Appraisal Institute Allies With MISMO

The Appraisal Institute and the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization have announced the formation of an alliance aimed at developing common data standards that bridge the valuation and mortgage lending industries.The standards will result in "the accelerated adoption of electronic commerce by all participants in the real estate and capital markets," the organizations predicted. In conjunction with the alliance, an open standard has been created for describing and commonly identifying a residential property at each step of the loan process. "MISMO recognizes that the systemic changes under way in the capital markets only increase the need for efficient data interchange," said Doug Duncan, president of the nonprofit MISMO and chief economist of its parent organization, the Mortgage Bankers Association. "This alliance with the Appraisal Institute spans both the commercial and residential industries and will provide both sectors with the framework for the electronic delivery of appraisal-related information." MISMO is the standards development body for the real estate finance industry. The organizations can be found online at http://www.appraisalinstitute.org and http://www.mismo.org.