Community Bank, N.A. is a relationship-driven financial institution committed to delivering efficient mortgage operations across its branch network. With a diverse appraisal workflow involving both AMCs and individual appraisers, the team required a modern solution to bring structure, transparency, and automation to their appraisal operations.
Before partnering with ValueLink, Community Bank managed its appraisal operations through a mix of manual steps and disconnected systems, a process that required constant coordination between appraisers, AMCs, and internal teams. With appraisal volume increasing and compliance requirements tightening, these fragmented workflows began creating visible friction across the lending process.
The team faced growing challenges around maintaining data accuracy, managing vendor performance, and ensuring timely report delivery to underwriting. What once worked at a smaller scale had become inefficient, inconsistent, and difficult to monitor, especially without a centralized system tying everything together.
Key pain points include:
appraisal reports into Encompass
assignment logic (manual round-robin processes)
or audit trail
and invoicing processes
and reporting
Community Bank partnered with ValueLink Software to modernize and automate its appraisal operations, eliminating manual touchpoints and creating a single, Encompass-connected workflow for every order. Through ValueLink’s powerful SmartSelect assignment logic, deep ICE Encompass integration, and comprehensive QC and reporting tools, the CBNA team now operates with efficiency, control, and complete visibility across the lending pipeline.
ValueLink’s SmartSelect engine enabled CBNA to configure intelligent, rule-based assignment logic that mirrors how their team already works, taking into account appraiser location, coverage area, licensing, workload, and performance metrics.
This eliminated manual round-robin decisions and ensured that every order goes to the best-fit appraiser or AMC automatically. The result: faster turn times, fewer assignment errors, and a consistent, auditable process across all branches.
ValueLink’s native integration with ICE Mortgage Technology’s Encompass platform allows Community Bank to manage its entire appraisal process within one system. From order creation and inspection scheduling to report delivery and payment tracking, every status, document, and data field syncs in real time with the loan file in Encompass.
This bi-directional connection removed the need for manual uploads, reduced data entry errors, and provided full visibility for both processing and underwriting teams.
ValueLink helped CBNA digitize and streamline its vendor management framework, onboarding more than 100 existing appraisers directly into the system. Licensing and credential checks are now automated, vendor availability can be scheduled within the system, and renewal reminders ensure full compliance.
This capability gave CBNA confidence in vendor reliability and created a scalable foundation for future growth.
To accommodate the bank’s blended vendor model, working with both individual appraisers and AMCs, ValueLink implemented custom fee tables configurable by appraiser, county, property type, and form.
These automated fee rules not only simplified invoicing but also ensured pricing consistency, compliance with local regulations, and better cost transparency for internal teams.
The CrossCheck QC module introduced proactive quality assurance into CBNA’s process. Each appraisal report now undergoes automated validation before final submission, running over 1,000 checks for data integrity, completeness, and comparables accuracy.
This helped reduce revision cycles, improved underwriter confidence, and standardized report quality across the vendor network.
All communications from order notes and revision requests to vendor updates are automatically logged within ValueLink.
This centralization created a clear audit trail for every transaction, helping CBNA maintain transparency and compliance while cutting down on back-and-forth emails.
Team members can now access order histories instantly, improving collaboration between appraisal desk, processing, and underwriting teams.
ValueLink’s built-in dashboards provide CBNA with a real-time view of performance across appraisers, branches, and order types.
With over 70 standard reports and a “build-your-own” analytics option, teams can now monitor SLA adherence, vendor scores, and turn times, enabling data-driven decision-making and continuous process optimization.
Kristin Carpenter - Mortgage Processing Assistant Manager,
Community Bank NA
Since going live with ValueLink:
CBNA has eliminated several manual touchpoints in the appraisal workflow
Processing and underwriting teams now receive clean, QC’d reports directly being sent to Encompass through ValueLink’s integration.
Order assignments have become more structured and trackable
Vendor oversight and reporting capabilities have drastically improved
Faster onboarding and smoother vendor management with built-in appraiser profiles and agreements
ValueLink Software provides solutions for Lenders, AMCs, and Appraisers designed to automate the valuation process - creating efficiency, reducing errors, and ensuring regulatory compliance. ValueLink plays an integral part in the digital mortgage process through seamless integrations with Lenders’ origination systems and by leveraging key technologies, including automation, AI, analytics, and mobile technology. These solutions have enabled ValueLink Software customers to achieve a high level of operational excellence and process a record number of transactions in 2020.
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