Overview
This article introduces the Appraisals tab in Appraisal Scope and explains how AMC staff and admin users search for orders and open order records. It also provides a high-level walkthrough of the Appraisals subtabs (including All, Pending, Completed, Cancelled, On Hold, Super Search, AVM, and RCR) and what each area is used for.
Outcome (2 sentences)
Introduction to the Appraisals tab
The Appraisals page is accessible from the main tab menu at the top of the landing page. Users are able to search for, access, edit details, and perform tasks related to the orders that an AMC is managing from the Appraisals page.
Order details and available platform functionality related to orders are housed in order records. These records are organized by status, and they’re accessible from the menu of tabs found in the upper-left corner of the Appraisals page. Information on accessing order records and how orders are managed through these profiles is covered in the sections that follow.
Note: The Appraisals page gives access to order records for all orders that an AMC has ever managed from their platform-version. Staff users managing active orders may find it more within the flow of their responsibilities to access order records from the Dashboard Order Queues.
Appraisals tab controls
Search functionality and order record access
Admin users can access order records by using the Search panel on the left side of each page. If an AMC staff user clicks Search beneath the panel without entering information into any of the search fields, a list containing all order records available from that tab will appear. The length of the list returned can be controlled by entering information into individual search fields. Clicking Clear will clear all fields in the Search panel and return them to their default settings.
Note: Super Search functionality is also available to locate orders, but this functionality is accessible from its own tab, and a description of the features that it makes available will be covered in a separate Super Search section.
staff users can also click Advanced Search in the Search panels associated with the first five tabs in the tab menu. This action will make options available for searching by a specific order date or appraiser, or by client company, workflow status, or state.
Each entry in a list of search results represents an order record. Clicking on an individual entry will open that order record on the right side of the page.
Appraisals subtab menu
All, Pending, Completed, Cancelled, and On Hold
Every order record in an AMC’s Appraisal Scope platform-version, with the exception of those accessible under the AVM and RCR tabs, will be accessible from the All tab. If a user is unclear as to which status an order is in at a given time, they can use the Search panel under the All tab to find the record they’re looking for. The number that appears in this tab reflects all order records available on an AMC’s platform-version, excluding those associated with AVM and RCR orders.
The Pending, Completed, Cancelled, and On Hold tabs divide these order records up by order status. The list of order records accessible from any of these tabs will be limited to records that reflect the given status. A user can use the Search panel under any of these tabs to further refine the list of order records available.
Super Search
The Super Search tab can be used to apply a variety of search criteria to produce lists of order records. In addition to the expanded number of fields available for search by individual order details in relation to the Search panels from other tabs, there are also drop-downs and text boxes that can be used in combination to return lists meeting a variety of needs. A list will be returned at the bottom of the Super Search page by clicking Search, and all fields can be cleared by clicking Clear.
This Super Search functionality essentially provides staff users the ability to run a report on the fly. Each entry in a list that’s returned from a Super Search, as well as being clickable and providing access to an order record, provides several pertinent details related to an order. These order lists can be exported as an Excel table by clicking Export, just above and to the right-hand side of the list. Certain Super Search fields can also be rendered inactive or be subsequently reactivated by clicking the Configure icon to the right of Export and dragging and dropping individual elements from the Inactive and Active columns of the Configure Super Search Fields dialog box.
AVM
The AVM tab gives staff users access to automated valuation model (AVM) orders. A user will use the Search pane under this tab to return a list of AVM order records.
RCR
The RCR tab gives staff users access to RealCondition Report (RCR) orders. A user will use the Search pane under this tab to return a list of RCR order records.
Order record overview
An order record is established when an order is placed. Order records contain all of the pertinent details for any order that Appraisal Scope handles for an AMC. These details go beyond just the geographical and ordering-party information to include a history of the actions taken toward managing the order over its lifetime, from assignment to completion.
These records also provide the controls that allow AMC staff users to manage orders from the time they are initiated until they are fulfilled. Each order record offers a main tab menu and a secondary submenu that gives a staff user access to options for obtaining detailed information or performing essential tasks related to orders. Each option available from an order record is described in detail in the Order Record Controls section.
