Lender and appraisal management companies and other property data collection companies can now use Black Knight‘s Scout mobile property inspection as part of the value acceptance plus property data process.

With the cloud-based Scout app, users can easily collect detailed interior and exterior property data using a mobile device, Black Knight said Tuesday. 

“By using Scout, lenders experience significant efficiencies and cost savings as well as greater data transparency, minimize the potential for bias and realize faster origination turn times,” Ben Graboske, president, Black Knight data & analytics, said in a statement. 

The government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) approved six vendors following the roll-out of its new valuation initiative. The list includes some of the biggest names in the mortgage tech space —  Solidifi, Class Valuation, Clear Capital, Mueller Services, Inc., Accurate Group and Black Knight‘s Collateral Analytics LLC.

Through built-in rules, users can input specific home characteristics and take photos based on Fannie Mae‘s proprietary data requirements, the company noted. GPS tracking and other measures to validate the photos and data are collected at the borrower’s property. 

Fannie Mae‘s update of its Selling Guide, which occurred earlier this month and includes more options for property valuations, has stirred controversy. 

Key to the new options are Fannie Mae’s Property Data API, by which Fannie “has established a property data standard and API to collect data and images consistently,” the GSE said. According to Fannie, the process encourages the use of emerging technologies to capture property information, imagery and floor plans.

It’s a welcome move for mortgage tech firms in terms of modernization in the industry.

“This is a standardized data collection done at the property, which brings objective, transparent data into the whole process,” Kenon Chen, executive vice president of strategy and growth at Clear Capital, said. “I think that not only drives this program, but paves the way for a better appraisal process when an appraisal is needed.”

Appraisers, however, have voiced a desire to shift as much appraisal work away from Fannie Mae as possible.

“I encourage all appraisers to take a very serious examination of their current business model,” Washington-based appraiser Dave Towne wrote on AppraisersBlog.com. “If the Fannie Mae trend continues, you won’t have any of that business in the future anyway.”

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