Viewing Mercury Network From A Lender’s Perspective Benefits Appraisers

Chris Sullivan

Chris Sullivan, VP, National Sales Director


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Drop Cap Letter: The number of appraisal orders placed through Mercury Network continues to skyrocket. August alone saw a 632% increase over the summer, and the average Mercury Network fee being paid to appraisers is right at $350.  Clearly, Mercury Network is an attractive alternative to management companies and other, less integrated, vendor management networks for medium and small lenders, just as we’d predicted over a year ago.

But Mercury Network alone won’t keep clients from turning to AMCs. It offers lenders the tools to comply with the HVCC, but it’s up to the lender to choose them. Appraisers can help, as well as benefit, by using the system properly, and reinforcing to the lender that choosing Mercury Network was a good idea in the first place.

Over the past few months in particular, our Mercury Network customer care team has reported that there are a few key friction points for lenders while using the system. And, they’ve found it to be helpful for appraisers to understand what the lender actually sees and does in Mercury Network.

Key friction points for lenders

1. Appraisers need to complete their Mercury Network profiles — The bottom line is appraisers won’t get orders if they don’t complete their Mercury Network profile.  It's just that simple. To ensure your profile is completely filled out, log in to your XSite, then click User Management at the top. For each user listed, scroll down and you’ll see the Mercury Network Profile section. If anything is in red, fill it out.

Also, when lenders create their criteria for selecting an appraiser in double blind mode, or when creating their own fee panel, often they require E&O insurance coverage where the appraiser specifies the amount of coverage associated with their policy.  (As a refresher, double blind mode is a way for lenders to send assignments to appraisers without ever knowing who the appraiser is. They simply created a set of required search criteria, and let the system randomly pick an appraiser that meets those criteria from either their custom fee panel or from Mercury Network as a back up.) On the flip side, many appraisers enter $1, only to later wonder why even lenders who have added them to their fee panel don’t send any orders along.

One of the most attractive aspects of Mercury Network for lenders is that by virtue of our market share alone, they’re virtually guaranteed the coverage they desire. However, when appraisers they need aren’t available because they don’t have a complete profile, a needless friction point arises.

2. Appraisers need to send status using the Mercury Network system — The irony here is that appraisers have become accustomed to sending automated status messages from within WinTOTAL via their XSites. Yet many lenders on Mercury Network report that they’re really struggling to get the appraisers they’re using to update status through the Mercury Network system, or at all. For appraisers using WinTOTAL and/or XSites, this is simple to update and have sent automatically.

3. Appraisers need to deliver reports through Mercury Network — Old habits die hard, but appraisers are going to have to deliver reports the same way they received the order – through Mercury Network. If you receive an order from Mercury Network, you’ve got to quit sending completed reports back through standard e-mail. If you’re getting orders through Mercury Network, you have an XSite. So, from within WinTOTAL simply click the Deliver Report menu, and choose “Using XSite plugin linked to this report…” It’s that easy, and this friction point will evaporate instantly.

Two common appraiser questions

Perhaps the most frequently asked question our Mercury Network team gets is, “How do I get orders?” The second most asked is, “How do I get potential lender clients to notice me on Mercury Network?” The answer to both is in understanding how lenders use Mercury Network.

1. How do I get potential lender clients to notice me on Mercury Network?  Lenders tell us that when searching for appraisers, they look at the appraiser’s profile to see resumes, sample reports and E&O information attached as a PDF. So, along with the fact that every interaction a potential client has with you is marketing in the truest sense, this is something to pay specific attention to.  First, make sure you have a resume attached to your profile. Make sure it looks professional and presents you, your experience, your designations and specialties in the best possible way.  Also, attaching a sample report is a great way to showcase the quality of your work, clarity of writing, and the attractive look of your reports.

2. How do I get more orders? There are two ways. The first is passive and requires only a complete Mercury Network profile. Lenders can find you when searching for appraisers in an area with whom they can place an order. Or, in double blind mode you may be selected at random based on the lender’s pre-set search criteria. In either case, these orders are simply manna from Heaven.

However, the ideal way is for you to have a lender add you to their custom fee panel, assuming they’re not using double blind mode. By having them add you, you’ll always show up in their list of appraisers, and because they know you, they’ll be able to select you with more regularity. Remember, the HVCC says that the lender must make “prudent safeguards” against appraiser coercion. It’s up to the lender to decide how far they want to take that. Also, it’s important to note that even if a lender does add you to their custom fee panel, without a complete Mercury Network profile, they won’t be able to select you for an assignment. Your name will still show in their list of appraisers, but is highlighted in red indicating you’re not currently available for assignments.

What the lender sees

Start by visiting www.MercuryVMP.com/Appraiser. If you’re an appraiser listed on Mercury Network, it’s worth five minutes of your time. You’ll find a comprehensive FAQ, along with a short video showing step-by-step what a lender does and sees in setting up their account, choosing their appraiser search criteria, creating a fee panel, and placing orders.

