Mercury Network’s DataCourier awarded a “Top Innovation of 2011” by Progress In Lending Association

Phoenix, AZ – DataCourier, a service of a la mode’s Mercury Network, was recognized as a Top Innovation of 2011 at an event hosted by the Progress In Lending Association at the Mortgage Bankers Association Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo.  DataCourier makes appraisal delivery fool-proof, compliant, more efficient, and free for all parties involved.

The rapidly changing regulatory landscape and the new GSE requirements significantly impacted the appraisal management and collateral valuation industries in 2011. Without critical innovation, supporting the new MISMO 2.6 appraisal data requirement put in place by UMDP could have choked origination pipelines at a time when this industry can least afford it.

Since a la mode’s appraisal formfilling software is the choice of well over half the appraisers in the country (it’s more popular than all other brands combined), the company already had a presence on the desktop of a majority of the nation’s appraisers.  That presence gave Mercury Network the unique opportunity to innovate a solution that streamlines the delivery of compliant appraisal data and ensures the easiest possible transition for all lenders and AMCs to easily submit to the GSEs new Uniform Collateral Data Platform™ (UCDP).

In September of 2011 when the UAD requirements went into effect, Mercury Network’s DataCourier was in place to enable appraisers and lenders to easily comply.  DataCourier is a “formfiller agnostic” electronic UAD packaging and delivery service that enables appraisers to easily deliver the MISMO XML to any lender or AMC they work for, without any manual file conversions or non-compliant e-mail attachments.

When the appraiser is ready to deliver a final report, DataCourier automatically checks for UAD (Uniform Appraisal Dataset) compliance errors.  If the report passes the extensive rules checking, DataCourier then uploads the PDF and required XML to a secure server for client download.  The client is notified of the report availability via a professional e-mail, and can download the report and view salient property details at the secure website powered by Mercury Network.  The appraiser is then notified when their client has picked up the file.

Links in the delivery portal also enable the client to download and install the optional but highly recommended UAD Reader application as well.  With UAD Reader, the XML file can be examined, printed, reviewed, and managed in native XML format.  UAD Reader includes many client-specific features integrated seamlessly with DataCourier, and is in use on thousands of underwriter and AMC desktops nationwide.

Lenders and AMCs receiving reports via DataCourier can deliver the completed appraisals directly to the GSEs’ UCDP portal without the need to manually save the appraisal files and reupload them to the portal and at no additional charge.  From within DataCourier, all users have seamless access to all of the Mercury Network software, including Mercury’s full suite of compliant appraisal ordering tools, robust appraiser selection, customizable quality control tools, and end-to-end audit trails for satisfying regulatory compliance exams.

DataCourier has been used to deliver more than 1.7 million appraisal reports, averaging over 10,600 appraisal deliveries a day.

Jennifer Miller, President of a la mode’s Mortgage Solutions Division, noted, “Mercury Network is proud to represent innovation in the mortgage technology industry and would like to thank the Progress in Lending judges for this prestigious honor.”

a la mode’s Mercury Network is the nation’s premiere Vendor Management Platform in the appraisal and BPO industries, offering both interfaceless “black box” MercuryDirect services and APIs, as well as “turn key” MercuryManaged Web front ends for use by loan officers and compliance staff.  It’s used in both capacities by a lengthy roster of the nation’s largest lenders and AMCs, as well as by numerous community banks, credit unions, wholesale and correspondent lenders, and mortgage brokers, simplifying full compliance with appraisal independence standards and banking security regulations.  It’s been used by more than 200,000 mortgage professionals since 2002 to automate the full “round trip” of tens of millions of appraisals.  For more information, visit www.mercuryvmp.com.

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About a la mode
Celebrating 26 years as a workflow technology leader, a la mode’s mission-critical desktop, mobile and Web tools are used by more than 100,000 real estate and mortgage lending professionals located in every county of every state in the U.S.  State-of-the-art offices are located in Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City and Washington, D.C.  For more information about the company, visit www.alamode.com.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

Press inquiries, contact:
Molly Dowdy
EVP, Marketing
Mortgage Solutions Division
a la mode, inc.
(405) 359-6587 x 339