a la mode Inc. announced that PCLender.com has chosen Mercury Network as its appraisal workflow and management solution. With tens of thousands of appraisers covering every county of every state, plus the ability to add any lender's own appraisal panel, Mercury Network's web-centric Vendor Management Platform streamlines appraisal ordering and management and is fully compliant with new appraisal regulations. Since 2002, Mercury Network has been used by more than 200,000 mortgage professionals in the production of tens of millions of appraisals. PCLender.com will also utilize Mercury Network's custom review rules, which run on the appraiser's desktop prior to final transmission. The rules virtually eliminate delays due to oversights, which improves turn times for PCLender.com customers. When the appraisal is complete and has passed the review checks, it is delivered as a GLBA-compliant package containing the original PDF as well as XML data, and is automatically placed directly into the PCLender.com loan file. The XML format will also assist PCLender.com clients in complying with Fannie Mae's recent announcement that it will soon require all appraisal reports be submitted in the MISMO Appraisal XML format.

a la mode, inc. has announced the promotion of Brian Craven, CPA, to the position of Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Craven is responsible for the company's economic strategy and forecasting, financial accounting and planning, and management of the company's financial performance. Prior to joining a la mode in 1998, he worked in the Workers' Compensation industry.

a la mode Inc. announced that LSI, a division of Lender Processing Services is in the final development and testing phase of round trip appraisal integration between LSI's eLenderSolutions and a la mode's Mercury Network Vendor Management Platform (VMP). Order and tracking functions will utilize a la mode's open, industry-standard TOTAL XML format. Final appraisal reports are delivered as secure, unaltered PDFs of the appraiser's original work, ensuring absolute compliance with state and federal regulations. Reports are delivered from the appraiser's desktop software, through the Mercury Network, directly into LSI's backend systems. A key Mercury Network capability is custom LSI workflow rules run by the a la mode software plugin on the appraiser's desktop. The workflow scripting language uses TOTAL XML-based data analysis to enable LSI's business and regulatory compliance review rules specific to individual LSI lender clients, before the report ever leaves the appraiser's desk. By performing over a thousand standard and custom checks before transmission, reports aren't sent and then rejected after manual review due to missing, incorrect, or unclear data. Time and cost savings are immediate.