Technology

Myers Internet has released a new website product that enables mortgage originators to originate mortgages by marketing to the for-sale-by-owner market."Mortgage originators are increasingly looking for new channels to originate mortgages," Myers chief executive officer Warren Myer said at the 2004 National Association of Mortgage Brokers Convention in Salt Lake City. Originators pay a setup fee of $199 and a monthly fee of $39. The website can be up and running in a week. Myers can be found on the Web in http://www.myers.com.

Calyx Software, San Jose, Calif., has decided to drop its request for an injunction against Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif.Calyx has sued Ellie Mae, alleging that the company committed copyright infringement by copying the look and feel of its Point product with the release of Encompass. To ensure that Ellie Mae doesn't sell Encompass until the case is decided, Calyx petitioned the court for an injunction. Calyx now says it was unable to get a proper discovery period and has therefore dropped the request until discovery can be conducted, at which time it reserves the right to reinstate the request. On the other side, Ellie Mae chief executive Sig Anderman called the entire request "frivolous." Mr. Anderman maintained that Calyx withdrew its request because Ellie Mae was going to ask the court to impose sanctions on Calyx should the court decide in Ellie Mae's favor. The first hearing in the copyright infringement case is scheduled for late this month.

DocuTech Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho, has launched a new interactive Lender Advocate website that it describes as a one-stop compliance and educational center for the mortgage industry.The site enables visitors to get current information about proposed state and federal laws while those laws are still in the making. For each pending law or regulation monitored, the site provides a general summary of the proposed law and a link to the legislation in its present form (with amendment history marked and noted). As a key interactive feature, the site provides a poll of visitor response to the pending legislation and an option for the visitor to add commentary. DocuTech will then transmit visitor responses about the proposed legislation to state officials and lawmakers. The new website can be found at http://www.lenderadvocate.com.

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va., has announced an agreement to integrate its credit reporting subsidiary, Info1 Holding Co., into Freddie Mac's automated underwriting system.Under the arrangement, Info1 is offering credit reporting services to mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers using Loan Prospector. Info1 president Ken Goins said the agreement will for the first time enable Freddie Mac "to access credit reports previously ordered by its clients outside of Loan Prospector by using an Info1 reference number." The companies can be found online at http://www.landam.com and http://www.freddiemac.com.

The senior debt rating of Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., New York, has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings in the wake of an announcement that the company will acquire Kroll Inc., a risk consulting company that serves the mortgage industry and others, for $1.9 billion.The rating agency attributed the action to "uncertain financing plans," saying that the debt rating would likely be lowered if the acquisition is funded chiefly with debt. The Kroll acquisition is a significant move for MMC, as Kroll has itself acquired The Credit Network and Factual Data in the past two years, making it a leader in the risk mitigation, credit, and fraud arena within the mortgage technology industry. For the past three years, Mortgage Technology magazine, a sister publication of Mortgage Wire, has featured Kroll in its list of the industry's top 100 mortgage technology vendors. Fitch can be found on the Web at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., New York, will acquire Kroll Inc., New York, as part of a strategic move to broaden its risk and insurance services and enhance its market share in risk management services.Kroll Inc. acquired Factual Data in August 2003, and the Credit Network in March 2004. Under the definitive agreement, MMC will acquire Kroll in an all-cash, $1.9 billion transaction in which Kroll shareholders will receive $37 for each outstanding share of Kroll common stock they own, Kroll said. The price to be paid by MMC represents a 31.7% premium over Kroll's closing stock price of $28.10 on the Nasdaq National Market on May 18. The deal was unanimously approved by both MMC's and Kroll's board of directors. Upon completion of the transaction, Kroll will become part of Marsh Inc., MMC's risk and insurance services subsidiary, Kroll said. Jules Kroll, founder and executive chairman of Kroll, will be named a vice chairman of Marsh Inc. as part of the agreement. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.mmc.com and http:// www.krollworldwide.com.

First Magnus Financial Corp., a privately held mortgage banking company in Tucson, Ariz., has selected SharperLending LLC, Spokane, Wash., to support its wholesale and correspondent divisions.SharperLending is a Web-based platform that allows lenders to order, store, and manage mortgage products from multiple vendors at a single point of entry. As part of the agreement, First Magnus will access SharperLending's platform on a private-label basis. First Magnus' users will interact with the SharperLending platform through a Web-based interface, offering flood, credit, and insurance rates in one bundle. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.firstmagnus.com and http://www.sharperlending.com.

Calyx Software, San Jose, Calif., has filed for a preliminary injunction against its rival Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif., that broadens an earlier dispute alleging that Ellie Mae committed copyright infringement.Specifically, Calyx contends that Ellie Mae's Encompass product infringes on the "structure, user interface, and look and feel" of Calyx's Point software. "We at Calyx have felt compelled to take this action against Ellie Mae in order to protect our intellectual property," said Dennis Boggs, senior vice president of business development at Calyx. "We put a great deal of work into developing the user interface in all of our software products. We feel we have to protect the value we have created." The case was filed in the Northern District of California, San Jose. The earlier copyright dispute alleged that Ellie Mae committed "copyright infringement, false designation of origin and violations of the California Unfair Competition laws." Mr. Boggs said he expects an answer to the injunction filing within six weeks and is unsure how this will affect the release of version 1.5 of Encompass planned for next month. Ellie Mae chief executive Sig Anderman calls the legal action "an act of desperation from somebody who is losing market share." Mr. Anderman said the differences between Point and Encompass are "very dramatic." The only similarities are "those that are generic and standard in the industry, like the 1003 and 1008 forms that are mandated by Fannie and the secondary market," he said.

Kirk Reese has been named chief technology officer at DocuTech Corp., a mortgage software technology company based in Idaho Falls, Idaho.Before joining DocuTech, Mr. Reese was a software and Java architect for Avaya Inc., a communications network provider, and STS HotelNet, a provider of Internet portals for the hospitality industry, DocuTech said. He was also principal software engineer for the Denver-based Boeing Co. DocuTech can be found on the Web at http://www.docutechcorp.com.

The eMortgage Alliance, a consortium of companies collaborating on the development of an end-to-end electronic mortgage system, has elected a new governance board.Dave Williamson, senior vice president of technology and strategic initiatives for The Performance Group, Concord, N.H., was elected chairman. Tom Litke, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Wellfound Technology, Atlanta, was elected vice-chairman; and Sue Cordova, senior business analyst at Framework Inc., Tarrytown, N.Y., was elected secretary and treasurer. Mr. Williamson said he hopes to increase the strength of the alliance by adding members and creating an industrywide forum to discuss the e-mortgage. Other members of the alliance are DocuTech Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho, the founding company of the alliance; Wave eSign Systems, Lee, Mass.; SwiftView, Tualatin, Oregon; Rekon Technologies, Pasadena, Calif.; and Encomia, Houston. The alliance can be found online at http://emortgagealliance.us.