ChoicePoint’s MARI adds License Verification of Appraisers and Realtors to National Mortgage Fraud Database

RESTON, Va. – The Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI®), a service of ChoicePoint® (NYSE: CPS), today announced the next round of enhancements to its Mortgage Industry Data Exchange (MIDEX®) anti-fraud database. MARI has now added License Verification of appraisers and realtors to the MIDEX platform. The initial launch covers 14 states and is expected to be expanded nationally by the end of the year.

MIDEX is the premier national database used by members of the mortgage industry to report incidents of mortgage fraud and pre-screen the various professionals with whom they do business.

Verifying the professional license of the appraisers and realtors involved in real estate transactions is an important part of any lender’s due diligence process. Licensing requirements and expiration dates differ from state to state, and the important task of realtor and appraiser license verification can be difficult.

“We are excited about adding realtor and appraiser license verification data to the MIDEX National Mortgage Fraud database,” said Merle Sharick, vice president and national manager of business development for MARI. “Combine this with the other information in the MIDEX database, such as public sanctions and disciplinary actions taken against individuals, and you have a pretty powerful due-diligence resource. This will further make MIDEX the ‘one-stop shop’ for mortgage lenders to help ensure the loans they are writing aren’t tainted by unscrupulous individuals.”

The initial rollout includes the 14 states with top fraud rankings in the MARI Mortgage Fraud Case Reports: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas and Utah.

“Giving mortgage professionals a single source for realtor and appraiser license verification across the nation is a massive undertaking,” Sharick said. “We wanted to roll out the service first in states that have higher incidences of mortgage fraud.”

MIDEX is a risk-management database service used by the mortgage and financial services industries for quality control investigations and to perform background checks on individuals and companies with whom they have current or pending business relationships. MIDEX is endorsed by Mortgage Bankers Association, the national trade association representing the real estate finance industry. MARI is a premier provider of mortgage fraud prevention solutions and information services to the mortgage and financial services industries. For more information, visit www.mari-inc.com.