Appraisal Firewall offers several automated appraisal review products that bring quality and efficiency to your appraisal process. They can each help reduce the time it takes to do an internal manual review, saving you time and resources. The Appraisal Scorecard review helps verify and rate appraisal quality on a per order basis or independently placed order by quickly analyzing data that would normally be subject to a manual review. Appraisal Report Comparison analyzes any subsequent report uploaded to an order, compares it to a previously upload, and presents any differences in an easy-to-read side by side comparison. Finally, the Completeness Check performs a brief review of the appraisal to make sure important fields are filled out and searches for inconsistent data. 


Content Includes:


Overview of Appraisal Scorecard, Report Comparison, and Completeness Check

Appraisal Firewall offers several tools that provide an automated review of the appraisal report. You can enable all the products together to provide the most thorough review process or pick and choose which products are most beneficial to you and your clients.


  • Appraisal Scorecard - Within Order – Our most thorough automated review tool helps verify and rate appraisal quality on a per order basis by quickly analyzing data that would normally be subject to a manual review. The Appraisal Scorecard is provided through a technology partnership between Appraisal Firewall and Veros and can be enabled on a per-client basis. Pricing for the Appraisal Scorecard can also be set up on a per-client basis and is separate from the price of the appraisal. Scorecard Within an Order can be applied to manually or automatically run on any full appraisal order. 


  • Appraisal Scorecard - Standalone – Our most thorough automated review tool helps verify and rate appraisal quality on a per order basis by quickly analyzing data that would normally be subject to a manual review. The Appraisal Scorecard is provided through a technology partnership between Appraisal Firewall and Veros and can be enabled on a per-client basis. Pricing for the Appraisal Scorecard can also be set up on a per-client basis and is separate from the price of the appraisal. Standalone Scorecards can be run independently of a full appraisal order. The XML version of the appraisal report or a first-generation version of the appraisal report PDF must be provided at the time of order placement.


  • Appraisal Report Comparison – The Appraisal Report Comparison analyzes any subsequent report uploaded to an order, compares it to a previous upload, and presents any differences in an easy-to-read side by side comparison. Pricing for the Appraisal Report Comparison can be setup on a per client basis and is separate from the price of the appraisal.


  • Completeness Check – Our free automated review tool offers a quick review of the appraisal to make sure important fields on the appraisal are completed/not blank. This helps the appraiser identify and address any inconsistent data prior to the report being sent to the lender. For a complete list of all point the Completeness Check combs through, refer to the list HERE. 


Benefits to using an automated appraisal review include:

  • Less time and cost to underwrite appraisals
  • Audit-proof protection against non-compliance
  • Simple actionable reports
  • Empower appraisers to do more pre-screening prior to submission
  • Appraisal report scoring (Appraisal Scorecard only) prompts additional due diligence when warranted.


Enabling Manager Account for Appraisal Scorecard and Appraisal Report Comparison

The Appraisal Scorecard and Appraisal Report Comparison can both be enabled within your manager account settings. Before you enable either product, please read and sign the Transaction Fee Agreement Addendum. Once we receive your signed copy of the agreement, you can set up these tools for your clients by following the below instructions.


1.  Login to your manager account.

2. Click on the Settings/Gear icon at top left to access your company Settings.

3. Find the Appraisal Order Add-Ons section.



4. In the Paid By field, the fee will always be paid by the Originator – your client. You can run a management report to determine the amounts each client should be billed, when applicable.


5. You can optionally enter a default price that you would like to charge your clients. Refer to the Transaction Fee Agreement Addendum for wholesale pricing to identify your retail price point. This is your Default Price which can be overridden on a per client basis.


6. Save your changes.


Once your changes are saved, you can begin offering the automated review features to your clients. Please note that after enabling these features within your manager account, you must enable them on a per lender basis to make them available to your clients.


Enabling a Client

After you enable either or both the Appraisal Scorecard and Appraisal Report Comparison tools within your manager settings, you will need to enable it on a per lender basis to make it available to your clients.


