First American Offers Vacant Property Registration Service
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
First American Field Services and First American Real Estate Tax Service, both headquartered in Westlake, Texas and members of the First American Corporation family of companies, have announced the availability of a new vacant property registration service. The service manages, tracks, and maintains the registration process for lenders and servicers, and according to First American, helps protect investor interests and reduces lender liability.
The service was developed to help investors and servicers stay in compliance with changing municipal ordinances governing the growing number of vacant properties in their portfolios. With First American's new service, properties in a lender’s servicing or REO portfolio requiring vacant-property registration are identified and then the registration process, including the disbursement of fees, is managed by First American.
The company said the service draws on First American’s core strengths in field services and the tax company’s existing relationships with 22,000 jurisdictions, as well as its track record of making more than $44 billion in accurate tax payments annually.
“As new ordinances are passed in various jurisdictions, our vacant-property registration database is updated and we are able to revise the registration information on behalf of our clients as needed,” said Paul Dauterive, president of First American Field Services. “By outsourcing the time-consuming registration process to First American, lenders are able to reduce in-house monitoring and compliance costs. This new service reduces the lender’s risk of compliance-related penalties by ensuring that all necessary properties remain properly registered throughout the default process.”
The registration process and requirements vary from municipality to municipality and late or improper registration can result in significant financial penalties for lenders and investors. In extreme cases, property conveyance may be denied for failure to follow local property requirements.
“By using client-driven rules to determine which properties are required to be registered, we are able to execute rapidly, update the system of record, and deliver cost savings,” Dauterive added. “Our service eliminates the need for servicers to dedicate resources to registration.”
The service was developed to help investors and servicers stay in compliance with changing municipal ordinances governing the growing number of vacant properties in their portfolios. With First American's new service, properties in a lender’s servicing or REO portfolio requiring vacant-property registration are identified and then the registration process, including the disbursement of fees, is managed by First American.
The company said the service draws on First American’s core strengths in field services and the tax company’s existing relationships with 22,000 jurisdictions, as well as its track record of making more than $44 billion in accurate tax payments annually.
“As new ordinances are passed in various jurisdictions, our vacant-property registration database is updated and we are able to revise the registration information on behalf of our clients as needed,” said Paul Dauterive, president of First American Field Services. “By outsourcing the time-consuming registration process to First American, lenders are able to reduce in-house monitoring and compliance costs. This new service reduces the lender’s risk of compliance-related penalties by ensuring that all necessary properties remain properly registered throughout the default process.”
The registration process and requirements vary from municipality to municipality and late or improper registration can result in significant financial penalties for lenders and investors. In extreme cases, property conveyance may be denied for failure to follow local property requirements.
“By using client-driven rules to determine which properties are required to be registered, we are able to execute rapidly, update the system of record, and deliver cost savings,” Dauterive added. “Our service eliminates the need for servicers to dedicate resources to registration.”