Order record controls
Main tab menu
Order Details
When a staff user clicks on an entry for an order, whether from a Dashboard View or Order list under the Appraisals tab, the profile will open onto the Order Details page by default. The page is divided into three sections—General Information, Property Information, and Inspection Contacts and Access Information—that provide information related to many aspects of an order.
Aside from the presence of facts related to the order, the Order Details page also offers staff users clickable links and icons that provide further details or refinement options across several categories of information. The links and icons that provide refinement options are discussed further in the Clickable controls section.
Clickable controls
Edit
Among the clickable links available throughout the Order Details page, edit or Edit appears in several instances. A staff user clicking these links will be directed to controls allowing them to make a change to the value that appears next to it on the Order Details page.
General Information section links
Paid Status
A link will appear next to the Paid Status field that will read as the payment status that an order carries at the time. For any order not showing a status Paid, clicking on this link opens the Secure Online Appraisal Payment panel, which displays information about the payment that’s due and payment options.
For orders showing a status of Paid, there are two icons that will potentially appear. The Pencil and Notepad icon will appear in all cases, and when clicked, this icon gives staff users the option to rebill the client company. The Clipboard icon will appear along with the Pencil and Notepad icon in cases where payment was made by credit card. When clicked, the Clipboard icon will open the Billing Information dialog box, which will display transaction information for that order.
Payment History
When a user clicks View Transaction History in the Payment History field, the Transaction History dialog box opens. In a case where an order displays a status of Paid, the user will see an entry for each transaction that’s been carried out for an order. Among the transaction details that are visible in each entry are the date and time of transaction and the transaction type.
Users can also input information for manual transactions, initiate refunds, and send receipts from the Transaction History dialog box by clicking Manual Entry, Refund, or Receipt.
Appraiser Payment History
When a user clicks View Transaction History in the Appraiser Payment History field, the Transaction History dialog box opens. In a case where an appraiser has been paid via ACH, the user will see information for each payment made. Among the transaction details that are visible in each entry are the date and time of transaction and the transaction type.
Users can also input information for manual transactions, initiate refunds, and send receipts from the Transaction History dialog box by clicking Manual Entry, Refund, or Receipt.
Appraiser Paid Status
The Appraiser Paid Status field will display a link that reads as Paid or Unpaid, depending on the status. Clicking on these links will return the user to the top of the Order Details page to view the Appraisal Scope main tab menu. This emphasizes the fact that any adjustments to the Appraiser Paid Status must be made via the Accounting tab.
Process Status
A link will appear next to the Process Status field that will reflect the stage of the process workflow that an order is in at the time. Clicking on this link opens the Change Status drop-down, which a user can click to choose a different status to assign to the order.
Note: In a case where an order is in an On Hold status, clicking View will open the Comment dialog box, where a user can read the reason for an order being On Hold.
Staff User
A link will appear next to the Staff User field that will read either as the name of the AMC staff user who is assigned the order, or N/A in a case where a staff user hasn’t been assigned to the order yet. In either case, clicking on the link opens a drop-down box that, when clicked, allows a user to choose from the list a staff user to manually assign to the order.
The Clipboard icon also appears next to the Staff User field. Clicking this icon opens the Admin Rule Profile Assignment Logs dialog box. This log tracks each instance of a change made to the staff user assigned to an order. The dialog box will show the date and time of a change, whether a change event was to assign or remove a staff user, the staff user removed or assigned, and either the Rule Profile under which a user was assigned or Manual, in the case of a manual assignment.
Reviewer
A link will appear next to the Reviewer field that will read either as the name of the Reviewer who is assigned the order, or N/A in a case where a Reviewer hasn’t been assigned to the order yet. In either case, clicking on the link opens a drop-down box that, when clicked, allows a user to choose from the list a Reviewer to assign to the order.
