It’s about to get easier for lenders using ICE Mortgage Technology’s Encompass loan origination system to instantly access income and employment verification solutions tailored to specific needs from The Work Number.

The Work Number is an Equifax service used by many lenders to verify borrower employment and income. New integrations built on Encompass’ Partner Connect API platform provide access to verification solutions from The Work Number database that are tailored to meet specific needs within the mortgage loan origination process, including:

• Mortgage Ultimate: Income and employment records dating back 90-days from the request, plus inactive records going back 24 months, for needing multiple income or employment verifications during loan origination.
• Employment Select: Active employment records dating back 60-days, tailored specifically for loan closing.
• All Employers within 24 Months: For lenders needing to meet Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines requiring 2 years of income and employment history.

“Verifications from The Work Number have been available through Encompass for more than a decade, helping loan officers quickly access the income and employment information they need to help consumers close on their mortgages,” said Equifax executive Ashley Wood, in a statement. “This new API platform that ICE Mortgage Technology has released for partners offers Encompass loan originators a better experience and will soon include one-click access to the new mortgage-specific verification sets from The Work Number, as well as configurable automated order settings.”

The Work Number database includes records from more than 2 million employers. It includes information on more than 500 million employees, including more than 125 million active records.

Earlier this month, Equifax announced the expansion of The Work Number’s mortgage-specific verification solutions with the addition of “All Employers Within 60 Months” — which provides five years of income and employment history for complex loan decisioning, underwriting and risk decisions — and “Mortgage Select All,” which delivers all available records associated with a borrower, from the most recent to historical payroll data.

The upgrades to The Work Number’s mortgage capabilities come as Equifax faces growing competition from other providers of income and employment verification.

Last fall, cloud banking software developer Blend Labs Inc. launched a new income verification product that the company said at the time had attracted more than 50 customers, including American Federal Mortgage, Lennar Mortgage, and IBC Mortgage.

Another competitor, San Francisco-based Truework, recently received approval as an authorized report supplier for Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter validation service, joining Finicity, Blend and Equifax as companies authorized by Fannie Mae to supply employment validation reports.

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Email Daniel Houston