A new service is designed to help lenders connect to the electronic portal for government loans, while appraisal management companies are vying for business. An appraisal technology firm was acquired.
A May 7 news release indicated that Mercury Network, a
valuation vendor management platform for the mortgage industry, was acquired by Serent Capital from Oklahoma City-based a la mode inc.
Daily volume at Mercury Network reportedly exceeds 20,000 appraisal transactions.
Serent’s acquisition is expected to further enhance the value of Mercury Network’s offerings by bringing additional resources to support technology innovation.
A report from LRES, 7 Key Questions to Include in your Appraisal Management Company RFP, advises lenders and servicers on best practices for vetting appraisal management companies. Key processes outlined in the white paper are intended to ensure turn around times are met. The importance of business continuity plans and the flexibility of a partnering AMC are also addressed.
Orange, California-based LRES, itself, is an AMC.
The Federal Housing Administration disclosed in March that it was implementing the Electronic Appraisal Delivery portal. Appraisals will need to be delivered through the portal on new mortgages with case numbers assigned on or after June 27, 2016.
A direct connection to the FHA’s portal has been established for Pathway, Veros Real Estate Solutions announced Monday. Pathway users can avoid establishing a complete EAD platform.
“PATHWAY was originally developed to support appraisal submission to the UCDP, which Veros built and maintains for the GSEs,” Veros Senior Vice President of Operations David Rasmussen explained in the announcement. “Since its inception, PATHWAY has proven to be a reliable tool that lenders across the country can depend upon when submitting required appraisal data to the secondary market. Up to this point, that has only included portal delivery to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but now Pathway will provide one seamless connectivity point for the lender or its agents to also deliver electronic appraisals to FHA’s portal.”
An agreement between the American Society of Appraisers and the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers was announced on April 8. The deal is intended to support ASFMRA government relations activities on a national and state level.
Nationwide Appraisal Management Network issued a May 6 statement indicating that it exceeds all minimum requirements as outlined the AMC rule that was finalized by financial regulators last month.
