One of the key benefits of the system is to enable you to manage your own appraisal process. A critical component of managing your appraisal process is maintaining your panel (or panels) of individual appraisers that you know and trust. While you setup your appraisers and appraiser panels on a per- division basis, you can use the Lender Appraisers tab to view appraisers across all your divisions.


Administrators can manage all their appraisers efficiently and within the bounds of complying with appraisal independence regulations by using the Lender Appraisers screen and the enclosed functionality. Use this guide to get complete information and detail on working with Lender Appraisers.


The Lender Appraisers tab combines all appraisers on all panels across all divisions and displays them for you so that you can work with them as a whole. This will allow you to view your group of appraisers, export your entire appraiser list, run panel evaluations against third party do-not-use and ok- to-use lists, send out mass group emails, compare appraiser information with the Appraisal Sub-Committee web site (www.ASC.gov), add notes, and view orders that the appraiser is working on for your company. Changes and modifications to individual appraisers such as coverage areas and products, plus adding new appraisers to a panel, must be made through the Divisions tab - Manage Appraisers button.


You can access the Lender Appraisers tab by logging in as an Administrator, clicking the Relationships menu at left, and then clicking the Lender Appraisers tab (Note - only Administrator users have access to the Lender Appraisers tab). When you do, you will be presented with the screen displayed below. This main screen shows your current lender appraiser panel, which consists of a list of individual appraisers that have been setup to receive, work on, and complete appraisal orders across all divisions under your lender.



In the appraiser list, from left to right: you can click a red "X" to remove an appraiser from all your panels. The green checkmark indicates that this is an appraiser on at least one of your panels - click the green check mark to deactivate this appraiser (the appraiser will not be able to receive orders until you reactivate them). You can view the appraiser's name, where they are located, the name of their appraisal company, and click the arrow at right to view the appraiser's details.


When viewing this screen, you can know instantly if there is a problem with any of your appraisers by the color of the arrow: if it is Red, this indicates that the appraiser has missing and/or expired information. Usually the appraiser's license or E&O policy has expired, which will hinder their ability to accept and deliver appraisals until the problem is remedied. Note: Appraisers can still be assigned orders if their information is out of date but cannot accept or deliver reports until their profile information is updated.



Exporting Your Entire Appraiser List

If you ever need to get a list of all the appraisers that are working for you across all divisions, you can use the Export option. Click the Export button to begin.



Depending on which web browser you use, you will then be prompted to begin downloading the export file. Select the location where the file should be downloaded and click OK. The export file will download into a .CSV format so that you can open it as an Excel spreadsheet and manipulate the data as needed. Then save it into an .XLS or another appropriate file format. The following information will be included in the export file:

  • Appraiser Name
  • Email Address
  • Company name
  • Address
  • City, State, Zip
  • Phone Number
  • E&O Policy Number
  • E&O Policy Expiration
  • Number of Completed Orders
  • Licensing Information: state, license number, expiration date (for as many states as they cover)
  • Certification Information: state, certification number, expiration date (for as many states as they cover)


Remember that your appraiser list will be constantly changing. Whenever you need to get a list of appraisers for use outside of the system, you should export a new one to get the most current data and avoid reusing an older export file.


Panel Evaluation: Comparing Your Appraiser Panel with Third Party Lists

You have the ability to upload your lists of investor-validated appraisers to automatically compare with your appraiser panel. Use the Panel Evaluation feature to quickly and easily validate your appraiser panel against investor, bank, federal, or other lists - either inclusionary (acceptable to use) or exclusionary (do not use) - right from within the system.



When you run a Panel Evaluation, you need to upload a specific type of file that is organized in a specific way to get the most accurate results. The evaluation compares your external list against nine appraiser data points to determine if there are any matching appraisers on your panels (note that data points are not case sensitive):


  1. Name
  2. Company Name
  3. Address
  4. City
  5. State
  6. Zip
  7. License State (2 characters)
  8. License Number
  9. Certification Number


Click the Panel Evaluation button to get started. A screen opens that provides you with information about how the Panel Evaluation process works, including the type of file that you should upload. You can then select whether you want to upload an Exclusionary List (a list of appraisers that should not be on your panel) or an Inclusionary List (a list of appraisers that are ok to be on your panel).


  • Exclusionary (do-not-use) - choose this option to find any matches of appraisers who are on a Do-Not-Use list. As the instructions on the screen indicate, "the results of the panel evaluation will return a list of your panel appraisers who match the exclusionary list..." Depending on how the investor or regulatory agency wants you to handle any matches, the results may be indicative of appraisers you want to remove from your panel.



