Now It’s Even Easier For Lenders To Confirm Your Employment

     USDA offices around the country routinely receive thousands of letters, faxes, and phone calls from lenders making legitimate requests for employment and salary verification about USDA employees who have applied for some type of a loan.

     In October 1997 USDA initiated a new 'automated employment verification process’ which meant that the lenders got that employment and salary information literally in minutes, instead of the several days it used to take. Plus, under that new system, USDA’s various personnel offices were no longer tied up by responding to those requests.

     And now the Department has streamlined that process even further by creating a link to a recently developed web site to aid in the completion of that 'information swap.’

     According to Cheryl Ruf, a computer specialist in the Office of Human Resources Management, for the last three years all requests for salary and employment verification have been directed to a computerized system, called “The Work Number for Everyone” system. It is being administered by the TALX Corporation, a St. Louis-based provider of automated communications.

     “The information provided by the automated system has been taken from personnel and payroll records maintained at the National Finance Center in New Orleans,” she said. “This has eliminated the need for multiple offices and personnel to receive and process requests.”

     In addition, she added, lenders, property managers, and others who need to verify the employment status of any USDA employee anywhere in the country have been receiving a full verification in minutes.

     Ruf emphasized that the automated employment verification process has security features which ensure that the information is released only to those who have proper authorization. “This system gives employees control over who can obtain their employment and salary information,” she underscored, “while also speeding up the loan approval process.”

     “Plus, for the last three years, this system has shifted the cost of employment verification from the employing organization--in other words, the Department--to the lender, thereby saving USDA time and money.”

     The October 1997 issue of the USDA News carried a story about USDA’s new automated employment verification process.

     “Now, with the web site, it’s even better because in this new system it’s easier to point and click on words on a computer screen,” she explained. “Under the old system--which is still available as an option--the user had to respond to a voice response system, which some employees found rather cumbersome.”

     The web site is http://www.nfc.usda.gov

     Move to the block titled “QuickStarts,” then scroll to the line which reads “TALX: The Work Number for Everyone” and click on it.

     “Under this new system,” she laughed, “your biggest worry will be 'now what am I gonna do with all this free time on my hands?’”