(Charlotte, NC, Melville, NY) - July 30, 2001 - MortgageRamp and Vertical Lend today announced a business partnership to bring commercial real estate loan offerings to Vertical Lend's network of independent financial professionals. This partnership extends MortgageRamp's services beyond its traditional real estate and banking markets, to now reach Vertical Lend's customer base including independent CPAs, financial planners, insurance agents and tax

planners. In addition, Vertical Lend is able to offer its associates commercial mortgage loans through MortgageRamp's proprietary technology tools supported by personal customer service.

"It has been our goal from the very beginning to change the way commercial real estate finance transactions are performed and this partnership with Vertical Lend helps us to continue on that path," said Mike Greco, president of MortgageRamp. "By teaming up with Vertical Lend we will reach a large group not traditionally involved in the loan process, ultimately extending our services to a wider range of customers in search of commercial loans."

This new service will be available for Vertical Lend associates through its web site, www.verticallend.com, with a "Commercial Mortgage" link to a customized version of MortgageRamp.com.

"This partnership with MortgageRamp broadens the services we offer our associates to include a wide variety of commercial lending products from leading financial institutions," said David Peskin, founder and president of Vertical Lend. "Our independent financial professionals have close, established relationships with their clients and are frequently asked to provide advice for obtaining a variety of loan products . MortgageRamp's product enables Vertical Lend to provide its associates with more lending solutions thereby satisfying the numerous associate requests to provide commercial mortgages to their clients."

MortgageRamp is the only online full-service commercial real estate community allowing mortgage bankers, brokers, financial institutions and vendors to improve the traditional model of the commercial mortgage industry by reducing the time between loan origination and closing. Vertical Lend, through www.verticallend.com, enables financial professionals, not traditionally involved in providing loans, to assist their clients with obtaining a wide variety of loans, for their home, business, and personal needs.

About MortgageRamp:
MortgageRamp is the only complete source for the commercial real estate industry, offering a turnkey solution to help borrowers, brokers, financial institutions, lenders and vendors execute every step of the loan process from bid to close. MortgageRamp's technology solution, Deal Central, is a proprietary, Web-based technology platform delivering increased efficiency, productivity and cost savings by integrating the entire process of originating, packaging, underwriting, pipeline management and reporting, closing and delivering commercial mortgage loans. MortgageRamp offers industry related services such as: BOSS (Back Office Services and Systems); appraisals through RSI (Realty Services International Inc.); and QuickRamp, a streamlined 10 day loan closing process utilized for private conduits. MortgageRamp.com provides access to most major lending institutions and combines revolutionary technology with personal customer service. MortgageRamp can be reached at www.MortgageRamp.com or by calling 1-888-496-2200.

About Vertical Lend:
Vertical Lend provides its Associates with the ability to offer an entire suite of lending solutions such as residential mortgages, small business loans and auto loans, as well as educational tools, calculators, product information and loan pricing. Unlike Internet lending portals that compete with financial professionals by directly targeting consumers, Vertical Lend enhances a financial advisors specific relationship with consumers in order to provide higher quality advice, better loan execution and exceptional customer service through a combination of Internet technology and personal attention. Vertical Lend, Inc. is headquartered in Melville, New York and has over 1,000 Associates nationwide. Vertical Lend can be contacted at www.verticallend.com or by calling 1-877-692-7762.