Appraisal management that’s compliant, flexible and automated
Mercury Network is so flexible that it can fit your individual appraisal needs while enforcing your unique level of
compliance. For example: Do you need appraisal orders automatically assigned to an appraiser blindly? Should
appraisal orders be automatically assigned to your current fee panel? Do you let your loan officers pick appraisers on a
per-property basis? Do you want to reduce the amount of appraisal mistakes that processors have to worry about?
Mercury Network 3.0 can handle all of this and then some without completely disrupting your current workflow, like other
systems can. It gives you the flexibility of letting you pick and choose your feature set for a truly tailored
solution, without the hassles of custom technology, difficult implementation or a long implementation cycle. Here
are more reasons the Mercury Network is perfect for you:
- Built-in quality control rules are precisely what you need. Our integrated Uniform Appraisal
Review Rules (UARR) have over a thousand quick checks for compliance before the report leaves the appraiser’s
desk. Updates to UARR rules are automatically downloaded by the desktop software of all appraisers on the Mercury
Network. And in version 3.0, you can choose every rule you’d like to implement, even drilling down into
geographically-driven conditions, or popping up to ask custom questions. You will also be able to specify which forms are required for each product and before delivery, reports will be checked to make sure those forms are included. The result is rules are never out of date, and
appraisers never deliver reports with mistakes to your underwriters due to not knowing your preferences.
- Individual control with overall settings.Individual sub-accounts let each of your loan officers
share the same fee panel and settings while being able to manage their individual pipeline of appraisal orders.
- Keep working with your own appraisers.You can upload your existing fee panel, and we’ll
automatically add your appraisers. If you’d rather start from scratch or want to get HVCC compliant, you can
let Mercury Network 3.0 build your anonymous fee panel based on your criteria using a flexible and complete set of appraiser
selection rules.
- Easily keep track of appraisals.Since Mercury Network is built into the appraiser’s
formfilling tools, as the appraiser completes the different stages of a report, the status is automatically updated and passed
onto you. You can also ‘ping’ the appraiser at any time via the Network to get an update on an outstanding appraisal.
Covering every county in the U.S. with tech-savvy appraisers
We offer an extensive, highly professional and tech-savvy appraiser panel. Appraisers prefer the Mercury Network because
they don’t take the large fee cut associated with working through traditional AMCs, and over 60% of all appraisers already have
a long-standing relationship with us. In fact, they already rely on our desktop and web software to power their businesses
daily. Not only is Mercury Network more powerful, it is easier to use than other AMC systems. That means they’re able
to accept online orders, deliver reports via client plugins, send automatic status notices, accept credit card payments and much
more. You don’t have to worry about quality or hassle when using Mercury Network.
Automated and extremely intelligent appraiser selection
(Coming in Mercury Network 3.0)
Select appraisers using Mercury’s Intelligent Selection System, or ISS. It’s a customizable set of criteria
that you set up to help select appraisers based on what’s most important to you. The variables include turn times,
outstanding workload as a percentage of stated capacity, technology available (such as mobile devices to acknowledge orders and
provide status while in the field), proximity and so on. Meanwhile, there’s no blacklisting ability for not
“hitting a number.”
Put up a firewall between staff and appraisers
(Coming in Mercury Network 3.0)
If your appraisal management is handled by internal staff, new requirements in the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) may
require you to put processes in place that prevent you from exerting influence on the appraisal transaction. One of the
key components to those safeguards is insulating your staff from appraisers, while still maintaining the ability to order
appraisals, get status updates and ask for other information. Our double-blind mode is the perfect solution to this
complex problem.
Once the ISS rules are set up, you can set the system to run in double-blind mode so that your staff is never given any
information that indicates the appraiser’s identity. Commissioned loan personnel can’t circumvent the system and
e-mail or call the appraiser offline. All communications in double-blind mode are by “checkbox interaction”, with no
free-form text possible. Each side can request or send information, but the messages and replies are built using static text
assigned to buttons on screen, so no coercive or inappropriate communications can take
place at all.
In cases where you don’t choose double-blind mode, Mercury Network allows internal staff to communicate directly with
appraisers (such as where the lender can use staff separated from the loan production process), and all free-form communications
are also logged and preserved.
Regardless of the HVCC, appraisal management is forever changed
No one knows exactly what’s going to happen with the HVCC. While it’s doubtful that it will go into effect in its
current form, one thing is for sure — lenders and investors are going to demand more structure with more rules. It’s
no longer business as usual. The trick is to stay compliant with the HVCC along with upcoming regulations and protect your
business from liability while still getting high quality appraisals from experienced appraisers in a timely fashion. That’s
where the Mercury Network 3.0 will help. In it, you’ll find the flexible systems and processes that insulate loan production
staff from appraisers to protect them from liability. Mercury also gives you the most convenient management and a diverse fee panel, while still allowing you to maintain control over the process.
Click here to see how Mercury Network is
different from an AMC.