Alliance to provide enrollment verification. (Technology).

First American Registry, Inc., a leading provider of multifamily housing services for more than 20 years, and the National Student Clearinghouse, the nation's largest a d most trusted source for post-secondary student degree and enrollment verification, announced a strategic alliance that will provide property managers with enrollment verification as an optional addition to the resident-screening services offered by First American Registry.

Using data from the National Student Clearinghouse's EnrollmentVerify service, First American Registry's 20,000 clients can instantly verify a prospective resident's student status via the Internet. This information is crucial for property managers trying to comply with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program of the Internal Revenue Service. The program provides tax credits to owners of low-income rental housing. A unit can lose its LIHTC status if all members of the household are fulltime students.

Additionally, residents' enrollment status must be reconfirmed each term to maintain compliance. Currently, enrollment verification is manual and dependent on residents to divulge their student status, making it difficult for property managers to meet LIHTC reporting requirements in a timely and accurate fashion.

"Our alliance with First American Registry is another example of the growing need by businesses for access to accurate enrollment-verification data," said Daniel R. Boehmer, president of the National Student Clearinghouse. "Through EnrollmentVerify, property managers have access to the largest repository of student-enrollment information in the U.S."

Enrollment verification is also a key resource to help combat application fraud. Specifically, foreign nationals often enter the U.S. on student visas and never enroll in school. Property managers concerned about renting to potential terrorists or illegal residents now have a tool to verify that rental applications are completed truthfully "Making the Clearinghouse's verification data available to our clients is consistent with our mission of providing the most comprehensive resident screening in the nation," said Nevel DeHart, executive vice president of First American Registry.