Informative Research Celebrates 60 Years of Credit Reporting Services in 2006

In 2006, Informative Research will celebrate 60 years of providing credit information services to the mortgage lending industry. IR opened for business on March 14, 1946 with several geographically dispersed field offices. At that time, IR employed a large number of field service representatives who would visit IR clients to ensure that their remote report printers were functioning properly. These field service representatives would restock paper, change toner cartridges and ensure printer functionality, all the while making sure that the client was satisfied with the process and service.

Though service representatives no longer manually service remote printers, they still deliver exceptional customer service through the use of IR’s advanced software technology systems. In fact, most of IR’s customer service representatives have been with the company for an average of eight or more years, and several managers have been with IR for over 20 years. Because of the efforts of these dedicated IR employees, the Commitment to Customer Excellence (C₂E) program evolved naturally from their efforts. As you may already know, C₂E is an organization-wide practice that tracks and manages crucial measures of customer service and product performance.

IR is excited to celebrate 60 years of serving the mortgage lending industry, and looks forward to maintaining the tradition of providing quality technology and excellent customer service. Look for IR in 2006 as we expand our education offerings and increase relationships with key industry associations.

We thank you for being an IR customer and we wish you all of the best in 2006. And remember, with 60 years of experience in mortgage credit reporting you know that you can trust IR to be one of the most knowledgeable credit reporting agencies in the industry.

To learn more about IR’s 60 year anniversary, view the press release at: http://www.informativeresearch.com/Press/60_year_anniversary.html

Informative Research Partners with Mandalay Mortgage to Offer Credit Education

On January 11, 2006, Informative Research joined with Mandalay Mortgage to present a credit education seminar at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine, California. The seminar, titled Understanding Mortgage Credit: The Key to Unlocking a Mortgage Loan, was presented to approximately 100 brokers, managers and loan originators at the invitation of Mandalay Mortgage. The one-hour long seminar covered credit report components, credit score fundamentals and practical tips for putting this information to use in the mortgage lending process.

Attendees were taught how to read a credit report and identify key pieces of information. They also learned how credit scores are comprised and were given advice on how to help a borrower learn credit behavior that leads to score improvement. The goal of the seminar was to teach professionals involved in the mortgage lending process to become consultants to their borrowers. By having more knowledge and being able to give good advice to borrowers, a loan professional increases their potential for referrals and repeat business.

IR currently offers training and educational seminars to help brokers and originators learn more about credit reports and the credit scoring process. IR has knowledgeable representatives that can visit your location to offer these educational seminars. Other credit related topics and issues are also being developed at this time. We are confident that the information you receive will expand your ability to assist the borrower in the mortgage loan process. If you would like more information about partnering with IR for a credit education seminar, or have suggestions for topics, please contact Celena Barton at celenab@informativeresearch.com.

Identifying Common Credit Myths

Jeff Lau, Director of Marketing at Informative Research, has been published in the January 2006 edition of the Scotsman Guide. Jeff’s article, titled Beyond the 6 Myths of Credit, was chosen from several submissions for its relevancy and importance to the residential mortgage industry. Scotsman Guide is the leading resource for mortgage originators, and is published monthly.

The article serves to debunk commonly held myths about credit scoring and provide the correct answers to these misconceptions. The overall goal of the article is to give originators the credit scoring knowledge that they need to better assist their borrowers. The myths that are addressed in the article are very commonplace and include:

Myth #1: Closing accounts will increase a credit score

Myth #2: Checking borrowers’ credit hurts their score

Myth #3: Married couples have merged credit scores

Myth #4: Disputing information removes it from credit reports

Myth #5: A higher salary means a higher score

Myth #6: Maxing out credit cards will improve credit

To learn why these are myths and read the full article, please visit: http://www.informativeresearch.com/Company/Informative_Research_News.html