PRESENTER ➤ Progress in Lending
PODCAST ➤ The Lending Buzz
DATE ➤ March 10, 2025
EPISODE ➤ 14 min 37 sec
Listen up as Curtis R. Knuth, President & CEO at NCS and Service 1st, discusses how lenders should use data and what they should be looking for when it comes to increasing the speed and accuracy of borrower verifications.
Highlights of the Show:
Looking at the mortgage industry today, what are the most important challenges lenders are facing that involve income and credit verifications, and what do lenders need to do to remain competitive?
"Pricing from some third-party data suppliers for the mortgage industry is out of hand. Some are rising exponentially as I believe, they’re unsure if they’ll continue to have a near monopolistic position in their respective market. This uncertainty is creating a mad dash for revenue while their position lasts. So, I think that’s a top challenge. As a reseller in certain instances and a data provider in others, this is where CRAs like Service 1st can best position the originator or other participant type in the mortgage space. The options for cascades, credit pre-qualification, etc allow us to create a custom profile for each lender.
We launched our 8821 verification solution last year and started to educate the market and our customers on options. The vendor space and originator spaces are competitive spaces, and truthfully, that competition is the driver for the best to rise to the top."
Can you explain Automated Service Ordering (ASO) and how it helps reduce costs for mortgage lenders and servicers?
"ASO from ICE Mortgage is a stud offering. It keeps those applications running through your funnel. You plug in your vendor for each process step where vendor data is needed. You can write rules for when a report or data is pulled and when it is not. But we are raising a yellow flag that you have to be careful. You could inadvertently fire off order requests for 200 AVMs or 400 credit reports, etc. We have some templates that we’ll be discussing at the ICE Conference to help get folks started with ASO and, for that matter, EPC. But yes, it’s a real efficiency win. The lights in your office never turn off. Apps just keep running."
What role do verification cascades play in ensuring that the most reliable data is sourced at each step of the origination process and how they impact data accuracy and speed?
"Going back to the 8821 option available via our TRV Services, man, that’s as fast as the taxpayer accesses their IRS.gov account and releases the transcripts. Case and point: we had a customer who was working with a competitor for the 8821-transcript data. We had the customer provide us with their details and consent – we provided an acknowledgment doc for them to check the box, and we pulled down their transcript in 4 minutes. That’s the speed. You’re now talking about an application at that speed. We’re working on some pilots where we can get price appetizing to use this at application – yeah, a big deal.
If we stick with 8821 for a minute, the average street price is $11, and that’s for everyone on that loan app. That’s different than 4506-C. When originators work with us to pull at applications, and we get the volume up – we can work that price. I mean, that’s being nimble. 8821 took us 1 year to scope, dev, test, pilot, and deploy – and most of that time was spent working through IRS requirements.
So, if S1 can give you validated transcript data at the application phase, which, by the way, there are penalties for falsifying to the Treasury, there’s an incentive to give correct/accurate info. If I can give you that at application – you're working with a validated SSN, ITIN or EIN – all part of the transcript. The SSN on the transcript is validated by the SSA. You get a validated TIN, you get an accurate address for the time the taxpayer filed their address, you get the plethora of data to qualify the income of the borrower – and I have an income calc/rules tool called Income+ that gives an income figure and messaging on that taxpayer income.
That’s cost-effective efficiency that I can wrap an insurance policy around."
Looking ahead, what are some emerging trends or innovations in mortgage technology that you find exciting? How is NCS positioning itself to stay ahead of these trends?
"As lenders get more sophisticated in understanding the data they produce in origination, you know all this tax transcript info & VOE info is data BTW. These are JSON files I can make part of a payload – the more we can empower them to use this data responsibility to make decisions, leverage AI in viewing this structured data alongside unstructured data to enhance their business models – yeah, that’s being a consultive partner for our lender clients. In addition, we must keep in mind that bridging solutions are critical as we move AI and automated solutions forward. We continue to work with data partners who have considerable databases of employment data but have no way to reach the 70% of employers that require manual VOEs to obtain their employees’ data. We still have pathways to move forward with RPA and manual processes as we move ahead."
About Curtis
Curtis R. Knuth
President & CEO, NCS and Service 1st
Curtis R. Knuth is a recognized expert in credit reporting, verification services and risk management solutions. As President and CEO of NCS and Service 1st, he leads the strategic direction for both companies, ensuring they continue to deliver trusted, high-quality solutions while adapting to new market demands.
A collaborative leader, Curtis works closely with internal teams and external partners to foster relationships that drive long-term success. He is committed to enhancing the companies’ offerings to meet the evolving needs of clients while staying true to the core values that have defined NCS and Service 1st since their founding in 1979.