The Mercury Network solves the problem of maintaining appraiser independence for lenders.

There is a lot of confusion out there about who can and can not order an appraisal. Hopefully the following information will clear that up for you!

The HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct) mandates that lenders separate anyone on the sales side of the business (loan originators — the loan officers and loan processors) from appraisers, or that they put in place "prudent safeguards" to ensure that a commissioned employee can't influence an appraiser.

The answer doesn't have to be an AMC!!!
On the surface, an obvious solution might seem to employ the services of an Appraisal Management Company (AMC) to act as a firewall between the loan origination staff and the appraiser, but for many lenders that level of separation isn't practical or even desired. Plus, the overhead of the Appraisal Management Company means that either an appraiser has to be willing to work for less than their normal fee, or the lender pays the AMC for their services.

Mercury solves this problem by operating in a "double blind" mode that hides the identity of the appraiser and the lender and makes it easy for the two to communicate while still maintaining HVCC compliance. For lenders that still allow loan originators to communicate directly with appraisers (which is allowed in many situations) they'll appreciate Mercury's audit trail of communications that ensures complete transparency during the entire process. And with Mercury, a lender can use the same appraisers they've known and trusted for years.

Mercury is a solution that meets your needs as a lender no matter what level of separation you decide is prudent. With other innovative features like an appraiser selection system that lets you take into account factors like turnaround time, percentage of orders selected, proximity to subject and more plus a customizable set of review rules that run before the appraiser sends the report, thus eliminating having to resend reports, loan production staffs will find themselves more efficient than ever before.

It's likely you already depend on a la mode technology
Over 50% of all appraisal reports today come through a la mode in some way. Since 2002, a la mode's servers have managed tens of millions of appraisals for over 200,000 mortgage professionals. That same reliable backbone that has been behind thousands of appraiser's business websites is what's driving the Mercury Network today. Of course, if you simply look at the bottom of your appraisal reports, chances are at least half of them have "a la mode" in the footer. So rest assured a la mode which has been producing real estate software since 1986 is no newcomer to the industry.

To learn more about how the Mercury Network uses technology to streamline your workflow and allow you to remain HVCC compliant, visit the Mercury Network at www.mercuryvmp.com. Or contact a la mode, the makers of the Mercury Network, at 1-800-434-7260.

As a long time user of Alamode Technology, I highly recommend to all my clients that they look into this program!

Rick Neighbors