Exhibit A RFI Questions.pdf

RFI Questions

The below RFI questions are based on the following definition for rural areas.

Rural areas are defined as:

• Open country or any town, village, city, or place, including the immediate adjacent densely settled area, which is not part of or associated with an urban area and which:

o Has a population not in excess of 2,500 inhabitants; or o Has a population in excess of 2,500 but not in excess of 10,000 if it is rural in character; or o Has a population in excess of 10,000 but not in excess of 20,000, and-

Is not contained within a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA); and Has a serious lack of mortgage credit for lower and moderate-income families as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

• Any area classified as ‘‘rural’’ or a ‘‘rural area’’ prior to October 1, 1990, and determined not to be ‘‘rural’’ or a ‘‘rural area’’ as a result of data received from or after the 1990, 2000, 2010, or 2020 decennial census, and any area deemed to be a ‘‘rural area’’ at any time during the period beginning January 1, 2000, and ending December 31, 2020, shall continue to be so classified until the receipt of data from the decennial census in the year 2030, if such area has a population in excess of 10,000 but not in excess of 35,000, is rural in character, and has a serious lack of mortgage credit for lower and moderate- income families.

Remote rural areas are identified by the State Director and are defined as areas with these types of characteristics:

• Scattered population;

• Low density of residences;

• Lack of basic shopping facilities;

• Lack of community and public services and facilities; and

• Lack of comparable sales data.

RFI Questions:

If unable to respond in full to all questions, please provide answers to the best of your ability where data is available.

1. Does your company provide nation-wide (including US territories) rural area appraisal services? If not, what states do you not have coverage in?

2. Please provide the number of appraisers available to service all US states and territories.

Provide which counties are not covered in entirety.

3. Does your company have capacity to complete and deliver up to 1000 home appraisals per month?

4. From the time an appraisal order is received, what is your standard delivery timeframe (in days) to deliver a completed appraisal report in the below areas? On average, how many appraisals do you process per month in each of these areas? Please provide quantity by month.

a. Rural areas

b. Non-rural areas

c. Remote rural areas

5. Please provide any geographic areas where appraisal report delivery times are in excess of the standards provided above. What are the delivery timeframes for these longer lead time areas? Describe challenges in today’s market that may be contributing to these longer lead times.

6. Which end to end software system do you use to manage property appraisals and how long has this system been in place? What status information is provided to your client during the appraisal process?

7. What steps are taken to ensure that appraisals are delivered timely? Are incentives provided to appraisers during times of high demand? If so, please explain.

8. What minimum information is required from the client in order for your company to assign an appraisal? What method of delivery from the client is required (SFTP, portal data entry or other)?

9. What are non-government lenders getting for appraisal turn times? Are you aware if this is less that what RD is seeing for an area? If non-government lenders are seeing faster appraisal turn times, what is the reason, if known (i.e. are premiums or other incentives being paid)?

10. If known, how are RD appraisals viewed in comparison to non-government lender appraisal requests? Is there any reason why potential appraisers would be less inclined to do RD work?

11. If your company utilizes AMCs, do your AMCs have any increased challenges acquiring appraisers and if so, how do you or your AMCs incentivize more appraisers to sign on with these AMCs?

END OF QUESTIONS