Low-Cost E&O Insurance from OREP Working RE Home Library/Previous Editions
Appraisal & Identity Security Solution
by Stephen Nation, Executive Vice President of NATION
Technologies, LLC
Before the Internet and email, the appraisal business was largely a relationship-centered business conducted between appraisers and lenders or their agents. Relationships were primarily local and often conducted over a handshake. There was often a high level of confidence in knowing who you were doing business with. This is far from the case today.
Identify theft, altered appraisals, fraud and a general lack of confidence in the appraisal profession are a result. Appraisers have become nothing more than a name and a number or username and password to national companies, and visa versa; lost are personal interactions and the security of knowing who you’re dealing with. Needless to say, recent events and market forces on a national level have created an unprecedented urgency to restore confidence in the authentication and security of the appraisal transaction.
Getting snared by an identity thief who has stolen your name
and/or a fraudster changing the contents of your appraisal report without your
permission, can be very costly to your reputation and your bottom line. To
combat this growing trend, Nation Technologies has released the BIOWRAP™ System
that utilizes advanced fingerprint authentication technology to bring security
back to business to business transactions.
Preserving “True Copy” Appraisals
The BIOWRAP System provides a tool for appraisers to accurately associate
their identity and credentials to an unalterable “true copy” appraisal report
using fingerprint technology. Appraisers are able to track anyone who views
their “true copy” appraisal reports. According to David Doering with Missouri
Property Appraisal, Inc., in Jefferson City, Missouri: “The days are long gone
when we could be certain that the printed appraisal report, hand-delivered or
mailed, would reach its intended user intact. As appraisers, we are asked
routinely to transmit appraisal reports via the Internet to often unknown users,
hundreds or thousands of miles away. And while our appraisal software allows us
to use an electronic signature that is protected by a password, it is naive to
think that it is not possible for an appraisal sent as a PDF or in .xml format
to be hijacked with readily available software and changes made at will.”
”With BIOWRAP we are able to send both narrative and form appraisal reports and
other files with the confidence that the report will be received by the intended
user precisely as it was sent, unaltered and complete. With BIOWRAP we know that
we have a verifiable record that what we send is what the client will ultimately
see. Further, BIOWRAP provides us with accountability as to the chain of custody
of who opened the file and if the file has been altered,” Doering said.
The system provides guaranteed assurance of the authentication, security and accountability of appraisal reports without impeding existing technology. Clients can limit their liability and have certainty that the appraisals they receive are secure and authenticated and were created by an accurately-identified and properly credentialed appraiser. The integrity of appraisers’ identity and credentials serve as the basis for their livelihood. This new technology offers that protection.
OREP and WRE Group Discounts
Through an affinity relationship, those who purchase
their E&O insurance from OREP qualify for a group discount at sign up (receive
a free Credential Verification, $70 value, please
email us for your discount code). Working
RE readers also qualify for a (smaller) discount.
Please visit
www.mybiowrap.com,
click "Purchase" in top left corner
and use
WRE6760
in the referral code box
to save $35
at sign up.
Also, click
here
for an appraiser seminar overview with demo.
About the Author
The BIOWRAP™ System is an identity and information management tool to
biometrically authenticate, secure and track any electronic file type. Prior to
his experience with NATION, Stephen consulted for New York Police Department’s
Intelligence Division to establish an intelligence gathering network for the
analysis and dissemination of actionable anti-terrorism intelligence. Mr. Nation
received his Bachelor of Science degree in logistics and intermodal
transportation from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and has also
attended the Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore.