Warren Myer, Mortgage Web Pioneer, Dies at 53

Warren Myer, the founder of mortgage technology company Myers Internet Services, died unexpectedly on Oct. 22, according to an online posting made by his stepdaughter.

According to the post, Myer was at a coffee shop when he collapsed. He was 53 years old. He is survived by his wife Suki, four stepchildren and five grandchildren.

Myers Internet was founded in 1995 and served the mortgage broker community as well as real estate agents. At one time, the firm hosted over 8,500 World Wide Web sites for originators and real estate sales people.

The post from his step daughter said Myer was the family's sole wage earner and did not have life insurance. The family has started an online campaign to raise $75,000.

There are those in the mortgage origination community who recall Myer fondly.

"Warren was a forthright critic of the mortgage industry’s delay in adopting the Internet as a marketing and customer service medium. He had the spirit of a pioneer and invested his wisdom and much of his life to bring innovation to the industry. As a brother in the struggle to have the industry do the right things, Warren’s spirit will be missed," said Jeff Lebowitz, the owner of Mortech LLC, a consulting firm.

"Warren was a true entrepreneur in the mortgage technology space, dedicated to finding easy solutions to everyday problems of mortgage borrowers and originators. Warren will be remembered as a mortgage technology pioneer, paving the way for the rest us to leverage the Internet as a mortgage services and communications marketplace. He will be missed," said Daniel Jacobs, currently the division president of retail lending for American Financial Network and the former CEO of 1^st Metropolitan Mortgage, which at one time was one of the nation's largest mortgage brokerages.

"A gentle giant in the mortgage technology and website space," added A.W. Pickel III, the president and CEO of LeaderOne Financial Corp., and a former president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

"Warren was a major player in bringing high-quality inexpensive websites and technology to the mortgage brokers in America. In all my conversations with him, I remember as soft-spoken with a desire to truly help others with technology."

Myer sold the San Jose, Calif.-based company to MGIC Investment Group in 2006. The deal had hoped to exploit the synergies between Myers Internet and MGIC's eMagic portal. But a year later, the housing crash took hold and many of Myers' customers left the mortgage business. Myer left MGIC in 2007.

MGIC put Myers Internet and eMagic up for sale in 2011 and after failing to find a buyer, shut them down in 2012.

In an interview with Mortgage Technology, Myer said he had been interested in repurchasing Myers Internet but at the time MGIC was looking to sell the two units together. He added he found out too late that MGIC decided to shut the two companies down.

Before and after his time at Myers Internet, Myer was in the origination business. His company, once known as Myers Equity Express, was rebranded in 2012 as Mloan.