Monthly Archive: February 2014

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Non-Lender Valuation: Consumers Should Tread Carefully

Competition, in a free market, is a fierce catalyst: one that can effectively sort out the bad apples from the bunch. Capitalism works, it is simple when left unfettered and when all parties are ethical in their approach to business. It works until politicians, however well meaning they try to be, step in with a”solution”. Through the Dodd-Frank reform and the Andrew Cuomo created Home Valuation Code of Conduct that predates Dodd-Frank, congress effectively went anti-small business again. I liken this profession’s recent undermining by congress to how they saw to sort out the small-family farmers by paving the way...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

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Blacklisted? How to Get Reinstated

There is a high cost of being blacklisted. When a lending institution loses confidence in an appraiser’s work, the bank or AMC will put them on a “do not use” list, also known as a blacklist. In some cases, this means an appraiser has made a costly mistake. However, some banks are taking blacklisting to an extreme by treating appraisers as guilty until proven innocent without cause or reason why. If unchallenged, this practice can be devastating because being blacklisted even once can have permanent detrimental effects on an appraiser’s career, income, and reputation. By engaging in blacklisting lenders are...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O

Call to action DPOR AMC hearing 1

DPOR AMC Public Hearing CALL to ACTION

CALL to ACTION: DPOR Public Hearing for Initial Appraisal Management Company Regulations Thursday, February 27, 2014, DPOR is holding a public hearing on the proposed Initial Appraisal Management Company Regulations. The hearing will begin at 9:00AM in the DPOR  meeting room at 9960 Maryland Dr, Richmond. The new regulation establishes definitions, qualifications, fees, and standards of practice and conduct for appraisal management companies. The new regulation is required to implement Chapter 405 of the Acts of the 2012 General Assembly, which resulted from HB 210. The goal of the regulation is to establish qualifications, fees, and standards of practice and...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

9

Usual & Customary? According to Who?

Try this method of “price fixing” in any other business and see what happens! The “marketplace” usually sets what is considered “customary and reasonable”. Imagine asking attorneys to base their fees on what some government official (who knows nothing about their business) decides is “customary and reasonable”. It would NEVER EVER work, and should not be part of the appraisal (or any other) industry. It’s absolutely price-fixing which I always thought was illegal. The HVCC started all this focus on the appraisal industry and everybody is so busy trying to remake the appraisal industry, the banking industry quietly slips away,...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees / Dodd-Frank Act / C&R Fees

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URAR 1004s Are for Sissies

1004s are for sissies I remember the first time I ever saw a real appraisal report.  No, I am not talking about a 1004, 2055, or even a 1025.  I am not referring to a Fannie or Freddie form at all. I mean a real, living, breathing, monster of a report; the narrative!!! (insert collective gasp here) Early in my career, one of my insightful instructors brought one of his narrative reports to class.  As I perused that 76 page beast full of words (not boxes), descriptions (not canned comments), graphs (not pre-filled MC Addendums), and pictures (oh, how there were...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

USPAP violations 1

FHFA: Fannie, Freddie Fail to Analyze Appraisal Data

Increasing FHFA oversight of UCDP use… Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed to fully analyze data from the Uniform Collateral Data Portal and continue to take unnecessary risks when purchasing and guaranteeing single-family residential mortgages, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of the Inspector General, Mortgage Daily reported Feb. 6. The report indicated that the two government-sponsored enterprises are not taking full advantage of appraisal data collected through the UCDP that the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed the GSEs to use in 2010 in an effort to improve loan quality and risk management. Mortgage Daily...

AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Quality Monitoring

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“Fake” Appraiser E&O Insurance and Shady Things from AMCs Too

Outright Fake E&O For many appraisers and also some AMCs (appraisal management companies), the only reason they purchase professional liability insurance (E&O) is because a client requires them to show coverage in order to receive work.  The fact that some appraisers and AMCs only look at insurance as an “E&O ticket” leads to some unfortunate examples of fraud, which appraisers, firms, AMCs and clients should be aware of. Before I get to the fakery, however, I’ll explain that our purpose in providing E&O, and also the reason that most of our insureds purchase it, is because E&O first serves the insured by providing...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O

Welcome to Life as an Appraiser in 2014 - Imagecredit Flickr - Nathan 9

Welcome to Life as an Appraiser in 2014

I  want  to meet the lucky appraiser these days who is getting all of the easy appraisals. Welcome  to  life  as  an  appraiser  in  2014.  It  seems every  appraisal  has  time  constraints,  distance constraints  and  knowledge  constraints.  I  want  to meet the lucky appraiser these days who is getting all of the easy appraisals. Surely it can’t be lenders just getting an AVM. If lenders are using AVMs, the lack of quality comparables out there would lead to lenders just  fooling  themselves  and  relying  on  loss  ratios again.   You  would  think  someone  would  say:  been there, done that and got hammered....

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM

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NJ Governor Vetoes BPO Legislation…Again

Legislation that would have significantly expanded the ability of New Jersey real estate brokers and salespersons to offer broker price opinion services did not become law because of a Jan. 21 “pocket veto” by Gov. Chris Christie. This is the second time Christie has vetoed BPO legislation. The legislation (S. 3058) was passed by both houses of the New Jersey legislature Jan. 6, and was presented to Christie for his consideration. However, because the bill was passed by the legislature during the last 10 days of the 2012-13 legislative session (which ended Jan. 14), the governor only had seven days...

AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

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Difference Between an Employee, a Subcontractor, & an Independent Contractor

What is the Difference Between an Employee, a Subcontractor, and an Independent Contractor? In helping real estate professionals find the right professional liability (E&O) insurance policy, one of the most common issues we come across is whether someone you hire to help with your intermittent workload is an employee, a subcontractor, or an independent contractor. The IRS perspective vs. the insurance perspective This is often confusing because what you intended to do may not be what you actually end up doing. There are a number of reasons for this. First and foremost is the fact the IRS will view this...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions

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