source:
  type: guide
  id: va-m26-7-ch13-t04
  authority: VA Lenders Handbook (VA Pamphlet 26-7), Chapter 13, Topic 4 — Appraisal
    Management System
  description: VA Lenders Handbook (VA Pamphlet 26-7), Chapter 13, Topic 4 — Appraisal
    Management System.
  coverage_tier: operative
obligations:
- id: va-m26-7-ch13-t04-full
  canonical_id: va-m26-7-ch13-t04-full
  section: VA Lenders Handbook (VA Pamphlet 26-7), Chapter 13, Topic 4 — Appraisal
    Management System
  type: do
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - va
  - va-handbook
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-operative
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: VA Lenders Handbook (VA Pamphlet 26-7), Chapter 13, Topic 4 — Appraisal
      Management System
    source_class: va-handbook
    source_url: https://www.benefits.va.gov/warms/pam26_7.asp
    snapshot_id: 7bf94e7ed62e01fb
    fetched_at: '2026-05-23T01:53:53Z'
    content_hash: sha256:5b3ac5aae82a9e7a96541d2a367f66087cccf6e9745e4e093a3d5adf63582332
    paragraph_quote: '4. Appraisal Management System Change Date July 22, 2019 • This
      chapter has been revised in its entirety. a. Electronic Scoring of the Appraisal
      When the appraiser uploads the completed appraisal report into WebLGY, VA’s
      Appraisal Management System (AMS) will electronically read and score the appraisal,
      assisting SARs in quickly assessing appraisal risk, determining property eligibility,
      ensuring VA policy compliance and identifying over/under-valuations, and appraisal
      quality issues. SARs must use AMS as a tool to help ensure appraisals are accurate,
      complete, and that the property is properly valued according to VA-accepted
      appraisal principles and practices. b. Business Rules in AMS As a rules-based
      system, AMS will assist SARs in finding inconsistencies by flagging items as
      potentially problematic, and determining whether the appraisal is in compliance
      with VA appraisal requirements, industry-accepted appraisal principles, and
      Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). c. Alerts Provided
      by AMS Alerts will be noted by the AMS based on VA’s business rules. All high
      alerts must be addressed in WebLGY notes. Medium and low alerts do not require
      a comment, but should be carefully reviewed by the SAR. Often the alerts will
      reflect an NOV condition that must be required, with no clarification needed
      from the appraiser. d. VA Guidance on Specific AMS Scores VA will issue a circular
      periodically describing the AMS scores that will be considered low-risk and
      high-risk appraisals. SARs may perform a cursory review on low-risk appraisals.
      High-risk appraisals require a comprehensive review. Sometimes a score of “N/A”
      will be reported for complex, rural, or new/proposed construction properties
      due to a lack of market data. While this is not an indication of a high-risk
      appraisal, a comprehensive review must be performed since the AMS did not return
      a score within the acceptable range for a cursory review. SARs must indicate
      whether or not a cursory review was performed in WebLGY with the indicator on
      the screen where the NOV is issued. Continued on next page VA Pamphlet 26-7,
      Revised Chapter 13: Notices of Value 13-7 4. Appraisal Management System, continued
      e. Cursory Review of an Appraisal Cursory review requirements include: • reviewing
      the sales comparison grid, • confirming that the report contains the required
      photographs (see Chapter 11, Topic 3 of this Handbook) which accurately reflect
      the appraiser’s description of the subject and comparable properties, • identifying
      all VA MPRs that must be addressed before the property can become the security
      for a VA-guaranteed loan, • reviewing any alerts identified by the AMS, documenting
      any high alerts in WebLGY notes, and • identifying any additional conditions
      that must be included on the NOV. f. Findings upon Cursory Review Findings in
      a cursory review may cause the review process to be elevated to a comprehensive
      review. g. Additional Requirements for a Comprehensive Review Comprehensive
      review requirements include the requirements specified above for a cursory review
      and: • verifying that the appraisal report is fully completed, • verifying that
      the appraisal meets USPAP requirements, • verifying that the appraisal complies
      with the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) requirements, • determining that the
      appraiser''s methodology is appropriate and that the appraiser''s conclusions
      are consistent, sound, supportable, logical and based upon data in the appraisal
      report, and • ensuring that the appraiser’s market value estimate and other
      conclusions are consistent with those in similar cases recently processed. h.
      Systems Not in Operation If system issues arise and AMS results are not available,
      the SAR may perform a comprehensive review, noting in WebLGY that AMS results
      were not available. If WebLGY is not available, the SAR may issue the NOV outside
      of WebLGY, entering the NOV in WebLGY when the system is back online. A note
      should be entered documenting that this procedure was followed. VA Pamphlet
      26-7, Revised Chapter 13: Notices of Value 13-8'
  judgment: false
