National Tax Search Sees Opportunity in Residential.

Chicago -- National Tax Search here is interested in moving beyond its core market, providing tax services to commercial mortgage lenders, to serve the residential market as well.

Lori Eshoo, CEO of NTS, said that her firm is not necessarily looking to compete with the big title companies - firms such as Fidelity National Financial and First American Corporation - that also have property tax management divisions geared toward the residential mortgage market.

NTS started looking at the residential market about three years ago, Ms. Eshoo told MSN, and forged ahead with via a partnership with a firm called BridgeSpan. When BridgeSpan's technology eventually morphed into Hall Settlement Services, NTS continued to pursue residential opportunities through a strategic partnership with that firm. That partnership allowed NTS to integrate its tax technology with Hall's title services technology and market tax services to Hall's clients.

The first residential tax service pilot was launched in December and is going well, she said.

Rather, NTS is looking to fill niches in the residential market that might be overlooked by those larger firms, servicing lenders with portfolios that require a flexible approach to tax services.

"There is a large need for delinquent tax management, in addition to boutique tax management," Ms. Eshoo said.

Because of the rise of exotic loan products, such as option payment adjustable-rate mortgages, Ms. Eshoo believes that lenders are focused on the potential for increased delinquencies and defaults, which could heighten their focus on property tax management. In addition, servicing "interim servicers," who may only manage loan administration for a short period before selling the loans servicing released or selling the servicing rights, also is a potential niche, she said.