1. While logged in as a manager user, click the Relationships option at left.


2. When the Relationships screen opens, scroll to find a lender you want to enable an automated review for and click the arrow at right.



3. When the details open for this lender, click the Edit Lender Settings button.



4. On the Edit Lender Settings screen, click the Automated Appraisal Reviews arrow.



5. On the Automated Appraisal Reviews screen, you can enable the Appraisal Scorecard - Within Order, Appraisal Scorecard - Standalone, Appraisal Report Comparison, or any combination of the automated review types, and set a lender-specific price.



6. If you want to charge this client a different price than your default price, check the Override Default Pricing checkbox, and enter a price that this lender will be charged per transaction. The default pricing that you have setup on your Manager Profile will be shown next to Default Pricing. Use this as a reference point when adjusting the cost for a specific lender.



7. Save your changes.


This lender is now enabled for the automated review products you selected. You or your lender can now turn the feature on for whatever divisions they choose. Lenders can choose if the Appraisal Scorecard should run on every delivered appraisal or run it on a case-by-case basis. The Appraisal Report Comparison will automatically run on any order where the appraiser delivers a subsequent report (due to adjustments, added comps, etc.).


Enabling a Division

Once you enable automated reviews in your manager account settings, and then enable an automated review for a client, you and your lenders can turn it on for whatever divisions you choose.


To enable an automated review for a specific division, go to your Relationships, scroll to find a lender, click the arrow along the right, then select Manage Divisions.



Expand the information for a division by clicking the arrow along the right and then click Edit Settings.



Expand the Billing/Services section by clicking the arrow in that section.



Within the Billing/Services menu, scroll to find the Automated Appraisal Reviews section. You and your lenders can mark any features that you would like to have enabled for this division. Please note: as the Manager, you will need to enable the automated review products at the lender level for your clients so they can be enabled at the division level. 



Once the Automated Appraisal Reviews feature is selected, you will be presented with the option to enable the Appraisal Completeness Check, Appraisal Report Comparison, Appraisal Scorecard - Within Order, and Appraisal Scorecard - Standalone. If you select Appraisal Scorecard - Within Order, you can optionally choose Give Access to Managed Users and Auto Submit.


  • Give Access to Managed Users – Allow lender supervisors and originators to submit reports for the auto review on a per order basis. Enabling this feature gives all users the Send for Review button on all applicable orders. By default, only lender administrators have the Send for Review button on their orders.


  • Auto Submit – Enable this feature if every eligible report (1004, 1004C, 1025, 1073, 1075, 2055) should automatically be sent through the full automated review when provided by the appraiser.


Enabling Appraisal Scorecard - Standalone allows for an independently placed Scorecard order through the New Order slide-out menu. Upload the XML format of the appraisal report or first-generation PDF within the Order section on the New Order screen for a successful submission. Results are returned within moments. Please note 1004Ds are not eligible forms to submit for Scorecard.


The cost charged (if any) to the selected client for using either the Appraisal Report Comparison and the Appraisal Scorecard is displayed when you or your clients enable the feature. This is a per submission cost and is billable to your client's office. Appraisal reports that are submitted multiple times for review incur a fee every time they are submitted. Please consider these ramifications prior to providing this feature to managed users or auto submitting every report.


Once enabled, the Appraisal Scorecard and Appraisal Report Comparison can run on XML files for 1004, 1004C, 1025, 1073, 1075, and 2055 appraisal products.


Appraisal Scorecard

With the costs of compliance increasing your origination costs, automating processes while maintaining accuracy is more important than ever. The Appraisal Scorecard is perfectly suited to the task, with the fully automated capacity to review appraisals, provide actionable data, recommend next steps to complete the review process, and demonstrate proper due diligence.


Standalone Scorecard Submission

Utilizing the Standalone Scorecard submission allows you to place a single Scorecard order, without the need to place an entire appraisal order. When you enable Allow Standalone Ordering, select the Scorecard product from the slide-out New Order menu.



The New Order screen will designate all required fields with an asterisk (*). Once you get to the Order section, you will need to provide the XML version of the appraisal report or a first-generation PDF version of the appraisal report.



