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InHouse Introduces Underwriting Queue Enhancements to Improve Compliance and Appraisal Quality
New automated feature in InHouse Connexions appraisal process management platform streamlines appraisal underwriting and ensures regulatory compliance
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL (April 15, 2013) – InHouse Inc., a provider of innovative appraisal technology for banks, lenders, credit unions and other mortgage originators, announces it has introduced new underwriter queues in its InHouse ConnexionsTM appraisal process management platform to improve the quality of appraisal submissions while enhancing lender compliance with GSE and regulatory requirements.
The InHouse Connexions cloud-based platform allows lenders to automate the management of appraisals using their own preferred appraisers, AMCs, or any combination of providers they desire—including InHouse Solutions, InHouse Inc.’s own AMC. The new underwriting queues, an enhancement included in the base Connexions platform usage plan, provide essential information and timesaving workflow automation at no additional cost.
With the new work queues, mortgage underwriters can underwrite the appraisal directly in the Connexions platform, significantly reducing the time normally required for the process. They can note and send conditions to appraisers without leaving the platform, and can order and process electronic appraisal reviews from Platinum Data, customized for their specific criteria. Underwriters can also deliver appraisals electronically to borrowers, and obtain verification that borrowers have received and opened the reports.
“These represent major timesaving gains for origination departments,” says InHouse President and CEO Jennifer Creech. “Underwriters can do much more without switching back and forth between applications, and the additional automation brings greater quality to both the process and the appraisals themselves,” she notes. “In addition, underwriters can manage their UCDP appraisal conditions and ‘hard stops’ at any point in the process they choose, helping resolve appraisal issues before formal submission to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.”
InHouse has direct access to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP), through which lenders submit appraisals for review prior to sending loan files to the GSEs. The agencies provide “findings” on appraisals through UCDP when appraisal values appear excessive or have other issues of concern. Connexions displays GSE findings with independent investor tabs for ease of use and fast action. Fannie Mae’s requirements for findings are already met by InHouse Connexions, and the company is currently ready for Freddie Mac’s implementation testing, expected in early May 2013, according to Creech.
“Compliance and quality control are becoming more complex for lenders,” she observes. “Our goal is to automate as much as possible in order to ease the time and expense burden for originators, and that is what the new underwriting queue enhancements in InHouse Connexions are providing, at zero additional cost.”
About InHouse
Founded in 2002, InHouse Inc. is an award-winning provider of appraisal solutions for the mortgage industry. The company, which represents a new concept in appraisal management, has a product and service line that includes InHouse Connexions, a web-based appraiser management platform, as well as InHouse Solutions, an independent appraisal management company. Connexions is currently in use by 28 mortgage banks, lenders, credit unions and other mortgage originators to efficiently and compliantly manage their appraisal vendors. InHouse is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. For more information on InHouse, please visit www.InHouseUSA.com or call (888) 824-9885.