We have a board approved appraiser list which is updated annually. It has both the name of approved appraisers and the agency (ie: Sally Smith - Appraisal Services of Honolulu). This has worked out fine without any problem for many years - lenders knew who they had to pick from.

However... The mortgage lending crew in the past months has decided to outsource our appraisals to a third party (Mercury), who takes care of the ordering, checklists, etc - and on loan reviews now we are seeing appraisals performed by appraisers that are not on the list.

Anybody else use a third party for appraisals? Do you still maintain an approved appraiser list? If you use a list, do you "approve" the individual appraisers, or just the agency? (ie: If the appraisal had Jane Anderson from Appraisal Services of Honolulu doing it, would that be acceptable?)

Well, since the AMC is a vendor, it might be determinate on your vendor due diligence and your review of how their appraisers are vetted and the quality control checks you do during your normal annual vendor due diligence reviews. None the less, if your board approved appraisal policy does not address this relationship, I am not sure how you remain in compliance with the appraisal guidelines.

See, I guess that's where I'm trying to figure out the best way to be in compliance. Can we get rid of the list? Or just add verbiage to the policy about the AMC being used, have the board approve it, and therefore the appraisers the AMC selects are then approved?

The AMC itself was vetted, and so far every appraisal has met standards. It's just that the appraisals might not be on our "approved appraiser" list.