Agoura Hills Lending Data Firm Changes Hands

With the acquisition of Interthinx Inc. in Agoura Hills, a company that provides mortgage quality analytics, an Orange County title company hopes to expand its presence in the real estate finance sector. The $155 million purchase was made earlier this month by First American Financial Corp., a publicly traded company in Santa Ana. First American is one of the country’s largest title insurers. Interthinx helps prevent mortgage fraud and assess loan risk, and First American wants to avoid risky transactions, so the two companies have a common focus. Interthinx gives customers access to massive databases from a variety of sources, including the IRS, credit reports, property records and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The company was founded in 1996 and employs more than 500 nationwide. Jeremy Yohe, director of communications for the American Land Title Association, a Washington D.C. trade group for the title industry, said the changing regulatory environment in loan origination has put pressure on title companies. “Title insurers need to integrate more tightly and share data back and forth more easily,” he said. “This industry is all about mitigating risk and regulators want the lender to be ultimately responsible.” First American could also use Interthinx to qualify packaged loans prior to attempting to sell them to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, though Yohe said he wasn’t sure if that was on the table. Since the two federally backed enterprises recorded combined losses of $14.9 billion in 2007, they have become more risk-averse in buying mortgage bundles. Interthinx and parent company Verisk Analytics Inc. of Jersey City, N.J., declined to comment on the sale because it isn’t final. According to a report this month from Andrew C. Steinerman, an analyst that covers Verisk for New York investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the divestiture should help the firm, a publicly traded provider of information about risk to the insurance, health care and financial service industries. “We view Verisk’s exit of its mortgage analytics business as a strategic move that will enhance the company’s organic growth and increase focus on other segments,” Steinerman stated in a note to investors on Feb. 6. First American did not respond to calls seeking comment, but in a statement after the purchase announcement this month, Chief Executive Dennis J. Gilmore said the acquisition will help his company keep up with customer demand. “The added capabilities of Interthinx will allow us to leverage our central role in real estate transactions to offer our customers further assurances in areas that present risk,” he said.