Technology

LION Inc., Seattle, has entered into an agreement to acquire Tuttle Risk Management Services, a provider of mortgage pipeline risk management services based in San Rafael, Calif.Under the terms of the agreement, TRMS shareholders will receive $2.7 million in consideration, made up of 3.1 million restricted shares of LION common stock and promissory notes (due in 2007) in the principal amount of about $1.3 million, LION said. LION paid no cash in the deal. TRMS recorded unaudited revenue of $6.2 million in 2003 and $4.7 million in revenue for the first nine months of this year. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of both companies. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.lioninc.com and http://www.trmshedge.com.

Loveland, Colo.-based Kroll Factual Data Inc. has announced the acquisition of National Flood Research Inc., Boulder, Colo., a national provider of disclosure products to the mortgage, real estate, and insurance industries.The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. NFR has a staff of 47 and has specialized in flood hazard disclosure since the early 1990s. It offers a portfolio of flood hazard services, including basic and life-of-loan flood certification, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act/census information, and portfolio review, KFD said. It also provides information on environmental and other natural hazards, such as earthquake fault zones, wildland fire hazards, dam inundation areas, and Superfund sites. NFR's founder, Lloyd Noel Meador, will continue as divisional vice president of Kroll's Background Screening Group. KFD, a subsidiary of Kroll Inc., can be found on the Web at http://www.krollfactualdata.com.

AppIntell Inc., St. Louis, has changed its name to AppIntelligence Inc.The company is a provider of data integrity, fraud prevention, risk assessment, and compliance tools for the residential lending industry. The renamed company said the AppIntelligence name better reflects the company's leadership role in mortgage fraud and compliance applications intelligence. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.appintelligence.com.

TransUnion Settlement Solutions, Wilmington, Del., has announced the release of StreamLoan Title, an alternative title insurance-backed product designed to streamline closing for home equity lenders.Specifically, the offering enhances TransUnion's end-to-end real estate settlement offering. TransUnion said the application provides lenders with a Master Title Insurance Loan Policy that protects each security interest created through their qualifying residential home equity loan program. StreamLoan Title is underwritten by a title insurance policy and offers collateral protection that is acceptable for the risk involved. An individual loan certificate is issued for each loan that is underwritten to the approved guidelines and procedures, and serves as evidence of the lender's title insurance coverage, the company said. TransUnion can be found on the Web at http://www.transunion.com.

Clayton, a provider of automated compliance software, and AllRegs, a regulatory content provider for residential mortgage lenders, have announced a partnership that will facilitate access to AllRegs' legislative database by users of Clayton's High-Cost Analyzer.The High-Cost Analyzer is a Web-based application that uses standard loan data to calculate whether a loan exceeds thresholds for so-called high-cost or predatory loans under various federal, state, and local laws. During the analysis, the user can "drill down to both the summary and full text of the legislation, greatly reducing the time and effort involved to research legislation," the companies said. Clayton, based in Shelton, Conn., can be found online at http://www.clayton.com, and AllRegs, based in Eagan, Minn., can be found at http://www.allregs.com.

LoanCity, an online wholesale lender based in San Jose, Calif., has announced enhancements to its line of alternative-A mortgage products.The enhancements include an 80/20 purchase option, streamlined documentation requirements, flexible qualifying options, and competitive pricing, the company said. "We're committed to offering the edge that brokers need to be profitable," said Rick Soukoulis, founder and chief executive officer of LoanCity. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.loancity.com.

LendingTree Inc., Charlotte, N.C., has acquired HomeLoanCenter.com, an Internet direct mortgage lender based in Irvine, Calif.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close within 90 to 120 days. "This acquisition will help us increase our profit per customer, have greater input over the consumer experience, more efficiently cross-sell our offering, and gain market share," said LendingTree founder and chief executive officer Doug Lebda. HLC founder and CEO Anthony Hsieh called the deal "a win for consumers" and, along with company president Tomo Yebisu, he will remain with the company. LendingTree can be found on the Web at http://www.lendingtree.com.

In a decision rendered by U.S. District Judge Susan Illstion, Calyx Software, San Jose, Calif., has been given the OK to file a second amended complaint against Dublin, Calif.-based Ellie Mae alleging copyright infringement and unfair competition.According to Calyx, the amended complaint elaborates on its claim that Ellie Mae deliberately copied Calyx's Point product when creating screens for its Encompass program in an attempt to attract Calyx users. The amended complaint also accuses Ellie Mae of unfair advertising in marketing its Encompass offering. The court said that Calyx "had sufficiently pled that the screen displays in its software had acquired distinctiveness and that Calyx had sufficiently met the distinctiveness requirement for a trade dress cause of action." Calyx started the suit back in May when it alleged that Ellie Mae had perpetrated copyright infringement, false designation of origin, and violations of the California Unfair Competition laws. The case was filed in the Northern District of California. Ellie Mae could not be reached for comment by MortgageWire's deadline.

Clear Capital, Truckee, Calif., has released a new valuation tool that combines a property inspection with an automated valuation model score.The product allows for supportable human adjustments to an AVM value conclusion for a more refined and confident value outcome, the company said. The property inspection component is designed to answer six questions about a property in comparison with others in the neighborhood, including: the condition of the roof; the condition of the paint/siding; the condition of the landscaping; the quality of the view; the functional utility of the lot; and the lot location. The report also includes verification if the subject resides in a ZIP code that falls within an area declared a disaster area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, additional narrative information on the subject property, and two photos of the subject. Clear Capital can be found on the Web at http://www.clearcapital.com.

First Franklin Financial Corp., San Jose, Calif., has built and implemented the first major operating components of its integrated origination network, named ION.Designed to offer a scalable solution for growing technology needs, ION will allow First Franklin to centralize all mortgage data and standardize the way that its systems retrieve, manage, filter, and secure data across the company's integrated applications, the company said. ION is designed to give the user access to First Franklin's primary applications: the automated underwriting, loan origination, and customer relationship management systems. First Franklin can be found on the Web at http://www.ff.com.