Appraisal management firms are beefing up their offerings by partnering with other service providers and helping mortgage lenders comply with new appraisal regulations. Alternative valuation offerings are also on the agenda.
Mortgage Daily recently expanded its directory of appraisal management companies. The directory, which previously had just 20 listings, now has 70 AMCs listed.
Several new product channels are planned for StreetLinks, a January announcement indicated. The recent launch of LenderX, an appraisal management platform, is being complimented with a broker price opinion product and other automated valuation and review tools.
StreetLinks LLC, a Mortgage Daily advertiser, re-branded itself as StreetLinks Lender Solutions last month.
Another Mortgage Daily advertiser, Coester Appraisal Group, cut the price of its ValueSafe appraisal orders by half in January. The service enables originators to order a desktop or limited-scope appraisal from a local appraiser. Using local MLS data, the appraiser estimates the home value to determine if the value of the property is within a reasonable range to support a reverse mortgage.
Coester claims the cost of the program is typically a quarter of the cost of a full appraisal and only takes 24 to 72 hours to complete.
Rockville, Md.-based Coester held a Webinar in December about appraisal requirements in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
A strategic partnership between Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp. and SettlementOne will add appraisal services to the menu for MIAC customers, a February press release stated.
AMC certification was obtained by Lincoln Appraisal & Settlement Services in Louisiana, bringing the total number of states to 13, a March 1 news release stated. Other states where the AMC was recently certified include Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Nevada, North Carolina and Washington.
Providence, R.I.-based Lincoln said that it plans to be fully compliant with the Dodd-Frank act as of April 1. It announced compliance with Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Appraiser Independence Requirements in December.
