As property valuation mortgage fraud risk continues to rise significantly since 2006, Interthinx has continued to make upgrades to its FraudGuard solution to combat this type of fraudulent activity.
The Agoura Hills, Calif.-based risk mitigation firm has integrated Google Maps satellite images into FraudGuard to help lenders decrease loan processing time and quickly identify external issues with properties.
By including satellite image data within FraudGuard, lenders can improve loan quality, provide users with a more comprehensive fraud prevention report and enable an overall risk review with greater clarity.
“Property valuation fraud risk has more than doubled since 2006, which could expose lenders to buyback requests that could cripple their companies,” said Ian Anthony, director of product management at Interthinx. “Our product team recognized the threat and alerted our customers. They responded by comparing photos from appraisal reports or Broker Price Opinion photos to satellite images through multiple steps. Since Google’s database already had the images, it made sense for us to integrate them into our FraudGuard reports, saving our customers time and money.”
FraudGuard contacts the Google Satellite image database in real-time, which returns a full rotational external view of the property from the street level. This visual support allows for quick identification of the distances between the subject property, employer location and a borrower’s current residence.
The new product enhancement can also highlight risk associated with borrower employment and intent to occupy. Satellite images from the occupancy map help pinpoint potential misrepresentations of employer location.
“Our latest product development provides customers another layer of valuable information before funding a loan,” added Kevin Coop, president of Interthinx. “Within seconds, our customers will now know the condition of the property’s exterior and whether it conforms to the rest of the neighborhood. With such insight, lenders are better prepared to make informed underwriting decisions during this time of emphasis on loan quality over loan quantity.”
