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| Earnings and lead volume were down last year at mortgage lead generation companies. But loan modification leads, reverse mortgage leads and refinance leads are helping to turn the business around this year.Best Rate Referrals announced last week that rising borrower demand has prompted it to open a second U.S. call center. Low rates have generated an increasing number of mortgages leads, while rising foreclosures have resulted in more loan modification leads. FHA leads have also grown with the popularity of the government-insured program.
“This new call center allows Best Rate Referrals to take on many new clients, whereas in the past, they had to turn away clients due to a full schedule,” the statement said. South Lake Tahoe, Calif.-based Leadsnet Inc. reported earlier this month that increased bank and government efforts to assist delinquent and at-risk borrowers has boosted the volume of available loan modification leads. Leadsnet said its customers have reported that more modifications have recently been executed. Another South Lake Tahoe company, Mortgage Leads Network, said in a Feb. 2 press release that it has assembled a team of experienced attorneys and consultants that specialize in commercial loan restructuring to help commercial property owners gain leverage in negotiations with lenders. Tree.com Inc., the parent of mortgage lead giant LendingTree, said in an announcement this month that it acquired assets of Thrive from Loudwater Labs Inc. Thrive operates a Web site that helps consumers monitor, manage and improve their financial health. “The addition of Thrive to the Tree.com family of brands and businesses will allow the company to combine its customer base with Thrive’s unique and helpful personal finance offerings,” the filing said. Tree.com Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Doug Lebda agreed to purchase 935,000 newly issued shares of unregistered restricted common stock from the company at $3.91 per share, a statement last week said. Shares of the company, which reported a $202 million loss for last year, closed today at $4.09. LendingTree, which said it has generated leads that have resulted in $185 billion in originations, and sister site GetSmart reported last month that they now generate reverse mortgage leads. LeadPoint, which claims to be “the world’s first and largest online leads exchange,” reported this month that its mortgage leads business saw a sharp decline last year from 2007. But its market share in the mortgage leads market increased while company-wide revenues jumped 17 percent. Last month, LeadPoint introduced voice and data modification products to its lead trading marketplace. The modification leads, which are generated through television and radio advertisements, are targeted for loan modification agents who work on behalf of borrowers to restructure the existing mortgage. LeadPoint reports that 4 million leads have been traded on its platform. LeadCommander CRM 8.5 was recently launched by DataBasix Technologies. The lead generation technology includes prospecting, marketing and customer relationship management features. GlobalDataUSA has integrated its Web site with LeadMailbox, a press release Monday said. Global generates mortgage leads, modification leads and credit repair leads, while LeadMailbox is a lead management system. Leads can be downloaded as PDF, Excel or Calyx files. SeniorLeadsOnline.com’s reverse mortgage lead delivery system was integrated into ReverseVision’s reverse mortgage origination software, a news release today said. Purchased leads are automatically uploaded to the LOS. SeniorLeads said it supports a variety of options for transferring leads to lead tracking and disposition systems. Lead Contact Solutions recently announced newsletter programs that help reverse mortgage lenders stay in contact with prospects, prior customers and referral sources. A template Internet newsletter is customized with the customer’s corporate and personal identity. |
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