SettlementOne Approved as American Financial Resources (AFR) Wholesale Partner

Partnership allows SettlementOne to offer leading edge appraiser panel and assignment technology to AFR brokers and correspondents.

SettlementOne is pleased to announce that it has been approved as an AFR Wholesale AMC partner. This partnership enables AFR brokers and correspondents to utilize SettlementOne’s diverse and highly qualified nationwide appraiser panels as well as SettlementOne’s leading technology. The relationship links SettlementOne’s appraiser partners by using the SettlementOne smart assign technology, which intelligently matches the valuation order with the most qualified appraiser partner, specific to the property and AFR loan type.

AFR is recognized as one of the leading mortgage lenders in the nation. Their offering of traditional mortgage loans, manufactured housing loans, and specialty products such as One-Time Close Construction, Conventional, FHA and VA Renovation loans, USDA loans, as well as many other differentiated products, has led to an industry-leading lending operation. AFR invests in the success of their business partners by providing technology, expertise, education, and exceptional support.

AFR brokers and correspondent lenders can now utilize SettlementOne’s AMC services to fulfill their appraisal orders in a more timely and precise fashion. To better service the various loan types that AFR originates, SettlementOne individually qualifies their entire nationwide appraiser panel to identify those that are most capable of appraising these standard and unique loan types.

“Having the right appraiser is extremely important. In fact, it’s imperative to ensure that all the appraisers that are working on specialized loans are highly qualified to do so,” said Laura Brandao, President of AFR. “We feel that SettlementOne and their smart assignment technology and nationwide appraiser panel gives us the ability to offer best in class service to our brokers and correspondents.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with AFR to assist their brokers and correspondent lenders. We believe that AFR’s philosophy regarding affordable and specialty housing aligns perfectly with our own. AFR is a world-class organization, and we’re looking forward to many successful years of partnership,” said Tom Hurst, Chief Executive Officer at SettlementOne.

About SettlementOne

SettlementOne provides credit reporting, property valuation, flood certification, fraud and verification services to U.S. banks, mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers and credit unions. Its specialty is providing convenient bundles of these services to mortgage industry clients. Established in 1999, SettlementOne is one of the nation’s largest suppliers of mortgage data, providing financial institutions and consumers with secure, efficient and cost-effective solutions that streamline the mortgage origination and lending process.

About American Financial Resources (AFR)

American Financial Resources, Inc. (AFR), the leading FHA 203(k) lender for sponsored originations in the country and an innovator in the construction and renovation lending area, is ranked among the nation’s leading companies in the annual Top Mortgage Lenders rankings published by Scotsman Guide. AFR utilizes the latest technology and delivers educational resources to mortgage brokers, loan originators and their customers.

View the release here.

SettlementOne at the Ellie Mae Experience 2018

We’ve been busy reinventing the AMC space.

You’ll benefit from a personal conversation with our founders, enjoy a relaxing environment poolside at the Wynn in Las Vegas and learn how we’re completely rewriting how and what an AMC is and does. Also, talk to us about our Mortgage Credit and Data Verification services.

You really wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity like this.

Come visit us at the Ellie Mae Experience 2018 in Las Vegas. Book some time with us here.

The Evolving World of Consumer Credit Reports

Public Record Data Changes to Credit Reporting on July 1st

It’s shaping up to be a better year than expected for the credit reports of hundreds of thousands of American consumers.

A recently completed study of millions of credit files by credit score giant FICO found that forthcoming policy changes by the nation’s three credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion and Equifax—will result in increased credit scores for a large swath of American consumers. While the FICO study found that the majority of consumers likely won’t see any noticeable change in their credit scores resulting from revised credit reports, it also reported that hundreds of thousands of consumers could experience an even larger-than-initially expected bump in their credit scores—as much as 40-60 points, or more. Continue reading “The Evolving World of Consumer Credit Reports”

Shortage of Appraisers Adds To Housing Challenges

As anyone participating in the housing industry knows, there’s an inherent list of challenges that stand in the way of achieving success in the real estate market.

However, in recent years, yet another challenge has been added to the list of ‘speed bumps’ on the road to success in the housing sector: a shortage of skilled appraisers.

Continue reading “Shortage of Appraisers Adds To Housing Challenges”

Changes Are Coming To Americans’ Credit Reports

For many Americans, their credit reports are not unlike their insurance policies—they don’t give them much thought, until the day arrives when the quality of their credit report directly affects them.

