a la mode Expands Mercury Network to Offer BPOs

Oklahoma-headquartered ""a la mode"":http://www.alamode.com, a developer of desktop, mobile, and Web tools for the real estate and mortgage industries, is expanding its Mercury Network vendor management platform (VMP) to offer broker price opinions (BPOs).
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""Mercury Network"":http://www.MercuryVMP.com is an online VMP, allowing lenders and appraisal management companies to manage appraisals nationwide.

""Our BPO service will be radically different than what's currently on the market,"" said Jennifer Miller, EVP of

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products for a la mode's mortgage solutions division. ""Lenders, AMCs [appraisal management companies], and servicers can just order directly from providers on Mercury Network, so there are no middleman markups, delays, contracts, minimums, or hassles. Mercury will be their direct connection to the highest quality, nationwide BPOs, and they can just log in and start ordering.""

Available this spring, the platform will allow clients to have total control over appraisal quality with Mercury. Users of Mercury's BPO service can select providers based on their preferences including proximity to subject property, late percentage, average turn-around times, and load levels.

The solution will fully integrate with appraisal ordering, and agents are not required to pay for listings or to receive orders.

""Mercury will make BPO services much easier to order and manage than they are now,"" said Molly Dowdy, EVP of marketing at a la mode. ""Mercury offering BPOs will have the same impact on the BPO industry as when Realtor.com or Trulia.com put all listings on the Internet for anyone to access with a Web connection. In the BPO world, things are going to be dramatically easier.""