  • Inclusionary (ok-to-use) - choose this option to find any matches of appraisers who are on an OK-to-Use list. With this option, the results will show your panel appraisers who are not on the list you provide.



When ready, you can either click the + Appraiser List button to upload your .CSV file, or use the DRAG Appraisers List HERE option to click and drag your list into the system.



Once the file is uploaded, click the Submit button. The system will then perform an evaluation based on whether you selected Exclusionary or Inclusionary and will display a list of appraisers.


The most common issue relating to this process is that the .CSV file is not organized in the numbered order (1-9) as listed above. If your evaluation returns blank information or errors, make sure that you double check the order of your spreadsheet.


Compose and Send Out Mass Emails

Occasionally the need arises when you will need to reach out to all your appraisers simultaneously. We have built a feature where you can send out a mass email to all your Lender Appraisers or all appraisers on a per division basis. This mass email can be created via the Email button.



When you select the Email button, you will be directed to an email composition screen. All Divisions will be the default option, which will send the composed email to all your active appraisers across all your divisions. If you have more than one division, you can select a singular division from the dropdown list. Only the appraisers affiliated with the selected division will receive your mass email.



You will need to enter a Subject title and enter a Message to have the Send Email button enabled. The New Attachment button is available should you need to include an attachment but is not required to successfully send your mass email.



Working with your Lender Appraiser Panel

In the list of appraisers on this tab, you can use the toggle buttons along the top to choose whether you want to view only the Active appraisers that work with your company, or All appraisers on your panels (active and inactive).



You can remove appraisers from all division panels by clicking the red "X."



You will then see this Confirm Action screen.



For regulatory compliance reasons, you will be required to enter a reason why you are removing this appraiser from your panel. These notes are only visible to your organization and are not accessible by the appraiser. Type the reason - such as 'poor usage of comparables' or 'never delivered completed appraisal by required date' - into this text box. Doing this helps the system track appraiser removal reasons so that you can reference back to the reason in the Notes if any auditors come calling. Please note that the appraiser is never notified that they have been removed from the panel.


When you enter a reason and click Approve, this appraiser will be removed from all your divisions’ appraiser panels.


Click the green check mark to deactivate an appraiser across all your panels. This will not remove the appraiser - it simply sets them to Inactive so that they will remain on your panel, however they cannot receive appraisal orders until you reactivate them. It is more of a temporary measure than a fast-and-final removal.



Again, you will be prompted to enter a reason why you want to deactivate this appraiser. It is beneficial to include a reason here so that others in your organization - and auditors - know why this appraiser was deactivated. Please note that the appraiser is never notified that they have been deactivated from the panel.


 

Once a comment is entered, click the Approve button. This appraiser's status will change to "Inactive" across all your division panels. (Note - if you want to reactivate an appraiser at any time, you can do it from the Divisions tab - Manage Appraisers button.)


Viewing/Working With Appraiser Details

Click the arrow at right to drop down the appraiser details.



You will then be able to view this appraiser's details. The first thing you will see is a Compare to ASC

button, along with basic information about this appraiser.


Compare to ASC

The Compare to ASC button takes the appraiser license and certification information and compares it with data on file at the Federal Appraisal Sub-Committee (ASC.gov). This is a free, manual in-system service that you can take advantage of at any time. It helps you individually compare and validate appraiser licenses, expiration dates, company name, address, and phone number that is on file in the system with ASC data. Comparing with ASC runs a quick background check on the appraiser and provides you with results that you can keep in case auditors come questioning the validity of your appraiser panel and is just another step you can take to be fully protected in case of an audit.


The Appraisal Sub-Committee "provides federal oversight of State appraiser regulatory programs and a monitoring framework for the Appraisal Foundation and the Federal Financial Institutions Regulatory Agencies in their roles to protect federal financial and public policy interests in real estate appraisals utilized in federally related transactions."



To run this comparison, click the Compare to ASC button. In the drop-down menu that appears, select the license or certification you would like compared to the ASC database.



The system will automatically return any matching results on the same screen, and you can compare the information to the appraiser information listed on your panel.



If the system cannot find any matches at ASC.gov, a ‘No Results Found’ prompt will appear.



You can work with the appraiser to resolve any discrepancies between the information entered on their profile and the results returned from ASC.


Reviewing Appraiser Settings

You can look at an appraiser's documents (Licenses, E&O, W-9, and Resume) and settings (appraisal types, states and counties of coverage, and even estimated pricing) that they have on file from the Settings tab. It looks like a gear icon.



