The Kansas Supreme Court has dealt a potentially troubling blow to a little-known company involved in more than 381,000 home mortgages in the Sunflower State and 62 million nationally.

An Aug. 28 ruling may undercut the business model for one of the mortgage industry’s key players — an intermediary that monitors mortgage sales and transfers for mortgage holders — saying the company lacked legal standing to receive notification of a home foreclosure in a case coming from Ford County in Southwest Kansas.

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. — or MERS — electronically tracks the often winding paths a mortgage takes after the originator sells it. MERS, calling itself a “nominee,â€