Walnut Creek, California-based National Loan Auditors www.nlaudit.com recently announced strategic alliances with two companies — Rapid Reporting and PLATINUMdata Solutions, Inc. NLA explained that the partnerships will allow it to add key information technology components to its US Court Audit solution, which provides forensic analysis of mortgage loans in the bankruptcy process.
NLA said it created US Court Audit to federal legislation that would allow bankruptcy-related, court-ordered mortgage modifications. Although, the cramdown bill was voted down by the Senate in late April, it passed the House earlier this year. And Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois), who sponsored the Senate’s version, says he’s not giving up on it and will continue to bring the measure to his chamber’s floor until it passes there too.
Regardless of whether the legislation is approved, NLA’s founder and CEO, August Blass says pressure for loan modifications will increase, encouraged both by the administration’s homeowner assistance initiatives and the efforts of struggling borrowers to save their homes.
Blass said, “Lenders, servicers, and homeowners are going to be dueling over loan modifications for some time to come, and the independent, comprehensive analysis provided by US Court Audit will be an essential negotiating tool, equally useful to both sides.”
Blass explained that US Court Audit provides an independent analysis of loans and the underwriting process to identify violations of state and federal laws and regulations on the lender side, and uncovering evidence of fraud or other improprieties on the homebuyer side. The audit also includes a bottom-line recommendation for loan modification terms, providing a framework for negotiations between debtors’ and lenders’ counsel and a benchmark bankruptcy judges can use in evaluating modification requests.
According to Blass, the company’s alliances with Rapid Reporting and PLATINUMdata brings additional dimension to the US Court Audit solution. “Verifications of the borrower’s information (provided by Rapid Reporting) and a current estimate of the property’s value (provided by PLATINUMdata Solutions) are key components of both the loan analysis and the modification recommendations we make,” Blass noted.

Ft. Worth, Texas-based Rapid Reporting focuses on the borrower side of the loan transaction. According to Blass, the company’s signature products – Direct Check and Income Check – have made Rapid Reporting a leader in mortgage fraud prevention. Through its partnership with Rapid Reporting, NLA has added identity, income, and employment verification tools to its US Court Audit analysis.
Jay Meadows, president and CEO of Rapid Reporting, says that early authentication is the key to preventing mortgage fraud. “We know that mortgage fraud contributed to the financial problems we’re seeing today,” Meadows said. “By adding our service to US Court Audit, we can help ensure that these fraudulent activities won’t be repeated in the loan modification and bankruptcy process.”
PLATINUMdata, a privately-held company based in Aliso Viejo, California, provides the mortgage industry with collateral risk tools, including automated valuation models and appraisals. By incorporating PLATINUMdata’s Collateral Expert technology with US Court Audit, NLA can perform a real-time assessment of a property’s value, as well as the surrounding properties, including market information and declining value indicators. The analysis includes foreclosure activity and notice of default data for the neighborhood, along with comparable sales information. Collateral Expert also verifies owner occupancy status, identifies relationships between buyers and sellers, and flags possible property flips and other illegal activities.
Terry Cabaniss, AVP for production at PLATINUMdata, said, “Like the loan audit itself, our property and market assessments are completely objective. The multiple data points on the Collateral Expert reports are provided from PLATINUMdata as a true third-party conduit for collateral valuations, and the numbers and data don’t lie.”
NLA’s alliances with Rapid Reporting and PlatinumData follow the company’s recent announcement of an alliance with SigniaDocs, which provides electronic document preparation and quality control management solutions for the residential mortgage industry.
Blass said, “NLA’s alliances with these three companies – all innovative leaders in their fields – provide the information and technology building blocks that will make US Court Audit a uniquely valuable tool, both within the bankruptcy process and outside of it.”
“We’re providing what amounts to a loan modification in a box,” Blass added. “The audit includes all the information attorneys representing lenders, servicers, and borrowers need to negotiate a modification solution for their clients, and it provides the objective analysis bankruptcy judges need to quickly review or order loan modifications, so they can clear crowded court dockets and provide the expeditious, equitable relief all parties in a bankruptcy proceeding are seeking.”