Clarity AMC chooses cloud-based appraisal management software

ValuLink, Dallas, a provider of appraisal management software solutions for banks, lenders and appraisal management companies (AMCs), was selected by Clarity Appraisal Management Company to be its appraisal management software platform. Clarity AMC is a Nashville, TN-based AMC doing business in 29 states.



“We chose ValuLink for its ability to change the way we do business through its automation,” said Jason Bennett, co-owner of Clarity Appraisal Management. “The software platform has already made us much more productive, letting us do more business with the same amount of employees. Now if we grow by 5,000 additional orders, we will not have to add another person. We expect that kind of growth at our company this year."

Clarity AMC required a customized software platform built for its own business processes to automate all of its manual tasks. This will allow Clarity AMC to expand its appraisal ordering client base without adding additional employees and expenses.

“ValuLink is a true business partner,” Bennett added. “They came in to our offices and we explained what features we needed and they put it together for us. The system through automation does all the things we used to do manually. ValuLink’s customer service is second to none, too. They followed up quickly and thoroughly to every inquiry we made.”

ValuLink delivers a fully functional portal to a new client on the first day of doing business, which enabled Clarity to speed up its migration process to the new platform. The software platform is integrated with major loan origination systems, allowing lenders and banks to seamlessly and quickly order appraisals as mortgages are originated.

ValuLink’s appraisal management platform includes intuitive features for vendor enrollment, appraisal order placement and storage, no set-up costs, and full accounting features. The platform includes a UAD Preview engine for client compliance with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s new appraisal dataset and full Uniform Collateral Data Profile (UCDP) connectivity.



The ValuLink platform makes it easy for Clarity’s clients to place orders and access appraisal reports, logging in only once to enter the system instead of three or four times under Clarity’s old appraisal management software. Plus, ValuLink equips Clarity AMC with a mobile smart phone application that lets appraisers accept or decline an order while in the field. Today when every minute counts in the industry, the mobile app increases productivity and speeds up the appraisal process from start to finish.



Scott Schneider, executive vice president of ValuLink, said, “Clarity AMC relies on accurate, compliant, and timely reports to keep their crucial high growth clients happy. As AMCs expand into more states and state registration fees take a larger bite out of profits, they need next generation technology that increases efficiency and accuracy while simultaneously helping them maintain profitability. The ValuLink platform is helping Clarity AMC better serve its existing clients and grow its business by simplifying process management with a design that is easy to use for the AMC, their customers and appraisers.”

Good software to manage the collateral valuation process is essential, especially in this environment where one bad appraisal can lead to a buyback request for the lender. But any appraiser will tell you that adding 5,000 new orders without increasing personnel at the AMC is probably not realistic.

One of the value propositions that AMCs bring (aside from the fact that their salespeople got to the bank first and now control the business) is that their people provide a second and vital layer of quality control to the collateral valuation process. This can be very valuable to lenders, but probably requires humans to perform.

While much can be automated, we should remember our run-in with Automated Underwriting Systems and how our blind reliance on them led us to the brink and then on over. We must remember that while automation is power, only people can be trusted to control it. To steal a line from John Boorman's Merlyn: "For it is the doom of men that they should forget."

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