Get Early-Stage VOIE Clarity Before You Spend Time (and Money) Chasing It

Mortgage teams don’t just need data. They need certainty early so they can route loans correctly, avoid unnecessary verification steps, and keep files moving.
One common question arises quickly: Will there be income and employment data available on The Work Number® for this borrower?

Informative Research, in collaboration with Equifax®, now helps lenders answer that question upfront by delivering two new services alongside certain Equifax credit reports at the pre-qualification or pre-approval stages: The Work Number® Report Indicator and Income Qualify^TM.

As one of the first providers to bring these early-stage insights to market in this way, we’re giving lenders a practical advantage: better decisions earlier in the workflow, with less friction later.

What’s Included

The Work Number Report Indicator

This indicator provides a straightforward yes/no indicator showing whether a Verification of Income and Employment (VOIE) record is available on The Work Number®  for the borrower within the past 36 months. That early clarity helps teams decide whether it’s worth planning for a VOIE order later or to pursue alternative documentation paths.

Income Qualify

If a record is available, Income Qualify provides key details to help you move forward with more confidence, including:

• The name of the employer
• The borrower’s total time (years/months/days) with the employer
• The borrower’s annualized prior-year income
• Any employer-specific disclaimers accompanying the employment data

Why This Matters for Lenders

The Work Number from Equifax includes over 700 million employment records contributed by more than 4 million employers. These new services help lenders use that ecosystem more efficiently without waiting until later in the process to find out what’s available.

With early-stage VOIE clarity, lenders can:

• Reduce surprises by confirming VOIE availability sooner in the workflow
• Manage costs by making smarter decisions about whether a full VOIE request is necessary later—The Work Number Report Indicator and Income Qualify are offered as no-cost addendums to the purchased credit report.
• Improve processing efficiency by aligning next steps earlier and minimizing avoidable touches
• Keep timelines on track by reducing friction that can surface when documentation paths change late

Because first-mover advantage doesn’t last long in this market, early adopters can turn this capability into an operational edge by getting cleaner decisions earlier, reducing avoidable touches, and keeping loan teams focused on the files that can move fastest. Put simply: the sooner you know whether VOIE data is likely to be available through The Work Number, the easier it is to streamline workflows and reduce last-minute pivots.

Where Lenders Use This Early

Teams can use The Work Number Report Indicator and Income Qualify at the pre-approval or pre-qualification stages to support early decisioning and workflow routing, including:

• File triage and workflow routing: Identify which loans are good candidates for VOIE and which may require alternate documentation paths.
• Front-end cost management: Reduce unnecessary downstream orders and prevent rework tied to late-stage discovery.
• Processing alignment: Set expectations early across processing, fulfillment, and underwriting teams to minimize back-and-forth.
• Pipeline prioritization: Keep momentum on files most likely to move efficiently and reduce avoidable delays.

Getting Started Is Simple

Enabling these services is straightforward and requires no lift from your IT team. To receive The Work Number Report Indicator and Income Qualify as a supplemental page alongside your Equifax credit reports:

1. Contact your Informative Research Customer Success Manager to request a contract addendum .
2. Your Customer Success Manager will complete a quick configuration—no development work required.
3. Start using early-stage insights to make faster, more confident decisions.