Salisbury, Maryland-based, Credit Plus, a provider of insight for mortgage professionals, announced it will be offering instant, electronic verifications of deposits and assets (VODAs) through AccountChek, a provider of automated deposit and asset verifications.
The process was waiting on approval from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but as more regulations were created, so did the need for the technology. Each enterprise recently revised its guidelines to allow acceptance of electronic, third-party VODAs.
In addition, the Ability-to-Repay rule requires third-party documentation.
Credit Plus explained that this is a benefit to the industry for three reasons:
1. Accuracy
"Instead of collecting bank statements, this allows borrowers to electronically deliver to lenders their bank statement. A lot of times, borrowers don’t provide the accurate documents. They might provide just the first page, but they are required to provide all the pages. There is a tremendous amount of efficiency in getting those (bank statements) from a third party. "
2. Fraud
"For fraud, now that there is a third party obtaining these statements, it eliminates the possibility of any alterations of bank statements."
3. Compliance
Along with process efficiencies and the elimination of fraud, it helps with compliance.
Lenders have the ability to re-pull reports for up to 90 days. “Electronic VODAs help instill confidence that lenders are meeting the Ability-to-Repay rules and have accurate data for underwriting decisions,” said Greg Holmes, national director of sales and marketing for Credit Plus.
Credit Plus also offers the option to traditionally verify deposits and assets using bank statements and Fannie Mae form 1006.
