Technology

E*Trade Financial -- which is undergoing a wrenching restructuring -- said Wednesday that it has sold an additional $3 billion worth of bonds, including mortgage-backed securities and municipals. The bank/online brokerage firm said it took a $5 million loss on the sales which occurred in separate transactions over the past several weeks. (In November it sold $3 billion in asset-backed securities.) The New York-based E*Trade also said its home equity portfolio is continuing to "run off as anticipated" and totaled just under $12 billion in loans at year's end. Early in the fall, E*Trade closed its wholesale residential unit and booked a $245 million charge against earnings because of bad home equity loans and what it called a "deterioration in the mortgage market."

First Florida Financial Group, Fort Myers, Fla., has announced the launch of DeadDeals.net, which purchases qualified "unclosable" mortgage and foreclosure leads from mortgage brokers and loan officers in Florida. DeadDeals.net pays from $50 to $500 for each lead, and its CashToolBox.com program fixes mortgage application problems that are preventing a loan approval and closing, First Florida said. Eddie Hoskins, president and chief executive officer of First Florida, said the new division enables mortgage professionals "to make some money on a deal where previously there was no revenue." The division can be found on the Web at http://www.deaddeals.net.

Doug Lebda, president and chief operating officer of IAC, has been named chairman and chief executive officer of the company's financial services and real estate businesses, including LendingTree, HomeLoanCenter, GetSmart, RealEstate.com, Domania, and iNest. C.D. Davies, CEO of LendingTree, and Bret Violette, president of RealEstate.com, will report to Mr. Lebda, who joined IAC in 2003 after the company acquired LendingTree. IAC announced in November that it plans to separate itself into five publicly traded entities (including LendingTree). The company said the latest announcement was the first in a series that will deal with the structure for each of the separate entities. IAC, Lending Tree, and RealEstate.com can be found online at http://www.iac.com, http://www.lendingtree.com, and http://www.realestate.com.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Houston-based Stewart Lender Services' flood determination business.The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Stewart's flood determination division offers basic certification, basic plus life of loan, portfolio review, and commercial flood determinations. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' PCi line of flood determination solutions and Stewart's flood determination division offer similar services: determinations compliant with all federal flood regulations and the policies of government agencies and loan servicers; an online database that provides determinations in seconds; and manual determinations when necessary, with answers to questions regarding exceptions, regulatory implications, or overall service issues. Stewart Lender Services is a subsidiary of Stewart Title Co. and part of Stewart Information Services Corp. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services can be found on the Web at http://www.wolterskluwerfs.com.

Mortgage Xpress Inc., a Houston-based mortgage lender, has announced an amendment to its articles of incorporation to change its name to The Alternative Energy Technology Center Inc.Documents will be filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for approval. Mortgage Xpress said the name change, and a reverse stock split on a one-share-per-50-shares basis, will be effective when approved. The company estimated that the changes will take effect in about two weeks.

Most Home Corp., Vancouver, British Columbia, has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to purchase all or substantially all the operating assets of NetUpdate Inc., a Web-based point-of-sale technology vendor.The parties intend to close on or before Dec. 31. The anticipated total value of the transaction is up to a maximum of $2.7 million, consisting of $500,000 in common stock, a $200,000 promissory note, and earn-out (common) shares of Most Home with a maximum value of $2.0 million. Most Home Real Estate Services Inc. provides an end-to-end electronic marketing solution and technology platform that enables real estate and mortgage firms to increase their online lead conversion rates, the company said. NetUpdate can be found online at http://www.netupdate.com.

ARC Systems, a decisioning vendor based in Austin, Texas, that has been in the mortgage space for 23 years, will officially cease operations on Dec. 31.ARC is credited as the first to introduce an automated underwriting system for subprime mortgages. A few months ago, company founder and chief executive Ed Jones announced that he would be looking for a buyer, but none has shown interest to date, he told MortgageWire. "The market is scared to death," he said. "A lot of vendors are hurting more than they're willing to admit. We don't know what the market will look like when it comes back, either." Mr. Jones attributes the closure to a loss in revenue due to the fact that their major clients either went out of business or shed their correspondent channel. The company can be found online at http://www.arcsystems.com.

Dallas-based MRG Document Technologies, a provider of compliance and documentation services, is supporting modification agreements as part of its loan document library.The modified agreements enable lenders to be in compliance with evolving state and federal regulations and gives them the flexibility to restructure terms and conditions to keep borrowers in their homes. MRG's most common modifications include changes to note and security agreement rates and terms, but they also can include ancillary services that combine disclosures and recording documents. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.mrgdocs.com.

Bills.com has announced the launch of what it touts as a quick, easy-to-use program to help homeowners determine whether they are likely candidates for the Federal Housing Administration's new FHASecure program.Andrew Housser, co-chief executive of Bills.com, said determining eligibility can be challenging given the "extensive criteria" set by the FHA. But with Bills.com's FHA Secure Check program, homeowners can complete a simple form and receive an immediate assessment of their likely eligibility, along with refinancing quotes from mortgage lenders, banks, and brokers in Bills.com's lender network. The FHASecure program, in operation since September, allows homeowners to refinance their mortgages into FHA mortgages if they have missed loan payments. FHA Secure Check can be found on the Web at http://www.bills.com/fhasecure.

Oxford, Miss.-based FNC Inc. has announced the release of Collateral Headquarters as a desktop tool to enable regional and community lenders and appraisal management companies to automate appraisal ordering, assignment, tracking, and review from a single centralized platform.The system captures best practices in a user-configurable out-of-the-box solution that offers to cut turn times, lower costs, address regulatory compliance, and track performance. Collateral Headquarters also gives lenders an administrative dashboard. Users can assign appraisals automatically to their pre-approved list of vendors; manage jobs by vendor, status, or due date; use a time-and-date stamped record that tracks the progress of each loan in production; and immediately verify completed orders. An FNC spokesman said inquiries about the new service have largely come from mortgage industry players eager to head off regulatory scrutiny along the lines of the New York lawsuit alleging that First American's eAppraiseIT unit inflated appraisals on behalf of Washington Mutual. FNC can be found online at http://www.fncinc.com.