program, which promissory notes, prepayment riders and addenda are used, and what the rate caps and interest-only periods are for variable rate loans by visiting our Investor Updates page.

Texas Governor Perry signed House Bill 2061 on March 28, 2007, which became effective immediately. H.B. 2061 amends Texas Property Code Section 11.008, which prohibits the preparer of a deed or deed of trust from including an individuals social security number in a document presented for recording and adds a disclosure requirement to an instrument transferring an interest in real property to or from an individual. HB 2061 amends the disclosure requirements, providing that "an instrument transferring an interest in real property to or from an individual must include a notice that appears on the top of the first page of the instrument in 12-point bold face type or 12-point uppercase letters which reads substantially as follows:

In order to keep DocMagic software users better apprised of document changes and additions as they occur, DSI posts listings of all newly created and revised documents. Here is the list of forms created or modified in March 2007.