Ordered For
The Ordered For field will reflect the client user for whom an order was placed. The link that appears next to the Ordered For field will read as the name of this user. Clicking on this link will open the Client User Profile page associated with the user.
Note: An email link will also appear in the Ordered For information. This link, when clicked, will take a staff user to an open email message dialog box where the To line will be prefilled with the Ordered For client user’s email address.
Submitted By
The Submitted By field will reflect the Appraisal Scope user that submitted an order. The link that appears next to the Submitted By field will read as the name of this user. Clicking on this link will open the User Profile page associated with the user.
Note: An email link will also appear in the Submitted By information. This link, when clicked, will take a staff user to an open email message dialog box where the To line will be prefilled with the Submitted By user’s email address
Unaccepted Reminder
The Unaccepted Reminder field will only be visible on the Order Details page if it has been enabled at the global level from Settings > Reminders > Unaccepted Reminder. When the Unaccepted Reminder setting is activated, a link will appear next to the Unaccepted Reminder field that will reflect the time increment that an AMC has established in their global-level settings. When a staff user clicks on the link, a text box will drop down, allowing the user to change the time increment for the specific order associated with the order record.
Statistics
When a staff user clicks on the Scorecard icon, which appears next to the Statistics field, the Scorecard dialog box opens. This dialog box will display a range of metrics that provide a high-level view of the appraiser’s previous work with the platform.
Assigned To
A link will appear next to the Assigned To field that will read as the name of the appraiser who is assigned the order. When a staff user clicks the link, the appraiser’s vendor user profile will open.
There is also an Identification Card icon visible to the right of the appraiser’s name. When a staff user points at the card, a dialog box containing the appraiser’s contact details and Vendor Status will open.
Property Information section icons
Along with the locational details specific to a property, the Property Information section also offers some control functionality through clickable icons. The View Map and Google icons appear next to the Property Information header on the Order Details page.
Clicking the View Map icon opens a map viewer that displays a pin where the subject property is located. The map viewer offers options to interface with the map to view the property location in multiple ways.
Clicking the Google icon opens Google Maps. A pin will be visible where the subject property is located.
Other icons in Property Information section
An Alert icon will appear next to the property address detailed in the Address 1 field. Clicking this icon will validate the address.
The RUCC 2013 field refers to Rural-Urban Continuum Codes. This field will only be visible if it has been enabled at the global level from Settings > Options > Order Details > Display Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC) on orders. If this field is enabled, a tooltip will appear to the right of the continuum code. When a user moves their cursor over the tooltip, a box that details what the continuum code means and that shows population statistics will appear.
Inspection Contacts and Access Information section links
Instructions
The View Instructions and Resend Instructions links appear next to the Instructions field. When a staff user clicks View Instructions, the Instructions dialog box will open. The staff user can view from this box the instruction set that has gone out to the appraiser, as well as any instruction documents that have been attached. The user will also be able to print the instruction set by clicking Print in the upper right-hand corner of the dialog box.
A staff user can also direct Appraisal Scope to resend the instructions to the assigned appraiser by clicking Resend Instructions.
Staff Notes
The Staff Notes field is only visible to AMC staff users and not to Client or vendor users. This field provides a good place for staff users to convey internal notes that can be referenced at any time.
A Pencil and Notepad icon appears next to the Staff Notes field. When a staff user clicks this icon, a text box opens, allowing the user to type notes pertaining to the order. The user will click Save to make these notes visible in the order record. Notes that have been composed and saved will stay with the order record and will be visible beneath the Staff Notes field.
Note: This breakdown of the clickable controls available on the Order Details page reflects fields that are commonly visible to AMC staff users. Other fields with links to further functionality are available and can be made visible to staff users from the global level settings.
Updates
The Updates page allows an AMC staff user to make manual updates to the status of an order and/or provide notifications that will also appear as updates to admin users, client users, and/or vendor users, depending on the way that certain settings have been configured.
