Veros to Offer Direct Connection to New FHA Appraisal Portal

Valuation software company Veros will offer a direct connection to the Federal Housing Administration's new Electronic Appraisal Delivery portal using the same interface it offers for submitting appraisals to the government-sponsored enterprises.

Veros is the developer of the GSEs' Uniform Collateral Data Portal, as well as the FHA's new EAD technology. In addition, the Santa Ana, Calif., company created its Pathway interface for lenders and appraisal management companies to submit electronic appraisals to the two portals.

The EAD goes live on a voluntary basis in June 2015. It will become mandatory in June 2016. To submit an electronic appraisal file, users will be able to access a browser-based system to manually upload single files, or use a direct integration like Pathway for batch uploads and system-to-system interfaces with loan origination systems and other lending technologies.

This is a similar arrangement to how lenders and AMCs upload appraisals to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with 40 vendors providing direct integrations with the UCDP.

The FHA appraisal delivery initiative relies heavily on similar efforts by the GSEs, including use of the same uniform data formats. The new process is intended to improve risk management by letting the FHA review a broader range of appraisal reports.