1st American Forms Provider Alliance.(First American Real Estate Information Services partners with XtraNet Lending Solutions)(Brief Article)

First American Real Estate Information Services, a provider of flood, title and other related services, has entered into a partnership with an application service provider that has the potential to increase First American's client base by over 16,000.

XtraNet Lending Solutions, an Orange County, Calif.-based ASP and a division of the mortgage bank Master Financial Inc., will offer First American's services to its clients through LendIT, its lending service platform.

Bill Sherakas, First American's chief client relations officer of its mortgage information services group, said, "XtraNet is one of probably a dozen or so relationships where you can access the First American products through portal companies."

Andy Williams, First American's senior vice president of client relations of its mortgage information services group, illustrated First American's integration strategy by saying, "the industry has flood, credit, document preparation and appraisal companies and they all operate independently of each other and do their own thing."

Among the more recent integrations in the company has been the combining of the flood product delivery system and services with other products.

Mr. Sherakas said, "What is currently most exciting from a lender's perspective is our ability to take a flood order and from it trigger and return the tax information to the front-end system so they have the capability to set up escrow lines.

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