RENO, Nev. — March 26, 2020 — Clear Capital, the premier provider of modern real estate valuation and analytics technology solutions, today announced OwnerInsight™, a tool that enables safe social distancing while empowering homeowners to provide timely, high-quality information and images of the interior and exterior of their homes to lenders, appraisers, and appraisal management companies (AMCs) through a secure interface.
OwnerInsight will launch the week of March 30 and is being offered for free in response to the COVID-19 health situation. OwnerInsight works seamlessly on camera-enabled mobile devices with no need for app downloads, and photo metadata is captured to ensure protection against fraud. Clear Capital developed OwnerInsight for the mortgage industry in response to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac’s temporary approval of alternative appraisal products that reduce the frequency of in-person interaction to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
OwnerInsight ensures appraisers have vital information to complete accurate appraisals while also allowing homeowners and appraisers to comply with social distancing guidelines. In response to the COVID-19 health situation, Clear Capital is providing free, live support for OwnerInsight users from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT on weekends.
“OwnerInsight walks homeowners through a logical, easy-to-follow process of taking photos and answering a few questions about the quality, condition, and unique characteristics of their home,” said Duane Andrews, CEO and Co-Founder of Clear Capital. “In order to provide easy accessibility to this helpful and timely technology, we are currently providing OwnerInsight, along with help desk phone support, at no cost to all lenders, appraisers, and AMCs.”
According to Andrews, the goal with OwnerInsight is to promote safe social distancing while helping provide the appraiser with adequate and sufficient information as referenced in question 15 of Fannie Mae’s “COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions” document.
Lenders, AMCs, and tech platforms can build API connections to enable OwnerInsight within their workflows. All that is required to initiate an order with the API is a property address and basic homeowner contact information.
“During the COVID-19 health situation, OwnerInsight provides critical efficiencies for lenders and appraisers to access information that is indispensable to the appraisal process,” said Jeff Allen, Executive Vice President of Valuation Strategy at Clear Capital. “Without OwnerInsight on the market, homeowners and appraisers would face a manual and confusing back-and-forth, trapped in email and phone calls with unclear requirements and no fraud mitigation. We want to ensure the industry remains active and capital remains fluid during these difficult times.”
Additionally, Clear Capital is partnering with Ellie Mae®, the leading loan origination platform provider for the residential mortgage industry, to make OwnerInsight seamlessly available to lenders who are on the Ellie Mae Digital Lending Platform via Encompass Partner Connect.
“During this unprecedented time, the need for innovative technology solutions that keep mortgage processes moving forward while limiting in-person interaction is critical,” said Parvesh Sahi, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Ellie Mae. “Clear Capital’s OwnerInsight will give our lenders the ability to connect homeowners and appraisers while ensuring a compliant and efficient mortgage process to solve both immediate and long-term lender needs.”
Visit GetOwnerInsight.com for more information or to initiate an instant order via the web interface.