Risk mitigation providers Equifax and Interthinx are enhancing their existing relationship by providing financial institutions real-time information regarding an individual's current employment and income status to pay for their loan.
Interthinx clients will now have access to The Work Number's employment and income verification service for St. Louis-based Equifax, through its FraudGuard system. The integration will allow lenders to order income and employment verifications directly through FraudGuard and receive verification results within seconds to know a borrower's employment status and the income that they are making to decide if they should approve a mortgage loan to the borrower.
The two firms' decision to expand its relationship also meets the requirements set forth in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to confirm the borrower's ability to repay their loan.
“Interthinx remains committed to helping lenders mitigate risk, eradicate fraud and support compliance,” said Mike Zwerner, senior vice president of business development at Interthinx, Agoura Hills, Calif. “Together with The Work Number, we are poised to deliver automated verifications that further streamline the risk mitigation process for lenders.”
According to Zwerner, the firm's FraudGuard solution is designed to help increase loan processing efficiency, minimize costly errors and close loans faster. At the same time it provides secure data transmission for sensitive consumer information that ultimately helps minimize fraud-related losses.
The Work Number's verified employment and income solutions will be incorporated into the confidence score FraudGuard delivers to lenders to help them determine if a borrower should be granted a loan.
“This expansion of our relationship with Interthinx represents a continued evolution of our service offering in response to industry demand,” said Janet Ford, senior vice president for The Work Number.
This is the second time in 2011 the risk mitigation firms have come together to try to prevent mortgage fraud. In March, Equifax added its Undisclosed Debt Monitoring solution to the FraudGuard system. This tool monitors and notifies financial institutions of new accounts and borrower activity initiated during the “quiet period,” which lasts from the time the application is filed until it is closed.
Craig Crabtree, senior vice president of mortgage services for Equifax, said the business relationship between the two companies is important to alleviate mortgage fraud, therefore leading The Work Number to include their income and employment verification tools into FraudGuard.
“Obtaining current, independently verified income information can be a challenge, and one that presents a certain level of uncertainty that a lender may not want to accept,” said Craig Crabtree, senior vice president of mortgage services for Equifax. “Given today's volatile market conditions, having timely and increased transparency into a borrower's true current employment status and ability to pay is more important than ever, and integrating The Work Number's income and employment verifications into FraudGuard enables lenders to effectively outsource this critical function of loan production with assurance.”
