How Strong is Your AMC?

We don’t have to tell you how tough the market is right now. Many mortgage lenders are getting crushed by the lower volume of loans, resulting in layoffs, mergers and acquisitions, and some lenders shutting their doors. The same thing is happening in the appraisal management industry. Many AMCs are also laying off employees, being sold to larger AMCs, or going bankrupt.

Now is the time for you to look at the financial strength of your AMC partners, to ensure you aren’t left holding the bag or scrambling to find a new resource to provide the appraisals necessary for next week’s closings. Of course, you did your due diligence when you first partnered with your AMCs, but how long ago was that? As you have no doubt experienced firsthand, a lot can change in a year.

It’s incumbent upon you to turn your attention to your portfolio of AMCs in order to protect yourself and your customers. Here are some things to look into:

• What does the last 6 months of your AMC partners’ P&L look like?
• How strong is their balance sheet?
• Will they pay the appraiser on time, even if there’s a delay getting paid by the lender? If not, the appraiser can come to you for payment (even if you have paid the AMC already).
• Are they abiding by their state’s regulations as to how quickly appraisers must be paid? It’s typically 30-45 days from delivering the order. Again, you’re at risk if they’re noncompliant.

Triserv was founded on the principle of paying appraisers quickly. We typically have multiple millions of dollars in the bank so that we can pay appraisers before we’ve collected from lenders. Since our founding, we’ve paid appraisers within two weeks, and we will soon be paying them weekly via ACH.

If your AMC doesn’t also have deep pockets to weather this storm, their lack of financial strength could end up becoming your problem. Savvy lenders will start asking questions now.

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