Still, whether or not it is given much thought, an individual’s credit history is often of enormous importance—and a significant determinant as to whether someone is granted a loan, or even considered to be ‘reliable’ as a potential employee.

Continue reading “Changes Are Coming To Americans’ Credit Reports”

Fannie Mae Expands List of Verification Report Vendors

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Fannie Mae has expanded the list of third-party vendors approved to validate borrower income, employment and assets as part of the Desktop Underwriter validation service.

Currently, the DU validation service, a component of Fannie’s Day 1 Certainty representation-and-warranty relief program, only allows for three types of reports: employment and income verification from The Work Number, 4506-T tax transcripts from Equifax and asset reports from FormFree. To qualify, vendors must provide these reports.

Altogether, Fannie lists 30 vendors that lenders can use to receive one or more of these reports. As of Jan. 12, they include ACRAnet, Advantage Credit, Advantage Credit Bureau, Advantage Plus Credit Reporting, American Reporting Co., Avantus, Birchwood Credit Services, Certified Credit Reporting, UPF Services/Chronos Solutions, CIC Mortgage Credit, CISCO Credit, Clear Choice Credit Corp., Consolidated Information Services, CoreLogic, Credit Information Services, Credit Interlink, Credit Plus, Credit Technologies, Equifax (Tax Transcripts), Equifax (The Work Number), Floify, FormFree, Merchants Credit Bureau, Meridian Link, Midwest Mortgage Credit Services, Partners Credit, Settlement One, Sharper Lending, Universal Credit Services and Veri-Tax.

The government-sponsored enterprise also named 16 vendors that it expects to add to the pool of report suppliers for specific reports.

“Fannie Mae plans to expand the pool of eligible verification reports,” Fannie said. “As prospective report suppliers are approved, we will announce their eligibility for the DU validation service.”

These vendors, who are in the process of gaining approval to provide one or more of the verification reports and some of whom already have approval to provide certain verifications, include Avantus/Credit Systems Design, Blend, CoreLogic, DataVerify, Early Warning Services, Finicity, FinLocker, First American/Interthinx, Informative Research, MeridianLink, NCS, Plaid, PointServ, Roostify, SharperLending and Yodlee.

Fannie Mae also noted that it “will add more eligible reports in 2017,” expanding beyond the limited list in place currently.

Read full article here.

Sackett National Holdings Expands Operations To Kansas City

National Credit Center Office Will Develop State-Of-The-Art Software Solutions

LAS VEGASJune 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Sackett National Holdings, Inc. (SNH), a leading provider of financial services data, automotive, employment screening and energy solutions and services, today announced that it has opened a new office in Kansas City. The company’s new Midwestern office will develop and implement state-of-the-art automotive software solutions for customers of SNH subsidiary National Credit Center (NCC).

Jevin Sackett, SNH Chief Executive Officer, said the opening of the Kansas City  office is a significant expansion of NCC’s national presence.

“Our new office in Kansas City is yet another important milestone in the evolution of both SNH and NCC,” Sackett said. “As an industry leader in innovative software solutions, NCC’s Kansas City office will play a key role in developing new products designed to ensure that we continue to offer our automotive customers state-of-the-art technology.”

Sackett added that locating NCC’s software solutions office in Kansas City—in an area often referred to as the ‘Silicon Prairie’—was a logical choice given that region’s rapidly expanding technology industry.

“Among America’s largest metropolitan centers, Kansas City had the third highest number of technology start-ups between 1999 and 2010,” Sackett said. “As an industry leader in innovative software solutions, NCC–and its customers–will greatly benefit from Kansas City’s burgeoning technological ecosystem.”

Leading the new NCC office in Kansas City will be Shawn Morse, SNH Senior Vice-President, Software Solutions. An automotive industry veteran, Morse possesses more than 15 years of related industry experience; prior to joining SNH/NCC, Morse served as Sales Director for VinSolutions, and when Autotrader.com acquired that company, he was responsible for revenue growth throughout Canada and the Western United States.

“The software solutions developed in our Kansas City office will allow us to provide a suite of products designed to assist NCC’s more than 4,000 dealership customers to better engage with their clients,” Morse said. “We are committed to developing innovative software products and solutions that will provide our clients greater insight into their customer base, and thereby strengthen those relationships.”

Morse added that NCC’s Kansas City office will initially employ about two-dozen technology professionals, and that the company expects to expand its regional product and software development operations over time.