Union Federal Rolls Out New Home Equity Offering to Correspondent Lenders through Guardian Mortgage Documents' NGIS Solution; Web-Based System Ensures Document Compliance of Union Federal Bank's National Lending Footprint

LAKEWOOD, Colo.--The Wholesale Division of Union Federal Bank of Indianapolis, a division of Waterfield Mortgage Company and one of the nation's top Alt A lenders, has selected Guardian Mortgage Documents' (GMD) Next Generation Input System (NGIS)(TM) to roll out home equity products to its correspondent lenders. NGIS is a Web-based input processing system that allows the lender to quickly produce, manage and electronically deliver home equity product documentation to its correspondent lenders with full compliance including complex state and local compliance regulations. The documents are customized specifically to Union Federal Bank's products to help ensure that correspondents meet product guidelines.

Union Federal has previously offered a HELOC product through its retail and wholesale divisions but not through its correspondent group because of the complexities of the documents and the fact that correspondents cannot close the products under the bank's name. Through the NGIS solution, targeted for roll out on Sept. 23, 2005, GMD completely manages document compliance and the correspondents manage production and delivery. The HELOC offering is part of Union Federal's "Stars and Stripes Series" of Alt A and A- mortgage products.

"Our mission is to provide our correspondents with the best combination of service and product offering available," said Steve Levendoski, vice president operations manager of Correspondent Lending for Union Federal Bank. "Through NGIS we are enabling our correspondents to offer borrowers a HELOC solution and, because the solution is so user-friendly, we are maintaining the service standards that have made us successful. Guardian Mortgage Documents has made it possible for us to offer this product to our correspondents within Union Federal's national footprint."

According to Levendoski, Union Federal selected the NGIS solution for several reasons. GMD maintains up-to-date documents to ensure compliance at no extra charge to correspondents. NGIS software guides users through product parameters with numerous business validation rules and quality control measures to help ensure products conform to Union Federal Bank's guidelines. Union Federal can tap into GMD's experience in home equity lending to identify best practices and ensure a quick and smooth roll out. Finally, NGIS is a proven solution and other lenders, including Wells Fargo, Countrywide and Chase, have found success working with GMD.

"NGIS is the perfect solution for lenders that want to offer home equity products to their originators, but cannot manage the complex compliance requirements associated with the documents," said Tim Anschutz, vice president of Marketing for GMD. "Union Federal selected us because our solution ensures compliance, offers a proven track record and can be delivered to the market quickly...all with unparalleled IT infrastructure that provides the highest level of reliability (`up-time') in our industry."

About Union Federal Bank

Founded in 1928, Waterfield Mortgage Company, Inc. is the parent company of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Waterfield Financial Corp., Union Federal Bank of Indianapolis and Waterfield Insurance Agency and the largest privately-held mortgage company in the country. Union Federal Bank Wholesale division, a subsidiary of Waterfield Mortgage Company Inc., is a mortgage loan origination company with retail branches throughout the United States. The company also provides wholesale originations nationwide. Union Federal Bank, founded in 1887 in Indianapolis, Ind., is backed by assets in excess of $3 billion with a servicing portfolio of more than $19 billion. Union Federal Bank offers table funding and closed loan purchases with products ranging from Alt-A with interest only features to new construction financing with one and two time closing options.

About Guardian Mortgage Documents

Lakewood, Colorado-based Guardian Mortgage Documents (GMD) is a provider of document preparation, automated management workflow and fully customized outsourced solutions to the national financial services industry.

Since 1987, GMD's products and services have been built on best-of-class technology designed to provide an inventory of scalable and flexible multi-product capabilities, which can be customized to deliver elegant client solutions. From simple document preparation to fully integrated and customized workflow solutions, GMD technology streamlines all processes to increase efficiencies.

In 2004, GMD received Mortgage Technology Magazine's prestigious 10X Award for providing exponential value to the mortgage process. GMD clients include three of the top four largest residential correspondent lending institutions in the United States*. For general information, visit www.gmd.com or call (800) 275-4885. *According to Origination News, June 2004, "Top Residential Correspondent Lenders in Q1 04."

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.