CSW Provides Fitch With Automated Home Price Data.

Case Shiller Weiss here has announced an agreement to provide its automated home valuation model to the international rating agency Fitch for use in appraisal evaluations.

Fitch will use CSW's CASA portfolio valuation services to detect and quantify appraisal value risk of mortgage- backed securities, target loan files that have high-risk characteristics as part of Fitch's mortgage originator review process, and check the quality of original and REO sale valuations associated with individual defaulted mortgages as part of Fitch's review of residential mortgage servicers.

The automated valuation model will help Fitch evaluate the loan-to-value ratio of loans underlying ABS and MBS transactions, checking to see if appraisals may have been inflated because of "transaction pressure" to get the loans done.

Ken Higgins, senior director at Fitch, said, "We share concerns voiced by both investors and residential appraisers that the integrity of the traditional home appraisal process is sometimes compromised. By monitoring the appraisal values with CSW's CASA technology, we can identify and better evaluate collateral valuation risks."

Allan Weiss, president and CEO of CSW, said CSW is pleased that Fitch would chose the CASA automated valuation model "as the backbone for its appraisal evaluation process."

Terry Loebs, head of sales and marketing at CSW, said that the company's valuation model provides a useful tool for checking the integrity of property appraisals. In recent years, appraisers have come under scrutiny from lenders and mortgage investors that question the reliability and integrity of appraisal reports.

Mr. Loebs said that any automated valuation model is only as good as the data that goes into its analytic models.