LandAmerica Tax & Flood Services and Ellie Mae Launch ePASS Internet Connectivity to Mortgage Brokers

Richmond, VA and Dublin, CA—AUGUST 3, 2004—Richmond, VA-based LandAmerica® Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:LFG), a leading provider of real estate transaction services, and Dublin, CA-based Ellie Mae, Inc., the leading provider of desktop and web-enabled technology for the mortgage industry, today announced the full integration of LandAmerica Tax and Flood Services (formerly LERETA Corporation) with Ellie Mae's ePASS web-transaction platform.

Mortgage originators can now order LandAmerica's flood hazard certification services faster, more efficiently, and more securely through ePASS. They will be able to set up LandAmerica as an ePASS "QuickLink," which remembers the originator's user name and password. Then, with two clicks of a mouse, originators can order and receive flood certifications instantly-and have them accessible at any time for viewing and printing directly on the desktop. The secure transmission will populate received data directly into a number of leading desktop origination solutions including Encompass, Genesis 2000, Contour, PipeLine, Byte, Harland, and others, saving time and reducing errors by eliminating the re-keying of data.

LandAmerica Tax and Flood Services employs state-of-the-art systems, creative solutions, and personal service to maintain a nationwide network that provides tax and flood services to the mortgage lending industry. LandAmerica is a leader in accuracy with one of the lowest loss experiences in the industry-reducing the cost of handling exceptions and improving borrower relations. Automated databases and real-time front-end delivery systems help ensure fast, flexible data exchange. The LandAmerica Tax and Flood Services IT team has over 70 data processing professionals and has set industry standards for information systems and processing techniques, including advanced on-line processing systems and paperless work environments.

"We're excited about the launch of ePASS connectivity," said Dale Quarto, president of LandAmerica Tax and Flood Services. "We will now be available to 90-percent of mortgage originators via ePASS, providing us a real opportunity to expand our services. The combination of Ellie Mae and LandAmerica technologies will provide our customers with the best experience available today."

Ellie Mae's ePASS technology is the industry standard, connecting the majority of third-party mortgage origination companies to their wholesale lenders and settlement service providers. ePASS enables users to eliminate redundant work, reduce origination costs, close loans faster, and provide secure data transmission for sensitive consumer information in compliance with Gramm-Leach-Bliley safeguards. In the first quarter of 2004 alone, over 1.4 million loans were originated using ePASS technology.

"The addition of LandAmerica's Flood Services to our ePASS platform continues our focus of providing our customers nationwide access to the leading and most utilized service providers," said Joseph Tyrrell, Ellie Mae's senior vice president for vendor relations. "LandAmerica Tax and Flood Services has built a sound reputation for delivering quality products coupled with superior customer service, which is exactly the type of partner that we are excited to connect with our clients."

About LandAmerica

Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc., is a leading provider of real estate transaction services and is on Fortune magazine's 2004 list of most admired companies. Through its many subsidiaries, LandAmerica serves residential and commercial customers with more than 800 offices and a network of 10,000 active agents throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe.

About Ellie Mae, Inc.

Dublin, California-based Ellie Mae, Inc., winner of the 2003 Inman Innovator Award for Most Innovative Company in the mortgage and real estate industries, is the leading provider of desktop and web-enabled mortgage industry productivity technology. Ellie Mae's ePASS web-transaction platform is the industry standard, connecting more than 30,000 third-party mortgage origination companies with leading wholesale and correspondent lenders and 90,000 settlement service providers. Ellie Mae products include the Encompass mortgage management system, Contour and Genesis 2000 loan origination software, Executive Web Sites and Ellie Mae Docs. To learn more about Ellie Mae, call (888) 955-9100 or visit www.elliemae.com .

Copyright © 2004 Ellie Mae, Inc. All rights reserved. Ellie Mae®, ePASS®, Encompass®, Contour™, Genesis 2000®, Executive Websites™, Ellie Mae Docs™ are the sole property of Ellie Mae, Inc.