Once you upload the file, select the Order button. Upon placement, you will be directed to the Communications Log. It can take several minutes for the Scorecard output to post to the Communications Log, however once the output is available you can click on the output directly on the log, or find the output in the Documents tab.


Manually Submitting Orders for the Appraisal Scorecard

If you or your lender choose to manually submit an order to the Appraisal Scorecard, you can open the order to submit and in the order menu along the right, click Run Scorecard. In the Run Scorecard tab that appears, users are asked to confirm that the order should be sent for review. Click the Run Scorecard Now button to submit the report for the review process.



Please note: If you use the Send for Auto Review button prior to the order completion, the order will be flagged as a review order and will automatically be submitted for the automated review once the appraiser delivers the report.


Retrieving Results for the Appraisal Scorecard

Once an order is submitted for the Appraisal Scorecard, it takes a few minutes for the review to complete. To view the results of the automated review, open the Communications tab or Documents tab of the order and click the Appraisal Scorecard output.



Completeness Check

When the Appraisal Completeness Check is enabled, the check automatically runs on every order uploaded to the system and analyzes multiple data points on the report. It immediately lets the appraiser know if there are any inconsistencies or missing data so they can address any issues prior to it being delivered to the lender.


With the Completeness Check, appraisers upload their report and immediately get the results. The results are listed for them, and they can choose to cancel out of the delivery window and address the issues prior to uploading the report, or they can provide an explanation for the discrepancies and continue to provide the report as is.


Whenever the Completeness Check flags an issue and the appraiser chooses to override it, a PDF copy of the discrepancies is made available to all parties within the Communications tab and Documents tab, along with the appraiser’s explanation.


If the appraiser chooses to adjust the report, the Completeness Check will run again when the appraiser uploads the modified report. If no discrepancies are found, the appraiser can upload the report as normal, and no Completeness Check results will be displayed. Results are only displayed when an appraiser overrides the issues found by the Completeness Check.


The Completeness Check is offered free of charge to all Appraisal Firewall users.



Appraisal Report Comparison

This feature allows lenders to take a previously delivered appraisal report, and a more recently- delivered appraisal report, and scan each side-by-side automatically for differences. Any alterations that are detected between the two reports are highlighted and displayed in an easy-to-read PDF. In the side-by-side comparison of reports, any adjustments made between an appraiser’s prior delivery and a subsequent delivery are detected and highlighted line by line to clearly indicate what on the report has changed.


This tool eliminates the manual work of identifying disparities between two files by automatically tracking and comparing the two reports to ensure proper modifications were made. This can save lenders, reviewers, and underwriters hours of reviewing appraisals whenever an appraiser delivers a modified report. Additionally, it provides greater protection to lenders and speeds up the quality control process.


After the Appraisal Report Comparison has been enabled within your manager account and at the lender level, it can be enabled on a per division basis. Under the Billing/Services section of a division, scroll to the Automated Appraisal Reviews section and select the new Appraisal Report Comparison checkbox, then Save the change.



Once enabled for a division, whenever a subsequent report is uploaded to an order, the comparison report will automatically run and generate a PDF file that will be available in the communications log. The PDF shows the two most recent appraisal uploads side by side and when you scroll through, any line items that have been modified will be highlighted and reveal which data differs between the reports.



Important Reminders:

  • Charges are incurred every time a report is submitted to the Appraisal Scorecard, even if the Appraisal Scorecard is generated more than once on an order.
  • Charges are incurred every time an Appraisal Report Comparison is generated.
  • There are NO charges incurred for using the Completeness Check
  • Your clients can request an order be submitted for the Appraisal Scorecard even before the appraiser has delivered the report. If you or your lenders flag an order for the Appraisal Scorecard order prior to its completion, it will automatically submit once the report is made available by the appraiser.
  • The Appraisal Scorecard, Appraisal Report Comparison, and the Completeness Check can run on XML files for 1004, 1004C, 1025, 1073, 1075, and 2055 appraisal orders.