To manually change a status, a user will click the Change Status drop-down box and then click on the status that the order should reflect. Depending on the status change that’s selected, an admin user can choose to have their platform-version update the client user and/or vendor user affiliated with the order by selecting the Client and/or Appraiser check boxes. These users will then see the updated status reflected in their respective Dashboard Order Queues accessible from their platform-interfaces, and they will receive an email notification.
Also depending on the status that an order is in, an admin user may find that they can edit aspects of the order that are associated with that status. For instance, if an order shows a status of Inspection Scheduled, an admin user can click Edit to the right of the Change Status drop-down box and change the dates and times of that inspection.
Note: When manually updating a status to Inspection Scheduled, the Inspection Date and Completion Date fields will both need to be filled out. The Completion Date in this scenario will be the estimated date of completion. If an Inspection Scheduled date needs to be edited to reflect a change of schedule, the Completion Date will also need to be edited.
Additional Notifications
Admin users can provide notifications to Client and vendor users for any specific order from the Updates page. The user will click on the Additional Notifications drop-down box to see the notifications that are available to them. When the user clicks on a notification option, the pre-written text of that notification message will appear in the Message text box. An admin user can then change the text of the message in the text box if necessary, and when they are ready to post the notification, they will click update.
Assuming that the admin user has the Last Update column configured as active in their Dashboard views, the additional notification will be reflected—associated with the order to which the notification pertains—in the Last Update columns of the admin user’s Dashboard Order Queues for All Open orders and for orders that match the status that the subject order is in at the time.
Admin users will also have the option of making these notifications visible to the client user associated with the order by leaving the Notify Client check box filled. This check box, located to the right of the update button, is selected by default, and so if a user is posting a notification that they don’t want the client user to see, they will need to clear the check box.
The pre-written notification options that are available for an admin user to choose from the Additional Notifications drop-down list are created on the Notification page under the Settings tab. It’s here that an AMC will choose whether or not the notification is to be visible to the appraiser.
Documents
AMCs will find the appraisal documents that vendor users upload to their platform-version under the Documents tab. This page provides functionality for staff users to upload new appraisal and additional documents, view and download the uploaded appraisal documents, and view and download the uploaded additional documents.
Users will find the Appraisal Documents header on the left side of the page and the Additional Documents header on the right. As documents are uploaded, they will be separated into lists under the header appropriate to the document type.
Uploading documents
To upload an appraisal document to the Documents page, AMC staff users will click Upload Appraisal, choose a file from their local directory, and click Open.
To upload an additional document, a user will click Upload, choose a file from their local directory, and click Open. A dialog box will then open, and the user will click the Document Type drop-down box. A user will select a document type from the drop-down list, or they will select Other. If they select Other, they will type the document type in the Input Label text box. After the document type is established, they will click Submit.
Note: PDF and XML are the default file formats for appraisal documents, as is indicated in parentheses on the platform-interface under Upload Appraisal. However, if an AMC’s platform-version is configured for other file types, an appraiser will be able to upload these other file types. For AMCs wishing to make other file types available for appraisal documents, contact the Appraisal Scope customer support team.
Drag-and-drop functionality
Appraisal Scope also offers drag-and-drop functionality for uploading additional documents. The drag-and-drop feature is used in the following way.
Go to the Documents page of an order record.
Select the files that you want to upload from your local directory, and drag them to the Documents page.
A light red box will appear.
Continue dragging the documents over to the box, and when the box changes to a darker shade of red, drop the documents.
When the Please select the type of document you’re uploading dialog box opens, click the Document Type drop-down box associated with the first File Name.
Select the document type from the drop-down list, or select Other. If you select Other, add a document type in the Input Label text box.
Repeat this step for all files that you’re uploading, and when you’re finished, click Submit.
Note: Drag-and-drop functionality is only available for uploading additional documents. Appraisal documents must be uploaded by clicking Upload Appraisal under the Appraisal Documents header on the Documents page.
Outcome
After reading this article, users will be able to locate order records using standard Search and Advanced Search, then open and review results from the Appraisals lists. Users will also be able to use Super Search to generate targeted order lists and export results, and understand where to find AVM and RCR orders.