MERSCORP Inc. and risk mitigation and regulatory compliance tool provider Interthinx launched a national fraud database at the Mortgage Bankers Association‘s (MBA’s) 96th Annual Convention and Expo in San Diego. The MERS FraudALERTSM, powered by Interthinx, will allow lenders to seek, identify and share suspected fraudulent activity from the point of origination. The database provides access to more than 62m loans currently registered on the MERS System. Lenders using MERS FraudALERTSM can submit loan application data as well as incident reports with either suspected or confirmed fraudulent activity into a single database. The system will notify other lenders with loans potentially connected to the fraudulent data. The system should instill some clarity and communication and help industry participants catch instances of fraud usually overlooked “because no one is speaking to each other,” according to MERS president and CEO R.K. Arnold. He added: “Only by creating a collaborative industry wide fraud prevention database can this activity be stopped.” The fraud database will be available in Q409, and lenders that register loans on the MERS System will gain immediate access. “[O]ur technologies are most effective when they have access to more data,” said Kevin Coop, president of Interthinx. “Through this database, we will be even better at helping lenders detect fraud before loans are funded.” Write to Diana Golobay.