Somewhere in our educational career—between memorizing times tables and struggling through advanced trigonometry—we learned one simple truth:  that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. When it comes to FHA lending, the new Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) is kind of like the equivalent of that famous straight line.

After all, if you are an FHA approved mortgagee or designated third party service, it does allow you access straight to the “mother ship” by enabling electronic transmission of reports prior to loan endorsement. In turn, the EAD provides real-time feedback on compliance with FHA appraisal data and report requirements. It also allows for multiple files to be sent simultaneously.

Mortgagees and Appraisal providers such as Nationwide Appraisal Network (NAN) can search for previously submitted appraisals, view reports and even clear “hard stops” when necessary. According to the Federal Housing Administration, this new process will offer process and technology efficiencies that streamline appraisal data transmission, promote quality up-front appraisal data, and reduce post-endorsement appraisal data corrections.

NAN Co-Founder Cari Burris is taking a ‘wait and see’ approach. “In theory it seems as though this new EAD will make the process much more streamlined, and hopefully that will be the case in reality. I’m sure there will be bugs, but that’s why so many FHA lenders and appraisers come to us. Our team is fully trained on the system and will be alerted of any updates and changes. We’ve done all the homework so our customers don’t have to.”

So what are the EAD’s main features? 

According to the official release by the US Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), new Electronic Appraisal Delivery system:

  • Offers process efficiencies inherent in an electronic data submission.
  • Implements industry standard data formats developed and maintained by the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO).
  • Reduces error rates before endorsement by identifying many appraisal data and compliance issues up front.
  • Eliminates most paper-based FHA reviews of appraisals, thus improving turn-times.
  • Offers role-based access and functionality, with specific user and administrator roles that control use.
  • Reduces redundancies by linking data submitted through the portal to data in the FHA Connection (FHAC) system, including auto-population of the FHAC Appraisal Logging screen.

“In other words, it makes everyone’s life a little easier, saves time, eliminates paperwork and established a much more streamlined, efficient process. But it needs an experienced administrator, which is why so many of NAN’s clients are looking to us,” says Co-Founder Joni Pilgrim. Again, according to HUD…the EAD Administrator’s responsibilities include managing the access privileges of other users, such as adding users and managing their access rights to the portal. Other EAD Administrator responsibilities include changing passwords, changing an EAD user’s role and revoking an EAD user’s access. FHA mortgagees must designate at least one person to become an EAD Administrator. “We’re ready and able to act as the administrator for all of our FHA related clients,” adds Pilgrim. “It’s just another one of the many services we provide in this rapidly changing industry.” So while the new EAD process may not be rocket science, or even trigonometry for that matter, it’s one more thing that NAN can take care of. If you’re interested in setting up a free consultation, call NAN today.

About Nationwide Appraisal Network- NAN is an industry leader in appraisal management, providing a unique approach to valuations through customization, innovation, and quality. Visit us at www.nationwide-appraisal.com or call 888.760.8899

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