What to Expect at Appraisal and Closing Appointments During COVID-19
January 29, 2021
Our mission at Amrock is to make the real estate experience faster and easier for everyone. That mission starts with us making the health, safety and well-being of our clients, partners and team members our top priority.
The COVID-19 outbreak prompted us to take actions to protect the health and safety of the communities we serve. In March 2020, we enacted our work from home business continuity plan. As a FinTech company, Amrock has the technology resources to facilitate remote capabilities for team members whose roles do not require a physical presence in our offices. However, for some team members and partners, working from home isn’t an option.
Home purchase and refinance transactions often require an inspection of the home by one of our appraisers, as well as a closing appointment with one of our signing agents (unless you're doing a Remote Online Notarization, which you can learn more about here). We understand this may raise some concerns and we want to be fully transparent with you about what we’re doing to keep you safe while ensuring your real estate transaction continues to move forward.
What to Expect During Appraisal and Closing Appointments
We’re promoting health, safety and sanitary best practices to our signing agents and appraisers, ensuring that no one is conducting appraisal inspections or performing closings who shouldn’t be and encouraging them to be extra cautious while in your home.
We’re working tirelessly to ensure that our team members and partners are aware of, understand and follow preventative CDC guidelines and precautionary safety measures, which include*:
- Avoiding contact with people who are sick.
- Practicing social distancing by avoiding large crowds and maintaining 6 feet of distance between themselves and others.
- Avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
- Cleaning their hands often by washing them with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or by using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
In addition to the measures implemented above, our appraisers and signing agents will be practicing social distancing during their visits. This means they will not shake hands with you and will maintain the 6ft. distance recommended by the CDC. We’re requiring them to wear masks, per CDC recommendations. They may also choose to wear other protective gear, such as gloves. They may ask you about your current state of health or recent travel plans. Please know that while we respect your privacy (as do our appraiser and signing agent partners), they are asking out of concern for their own safety as well as yours. If you suspect you may be sick or have been exposed to anyone who is, please let us know as soon as possible and we will reschedule your closing or appraisal for another time.
If for any reason you’re uncertain about this process, either now or at any time until your scheduled appointment, please contact your lender or Amrock Client Relations at (888) 848-5355.
We want to ensure that your real estate closing process is fast easy and hassle-. While we are focused on seeing the transaction through to completion, our primary concern right now is to keep you, our partners, our team members and our communities safe.
We appreciate your support and understanding during these extraordinary times.
*This post was originally published on 3/19/20; we will continue to update our processes according to CDC guidelines.
