Appraisal Logistics is now making its Aim-Port proprietary technology available to other users in three different ways, executives at the company said during an interview at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Secondary Market Conference in New York.
It is available as a full-service platform, a tool for lenders to use for internal management of appraisers or via licensing agreement to other appraisal management companies.
Dennis Ashcroft, vice president of sales, said older technology has been patched to keep up with all the changes to the appraisal process.
What Appraisal Logistics is offering is new and customizable. There are real time communications functions and a Uniform Data Collection Program interface.
Frank Danna, the company president, noted that Appraisal Logistics considers itself to be a compliance company first and foremost. It looks to meet safe and sound banking practices which go beyond the Dodd-Frank Act.
Towards that end, Ashcroft added, one of the key differentiators is that Appraisal Logistics looks to be transparent with fees.
There are some AMCs which negotiate lower fees with appraisers and then keep the spread between what the banks (via their customers) pay for the appraisal and what goes out.
The Appraisal Logistics executives said any excess should go back to the lender and ideally go back from there to the borrower. But in many cases the lender isn’t aware of the excess.
So it shows on its invoice exactly the amount paid to the appraiser. Furthermore, Ashcroft said, when the appraiser is paid properly to begin with, if further work is needed on the appraisal there has been no problems with getting a quick turnaround on the revisions.
