Clear Capital Launches AURA™ to Automate and Advance Appraisal Review Process
AURA provides access to Clear Capital’s more than 20 years of appraisal data; one-stop data shop empowers lenders to close loans faster
Reno, NV – August 8, 2023 – Clear Capital, the national real estate valuation technology company, today announced the launch of AURA, an automated underwriting risk analyzer that enables loan origination and order management platforms to embed advanced appraisal quality analytics fueled by machine learning and photo AI into their ecosystem to streamline collateral underwriting.
The AURA API solution allows technology partners to provide lenders with an aggregated version of all the data necessary to fully analyze the risk of an appraisal and a detailed summary report in addition to automated underwriting capabilities to ensure compliance with internal credit policies, GSE guidelines, and other investor overlays to close loans faster.
AURA also helps prevent costly repurchase requests through inclusion of UCDP findings, as well as other investor-specific rules and checklists, presented to the reviewer during the initial review.
For order management systems, loan origination systems, and other technology partners, AURA serves as a one-stop shop for all appraisal review data needs and enables greater control over the customer experience by integrating Clear Capital’s data and valuation accuracy scores into their own technology solutions to improve workflow and automate the underwriting process.
“Through AURA, Clear Capital has created a more streamlined and approachable way to review and apply data to the appraisal and mortgage loan underwriting,” said Duane Andrews, CEO of Clear Capital. “AURA is an automated tool that automatically reviews appraisals and delivers accurate property analysis, speeding the process for lenders and helping homebuyers get into their dream homes faster.”
A key differentiator for AURA is ClearPhoto™, a powerful set of AI-driven rules that automates the review of property photos, ensuring they are aligned with the appraisal sketch and data. ClearPhoto significantly reduces time spent identifying any photo-related errors by instantly checking for property photos’ accuracy and quality.
For lenders, AURA provides multiple pathways to access Clear Capital’s data and review tools, minimizes appraisal revision requests, and mitigates risk by ensuring compliance with Independent Appraisal Guide (IAG), Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), federal and state regulations, and legislation.
Additional key features of AURA include:
• AURA PDF — An exportable pdf that contains all the rules, scores, and comparables to help lenders understand the risk of an appraisal and close loans faster.
• ClearCollateral® Scores — Includes Clear Capital’s Valuation Accuracy Score, Value Confidence Score, and Report Quality Score, all of which are purpose-built to determine the quality of the appraisal and flag any under- or overvaluation risk.
• ClearQC® — Access to Clear Capital’s ClearQC rules engine, which includes pre-check rules to scan for completeness and consistency, ClearPhoto AI-driven rules to determine inconsistencies, and the condition rating of a property based on photos.
• Condition Model — AI quickly assesses the property condition using appraisal photos and property data, then compares it to the appraiser’s C-rating to flag any discrepancy.
• Ranked Comparables List — Analyzes data from MLS organizations and ranks the comparables of a report, allowing the reviewer to determine if the sales comparison approach was done correctly.
• Risky Terms — Detect bias within the appraisal with risky terms rules. The appraisal is scanned for problematic language to help detect racial bias and other issues.
“Clear Capital has been creating and reviewing appraisals for more than 20 years, and in developing AURA, we built an API that aggregates our world-class data and provides real answers for our partners and the lenders they work with,” said Leah Campbell, Director of Product Management at Clear Capital. “With AURA, providers will be able to instantly begin selling access to this data, and lenders will be able to significantly reduce their appraisal review effort by automating the collateral underwriting process.”
As a part of its commitment to improving loan production efficiency and enhancing the borrower experience, Clear Capital released its Property Valuation API in June 2022, which enables robust integrations with the company’s valuation products and services. In March, the company launched Universal Data Collection™ to support Fannie Mae’s Value Acceptance + Property Data program, as well as Freddie Mac’s ACE+ PDR solution, empowering lenders with flexibility, immediate national scalability, and coverage.
To learn more about AURA, visit clearcapital.com/aura.
About Clear Capital
Clear Capital is a national real estate valuation technology company with a simple purpose: to build confidence in real estate decisions to strengthen communities and improve lives. Our goal is to provide customers with a complete understanding of every U.S. property through our field valuation services and analytics tools, and improve their workflows with our platform technologies. Our commitment to excellence – wherever it leads, whatever it takes® – is embodied by our team members across our brands (Clear Capital, CubiCasa, and REO Network) and has remained steadfast in this pursuit since our first order in 2001.
Media Contact:
Ross Stevens
Caliber Corporate Advisers for Clear Capital
ross@calibercorporate.com
