Overture Technologies Develops Online Service to Provide Students with More Secure, Reliable Way to Shop for Private Student Loans


Bethesda, Maryland (PRWEB) April 16, 2009

Overture Technologies, the leading provider of decisioning software solutions that enable transparent, accurate and responsive lending processes for the mortgage and education finance industries, has announced the development of an online service that will be able to provide a more secure, reliable way for students to shop for private student loans. The Student Loan Marketplace is an innovative education financing tool that can help students and their families learn about and compare loan terms in an open and transparent network of lenders.

Overture plans to launch the service through marketing partners, such as associations of colleges and universities, and with participating lenders. The Student Loan Marketplace is the first multi-lender platform that allows students to review reliable private student loan terms based on their own personal and financial information instead of “as low as” advertisements for rates.

Amid the current rising costs of college and challenging economic environment, U.S. Department of Education data indicates applications for federal student aid in 2009 have increased by more than 20 percent over the same period last year. After exhausting all available scholarships, grants, work-study and low-cost federal loans, many students often must consider private student loans to finance part of the cost of education. This search has proven to be a challenge for many students, particularly those with little or no credit record, as the strain on credit markets has also resulted in a contraction of lending sources.

According to a College Board report on student borrowing trends, private student loan volume accounts for almost 25 percent of total education loan volume. The Student Loan Marketplace has been created to give students a secure, transparent resource where they can be matched with lenders to choose a loan based on the criteria that is most important to their individual situations.

*More Secure, Reliable Comparison Shopping for Students Who Are New to Borrowing

Currently, students new to borrowing are faced with a very confusing and time-consuming process to make apples-to-apples comparisons of private student loan terms from multiple lenders. If a student wishes to compare accurate rates and terms, he or she must enter personal information at each lender’s web site and consent to a credit pull before obtaining information suitable for comparison shopping, and then determine how to interpret calculations of APR and other costs across various loan products. With just one credit pull, The Student Loan Marketplace presents a side-by-side comparison of reliable loan products and terms on one page, and provides helpful explanations of terms.

“We built the Marketplace to put students in control of their private loans, giving them unprecedented insight into the details of the loan options available to them,” said David Kirby, general manager of Overture Technologies’ Education Finance Solutions group. “The Marketplace platform enables reliable comparisons of multiple private student loans in minutes – until now, no resource like this has been available.”

Private Fund Principal Reduction Plans in Perspective: Alternative to Strategic Default or Hating-Your-House

Tampa, FL (PRWEB) June 30, 2010

It seems the only consensus regarding the housing crisis is that recovery will be slow in coming. Home values are stagnant (still falling in many areas), foreclosure numbers are increasing, and the federal governments HAMP response is widely seen as an abject failure. These factors suggest few, if any options, for responsible homeowners to recover their lost housing investments any time soon.

It would seem the only options for those still able to pay their mortgages are to continue throwing money away into an undervalued asset, or engage in what is called strategic default, likely ruining your credit and chance for homeownership in the near future. In fact, homeowners who strategically default will be ineligible for new Fannie Mae-backed mortgages (up to seven years) and will likely face court via deficiency judgments.”

There may, however, be a third option. While the Too-Big-To-Fail banks and the Federal Government continue their painfully slow response, the private sector may offer a solution to some of these forgotten families who feel stuck between two bad choices: strategic default or hating their house.

Various private equity and hedge funds have entered the fray with clear and concise plans that can result in a win/win/win scenario. Once a large portfolio of residential mortgages from a given lender is collected, the fund negotiates the purchase of that portfolio at a discount. That discount is then passed on to the homeowner via principal reduction. The lender gets a cash infusion and avoids strategic default risks. The homeowner is rescued from negative equity, and the fund is able to profit while rebuilding the securitization market at the same time.

Given that different funds target different homeowners and private funds like their privacy, programs such as this have received minimal attention. Trinity Bay Financial, Inc., an authorized affiliate of Addvent Funding, has taken the initiative to gather as much detail as possible on the topic, and offer it to the pubic at: http://bit.ly/tbfprpdata.com.

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Where is it All Going? Fannie & Freddie, Mortgage Markets and Private Mortgage Securitization Webinar

Washington, DC (PRWEB) February 18, 2011

Discussion with Chris Russell, Senior Policy Advisor to the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and GSEs.

Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/593341790

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A New Student Lending Program for Private Colleges & Universities

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) March 9, 2011

SAGE Scholars, Inc., in partnership with National Education, announces a new student lending program for private colleges & universities.

The “SAGE Tuition Loan Program” — “SAGE TLP” — is designed to help participating colleges increase net tuition revenue, lower discount rates and promote student retention.

SAGE TLP is an innovative “hybrid” program attractive to colleges because it has zero cost, is low cost for families (less than 1% APR), generates cash flow and provides third party loan management, relieving colleges of both administrative burden and compliance risk. Colleges make no capital investment and pay no administrative costs.

Participating colleges will be able to replace a portion of the tuition discounts normally issued to incoming freshmen with the SAGE TLP, converting the discounts to an asset that will eventually provide cash flow. A low-cost loan to students – less than 1% APR with all benefits obtained – replaces a portion of the merit aid that colleges currently provide. Creating a receivable to replace aid allows a college to “recapture the discount”. As some schools have pointed out, this is “found money!”

The program does NOT affect a college’s current cash flows from other sources, such as loans, federal aid, state aid and direct payment from families.

Wesley College, which has signed up with National Education, says it is replacing some grants with loans in financial aid packages for about 20% of incoming freshmen – a decision that will forestall further cutbacks in its budget and existing grants, says Eric Nelson, vice president for finance at Wesley. (source: smartmoney.com)

Colleges can use SAGE TLP as an enhanced retention tool – when changed circumstances imperil a current student’s continued attendance. A college can respond by offering SAGE TLP instead of an increased discount. Repayment can be deferred until after graduation, and a 25% forgiveness benefit will be warmly received by the student and his/her family. Colleges are able to dictate the allocation between the graduation benefit and the on-time payment benefit.

Loans can be made regardless of FICO score, giving the college the flexibility to include the product in award letters. However, only credit-ready loans will be offered in potential securitizations. Early-adopting institutions will have a guaranteed cash flow for all credit-ready loans made.

Wesley College (Dover, DE) is the first SAGE member college to agree to participate. With just under 2,000 students, Wesley has put itself in position to potentially recapture nearly $ 1,500,000 in tuition revenue over the next five years.

How much tuition revenue can an institution recapture using SAGE TLP? In addition to showing projected revenue that can be recaptured, colleges can see how this revenue equates to the number of full-paying students by visiting the on-line calculator on the National Education website.

SAGE Scholars, Inc., established in 1995, has created the nation’s largest private college savings program, with more than 190,000 participating students and 276 participating colleges (45 states) in its enrollment marketing consortium. Families who save in programs such as the Pennsylvania and Wisconsin state 529 Plans are rewarded with Tuition Reward Points – similar to frequent flyer miles – that can be redeemed for guaranteed minimum discounts if students are admitted to and attend a member college, beginning with the freshman year.

National Education, established in 1988, is a financial solution company sharply focused on developing, marketing, originating and servicing education financial products. National Education has received the “Exceptional Performer” designation from the U.S. Department of Education.

For more information, contact:

Matt Scotty at 800.345.4325 ext 5173, President, National Education Servicing

Jeff Hubbard at 800.345.4325 ext 5601, Senior Vice President, National Education Servicing

Dr. Jim Johnston at 215.564.9930, CEO, SAGE Scholars, Inc.

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