Veros Real Estate Solutions has announced the availability of property-specific Disaster Data in conjunction with its VeroVALUE AVM reports and portfolio review services. In regions declared disaster areas, the new data set will allow lenders, servicers, appraisal management companies, and other mortgage transaction participants to determine if a U.S.-based residential property has been directly affected.
Using satellite imaging and data analytics, Veros’ initial release of this new tool delivers the information in two ways: On a "match and append" basis for portfolio review use or within the VeroVALUE AVM report on a per property basis. The match and append method indicates when a specific property is in the disaster area by matching the location and then appending the disaster data with one of several tiers of confidence. It then delivers a granular result that is much more specific than the county level information commonly used by lending industry participants today.
"With the release of this new data source, we can now provide our customers with accurate property-specific disaster data, allowing them to quickly assess whether or not properties have been impacted by the disaster," said Veros’ Director of Product Management Luke Ziegenmeyer. "Additionally, our data is continually updated as the disaster unfolds, ensuring that our customers are always making their risk-based decisions with the most current information."
Property-specific disaster monitoring data is available for the majority of declared disaster areas and includes hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, volcanoes, tornadoes, floods, storm surges and tsunamis.
For loan origination, before funding can occur lenders need to clear the property to verify that it's not damaged. VeroVALUE AVMs, enhanced with disaster data, enable them to do this. In the servicing and default area, it will help minimize loss severity by identifying potential default scenarios before they happen. Servicers that manage GSE- or FHA-funded loans will have the ability to proactively identify and assess disaster-related risk. As the largest investors in residential real estate, the GSEs and FHA benefit as well, as they lend everywhere and are therefore subject to the most exposure.
"This new component to our VeroVALUE Automated Valuation Model has the potential to be of tremendous benefit to everyone from lenders and servicers to the GSEs, government agencies and capital markets firms,” said Veros President and Chief Executive Officer Darius Bozorgi. “It's part of our ongoing commitment to provide innovative solutions that support the lending industry's need to streamline processes, mitigate risk and create cost efficiencies."
