Appraisal FirewallX Enhancements 

Scheduled for Friday, December 15, 2023

Release Information for Administrators


Starting Friday morning, December 15, 2023, a new version of Appraisal FirewallX will be available for you. In this final release of 2023, we are adding the ability to place PDCs via credit card, deliver reports to co-borrowers, and several more anticipated new features! Continue reading below for a complete description of each enhancement we are introducing.

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Order PDCs by Credit Card Payment

Based on your feedback, Appraisal Firewall is eager to announce that PDCs will now be eligible to be ordered via credit card payments! With so many clients collecting appraisal fees via borrower credit card, extending this feature to PDCs ensures that you can maintain your order placement process, with the prospect of increasing PDC order volume. By extension, eCheck and Bank Account are also available payment methods to place PDC orders.
 

How To Use This Feature:

Within the New Order form, we have applied the Payment Method dropdown menu to the Order section when Property Data Collection – Value Acceptance/ACE is selected. Based on division settings, available payment methods will be listed.



The payment method process remains the same as it does for any other Residential product type. Please note that billing fees will be incurred on PDC orders if placed by credit card, eCheck, or Bank Account. The fee, as determined by your account manager, will always reflect as paid by Originator/Lender.

New Dashboard Columns

We have updated the dashboard column customizer to include Appraiser Company and Lender ID to the Available Fields list. Now your accounting teams can add and customize columns to quickly assemble payment remittance information, directly from the main dashboard.
 

How To Use This Feature:

From the main dashboard screen, select the column customizer feature. Appraiser Company and Lender ID can be found at the bottom of the Available Fields list. Drag the tiles to the Current Fields and Commit. Your dashboard will update automatically and populate the appropriate data. Additionally, we have added these new options to the Export All feature and Custom Reporting. Please note that Appraiser Company information has been hidden from Supervisors and Originators to ensure compliance protocols remain in place.

Delivering Appraisal Reports to Co-Borrowers

Automatic delivery of the appraisal report to the borrower has long been a favorite feature within Appraisal Firewall. Now, we are extending that same option to co-borrowers! This will ensure all involved parties have access to the appraisal report, with less manual intervention performed by processors.
 

How To Use This Feature:

We have added a new CoBorrower’s Email field to the New Order screen, within Edit Details of an order, and the Delivery Options section of the Documents tab for Residential and Commercial product types. Please note this field will remain optional. If you supply the co-borrower’s email address and based on your post-delivery workflow, the borrower and co-borrower will automatically receive the Property Document(s) email notification to their respective inboxes at the designated time of report approval. Activity and tracking in the Communications Log remain unchanged.

Deliver Verisite Reports to Borrower(s)

Verisite’s array of products are now eligible to be delivered to your borrowers directly from the Documents tab! Now, users can send any Verisite report to their borrowers instantaneously from the order without navigating through multiple screens. We have even added the tracking and activity to the Communications Log!
 

How To Use This Feature:

Access a completed Verisite order. From the Documents tab, select the Verisite PDF Output box under Documents, and choose Delivery Options. If the borrower email addresses were provided, they will automatically populate under the Borrower Copy fields. Choosing Send will trigger the report delivery to the borrower(s) and post the activity to the Communications Log.

Enhanced Property Classification Section

We have updated how custom-created Property Classifications are displayed to clearly distinguish the default classifications from user-created classifications. Additionally, once custom classifications have been created, they can be removed at any point by Administrators with access to Relationships, which will mitigate Customer Support inquiries to remove superfluous custom classifications.
 

How To Use This Feature:

From Relationships, expand a division, and choose Edit Settings and expand Property Classifications. Any custom property classifications will be designated with an asterisk (*) to differentiate those classifications from the default options. All custom property classifications will have an ‘X’ adjacent to them so Administrators can easily remove the classification.



Select SAVE to ensure the classification is removed. Please note removing the custom classification from the division will also remove it from Pricing, the New Order form, Edit Details, and Controlled Rotation.

Division Name Added to Report Completed Notifications

We have added the Division name to the Report Completed email notification, so users have more identifying information when reviewing emails. Users will no longer have to access the order directly to confirm which division the report was recently completed under.
 

How To Use This Feature:

This feature has been automatically applied for your convenience. The Division name will be present in the body of the email notification and displayed exactly how it is listed in the division’s settings.

Separated Appraisal Scorecard Fees

To provide more transparency for the types of Scorecards you are placing, we have separated the Appraisal Scorecard fees under Billing/Services into: Appraisal Scorecard – Within Order and Appraisal Scorecard – Standalone. Now, you can have a clear view of the fees your account manager passes along to you for Scorecards run individually or run on an order-by-order basis. Additionally, apportioning the Scorecard fees into their own line-item fees will aid in monthly account reconciliation.
 

How To Use This Feature:

This feature has been automatically applied for your convenience. The Scorecard fees set by your account manager will automatically be reflected within the Automated Appraisal Reviews section of Billing/Services. These fees will always show as Paid By Lender and are not eligible to be altered as paid by another party. For more information on Automated Appraisal Reviews, refer to hour Help Center guide HERE.