Clear Capital, a national real estate valuation technology company, announced the launch of Universal Data Collection (UDC), the latest in the company’s suite of products designed “to support appraisal modernization.”
UDC supports Fannie Mae’s newly announced Value Acceptance + Property Data program, as well as Freddie Mac’s ACE+ PDR solution, “empowering lenders with immediate national scalability and coverage.”
When a lender receives loan eligibility for agency loan programs that allow for an inspection-based appraisal waiver, UDC “ensures fast and accurate collection and submission that meets both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae data standards.”
With varying standards across the property data collection space, UDC provides flexibility, as eligible loans “can be quickly and easily transferred to the agency with the loan program that meets the borrower’s needs, without the need for an additional product.”
In addition to the flexibility provided, UDC is “available at a fraction of the cost of a traditional appraisal, and completed in half the time.”
Kenon Chen, EVP of Strategy and Growth at Clear Capital, said:
“We have seen seismic shifts across the housing market in the past year, and the appraisal modernization policy work being done by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provides a welcomed change as alternative valuation approaches offer a crucial path forward for lenders and homeowners alike. We have been planning for an industry-wide shift in appraisal backed by policy changes, and we have the data, analytics and technology in place to support this shift and enable widespread adoption of modern appraisal tools industry-wide.”
Powered by Clear Capital’s 20+ years of experience, the UDC property data collection solution provides interchangeability and less complexity “in management of loans, as well as ease of adoption with the availability of order management integrations, website ordering and API ordering.”
UDC is supported by ClearInsight, “an easy-to-use mobile app that enables real estate professionals to quickly generate a complete digital picture of a home.”
The solution also “leverages CubiCasa, a global-reaching real estate software company, to produce digital floor plans that provide Digital Gross Living Area (GLA), aligned with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards.”
Dan McAlister, Director of Product Management for Clear Capital, said:
“We wanted to provide an efficient and cost-effective method for data collection ordering and management that satisfies appraisal modernization policy changes, and delivers more confidence in closing times along with a faster, lower-cost experience for consumers. Simplicity of implementation is at the heart of Universal Data Collection, and we focused on removing adoption and loan management hurdles that have been so common in the traditional appraisal process to create a product that will help facilitate the future of appraisals.”
Since 2019, Clear Capital has “completed more than 250,000 data collections for agency loans that utilized various appraisal modernization programs.”
The company’s panel of more than 4,200 background-checked and trained real estate brokers/agents enables lenders “to provide 97% coverage nationwide with proven performance and quality.”
Clear Capital claims it is “a leading provider of hybrid appraisals for mortgage origination.”