[March 17, 2000] XML Mortgage Partners is a collaborative industry effort designed to "provide a non-proprietary common business language for the mortgage industry. An industry-wide forum, XML Mortgage Partners (XML-MP) and the XML-MP steering group will provide the foundation that can be embraced by users of mortgage industry information including, lenders, vendors, et al. The XML-MP steering group will produce: (1) A thorough data model representing all aspects of the mortgage lending process; (2) A complete set of core and process-specific Document Type Definitions, (DTDs); (3) An industry standard data dictionary. In response to industry concerns, XML-MP was formed to define a vocabulary approach to improve the flows of information between applications and organizations without the need to select a common platform, object technology or define an enterprise information model. The work will be based on two guiding principles: to use standards wherever possible and to make the process open. The result of this work will be the XML-MP Framework - a mortgage industry vocabulary using standard Extensible Markup Language (XML). The XML-MP Framework is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) framework for application integration and electronic commerce. It includes a core mortgage industry Document Type Definition (DTD), along with specific industry process DTDs. All participants will use these DTDs as the basis for future development and integration efforts in creating institutional and vendor specific DTDs. This structure will allow organizations to share and transfer information in a consistent, expected manner. The XML-MP Framework itself is not a standard. XML is the standard. The goal of the framework is to accelerate the rapid adoption of XML within our industry. XML was selected as the appropriate standard because of the intense development efforts underway in the software and Internet industries. Within the next two years, there will be a multitude of low cost tools for XML manipulation, searching, storing and viewing. Many major software vendors have already embraced the XML standard including Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and Sun. XML-MP's DTDs will be registered and stored on the www.xmlmortgage.org Web site. Any individual or organization will be able to download and use them in their own business endeavors. To do this, XML-MP is providing a discussion platform where interested parties can discuss and recommend changes to the DTDs. We will encourage individuals or organizations that use the XML DTDs within their applications, to post information about their company and application on the XML-MP Website. DTDs were selected because of their legacy of acceptance and use in the SGML field. As such, there are many individuals and corporations with years of experience in the development and use of DTDs, which enables a wider selection of software tools for our efforts. . . XML-MP was set up with a built-in guiding body called the Steering Group. The steering group is a comprised of interested participants in the mortgage industry including mortgage lenders, software developers and e-commerce businesses. The participants were chosen for their experience, insight, interest and commitment to the goals of XML-MP. Steering Group representatives review proposed changes to XML mortgage framework. This step assures that the changes planned make sense and don't violate the core principals of the initiative. The changes that are reviewed are based on feedback gathered at meetings, the Web site and via e-mail. The steering group will meet on an ongoing basis. A schedule will be provided through this Website. Charter members of the XML-MP steering group include the following organizations: Chase Home Finance, Countrywide Home Loans, Dynatek, Inc., Fiserv/Unifi, mortgage.com, Ultraprise Corporation, VMP/ELF Mortgage Forms, and Waterfield Mortgage."

References:

• XML Mortgage Partners Home Page

• XML Mortgage Partners Mission

• Unified Modeling Language (UML) Diagram for a 'Core' Loan Document

• XML-MP Core Technologies

• DTDs (version 0.6); [local archive copy]

• Technology whitepaper for the XML Mortgage Partners initiative (technical tools used, logical model, core DTDs); [local archive copy]

• Proposed engineering standards for the XML Mortgage Partners effort - Directions for Engineering. Namespace, names, data typing, documentation, etc.) [local archive copy]

• Data dictionaries - Core data elements. [local archive copy]

• Version 0.5 DTDs

• Mortgage Bankers Association of America XML Workgroup

• [February 24, 2000] Steven R. Newcomb in a message to XML-DEV ("Architectural Forms and XAF") wrote that "The XML Mortgage Partners architecture is based on AFs [architectural forms]. Last month [the XML Mortgage Partners architecture] was adopted by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. It's hard to imagine how more money could be depending on AFs. Through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage banking industry holds the keys to the US treasury. The mortgage industry is large, complex, diverse, and constantly changing, so it's a showcase for the power of architectural forms as tools for keeping communications between business partners open, flexible, and yet completely and demonstrably reliable and independent of any one software vendor."

• [August 15, 2000] "MISMO Appoints Ultraprise Corporation VP to XML Work Group. Gabriel Minton selected by standard-setting organization to help guide industry XML effort." - "In recognition of his outstanding leadership in the development of an XML-based Internet data exchange standard for the mortgage industry, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) appointed Gabriel Minton, Ultraprise Corporation vice president of standards and alliances, chairman of the MISMO Architecture Work Group. David Barkley, director of industry support at Freddie Mac and chairman of the MISMO Governance Committee, said 'Gabe has been a leader and guiding force in the creation of MISMO's XML data exchange standard for the mortgage industry. His evangelistic zeal for XML has propelled the industry forward and we're excited to have him on board.' MISMO was created by MBA to coordinate efforts within the industry to develop an Internet-based standard for real estate finance transactions. MBA launched MISMO in October 1999, and the organization released a final version of the XML data standards (1.0) earlier this month. Ultraprise Corporation was one of eight founding companies of XML Mortgage Partners (XML-MP), a not-for-profit organization that helped spearhead the development of an Internet standard. XML-MP saw the need for wide mortgage industry participation in the standard-setting process and worked with MBA to combine the efforts of the two groups. In October 1999, XML-MP turned its work over to MISMO for future development. Dulles, Va.-based Ultraprise Corporation is a leader in Internet technology, the creator of ULTRAPRISE.COM, the secondary market mortgage exchange, and one of the 16 companies represented on the MISMO Governance Committee. The XML Architecture Work Group oversees the development of, and proposes changes to all XML-based transactions. The work group determines what data needs to be included in the standard, the tools and technology to be used in the standard-setting process, the form and specifications of the standard, as well as what the specific release will be. Ultraprise Corporation provides a framework for the accumulation and distribution of assets and information within the finance industry. The company's Web site, ULTRAPRISE.COM offers an open and neutral trading exchange that allows sellers of financial assets to transact with buyers securely using a standard Web browser. The XML-based services provide an industry-standard interchange format for machine-to-machine communications across the Internet."