Black Knight Forms Strategic Relationship with LERETA to Integrate Tax Service

Business Wire

Innovative tax reporting solution will enhance servicing capabilities of MSP system

COVINA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE: BKI), a leading provider of integrated software, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, has entered a strategic relationship with LERETA, LLC, the leading national provider of real estate tax and flood services for mortgage servicers, to enhance tax reporting services to Black Knight’s MSP servicing system customers.

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The relationship aligns LERETA’s commitment to innovation with the processing power of the MSP system. The relationship will allow servicers on MSP to enjoy enhanced integration to improve data exchanges, a reduction in payment timeframes, the elimination of manual report entry errors, improved processing with unique functionality, greater accuracy, enhanced tax-specific processing and an improved customer experience.

“This alliance demonstrates our continuing commitment to driving innovation in property tax servicing,” said John Walsh, CEO of LERETA. “It also shows how the respective leaders in tax service and servicing systems can work together to improve this critical servicing function. Servicers using LERETA for tax on the MSP system will now have more automation and decrease in risk.”

The integration will allow loan servicers to onboard loans faster and removes the burden of creating manual tax reports and other antiquated manual processes, which dramatically improves reporting accuracy and responsiveness for the servicer, the tax provider and loan processing system. The system enhancements mean decreasing the risk of delays in paying taxes and reducing tax penalties, while offering better collaboration and improved customer service.

“Integrating LERETA’s tax service with Black Knight’s industry-leading MSP system demonstrates our ongoing commitment to continuously enhance our technologies with the highest-quality capabilities,” said Black Knight President Joe Nackashi. “This innovative tax service will further streamline the onboarding process for our clients, increase process transparency and provide a better customer experience.”

LERETA introduced one of the newest technologies to the tax service industry in 2016 with the launch of Total Tax Solution (TTS), the core processing system for LERETA’s outsourced tax clients and an ASP solution for standard tax reporting clients.

The new strategic relationship marries the power of MSP loan processing with LERETA’s comprehensive nationwide tax database to provide real-time visibility and transparency to tax service at the portfolio and loan level. This translates to more call center efficiencies and improved customer service.

“Customer service is always the biggest concern for servicers, and the launch of our Total Tax Solution has changed the way our customers can support their customers,” Walsh said. “TTS dramatically improves the transparency of tax service, which has helped reduce the number of real estate tax-related service calls by over 30 percent. The implementation of TTS has also resulted in industry-leading customer service call times; and 85 percent of tax-related calls are resolved on the first call, dramatically improving customer experience.”

The Black Knight MSP loan servicing system is a single, comprehensive platform used by financial institutions to service over 34 million active loans – more than any other in the mortgage industry. MSP is an end-to-end system that includes all aspects of servicing, including loan boarding, payment processing, escrow administration and default management. The system's comprehensive functionality helps servicers increase efficiency, reduce operating costs and improve risk mitigation – all while supporting servicers’ regulatory requirements.

About LERETA

Since 1986, LERETA has provided the mortgage and insurance industries the fastest, most accurate and complete access to property tax data and flood hazard status information across the U.S. LERETA is committed to giving customers extraordinary service and cost-effective property tax and flood solutions. LERETA’s services are designed to increase efficiency, reduce penalties and liabilities and improve processes for mortgage originators and servicers. LERETA’s dedicated teams of real estate tax and flood professionals along with LERETA’s experienced management team allow the company to lead the industry in service and technology.

About Black Knight

Black Knight (NYSE: BKI) is a leading provider of integrated software, data and analytics solutions that facilitate and automate many of the business processes across the homeownership life cycle.

As a leading fintech, Black Knight is committed to being a premier business partner that clients rely on to achieve their strategic goals, realize greater success and better serve their customers by delivering best-in-class software, services and insights with a relentless commitment to excellence, innovation, integrity and leadership. For more information on Black Knight, please visit www.blackknightinc.com.