In an effort to enhance the appraisal ordering process for its loan brokers, Irvine, California-based ""Loan-Score Decisioning Systems"":http://www.loan-score.com/, an enterprise-class pricing and automated underwriting provider, and ""Global DMS"":http://www.globaldms.com/, a Lansdale, Pennsylvania-based provider of appraisal process management solutions, recently announced the integration of their systems.
[IMAGE]In addition to enhancing the appraisal ordering process, the integration ensures that brokers using Loan-Score are precluded from interfacing directly with appraisers. This protective measure is used to help guarantee adherence to the government-sponsored enterprises’ Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) and the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) impending appraisal guidelines.
""These rules and guidelines can be tricky to understand and manage. Now more than ever, lenders need a cost-effective way to ensure they're reducing the risk of compliance violations,"" said Vladimir Bien-Aime, president of Global DMS. ""Global DMS is proud to be partnering with Loan-Score to address the industry's needs and provide a true end-to-end solution that addresses not only HVCC and FHA guidelines, but also the best practices that serve as the foundation for other pending regulations.""
The systems integrated include Loan Score's broker portal and Global DMS's HVCC platform, OASIS. The incorporation works by automating best-practice processes and limiting access to certain action and information according to the staff member's job function. After a loan is submitted from within Loan-Score's broker portals, it is then filtered through Global DMS' HVCC guidelines. The
[COLUMN_BREAK]companies said all actions are fully transparent, auditable, and traceable. In addition, status updates can be accesses through a single click from the Loan-Score portal.
Designed specifically for lenders to better and more compliantly manage the appraisal process, Global DMS's OASIS platform evaluates and scores collateral in s similar fashion to the way that credit is scored. The review is completed by capturing and extracting all key data points off a PDF or scanned appraisal report, and the data is then translated to XML. This information is then stored to a database and is run against a rules engine.
The engine stores customer-specific risk tolerance guidelines and a library of logic verification, both of which are used to flag risks. As part of the review process, the system also provides explanations behind each issue, enabling users to immediately identify a detailed process for risk resolution and informed decision making.
Kevin Marconi, COO at United Fidelity Funding--a customer of Loan-Score, said it is a huge time and money saver for United Fidelity to have a one-day, seamless process for uploading loans, getting instant approval, and ordering and paying for the brokers' appraisal-all in one centralized application within its broker portal. As the integration takes HVCC compliance to the next level and eliminates the unneeded use of paper, he said the benefits are numerous.
As a result of this new offering, Marconi said the company immediately established closer relationships with its appraisers, who now see United Fidelity as the customer, not the brokers. In addition, he said the company's brokers like the control and flexibility of the electronic ordering and status checking system that is integrated with their loan file.
""Whether or not there's a formal edict for the way appraisals are handled, lenders, investors, and guarantors are taking more and more precautions to ensure integrity throughout the appraisal process,"" says David P. Colwell, EVP at Loan-Score. ""Part of Loan-Score's mission is to provide its customers with the tools they need to transact more, better, and safer loans. By integrating with Global DMS, we're offering our users all the tools they need to ensure they're adhering to the highest possible standards and complying with all relevant appraisal guidelines.""