Banks in home-loan system with Microsoft

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Thursday, March 16, 2000 | 11:21 a.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

REDMOND, Wash. -- Microsoft Corp. and several major lenders are forming a home-finance venture that the software company says will mean speedier approval of home mortgage loans and save borrowers money.

Microsoft said today it is contributing its HomeAdvisor.com site and is retaining majority control of the new company to be called HomeAdvisor Technologies Inc.

The other shareholders and partners in the venture include Freddie Mac, Chase Manhattan Corp., GMAC-Residential Funding Corp., Norwest Mortgage (a unit of Wells Fargo) and Bank of America.

HomeAdvisor will incorporate a new neighborhood database to give rapid assessments of potential properties. Every home sold in the last 10 years in the United States is listed on the database, officials said.