Borrower Verification Company Undergoes Data Privacy Audit

California-based ""Veri-Tax, LLC"":http://www.Veri-Tax.com, a provider of income and identity verification products for banks and mortgage lenders, successfully completed a SAS-70/SSAE-16 Type II audit.

[IMAGE]

The audit assures data privacy when a bank or lender orders borrower tax and identity data through Veri-Tax, according to a statement from the company.

""Successfully completing our SAS/70/SSAE-16 Type II audit proves that our entire company has implemented the processes to ensure against unauthorized disclosure of borrower data,"" said Michael Chon, Veri-Tax president.

As mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, lenders must verify the identity and income of borrowers by requesting confidential borrower data from third parties.

[COLUMN_BREAK]

Veri-Tax calls the SAS-70/SSAE-16 audit the more rigorous Type II audit, which involves an assessment of its corporate-wide policies and procedures related to handling client data. Such an audit addresses how employees access borrower tax and identity orders as well as the security of Veri-Tax's financial billing systems, information technology, and disaster recovery plans.

""Protecting consumer data is not just about how secure our data center is,"" said Chon. ""It is important for us to be able to ensure data integrity and security from unauthorized disclosure through every part of our organization - from our order processors to our customer service representatives to our financial billing system to our information technology.""

Chon added, ""If lenders want peace of mind and end-to-end security with their verification orders, they need look no further than Veri-Tax as underscored by the audit results.""

The Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) issues the SAS-70 and SSAE-16 standards. A growing number of financial services firms require that their third-party service providers be SAS-70/SSAE-16 compliant to meet requirements in the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, which contains provisions to protect consumer personal information.

The Veri-Tax audit took 18 months and was completed in April 2011 by EFP Rotenberg LLP, a Rochester, New York-based certified public accounting firm.