Technology

Homestore Inc., a provider of real estate media and technology systems, has announced a $63.6 million settlement agreement with the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the company.Under the agreement, which is subject to the approval of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Homestore will pay $13 million in cash, issue 20 million new shares of common stock to members of the class, and adopt certain changes in corporate governance. The $13 million and the stock, currently valued at $50.6 million, will result in a one-time litigation settlement charge of approximately $63.6 million in the second quarter, the company said. Jack Ehnes, chief executive officer of CalSTRS, commended "the straightforward way in which the new management team at Homestore and its board of directors" worked to resolve the case. The governance provisions include, among other things, requirements for independent directors and special committees, the appointment of a new shareholder-nominated director, and a ban on the use of stock options for director compensation. The company can be found online at http://ir.homestore.com.

Nationwide Advantage Mortgage Co., Columbus, Ohio, and Yahoo! en espanol, a Spanish-language Internet service based in Coral Gables, Fla., have launched a mini-website offering mortgage services to Hispanics.Called "The Best Mortgage" center, the site will offer Hispanic consumers information for both experienced and first-time homebuyers, the companies said. Users will be able to check NAMC's mortgage rates and submit a free loan application online or over the telephone, with decisions in as little as 10 minutes, they said. "Our research indicates that, historically, the Latino community has had too many barriers to homebuying and financing needs," said Robert Kallio, NAMC's associate vice president of marketing. "Our partnership with Yahoo! en espanol provides the informational resources and financial tools to lower the cost of buying and owning a home for the growing Latino market." The mini-site can be found online at http://www.lamejorhipoteca.com, and the companies can be found at http://www.nationwide.com and http://www.yahooenespanol.com.

Tony Merlo has been named executive vice president/chief operating officer of eAppraiseIT LLC, a provider of real estate valuation services based in Poway, Calif.Mr. Merlo, who has 25 years of experience in the banking, mortgage banking, and title insurance industries, was most recently senior vice president of production for eAppraiseIT, a joint venture of The First American Corp. and Land America Financial Group. He was previously assistant vice president in the strategic sales division of First American’s Real Estate Information Services Group, and has also been assistant VP and regional manager for the Atlantic region of First American Title. The company can be found online at http://www.eappraiseit.com.

Encomia, Houston, and Ingeo, Logan, Utah, have both joined the eMortgage Alliance, a consortium of companies and experts dedicated to delivering all-electronic mortgage systems.Encomia will provide technology to implement digital signatures, electronic closing, and so-called electronic vaulting -- which provides for the storage and retrieval of electronic notes and other supporting documents -- while Ingeo delivers the last link in the chain: electronic recording. The eMortgage Alliance was founded by DocuTech Corp., Idaho Falls, Idaho. The alliance unites the capabilities of DocuTech, Wave Systems, VirPack, SwiftView, Rekon Technologies, and The Performance Group to enable customers to produce e-mortgages. Members each specialize in and automate separate steps of the e-mortgage process, including the creation of SMART (securable, manageable, archivable, retrievable, transferable) documents and electronic signing, packaging, messaging, closing, recording, and vaulting.

Dorado Corp., San Mateo, Calif., has announced that its user base has exceeded the 40,000 mark, which it attributed to its flagship ChannelMaster and PriceMaster Internet applications for home lending.The company said both products have been widely adopted by loan officers, brokers, and correspondents in Dorado's customer base, which includes Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp., Citibank, Countrywide Home Loans, and Washington Mutual Mortgage. A provider of Demand Chain Management software for home lending banks, Dorado said its mortgage, home equity, and real estate products integrate business customers and consumers into lending processes. The company can be found online at http://www.dorado.com.

BridgeSpan Inc., a provider of real estate settlement and mortgage processing technology, has announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Mountain View, Calif., to Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.As a result, BridgeSpan said it would expand its Frisco facility, the second time this year it has announced a major expansion there. The company said the move would enable its technology, marketing, and finance departments to operate from a single center and would improve service as a result of sharing the same facility as the company's "client-facing" operations in Texas.

The mortgage boom is not abating, says Oklahoma City-based a la mode, citing more than 13.6 million real estate appraisal reports submitted to lenders via the company's Mercury Network over the past 12 months.Appraisal-related file requests and transactions -- such as location and flood map downloads, and appraisal report exchanges between appraisers and loan officer clients -- represent mortgage loans in process and are "the most reliable leading indicator of mortgage volume," the company said. "It continues to be a historically busy time for mortgage and appraisal professionals, and we can say with confidence, based on our server volume, that it shows no sign of slowing down in the immediate future," said Mike Unser, a la mode's product line manager. The Mercury Network is "the largest transaction platform in the mortgage industry," serving more than half of U.S. appraisers and nearly all the nation's loan officers and mortgage brokers, according to a la mode. The company can be found online at http://www.alamode.com.

Fairfield Financial Services, Macon, Ga., a subsidiary of Security Bank of Bibb County, has selected eLynx uSign technology for electronically signing mortgage disclosure and loan documents through the Internet.The Cincinnati-based eLynx Ltd. is a provider of electronic document delivery systems for mortgage lenders. "We selected eLynx uSign to reduce delivery costs and the amount of time spent sending documents back and forth to homebuyers," said Tino Sheridan, president of Fairfield Financial Services. The technology that powers eLynx uSign was developed by Silanis Technology. The mortgage banking firm said it plans to have eLynx uSign fully implemented by September. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.fairfield-financial.com and http://www.elynx.com.

Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc., Santa Barbara, Calif., has reported record net earnings of $15.3 million in the second quarter, up 68% from $6.2 million a year earlier.The company said it booked $142.3 million in revenue during the quarter, also a company record, up from $92.1 million in the second quarter of 2002. FNIS is in the process of merging with majority stockholder Fidelity National Financial. FNIS can be found on the Internet at http://www.fnis.com.

Thomas M. Bradham Jr. has been hired as vice president and chief information officer of LOGS Financial Services Inc., a Northbrook, Ill.-based provider of outsourced default management services for lenders.Mr. Bradham was most recently vice president of client services at Prizm Technologies, an information technology-outsourcing firm specializing in the financial sector. He was previously assistant vice president of data center operations at IndyMac bank, and worked for Resource Bancshares Mortgage Group, now NetBank, in various roles, LOGS said. The company can be found online at http://www.logs.com.