Below, you’ll see a graphic outlining the steps a lender would take when setting up a Mercury Network account. All of this and more can be found at www.MercuryVMP.com/Appraiser. You can also join us for a free, live webinar with experts at www.MercuryVMP.com/training and we’ve got free classes for lenders, too. For other questions, send us an e-mail at  Editor@AppraisalPress.com.

What the lender sees when setting up their Mercury Network account

  1. HVCC & Lender Compliance — Double blind mode conceals the identity of all parties in the transaction, and can be toggled on or off, depending on the lender’s preferences.
  2. Appraiser Selection Settings — In double blind mode, Automatic Order Assignment and Order Auto Reassignment are locked “On”.
  3. Mercury Network vs. Custom Fee Panels — In double blind mode, Mercury Network randomly picks appraisers for orders using the lender’s criteria, or can blindly select from their fee panel.
  4. IAS — Intelligent Appraiser Selection — Lenders choose these requirements every time. Clearly, completing your Mercury Network profile matters.
  5. Selection Weighting Factors — Lenders can turn these weighting factors on and off. The higher on the list, the higher the importance.
  6. Fee Panel Management — Lenders can import appraisers to their custom fee panels, invite them to the system, search for them by name, or let Mercury Network pick for them.
  7. UARR — Universal Appraisal Review Rules Lenders can specify a lengthy list of report rules for each of their job types. This kind of technology is why Mercury Network runs circles around AMCs.

Steps lenders take when setting up a Mercury Network account:

  1. Configure Appraiser Selection Settings — Here, the lender will choose to require a valid license, E&O, turn on double blind mode, and set up their selection weighting factors.
  2. Configure their per product requirements — Here the lender will define the instructions, forms and number of photos for each product.
  3. Setup their fee panel — To set up a fee panel, the lender can import a list of appraisers they work with, add approved appraisers to their fee panel, or invite appraisers.
  4. Setup their Universal Appraisal Review Rules (UARR) — Lenders can configure their own rules on a per form basis that the system checks for at delivery time. They can set the “severity” level (Error, Warning or Note), and even create custom text to display when a rule is encountered.
  5. Create Users for the account — Lenders can create user accounts for all their loan officers, configure their notification settings, plus set permissions for what data each can see.

Typical order workflow when using double blind mode:
Note: This assumes the lender has completed the account setup and fee panel.

  1. A loan officer logs into the Mercury Network website to enter a new appraisal order.
  2. They enter the order, including: subject property info, loan info, product (URAR, etc), due date, and property contact info.
  3. Mercury Network selects an appraiser to complete the assignment. In double blind mode, appraisers can be auto-selected from the fee panel.
  4. The lender is shown a confirmation screen with the appraiser’s fee, notes, and accepted payment methods. If the appraiser has fee notes, the lender must check a box confirming they read the notes. This is a great place to spell out your refund policy.
  5. The lender clicks Finish and the order is placed. The lender doesn’t see the appraiser’s name.
  6. The lender is given the option to attach the sales contract to the order by uploading a document or using DirectFax.
  7. The appraiser is alerted to the new order via e-mail and text message. Currently, the appraiser has 24 hours to reply to the order. If there’s no response to the order, it’s automatically assigned to another appraiser.
  8. The appraiser now has the option to accept, conditionally decline, or decline the assignment using the Mercury Network system.
    • The appraiser can accept the order by downloading the order into WinTOTAL Aurora or XSite Order Manager accepting it, logging into the XSite to accept it, or reply to the text message to accept the order.
    • The appraiser can conditionally decline an order and request a different fee or due date. This is done from inside WinTOTAL Aurora, XSite Order Manager, or the XSite. When this happens, the lender can choose to accept or assign the order to another appraiser.
    • If an appraiser declines the order, it’s automatically assigned to another appraiser.
  9. The appraiser schedules the inspection, and sets the order status to Inspection Scheduled, detailing the date and time of the inspection. The lender receives notification.
  10. The appraiser completes the inspection and sets the order status to Inspection Completed. The comments that go with each status are canned, and can’t be written “free-form”. This helps ensure all communications can be tracked and logged, keeping both parties HVCC compliant in the strictest sense.
  11. The lender receives a notification that the inspection is complete.
  12. The appraiser completes the report and delivers it via the Mercury Network plugin (using XSite Order Manager or WinTOTAL Aurora). The plugin runs the Universal Appraisal Review Rules (UARR) against the report prior to delivery. These rules are defined by the lender when setting up their account. The report is then delivered to the lender’s Mercury Network account in PDF and XML format.
  13. The lender receives a “Report Complete” status notification via Mercury Network.
  14. The lender logs into Mercury Network and downloads the PDF. At this point the appraiser’s contact information is unlocked for the lender (since it’s in the report). The lender’s contact information is now available to the appraiser as well.

 

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