MORTGAGE: Slow Down and Smell the Accountability; Back to basics loan processing means thorough income, employment and ID verification are now a part of almost all loan approvals. Web-based data aggregation tools can help out, but slower closings are inevitable.(Business Innovation)

Byline: John Adams

There's no better sign of how the mortgage market's atmosphere has changed than what potential borrowers are hearing from Ameritrust. "We let them know up front that we are trying to close loans less quickly so all information on the application can be validated," says John Owens, CEO of Ameritrust in Charlotte, where the lender's closings take about two weeks longer than a couple of years ago - even with the deployment of new data management technology that processes more consumer application information in less time. "We are making sure that all information gets verified before closing. We are trying to make it difficult for anyone who's trying to commit fraud."

Mortgage fraud was …