Verifications provider Argyle announced its integration with Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter (DU) program on Monday, becoming the first DU-authorized report supplier to offer automated income and employment verification reports based on consumer-permissioned, direct-source data.
The integration enables mortgage lenders to use Argyle’s income and employment verification solution to get Day 1 Certainty and relief from representations and warranties on validated data.
The real-time nature of the verifications could help lenders limit loan repurchases, said John Hardesty, general manager of mortgage at Argyle. “As soon as a borrower puts in their credentials, we have live data. From a buyback perspective, the lender can have confidence in the data from the second they run the report.”
Argyle’s coverage includes 85% of the U.S. workforce, and the company says it offers up to 80% lower verification costs than other data providers.
“At Fannie Mae, we continue to focus on improving the digital mortgage experience,” said Peter Skarnulis, Fannie Mae’s vice president of single-family digital management solutions. “This is another opportunity for lenders to automate income and employment data verification, which can make the mortgage process more efficient for both lenders and borrowers.”
Income and employment verification are critical parts of the mortgage loan process, especially as fraud continues to plague the industry. Argyle’s ability to go to the source of income and employment documents from payroll providers and employer sources gives lenders a huge boost in the fight against fraud, Hardesty said.
“From a fraud perspective, it’s easy to make a fake pay stub or other documents online — it’s one Google click away — so relying on consumers to provide this information is risky,” Hardesty said. “We’re pulling data from the source, and we can give lenders another view into income and employment that they’ve never had before.”
Argyle’s integration with Fannie Mae’s DU will be complete and available by the end of this month.
