This update introduces a new way to track appraisals delivered under the GSEs’ recent changes to appraisal guidelines, plus improvements to notifications, resolutions for issues when uploading documents, and better behavior within the Fee Panel. Read on for the highlights, and check the release notes for complete details.
Track appraisals affected by recent GSE changes
As you know, recent changes to appraisal guidance from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mean that appraisers may now deliver a desktop or exterior appraisal using form 1004. In these cases, the appraiser can add Desktop or Exterior in the Map Reference field of the 1004 appraisal. To help you maintain records about these types of appraisals, we’ll now track the contents of the Map Reference field when the report is delivered using an XML file. This means that you can include data about these appraisals in your reports, with a goal of helping you gather intelligence about workload, turn times, efficiency and more.
This data is available immediately for all affected appraisals going forward. It’s also available retroactively for reports delivered since March 23, 2020 when the new guidelines went into effect. If you’d like to include this new tracking information in your reports, please contact your account manager or our support team to get started right away.
Changes to permissions for users who manage the Fee Panel
In a previous update, the permission to Add/Manage Order Groups was moved to be part of the Manage Fee Panel permissions. However, there was still a permission for Fee Panel – Read Only that, when unchecked, prevented users with the Add/Manage Order Groups permission from managing Order Groups. This was counter intuitive, so we adjusted the way these permissions are applied, making them easier to understand. Now, when a user has the permission to Manage Fee Panel, the Fee Panel - Read Only permission doesn’t need to be checked in order for them to make changes to order groups.