FNIS announced the purchase of HomeSeekers' XMLSWeb division yesterday, but there was no forward-looking statement issued by HomeSeekers. In fact, the company was curiously devoid of spokespersons. Not available were company president Steve Crane, nor was fearless board member Tom Chaffee around. There is no investor relations person anymore. So who's in charge of answering to the public in this publicly-held company? After repeated unsuccessful attempts to get management to respond to my calls, here's my take. In all my years of reporting experience, when a company dodges me, it invariably has something to hide. It's just a matter of finding out what it is. What is it that HomeSeekers doesn't want me (and you) to know? I'm not imagining they were unavailable. This is the age of the cellphone, the digital pager, e-mail, the Palm. No one's not available unless they want to be. Company management doesn't have to be at reporters' beck and call, but isn't this a publicly-traded company? It stands to reason that with a major announcement regarding the transfer of significant assets that people might be interested in HomeSeekers' story. Not only do inquiring minds want to know, but how about investors and customers? HomeSeekers' future impacts about 15,000 Web site customers. Investors have ridden the company to it's current nadir of $.05 a share. Don't they deserve an answer to a few questions - like what remaining assets are available to steer HomeSeekers toward profithood? Will Web sites go dark? Who's minding the store? The company has been strangely silent about a number of issues, including these questions raised by some investors and subscribers: How does a deal get finalized that hasn't been voted on by shareholders? Who is serving on the current HomeSeekers board? Is the company changing its name? Some chats are bandying Realigent around. Is this a rumor or is it real? Or is it fiddling while HomeSeekers burns? Is the eBay deal moving forward? What about the Realty Alliance deal? Will HomeSeekers continue to pay MLSs for listings? Are the international agreements still being serviced? What does the company count among its assets? Will there be any further reorganization or deletion/addition of products and services? Weren't paying agent subscribers promised exposure on the HomeSeekers site? Without feeds from some MLS sites, is that promise still doable? HomeSeekers has tested the patience of investors, customers and yes, reporters, for quite a while, and it's time that these erstwhile folks were rewarded for their fortitude - with some straight answers. Otherwise, somebody might think you've got something to hide.