MERS to Manage MISMO, MBA Tech Staff Departs

The Mortgage Bankers Association and MERSCORP Inc. have entered into a management agreement under which MERSCORP will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of MISMO, and the MBA has laid off its entire industry technology staff composed of six individuals. Under the management agreement, MBA retains full control of the Mortgage ?Industry Standards Maintenance Organization Inc. and will maintain a permanent seat on the MISMO board of directors. John A. Courson, president and CEO of the association, said, "It has always been the intent for MBA to develop and nurture MISMO and then align with another entity to conduct day-to-day management of the company in a way that best serves the real-estate finance industry. MERS, as an industry utility owned in part by MBA, provides an ideal infrastructure for MISMO and will ensure the user experience of current MISMO participants remains constant at its current high level." Because MERS will now be running MISMO the MBA has laid off its entire industry technology staff including Harry Gardner, the MBA's VP of technology who had been charged with MISMO's oversight. Going forward, the MBA will create a new technology position that the organization expects to fill soon. The six impacted employees will be given preferential treatment if they are interested in applying for the position.