Need to stay compliant with Dodd-Frank?
The business savvy, regulatory-compliant alternative to sending your Dodd-Frank appraisal orders through an AMC is the Mercury Network from a la mode.
You can be registered and sending us (AppraisalIQ) orders securely across the web in less time than a quick lunch break. If you have business in other markets, you can add those appraisers to your list with a few clicks. You get the control back, and still stay compliant. How cool is that?
(Although we made our own Mercury Network for Dodd-Frank Appraisals video, we really like the one from a la mode, too, so we’ve embedded it here from YouTube for your viewing pleasure.)
Better Appraisal Management: the AMC Alternative
What is the Mercury Network?
The Mercury Network from a la mode is an online Appraisal Vendor Management Platform, an alternative to using an AMC, that lets you order real estate appraisals from local appraisers, in every county, on the web. You can use the Mercury Network, select Appraisal IQ (Orlando Masis) as a preferred appraiser and still maintain your Dodd-Frank compliance, as well as other regulatory compliance in the post-HVCC mortgage lending era.
What is the cost?
Your clients pay our normal appraisal fees, and we pay a small ($14-ish) fee to a la mode per appraisal for our use of the system. If you’re going to be ordering from us on a regular basis, we can work out a discounted fee schedule. We don’t mark up our fees to compensate for the Mercury Network fee we pay because we still end with more of the original appraisal fee paid by the client than when they are routed via an AMC who may tack on up-charges of a hundred to several hundred for routing the order.
What do I get out of it?
The Mercury Network helps you keep track of orders, get automatic status updates and keeps an ongoing audit trail for compliance records. Your quality control rules run on the appraiser’s desktop before delivery, so you’ll reduce or eliminate phone tag which saves time and money.
Can I use the appraisers already on my Roster?
You can use your existing appraisers, add new local appraisers (Orlando Masis), and augment with other appraisers on the Mercury Network when you need them. When you need a Dodd-Frank Appraiser to perform regulatory compliant appraisals, you need the Mercury Network.
Trust and Experience
We trust the Mercury Network because a la mode’s appraisal sites have managed millions of transactions for appraisers and mortgage pros since 2002. This is a win-win for everyone: you, your customers, and the little guys like us, Appraisal IQ – the small, family-run appraisal service businesses.
In October of 2009, PCLender.com selected the Mercury Network as its HVCC-Compliant Appraisal Platform and since then many other major lenders have followed suit. In September of 2010, a la mode announced that Veros Real Estate Solutions has integrated their VeroSELECT and Valuation Risk Management (VRM) products with Mercury Network’s vendor management platform.
Although major players are adding integration capabilities between their existing systems and the Mercury Network, small mortgage brokers and lenders can use the Mercury Network’s on-line tool as their own Appraisal Vendor Management Platform and can simply order and manage their appraisals on-line without loading or configuring software on local machines.
Are you going to be the one left behind, waiting for status on your orders?
Get Started Using the Mercury Network
To get started using the Mercury Network (we’ve seen it called the Mercury Appraisal Network, but that really isn’t the name, even if it does accurately describe the service) so that you can order your Austin Area appraisals through Appraisal IQ:
To read some excellent articles about the Mercury Network and the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act’s impact on the appraisal industry, please read the Mercury Network Blog.
Original Video Line-up