Long Beach Mortgage Company Selects FiTECH Systems

Business Wire, August 31, 1995

ORANGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 31, 1995--Long Beach Mortgage Company, one of the nation's first originators of non-conforming, non-agency first-lien mortgages, has selected FiTECH Systems' Mortgage Lending System (MLS) for its operations. The company's expertise in the non-conforming market is based on highly-personalized customer service, producing a delinquency rate of only 8 percent -- well below the industry average of 12-18 percent.

Consumer-oriented Long Beach's selection of MLS is in keeping with their growth strategy based on efficient operations combined with a strong emphasis on customer service. The lender even makes 'house calls,' collecting documents and performing pre-qualifying legwork at an applicant's residence. MLS' flexibility was a factor in Long Beach's decision.

"Our old system was hampering and restricting our growth," says Morton L. Latta, Long Beach's Director of Strategic Planning. "It had limited functionality and small-company capacity. And it wasn't set up to work in a WAN setting. We had simply outgrown its ability to deal with our widening lines of products and services."

FiTECH's WAN capabilities are particularly important to Long Beach Mortgage Company as it expands all five of its current lines of business beyond its California base. "FiTECH has worked with us on solving our WAN challenges as we've evolved from a regional to a national company," Latta notes. "With FiTECH, we're driving toward immediate response time."

FiTECH came out on top in an intensive review coordinated by Deloitte and Touche, according to Latta. After initial interviews of a number of vendors, five finalists were called in to make presentations. Long Beach ranked the finalists in seven areas: (1) flexibility; (2) ability to meet Long Beach's unique criteria; (3) ease of implementation; (4) vendor financial strength; (5) vendor service to system customers; (6) technical architecture; and (7) cost. FiTECH's score was as much as 30% higher than the other finalists.

Long Beach has originated approximately $4.5 billion and securitized over $4.0 billion since focusing on the B/C sector of the mortgage market in 1988. The company now originates about 800 B/C mortgages per month through 34 retail and 42 wholesale branches nationwide. At $1.1 billion, these two lines provide the lion's share of its business. Its A line of credit mortgage lending, now generating about 100 mortgages a month out of five branches, will expand to 8-10 branches by the end of 1995. Its new auto loans line now function in five branches in the Northeast, with branches planned in the Southeast and on the West Coast.

The company's fifth line of business is its $2.7 billion portfolio of B/C loans which it services for investors. It was one of the first mortgage companies to securitize and go onto Wall Street. "A lot of our pools are rated AAA," says Latta. "We get a better price because of our ability to out-perform our competitors on the servicing side."

FiTECH's strength is the gift of time, says FiTECH Vice President Chuck Welsh. "With FiTECH Lending's Mortgage Lending System speeding up the technical end of mortgage processing and servicing, companies like Long Beach Mortgage Company can concentrate on what sets them apart from their competitors: customer service. We're pleased to be a part of enabling B- and C-ranked consumers to become successful home owners."

FiTECH Systems Lending Division is a fully autonomous operating unit of FiTECH Systems, Inc., a major provider of software applications and consulting services for financial institutions. FiTECH Lending develops, installs, and supports mortgage lending processing and database systems that track, qualify, and perform all mortgage functions. Its flagship Mortgage Lending System, adopted by Long Beach Mortgage Company, is a complete mortgage application used by more than 150 financial institutions and over 20,000 customers across the country.

For information, contact: Charles E. Welsh, Vice President, FiTECH Systems Lending Division, 706 Green Valley Road #300, Greensboro, N.C. 27455-3318, 800/753-6633 x 462.

CONTACT: William Mills Agency

Mark Wheeler, (404) 264-7201, wmamark@aol.com