Mortgage tech firm Blend Labs has added an assets-derived income capability to its existing “Blend Income” product.
The newest enhancement will allow lenders to have additional ways to verify more income sources – including social security benefits, pension distributions, military benefits, child support and alimony payments – far earlier in the application process than traditionally feasible, Blend said in a release Tuesday.
“Verification solutions today are costly, provide limited coverage for lenders, and are often targeted to a subset of industries or employment types. Through Assets-Derived Income, Blend is able to provide a fully integrated, single income verification solution with greater coverage and a seamless consumer experience at a competitive price,” Nima Ghamsari, Blend’s co-founder and CEO, said.
Blend Income is now integrated with Freddie Mac’s asset and income modeler (AIM) Check application programming interface (API).
The API, which utilizes Loan Product Advisor (LPA) AIM independent of an LPA submission, enables Freddie Mac-approved sellers and third-party originators to get a preliminary view of a borrower’s qualifying asset, income and employment before submitting a full application to LPA.
Blend Income pre-populates a consumer’s loan application with income and employment information derived from the consumer’s direct deposit history.
After pre-filling the consumer’s application, Blend Income provides lenders with a real-time verification response and verified income report within the application flow, which reduces the amount of paperwork for borrowers and gives lenders a more efficient and cost-effective way to accurately assess more income sources, according to the company.
Blend, which aims to be profitable in 2024, rolled out a number of products and services this year, including an AI-powered chat tool and soft credit pull function.
Earlier this month, the San Francisco, California-headquartered mortgage tech firm launched its first AI-powered assistant ‘Copilot‘ that is aimed at executing precise tasks and deconstructing nuanced questions borrowers have.
Blend also rolled out a soft credit inquiry function for lenders in May that saves borrowers about $50 per file.
In its latest earnings call, Blend reported a non-GAAP net loss of $22.7 million in Q2 2023, narrowing its financial loss from $35.6 million in Q1 and $45.1 million in Q2 2022.
Ghamsari shared plans to drive the adoption of its value-add features to maintain strong retention and grow mortgage market share.
