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September 2020 Dear Lenders, It is the best of times and the worst of times right now. Who could have predicted the phenomenal loan volume we are now experiencing when the COVID virus hit? The greatest application volume in history is a blessing to all of us in the residential mortgage space. Unfortunately, this loan volume can also be a curse for some of us. Let me get to the point...appraisal turn times are getting worse. There are a finite number of appraisers in the industry. Some will not do interior inspections because of COVID, further reducing the pool of available appraisers. Everyone in the industry, whether your company manages the appraisal process internally, utilizes a middleware technology provider, or hires an AMC like Triserv, uses the same appraisers. There is no “magic bullet” that someone can break out and create better turn times by using a “special” group of appraisers. Everyone wants the appraisal completed and delivered as soon as possible. As a result, all appraisers are overwhelmed with appraisal requests. What we, and everyone else, are seeing is that many appraisal orders are routinely being rejected by appraisers because they have more business than they can possibly handle. What used to be a quick assignment process is now taking way too long, as all of us are searching for appraisers who will accept an order in many areas of the country. Unfortunately, we also have the case of many appraisers accepting too much business, promising certain due dates, and then missing those deadlines because they accepted more orders than they could possibly handle. And sometimes they are so overwhelmed they do not respond to update requests on a timely basis, even going quiet for several days at times. This frenetic pace can also affect post-delivery QC revisions, which we have dedicated personnel following up on constantly as well. Finally, we all have to recognize that there are still many areas in the country, including major cities, where it is next to impossible to place an order because of governmental restrictions. All of this combines to create the situation we are ALL in. At Triserv we have added a large number of staff in the last few months to continue to provide the superior customer service that you have grown to expect from us. Believe me when I say we are doing everything possible to try to meet due dates. If we miss a deadline, it is not because we are not aware of the situation. Behind the scenes, a large number of people are constantly working with our appraiser panel to get orders in. Regretfully, despite the work we put into them, sometimes our best, all-out effort fails and some orders are delivered late. I wanted to make you aware of the current situation, provide some background on why it’s happening, and let you know that Triserv is your committed partner that is trying to do everything possible to serve you in a timely fashion. Finally, I would like your help. Can you please share this letter with everyone you can in your organization? I’d like your branch managers, loan officers, and support staff to understand what is going on and what they, unfortunately, are going to have to deal with in this current environment. Please let them know they can reach out to our team at any time to ask for assistance, follow up, or other options if a due date can’t be met by the current appraiser. We cannot promise we can find alternatives for every situation, but we will tell you the honest answer and do everything we can to find a solution for a hard problem. Thank you, Joe Bryant President