Credit Union Adopts Veros Platform for Valuation Management

""Veros Real Estate Solutions"":http://www.veros.com/, a collateral valuation technology firm based in Santa Ana, California, announced that its innovative valuation management platform, Sapphire, is now in use at ""Citizen's Equity First Credit Union"":https://www.cefcu.com/ (CEFCU).

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Sapphire is a Web-based platform for complete collateral valuation management, offering numerous options designed to deliver ""structured flexibility"" so lenders can configure the system to their organization's needs. The core platform includes comprehensive order, review, and reporting functions, which are delivered in a seamless and user-friendly interface.

Before implementing Sapphire, CEFCU had been struggling with labor-intensive appraisal management processes.

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""Sapphire has made an inefficient part of our business very efficient, and has provided my staff with the ability to more easily track the progress of our appraisal orders,"" said Sara Blackburn, CEFCU's first mortgage operations manager.

""Our goal in creating Sapphire was to deliver the most complete experience while doing away with the complex interfaces that require significant training or lengthy customization cycles,"" said David Rasmussen, SVP of operations at Veros. ""What lenders can learn from CEFCU's experience is that automating their valuation process does not have to be as difficult as they might expect.""

Rasmussen also noted that Sapphire has quickly enabled CEFCU to automate the process from appraisal order to GSE submission via the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP). Lenders of all sizes can realize savings through features eliminating duplicate orders and other typical manual errors, he added.

""The response we've received since the introduction of Sapphire has been overwhelmingly positive,"" he said. ""We're addressing lenders' needs for a stable, efficient and intuitive platform, with the backing of our renowned customer service team.""

Appraisers also noticed the difference with Sapphire's user-friendly technology, Rasmussen said.

""We've received enthusiastic feedback from the appraisal community. They are busy professionals and benefit from savings in time and effort just as lenders do from using the technology.""