From here, you can review the appraiser's detailed information. Keep in mind that the Settings tab here does not allow you to make any changes to the appraiser's information - such as customizing coverage areas and products to meet your organization's needs. Please view the Divisions tab and click the Manage Appraisers button to modify appraiser settings to meet your organization's needs - this is called Controlling your Rotation.


  • Appraisal Types - expand this section to see the appraisals that this appraiser has indicated that they perform. Possible options here are Residential, Commercial, and Verisite Photo Agent. If an appraisal order is Commercial, for example, only appraisers that have indicated that they work on Commercial appraisals will be considered as possible assignments.



  • Licenses - click this option to view detailed information about this appraiser's state licenses. Click the View button to view the appraiser's license for the state listed. Note that if any of the licenses are expired, the arrow will turn red, indicating that there is an issue that needs to be reviewed. In this example, the arrow is red because the appraiser's license for this state expired 10/31/2013.



  • E&O - click this option to view detailed information about this appraiser's proof of E&O insurance. Click the View button to view the E&O policy for the appraiser. Note that if an E&O policy is expired, the arrow will turn red, indicating that there is an issue that needs to be reviewed. In this example, see that the arrow is red because the appraiser's E&O expired 08/28/2013.



  • Resume - appraisers can upload their own resume into the system to give more information to lenders about who they are, their experience, and their business practices. Appraisers are not required to do this, so there may or may not be a resume uploaded. If available, click View to open, review, and/or download an appraiser's work and education history. If there is no resume, it will read "Not Supplied" in parenthesis next to the Resume drop down.



  • W-9 - Most appraisers will upload a copy of their W-9 so that you have instant access to it come tax time and you can fill in the amounts that you have paid them. Click View to open, review, and/or download an appraiser's W-9.



  • Sample Appraisal – appraisers must include at least one sample appraisal to their profile settings when creating their accounts. This allows you to see a sample of how the appraiser’s reports look. Click View to see the sample appraisal report.



  • Coverage - use the Coverage option to look at the counties and states that this appraiser currently covers. Depending on the Appraisal Type(s) an appraiser indicates, this will reflect the type of coverage. If an appraiser only selects Residential, only the Coverage section will be reflected, but if the appraiser also selects Commercial, you will see these separated out: Residential Coverage and Commercial Coverage.



Expand the Coverage to see which states/counties an appraiser covers.



You can click an arrow next to any county/state to get a gauge for the amount the appraiser charges for products in the designated area. Because this is optional for appraisers, you may need to contact the appraiser directly to obtain accurate pricing information.



Appraiser Notes

Any Administrator in your organization can add Notes to an appraiser. Notes are for reference purposes to record information about this appraiser that administrators, supervisors, and originators should be aware of. These Notes are only visible to those in your organization - they are never visible to an appraiser. For example, if an appraiser is deactivated for any reason, a Note is added to the appraiser's profile.



Type some text into the Notes field, then click Add Note. Your name, your user type, the date and time the note was added, and the content of the note will be tracked. All notes added will be tracked and stored for reference purposes below the main Notes field.


Appraiser Documents

The Appraiser Documents tab is a feature where you can upload any documents relevant to the appraiser. For example, if you have an internal vetting process consisting of obtaining references from banks the appraiser has done work for, you can store this document in the Appraiser Documents section. Documents uploaded will be accessible to other users within your organization.



When including any documents, a note is required in the text field to access the Add Note/Attachment button. Once the document(s) and note have been added, you will see an edit log of the user that uploaded the documents, the note that was entered, and the date/timestamp of when the action was committed. Please note that the appraiser does not have access to these documents.



Edit Profile

You can make edits to an appraiser's profile via the Edit Profile button. 


 

For a complete guide on how to edit profile information, please refer to the How to Edit an Appraiser's Profile article. 


Edit Settings

You can make edits to an appraiser's settings information via the Edit Settings button. 



For a complete guide on how to edit profile information, please refer to the How to Edit an Appraiser's Settings article.

 

Appraiser Dashboard

At any time you can click the Open Dashboard button to take a look at what this appraiser is currently working on.



The appraiser's main orders list is a summary of active and delivered orders, plus orders that are in a post-delivery phase.



Use the information from the appraiser's activity dashboard to learn what is currently in their queue for your organization.

  • Orders tab - this tab shows orders that have been accepted by this appraiser and are being worked on. Use the Widget Panel and the Pipeline and Post Delivery filters to view orders in specific statuses.


  • Pinned tab - if an appraiser has pinned any orders to pay special attention to them, you can move to this tab to see which ones they have pinned.