Mortgage Services

In today’s challenging economic environment, many mortgage investors and servicers are struggling to determine which borrowers have the financial capacity to meet their debt obligations. And with unprecedented regulatory and financial programs, such as TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) and HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program), you need the expertise of a trusted partner who can deliver a 360-degree view of your borrower’s current financial situation. Equifax has the data and analytics you need to efficiently handle payoffs and assumptions, loss mitigation and foreclosures.

The value to your business

• Use our consumer credit reports to confirm monthly expenses and verify that the property securing the mortgage is the principal residence
• Tap into unique third-party data sources, such as The Work Number, for streamlined verifications and overall process efficiency
• Leverage best-in-class automated valuation models and comparable sales data to minimize risk of repurchase due to appraisal fraud or inaccuracies, then combine with online property reports for loss forecasting, default modeling, reconciliation/review, loan modifications, short sales and distressed/retail valuations
• Access insightful wealth-based data to better understand a borrower’s ability to pay, prioritize collections and improve resource allocation

As we all know, it’s much more costly to service loans that are delinquent than ones in good standing. Find out more about our portfolio management solutions.

Why servicers should use third-party verified income (vs. borrower-provided) even when it’s not a regulatory requirement

• Reduce “insufficient documentation” – this is the most common cause of trials not being accepted and/or canceled.
• Create efficient workflows – servicing staff are balancing a myriad of programs, varied compliance requirements and tight response times – yet their primary dependency for documentation is the borrower (a stressed borrower at that).
• Improve conversion – 63% conversion rates (from trial modification to permanent) have been realized since June 1, 2011 when HAMP first started requiring upfront use of verified income in the Initial Package.
• Identify fraud – per the FBI’s emerging trends report, mortgage fraud is on the rise in Home Affordable programs. As well, HAMP requirements state that “servicers should not modify a mortgage loan if there is reasonable evidence indicating the borrower submitted income information that is false or misleading …”