To counter that, AMCSS' approach has been to encourage the local vendors to become part of its network, which includes appraisers, title abstractors, closing agents and related service providers.
Instead of processing bills from numerous appraisers, loan officers process a single bill from AMCSS.
In addition to marketing to loan officers at the 22 owners, AMCSS also went after outside business.
Because the lion's share of AMCSS' business (90 percent) comes from conforming, first-mortgage lenders, when interest rates began to climb in 2004, transaction volume also dropped.
The second is to add owners to AMCSS by seeking out multistate lenders with centralized production centers that are currently using vendor-management companies.