Castle & Cooke Mortgage LLC, a retail mortgage banker with nationwide presence, has chosen Valuation Partners, a national real estate valuations provider, to maintain compliance with the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) standards for ordering and delivering appraisals released last year. Since the establishment of HVCC, many companies like Castle & Cooke Mortgage have struggled to find a partner that fulfills HVCC requirements while also meeting internal company standards.Read more

On June 30, 2010, Fannie Mae issued additional guidance on appraisal-related policies, along with a number of other miscellaneous changes to its Selling Guide: Fannie Mae Single Family.¹ Fannie's new policy requirements and clarifications concerning existing lender requirements are being added to a number of appraisal sections of the Selling Guide, with respect to post-purchase reviews of mortgage loan files.Read more

InHouse Inc., a provider of appraisal solutions for banks, lenders and other mortgage originators, announces that eTEC, a leading appraisal management company (AMC), has added a private-labeled version of InHouse’s Connexions technology to its product and service offerings. Connexions will be available through eTEC as “eTEC Powered by Connexions.” It is the first appraisal technology to combine analytics, data mining and workflow on one platform as well as the only appraisal management technology that allows users to manage any combination and number of appraisal vendRead more

a la mode has announced its new Client Relations Department dedicated exclusively to Mercury Network clients. Mercury Network is an online appraisal vendor management platform (VMP), allowing lenders and appraisal management companies (AMCs) to order and manage appraisals, all while remaining in full compliance with the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and Federal Interagency Appraisal Guidelines.Read more

Fannie Mae's announcement SEL-2010-09, June 30, 2010 specifies lender responsibility and liability regarding appraiser selection criteria, regardless if the selection is performed by a third-party appraisal management company (AMC). StreetLinks National Appraisal Services (StreetLinks) has always provided, on every appraisal at no additional cost, an exclusive "Warranty of Appraisal Quality," which provides indemnification to lenders in the event of a verified appraisal related repurchase demand.Read more

Each month, National Mortgage Professional Magazine will focus on one of the industry’s top players in our “Mortgage Professional of the Month” feature. This month, we had a chance to chat with one of our advertisers, Kelley Berkheiser, Branch Development Manager of White Plains, N.Y.-based Guaranteed Home Mortgage Company. Kelley oversees the hiring, licensing, transitioning and marketing of Guaranteed Home Mortgage’s offices in 27 states nationwide.Read more

Lincoln Appraisal & Settlement Services' newest client is United Mortgage Corporation. Committed to their customers, United Mortgage Corporation is a mortgage lender who believes in maintaining long-term relationships by providing high quality service. Established in 1991, United Mortgage Corporation's only business is providing mortgages which gives them the capacity to offer the right loan for their clients' needs. Their professional management team has over 150 years experience between them and they offer products for all types of homes, credit, and income situations.Read more

Branch development is a bit like Indy Car racing—lots of fun and full of twists, turns and challenges. Like Danica Patrick, Michael Andretti or Al Unser Jr., successfully navigating the competitive course and building a viable network of branches requires strong planning, laser-like precision and nerves of steel.Read more

InHouse Inc., a provider of appraisal solutions for banks, lenders and other mortgage originators, has announced the launch of InHouse Connexions, the industry’s first technology for managing any combination of disparate appraisal vendors, whether appraisal management companies (AMCs), appraisal companies and individual appraisers. The number of vendors is unlimited--all can be managed from a single platform.Read more

This month, we had a chance to chat with Steven A. Milner, president and chief executive officer of US Mortgage Corporation d/b/a Mortgage Concepts, a company he founded in 1994. Milner has been a retail loan officer since 1981.

He was born in Los Angeles, and at the age of 12, moved to the East Coast and his family settled in New York. They moved around the state a bit, moving from the Bronx, and then on to Bayside and eventually, out to Long Island, settling in Brentwood.Read more